
ADC08500
www.ti.com
SNAS373E –MAY 2007–REVISED APRIL 2013
FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION
The ADC08500 is a versatile A/D Converter with an innovative architecture permitting very high speed operation.
The controls available ease the application of the device to circuit solutions. Optimum performance requires
adherence to the provisions discussed here and in the Applications Information Section.
While it is generally poor practice to allow an active pin to float, pins 4 and 14 of the ADC08500 are designed to
be left floating without jeopardy. In all discussions throughout this data sheet, whenever a function is called by
allowing a pin to float, connecting that pin to a potential of one half the VAsupply voltage will have the same
effect as allowing it to float.
OVERVIEW
The ADC08500 uses a calibrated folding and interpolating architecture that achieves 7.5 effective bits. The use
of folding amplifiers greatly reduces the number of comparators and power consumption. Interpolation reduces
the number of front-end amplifiers required, minimizing the load on the input signal and further reducing power
requirements. In addition to other things, on-chip calibration reduces the INL bow often seen with folding
architectures. The result is an extremely fast, high performance, low power converter.
The analog input signal that is within the converter's input voltage range is digitized to eight bits at speeds of 200
MSPS to 500 MSPS, typical. Differential input voltages below negative full-scale will cause the output word to
consist of all zeroes. Differential input voltages above positive full-scale will cause the output word to consist of
all ones. Either of these conditions at the input will cause the OR (Out of Range) output to be activated. This
single OR output indicates when the output code from one or both of the channels is below negative full scale or
above positive full scale.
The converter has a 1:2 demultiplexer that feeds two LVDS output buses. The data on these buses provide an
output word rate on each bus at half the ADC sampling rate and must be interleaved by the user to provide
output words at the full conversion rate.
The output levels may be selected to be normal or reduced. Using reduced levels saves power but could result in
erroneous data capture of some or all of the bits, especially at higher sample rates and in marginally designed
systems.
Self-Calibration
A self-calibration is performed upon power-up and can also be invoked by the user upon command. Calibration
trims the 100Ωanalog input differential termination resistor and minimizes full-scale error, offset error, DNL and
INL, resulting in maximizing SNR, THD, SINAD (SNDR) and ENOB. Internal bias currents are also set with the
calibration process. All of this is true whether the calibration is performed upon power up or is performed upon
command. Running the self calibration is an important part of this chip's functionality and is required in order to
obtain adequate performance. In addition to the requirement to be run at power-up, self calibration must be re-
run whenever the sense of the FSR pin is changed. For best performance, we recommend that self calibration be
run 20 seconds or more after application of power and whenever the operating temperature changes
significantly, according to the particular system design requirements. See On-Command Calibration for more
information. Calibration can not be initiated or run while the device is in the power-down mode. See Power Down
for information on the interaction between Power Down and Calibration.
In normal operation, calibration is performed just after application of power and whenever a valid calibration
command is given, which is holding the CAL pin low for at least tCAL_L clock cycles, then hold it high for at least
another tCAL_H clock cycles as defined in the Converter Electrical Characteristics. The time taken by the
calibration procedure is specified as tCALin Converter Electrical Characteristics. Holding the CAL pin high upon
power up will prevent the calibration process from running until the CAL pin experiences the above-mentioned
tCAL_L clock cycles followed by tCAL_H clock cycles.
CalDly (pin 127) is used to select one of two delay times after the application of power before the start of
calibration. This calibration delay time is depedent on the setting of the CalDly pin and is specified as tCalDly in the
Converter Electrical Characteristics. These delay values allow the power supply to come up and stabilize before
calibration takes place. If the PD pin is high upon power-up, the calibration delay counter will be disabled until the
PD pin is brought low. Therefore, holding the PD pin high during power up will further delay the start of the
power-up calibration cycle. The best setting of the CalDly pin depends upon the power-on settling time of the
power supply.
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