Analog and Digital Conversion

This book will attempt to explore the field of data conversion between analog and digital representations. This book will also explore some inherent problems in representing analog signals with digital data and vice versa, as well showing some common schemes for generating, coding, and transmitting the sampled data. Readers of this book would benefit strongly from a prior knowledge of the following subjects:

• Semiconductors
• Circuit Theory
• Digital Circuits

Once an analog signal is sampled, and represented in a digital domain, we can use techniques of Digital Signal Processing to manipulate the data. Those topics will not be covered in this book.

This book is in a very early stage of development, and many of the pages here will be stubs, or simply outlines. In time, more information will be filled in, but we need help from contributors like you. Feel free to help out and contribute!

Table of Contents

Section 1: Conversion Basics

• Introduction
• Analog vs Digital
• Sampling and Reconstruction

Section 2: Sampling and Quantizing

• The Ideal Sampler
• Sampling Theorem
• Nyquist Sampling Rate
• Resolution and Bitrate
• Signed and Unsigned Quantities
• Spectral Effects
• Interpolation

Section 3: Data Representation

• Differential Pulse-Coded Modulation (DPCM)
• Delta Modulation
• Continuously-Variable Slope Delta Modulation (CVSDM)

Section 4: Signal Reconstruction

• Hold Circuits
• Other Reconstructors
• Reconstruction Effects

Section 5: Quantization, Errors, Noise

• Uniform Quantization
• Non-Uniform Quantization
• Fixed Wordlength Effects
• Sources of Error

Section 6: Building Converters

• ADC Converters
• DAC Converters

Section 7: Appendices

• Reference Materials

Further reading

• Control Systems
• Communication Systems
• Electronics (Analog-to-Digital and Digital-to-Analog Converters)
• Signals and Systems
• Digital Signal Processing
• "The Five Steps to Data Acquisition"