In 1986, famed analog innovator Jim Williams, in “Designs for High Performance Voltage-to-Frequency Converters” published his 100 MHz “King Kong” VFC. If anyone’s ever done a faster VFC, I haven’t seen it...
80 MHz VFC with prescaler and preaccumulator
Understanding Arm Cortex-M0+ and its capabilities
Cortex-M0+ is not the newest small, low-power processor and, in fact, some newer offerings may surpass it. However, its broad deployment and mature environment continue to make the processor a compelling offering for low-power applications...
Preaccumulator handles VFC outputs that are too fast for a naked CTP to swallow
Analog-to-digital conversion based on the classic combination of a voltage-to-frequency converter with a counter has been around for (many) decades, mainly because it has some durable time-proven advantages...
Getting an audio signal with a THD < 0.0002% made easy
If you need a very pure sine wave in the audio range, the circuit can help...
DC-accurate, 32-bit DAC achieves 32-bit resolution
Some applications, such as ADC testing and calibration, require a DAC with extremely good resolution, monotonicity, accuracy, and resolution. In these categories of performance, the circuit is hard to beat...
CMOS gate makes long-duration timers using RC components
The CD4011 CMOS NAND gate has a typical input current of 10 pA at room temperature. You can charge a capacitor connected to the gate input with currents on the order of hundreds of picoamperes and neglect the influence of the gate-input current...
To press on or hold off? This does both
Let’s imagine that you need to add a power switch to something that’s battery-powered but processor-free; perhaps it must also be waterproof and thus membrane-sealed...
Hack into a stopwatch to make a phototimer
The exposure tester in this Design Idea measures the on time of a light source, whether an LED, an incandescent lamp, a halogen lamp, or another source...
Comparator directly controls power-MOSFET gate
It is common practice to power a MOSFET with a comparator and with an unregulated voltage and to power the comparator driving it from a regulated one...
Improved PRTD circuit is product of EDN DI teamwork
Recently I published a simple platinum resistance temperature detector design idea that was largely inspired by a deviously clever earlier DI by Nick Cornford...
