analogue-to-digital Converters

Microchip announces high-resolution, low-power delta-sigma ADCs

News Release from: Microchip Technology Ltd
11/11/2008

Microchip announces a new series of low-power, high-resolution delta-sigma analogue-to-digital Converters. The MCP3422, MCP3423 and MCP3424 (MCP3422/3/4) ADCs provide 18-bits of resolution and consume only 135µA at 3V continuous conversion. The multi-channel devices have an integrated voltage reference, programmable gain amplifier and oscillator onboard, eliminating the need for external components, providing a smaller overall design footprint and making it easy for designers to create smaller applications.

They are available in packages as small as a 2 x 3mm dual flat no-lead (DFN), and are ideal for portable measurement applications in the industrial, medical, consumer and automotive markets, among others. Example applications for which the MCP3422/3/4 ADCs are appropriate include those in the industrial (portable weigh scales, instrumentation, handheld meters and multimeters); medical (portable heart-rate monitors, blood-pressure monitors and glucose meters); consumer (weigh scales, handheld meters); and automotive markets (sensor interfaces, fuel gauges), among others.

Microchip also announced the accompanying MCP3424 Evaluation Board (Part # MCP3424EV). The board enables the user to evaluate the performance of the MCP3424 ADC by interfacing to the PICkit™ Serial Analyzer (Part # DV164122).