Analog – digital conversion

Analog-to-digital conversion is an electronic process in which a

continuously variable (analog) signal is changed, without altering its
essential content, into a multi-level (digital) signal. The input to an analog-
to-digital converter (ADC) consists of a voltage that varies among a
theoretically infinite number of values. The output of the digital sign is
represented as binary form(0 and 1).

An ADC is defined by its bandwidth and its signal-to-noise ratio. The

bandwidth of an ADC is characterized primarily by its sampling rate. The
analog signal is continuous in time and it is necessary to convert this to a
flow of digital values. It is therefore required to define the rate at which new
digital values are sampled from the analog signal.

The dynamic range of an ADC is often summarized in terms of its effective

number of bits (ENOB).

Types of ADC: Digital Ramp ADC, Successive Approximation ADC, Flash

ADC, Wilkinson, Integrating, Delta-encoded, Pipeline, Sigma-delta, Time-
interleaved, Intermediate FM stage.

The use of ADC:

Music recording: producing music on computers

Digital signal processing

Scientific instruments