AN-0990

APPLICATION NOTE
One Technology Way • P.O. Box 9106 • Norwood, MA 02062-9106, U.S.A. • Tel: 781.329.4700 • Fax: 781.461.3113 • www.analog.com

Terminating a Differential Amplifier in Single-Ended Input Applications

by John Ardizzoni and Jonathan Pearson

Properly terminating differential amplifiers for single-ended The input impedance of the circuit is effectively higher than it
input applications can be challenging. This application note would be for a conventional op amp connected as an inverter.
simplifies the process by walking through the calculations This is because a fraction of the differential output voltage
from start to finish. The first step is to determine the input appears at the inputs as a common-mode signal, partially
impedance of the amplifier. bootstrapping the voltage across the input resistor RG.
CALCULATING THE INPUT IMPEDANCE Terminating a Single-Ended Input
The effective input impedance of a circuit depends on whether In this example, the circuit features an ADA4937-1, configured
the amplifier is being driven by a single-ended or differential for unity gain. Note that this approach can be used with any
signal source. For balanced differential input signals, as shown differential amplifier.
in Figure 1, the input impedance (RIN, dm) between the inputs The gain of the amplifier can be calculated using the gain
(+DIN and −DIN) is simply equation
RIN, dm = 2 × RG RF
RF
G=
RG
+VS
RG
+IN The Analog Devices, Inc., ADA4937-1 data sheet recommends
+DIN
VOCM using 200 Ω resistors. The signal source applied to the circuit is
VOUT, dm
–DIN
2 V, with a source resistor of 50 Ω. The input termination can
RG –IN now be calculated by following these four simple steps.
–VS
07952-001

1. Calculate the input impedance using Equation 1.

RF

Figure 1. Differential Amplifier Configured for Balanced (Differential) Inputs ⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞

⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟
= ⎜⎜ ⎟
R ⎜ 200 ⎟ = 267 Ω
For an unbalanced, single-ended input signal (see Figure 2), R IN G
=
⎟ ⎜
RF 200 ⎟
calculate the input impedance using Equation 1. ⎜⎜ 1 − ⎟⎟ ⎜ 1 − ⎟
⎝ 2 × ( RG + R F ) ⎠ ⎝ 2 × (200 + 200) ⎠
⎛ ⎞
⎜ ⎟ RF
R IN , cm = ⎜ RG ⎟ (1)
⎜ RF ⎟ RIN 200Ω
⎜ 1− ⎟ 267Ω
( )
+VS
⎝ 2 × R G + R F ⎠
RS RG
RF
50Ω 200Ω
VS
+VS VOCM
2V ADA4937 RL VO
RS RG RG
200Ω
RT VOCM
VOUT, dm
–VS
RG
RF
07952-003

RS RT 200Ω
07952-002

–VS
RF Figure 3. Single-Ended Input Impedance RIN
Figure 2. Differential Amplifier Configured for Unbalanced 2. For the source termination to be 50 Ω, calculate the
(Single-Ended) Input
termination resistor (RT) using RT||RIN = 50 Ω, which
makes RT equal to 61.9 Ω.

Rev. 0 | Page 1 of 2
AN-0990 Application Note
RF
4. The feedback resistor must be recalculated to adjust the
200Ω
50Ω output voltage as shown below.
+VS

RS RG
To make the output voltage VOUT = 1 V, recalculate RF using
50Ω 200Ω
the following formula:
RT
VS 61.9Ω VOCM
2V ADA4937 RL VO ⎛V × (RG + RTS ) ⎞⎟ ⎛ 1 × (200 + 27.4) ⎞
R F = ⎜ OUT = ⎟ = 207 Ω
RG
⎜ VTH ⎟ ⎜⎝ 1.1 ⎠
200Ω ⎝ ⎠
–VS To make VO = VS = 2 V to recover the loss due to the input
RF termination, RF should be

07952-004
200Ω
⎛V × (RG + RTS ) ⎞ ⎛ 2 × (200 + 27.4) ⎞
Figure 4. Adding Termination Resistor RT R F = ⎜⎜ OUT ⎟=⎜
⎟ ⎝ ⎟ = 414 Ω
⎝ VTH ⎠ 1.1 ⎠
3. To compensate for the imbalance of the gain resistors,
RF
a correction resistor (RTS) is added in series with the
inverting input gain resistor RG. RTS is equal to the
+VS
Thevenin equivalent of the source resistance RS||RT.
RS RG
RS RTH
50Ω RT 200Ω
50Ω RT 27.4Ω VS 61.9Ω
VS 61.9Ω VTH VOCM ADA4937 RL VO
2V
2V 1.1V
07952-005

RG

RTS 200Ω
27.4Ω
Figure 5. Calculating the Thevenin Equivalent
–VS

07952-007
RTS = RTH = RS||RT = 27.4 Ω. RF

Note that VTH is not equal to VS/2, which would be the case Figure 7. Complete Single-Ended-to-Differential System
if the termination were not affected by the amplifier circuit
CONCLUSION
input impedance RIN.
RF
Calculating the input termination for a single-ended input
200Ω
differential amplifier is accomplished in four steps. First,
+VS calculate the amplifier input impedance RIN, then calculate the
RTH RG
termination resistor RT. Rebalance the amplifier gain paths, by
27.4Ω 200Ω
adding RTS in series with the inverting input gain resistor.
VTH VO Finally, calculate and adjust the feedback resistor for the correct
VOCM ADA4937 RL 0.97V
1.1V
RG
gain. More information on differential amplifiers is available at
RTS 200Ω
www.analog.com.
27.4Ω
–VS
REFERENCES
RF
07952-006

ADA4927-1 Data Sheet. Analog Devices, Inc., 2008.

200Ω
AN-584 Application Note. Analog Devices, Inc., 2002.
Figure 6. Balancing Gain Resistor RG

©2009 Analog Devices, Inc. All rights reserved. Trademarks and

registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
AN07952-0-2/09(0)

Rev. 0 | Page 2 of 2