Power-Supply Bypassing
The MAX174/MX574A/MX674A power supplies must
be filtered, well regulated, and free from high-frequency
noise, or unstable output codes will result. Unless great
care is taken in filtering any switching spikes present in
the output, switching power supplies is not suggested for
applications requiring 12-bit resolution. Take note that a
few millivolts of noise converts to several error counts in
a 12-bit ADC.
All power-supply pins should use supply decoupling
capacitors connected with short lead length to the pins,
as shown in Figure 9. The VCC and VEE pins should
be decoupled directly to AGND. A 4.7μF tantalum type
in parallel with a 0 1μF disc ceramic type is a suitable
decoupling.
Internal Reference
The MAX174/MX574A/MX674A have an internal buried
zener reference that provides a 10V, low-noise and low
temperature drift output. An external reference voltage
can also be used for the ADC. When using ±15V supplies,
the internal reference can source up to 2mA in addition to
the BIPOFF and REFIN inputs over the entire operating
temperature range. With ±12V supplies, the reference can
drive the BIPOFF and REFIN inputs over temperature,
but it CANNOT drive an additional load.
Driving the Analog Input
The input leads to AGND and 10VIN or 20VIN should be
as short as possible to minimize noise pick up. If long
leads are needed, use shielded cables.
When using the 20VIN as the analog input, load capaci-
tance on the 10VIN pin must be minimized. Especially on
the faster MAX174, leave the 10VIN pin open to minimize
capacitance and to prevent linearity errors caused by
inadequate settling time.
The amplifier driving the analog input must have low
enough DC output impedance for low full-scale error.
Furthermore, low AC output impedance is also required
since the analog input current is modulated at the clock
rate during the conversion. The output impedance of an
amplifier is the open-loop output impedance divided by
the loop gain at the frequency of interest.
MX574A and MX674A—The approximate internal clock
rate is 600kHz and 1MHz, respectively, and amplifiers like
the MAX400 can be used to drive the input.
MAX174—The internal clock rate is 2MHz and faster
amplifiers like the OP-27, AD711, or OP-42 are required.
Track-and-Hold Interface
The analog input to the ADC must be stable to within 1/2
LSB during the entire conversion for specified 12-bit accu-
racy. This limits the input signal bandwidth to a couple of
hertz for sinusoidal inputs even with the faster MAX174.
For higher bandwidth signals, a track-and-hold amplifier
should be used.
The STS output may be used to provide the Hold signal
to the track-and-hold amplifier. However, since the A/D’s
DAC is switched at approximately the same time as the
conversion is initiated, the switching transients at the out-
put of the T/H caused by the DAC switching may result in
code dependent errors. It is recommended that the Hold
signal to the T/H amplifier precede a conversion or be
coincident with the conversion start.
The first bit decision by the A/D is made approximately
1.5 clock cycles after the start of the conversion. This is
2.5μs, 1.5μs, and 0.8μs for the MX574A, MX674A, and
MAX174, respectively. The T/H hold settling time must
be less than this time. For the MX574A and MX674A, the
AD585 sample-and-hold is recommended (Figure 10).
For the MAX174, a faster T/H amplifier, like the HA5320
or HA5330, should be used (Figure 11).
Input Congurations
The MAX174/MX574A/MX674A input range can be set
using pin strapping. Table 3 shows the possible input
ranges and ideal transition voltages. End-point errors can
be adjusted in all ranges.
Figure 9. Power-Supply Bypassing
VL
+5V
DIGITAL
GROUND
ANALOG
GROUND
+12V/15V
-12V/15V
VCC
VEE
DGND
RECOMMENDED
C1, C2, C4 – 0.1µF CERAMIC
C4, C5, C6 – 4.7µF
AGND
MAX174
MX574A
MX674A
C4C1
C5C2
C6C3
MAX174/MX574A/
MX674A
Industry-Standard, Complete 12-Bit ADCs
www.maximintegrated.com Maxim Integrated
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