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Introduction
The LTC6915 is the simplest, most
precise way to obtain digitally programmable voltage gain. Any system
which needs accurate amplication of
small differential voltages and rejection of large common mode signals will
benet from the LTC6915.
The LTC6915 is an evolution of the
LTC2053, a precision rail-to-rail input
and output, zero-drift instrumentation
amplier. Due to the ampliers very
low DC errors, very high levels of gain
can be taken in a single stage. The
LTC2053 uses external resistors to set
the gain; the LTC6915 uses a serial
port or a parallel port to select internal
resistors, and therefore select the gain.
The gain can be programmed to 0, 1, 2,
4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024,
2048, or 4096. Programmable gain
increases the dynamic range of any
system. A xed gain instrumentation
amplier would have about 60dB of
useful range. The dynamic range of
the LTC6915 is more than 120dB.
Since the high CMRR (typically
125dB) is independent of the gain setting, microvolts of differential signal
can be extracted from volts of common
mode noise. Furthermore, the common
mode level of the differential signal can
be any value within the supply rails
of the LTC6915.
Other features of the LTC6915
include a exible digital interface, a
Kelvin connected output stage, a wide
supply range, a shutdown mode, and
a choice of packages.
How it Works
Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the
LTC6915. A sophisticated, charge balanced sampling technique impresses
the differential input voltage on to a
1000pF internal capacitor. The differential input signal is converted to
a single-ended signal referenced to
16
IN +
+
CS
IN
CH
15
14
CF
OUT
SENSE
GAIN
CONTROL
RESISTOR
ARRAY
13
PARALLEL_SERIAL
11
CS(D0)
DIN(D1)
CLK(D2)
DOUT(D3)
6
7
4-BIT
LATCH
MUX
Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7
8-BIT
SHIFT-REGISTER
16
10
4
REF
HOLD_THRU
SHDN
V+
DGND
V
IN +
+
CS
IN
CH
11
CF
OUT
GAIN
CONTROL
RESISTOR
ARRAY
10
PARALLEL_SERIAL
MUX
CS(D0)
DIN(D1)
CLK(D2)
DOUT(D3)
4
5
6
REF
4-BIT
LATCH
DGND
Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7
8-BIT
SHIFT-REGISTER
12
8
3
V+
DGND
V
DESIGN FEATURES
1.5
MIN/MAX OF
1000 UNITS
1
0.5
0
-0.5
MEAN OF
1000 UNITS
-1
-1.5
10
DATASHEET LIMITS
100
1k
GAIN SETTING (V/V)
10K
VIN
0.1F
CS
IN
OUT
IN+
SENSE
5V
DIN
CLK
V+
0.1F
VOUT
5V
REF
HOLD_THRU
NC
CS(D0)
P/S
DIN(D1)
DGND
VIN
0.1F
5V
DOUT
CLK
(D3)
V+
IN
OUT
IN+
SENSE
REF
HOLD_THRU
NC
CS(D0)
P/S
DIN(D1)
DGND
CLK(D2) DOUT(D3)
CLK(D2) DOUT(D3)
Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7
8-BIT
SHIFT-REGISTER
DIN
LTC6915
SHDN #2
0.1F
4-BIT
LATCH
CS
0.1F
4-BIT GAIN
CONTROL CODE
0.1F
VOUT
5V
DOUT
CLK
D15
DIN
D11
D10
D9
D8
D7
D3
D2
D1
D0
CS/LD
GAIN CODE
0000
0001
0010
0011
0100
0101
0110
0111
1000
1001
1010
1011
1100
1101-1111
GAIN
16
32
64
128
256
512
1024
2048
4096
Figure 4. Two LTC6915s can be connected in a daisy chain. The binary codes for each gain setting are also shown.
17
DESIGN FEATURES
5V
0.1F
LTC6915
SHDN
VIN1
5V
OUT
IN+
SENSE
REF
IN
HOLD_THRU
NC
CS(D0)
P/S
DIN(D1)
DGND
2N304
INTERCONNECT
RESISTANCE
VOUT
RLOAD
5V
CLK(D2) DOUT(D3)
Figure 5. Kelvin sensing at the output maintains precision with increased load drive.
5V
5V
0.1F
0.1F
SHDN
V+
LTC6915
#1
IN
OUT
VIN1
5V
0.1F
DATA
P
SELECT
(TTL
LEVELS) CLOCK
IN+
SENSE
REF
SHDN
V+
LTC6915
200
#2
IN
OUT
200
VIN2
5V
0.1F
IN+
SENSE
REF
HOLD_THRU
NC
CS
P/S
DGND
DIN
DGND
DOUT
CLK
DOUT
HOLD_THRU
NC
CS
P/S
DIN
CLK
5V
VOUT
5V
LOAD
0 TO 40.96mA
LTC6915
IN OUT
LT6650
N VN2222L
RIN
5
250V TO
500V
1M
FB
40A TO 120A
10k
ROUT
49.9
BINARY
CODE
0 TO 13
4.99k
DESIGN FEATURES
LT6650owing through a 5 input
resistor. This small voltage is amplied by the programmed gain of the
LTC6915 and forces a current to ow
through the 50 output resistor via
the MOSFET. The voltage compliance
of the current sink is determined by
the maximum voltage output to the
SENSE pin. In this example, the maximum output voltage is only 2.048V,
required when the input reference is
500V and the gain is 4096.
Each successive control code to the
LTC6915 increases the output current
by a factor of two. Any current level
between the binary weighted intervals
is achieved by adjusting the input
Conclusion
The LTC6915 instrumentation amplier combines outstanding precision
analog performance with a exible
digital interface. The result is a software programmable gain stage which
is precise and easy to use.
V+
10k
BRIDGE
SENSOR
ZETEX
ZXM61P02F
R < 10K
V+
C1
0.1F
SHDN
V+
LTC6915
#1
OUT
IN
C5
0.1F
IN+
SENSE
REF
HOLD_THRU
NC
CS(D0)
P/S
DIN(D1)
DGND
C2
0.1F
VCC
1.25V
CLK(D2) DOUT(D3)
REF
REF
LTC2431
SDO
SCK
IN
CS
IN
FO
GND
20
18
VDD
RC6/TX/CK
RC7/RX/OT
RC5/SDO
RC4/SDI/SDA
V+
RC3/SCK/SCL
D1
BAV74LT1
SOT-23
R1
1k
RC1/T1OSI/CCP2
RC0/T1OSO/T1CK1
PIC16LF73
9
10
X1
4MHz
RC2/CCP1
RB7
RB6
OSC1/CLKIN
RB5
RB4
OSC2/CLKOUT
RB3
RB2
MCLR/VPP
RB1
RB0/INT
RAS/AN4/SS
RA4/T0CLK1
RA3/AN3/VREF
RA2/AN2
RA1/AN1
VSS
8
RA0/AN0
VSS
17
16 MOSI
15 MISO
14 SCLK
13 CS1
12 CS2
11
0V
28
27
26
25
24
23
MEASURE
STANDBY
V+
CONTROL SIGNAL
10k
V+
V+
C3
0.1F
VIN
VOUT
LT1790-1.25
GND1
GND2
C3
1F
22
21
7
6
5
4
3
2
19
Figure 8. Using the LTC6915 as a direct bridge amplier in a measurement system with very low standby current
19