EVAL-AD7142-1EBZ View Datasheet(PDF) - Analog Devices
Part Name
Description
MFG CO.
'EVAL-AD7142-1EBZ' PDF : 73 Pages View PDF
AD7142
CAPACITIANCE-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER
The capacitance-to-digital converter on the AD7142 has a Σ-Δ
architecture with 16-bit resolution. There are 14 possible inputs
to the CDC that are connected to the input of the converter
through a switch matrix. The sampling frequency of the CDC is
250 kHz.
OVERSAMPLING THE CDC OUTPUT
The decimation rate, or oversampling ratio, is determined by
Bits[9:8] of the control register, as listed in Table 9.
Table 9. CDC Decimation Rate
Decimation Bit Value
00
01
101
111
Decimation Rate
256
128
–
–
CDC Output Rate
Per Stage
1.536 ms
3.072 ms
–
–
1 Do not use this setting.
The decimation process on the AD7142 is an averaging process
where a number of samples are taken and the averaged result is
output. Due to the architecture of the digital filter employed, the
amount of samples taken (per stage) is equal to 3× the
decimation rate. So 3 × 256 or 3 × 128 samples are averaged to
obtain each stage result.
The decimation process reduces the amount of noise present in
the final CDC result. However, the higher the decimation rate,
the lower the output rate per stage, thus, a trade-off is possible
between a noise free signal and speed of sampling.
CAPACITANCE SENSOR OFFSET CONTROL
There are two programmable DACs on board the AD7142 to
null any capacitance sensor offsets. These offsets are associated
with printed circuit board capacitance or capacitance due to any
other source, such as connectors. In Figure 20, CIN is the
capacitance of the input sensors, while CBULK is the capacitance
between layers of the sensor PCB. CBULK can be offset using the
on-board DACs.
PLASTIC OVERLAY
SENSOR BOARD
CAPACITIVE SENSOR
CIN
CBULK
Figure 20. Capacitances Around the Sensor PCB
A simplified block diagram in Figure 21 shows how to apply the
STAGE_OFFSET registers to null the offsets. The 7-bit
POS_AFE_OFFSET and NEG_AFE_OFFSET registers program
the offset DAC to provide 0.16 pF resolution offset adjustment
over a range of ±20 pF. Apply the positive and negative offsets
to either the positive or the negative CDC input using the
NEG_AFE_OFFSET register and POS_AFE_OFFSET register.
This process is only required once during the initial capacitance
sensor characterization.
+DAC
7
(20pF RANGE)
POS_AFE_OFFSET
REGISTER
POS_AFE_OFFSET_SWAP
REGISTER
CIN
+
16-BIT
16
_ CDC
NEG_AFE_OFFSET_SWAP
REGISTER
EXT
–DAC
7 NEG_AFE_OFFSET
(20pF RANGE)
REGISTER
CIN_CONNECTION_SETUP
REGISTER
Figure 21. Analog Front End Offset Control
CONVERSION SEQUENCER
The AD7142 has an on-chip sequencer to implement
conversion control for the input channels. Up to 12 conversion
stages can be performed in sequence. By using the Bank 2
registers, each stage can be uniquely configured to support
multiple capacitance sensor interface requirements. For
example, a slider sensor can be assigned to STAGE1 with a
button sensor assigned to STAGE2.
The AD7142 on-chip sequence controller provides conversion
control beginning with STAGE0. Figure 22 shows a block diagram of
the CDC conversion stages and CIN inputs. A conversion sequence is
defined as a sequence of CDC conversions starting at STAGE0 and
ending at the stage determined by the value programmed in the
SEQUENCE_STAGE_NUM register. Depending on the number and
type of capacitance sensors that are used, not all conversion stages are
required. Use the SEQUENCE_STAGE_NUM register to set the
number of conversions in one sequence, depending on the sensor
interface requirements. For example, this register would be set to 5 if
the CIN inputs were mapped to only six stages. In addition, set the
STAGE_CAL_EN registers according to the number of stages that
are used.
Rev. 0 | Page 14 of 68
Share Link: 
