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Electrical & Electronics Engineering vocabulary · Digital Electronics and Microcontrollers

ADC

Meaning in electrical & electronics engineering, with examples

abbreviationCommon term

In electrical & electronics engineering, ADC means: Short for analog-to-digital converter: a circuit that measures an analog voltage and turns it into a number a processor can use. Its resolution is given in bits, for example 12-bit.

In Turkish: analog-dijital dönüştürücü, ADC

How it is used

Pronounced 'A-D-C'. Built into most microcontrollers and also sold as separate chips. Engineers talk about ADC resolution, sampling rate, reference voltage, ADC channels and raw ADC counts. A 12-bit ADC gives values from 0 to 4095.

Example sentences

  1. The ADC reads 2048 at mid-scale, which is about 1.65 V with a 3.3 V reference.

  2. We need a 16-bit ADC to measure such small changes from the load cell.

Common collocations

  • ADC resolution
  • ADC channel
  • ADC reading
  • reference voltage
  • 12-bit ADC
  • sampling rateHow many times per second a signal is measured when it is converted to digital form, given in samples per second (S/s) or hertz. It must be more than twice the highest frequency in the signal.
  • microcontrollerA small computer on a single chip, with a processor, memory and input/output peripherals. It runs firmware to control devices such as appliances, sensors and motors.
  • sensorA device that detects a physical quantity, such as temperature, pressure, light or current, and converts it into an electrical signal that a circuit can measure.
  • signalA voltage or current that carries information, such as a sensor reading, a sound or digital data. Signals can be analog, changing smoothly, or digital, switching between fixed levels.
  • op-ampShort for operational amplifier: an integrated amplifier with two inputs and very high gain. With a few resistors and capacitors around it, it can amplify, filter, compare or buffer signals.

More terms: Digital Electronics and Microcontrollers

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