This device samples an analog input voltage at regular intervals and quantizes it into a binary value that a microcontroller or DSP can process. Performance is defined by resolution in bits and sampling rate in samples per second. Common architectures include SAR, delta-sigma, and flash converters.
Heard on the job
The analog-to-digital converter is clipping because the sensor output is exceeding the 3.3-volt reference.
Related terms
ADC
An analog-to-digital converter transforms continuous physical signals into discrete digital numbers.
Digital-to-analog converter
A mixed-signal component that translates binary data into a continuous physical voltage or current.
Quantize
The process of mapping a continuous range of analog signal values to a finite set of discrete digital levels.