AN-1220
APPLICATION NOTE
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Compact, Low Cost, 5 V, Variable Gain, Inverting Amplifier Using the
AD5270/AD5272 Digital Rheostat and AD8615 Op Amp
CIRCUIT FUNCTION AND BENEFITS
VDD
+2.5V/+5V
R3
3.32kΩ ±1%
This circuit shown in Figure 1 provides a compact, low cost, low
voltage, variable gain inverting amplifier using the AD5270/
AD5272 digital rheostat in conjunction with the AD8615
operational amplifier. The small package sizes of the AD5270/
AD5272 (10-lead 3 mm × 3 mm × 0.8 mm LFCSP) and the
AD8615 (5-lead TSOT-23), as well as their low cost, present an
industry leading solution to a common analog signal processing
circuit.
V+
AD8615
AD8615
VIN
R2
4.99kΩ ±1%
In addition, the AD5270/AD5272 has an internal 50-times
programmable memory that allows a customized gain setting
at power-up.
The circuit provides accuracy, low noise, and low THD and is
well suited for signal instrumentation conditioning.
CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION
Table 1. Devices Connected/Referenced
Product
AD5270/AD5272
AD8615
Description
10-bit, 1% resistor tolerance digital rheostat
Precision, 20 MHz, CMOS, rail-to-rail
input/output CMOS op amp
The circuit employs the AD5270/AD5272 digital rheostat in
conjunction with the AD8615 CMOS operational amplifier,
providing a low cost, variable gain inverting amplifier.
10pF
RAW
20kΩ
AD5270/AD5272
VSS
–2.5V/GND
SERIAL
INTERFACE
09138-001
VDD
Figure 1. Variable Gain Inverting Amplifier (Simplified Schematic:
Decoupling and All Connections Not Shown)
The maximum allowable current through the AD5270/AD5272
(RAW = 20 kΩ version) is ±3 mA, which limits the maximum
input voltage, VIN, based on the circuit gain as described in
Equation 2.
|VIN| ≤ 0.003 × R2
(2)
When the input signal, VIN, is higher than the theoretical maximum
value from Equation 2, increase R2, and the new gain can be
recalculated using Equation 1.
On the other hand, calculate the minimum gain to reduce the
error due to the leakage current in the AD5270/AD5272. To
assume a negligible leakage current error, the current through
R2 must be at least 100 times the worst-case leakage specification of
50 nA. Therefore, the minimum current through R2 must be 5 µA,
which defines the minimum value for R2, as in Equation 3.
|VIN| ≥ 5 × 10−6 × R2
The maximum circuit gain is defined in Equation 1.
RAW
R
→ R2 = AW
R2
G
VSS
+2.5V/+5V
The input signal, VIN, is amplified by the AD8615, which is
connected to the inverting mode. The op amp offers low noise,
high slew rate, and rail-to-rail inputs and outputs.
G =–
–2.5V/GND
C1
The circuit offers 1024 different gains, controllable through an
SPI (AD5270) or I2C-compatible (AD5272) serial digital interface.
The ±1% resistor tolerance performance of the AD5270/AD5272
provides low gain error over the full resistor range, as shown in
Figure 2.
The circuit supports rail-to-rail inputs and outputs for both singlesupply operation at +5 V and dual-supply operation at ±2.5 V
and is capable of delivering up to ±150 mA output current.
VOUT
V–
(1)
Rev. A | Page 1 of 3
(3)
AN-1220
Application Note
When the circuit input is an ac signal, the parasitic capacitances
of the digital potentiometer can cause undesirable oscillation in
the output. This can be avoided, however, by connecting a small
capacitor, C1, between the inverter input and its output. A value
of 10 pF was used for the gain and phase plots shown in Figure 4.
10k
10
100
210
GAIN, RAW = 20kΩ
0
200
10
GAIN, RAW = 10kΩ
1
R2 MIN
0.1
100
1k
09138-002
10
PHASE, RAW = 10kΩ
600
(4)
R2
where D is the code loaded in the digital potentiometer.
3
2
2
0
–1
–1
ERROR (%)
0
–3
–3
–4
200
400
600
800
CODE (Decimal)
–4
1023
140
200k
The AD5270/AD5272 have a 50-times programmable memory,
which allows presetting the output voltage in a specific value at
power-up.
The AD5271/AD5274 (8-bits with 50-times programmable powerup memory) are both ±1% tolerance digital rheostats that are
suitable for this application if 10-bit resolution is not required.
09138-003
–2
100k
COMMON VARIATIONS
GAIN
–2
10k
Excellent layout, grounding, and decoupling techniques must be
used to achieve the desired performance from the circuits discussed
in this note (see Tutorial MT-031, Grounding Data Converters
and Solving the Mystery of “AGND” and “DGND” and Tutorial
MT-101, Decoupling Techniques). As a minimum, use a 4-layer
PCB with one ground plane layer, one power plane layer, and
two signal layers.
1
GAIN
ERROR (%)
1k
FREQUENCY (Hz)
(1024 – D ) × RAW 1024
1
150
Figure 4. Gain and Phase vs. Frequency for the AC Input Signal (Vertical Scale
Compressed to Show All Gain Curves)
The circuit gain equation is
3
170
160
GAIN, RAW = 100Ω
–60
The ±1% internal resistor tolerance of the AD5270/AD5272
ensures a low gain error, as shown in Figure 3.
0
180
–20
–50
Figure 2. R2 Value Range vs. Minimum Input Signal
190
PHASE, RAW = 10kΩ
PHASE, RAW = 100kΩ
–40
1
INPUT VOLTAGE (mV)
G=–
–10
–30
0.01
0.1
GAIN
220
20
R2 MAX
GAIN (dBV)
RESISTANCE (Ω)
1k
PHASE (Degrees)
100k
09138-004
Figure 2 shows the possible R2 value range based on the input
voltage to the op amp, assuming these conditions.
The same basic circuit shown in Figure 1 can be adapted to operate
on a 30 V supply using higher voltage devices as described in
the CN-0113 Circuit Note.
Figure 3. Gain and Gain Error vs. Decimal Code
Rev. A | Page 2 of 3
Application Note
AN-1220
LEARN MORE
Data Sheets and Evaluation Boards
MT-031 Tutorial, Grounding Data Converters and Solving the
Mystery of "AGND" and "DGND," Analog Devices.
AD5270 Data Sheet
MT-032 Tutorial, Ideal Voltage Feedback (VFB) Op Amp,
Analog Devices.
AD5270 Evaluation Board
MT-087 Tutorial, Voltage References, Analog Devices.
MT-091 Tutorial, Digital Potentiometers, Analog Devices.
MT-101 Tutorial, Decoupling Techniques, Analog Devices.
AD5272 Data Sheet
AD5272 Evaluation Board
AD5271 Data Sheet
AD5274 Data Sheet
AD8615 Data Sheet
REVISION HISTORY
4/13—Rev. 0 to Rev. A
Document Title Changed from CN-0168 to AN-1220....... Universal
7/10—Revision 0: Initial Version
©2010–2013 Analog Devices, Inc. All rights reserved. Trademarks and
registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
D09051-0-5/13(A)
Rev. A | Page 3 of 3