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Precision
Electronics
Part 4: Signal Switching
In this fourth article in this series, we will look at how to extend the current
measurement range of the circuit we’ve been working on so far. To achieve that, we’ll
have to switch between two or more shunt resistors.
By Andrew Levido
I
n the previous article in this series, we
developed our current-sense circuit
(Fig.1) to the point where we could
measure a 0–1A current in the highside of a hypothetical power supply
with a worst-case 25°C precision of
around ±0.03%. Over the temperature
range of 0–50°C, this error rose to just
under ±0.2%.
That was the analog error only;
it did not include any errors introduced by the analog-to-digital converter (ADC), which we will go into
in a future article.
To achieve this level of precision,
we were planning to apply a fixed gain
calibration and a dynamic zero offset
calibration in software, using the two
switches shown in Fig.1. This level of
precision would allow us to meaningfully measure current from 1A down
to a few tens of milliamps, since our
resolution is limited to ±2mA.
To achieve the microamp or better
current sensitivity that we desire, we
determined that we needed to switch
in different shunt resistors to provide
a series of current ranges.
So far, we have been using a 0.1W
shunt resistor for the 1A range, which
develops 100mV across it at full scale.
This requires a differential-mode gain
of about 25 to get our signal to a nominal 2.5V level for the ADC.
Assuming our power supply has
some voltage headroom, there is
nothing stopping us from increasing the shunt resistance by an order
of magnitude, so it drops 1V at full
scale. We can then decrease the gain
to a nominal value of 2.5.
The power dissipation in the shunt
resistor will increase accordingly, but
any offset errors we see on the input
side, including those that change with
temperature, will be smaller in relation to the full-scale signal. That will
improve the overall precision of the
circuit. This will be important as the
complexity – and therefore sources of
uncertainty – of the circuit increases.
Table 1 (below) shows the ranges we
could potentially implement, the current resolution we could expect, and
the shunt resistors we would need for
each one.
This table assumes we can maintain
the ±0.2% error we have achieved so
far. It suggests we should be able to
realise our sub-microamp resolution
ambitions if we can maintain a similar level of precision as we did with
our previous efforts.
Before we get into the details of how
we will switch the shunt resistors in
and out, and the impact that will have
on precision, we should look at the
options available for signal switching.
There are basically only two options:
1. We can use a mechanical switch
such as a signal relay if we want to
control it with a microcontroller.
2. Alternatively, we can use some
form of electronic analog switch,
which will most likely be based on
field-effect transistors (FETs).
Signal relays
Signal relays are similar to power
relays, but their design is optimised
for low on-resistance and high linearity instead of power handling. They are
usually rated for currents of 2A or less
and for switching voltages under 50V.
These aren’t hard and fast definitions;
there is plenty of grey area between the
top end of signal relays and the bottom
end of power relays.
Relays have the advantage of excellent on-resistance linearity with
applied voltage and temperature. They
have a very high off-resistance (essentially infinite) and virtually zero leakage since the switching path is electrically isolated.
Typical initial on-resistances for signal relays range from about 10mW to
200mW. The word “initial” is important here – the on-resistance of signal relays generally increases with
the number of operations, as shown
on the right side of Fig.2. This is an
extract from a data sheet for Panasonic
TQ-series relays, although all brands
behave in more or less the same way.
It’s also worth noting that the operating and release voltages, shown on
the left, also worsen slightly with time
Table 1 – current ranges using a fixed 0.2% error
Fig.1: this is
the circuit we
designed last
time. It is capable
of a measurement
resolution of
a couple of
milliamps; to
measure lower
currents, we need
to switch ranges
somehow.
72
Silicon Chip
Current range
Resolution (±0.2%)
RS (gain ≈ 2.5)
1.00A
±2.0mA
1.00W
100mA
±200µA
10.0W
10.0mA
±20µA
100W
1.00mA
±2.0µA
1.00kW
100µA
±200nA
10.0kW
10.0µA
±20nA
100kW
1.00µA
±2nA
1.00MW
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Fig.2: relays make great signal switches, but we should be aware that their contact
resistance and operating voltages deteriorate with the number of operations.
as the relay’s mechanical parts wear.
The failure rate data for the TQ
relays suggests that 1% will have
failed after 3.5 million operations and
10% after about 10 million operations
when switching 5V at 1mA into a resistive load. That is a lot of operations,
so it probably will not be of concern
to the designer, but relays do have a
limited life.
Panasonic deserves a lot of credit for
publishing very comprehensive data
for their relays. Not all manufacturers
are this up-front in their data sheets.
Relays are not always good for very
high-frequency applications, since
their stray inductance and capacitance
can be relatively high. Specialised
high-frequency relays are available if
you need them.
For precision circuits, we often
use reed relays, which can have very
low stray capacitance (0.5pF) and are
available with internal electromagnetic screens which can help minimise
induced noise or be used as a “guard”
electrode when measuring minuscule
currents. A reed relay is essentially a
reed switch that’s actuated by an electromagnet.
On the downside, relays are usually somewhat bulky and expensive,
so designers tend to use them only
when their unique characteristics
are absolutely necessary. Instead,
they generally use more compact and
cheaper analog switches where they
can (which offer the added benefit of
an almost indefinite lifespan).
Analog switches
Analog switches are typically built
from Mosfets since their drain-source
resistance is controllable via gate voltage and the channel can conduct current in either direction. Because a Mosfet’s channel resistance is non-linear
with applied voltage, most analog
switches use back-to-back N-channel
and P-channel Mosfets.
The parallel on-resistance of the two
devices is more linear than either one
alone, as illustrated in Fig.3. The Mosfet substrates are connected to the analog power rails to maximise linearity.
By the way, if you are familiar with
using discrete Mosfets as high-power
switches, you may be puzzled by
the comment that they can conduct
current in either direction. That’s
Fig.3: most analog switches use
parallel N-channel and P-channel
Mosfets to minimise the effect
of the non-linear channel onresistance of Mosfets.
because power Mosfets usually have
an unavoidable ‘body diode’ in parallel with the channel in one direction,
meaning they can only really switch
current in one direction by themselves.
When fabricating multiple Mosfets
on a single substrate as in a CMOS
integrated circuit, the body diode is
still there, but it is possible to choose
where one end of that diode connects.
Depending on what potential it is connected to, that body diode may never
conduct under normal conditions, so
it can effectively be ignored.
Thus, Mosfets in ICs (as well as the
fairly unusual four-terminal discrete
signal types that expose the bulk connection separately) can operate bi-
directionally, similarly to JFETs.
The NMOS+PMOS architecture is
used in switches such as those in the
industry-standard DG41x series. Fig.4
shows the simplified circuit of one
channel, extracted from the data sheet.
As well as the back-to-back switching
Mosfets, you can see a level shifter,
which allows the control voltage (VIN)
and logic supply (VL and GND) to be
anywhere within the V+ to V– analog
supply range.
Fig.4: this simplified
diagram of one
switch from a
DG41x series analog
switch shows the
parallel N-Channel
and P-channel
Mosfets. The level
shifter allows the
control signal and
logic supply to be
anywhere within the
analog voltage range.
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February 2025 73
Fig.5: the onresistance
characteristic of
this DG41x series
analog switch shows
the non-linearity
and temperature
dependence of the
on-resistance.
The DG41x series switch on-
resistance characteristic with ±5V rails
is shown in Fig.5. The nominal on-
resistance is anywhere between 10W
and 20W, depending on temperature,
and varies about 30% as the signal
voltage changes.
The imprecision associated with
analog switches can best be understood by looking at the on- and offstate equivalent circuits in Fig.6. In
the on state (left), the on-resistance
Ron appears in series with the source
resistance Rsource to produce a voltage
divider with the load resistance Rload.
As we have seen, Ron is non-linear
and temperature-dependant, so the
voltage error due to this divider will be
uncertain. For this reason, we usually
try to keep the load resistance as high
as possible with respect to the sum of
Rsource + Ron.
In the on state, a leakage current
Id(on) will produce a DC error voltage
proportional to Rload in parallel with
Rsource + Ron. This can be minimised
by keeping the source impedance as
low as possible.
The channel capacitance Cd(on) will
appear in parallel with Cload and form
an RC low-pass filter with Rsource +
Ron – another reason to keep Rsource
low if you can.
In the case of the DG41x family of
switches, Ron can be up to 35W, Id(on)
can be up to ±15nA and Cd(on) is typically 35pF.
In the off state (shown in Fig.6),
the leakage current Is(off) will produce a DC voltage across Rsource, and
ID(off) will produce a voltage across
the load impedance, Rload. The latter can be more difficult to manage,
since we generally want to use a high
load impedance for reasons described
above. The DG41x switches have
Fig.6: these equivalent circuits show the leakage currents and internal
capacitances present in analog switches in the on and off states.
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off-state leakage currents (ID(off) and
Is(off)) of up to ±15nA, and CD(off) can
be up to 9pF.
Charge injection is another concern with analog switches, especially
those with a low Ron value. Achieving low Ron requires physically large
Mosfets, which have higher levels of
gate capacitance. Whenever the gate of
the Mosfet switches, this gate capacitance is charged or discharged via the
drain and source. This means a charge
is injected into the signal path when
the devices switch.
The resulting voltage disturbance is
a factor of the switch output and load
capacitance, as shown in Fig.7. The
charge is injected via Cq and appears
as a voltage spike or dip at the output,
as CD(ON) in parallel with Cload charge
or discharge.
Each DG41x switch has a charge
injection of 5pC. If the external load
capacitance were 50pF, this would
result in a voltage spike or dip of 59mV
every time the switch changes state.
This could very well create a significant ‘pop’ when switching audio signals – something to be aware of.
Of course, the input signal to this
type of analog switch must stay within
the power rails. For switches with
back-to-back complimentary Mosfets,
the signal voltage can extend all the
way to both rails.
There are some newer analog
switches with very good Ron linearity. These appear to use a single N-
Channel Mosfet with a very flat Ron
characteristic.
Fig.8 shows the on-
r esistance
characteristic for one channel of the
TMUX821x series of analog switches
from Texas Instruments (TI). The
on-resistance is very flat all the way
Fig.7: charge injection can cause
voltage transients in the signal path
when an analog switch is opened or
closed. The effect is usually worse in
low-Rds(on) switches, where the gate
capacitance (Cq) is higher.
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Fig.9: this interesting
class of optically coupled
analog switches may
be suitable for some
applications. They can
switch a few hundred
milliamps and provide
good isolation between the
control signal & switch.
Fig.10: this circuit ensures the current-carrying
switches (S1a, S2b and S3c) are not in the
measurement path. That’s helpful since the voltage drop across them is unpredictable. The shunt voltage sensing
switches (S1b, S2b and S3b) carry no appreciable current, so the voltage drop across them will be minimal.
from the negative supply up to a few
volts short of the positive supply.
With the ±15V supplies shown
here, the upper limit on signal voltage is around 10V to 12V, depending
on how much non-linearity you can
put up with.
Before we leave this discussion of
analog switches altogether, I want to
mention one more type that I have
found useful in certain applications:
optically coupled Mosfet switches,
such as that shown in Fig.9.
These are a bit of a hybrid between
relays, analog switches and opto-
couplers. They use inverse series
Mosfets (for polarity independence),
which are switched optically via an
internal LED. A typical example, the
AQY282GS, is rated for switching up
to 60V (AC or DC) at 0.8A. It has a maximum on-resistance of 0.8W at 25°C,
rising to twice that at 85°C.
The manufacturer does not provide
any linearity data, but we can assume
it will not be great.
They do have good input–output
isolation (1000MW and 1.5pF), but up
to 1µA of leakage between the output
terminals when off. These devices are
Fig.11: this circuit configuration was used to obtain the results described. Not
shown are the DIP switches used to control the analog switches & relay coils.
not super-fast – the switch-on time
can be up to 5ms and switch-off up to
0.5ms. They are driven exactly like you
would drive an optocoupler.
Updating our design
So, armed with all this knowledge,
how do we go about designing our
multi-range current sensing circuit?
Whatever type of switch we use to
select the shunt resistors, it will add
a material and unpredictable voltage
drop.
We therefore can’t just put the
Fig.8: the onresistance
characteristic of
the TMUX821x is
remarkably flat
for signal voltages
from the negative
rail up to a couple
of volts short of the
positive rail. This
suggests a single
Mosfet is being
used. Note how
the Rds(on) is still
highly temperaturedependent.
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switching element in series with the
shunt and measure the voltage across
them both. Instead, we need to use the
topology shown in Fig.10.
One of the “a” switches (S1a, S2a or
S3a) is closed to select one of the shunt
resistors, depending on the chosen
current range. The corresponding “b”
switch is also closed, connecting the
relevant shunt resistor to the instrumentation amplifier’s inverting input.
Since this input has a very high
impedance, very little current flows
through the “b” switch, so its on-
resistance and non-linearity are largely
irrelevant. The voltage drop across the
active “a” switch, where appreciable
current does flow, is not in the measurement path, so it does not impact
the reading.
As a bonus, we get the zero-
calibration state for free. If we close
any “b” switch that does not have its
corresponding “a” switch closed, we
effectively short the inamp’s inputs
together via that shunt resistor, which
will have close to zero voltage across
it.
I decided to build a version of this
circuit with 1A, 10mA and 100μA
full-scale ranges. In a real application, you would probably implement
February 2025 75
Fig.12: this graph,
copied from the
manufacturer’s
data sheet, shows
the various
leakage currents
in the TMUX821x
series of analog
switches. As you
would expect, they
increase rapidly
with temperature.
a range for each decade, but I wanted
to keep things manageable for my
experiments. I chose to use relays
for S1a and S2a (the 1A and 10mA
range respectively), although an analog switch could certainly be used for
the latter range.
The 100µA range (S3a) and the three
“b” switches used analog switches.
This meant I could get away with just
one quad analog switch package.
The key parts on the test board are
shown in Fig.11. A 3.3V logic power
supply and the dip switches driving
the relays and analog switch control lines are not shown. I used a 1%
tolerance 3W resistor for R1, since
high-precision power resistors are
super expensive.
I did, however, select a resistor with
the best tempco (±20ppm/°C) that I
could afford, since we can’t trim out
the temperature drift as easily as we
can trim out the absolute resistance
error. It is easier (and cheaper) to get
high-precision 100W and 10kW resistors, so I chose devices with 0.1% tolerance and 10ppm/°C tempcos.
The relays I used were 3.3V coil 1A
relays from Fujitsu’s SY series that I
happened to have on hand. The primary concern with selecting the analog switch was to get a unit with a
sufficient voltage rating, since the
supply voltages would be +24V and
-5V, giving a total supply span of 29V.
DG41x-series switches are limited to a
supply voltage span of 12V.
Figs.13 & 14: the voltage error due to analog switch leakage is calculated by
substituting the on and off equivalent circuits. As discussed in the text, the
600pA source can be
ignored but the other
two will cause an error.
This diagram shows the
100µA range where the
error is worse than the
others. The simplified
version is shown at
right; it summarises the
sources of error.
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Silicon Chip
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The TMUX821x range is good to
±50V, which is more than enough. The
TMUX8212 includes four independent normally open switches, which
is perfect.
From Fig.8, we can see that the analog switch on-resistance is under 5W
at room temperature, with about ±1W
change over the 0°C to 50°C range we
are designing for. Fig.12 shows the
leakage currents. At 50°C, the worst
case for our design, Id(on) is ±10pA or
less, while Id(off) and IS(off) are each
less than ±300pA.
Those figures are for ±36V supplies,
so with our lower supply voltages,
the values we experience are likely
to be lower. However, in the absence
of more detailed data, we have little
choice other than to use those figures.
I used the cheaper of the two instrumentation amplifiers that we tested
last time, the INA821, but this time
with the gain set to about 2.5. Like
last time, the op amp is powered from
+24V and -5V rails.
Error budget
The easiest way to manage the error
budget for a circuit with several configurations like this one is to calculate a separate budget for each range.
The process is exactly the same as for
the examples we created in previous
instalments, except for the errors introduced by the analog switches.
We can distil the impact of the analog switches down to a single voltage
error by substituting them with their
equivalent circuits, as shown at the
top of Fig.13.
Here, the circuit is shown with the
100µA range active (with the two analog switches closed and both relays
open).
Fig.14 shows the same configuration
with the leakage current sources consolidated. The 1W and 100W resistors
disappear, since they are in series with
current sources, which themselves
have very high (theoretically infinite)
source resistances. This simplification
leaves us with three potential sources
of leakage-induced voltage error.
The 600pA current feeding into the
power rail on the source side of the
shunt resistor can be ignored, since
this current must flow either back into
the regulator (where it does not matter), or through the shunt to the load
(where it will be measured as part of
the load current).
The 10pA source on the load side
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Table 2: 100μA range
At Nominal 25°C
Abs. Error
Rel. Error
0-50°C (Nominal ±25°C)
Error
Nominal Value
Shunt Resistor: ERA-6ARB103V (±0.1%, 100ppm/˚C)
10kW
Abs. Error
Input voltage error due to shunt
1V
1mV
0.10%
0.25mV
0.025%
Input voltage error due to switch leakage
0V
6.2μV
0%
0mV
0%
Input voltage error due to bias (Ios ±0.5nA, ±20pA/˚C)
0V
5μV
0%
5μV
0%
InAmp: INA821 (Vos ±35µv, 5µV/˚C)
0V
35μV
InAmp Input Voltage error total (Sum of Lines 2-5)
0V
1mV
0.10%
0.380mV
0.038%
InAmp Gain Resistor Rg: ERA-6ARB333V (±0.1%, 10ppm/˚C)
33kW
33W
0.10%
8.3W
0.025%
0.10%
InAmp Gain Error (0.015% ±35ppm/˚C)
Rel. Error
0.025%
125μV
0.02%
0.088%
InAmp Gain (Line 7 × Line 8)
2.5
0.0029
0.12%
0.0028
0.113%
Vout DM (Line 6 × Line 9)
0V
5.5mV
0.22%
3.8mV
0.151%
Vout CM (20V, 100db, ±1.5db over 0-50˚C)
0V
200μV
Vout (Line 10 + Line 11)
0V
5.7mV
Table 3: 10mA range
37.7μV
0.23%
At Nominal 25°C
Abs. Error
Rel. Error
3.8mV
0.152%
0-50°C (Nominal ±25°C)
Error
Nominal Value
Abs. Error
Shunt Resistor: ERA-6ARB101V (±0.1%, 10ppm/˚C)
100W
Input voltage error due to shunt
1V
1mV
0.10%
0.25mV
0.025%
Input voltage error due to switch leakage
0V
95nV
0%
0nV
0%
Input voltage error due to bias (Ios ±0.5nA, ±20pA/˚C)
0V
50nV
0%
50nV
0%
InAmp: INA821 (Vos ±35µv, 5µV/˚C)
0V
35μV
InAmp Input Voltage error total (Sum of Lines 2-5)
0V
1mV
0.10%
0.3751mV
InAmp Gain Resistor Rg: ERA-6ARB333V (±0.1%, 10ppm/˚C)
33kW
33W
0.10%
8.3W
0.10%
InAmp Gain Error (0.015% ±35ppm/˚C)
Rel. Error
0.025%
125μV
0.02%
0.025%
0.088%
InAmp Gain (Line 7 × Line 8)
2.5
0.0029
0.12%
0.0028
0.113%
Vout DM (Line 6 × Line 9)
0V
5.5mV
0.22%
3.8mV
0.150%
Vout CM (20V, 100db, ±1.5db over 0-50˚C)
0V
200μV
37.7μV
0.038%
Vout (Line 10 + Line 11)
0V
5.7mV
3.8mV
0.152%
Table 4: 1A range
0.23%
At Nominal 25°C
Abs. Error
Rel. Error
0-50°C (Nominal ±25°C)
Error
Nominal Value
Abs. Error
Shunt Resistor: VMP-1R00-1.0-U (±0.1%, 20ppm/˚C)
1W
Input voltage error due to shunt
1V
10mV
1%
0.5mV
0.05%
Input voltage error due to switch leakage
0V
4.5nV
0%
0nV
0%
Input voltage error due to bias (Ios ±0.5nA, ±20pA/˚C)
0V
500nV
0%
500nV
0%
InAmp: INA821 (Vos ±35µv, 5µV/˚C)
0V
35μV
InAmp Input Voltage error total (Sum of Lines 2-5)
0V
10mV
1%
0.625mV
0.063%
InAmp Gain Resistor Rg: ERA-6ARB333V (±0.1%, 10ppm/˚C)
33kW
33W
0.10%
8.3W
0.025%
1%
InAmp Gain Error (0.015% ±35ppm/˚C)
Rel. Error
0.05%
125μV
0.02%
0.088%
InAmp Gain (Line 7 × Line 8)
2.5
0.0029
0.12%
0.0028
0.113%
Vout DM (Line 6 × Line 9)
0V
28mV
1.12%
4.4mV
0.175%
Vout CM (20V, 100db, ±1.5db over 0-50˚C)
0V
200μV
Vout (Line 10 + Line 11)
0V
28.2mV
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37.7μV
1.13%
4.4mV
0.177%
February 2025 77
of the shunt will cause an error since
this current can flow into the load
without being measured. This is the
equivalent of under-reading the load
current by 10pA, so it will result in a
voltage error of up to 100nV (10pA ×
10kW) at the op amp input.
The 610pA leakage will similarly
cause a voltage error, but this time
the error will be seen across the series
combination of the shunt resistance
and the switch on-resistance. This
error will be 6.1µV (610pA × [10kW
+ 6W]). The total voltage error introduced by the switches will therefore be ±6.2µV, which you can see in
line 3 of the error budget table for the
100µA range.
This is a meaningful amount compared with the instrumentation amplifier’s ±35µV input offset voltage.
Given the relatively high shunt
resistance, we also have to account
for the impact of the instrumentation amp’s input bias currents. The
difference between these currents
(the input offset current) will cause
an additional voltage error across
the source resistance. The INA821’s
data shows the maximum input offset current is ±0.5nA at 25°C, with a
tempco (estimated from the graphs)
of ±20pA/°C.
This will result in a voltage error
of ±5.0uV at 25°C with an additional
±5.0µV over the 0°C to 50°C operating range. This error, shown on line 4
of the error budget, is also similar in
magnitude to the input offset voltage.
Other ranges
As you might expect from the above
calculations, the error voltages will be
lower for the other ranges where the
shunt resistances are lower. I went
through the same exercise for these
ranges and came up with error voltages
due to switch leakage of 4.6nV for
the 1A range and 95nV for the 10mA
range, plus input offset current errors
of 500pV and 50nV, respectively.
These are included in the relevant
error budget tables (Tables 2-4), but
are frankly so small as to be irrelevant
given the instrumentation amplifier’s
±35µV offset voltage.
The rest of the error budget tables
are calculated as we did the last time.
The upshot is a worst-case untrimmed
25°C error of ±1.13% for the 1A range
and ±0.23% for the 10mA and 100µA
ranges. The big difference is due to
the 1% tolerance of the 1W shunt
compared to the 0.1% tolerance of
the other two.
Over the operating temperature
range, the 1A range has an additional
±0.18% error, with an extra ±0.15% for
the 10mA and 100µA ranges.
Recall that the circuit in the
previous article had a worst-case
untrimmed 25°C error of 0.65% with
±0.28% additional error over temperature. This circuit is better (except on
the 1A range, where the shunt tolerance range has doubled) because we
have used better-tolerance resistors
and have reduced the instrumentation
amp gain by a factor of 10.
Testing
As usual, I built the circuit and carefully measured its performance. The
results are shown in the tables opposite (Tables 5-7). Again, we achieved
much better performance than the
worst-case calculations would suggest. The measured untrimmed errors
were ±0.5%, ±0.06% and ±0.18%
for the 1A, 10mA and 100µA ranges,
respectively.
To calculate the trimmed error
results, I used a gain correction based
on the line of best fit, but just used the
measured zero-current output value
as the offset, mimicking the dynamic
offset correction process. The trimmed
errors were ±0.036%, ±0.054% and
±0.031% for the three ranges – very
similar to the values we achieved previously.
The errors over the operating temperature range are around ±0.11%,
assuming the offset calibration eliminates the offset component of the
input-side temperature drift error. It
would be around ±0.18% otherwise.
We can probably say that, across
all ranges, our circuit achieves better
than ±0.06% error at 25°C and ±0.25%
over the operating temperature range.
This is on par with the performance
we saw last time, and means we have
more-or-less met the expectations we
set in Table 1 for these ranges.
As a paper exercise, I calculated
the error budget for a possible 1µA
full-scale range, assuming a 1MW
0.1% ±10ppm shunt. The worst-case
untrimmed error at 25°C is ±0.35%,
and the total error over the temperature range would be within ±0.6%,
which is pretty good. With trimming,
we could probably assume a current
resolution in the order of ±5nA. This
is about as low as I would go with
this circuit.
Once we get down to measuring
such small currents, things become
very challenging.
A next obvious step will be to look
into the analog-to-digital conversion
process, to complete our theoretical
PSU current-sensing design.
However, in all of our work so far,
we have entirely ignored one important source of uncertainty and error:
noise. This is an interesting but complex topic that we need to know about
before moving on. So we will cover it
SC
next time.
Raspberry Pi Pico W BackPack
The new Raspberry Pi Pico W provides WiFi functionality, adding
to the long list of features. This easy-to-build device includes a
3.5-inch touchscreen LCD and is programmable in BASIC, C or
MicroPython, making it a good general-purpose controller.
This kit comes with everything needed to build a Pico W BackPack module, including
components for the optional microSD card, IR receiver and stereo audio output.
$85 + Postage ∎ Complete Kit (SC6625)
siliconchip.com.au/Shop/20/6625
The circuit and assembly instructions were published in the January 2023 issue: siliconchip.au/Article/15616
78
Silicon Chip
Australia's electronics magazine
siliconchip.com.au
Measured Data
Untrimmed Error
Trimmed Error
I (mA)
Vout (mV)
Absolute (mV)
Relative Absolute (mV)
Relative
0.0000
-3.480
-3.48
-0.14%
0.00
0.000%
9.0707
223.366
-3.13
-0.12%
0.38
-0.001%
20.1549
500.500
-2.76
-0.11%
0.78
-0.007%
29.1271
723.712
-3.58
-0.14%
-0.02
0.006%
38.4297
955.808
-3.77
-0.15%
-0.18
0.016%
49.9203
1243.030
-3.46
-0.13%
0.16
0.018%
58.7674
1464.160
-3.24
-0.13%
0.41
-0.021%
72.2879
1801.780
-3.23
-0.13%
0.47
0.031%
80.1932
1998.150
-4.25
-0.17%
-0.53
0.000%
86.6674
2160.290
-3.77
-0.15%
-0.03
0.000%
95.1638
2373.240
-2.97
-0.12%
0.79
0.000%
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Table 5 – 100μA range (Vcm = 20V).
Measured Data
I (mA)
Untrimmed Error
Trimmed Error
Vout (mV)
Absolute (mV)
Relative Absolute (mV)
Relative
0.00000
-0.773
-0.77
-0.03%
0.00
0.000%
0.98420
244.922
-0.83
-0.03%
-0.06
-0.002%
1.98602
495.514
-0.39
-0.02%
0.38
0.015%
2.93840
733.371
-0.34
-0.01%
0.43
0.017%
4.18878
1045.728
-0.20
-0.01%
0.56
0.022%
4.98283
1244.140
-0.06
0.00%
0.70
0.027%
5.85370
1461.660
0.01
0.00%
0.76
0.030%
7.11774
1775.860
-1.42
-0.06%
-0.67
-0.026%
7.99387
1996.360
0.31
0.01%
1.06
0.041%
8.68506
2169.050
0.42
0.02%
1.16
0.045%
9.53879
2382.450
0.64
0.03%
1.39
0.054%
10.64341
2658.070
0.44
0.02%
1.18
0.046%
Table 6 – 10mA range (Vcm = 20V).
Measured Data
I (mA)
Untrimmed Error
Vout (mV)
Absolute (mV)
Trimmed Error
Relative Absolute (mV)
Relative
0.000
0.055
0.05
0.00%
0.00
0.000%
100.303
251.400
0.95
0.04%
-0.27
-0.011%
199.851
500.786
1.76
0.07%
-0.61
-0.024%
300.618
754.046
3.41
0.13%
-0.14
-0.005%
400.330
1003.724
4.11
0.16%
-0.59
-0.023%
500.944
1255.870
5.03
0.20%
-0.85
-0.033%
601.552
1508.490
6.43
0.25%
-0.61
-0.024%
701.079
1758.470
7.90
0.31%
-0.31
-0.012%
800.656
2008.760
9.55
0.37%
0.18
0.007%
901.122
2261.360
11.29
0.44%
0.75
0.029%
1000.709
2511.350
12.61
0.49%
0.92
0.036%
Table 7 – 1A range (Vcm = 20V).
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