Analog to Digital Converter

More Information

An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is an electronic circuit that transforms a continuous analog signal into a discrete digital representation. It essentially "captures" the analog signal at specific time intervals and quantizes it into a digital value. This digital value is typically a binary number, allowing for further processing and storage in digital systems.

Here's a more detailed explanation:
1.Analog Signals: These signals are continuous and can take on any value within a range, like the voltage output of a sensor or the sound waves captured by a microphone.
2.Digital Signals: These signals are discrete, meaning they can only exist in a finite number of states, typically represented by binary digits (0s and 1s).
3.ADC Function: The ADC takes a continuous analog signal and, through a process called sampling, measures its value at specific points in time.
4.Quantization: The ADC then converts this sampled value into a digital representation, often a binary number, by assigning it to one of a limited number of discrete levels or steps. This process introduces a quantization error, which is the difference between the original analog value and its quantized digital representation.