Amplifier and Comparator Chips Information

Amplifier and comparator chips are board-level components for amplifying voltage, current, or power. There are several basic types of amplifier and comparator chips. Differential amplifier chips are designed to amplify a small difference between two signal levels and ignore any common level shared between them. Instrumentation amplifier chips are precision amplifier circuits with both high-impedance differential inputs and high common-mode rejection. The differential gain can be adjusted by changing the value of a single resistor. 

Logarithmic amplifier chips (log amp chips) produce an output voltage that is directly proportional to the logarithm of the input voltage. Operational amplifier chips (op amp chips) are general-purpose, closed loop devices used to implement linear functions. They compare two incoming signals and release a third that is an amplified measure of the difference between the two. Power operational amplifier (POA) chips are used to increase the power of low-level signals in applications that drive low impedances or reactive loads. Pulse width modulated (PWM) amplifier chips generate a current that switches between high and low output levels. Sample-and-hold amplifier chips freeze analog voltage instantly. During this process the HOLD command is issued and analog voltage is available for an extended period. Specialized amplifier and comparator chips are also available.

Amplifier and comparator chips differ in terms of performance specifications and available features. Specifications for differential amplifier chips include bandwidth, gain, minimum gain, supply voltage, supply current, offset voltage, slew rate, and harmonic distortion (second and third harmonics). 

Features include number of leads, package type, and power-down options. Specifications for instrumentation amplifier chips include input common-mode voltage range to negative rail, rail to rail (input or output), gain, minimum stable closed loop gain, maximum supply current, maximum voltage offset, typical common mode rejection ratio, typical power supply rejection ratio, maximum input bias current, typical unity gain bandwidth, typical slew rate, input voltage noise, and input current noise. 

Specifications for power operational amplifier chips include supply voltage range, internal power dissipation, quiescent current, and power bandwidth. Features for these amplifier and comparator chips include on-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, rail-to-rail outputs, and embedded current limits. Parameters for PWM amplifier chips include output current, input offset voltage, supply voltage range, internal power dissipation, and quiescent current. Specialized amplifier and comparator chips also differ in terms of specifications and features.

• Sensing Light with a Programmable Gain Amplifier
  and then into the a PICmicro. microcontroller. The second path is indicated with the. VIN(min) (VOUT(min) + (G ­ 1)VREF) / G. dash lines above the filter and ADC. This is a purely. digital path where the PGA circuit should be designed. VIN(max) (VOUT(max) + (G ­ 1)VREF) / G. to operate as a comparator instead...
• A Simple Circuit for Driving Microcontroller Friendly PWM Generators
  for designing a switching power supply as a peripheral to a microcontroller: a set/reset flip-flop, a high-speed voltage comparator and an op amp to implement the error amplifier. The microcontroller controls the MCP1630 through its clock input. The frequency of the clock determines the pulse...
• Analog on the fly
  for an LVDT consists of a 2.5 kHz sine-wave generator, low-pass filters, rectifiers, and summing amplifiers, all of which are implemented in an FPAA. The AN10E40 FPAA offers 20 configurable analog blocks (CABs). Each CAB contains an op amp, comparator, five switchedcapacitor arrays, and other. Analog...