TABLE OF CONTENTS Existing microcontrollers fall short of fully implementing the standard in silicon, whether because of functionality or prohibitive cost. For example, the standard transducer interface module (STIM) portion of the standard specifies the sensor interface electronics, signal conditioning, data conversion, calibration, linearisation, basic communication capability, and non-volatile 565-byte TEDS. Some microcontrollers with integrated 8- or 10-bit ADCs of comparator based slope conversion can implement most of the STIM functionality, but are limited in conversion speed and accuracy. Moreover, few available controllers have economically integrated analogue conversion together with high density EEPROM because of the additional process complexity requirements of both functions.
These limitations are overcome by recently introduced components such as the AduC812 MicroConverter [37] from Analog Devices, which integrates key STIM elements with 12-bit, 5 ?s data conversion on a single chip for high accuracy, fast conversion time applications such as battery monitoring, pressure and temperature management, gas monitoring, and leak detection. In a typical application, the AduC812 conditions and converts signals from various types of sensors, sends signals to actuators and display devices, and communicates with the host microprocessor over signal and control lines.
The AduC812 MicroConverter is supported by a development system that includes documentation, applications board, power supply, serial port cable, and software. Provided on a 3.5 inch floppy disk, the software consists of an assembler, simulator, debugger, serial down loader, and example code.
