Sensors feel digital pressure
Anyone who has connected a field instrument to an analog input card for a DCS, PLC or PC-based data acquisition or control system has faced the issue of analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion. Signal conversion always involves compromises in accuracy and speed. Digital communication with fieldbus eliminates the problem, right? Not exactly; fieldbus may simply move the A/D interface from the control room to the field. The vast majority of measuring instruments have analog sensors with signals that must be converted to strings of bits somewhere, somehow. Instrument manufacturers must embrace digital technology in sensor design, not just in transmitter design. One way to address the issue is to use microsystems technology, such as microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Research at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, for example, is aimed at fabricating devices in silicon with all the components of a data-acquisition unit integrated on one chip. These smart sensors would host the sensor itself along with signal conditioning and A/D conversion circuits, and circuits for digital interfacing with a data processor. A/D conversion is still there, but encapsulated within and characterized as part of the sensor. Single-chip integration allows more signal processing within a manageable-sized package. Also, eliminating transmission of the analog signal, even within an instrument, reduces the chance for noise pickup. Less noise means instrument accuracy closer to actual sensor accuracy. 2 figs.
- OSTI ID:
- 486243
- Journal Information:
- InTech, Vol. 43, Issue 5; Other Information: PBD: May 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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