Question

Basic function of ADC is to convert

• A. Analog to Digital
• B. Digital to Analog
• C. Voltage to Current
• D. Current to Voltage

Hint:

- ADC: Analog-to-Digital Converter (e.g., microphone input to computer memory). - DAC: Digital-to-Analog Converter (e.g., audio data from a phone converted to drive a speaker).

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Concept: In electronic systems, signals are categorized based on how they represent data. Real-world parameters like temperature, sound waves, and pressure are naturally continuous in both time and amplitude. These are classified as analog signals. On the other hand, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), and computational systems manipulate numbers represented as discrete binary codes (composed of 0s and 1s), known as digital signals. The acronym ADC stands explicitly for Analog-to-Digital Converter. The primary operational function of an ADC involves transforming a continuous analog voltage waveform into a sequence of discrete digital binary values. This conversion sequence relies on three consecutive steps:
• Sampling: Measuring the continuous-time analog signal at uniform intervals governed by a sampling frequency \(f_s\).
• Quantization: Mapping the continuous, infinite amplitude values obtained during sampling onto a finite set of discrete voltage levels.
• Encoding: Converting these quantized amplitude levels into a unique digital binary code word consisting of \(n\) bits. Thus, the primary operational function of an ADC is converting an analog input signal into a digital output format.