EYE on NPI – Analog Devices AD5413 Digital-to-Analog Converter

We're living in a digital world, but eventually, every engineering project has to get down to the analog level. This week's EYE ON NPI is the Analog Devices AD5413 (https://www.digikey.com/short/pbqzchnr) is a 'swiss-army DAC' - a digital to analog converter that has a lot of extras to make it very easy for engineers who like to deal with bits and software, not analog components. Especially for those that need reliability and accountability in their electronic components!

Usage is pretty simple, the protocol is a classic SPI transmission. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_...) 32 bits form one transmission, with one start bit, 2 address bits, 5 register bits, 16 data bits and 8 CRC bits. The two address bits are a little like I2C, even though this is SPI - you can have four AD5413's on one SPI bus with the same CS pin. A little uncommon, but maybe useful in low-pin-count or chained connections. The 5 registers let you set the voltage or current output, modes like single-ended or split-supply, check diagnostics and chip ID. Slew-rate management and overshoot compensation is all configurable. There's even a die temperature monitor! Compare this to most basic DAC chips where you only 'write' to the DAC, there's no registers or read-back for status.

With 14-bit voltage or current output, it's got high resolution and multi-project usage. It's designed specifically for industrial uses, (https://www.digikey.com/en/product-hi...) but we think it could also come in handy for analog electronics situations where you have biassing needs that require a split supply. Sure you could use a 0-3.3V DAC and then do a bunch of analog op-amp circuitry to get the range you want, but why add that complexity to your life? You'd have to deal with offset voltages and op-amp specifications when the AD5413 chip does it all!

Reading through the datasheet, (https://www.analog.com/en/products/ad...) it's clear ADI really thought about everything that could go wrong in the field. The whole product is designed from bottom up to make reliability and error reporting easy to manage. For many products, the high integration may make it the only chip that is required for the analog-front-end. That leaves you, the engineer, with more time to work on firmware, and less time re-spinning boards and spec'ing feedback paths and compensation capacitors.

For a rock-solid industrial DAC with wide voltage range, voltage and current output, and more fault-management than the US Geological Survey (https://www.usgs.gov/), pick up an Analog Devices AD5413 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/d...) - it's an all-in-one solution for industrial/automation needs with excellent documentation and an eval board you can buy right now. (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/d.... Order the AD5413 today (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/d...) for immediate shipping, and you can have it in hand tomorrow for integration into your next industrial design!

See on Digi-Key at https://www.digikey.com/short/pbqzchnr