V to F Converter

VOLTAGE-TO-FREQUENCY CONVERTER
Internal circuit of LM331 IC
+Vcc VOLTAGE REFERENCE

LM331
OP AMP

+
3

RS

CURRENT MIRROR Q5 R1 Q4 IS

+Vcc

+Vcc

IS 1,89V

RP

CL 1 RL RB
+Vi n +Vcc

Q6 ONE SHOT TIMER

3 R1 Fout

6 7 8

+
1 VOLT COMP R VOLT COMP 5 CT 2R Q1 4 2
S R Q Q

Q2 Q3 15

RT

In direct transmission of an analog signal (below), VAN will be more easily corrupted by noise. TEM PERA TURE SEN SO R SI GNA L I N TERFA CE SI GN A L

FI LTER

V AN

V AN

NOI SE

By converting VAN to a large signal whose frequency is proportional to VAN, the transmission of the signal becomes much less corruptible by external noise. TEM PERA TURE SEN SO R F to V CO NV ERTER

V AN

V AN
I N TERFA CE

V to F CO NVERTER

SI GNA L

SI GNA L

+
NOI SE

FI L T ER LEV EL DECTECTO R Page 1-

C. Sauriol

Rev. 1/17/2003

V to F Converter

V to F Converter
Timing Diagram
m += I s -(V ave/R L) C L V in V ave m - = V ave R L CL

V CL
V CL = V 6 m += I s C
L

RIPPLE VOLTAGE

initial transient charging C from 0 to V 0 IS

in + V L

FIXED PW
1,1 CT RT

VARIABLE SW T out - 1,1 CT RT

I1 0 V cc 2/3 V V CT = V 5 0 V cc V out 0 cc

SET

RESET

The DC current, or average current, through capacitor CL is 0A once the VCL waveform has settled.

TIMER

ISW ( ave )

= I RL ( ave ) + IC L ( ave )

I SW IS RL Vi n 0 A ave CL

V + 0, 5 VC L PW V IS = in + 0 in if Vin VC L T RL RL

F out =

1 Vin Vin RS Vin RS = = Tout IS RL PW Vref RL Ln(3) RT CT 2,09 RL RT CT

I Vin RL = SW m = (T PW ) Vin VL = PW m + = PW S RLCL CL

C. Sauriol Rev. 1/17/2003

V to F Converter

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V to F Converter
NOTE: To obtain good linearity at low values of Vin, the ripple voltage VL must be very small which means that the time constant RLCL must be very large and this makes the converter very slow to react to changes of Vin. When ripple is very small, the frequency of the V to F depends on a very small signal easily corruptible with noise or spurious signals which may result in an erratic O/P frequency. For small values of Vin, the equation derived for Fout is not accurate because ripple must be factored in and Fout becomes a non-linear function of Vin. Basic V-F Converter
Cin CBY
Vcc

0, 1 F 0, 1 F

+1 5 V

Vi n

RBAL
6 2

RL RHYS

CL RS

3 out L M 5 thr 3 RC 3 1 Ire 1 Isw gnd 4 in

8 Vcc

RP

RT Fout

+1 0 mV to +1 0 V

Vi n 100K

7 6

8 Vcc in

10K 3

6, 8K Fout 1 0 Hz to 1 0 kHz

100K

1 F 5K

12K

CT
47 Fmax adj ust

out L M 5 thr 3 RC 3 1 Ire 1 Isw gnd 4

0, 01 F

From

F out =

Vin RS 2,09 RL RT CT

we find that Rs = 14212 will produce a 10 kHz full scale output given the

standard values on the diagram. The 5k pot will have to be adjusted to some other value because of component tolerance. PW = 1,1 RTCT = 1,1*6800*0,01 = 74,8 s fixed Is = 1,89V/14212 = 133 A For F = 10 Hz to 10 kHz, duty Cycle = 74,8/(0,1 to 100) * 100 = 0,0748% to 74,8% NOTE: PW and duty cycle refer to the switched current source Isw(pin#1). The duty cycle of the output waveform is inverted, that is D/Cout = 99,925% to 25,2%. Vo+ +15V and Vo- 0V

Ripple Voltage
+ VL = PW m = PW

133 (10m 10) 100 k IC = 74,8 = 9,94m 2,47 mVpp CL 1

NOTE: Those small ripple values make the V to F vulnerable to noise and unreliable operation may result. At 10 Hz the discharge of CL is not linear (it is exponential) because RLCL = 0,1s = T SW. The speed of the V-F converter is determine by the time constant RLCL. For the above circuit, the rise time of Vthr is : tr = 0,35/(Fc) = 0,35* 2*RLCL = 0,22s which is rather slow. For a faster response of Vthr (and Fout) RLCL should be made smaller but this will entail more ripple voltage across CL and therefore less accuracy at low Vin and Fout values. Hysteresis The amount of hysteresis of the input comparator, for clean and faster switching (no crossover oscillations), is VHYS = IsRHYS = 133 * 47 = 6,25 mV - this will impair low Vin operation. C. Sauriol Rev. 1/17/2003

V to F Converter

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V to F Converter
Choice of RinCin The input RC low-pass filter produces a cutoff frequency of Fc = (2*100k*0,1)-1 = 15,9 Hz. It is used to filter down any HF noise that contaminates the DC input voltage. If the input DC voltage is changed abruptly to a new value, the LM331 input (Vin at pin 7) will settle to its new value in about 5RinCin=5*100K*0,1 = 50 ms. Therefore the response time of the output frequency will the compounded value of tr of Vin + tr of Vthr. Choice of RTCT Maximum duty cycle (PW/T)*100 = 1,1 RTCT * Fmax < 95% and should leave enough time for the internal circuit to reset when SW = T-PW becomes very small. PW should not be too small either. Choice of RLCL Select RLCL for desired maximum ripple

I Vin RL = (T PW ) Vin VL = PW S CL RL CL

and for desired rise time of Vthr : tr = 0,35*2*RLCL Waveforms showing effect of hysteresis provided by RHYS on V6 waveform. When Vin is detected by the comparator, V6 pulls up abruptly to prevent oscillations (chattering) at the internal comparator output.

V CL V RHYS V6 V in HYST

IMPROVED V to F CONVERTER
I NTEGRATOR V t o F CONVERTER Vo1

-ve V in1

RE

IE

0 A av e

CF

+1 5 V

A1

7 6

I sw Is
2

3 out L M 5 thr 3 RC 3 1 Ire 1 Isw gnd in 4

8 Vcc

RT

Rp

Fout

Ps Rs

CT

C. Sauriol

Rev. 1/17/2003

V to F Converter

Page 4-

The above converter has a very linear V to F characteristic because its output frequency is totally independant of the ripple voltage present at Vin (pin 7) of the LM331. For fast and reliable operation of the V to F converter, CF can be made very small in order to get subtantial ripple - 1Vpp recommended Converter equations

V to F Converter

ISW = IS PW = IE + IC F ave = I E = T IS
PW T

Vin RE Ln(3) RT CT F out = Vin RE

Vin RE

Vref RS + PS

F out =

Vin (RS + P Vin (RS + PS ) 1 S) = = T Vref RE Ln (3) RT CT RE 1.89 1.1 RT CT IE (I I ) (T PW ) = sw E PW CF CF

Vin =

The basic waveforms are shown below.

m += I E/C F

m - = -(I sw -I E)/C

V in
V in V thr V thr - 0,5

V in

IS I sw 0A 15V V out 0V PW = RT CT Ln(3)

The output frequency can be made to respond very rapidly to an abrupt change in Vin by selecting a small value for CF which entails a large ripple voltage for Vin of LM331.

C. Sauriol

Rev. 1/17/2003

V to F Converter

Page 5-

V to F Converter
BASIC F TO V CONVERTER
+1 5 V

470 10k pF 1 0 Hz to 1 0 kHz Vi n

10k 7 3k 6 in

12K

3 out L M 5 thr 3 RC 3 1 Ire 1 Isw gnd 4 0, 01 F

8 Vcc

0, 1 F 6, 8K

IC SUPPLY BY- PA SS CA P Vout

100k

+
1 0 0 k 0, 1 F 0, 1 F DC OUTPUT +1 0 mV to +1 0 V

Vmax adj ust

5K

15k

10k

+5V

V in
0V

V THR V in(IC)
+7,5V +2,5V +9V

+12,5V

SET

PW

SET

+10V

V CT

0V

RESET V REF RS ISW V C1 V OUT V C2

C. Sauriol Rev. 1/17/2003
(DC)

0A

PW

V to F Converter

Page 6-

The DC output voltage is :

V to F Converter

Vout ( ave) = ISW ( ave ) RL = I S

( ) R
PW Tin 2

Vref RS

1, 1 RT CT Fin RL =

2,09 RTCT Fin RL RS

The output ripple voltage is given by - see appendix for derivation:

I R PW 1 Vout ( pp ) = S L 1 for F > (10RLCL)-1 8 F PW RL CL

The output filter has the following TF:

R2 C 2 ) R2 C 2 ) 1 ( ( F( S) = 2 2 2 = = S + 0,382 S + 2,618 R C S + 3RCS + 1 S 2 + 3 S + 1 RC R 2C 2 RC RC

1 1

The above TF allows us to determine the rise and fall times of Vout in response to an input frequency jump. The approximate value can be determined from the first cutoff frequency:

tr = t f

0.35 0.35 = = 5.757 RC FC1 0.382 2 RC

The internal latch SET pulsewidth (PW set) must be less than the current pulsewidth PW T = 1,1 RTCT , otherwise the circuit will not work properly. PW set is determined by the input coupling capacitor and the input resistance

10 K 10 K . V VF = 5 K 470 p Ln 12.5 7.5 = 2.83 s PWSET = Rin Cin Ln 1 9 7.5 V2 VF PWT = 1,1 RT CT = 1,1 6.8 K 0.01 = 74.8 s
NOTE: PW set = 2.83 s may not be long enough to set the internal RS latch - minimum time not specified.

NOTE: If the input square wave has a large amplitude, the protection diodes will turn on and the exponential pulses at the junction of the two 10K resistors will have two time constants, that is:

(10 K 10 K + 3 K ) 470 p
(10 K

when one of the diodes is ON

10 K ) x 470p when the diodes are OFF.

C. Sauriol

Rev. 1/17/2003

V to F Converter

Page 7-

V to F Converter
APPENDIX 1 Derivation Of Output Ripple Voltage

N O RTO N

THEVENI N V C1
R2

V C2
R1

V C1
R2

V C2

I SW

R1

C1

C2

I R SW 1

V TH

C1

C2

I R SW 1 V TH
0V

PW

V O U T (D C )

V C1 V O U T (D C ) V C2

VC1 ( PP )

1 = R1C1

t2

V
t1

TH ( AC)

dt =

1 1 PW (IS R1 Vave ) = PW IS R1 IS R1 R1C1 R1C1

PW T 2

( ))
PW T

VC1 ( PP ) = VC 2 ( PP ) = VC 2 ( PP )

1 PW IS R1 1 R1C1 1 R2 C2
t2

( ( ))= R1C PW
1 1

IS R1

1 1 PW T

)
( )
2

VC1 ( AC ) dt =
t1

1 R1 C1

1 2

VC 1 ( PP ) T 1 = 2 2

1 VC1 ( PP ) T 8 R1C1

1 T 1 = PW 2 IS R1 R1C1 8 R1 C1

1 1 PW T

PW T IS R1 = 1 PW 8 R1C1

NOTE: R1C1 = R2C2

C. Sauriol

Rev. 1/17/2003

V to F Converter

Page 8-