A SMALL ASTRONOMY SATELLITE ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER.
Abstract
A dual-slope, integrating, analog-to-digital converter, designed specifically to meet the Small Astronomy Satellite requirements, is described and analyzed. This converter employs a unique, closed loop compensation method to negate the requirement of components with tight tolerances and eliminate errors due to component parameter drifts. By supplying as a binary word the ratio of the analog input signal to an externally provided stable reference voltage, this converter will perform an eight millisecond, eight bit, integrating conversion in 16 milli-seconds maximum time, at least 55 conversions per second. It consumes about 250 mw and has an estimated mean time between failures of almost 40 years. As the SAS requirements are typical of small satellites, this converter is directly applicable to most such spacecraft. This design was experimentally tested and assessed for associated errors. The sum of these errors was found to be much less than the normal quantization error associated with the analog-to-digital conversion. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0690475
Entities
People
- Phillip D. Olbert
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory