
AD600/AD602
This system can, of course, be used as an AGC amplifier in 
which the rms value of the input is leveled. Figure 43 shows the 
decibel output voltage. More revealing is Figure 44, which 
shows that the deviation from the ideal output predicted by 
Equation 1 over the input range 80 μV to 500 mV rms is within 
±0.5 dB, and within ±1 dB for the 80 dB range from 80 μV to 
800 mV. By suitable choice of the input attenuator R1 + R2, this 
can be centered to cover any range from a low of 25 mV to 
250 mV to a high of 1 mV to 10 V, with appropriate correction 
to the value of V
REF
. Note that V
SCALE
 is not affected by the 
changes in the range. The gain ripple of ±0.2 dB seen in this 
curve is the result of the finite interpolation error of the  
X-AMP. Note that it occurs with a periodicity of 12 dB, twice 
the separation between the tap points (because of the two 
cascaded stages). 
Rev. E | Page 21 of 28 
5
0
–5
1
2
3
4
–4
–3
–2
–1
10μ
100μ
10
1
100m
10m
1m
INPUT SIGNAL (V rms)
V
O
0
Figure 43. The dB Output of Figure 41’s Circuit is Linear over an 80 dB Range 
2.5
0
–2.5
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
–2.0
–1.5
–1.0
–0.5
O
10μ
100μ
10
1
100m
10m
1m
INPUT SIGNAL (V rms)
0
Figure 44. Data from Figure 42 Presented as the Deviation  
from the Ideal Output Given in Equation 4 
This ripple can be canceled whenever the X-AMP stages are 
cascaded by introducing a 3 dB offset between the two pairs of 
control voltages. A simple means to achieve this is shown in 
Figure 45: the voltages at C1HI and C2HI are split by 
±46.875 mV, or ±1.5 dB. Alternatively, either one of these pins 
can be individually offset by 3 dB and a 1.5 dB gain adjustment 
made at the input attenuator (R1 + R2). 
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
U1
AD600
C1HI
A1CM
A1OP
VPOS
VNEG
A2OP
A2CM
C2HI
+6V DEC
–6V DEC
C2
2μF
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
VINP
VNEG
CAVG
VLOG
BFOP
BFIN
U2
AD636
NC
NC
NC
–6V DEC
–46.875mV
NC = NO CONNECT
10k
10k
+6V
DEC
–6V
DEC
78.7
78.7
3dB OFFSET
MODIFICATION
+46.875mV
0
Figure 45. Reducing the Gain Error Ripple 
The error curve shown in Figure 46 demonstrates that over the 
central portion of the range the output voltage can be maintained 
close to the ideal value. The penalty for this modification is the 
higher errors at the extremities of the range. The next two 
applications show how three amplifier sections can be cascaded 
to extend the nominal conversion range to 120 dB, with the 
inclusion of simple LP filters of the type shown in Figure 37. 
Very low errors can then be maintained over a 100 dB range. 
2.5
0
–2.5
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
–2.0
–1.5
–1.0
–0.5
O
10μ
100μ
10
1
100m
10m
1m
INPUT SIGNAL (V rms)
0
Figure 46. Using a 3 dB Offset Network Reduces Ripple 
100 dB TO 120 dB RMS RESPONDING CONSTANT 
BANDWIDTH AGC SYSTEMS WITH HIGH 
ACCURACY dB OUTPUTS 
The next two applications double as both AGC amplifiers and 
measurement systems. In both, precise gain offsets are used to 
achieve either a high gain linearity of ±0.1 dB over the full 
100 dB range or the optimal SNR at any gain.