
AD629 
APPLICATIONS 
BASIC CONNECTIONS 
Figure 30 shows the basic connections for operating the AD629 
with a dual supply. A supply voltage of between ±3 V and ±18 V  
is applied between Pin 7 and Pin 4. Both supplies should be 
decoupled close to the pins using 0.1 μF capacitors. Electrolytic 
capacitors of 10 μF, also located close to the supply pins, may be 
required if low frequency noise is present on the power supply. 
While multiple amplifiers can be decoupled by a single set of 
10 μF capacitors, each in amp should have its own set of 0.1 μF 
capacitors so that the decoupling point can be located right at 
the IC’s power pins.  
Rev. B | Page 10 of 16 
REF (–)
REF (+)
–V
S
–V
S
+V
S
+V
S
V
OUT
 = I
SHUNT
 × R
SHUNT
NC
–IN
+IN
R
SHUNT
I
SHUNT
(SEE
TEXT)
(SEE
TEXT)
0.1μF
0.1μF
+3V TO +18V
–3V TO –18V
NC = NO CONNECT
21.1k
380k
380k
20k
380k
AD629
1
2
3
4
8
7
6
5
0
Figure 30. Basic Connections 
The differential input signal, which typically results from a load 
current flowing through a small shunt resistor, is applied to 
Pin 2 and Pin 3 with the polarity shown to obtain a positive 
gain. The common-mode range on the differential input signal 
can range from 270 V to +270 V and the maximum differential 
range is ±13 V. When configured as shown in Figure 30, the 
device operates as a simple gain-of-1, differential-to-single-
ended amplifier; the output voltage being the shunt resistance 
times the shunt current. The output is measured with respect to 
Pin 1 and Pin 5. 
Pin 1 and Pin 5 (REF(–) and REF(+)) should be grounded for a 
gain of unity and should be connected to the same low impedance 
ground plane. Failure to do this results in degraded common-
mode rejection. Pin 8 is a no connect pin and should be left open. 
SINGLE-SUPPLY OPERATION 
Figure 31 shows the connections for operating the AD629 with 
a single supply. Because the output can swing to within only 
about 2 V of either rail, it is necessary to apply an offset to the 
output. This can be conveniently done by connecting REF(+) 
and REF(–) to a low impedance reference voltage (some ADCs 
provide this voltage as an output), which is capable of sinking 
current. Therefore, for a single supply of 10 V, V
REF
 may be set 
to 5 V for a bipolar input signal. This allows the output to swing 
±3 V around the central 5 V reference voltage. Alternatively, for 
unipolar input signals, V
REF
 can be set to about 2 V, allowing the 
output to swing from 2 V (for a 0 V input) to within 2 V of the 
positive rail. 
REF (–)
REF (+)
–V
S
V
Y
V
X
+V
S
+V
S
NC
–IN
+IN
R
SHUNT
I
SHUNT
0.1μF
NC = NO CONNECT
21.1k
380k
380k
20k
380k
AD629
1
2
3
4
8
7
6
5
0
OUTPUT = V
OUT
 – V
REF
V
REF
Figure 31. Operation with a Single Supply 
Applying a reference voltage to REF(+) and REF(–) and 
operating on a single supply reduces the input common-mode 
range of the AD629. The new input common-mode range 
depends upon the voltage at the inverting and noninverting 
inputs of the internal operational amplifier, labeled V
X
 and V
Y
in Figure 31. These nodes can swing to within 1 V of either rail. 
Therefore, for a (single) supply voltage of 10 V, V
X
 and V
Y
 can 
range between 1 V and 9 V. If V
REF
 is set to 5 V, the permissible 
common-mode range is +85 V to –75 V. The common-mode 
voltage ranges can be calculated by 
V
CM
 (±) = 20 
V
X
/V
Y
(±)  19 
V
REF
SYSTEM-LEVEL DECOUPLING AND GROUNDING 
The use of ground planes is recommended to minimize the 
impedance of ground returns (and therefore the size of dc 
errors). Figure 32 shows how to work with grounding in a 
mixed-signal environment, that is, with digital and analog 
signals present. To isolate low level analog signals from a noisy 
digital environment, many data acquisition components have 
separate analog and digital ground returns. All ground pins 
from mixed-signal components, such as ADCs, should return 
through a low impedance analog ground plane. Digital ground 
lines of mixed-signal converters should also be connected to the 
analog ground plane. Typically, analog and digital grounds 
should be separated; however, it is also a requirement to 
minimize the voltage difference between digital and analog 
grounds on a converter, to keep them as small as possible 
(typically <0.3 V). The increased noise, caused by the 
converter’s digital return currents flowing through the analog 
ground plane, is typically negligible. Maximum isolation 
between analog and digital is achieved by connecting the ground 
planes back at the supplies. Note that Figure 32 suggests a “star” 
ground system for the analog circuitry, with all ground lines 
being connected, in this case, to the ADC’s analog ground. 
However, when ground planes are used, it is sufficient to 
connect ground pins to the nearest point on the low impedance 
ground plane.