
AD7836
–11–
REV. 0
Automated T est E quipment.
T he AD7836 is particularly suited for use in an automated test
environment. Figure 21 shows the AD7836 providing the nec-
essary voltages for the pin driver and the window comparator in
a typical AT E pin electronics configuration. AD588s are used
to provide reference voltages for the AD7836. In the configu-
ration shown, the AD588s are configured so that the voltage at
Pin 1 is 5 V greater than the voltage at Pin 9 and the voltage at
Pin 15 is 5 V less than the voltage at Pin 9.
*
ADDITIONAL PINS OMITTED FOR CLARITY
4
6
8
13
7
3
1
15
14
9
16
2
10 11 12
1μF
+15V –15V
0.1μF
AD588
4
6
8
13
10
11
12
7
3
1
15
14
16
2
1μF
+15V –15V
AD588
8
DEVICE
GND
TO TESTER
WINDOW
COMPARATOR
–15V
+15V
V
REF
(+)A/B
V
REF
(–)A/B
DUTGND A/B
V
REF
(+)C/D
V
REF
(–)C/D
AD7836*
V
OUT
A
V
OUT
B
V
OUT
C
V
OUT
D
DUTGND C/D
AGND
V
OUT
V
OFFSET
DEVICE
GND
DEVICE
GND
PIN
DRIVER
Figure 21. ATE Application
One of the AD588s is used as a reference for DACs 1 and 2.
T hese DACs are used to provide high and low levels for the pin
driver. T he pin driver may have an associated offset. T his can
be nulled by applying an offset voltage to Pin 9 of the AD588.
First, the code 1000 . . . 0000 is loaded into the DACA latch
and the pin driver output is set to the DACA output. T he
V
OFFSET
voltage is adjusted until 0 V appears between the pin
driver output and DUT GND. T his causes both V
REF
(+) and
V
REF
(–) to be offset with respect to AGND by an amount equal
to V
OFFSET
. However, the output of the pin driver will vary
from –10 V to +10 V with respect to DUT GND as the DAC
input code varies from 000 . . . 000 to 111 . . . 111. T he
V
OFFSET
voltage is also applied to the DUT GND pins. When a
clear is performed on the AD7836, the output of the pin driver
will be 0 V with respect to Device GND.
T he other AD588 is used to provide a reference voltage for
DACs C and D. T hese provide the reference voltages for the
window comparator shown in the diagram. Note that Pin 9 of
this AD588 is connected to Device GND. T his causes
V
REF
(+)C & D and V
REF
(–)C & D to be referenced to Device
GND. As DAC 3 and DAC 4 input codes vary from
000 . . . 000 to 111 . . . 111, V
OUT
3 and V
OUT
4 vary from –10 V
to +10 V with respect to Device GND. Device GND is also
connected to DUT GND. When the AD7836 is cleared,
V
OUT
C and V
OUT
D are cleared to 0 V with respect to DEVICE
GND.
T rimDAC is a registered trademark of Analog Devices, Inc.
Programmable Reference Generation for the AD7836 in an
AT E Application.
T he AD7836 is particularly suited for use in an automated test
environment. T he reference input for the AD7836 quad 14-bit
DAC requires two references for each DAC. Programmable
references may be a requirement in some AT E applications as
the offset and gain errors at the output of each DAC can be ad-
justed by varying the voltages on the reference pins of the DAC.
T o trim offset errors, the DAC is loaded with the digital code
000 . . . 000 and the voltage on the V
REF
(–) pin is adjusted until
the desired negative output voltage is obtained. T o trim out
gain errors, first the offset error is trimmed. T hen the DAC is
loaded with the code 111 . . . 111 and the voltage on the
V
REF
(+) pin is adjusted until the desired full scale voltage
minus one LSB is obtained.
It is not uncommon in AT E design, to have other circuitry at
the output of the AD7836 that can have offset and gain errors
of up to say
±
300 mV. T hese offset and gain errors can be eas-
ily removed by adjusting the reference voltages of the AD7836.
T he AD7836 uses nominal reference values of
±
5 V to achieve
an output span of
±
10 V. Since the AD7836 has a gain of two
from the reference inputs to the DAC output, adjusting the ref-
erence voltages by
±
150 mV will adjust the DAC offset and
gain by
±
300 mV.
T here are a number of suitable 8- and 10-bit DACs available
that would be suitable to drive the reference inputs of the
AD7836, such as the AD7804 which is a quad 10-bit digital-to-
analog converter with serial load capabilities. T he voltage out-
put from this DAC is in the form of V
BIAS
±
V
SWING
and rail to
rail operation is achievable. T he voltage reference for this DAC
can be internally generated or provided externally. T his DAC
also contains an 8-bit SUB DAC which can be used to shift the
complete transfer function of each DAC around the V
BIAS
point. T his can be used as a fine trim on the output voltage. In
this Application two AD7804s are required to provide program-
mable reference capability for all four DACs. One AD7804 is
used to drive the V
REF
(+) pins and the second package used to
drive the V
REF
(–) pins.
Another suitable DAC for providing programmable reference
capability is the AD8803. T his is an octal 8-bit trimDAC
and
provides independent control of both the top and bottom ends
of the trimDAC. T his is helpful in maximizing the resolution of
devices with a limited allowable voltage control range.
T he AD8803 has an output voltage range of GND to V
DD
(0 V
to +5 V). T o trim the V
REF
(+) input, the appropriate trim
range on the AD8803 DAC can be set using the V
REFL
and
V
REFH
pins allowing 8 bits of resolution between the two points.
T his will allow the V
REF
(+) pin to be adjusted to remove gain
errors.
T o trim the V
REF
(–) voltage, some method of providing a trim
voltage in the required negative voltage range is required. Nei-
ther the AD7804 or the AD8803 can provide this range in nor-
mal operation as their output range is 0 V to +5 V. T here are
two methods of producing this negative voltage. One method is
to provide a positive output voltage and then to level shift that
analog voltage to the required negative range. Alternatively
these DACs can be operated with supplies of 0 V and a –5 V,
with the V
DD
pin connected to 0 V and the GND pin connected