austriamicrosystems (SWX: AMS), a leading global designer and manufacturer of analog integrated circuits (ICs) for communication, industrial, medical and automotive applications, presents its innovative AS8500/AS8501 family of high-precision sensor interfaces used for the acquisition of physical quantities. These novel products are capable of collecting a great variety of measurements that can be displayed in the form of voltage or resistance values in superior resolution and quality. Featuring a resolution of less than 10mA in a measuring range of up to 1500A, these offset-free data acquisition ICs are ideal for extreme environments, such as battery management systems in vehicles and multiple applications in the industrial and medical sectors.

In the AS8500/AS8501 devices, data are fed to a programmable preamplifier via chopper circuitry, then transmitted to a 16 bit A/D converter, before being offset-corrected in the digital area. Finally, the data is calibrated and filtered by a DSP. The measured data are transferred to an external microprocessor via a serial interface, where sampling rates of up to 16kHz are obtained despite its complex processing procedure. The new products also include a high-precision voltage reference, an integrated IC temperature measurement element, and an internal calibration parameter storage.

The devices’ excellent noise values of under 1µV in the frequency range of up to 10Hz are achieved through overall circuit optimization, for instance, special focus was put on internal decoupling between analog and digital IC circuitry. The outstanding analog performance of the AS8501 is ensured by a specifically designed robot system that tests the IC’s individual analog parameters, determines specific trim parameters by means of a complex calibration routine, and stores these data in the IC. The AS8500, on the other hand, is delivered with a standard trim setting.

“The offset-free AS8500 and AS8501 set new standards in the area of high-precision analog data processing, offering noise values of less than 1µV, a linearity error below 0.1%, and a resolution of up to 21 bits using external averaging“, explains Bernhard Czar, Marketing Director Automotive at austriamicrosystems. “This is the first time a standard product offers such a performance in analog data processing, which proves once again austriamicrosystems’ leading market position in the field of high-precision analog sensor interfaces“.

The devices AS8500 and AS8501 are available in a lead-free SOIC16 package. For product specific information and to request samples please go to http://www.austriamicrosystems.com/03products/07_data_converters.htm

About austriamicrosystems
austriamicrosystems is a leading designer and manufacturer of high performance analog ICs, combining almost 25 years of analog design capabilities and system know-how with its own state-of-the-art manufacturing and test facilities. austriamicrosystems leverages its expertise in low power and high accuracy to provide industry-leading customized and standard analog products. Operating worldwide with more than 850 employees, austriamicrosystems focuses on the areas of power management, sensors & sensor interfaces, portable audio and car access in its markets Communications, Industry & Medical and Automotive, complemented by its Full Service Foundry activities. austriamicrosystems is listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange in Zurich (ticker symbol: AMS).