Michael Cobb
Analog Devices

This article demonstrates that analog-to-digital converters can be powered directly from switching power supplies with no loss in performance if careful design practice is followed. The converter's performance showed no degradation when powered from the ADP2114 switching supply versus ADP1708 linear supplies. Using a switching power supply can improve supply efficiency by 30 to 40 percent and significantly reduce overall power consumption—even more than simply selecting a lower power converter. In many systems these devices are running continuously, so employing switching power supplies results in significantly lower operating costs with no penalty in performance.