"Today's ubiquitous
portable devices rely
on batteries and use
sensor-based signal
chains for automation.
These analog signal
chains should consume
as little power as
possible to increase
battery life."
Nishith Patel
Principal Hardware Engineer,
ABB GISPL
Optimizing for Highest
Precision at Lowest Power
In many applications, especially those that are remote or portable, low-power operation is as
important as high-precision measurements.
For example, a battery-powered condition-based monitoring (CbM) device needs accurate,
reliable measurement but also requires the longest battery life possible. In these applications,
precision low-power signal chains provide a range of solutions that bring value to address
differing optimization scenarios.
Chapter Five
Everyone is going to have different requirements and needs
depending on both their power source and how long they need their
device to run. Designers will have to do a certain level of performance
tradeoff, with the goal being to optimize their design to achieve
the best noise performance possible while enabling power to be
minimized as much as possible
Aine McCarthy
Signal Chain Applications Engineer at ADI
To achieve high precision with low power, the signal chain should be optimized for maximum
efficiency. The first step to realizing this is to employ components that feature low-power
specifications such as low supply voltage operation and small operating and quiescent currents.
20 | Optimizing for Highest Precision at Lowest Power
