"High performance,
board space, power
consumption, and cost
are always concerns.
Delivering the best
performance with the
least amount of power in
the smallest board space
is a constant challenge."
Hao Jie Chan
Staff Analog Hardware Engineer,
National Instruments
Chapter Two
Optimizing a Signal Chain
for Unique Application
Requirements
While the use of industry-leading precision components can help achieve a precision signal chain,
the solution is not always that simple. Importantly, different end applications feature different
specifications, and a signal chain that works well in one device may not be suited for another.
Different kinds of signal chains need to deal with different kinds of signals, and different sensors
may produce outputs that vary in terms of frequency, bandwidth, alternating current/direct current
(AC/DC) levels, overall system power requirements, and more. Thus, a high-precision signal chain
that is optimized for one application is unlikely to be optimized for another: no "one-size-fits-all"
solution exists for signal chains.
Beyond this, while high accuracy will always be a requirement in precision technology, many
applications seek to achieve other equally important criteria. Alongside precision, many products
and use cases may be concerned with criteria such as low power, small area, low cost, and high
repeatability. For example, a battery-powered IoT device may be concerned with achieving the
lowest power signal chain possible while maintaining high precision.
Designers tend to require that their precision signal chains include the highest DC precision, the
highest precision with fast sampling, and the highest precision at low power. Importantly, these
criteria share a common theme of high precision and accuracy.
10 | Optimizing a Signal Chain for Unique Application Requirements
