Data Sheet
AD8475
Rev. C | Page 17 of 24
THEORY OF OPERATION
OVERVIEW
T
he AD8475 is a fully differential amplifier, with integrated laser-
trimmed resistors, that provides precision attenuating gains of
0.4 and 0.8. The internal differential amplifier of t
he AD8475differs from conventional operational amplifiers in that it has
two outputs whose voltages are equal in magnitude, but move in
opposite directions (180° out of phase). An additional input,
VOCM, sets the output common-mode voltage. Like an opera-
tional amplifier, it relies on high open-loop gain and negative
feedback to force the output nodes to the desired voltages. The
AD8475 is designed to greatly simplify single-ended-to-
differential conversion, common-mode level shifting and
precision attenuation of large signals so that they are compatible
with low voltage, differential input ADCs.
09432-
062
1k
1.25k
AD8475
–IN 0.8x –IN 0.4x
+VS
VOCM
+OUT
+IN 0.8x +IN 0.4x
–VS
NC
–OUT
1.25k
Figure 49. Block Diagram
CIRCUIT INFORMATION
therefore, the amplifier exhibits a nominally constant gain
bandwidth product. Like a voltage feedback operational
amplifier, t
he AD8475 also has high input impedance at its
internal input terminals (the summing nodes of the internal
amplifier) and low output impedance.
T
he AD8475 employs two feedback loops, one each to control
the differential and common-mode output voltages. The differen-
tial feedback loop, which is fixed with precision laser trimmed
on-chip resistors, controls the differential output voltage.
Output Common-Mode Voltage (VOCM)
The internal common-mode feedback controls the common-
mode output voltage. This architecture makes it easy to set the
output common-mode level to any arbitrary value independent
of the input voltage. The output common-mode voltage is
forced by the internal common-mode feedback loop to be equal
to the voltage applied to the VOCM input. The VOCM pin can
be left unconnected, and the output common-mode voltage
self-biases to midsupply by the internal feedback control.
Due to the internal common-mode feedback loop and the fully
differential topology of the amplifier, the
AD8475 outputs are
precisely balanced over a wide frequency range. This means that
the amplifier’s differential outputs are very close to the ideal of
being identical in amplitude and exactly 180° out of phase.
DC PRECISION
The dc precision of the
AD8475 is highly dependent on the
accuracy of its internal resistors. Using superposition to analyze
the circuit shown in
Figure 50, the following equation shows the
relationship between the input and output voltages of the
amplifier:
(
)
(
)
(
)
(
)
N
P
dm
OUT
N
P
cm
OUT
N
P
N
P
dm
IN
N
P
cm
IN
R
V
R
V
R
V
R
V
+
=
+
2
1
2
1
,
where,
RGP
RFP
RP =
,
RGN
RFN
RN =
N
P
dm
IN
V
=
,
)
(
2
1
,
N
P
cm
IN
V
+
=
The differential closed loop gain of the amplifier is
N
P
N
P
N
P
dm
IN
dm
OUT
R
V
+
=
2
,
and the common rejection of the amplifier is
(
)
N
P
N
P
cm
IN
dm
OUT
R
V
+
=
2
,
09432-
163
RFP
RFN
RGP
RGN
VON
VOP
VOCM
VP
VN
Figure 50. Functional Circuit Diagram of th
e AD8475 at a Given Gain
The preceding equations show that the gain accuracy and the
common-mode rejection (CMRR) of the
AD8475 are deter-
mined primarily by the matching of the feedback networks
(resistor ratios). If the two networks are perfectly matched, that
is, if RP and RN equal RF/RG, then the resistor network does not
generate any CMRR errors and the differential closed loop gain
of the amplifier reduces to
RG
RF
v
dm
IN
dm
OUT
=
,
The
AD8475’s integrated resistors are precision wafer-laser-
trimmed to guarantee a minimum CMRR of 86dB (50μV/V),
and gain error of less that 0.05%. To achieve equivalent precision
and performance using a discrete solution, resistors must be
matched to 0.01% or better.