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REV. B
AD8315
–8–
AVERAGE = 16 SAMPLES
V
APC
V
S
AND
V
ENBL
2 s PER
HORIZONTAL
DIVISION
1V PER
VERTICAL
DIVISION
200mV PER
VERTICAL
DIVISION
GND
GND
TPC 25. Power-On and -Off Response with
V
SET
Grounded
NC = NO CONNECT
RFIN
ENBL
VSET
VPOS
VAPC
NC
COMM
FLTR
AD8315
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
220pF
52.3
TEK TDS694C
SCOPE
TRIG
STANFORD DS345
PULSE
GENERATOR
PULSE OUT
TRIG
OUT
R AND S
SMT03
SIGNAL
GENERATOR
RF OUT
10MHz REF
OUTPUT
EXT TRIG
TEK P6205
FET PROBE
AD811
732
49.9
TEK P6205
FET PROBE
TPC 26. Test Setup for Power-On and -Off Response with
VSET Grounded
GND
GND
V
APC
1V PER
VERTICAL
DIVISION
500mV PER
VERTICAL
DIVISION
2 s PER
HORIZONTAL
DIVISION
V
S
AVERAGE = 16 SAMPLES
TPC 27. Power-On and -Off Response with V
SET
and
ENBL Grounded
NC = NO CONNECT
RFIN
ENBL
VSET
VPOS
VAPC
NC
COMM
FLTR
AD8315
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
220pF
52.3
TEK TDS694C
SCOPE
TRIG
STANFORD DS345
PULSE
GENERATOR
PULSE OUT
TRIG
OUT
R AND S
SMT03
SIGNAL
GENERATOR
RF OUT
10MHz REF
OUTPUT
EXT TRIG
TEK P6205
FET PROBE
AD811
732
49.9
TEK P6205
FET PROBE
TPC 28. Test Setup for Power-On and -Off Response with
VSET and ENBL Grounded
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND THEORY
The AD8315 is a wideband logarithmic amplifier (log amp)
similar in design to the AD8313 and AD8314. However, it is
strictly optimized for use in power control applications rather
than as a measurement device. Figure 1 shows the main features
in block schematic form. The output (Pin 7, VAPC) is intended
to be applied directly to the automatic power-control (APC) pin
of a power amplifier module.
Basic Theory
Logarithmic amplifiers provide a type of compression in which a
signal having a large range of amplitudes is converted to one of
smaller range. The use of the logarithmic function uniquely results
in the output representing the decibel value of the input. The
fundamental mathematical form is:
V
V
V
V
OUT
SLP
IN
Z
=
log
10
(1)
Here
V
IN
is the input voltage,
V
Z
is called the intercept (voltage)
because when V
IN
= V
Z
the argument of the logarithm is unity
and thus the result is zero, and
V
SLP
is called the slope (voltage),
which is the amount by which the output changes for a certain
change in the ratio (V
IN
/V
Z
). When BASE-10 logarithms are used,
denoted by the function log
10
, V
SLP
represents the “volts/decade,”
and since a decade corresponds to 20 dB, V
SLP
/20 represents the
“volts/dB.” For the AD8315, a nominal (low frequency) slope
of 24 mV/dB was chosen, and the intercept V
Z
was placed at the
equivalent of –70 dBV for a sine wave input (316
m
V rms). This
corresponds to a power level of –57 dBm when the net resistive
part of the input impedance of the log amp is 50
W
. However,
both the slope and the intercept are dependent on frequency (see
TPC 13 and TPC 16).
Keeping in mind that log amps do not respond to power but
only to voltages and that the calibration of the intercept is
waveform dependent and is only quoted for a sine wave signal,
the
equivalent power response
can be written as:
V
V
P
P
OUT
DB
IN
Z
=
(
–
)
(2)
where the input power
P
IN
and the equivalent intercept
P
Z
are
both expressed in dBm (thus, the quantity in parentheses is
simply a number of decibels), and
V
DB
is the slope expressed as
so many mV/dB. For a log amp having a slope V
DB
of 24 mV/dB
and an intercept at –57 dBm, the output voltage for an input
power of –30 dBm is 0.024 [–30 – (–57)] = 0.648 V.
Further details about the structure and function of log amps can
be found in data sheets for other log amps produced by Analog
Devices. Refer to data sheets for the AD640 and AD8307, both
of which include a detailed discussion of the basic principles of
operation and explain why the intercept depends on waveform,
an important consideration when complex modulation is
imposed on an RF carrier.