LTC6655
applicaTions inForMaTion
Performance Characteristic section. Noise performance
can be further improved by wiring several LTC6655s in
parallel as shown in the Typical Applications section. With
this technique the noise is reduced by √N, where N is the
number of LTC6655s in parallel.
the LTC6655-2.5 measures less than 0.25ppm
least 50ꢀ of the 10 second observations.
in at
P-P
As mentioned above, the statistical distribution of noise
is such that if observed for long periods of time, the
peak error in output voltage due to noise may be much
larger than that observed in a smaller interval. The likely
maximum error due to noise is often estimated using the
RMSvalue,multipliedbyanestimatedcrestfactor,assumed
tobeintherangeof6to8.4. Thismaximumpossiblevalue
will only be observed if the output voltage is measured
for very long periods of time. Therefore, in addition to the
commonmethod,amorethoroughapproachtomeasuring
noisehasbeenusedfortheLTC6655(describedindetailin
Linear Technology’s AN124) that allows more information
to be obtained from the result. In particular, this method
characterizes the noise over a significantly greater length
of time, resulting in a more complete description of low
frequency noise. The peak-to-peak voltage is measured
for 10 second intervals over hundreds of intervals. In ad-
dition, anelectronicpeak-detectcircuitstoresanobjective
valueforeachinterval. Theresultsarethensummarizedin
terms of the fraction of measurement intervals for which
observed noise is below a specified level. For example,
Noise Specification
Noise in any frequency band is a random function based
on physical properties such as thermal noise, shot noise,
andflickernoise.Themostprecisewaytospecifyarandom
error such as noise is in terms of its statistics, for example
asanRMSvalue.Thisallowsforrelativelysimplemaximum
error estimation, generally involving assumptions about
noise bandwidth and crest factor. Unlike wideband noise,
low frequency noise, typically specified in a 0.1Hz to 10Hz
band, has traditionally been specified in terms of expected
error, illustrated as peak-to-peak error. Low frequency
noise is generally measured with an oscilloscope over a
10secondtimeframe. Thisisapragmaticapproach, given
that it can be difficult to measure noise accurately at low
frequencies, and that it can also be difficult to agree on the
statistical characteristics of the noise, since flicker noise
dominates the spectral density. While practical, a random
sampling of 10 second intervals is an inadequate method
for representation of low frequency noise, especially for
systems where this noise is a dominant limit of system
performance.Giventherandomnatureofnoise,theoutput
voltage may be observed over many time intervals, each
giving different results. Noise specifications that were
determined using this method are prone to subjectivity,
and will tend toward a mean statistical value, rather than
the maximum noise that is likely to be produced by the
device in question.
the LTC6655-2.5 measures less than 0.27ppm in 80ꢀ
P-P
of the measurement intervals, and less than 0.295ppm
P-P
in 95ꢀ of observation intervals. This statistical variation
in noise is illustrated in Table 2 and Figure 18. The test
circuit is shown in Figure 17.
Table 2
Low Frequency Noise (ppm
)
P-P
50ꢀ
60ꢀ
70ꢀ
80ꢀ
90ꢀ
0.246
0.252
0.260
0.268
0.292
Because the majority of voltage reference data sheets
express low frequency noise as a typical number, and as
it tends to be illustrated with a repeatable plot near the
meanofadistributionofpeak-to-peakvalues,theLTC6655
datasheetprovidesasimilarlydefinedtypicalspecification
in order to allow a reasonable direct comparison against
This method of testing low frequency noise is superior to
morecommonmethods.Theresultsyieldacomprehensive
statistical description, rather than a single observation. In
addition, the direct measurement of output voltage over
time gives an actual representation of peak noise, rather
than an estimate based on statistical assumptions such
as crest factor. Additional information can be derived from
a measurement of low frequency noise spectral density,
-
similar products. Data produced with this method gener
ally suggests that in a series of 10 second output voltage
measurements,atleasthalftheobservationsshouldhavea
peak-to-peakvaluethatisbelowthisnumber.Forexample,
as shown in Figure 19.
6655fc
17
For more information www.linear.com/LTC6655