The precision current sensing signal chains offer a wide range of accurate, robust, and industry-proven current measurement solutions that can be adopted in all environments to measure current in low, medium, or high power applications. They have been developed by combining extensive application-level knowledge with best-in-class current sensing technologies, enabling precise and robust measurement of DC and AC. These cover the most common industrial sensors such as shunt, Hall effect, and current transformers to address your specific measurement needs.

Coupled with Analog Devices’ unrivalled suite of design support tools, our precision current sensing signal chains provide a simplified design journey, allowing you to get to market quicker with a solution that generates superior insights within your end application.

Our technology combines precision amplifiers, voltage references, analog-to-digital converters, and isolation products, empowering designers to build a solution optimized for their most important parameters with confidence.

Learn how ADI’s precision current sensing signal chains can be applied to solve your most difficult current measurement challenges in applications as diverse as motor control inverters, DC-to-DC converters, valve/solenoid control, protective relays, AC-to-DC metering, and PV inverters.

Precision Current Sensing Signal Chains

Generic Signal Chains for Current Measurement

Current Measurement: Grid Monitoring


Generic Signal Chains for Current Measurement

Shunt: Common-Mode Voltage Level Up to 18 V

Optimized for low offset, high bandwidth and speed, precision measurement of small currents.

Instrumentation Amplifier

Ref

ADC

AD8421
3 nV/√Hz, low power instrumentation amplifier

ADR4550
Ultralow noise, LDO XFET® 5.0 V voltage reference with current sink and source

AD4000
16-Bit, 2 Msps/1 Msps/500 kSPS, precision, pseudo differential, SAR ADCs

Shunt circuit: common-mode voltage level up to 18 V

Shunt: Common-Mode Voltage Level Up to 70 V

Optimized for bidirectional current measurements in the presence of PWM-type input common-mode voltages.

Current Sense Amplifier

Ref

ADC

AD8418A
Bidirectional, zero-drift, current sense amplifier

ADR4550
Ultralow noise, LDO XFET® 5.0 V voltage reference with current sink and source

AD4000
16-Bit, 2 Msps/1 Msps/500 kSPS, precision, pseudo differential, SAR ADCs

Shunt circuit: common-mode voltage level up to 70 V

Shunt: Common-Mode Voltage Level Up to ±600 V

Optimized solution for highly robust, multichannel current measurement applications.

Difference Amplifier

ADC

Isolation

Ref

AD8479
Very high common-mode voltage precision difference amplifier

AD7172-4
Low power, with 4- or 8-channel, 24-bit, 31.25 kSPS, sigma-delta ADC with true rail-to-rail buffers

ADuM3471
Isolated switching regulators (3/1 channel directionality)

ADR4550
Ultralow-noise, high-accuracy 5.0 V voltage reference

Shunt circuit: common-mode voltage level up to ±600 V

Shunt: Common-Mode Voltage Level Up to ±1060 V

Optimized for measurement accuracy, with an isolation barrier for increased robustness and safety, offering a good balance between power consumption, size, and design complexity.

ADC

ADuM7703
16-Bit, isolated, sigma-delta ADC

Shunt circuit: common-mode voltage level up to ±1060 V

Contactless Sensing: Current Transformer

Optimized for isolated and robust precision current measurement with a CT sensor.

ADC

Ref

AD7606C-16
8-Channel DAS with 16-bit, 1 Msps bipolar input, simultaneous sampling ADC

ADR4525
Ultralow-noise, high-accuracy 2.5 V voltage reference

Contactless sensing – current transformer circuit

Contactless Sensing: Hall 5 V Output

Optimized for high precision and wide bandwidth Hall-based current measurement.

Amplifier

ADC

Ref

ADA4807-1
3.1 nV/√Hz, 1 mA, 180 MHz, rail-to-rail input/output amplifier

AD4000
16-Bit, 2 Msps/1 MSPS/500 ksps, precision, pseudo differential, SAR ADCs

ADR4550
Ultralow-noise, high-accuracy 5.0 V voltage reference

Contactless sensing – hall 5 V output circuit

Current Measurement: Motor Control Inverter

Shunt: Highest Measurement Precision

Optimized solution for measurement accuracy. Includes isolation barrier for increased robustness and safety, offering a good balance between power consumption, size, and design complexity.

ADC

ADuM7701
16-Bit, isolated sigma-delta modulator

Shunt circuit: highest measurement precision

Shunt: Medium Precision and Performance

Optimized solution for bidirectional current measurements in the presence of PWM-type input common-mode voltages.

Amplifier

ADC

Ref

AD8418A
Bidirectional, zero-drift, current sense amplifier

AD4683
AD4000
AD4683 is a pseudodifferential input, 1 Msps/ 500 kSPS, dual, simultaneous sampling, 16-bit, SAR ADCs

AD4000 is a 16-Bit, 2 Msps/1 Msps/500 kSPS, precision, pseudodifferential SAR ADC

ADR4533
ADR4550
ADR4533 is an ultralow-noise, high-accuracy 3.3 V voltage reference

ADR4550 is an ultralow-noise, high-accuracy 5.0 V voltage reference

Shunt circuit: medium precision and performance

High Power Current Transformer Sensor

Isolated and robust high voltage and high current simultaneous sampling measurement solution optimized for CT (current transformer) sensors.

ADC

Ref

AD7606-4
4-Channel DAS with 16-bit, bipolar input, simultaneous sampling ADC

ADR4525
Ultralow-noise, high-accuracy 2.5 V voltage reference

High power current transformer sensor circuit

Current Measurement: Grid Monitoring

Precision CT Measurement

Optimized for isolated and robust precision current measurement with CT (current transformer)-based current measurement and PT (potential transformer)-based measurement.

ADC

Ref

Digital Isolation/Power

AD7606B
8-Channel DAS with 16-bit, 800 kSPS bipolar input, simultaneous sampling ADC

ADR4525
Ultralow-noise, high-accuracy 2.5 V voltage reference

ADuM6422A
Quad-channel isolator with integrated dc-to-dc converter and 2:2 directionality

Precision CT measurement circuit

Precision DC Measurement

Optimized shunt solution for low drift and a 1% accurate shunt-based DC metering of both current and voltage.

ADC

Amplifier

AD7779
8-Channel, 24-bit, simultaneous sampling ADC

ADA4528-1
Precision, ultralow noise, RRIO, zero-drift single op amp

Precision DC measurement circuit

Application Areas

Engineer controlling industrial robots in a factory

Industrial Automation

Industry 4.0 promises to deliver greater levels of flexibility and productivity to manufacturing and process control. When it comes to motion control, ADI is a trusted ally, providing advanced products and technologies, as well as the industrial expertise to turn them into system-level solutions.

  • Motion Control
  • Industrial Robotics
  • Collaborative Robots
Wind turbines and solar panels in the countryside

Energy Monitoring

ADI’s sensing, signal conversion, and signal processing technology powers energy infrastructure around the world. From microgrids and utilities to data centers and factories and more, ADI’s domain experts help you design intelligent, flexible, efficient systems to help reach your business goals.

  • Protective Relays
  • DC Metering
  • PV Inverter
Person adjusting knobs on electronic test equipment

Electronic Test and Measurement

Advances in wireless communication technology, autonomous vehicles, energy storage, human machine interfaces, and cloud-connected sensors that help form the Internet of Things (IoT) are all driving the demand for faster and more precise measurement capabilities in smaller form factors. Our devices cover:

  • Data Acquisition
  • Precision Measurement
  • Automated Test Equipment

Precision Current Sensing Signal Chain Support

Use ADI’s engineering community forum to find answers to common questions, access blogs, and submit your own unique questions about circuits and products to an ADI engineer. The Precision Current Sensing forum content is tailored to the unique challenges of designing current sensing signal chains that require precision and robustness with flexible sensor types.

Current Sensing Support on EngineerZone

Engineer taking a voltage measuement from a circuit board