Nonlinear ADC with digitally selectable quantizing characteristic

A method is presented for generating linear or nonlinear functions digitally. The nonlinear analog-to-digital conversation (NLADC) is accomplished using the pulsewidth modulation of the analog input voltage. The conversion is done accordingly to a special quantizing characteristic function (QCF), which depends on the specific application. This special QCF, sampled, quantized, and coded, has been stored in an EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory). The quantizing characteristic can be any monotonically increasing function of any type, resulting in a very flexible linear or nonlinear analog-to-digital converter. Such an NLADC could be used for the expansion or compression of the dynamic range in nuclear science measurements or in robotics for code modulation planning. >