Application Note 106
February 2007
Instrumentation Circuitry Using RMS-to-DC Converters
RMS Converters Rectify Average Results
Jim Williams
INTRODUCTION Isolated Power Line Monitor It is widely acknowledged that RMS (Root of the Mean
of the Square) measurement of waveforms furnishes
the most accurate amplitude information.1 Rectify-andaverage schemes, usually calibrated to a sine wave, are
only accurate for one waveshape. Departures from this
waveshape result in pronounced errors. Although accurate,
RMS conversion often entails limited bandwidth, restricted
range, complexity and difficult to characterize dynamic
and static errors. Recent developments address these
issues while simultaneously improving accuracy. Figure 1
shows the LTCВ®1966/LTC1967/LTC1968 device family. Low
frequency accuracy, including linearity and gain error, is
inside 0.5% with 1% error at bandwidths extending to
500kHz. These converters employ a sigma-delta based
computational scheme to achieve their performance.2 BEFORE PROCEEDING ANY FURTHER, THE READER
IS WARNED THAT CAUTION MUST BE USED IN THE
CONSTRUCTION, TESTING AND USE OF THIS CIRCUIT.
HIGH VOLTAGE, LETHAL POTENTIALS ARE PRESENT IN
THIS CIRCUIT. EXTREME CAUTION MUST BE USED IN …