Principal Engineer, Field Application

Analog Devices

Franco Contadini has over 35 years of experience in the electronic industry. After 10 years as a board and ASIC designer, he became a field applications engineer supporting industrial, telecom, and medical customers and focusing on power and battery management, signal chains, cryptographic systems, and microcontrollers. Franco has authored several application notes and articles on signal chains and power. He studied electronics at ITIS of Genova.

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Processing

Integrated SoC Shrinks the Size of the 4-20 mA Smart Transmitter - Blog

February 18, 2025

Smart transmitters can normalize gain and offset, linearize the sensor by converting its analog signal to digital, process the signals with arithmetic algorithms resident in the microcontroller, convert back to analog, and transmit the result as a standard current along the loop. They also add the capability for digital communications, which share the twisted-pair line with the 4-20 mA signal. The resulting communication channel allows for transmission control and diagnostic signals along with the sensor data. The SoC that integrates AFE, microcontroller, HART®, and 4-20 mA transmitter technology allows for the small size of the 4-20 mA smart transmitter.

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