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Chapter 4
Signal Conditioning
4.1 Introduction

Many applications require environment or structural measurements, such as temperature and

vibration, from sensors. These sensors, in turn, require signal conditioning before a data
acquisition device can effectively and accurately measure the signal. Key signal conditioning
technologies provide distinct enhancements to both the performance and accuracy of data
acquisition systems.

Figure 4.1 General structure of measurement system.

The first component of a measurement system is the sensor that converts the physical variable to
be measured into an electrical quantity. However, the signal is usually in a format that cannot be
directly used: it requires ‘conditioning’.

Hence the second part of any measurement system is the signal conditioning component that
converts the electrical signal from an unsuitable format to a suitable format. Signal processing
further modifies the signal to prepare it for transmission.

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Signal conditioning element takes the output of the sensing element and converts it into a form
more suitable for further processing, usually a d.c. voltage, d.c. current or frequency signal.

Examples are:

• Deflection bridge which converts an impedance change into a voltage change

• Amplifier which amplifies millivolts to volts
• Oscillator which converts an impedance change into a variable frequency voltage.

4.2 Signal conditioning processes

Signal processing is concerned with improving the quality of the reading or signal at the output
of a measurement system, and one particular aim is to attenuate any noise in the measurement
signal that has not been eliminated by careful design of the measurement. However, signal
processing performs many other functions apart from dealing with noise, and the exact
procedures that are applied depend on the nature of the raw output signal from a measurement
transducer. Procedures of signal filtering, signal amplification, signal attenuation, signal
linearization and bias removal are applied according to the form of correction required in the raw
signal.

Traditionally, signal processing has been carried out by analogue techniques in the past, using
various types of electronic circuit. However, the ready availability of digital computers in recent
years has meant that signal processing has increasingly been carried out digitally, using software
modules to condition the input measurement data.

Digital signal processing is inherently more accurate than analogue techniques, but this
advantage is greatly reduced in the case of measurements coming from analogue sensors and
transducers, because an analogue-to-digital conversion stage is necessary before the digital
processing can be applied, thereby introducing conversion errors. Also, analogue processing
remains the faster of the two alternatives in spite of recent advances in the speed of digital signal
processing. Hence, both analogue and digital processing are considered in this chapter, with
analogue processing being considered first because some preliminary analogue processing is
often carried out even when the major part of the processing is carried out digitally.

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Regardless of the types of sensors or transducers you are using, the proper signal conditioning
equipment can improve the quality and performance of your system.

Signal conditioning can include Amplification, Attenuation, Linearization, Excitation, Filtering,

Converting, Cold-Junction Compensation, Range matching, Bridge Completion , Isolation and
any other processes required to make sensor output suitable for processing after conditioning.

4.2.1 Amplification

Amplifiers are necessary in order to amplify low-level signals, e.g. thermocouple or strain gauge
bridge output voltages, to a level which enables them to be further processed. Because real-world
signals are often very small in magnitude, signal conditioning can improve the accuracy of your
data. Amplifiers increase the level of the input signal to better match the range of the analog-to-
digital converter (ADC), thus increasing the resolution and sensitivity of the measurement. While
many data acquisition (DAQ) devices include onboard amplifiers for this reason, many
transducers, such a thermocouples, require additional amplification.

In addition, using external signal conditioners located closer to the signal source, or transducer,
improves the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurement by boosting the signal level before it is
affected by environmental noise.

The operational amplifier can be regarded as the basic building block for modern amplifiers. It is
a high gain, integrated circuit amplifier designed to amplify signals from d.c. up to many kHz. It
is not normally used by itself but with external feedback networks to produce precise transfer
characteristics which depend almost entirely on the feedback network. Usually there are two
input terminals and one output terminal, the voltage at the output terminal being proportional to
the difference between the voltages at the input terminals.

Figure 4.2 shows a common amplifier configuration that is used to amplify the small difference
that may exist between two voltage signals V A and V B . The output voltage V 0 is given by:

R3
V0 = (VB − VA )
R1

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Figure 4.2 Operational amplifier connected in differential amplification mode.

4.2.2 Attenuation

Attenuation is the opposite of amplification. It is necessary when the voltages to be digitized are
beyond the input range of the digitizer. This form of signal conditioning diminishes the
amplitude of the input signal so that the conditioned signal is within range of the ADC.
Attenuation is necessary for measuring high voltages (more than 10 V).

One method of attenuating signals by analogue means is to use a potentiometer connected in a

voltage-dividing circuit, as shown in Figure 4.3. For the potentiometer slider positioned a
distance of x along the resistance element of total length L, the voltage level of the processed
signal V 0 is related to the voltage level of the raw signal V i by the expression:

xVi
V0 =
L

Figure 4.3 Potentiometer in voltage-dividing circuit.

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4.2.3 Isolation

Improper grounding of the system is one of the most common causes for measurement problems,
including noise and damaged measurement devices. Signal conditioners with isolation can
prevent most of these problems. Such devices pass the signal from its source to the measurement
device without a physical connection by using transformer, optical, or capacitive coupling
techniques. Besides breaking ground loops, isolation blocks high-voltage surges and rejects high
common-mode voltage and thus protects both the operators and expensive measurement
equipment.

4.2.4 Filtering

Signal filtering consists of processing a signal to remove a certain band of frequencies within it.
The band of frequencies removed can be either at the low-frequency end of the frequency
spectrum, at the high-frequency end, at both ends, or in the middle of the spectrum. Filters to
perform each of these operations are known respectively as low-pass filters, high-pass filters,
band-pass filters and band-stop filters (also known as notch filters). All such filtering operations
can be carried out by either analogue or digital methods.

The result of filtering can be readily understood if the analogy with a procedure such as sieving
soil particles is considered. Suppose that a sample of soil A is passed through a system of two
sieves of differing meshes such that the soil is divided into three parts, B, C and D, consisting of
large, medium and small particles, as shown in Figure 4.4. Suppose that the system also has a
mechanism for delivering one or more of the separated parts, B, C and D, as the system output. If
the graded soil output consists of parts C and D, the system is behaving as a low-pass filter
(rejecting large particles), whereas if it consists of parts B and C, the system is behaving as a
highpass filter (rejecting small particles). Other options are to deliver just part C (band-pass filter
mode) or parts B and D together (band-stop filter mode). As any gardener knows, however, such
perfect sieving is not achieved in practice and any form of graded soil output always contains a
few particles of the wrong size.

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Figure 4.4 Soil sieving analogy of signal filtering.

Signal filtering consists of selectively passing or rejecting low-, medium- and high frequency
signals from the frequency spectrum of a general signal. The range of frequencies passed by a
filter is known as the pass-band, the range not passed is known as the stop-band, and the
boundary between the two ranges is known as the cut-off frequency. To illustrate this, consider a
signal whose frequency spectrum is such that all frequency components in the frequency range
from zero to infinity have equal magnitude. If this signal is applied to an ideal filter, then the
outputs for a lowpass filter, high-pass filter, band-pass filter and band-stop filter respectively are
shown in Figure 4.4. Note that for the latter two types, the bands are defined by a pair of
frequencies rather than by a single cut-off frequency.

Just as in the case of the soil sieving analogy presented above, the signal filtering mechanism is
not perfect, with unwanted frequency components not being erased completely but only
attenuated by varying degrees instead, i.e. the filtered signal always retains some components (of
a relatively low magnitude) in the unwanted frequency range. There is also a small amount of
attenuation of frequencies within the pass-band that increases as the cut-off frequency is
approached. Figure 4.5 shows the typical output characteristics of a practical constant-k
(‘Constant-k’ is a term used to describe a common class of passive filters) filter designed
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respectively for high-pass, low-pass, band-pass and band-stop filtering. Filter design is
concerned with trying to obtain frequency rejection characteristics that are as close to the ideal as
possible. However, improvement in characteristics is only achieved at the expense of greater
complexity in the design. The filter chosen for any given situation is therefore a compromise
between performance, complexity and cost.

Figure 4.5 Outputs from ideal filters.

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Figure 4.6 Outputs from practical constant-k filters.

Figure 4.7 Circuit components

4.2.5 Excitation

Excitation is required for many types of transducers. For example, strain gages, accelerometers
thermistors, and resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) require external voltage or current
excitation. RTD and thermistor measurements are usually made with a current source that
converts the variation in resistance to a measurable voltage. Accelerometers often have an
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integrated amplifier, which requires a current excitation provided by the measurement device.
Strain gages, which are very-low-resistance devices, typically are used in a Wheatstone bridge
configuration with a voltage excitation source.

4.2.6 Linearization

Linearization is necessary when sensors produce voltage signals that are not linearly related to
the physical measurement. Linearization is the process of interpreting the signal from the sensor
and can be done either with signal conditioning or through software. Thermocouples are the
classic example of a sensor that requires linearization.

4.2.7 Cold-Junction Compensation

Cold-junction compensation (CJC) is a technology required for accurate thermocouple

measurements. Thermocouples measure temperature as the difference in voltage between two
dissimilar metals. Based on this concept, another voltage is generated at the connection between
the thermocouple and terminal of your data acquisition device. CJC improves your measurement
accuracy by providing the temperature at this junction and applying the appropriate correction.

Thermocouples
The most popular transducer for measuring temperature is the thermocouple. The thermocouple
is an inexpensive, rugged device that can operate over a very wide range of temperatures.
However, the thermocouple has unique signal conditioning requirements.

A thermocouple operates on the principle that the junction of two dissimilar metals generates a
voltage that varies with temperature. Measuring this voltage is difficult because connecting the
thermocouple to the terminals of a DAQ board creates what is called the reference junction or
cold junction, shown in Figure 4.2. These additional junctions act as thermocouples themselves
and produce their own voltages. Thus, the final measured voltage, V MEAS , includes both the
thermocouple and cold junction voltages. The method used to compensate for these unwanted
cold-junction voltages is called cold-junction compensation.

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Figure 4.8. The connection of thermocouple wires to a measurement system creates an

additional thermoelectric junction, called the cold junction, which must be compensated for with
signal conditioning.
There are two general approaches to cold-junction compensation – hardware and software
compensation. Hardware compensation uses a special circuit that applies the appropriate voltage
to cancel the cold-junction voltage. Although you need no software for hardware compensation,
each thermocouple type must have its own compensation circuit that works at all ambient
temperatures.

Cold-junction compensation in software, on the other hand, is very flexible and requires only
knowing the ambient temperature. If you use an additional sensor to directly measure the
ambient temperature at the cold junction, you can compute the appropriate compensation for the
unwanted thermoelectric voltages. This approach is why many signal conditioning accessories
are equipped with direct-reading temperature sensors, such as thermistors or semiconductor
sensors. Software cold-junction compensation follows this process:

1. Measure the temperature of the reference junction and compute the equivalent
thermocouple voltage for this junction using standard thermocouple tables or
polynomials.
2. Measure the output voltage (V MEAS ) and add – not subtract – the reference-junction
voltage computed in Step 1.

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3. Convert the resulting voltage to temperature using standard thermocouple polynomials or

look-up tables.

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