SLVAEX3 October 2020 TPS8802 , TPS8804
SNR is commonly defined as the ratio of signal power to noise power. In a smoke detector, the signal of interest is the smoke concentration, calculated from measurements of the photodiode current. Amplifying the photodiode current adds noise which makes the smoke concentration measurement fluctuate even if the actual smoke concentration is constant. Therefore, having high SNR is essential to quickly and accurately decide if the smoke concentration is at a dangerous level.
In this report, SNR is presented as the smoke measurement amplitude divided by the smoke measurement standard deviation. This metric provides the designer with the statistics of the smoke measurement. Because the smoke measurement amplitude is proportional to the smoke concentration, SNR increases with the smoke concentration. Therefore, the SNR in this report is specified at 1 nA photodiode current. The conversion from smoke concentration to photodiode current depends on the LED, photodiode, and chamber geometry. In general, the photodiode current is proportional to the LED current. To calculate the SNR at a different current, multiply the SNR by the new current and divide by 1 nA.