The ADS1x48EVM is a fully assembled evaluation platform designed to highlight the ADS1x48 features and modes of operation that make this device suitable for measuring analog temperature sensors. The EVM sits on top of an accompanying precision ADC motherboard (PAMBoard) used as a USB-to-PC GUI communication bridge. This board combination also serves as an example implementation of connecting a microcontroller (MCU) to communicate with the ADS1x48 device through a serial-peripheral interface (SPI). Figure 1-1 shows a functional block diagram for the ADS1x48EVM.

The PAMBoard is controlled by commands received from the ADS1x48EVM GUI, and returns data to the GUI for display and analysis. If the PAMBoard is not used, the EVM plug-in module format allows for an alternative external host to communicate with the ADS1x48 through the pin headers J1 through J4. Header connections are identified in Section 5.2 and listed in Table 3-2.

The combined ADS1x48EVM and PAMBoard incorporate the following features:

• ADS1x48, a 16- or 24-bit delta-sigma ADC with eight input channels
• Input terminal block and jumper configurations that enable easy measurement of many types of analog temperature sensors
• Analog voltage (AVDD) selection of 3.3-V or 5-V operation for the ADS1x48
• Multiple voltage reference options: 2.048-V reference integrated into the ADS1x48, discrete REF5025, ratiometric reference for RTD measurements, or external reference supplied via the input terminal blocks
• Internal or external clock selection
• SPI for communication and configuration

Figure 1-1 ADS1x48EVM Functional Block Diagram

Table 1-1 lists documents related to the ADS1x48EVM.