A Multisensor Design Example

Microchip's MCP6S2x PGA simplifies the design of the interface between multiple sensors and a microcontroller (MCU).

In this example, a six-channel version of the PGA (MCP6S26) lowers the parts count by using just a single amplifier IC with no external resistors (see the figure). The interface from the amplifier to the MCU is reduced to just one I/O and a connection to the SPI bus, which is used to select the desired channel and gain.

In addition to the six-channel version, the company offers an eight-channel PGA (MCP6S28) and two-channel (MCP6S22) models. A single-channel version (MCP6S21), without the multiplexer, is also offered.

Packaging comes in PDIPs (plastic dual-inline packages), SOICs, and MSOPs, with I/O counts of eight to 16 pins.