Single-Chip Implementation of Level-Crossing ADC for ECG Sampling

This work demonstrates for the first time the implementation of a level-crossing analog-to-digital converter (LC-ADC) in a single, commercially available IC (that costs less than $2). The implementation utilizes adaptive threshold levels in order to prevent overload distortions for fast-changing signals. The entire design is based on a 20-pin PIC16F1769 microcontroller from Microchip and no external components are required. In fact, the only external circuitry required is a single jumper wire. This is due to the fact that the new generation of microcontrollers have integrated core-independent hardware, analog as well as digital. This design takes full advantage of the core-independent logic and analog blocks in a PIC16F17xx circuit to implement the LC-ADC technique that so far has required multiple-circuit designs or ASIC implementation. The design is demonstrated on a standard electrocardiogram (ECG) signal.