APPLICATION NOTE

AN046
Rev 1.00
Building a Battery Operated Auto Ranging DVM with the ICL7106 1999

Introduction Input Divider Network

In the field of DVM design, three areas are being addressed
with vigor: size, power dissipation, and novelty. The
handheld portable multimeter has gained in popularity since
low power dissipation devices enabled battery operation, LSI
A/D converters reduced IC count, and novelties such as
conductance, automatic range scaling, and calculating were
included to entice the user.
A simplified drawing of the divider network is shown in
Figure 2. This configuration was chosen for simplicity and
implementation using analog switches. The low leakage
ID101s are used for input protection, and the second set of
switches to IN LO reduces the net error due to switch
resistance. This can be seen calculating IN HI and IN LO
voltages for the two equivalent circuits.

This application note describes a technique for auto-ranging For equivalent circuit A,
a battery operated DVM suitable for panel meter  RS + R  K 
applications. Also, circuit ideas will be presented for V MEAS = V IN HI =  ------------------------------------- V IN (EQ. 1)
 R S + R + R  K
conductance and resistance measurement, 9V battery and
5V supply operations, and current measurement. where RS = switch resistance, R = input resistance (1M),
and 1 + K is the desired divider ratio.
Auto Ranging Circuitry
Ideally VINHI should be
The control signals necessary for auto-ranging are over-
RK 1
range, under-range, and clock. The over-range and under- V IDEAL =  ----------------------- V IN =  ------------- V IN (EQ. 2)
 R  K + R  1 + K
range inputs control the direction of a scale shift, becoming
active at the completion of an invalid conversion and
Therefore the percent error is:
remaining active until a valid conversion occurs. The clock
input controls the timing of a scale shift. This signal should Ideal – Actual
--------------------------------------- 100, (EQ. 3)
Ideal
occur only once per conversion cycle, during a time window
which will not upset an ongoing conversion and must be
disabled after valid conversions.  R S + R/K 
or  1 –  1 + K  ----------------------------------- 100 (EQ. 4)
 R S + R/K + R
In the circuit of Figure 1, inverted over-range (O/R) and
under-range (U/R) are generated by detecting the display The worst case error occurs at (1+K) = 1000. For this
reading. The ICL7106 turns the most significant digit on and example, the error due to a 1kW switch resistance is 99.7%.
blanks the rest to indicate an over-range. An under-range IN HI for equivalent circuit B is the same as Equation 1.
occurs if the display reads less than 0100. R1C1 and R2C2 However, IN LO for circuit B is:
are required to deglitch O/R and U/R. RS
 
 ------------------------------------- V IN , (EQ. 5)
The next step in the logic disables O/R and U/R prior to  R S + R + R  K
shifting into nonexistent ranges. O/R is disabled when in the
200V range, while U/R is disabled when in the 200mV range. and combining Equations (1) and (5)
RK
The next level of gating disables the clock if the conditions V MEAS = V INHI – V INLO =  ------------------------------------- V IN (EQ. 6)
 R + R + R  K
S
are as described above and a valid conversion state exists.
Clock is enabled only when a range shift is called for and The percent error is equal to:
there exists a valid range to shift into.
R/K
 1 –  1 + K  ----------------------------------
The CD4029 is a four bit up/down counter, used as a register - 100 (EQ. 7)
 R + R + R/K S
to hold the present state and as a counter to shift the scale
as directed by the control inputs. The CD4028 is a BCD to
Using the same values for RS, (1+K), and R, the worst case
decimal decoder interfacing the CD4029 and ladder
error is 0.1%. This error can be further improved if lower
switches. An additional exclusive OR gate package is added
rDS(ON) switches are used. From the results calculated
to drive the appropriate decimal point.
above, the worst case conversion error due to switch
resistance will be one count of the least significant digit for a
full scale input, and a slight adjustment to R itself will correct
the remaining error on all scales.

AN046 Rev 1.00 Page 1 of 7

1999
1999
AN046 Rev 1.00

Building a Battery Operated Auto Ranging DVM with the ICL7106

V+
CREF
1 V+ OSC 1 40
100k
2 D1 OSC 2 39
100pF
V+ 3 C1 OSC 3 38
CLOCK A/Z
4 B1 TEST 37 DIG GND

5 A1 REF HI 36

6 F1 REF LO 35 1k
1F
7 G1 CREF 34
24k C3
20k
8 E1 CREF 33 5.1k 0.1F
ICL7106 PIN26
V- 9 D2 COMMON 32 S 22k
47M D1
10 C2 IN HI 31 Q2 2N3702
0.01F D Q3
R8 D
11 B2 IN LO 30 Q1 100k
0.47F
12 A2 A-Z 29 S
47k 3N169
13 F2 BUFF 28 N CH. 1M D2
14 E2 INT 27
O/RANGE 0.22F
D 2 15 D3 V- 26 V- TEST
3 3
3 2 10k 6
1
4 16 B3 G2 25
1 4023
R1 11 4
C1 4023 5 10 5 17 F3 C3 24
10 8 12
0.005F
9 74C32 TEST 13
6
18 E3 A3 23
O/RANGE 1
4011 8
4011 5 10k 2 10 19 AB4 G3 22
3 1 4 9
2 6 R2 9 8 20 POL BP 21
13 A C2 0.005F 4023
12 12
11
TEST 13
4011 VIN
4011
11

C
ID101
TEST V+ V+ R1 R2 R3 R6
VIN
1 PE V+ 16 1 V+ 16 D 1.001k 1M
13, 5 3
2 CLK 15 2 2 3 15 4
B 8 CD4016 9 R4
3 14 3 1 14
O A
10.1k
4 13 4 B 13 10
CD4029BC CD402T 11
5 12 6, 12
C1 5 C 12 TEST R5
1 2
6 Q1 Q7 11 6 D 11 111.1k
A B C A OR D 3
7 UP/DOWN 10 7 A 10 4
1 2 5 6 8 9 12 13 5, 13
BINARY CD4016 10
8 V 9 12 OPEN
DECODE 8 V 9 11
Page 2 of 7

TEST OPEN
9
BACK
8
UP/DOWN PLANE
COUNTER DECODER ARROW 6

FIGURE 1. AUTO RANGING CIRCUITRY

 Building a Battery Operated Auto Ranging DVM
with the ICL7106

IN HI
+
ID101
VIN R/999 R/99.01 R/9

IN LO

SWITCH CONTROL
LINES

200V 20V 2V 200mV

FIGURE 2A.

+ +

R R

TO IN HI
TO IN HI

VIN VIN R/K VMEAS

R/K
VMEAS TO IN LO

R SWITCH
R SWITCH

- TO IN LO -

FIGURE 2B. EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT A FIGURE 2C. EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT B

(SWITCHES TO IN LO REMOVED) (SWITCHES TO IN LO INCLUDED)
FIGURE 2. INPUT DIVIDER NETWORK

Ranging Clock Circuit delay the clock, eliminating disparity with O/R and U/R (see
Figure 4 for timing diagram).
Two N-Channel MOSFETs, a PNP transistor and a handful of
passive components combine to generate the clock signal
used to gate the auto-ranging logic. A closer look at the inner
workings of the ICL7106 will help clarify the discussion of this
circuit. The analog section of the ICL7106 is shown in Figure 3.

It can be shown that CREF low (pin 33 of ICL7106) will sit at -

VREF for DE+ and at common for DE-, with DE+ designating
the deintegrate phase for a positive input signal and DE-
referring to a negative input signal. During the auto-zero
phase, CREF low is tied to an external reference through pin
35, which in Figure 1 is VREF below the positive supply. The
net result is that CREF low is above COMMON during auto-
zero, is left to float during signal integrate, and is at or below
COMMON during deintegrate. R8 and D1 are added externally
to pull CREF to COMMON during integrate, with Q2 and R1
included to speed this action. The signal at CREF low is now a
square wave that is high during auto-zero and low at all other
times. Q1 and Q3 amplify and level shift this waveform for logic
level compatibility. This clock signal is gated through D2 and
controls the timing of the auto-ranging circuitry. C3 is added to

AN046 Rev 1.00 Page 3 of 7

1999
 Building a Battery Operated Auto Ranging DVM
with the ICL7106

CREF
RINT CAZ CINT
CREF+ REF HI REF LO CREF - BUFFER V+ A-Z INT
34 36 35 33 28 1 29 27
V+

A-Z A-Z - INTEGRATOR

+
10A TO
- - DIGITAL
+ +
31 2.8V SECTION
IN HI
INT DE- DE+ INPUT 6.2V A-Z
HIGH

A-Z
COMPARATOR
N -
+
DE+ DE-
32
COMMON
INPUT
INT A-Z AND DE LOW
30
IN LO
26

V-
FIGURE 3. ANALOG SECTION OF ICL7106

INTEGRATOR
A/Z A/Z A/Z
OVER-RANGE VALID
CONVERSION CONVERSION

CREF LOW
(PIN 33)

CLOCK

O/R, U/R

FIGURE 4. TIMING DIAGRAM

Supply Requirements limited to approximately 2V, if COMMON is disconnected from

-VIN.
The circuit of Figure 1 operates on a standard 9V transistor
battery. CMOS logic and a CMOS A/D converter (ICL7106) are
used to extend battery life; the approximate power drain for this
circuit is 8mW. The circuit in Figure 5 can also be added to
detect low supply voltage.

The circuit of Figure 6 can be used to generate 5V from a

single 5V supply. The ICL7660 is a voltage converter which
takes a 5V input and produces a -5V output. With respect to
common mode signals, the circuit of Figure 1 will have infinite
common mode handling capability if operated from a floating
9V battery. However, if powered by a fixed supply such as in
Figure 6, the common mode capability of the converter will be

AN046 Rev 1.00 Page 4 of 7

1999
 Building a Battery Operated Auto Ranging DVM
with the ICL7106

For transconductance measurement, merely switch RSTD and

RX. This scheme makes the measurement of large resistors, in
1M conductance form, convenient and easy. This is also
1 8
convenient for leakage measurements.
2 ICL8211 7
A simple current meter can be built using the circuit of Figure 8.
3 6 1M The low leakage of the ICL7106 (10pA/max) makes possible
4 FIG 7 5 the measurement of currents in the mid pico-Amp range.
180K However, the switch leakage current will limit the accuracy of
TO DISPLAY the resistor network and may degrade converter resolution.
INDICATOR
BACKPLANE
TEST

FIGURE 5. LOW VOLTAGE DETECTOR

900R

+5V IN HI
NC 1 8 90R

2 7 NC IIN ICL7106
AUTO-RANGING
+ ICL7660 9R
DVM CIRCUIT
10F 3 6 NC
- IN LO
4 5
10F -5V R

FIGURE 6. GENERATING 5V FROM +5V

Resistance, Transconductance and
Current Circuits
The purpose of this section is to show the simplicity of
measuring transconductance (1/R) and resistance with the
ICL7106. The circuit of Figure 7 requires only one precision
resistor per decade range of interest. The conversion output is
described by the formula:
FIGURE 8. CURRENT METER
Using the ICL7126 and ICL7107
With a few modifications, the circuit of Figure 1 can easily be
adapted for use with either the low power ICL7126 or the
ICL7107. Using the ICL7126 simply requires a change in the
values of the integrating and auto-zero components. Refer to
the ICL7126 data sheet for details.

 RX  The ICL7107 is an LED version of the ICL7106, and is a bit

 --------------- 1000 (EQ. 8)
 R STD trickier to use in this application. First the over-range/under-
range logic must be changed slightly. Simply replace the quad
exclusive-NOR with an LM339; connect the outputs, as before,
V+
to the CD4023 triple 3-input NAND. Second, the ICL7107
requires +5V and -5V rather than the +9V battery used in
REF HI Figure 1. If battery operation is desired, the negative supply
RSTD can be derived from 4 Ni-Cad cells in series and an ICL7660
REF LO (see Figure 9). Note that both supplies float with respect to the
X4 ICL7106 input terminals. (Logic supplies are V+ and DIG. GND.)
IN914 or
IN4148 IN HI
RX
IN LO

COMMON

FIGURE 7. TRANSCONDUCTANCE AND RESISTANCE

MEASUREMENT

AN046 Rev 1.00 Page 5 of 7

1999
 Building a Battery Operated Auto Ranging DVM
with the ICL7106

ICL7107

+5V 1 V3 OSC 1 40
ICL7660 2 D1 OSC 2 39

1 8 3 C1 OSC 3 38
4 B1 TEST 37
2 7
+ 5 A1 REF HI 36
10F 3 6
- 6 F1 REF LO 35
4 5 -5V 7 G1 CREF 34
- 12k
10F 8 E1 CREF 33
+
9 D2 COMMON 32
10 C2 IN HI 31
11 B2 IN LO 30
12 A2 A-Z 29
13 F2 BUFF 28
14 E2 INT 27
+
O /RANGE -
15 D3 V- 26 -5V
16 B3 G2 25
+
- 17 F3 C3 24
18 E3 A3 23
-
U /RANGE +
19 AB4 G3 22
20 POL GND 21 NEGATIVE (0V)
LOGIC SUPPLY
-
+
CD4023 OR
74C10 LM339 33k

FIGURE 9. CIRCUIT FOR DEVELOPING UNDERRANGE AND OVERRANGE SIGNALS FROM ICL7107 OUTPUTS. THE LM339 IS
REQUIRED TO ENSURE LOGIC COMPATIBILITY WITH HEAVY DISPLAY LOADING

AN046 Rev 1.00 Page 6 of 7

1999
 Notice
1. Descriptions of circuits, software and other related information in this document are provided only to illustrate the operation of semiconductor products and application examples. You are fully responsible for
the incorporation or any other use of the circuits, software, and information in the design of your product or system. Renesas Electronics disclaims any and all liability for any losses and damages incurred by
you or third parties arising from the use of these circuits, software, or information.
2. Renesas Electronics hereby expressly disclaims any warranties against and liability for infringement or any other claims involving patents, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights of third parties, by or
arising from the use of Renesas Electronics products or technical information described in this document, including but not limited to, the product data, drawings, charts, programs, algorithms, and application
examples.
3. No license, express, implied or otherwise, is granted hereby under any patents, copyrights or other intellectual property rights of Renesas Electronics or others.
4. You shall not alter, modify, copy, or reverse engineer any Renesas Electronics product, whether in whole or in part. Renesas Electronics disclaims any and all liability for any losses or damages incurred by
you or third parties arising from such alteration, modification, copying or reverse engineering.
5. Renesas Electronics products are classified according to the following two quality grades: “Standard” and “High Quality”. The intended applications for each Renesas Electronics product depends on the
product’s quality grade, as indicated below.
"Standard": Computers; office equipment; communications equipment; test and measurement equipment; audio and visual equipment; home electronic appliances; machine tools; personal electronic
equipment; industrial robots; etc.
"High Quality": Transportation equipment (automobiles, trains, ships, etc.); traffic control (traffic lights); large-scale communication equipment; key financial terminal systems; safety control equipment; etc.
Unless expressly designated as a high reliability product or a product for harsh environments in a Renesas Electronics data sheet or other Renesas Electronics document, Renesas Electronics products are
not intended or authorized for use in products or systems that may pose a direct threat to human life or bodily injury (artificial life support devices or systems; surgical implantations; etc.), or may cause
serious property damage (space system; undersea repeaters; nuclear power control systems; aircraft control systems; key plant systems; military equipment; etc.). Renesas Electronics disclaims any and all
liability for any damages or losses incurred by you or any third parties arising from the use of any Renesas Electronics product that is inconsistent with any Renesas Electronics data sheet, user’s manual or
other Renesas Electronics document.
6. When using Renesas Electronics products, refer to the latest product information (data sheets, user’s manuals, application notes, “General Notes for Handling and Using Semiconductor Devices” in the
reliability handbook, etc.), and ensure that usage conditions are within the ranges specified by Renesas Electronics with respect to maximum ratings, operating power supply voltage range, heat dissipation
characteristics, installation, etc. Renesas Electronics disclaims any and all liability for any malfunctions, failure or accident arising out of the use of Renesas Electronics products outside of such specified
ranges.
7. Although Renesas Electronics endeavors to improve the quality and reliability of Renesas Electronics products, semiconductor products have specific characteristics, such as the occurrence of failure at a
certain rate and malfunctions under certain use conditions. Unless designated as a high reliability product or a product for harsh environments in a Renesas Electronics data sheet or other Renesas
Electronics document, Renesas Electronics products are not subject to radiation resistance design. You are responsible for implementing safety measures to guard against the possibility of bodily injury, injury
or damage caused by fire, and/or danger to the public in the event of a failure or malfunction of Renesas Electronics products, such as safety design for hardware and software, including but not limited to
redundancy, fire control and malfunction prevention, appropriate treatment for aging degradation or any other appropriate measures. Because the evaluation of microcomputer software alone is very difficult
and impractical, you are responsible for evaluating the safety of the final products or systems manufactured by you.
8. Please contact a Renesas Electronics sales office for details as to environmental matters such as the environmental compatibility of each Renesas Electronics product. You are responsible for carefully and
sufficiently investigating applicable laws and regulations that regulate the inclusion or use of controlled substances, including without limitation, the EU RoHS Directive, and using Renesas Electronics
products in compliance with all these applicable laws and regulations. Renesas Electronics disclaims any and all liability for damages or losses occurring as a result of your noncompliance with applicable
laws and regulations.
9. Renesas Electronics products and technologies shall not be used for or incorporated into any products or systems whose manufacture, use, or sale is prohibited under any applicable domestic or foreign laws
or regulations. You shall comply with any applicable export control laws and regulations promulgated and administered by the governments of any countries asserting jurisdiction over the parties or
transactions.
10. It is the responsibility of the buyer or distributor of Renesas Electronics products, or any other party who distributes, disposes of, or otherwise sells or transfers the product to a third party, to notify such third
party in advance of the contents and conditions set forth in this document.
11. This document shall not be reprinted, reproduced or duplicated in any form, in whole or in part, without prior written consent of Renesas Electronics.
12. Please contact a Renesas Electronics sales office if you have any questions regarding the information contained in this document or Renesas Electronics products.
(Note 1) “Renesas Electronics” as used in this document means Renesas Electronics Corporation and also includes its directly or indirectly controlled subsidiaries.
(Note 2) “Renesas Electronics product(s)” means any product developed or manufactured by or for Renesas Electronics.

(Rev.4.0-1 November 2017)

SALES OFFICES http://www.renesas.com

Refer to "http://www.renesas.com/" for the latest and detailed information.

Renesas Electronics America Inc.

1001 Murphy Ranch Road, Milpitas, CA 95035, U.S.A.
Tel: +1-408-432-8888, Fax: +1-408-434-5351
Renesas Electronics Canada Limited
9251 Yonge Street, Suite 8309 Richmond Hill, Ontario Canada L4C 9T3
Tel: +1-905-237-2004
Renesas Electronics Europe Limited
Dukes Meadow, Millboard Road, Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, SL8 5FH, U.K
Tel: +44-1628-651-700, Fax: +44-1628-651-804
Renesas Electronics Europe GmbH
Arcadiastrasse 10, 40472 Düsseldorf, Germany
Tel: +49-211-6503-0, Fax: +49-211-6503-1327
Renesas Electronics (China) Co., Ltd.
Room 1709 Quantum Plaza, No.27 ZhichunLu, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191 P. R. China
Tel: +86-10-8235-1155, Fax: +86-10-8235-7679
Renesas Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Unit 301, Tower A, Central Towers, 555 Langao Road, Putuo District, Shanghai, 200333 P. R. China
Tel: +86-21-2226-0888, Fax: +86-21-2226-0999
Renesas Electronics Hong Kong Limited
Unit 1601-1611, 16/F., Tower 2, Grand Century Place, 193 Prince Edward Road West, Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: +852-2265-6688, Fax: +852 2886-9022
Renesas Electronics Taiwan Co., Ltd.
13F, No. 363, Fu Shing North Road, Taipei 10543, Taiwan
Tel: +886-2-8175-9600, Fax: +886 2-8175-9670
Renesas Electronics Singapore Pte. Ltd.
80 Bendemeer Road, Unit #06-02 Hyflux Innovation Centre, Singapore 339949
Tel: +65-6213-0200, Fax: +65-6213-0300
Renesas Electronics Malaysia Sdn.Bhd.
Unit 1207, Block B, Menara Amcorp, Amcorp Trade Centre, No. 18, Jln Persiaran Barat, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Tel: +60-3-7955-9390, Fax: +60-3-7955-9510
Renesas Electronics India Pvt. Ltd.
No.777C, 100 Feet Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar, Bangalore 560 038, India
Tel: +91-80-67208700, Fax: +91-80-67208777
Renesas Electronics Korea Co., Ltd.
17F, KAMCO Yangjae Tower, 262, Gangnam-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06265 Korea
Tel: +82-2-558-3737, Fax: +82-2-558-5338

© 2018 Renesas Electronics Corporation. All rights reserved.

Colophon 7.0