Figure 4 shows the board included in the ISOlinear reference design kit. This board contains reference design
configurations for 9-bit, 10-bit, and 12-bit linear isolator performance, enabling the user to optimize isolator cost/
performance trade-offs. (For detailed circuit ISOlinear reference design schematics, see the “ISOlinear Reference
Design Users Guide” available for download at www.silabs.com/isolation.) Figure 5 shows total harmonic distortion and nonlinearity measurements from the evaluation board of Figure 4.
Waveform A shows the ISOlinear input and output oscilloscope waveforms. The FFT of waveform A reveals a total
harmonic distortion (THD) of 0.096% (waveform B). The performance of this design rounds to 12-bit performance
with 0.125% nonlinearity. (Note: for more information about the ISOlinear Reference Design, please see
application note “AN559: Isolating Analog Signals Using the Si86xx CMOS Isolator Family”. This application note
provides detailed technical information for modifying the stock ISOlinear reference design, including modulator and
filter design equations, design guidelines and more. The ISOlinear Reference Design Kit (Si86IsoLin)is available
for purchase at www.silabs.com/isolation.)