The typical digital output ambient light sensor (Figure 5)
has a 16-bit digital I2
C output. In addition to amplification for the photodiode, the IC’s integrated ADC converts the photosensor’s output to an I2
C signal for direct connection to the I2 C communication bus of an MCU or base band processor. Figure 6 shows how the I2
C interface simplifies the circuitry in an application by removing the
need for an external ADC.
The digital ALS includes more integration than an analog
ALS and can result in an overall cost savings as well as
space savings on the printed circuit board (PCB).