Analog-to-Digital Converter
Analog-to-Digital Converter — A circuit that samples an analog signal and maps its amplitude to discrete digital values at a defined resolution and sample rate.
Embedded-System Context
An ADC samples an analog input and maps each sample to a discrete numeric code. Reference voltage, effective number of bits, sample rate, input impedance, front-end settling, and anti-alias filtering all influence the measurement that reaches software.
Hardware and Measurement Boundary
Nominal converter width is not the same as usable resolution. Noise, distortion, integral and differential nonlinearity, and clock quality can reduce effective number of bits well below the advertised bit count.