COMP — Comparator

The comparator (COMP) compares an input voltage (VIN+) against a second input voltage (VIN-). VIN+ can be derived from an analog input pin (AIN0-AIN7). VIN- can be derived from multiple sources depending on the operation mode of the comparator.

Main features of the comparator are:

Figure 1. Comparator overview

Once enabled (using the ENABLE register), the comparator is started by triggering the START task and stopped by triggering the STOP task. After a start-up time of tCOMP,START, the comparator will generate a READY event to indicate that it is ready for use and that its output is correct. When the COMP module is started, events will be generated every time VIN+ crosses VIN-.

Operation modes

The comparator can be configured to operate in two main operation modes, differential mode and single-ended mode. See the MODE register for more information. In both operation modes, the comparator can operate in different speed and power consumption modes (low-power, normal and high-speed). High-speed mode will consume more power compared to low-power mode, and low-power mode will result in slower response time compared to high-speed mode.

Use the PSEL register to select any of the AIN0-AIN7 pins as VIN+ input, irregardless of the operation mode selected for the comparator. The source of VIN- depends on which operation mode is used:

  • Differential mode: Derived directly from AIN0 to AIN7
  • Single-ended mode: Derived from VREF. VREF can be derived from VDD, AIN0-AIN7 or internal 1.2 V, 1.8 V and 2.4 V references.

The selected analog pins will be acquired by the comparator once it is enabled.

An optional hysteresis on VIN+ and VIN- can be enabled when the module is used in differential mode through the HYST register. In single-ended mode, VUP and VDOWN thresholds can be set to implement a hysteresis using the reference ladder (see Figure 4). This hysteresis is in the order of magnitude of 50 mV, and shall prevent noise on the signal to create unwanted events. See Figure 5 for illustration of the effect of an active hysteresis on a noisy input signal.

An upward crossing will generate an UP event and a downward crossing will generate a DOWN event. The CROSS event will be generated every time there is a crossing, independent of direction.

The immediate value of the comparator can be sampled to RESULT register by triggering the SAMPLE task.

Differential mode

In differential mode, the reference input VIN- is derived directly from one of the AINx pins.

Before enabling the comparator via the ENABLE register, the following registers must be configured for the differential mode:

Figure 2. Comparator in differential mode

Restriction: Depending on the device, not all the analog inputs may be available for each MUX. See definitions for PSEL and EXTREFSEL for more information about which analog pins are available on a particular device.

When HYST register is turned on while in this mode, the output of the comparator (and associated events) will change from ABOVE to BELOW whenever VIN+ becomes lower than VIN- - (VDIFFHYST / 2). It will also change from BELOW to ABOVE whenever VIN+ becomes higher than VIN- + (VDIFFHYST / 2). This behavior is illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Hysteresis enabled in differential mode

Single-ended mode

In single-ended mode, VIN- is derived from the reference ladder.

Before enabling the comparator via the ENABLE register, the following registers must be configured for the single-ended mode:

The reference ladder uses the reference voltage (VREF) to derive two new voltage references, VUP and VDOWN. VUP and VDOWN are configured using THUP and THDOWN respectively in the TH register. VREF can be derived from any of the available reference sources, configured using the EXTREFSEL and REFSEL registers as illustrated in Figure 4. When AREF is selected in the REFSEL register, the EXTREFSEL register is used to select one of the AIN0-AIN7 analog input pins as reference input. The selected analog pins will be acquired by the comparator once it is enabled.

Figure 4. Comparator in single-ended mode

Restriction: Depending on the device, not all the analog inputs may be available for each MUX. See definitions for PSEL and EXTREFSEL for more information about which analog pins are available on a particular device.

When the comparator core detects that VIN+ > VIN-, i.e. ABOVE as per the RESULT register, VIN- will switch to VDOWN. When VIN+ falls below VIN- again, VIN- will be switched back to VUP. By specifying VUP larger than VDOWN, a hysteresis can be generated as illustrated in Figure 5 and Figure 6.

Writing to HYST has no effect in single-ended mode, and the content of this register is ignored.

Figure 5. Hysteresis example where VIN+ starts below VUP

Figure 6. Hysteresis example where VIN+ starts above VUP

Registers

Table 1. Instances
Base address Peripheral Instance Description Configuration
0x40013000 COMP COMP

General purpose comparator

   
Table 2. Register Overview
Register Offset Description
TASKS_START 0x000

Start comparator

 
TASKS_STOP 0x004

Stop comparator

 
TASKS_SAMPLE 0x008

Sample comparator value

 
EVENTS_READY 0x100

COMP is ready and output is valid

 
EVENTS_DOWN 0x104

Downward crossing

 
EVENTS_UP 0x108

Upward crossing

 
EVENTS_CROSS 0x10C

Downward or upward crossing

 
SHORTS 0x200

Shortcut register

 
INTEN 0x300

Enable or disable interrupt

 
INTENSET 0x304

Enable interrupt

 
INTENCLR 0x308

Disable interrupt

 
RESULT 0x400

Compare result

 
ENABLE 0x500

COMP enable

 
PSEL 0x504

Pin select

 
REFSEL 0x508

Reference source select for single-ended mode

 
EXTREFSEL 0x50C

External reference select

 
TH 0x530

Threshold configuration for hysteresis unit

 
MODE 0x534

Mode configuration

 
HYST 0x538

Comparator hysteresis enable

 
ISOURCE 0x53C

Current source select on analog input

 

SHORTS

Address offset: 0x200

Shortcut register

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                                       E D C B A
Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

READY_SAMPLE

   

Shortcut between READY event and SAMPLE task

See EVENTS_READY and TASKS_SAMPLE

     

Disabled

0

Disable shortcut

     

Enabled

1

Enable shortcut

B RW

READY_STOP

   

Shortcut between READY event and STOP task

See EVENTS_READY and TASKS_STOP

     

Disabled

0

Disable shortcut

     

Enabled

1

Enable shortcut

C RW

DOWN_STOP

   

Shortcut between DOWN event and STOP task

See EVENTS_DOWN and TASKS_STOP

     

Disabled

0

Disable shortcut

     

Enabled

1

Enable shortcut

D RW

UP_STOP

   

Shortcut between UP event and STOP task

See EVENTS_UP and TASKS_STOP

     

Disabled

0

Disable shortcut

     

Enabled

1

Enable shortcut

E RW

CROSS_STOP

   

Shortcut between CROSS event and STOP task

See EVENTS_CROSS and TASKS_STOP

     

Disabled

0

Disable shortcut

     

Enabled

1

Enable shortcut

 

INTEN

Address offset: 0x300

Enable or disable interrupt

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                                         D C B A
Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

READY

   

Enable or disable interrupt for READY event

See EVENTS_READY

     

Disabled

0

Disable

     

Enabled

1

Enable

B RW

DOWN

   

Enable or disable interrupt for DOWN event

See EVENTS_DOWN

     

Disabled

0

Disable

     

Enabled

1

Enable

C RW

UP

   

Enable or disable interrupt for UP event

See EVENTS_UP

     

Disabled

0

Disable

     

Enabled

1

Enable

D RW

CROSS

   

Enable or disable interrupt for CROSS event

See EVENTS_CROSS

     

Disabled

0

Disable

     

Enabled

1

Enable

 

INTENSET

Address offset: 0x304

Enable interrupt

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                                         D C B A
Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

READY

   

Write '1' to Enable interrupt for READY event

See EVENTS_READY

     

Set

1

Enable

     

Disabled

0

Read: Disabled

     

Enabled

1

Read: Enabled

B RW

DOWN

   

Write '1' to Enable interrupt for DOWN event

See EVENTS_DOWN

     

Set

1

Enable

     

Disabled

0

Read: Disabled

     

Enabled

1

Read: Enabled

C RW

UP

   

Write '1' to Enable interrupt for UP event

See EVENTS_UP

     

Set

1

Enable

     

Disabled

0

Read: Disabled

     

Enabled

1

Read: Enabled

D RW

CROSS

   

Write '1' to Enable interrupt for CROSS event

See EVENTS_CROSS

     

Set

1

Enable

     

Disabled

0

Read: Disabled

     

Enabled

1

Read: Enabled

 

INTENCLR

Address offset: 0x308

Disable interrupt

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                                         D C B A
Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

READY

   

Write '1' to Disable interrupt for READY event

See EVENTS_READY

     

Clear

1

Disable

     

Disabled

0

Read: Disabled

     

Enabled

1

Read: Enabled

B RW

DOWN

   

Write '1' to Disable interrupt for DOWN event

See EVENTS_DOWN

     

Clear

1

Disable

     

Disabled

0

Read: Disabled

     

Enabled

1

Read: Enabled

C RW

UP

   

Write '1' to Disable interrupt for UP event

See EVENTS_UP

     

Clear

1

Disable

     

Disabled

0

Read: Disabled

     

Enabled

1

Read: Enabled

D RW

CROSS

   

Write '1' to Disable interrupt for CROSS event

See EVENTS_CROSS

     

Clear

1

Disable

     

Disabled

0

Read: Disabled

     

Enabled

1

Read: Enabled

 

RESULT

Address offset: 0x400

Compare result

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                                               A
Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A R

RESULT

   

Result of last compare. Decision point SAMPLE task.

     

Below

0

Input voltage is below the threshold (VIN+ < VIN-)

     

Above

1

Input voltage is above the threshold (VIN+ > VIN-)

 

ENABLE

Address offset: 0x500

COMP enable

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                                             A A
Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

ENABLE

   

Enable or disable COMP

     

Disabled

0

Disable

     

Enabled

2

Enable

 

PSEL

Address offset: 0x504

Pin select

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                                           A A A
Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

PSEL

   

Analog pin select

     

AnalogInput0

0

AIN0 selected as analog input

     

AnalogInput1

1

AIN1 selected as analog input

     

AnalogInput2

2

AIN2 selected as analog input

     

AnalogInput3

3

AIN3 selected as analog input

     

AnalogInput4

4

AIN4 selected as analog input

     

AnalogInput5

5

AIN5 selected as analog input

     

AnalogInput6

6

AIN6 selected as analog input

     

AnalogInput7

7

AIN7 selected as analog input

 

REFSEL

Address offset: 0x508

Reference source select for single-ended mode

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                                           A A A
Reset 0x00000004 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

REFSEL

   

Reference select

     

Int1V2

0

VREF = internal 1.2 V reference (VDD >= 1.7 V)

     

Int1V8

1

VREF = internal 1.8 V reference (VDD >= VREF + 0.2 V)

     

Int2V4

2

VREF = internal 2.4 V reference (VDD >= VREF + 0.2 V)

     

VDD

4

VREF = VDD

     

ARef

7

VREF = AREF (VDD >= VREF >= AREFMIN)

 

EXTREFSEL

Address offset: 0x50C

External reference select

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                                           A A A
Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

EXTREFSEL

   

External analog reference select

     

AnalogReference0

0

Use AIN0 as external analog reference

     

AnalogReference1

1

Use AIN1 as external analog reference

     

AnalogReference2

2

Use AIN2 as external analog reference

     

AnalogReference3

3

Use AIN3 as external analog reference

     

AnalogReference4

4

Use AIN4 as external analog reference

     

AnalogReference5

5

Use AIN5 as external analog reference

     

AnalogReference6

6

Use AIN6 as external analog reference

     

AnalogReference7

7

Use AIN7 as external analog reference

 

TH

Address offset: 0x530

Threshold configuration for hysteresis unit

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                     B B B B B B     A A A A A A
Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

THDOWN

 

[63:0]

VDOWN = (THDOWN+1)/64*VREF

B RW

THUP

 

[63:0]

VUP = (THUP+1)/64*VREF

 

MODE

Address offset: 0x534

Mode configuration

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                               B             A A
Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

SP

   

Speed and power modes

     

Low

0

Low-power mode

     

Normal

1

Normal mode

     

High

2

High-speed mode

B RW

MAIN

   

Main operation modes

     

SE

0

Single-ended mode

     

Diff

1

Differential mode

 

HYST

Address offset: 0x538

Comparator hysteresis enable

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                                               A
Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

HYST

   

Comparator hysteresis

     

NoHyst

0

Comparator hysteresis disabled

     

Hyst50mV

1

Comparator hysteresis enabled

 

ISOURCE

Address offset: 0x53C

Current source select on analog input

Bit number 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Id                                                            

A

A

Reset 0x00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Id RW Field Value Id Value Description
A RW

ISOURCE

   

Comparator hysteresis

     

Off

0

Current source disabled

     

Ien2mA5

1

Current source enabled (+/- 2.5 uA)

     

Ien5mA

2

Current source enabled (+/- 5 uA)

     

Ien10mA

3

Current source enabled (+/- 10 uA)

 

Electrical specification

COMP Electrical Specification

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ICOMP,LP

Core run current in low power mode

2 µA
ICOMP,N

Core run current in normal mode

5 µA
ICOMP,HS

Core run current in high-speed mode

10 µA
tPROPDLY,LP

Propagation delay, low-power modea

0.6 µS
tPROPDLY,N

Propagation delay, normal modea

0.2 µS
tPROPDLY,HS

Propagation delay, high-speed modea

0.1 µS
VDIFFHYST

Optional hysteresis applied to differential input

30 mV
VVDD-VREF

Required difference between VDD and a selected VREF, VDD > VREF

0.3 V
IINT_REF

Current used by the internal bandgap reference when selected as source for VREF

13 µA
tINT_REF,START

Startup time for the internal bandgap reference

50 80 µS
EINT_REF

Internal bandgap reference error

-3 3 %
RLADDER

Reference ladder resistance, ILADDER = VREF / RLADDER

550 kΩ
VINPUTOFFSET

Input offset

-10 10 mV
DNLLADDER

Differential non-linearity of reference ladder

<0.1 LSB
tCOMP,START

Startup time for the comparator core

3 µS

Total comparator run current must be calculated from the ICOMP, IINT_REF, and ILADDER values for a given reference voltage.

a Propagation delay is with 10 mV overdrive.

Documentation feedback | Developer Zone | Updated 2021-11-08