ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses signal-conditioning circuitry, particularly related to amplification and filtering. It describes pertinent signal-conditioning operations. The operational amplifier (op-amp) is introduced as a basic element in signal-conditioning and impedance-matching circuitry for electronic systems. Various types of signal-conditioning devices, particularly common types of amplifiers and filters, are analyzed, their properties are given, pertinent performance ratings are presented, and the applications of amplifiers and filters are indicated. Specific hardware components and designs are considered as examples of signal conditioning. Voltages, velocities, pressures, and temperatures are “across variables” since they are present across an element. Currents, forces, fluid flow rates, and heat transfer rates are “through variables” since they transmit through an element, unaltered. The origin of the op-amp dates back to the 1940s when the vacuum tube op-amp was introduced. Op-amp got its name because originally it was used almost exclusively to perform mathematical operations, for example, in analog computers. Subsequently, in the 1950s, the transistorized op-amp was developed.
