Is there a 'standard' way to depict analog signal pathways / chains that's simple, concise, and not too mathematical?
I've been searching online, but can't seem to figure out what such a diagram is called or any tools to make them. The diagrams I see are either full schematics or very high level block diagrams.
I'm thinking about, I think, the kind of diagrams used to depict control systems. What I'd like to do is draw similar diagrams to provide a quick reference to what the overall circuit does. I don't need it to contain electrical information as such, in that it isn't important that it should be compatible with Spice / similar.
An example set of symbols I'd need would be :
- A representation for inputs (single ended and differential)
- A representation for gain stages, showing gain information.
- Nicer if I can show the signal level before and after the gain stage, as well
- A representation for filters, showing cutoff frequencies
- A representation of simple feedback loops (say adders or subtractors)
- Perhaps a representation of instrumentation amplifiers (with transfer function Vref + G * (In+ – In-), as opposed to G * In for a simple gain stage)
Any clues about how to go about drawing these would be nice. Specifically, the following are questions that I think would help :
- What would such a diagram be called? Bonus if the name is something that is Google-able.
- Are there any tools (preferably free, open source, but I'll take something commercial as a reasonable starting point) available that can help quickly draw these things.
- Else, how is such information (number of gain / filter stages, expected signal amplitudes through the signal chain, signal shapes / frequencies / amplitudes, etc) effectively communicated.
Best Answer
Make your own (readable) style, using well hand draw schematics, and embed some usefull information. Below is one of the best templates that I use.
...if I understand well.