Electronic – Digital vs Analog signal for data transfer across boards

analogdigital-logici2c

I have 1 board that reads data from a sensor, while another board wants to get data from that sensor.

Is it better to have an ADC on the first board, then send that data via i2c to the 2nd board? Or is it better to send the analog signal from the first board directly to the ADC of the 2nd board?

My assumption is that sending the analog data across 2 boards is going to have a lot of noise.

Best Answer

Either approach might be alright: analog point-to-point connection (down to, say, 10 or 12 bits of resolution), or I2C. CubeSats are small. They operate far from external sources of EMI. If the switch-mode power supplies in the EPS (electric power subsystem) are properly designed, they should not generate much EMI.

Is it likely that the payload will generate EMI?

From systems engineering standpoint, both point-to-point and bus have their pros and cons.
The pro of point-to-point is that it's simple (in the k.i.s.s. way). The con is that it doesn't scale as well as I2C.
The pro of the I2C is that it scales well, and it's convenient. The con is that complexity increases. The bus can also be a single point of failure: I2C bus can get stuck.

If you have more than one sensor on that board, and they lend themselves to an A/D connected via I2C. Or, if you anticipate that there may be more sensors on that board in the future. Then I2C might be convenient.

p.s. In school, I have designed a C&DH board for the MAST CubeSat. It had an extensive I2C bus, which worked without a hitch.
Later, I have designed and then had to grapple with an overgrown [because of lack of a better upfront judgement] I2C bus in an industrial instrument.