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Comparators (COMP)
A comparator compares two analogue voltage levels. This comparison results in an indication of which
signal is at a higher/lower voltage level than the other. In simple terms, it is a one-bit ADC. Though it
may look that a comparator is unnecessary when we have a good built-in ADC, it is otherwise. A
comparator is a very important analogue building block. A whole lot of electronics is based on it.
Examples of such electronics include oscillators, level sensing, VU meters, capacitive touch sensing,
measurement devices, etc. A LC meter is a perfect example. A LC meter is usually based on an
oscillator. This oscillator uses a comparator. Its frequency varies with the L and C components,
oscillating at a fixed frequency with known L and C values. Measuring frequency shifts as a result of
changing L/C values leads us to measure unknown L/C effectively.
Op-Amps (OA)
Some MSP430s are equipped with single supply general-purpose Op-Amps. These can be used like any
other external Op-Amps but they have wide variety of goodies like PGA built-in. We can use them as
comparators (although it is unnecessary in the presence of comparator modules) signal amplifiers,
etc. We can also use them to make filters, oscillators, analogue computers, etc.
In this article only ADC10 and COMP_A+ will be discussed. The rest two will be skipped as the MSP430
chips discussed here don’t have any more hardware other than these.
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