Digital attenuator design

Abstract

This document describes the design and operation of a electronic digital step attenuator. This attenuator was designed with a 1 dB step resolution and 0.1 dB accuracy with a bandwidth from 1 to 10 MHz. The attenuator dynamic range provides attenuation of input signals from zero to 63 dB in 1 dB steps using a rotary control. A linear array of LEDs is used to display the attenuation value as a 6-bit binary value.