Solution
In short, the Excitation Voltage for the sensor must be less than or equal to the Compliance Voltage for the measurement device to ensure that the full measurement range of the sensor can be utilized.
Compliance Voltage
Compliance Voltage is another way of saying “What is the largest voltage drop that the IEPE
circuitry can handle while maintaining its constant current supply?” The combined voltage drop across the IEPE circuitry is a sum of:
- The signal produced by the sensor
- The bias voltage produced by the sensor
- Common-mode voltage as seen by the input channel excluding the voltage drop across the 50 Ω resistor caused by sinking the excitation current (typically very small common-mode noise)
As an example, the PXI-4461/4462 Compliance Voltage specification is worded in this way:
Excitation Voltage
Excitation Voltage is the voltage level required by a sensor. This is applied at a constant current. The total voltage difference across an IEPE sensor’s terminals is the sum of output bias voltage and the output signal. As an example, here is a specification excerpt for PCB accelerometer model 352C03:
The excitation needed for this sensor is dictated by the following:
Excitation_max = [High End Measurement Range] * Sensitivity + High-end Bias Voltage
Excitation_min = [Low End Measurement Range] * Sensitivity + Low-end Bias Voltage
Thus:
Excitation_max = [500g pk] * 10mV/g + 12V = 17 V and
Excitation_min = [-500g pk] * 10mV/g + 7V = 2 V
The minimum compliance voltage required for this sensor is 17 V since the sensor could have a voltage drop as high as 17 V. We also need to ensure Excitation_min of 2 V is within the compliance voltage range of our hardware. This is within the compliance voltage of the PXI-4461/4462 of 0 - 24 V.
The 30 VDC upper end specification for “excitation voltage” is carryover terminology for users trying to select an external current supply. For our use case we are interested in meeting the minimum excitation voltage specification.