Question
Just working on a project with the ADE7880 for the first time in a couple of years and it would appear that a couple of things have crept in to thedatasheet.
The previous version said that the EP pad should not be connected to AGND or DGND in table 7, the latest version says that they should. Can youconfirm if this is correct?
Then in table 7 the NC pins have a note that says "DO NOT CONNECT TO THESE PINS", however figure 114 and 115 show these connected to the EP and thenconnected to GND.
Can I have some clarification that I should now definitely be connecting pins 1, 10, 11, 21, 31, 40 and 20 to the EP and then to GND please?
Answer
1. EP pad should be connected to ground, the main reason for this is that it makes the grounding easier because AGND and DGND can be connectedin the shortest path possible, which is underneath the part.2. Similarly the NC situation is related to the grounding, by connecting the NC pins to the ground it makes it easier to route the decouplingcapacitors back to ground in as short a distance as possible. This means that the NC pins should be connected to the PAD in order to simplify thegrounding.Overall the changes that are mentioned are all to help with the grounding surrounding the ADE7880.