Analog signals from sensors are changed to digital signals for processing by the computer through which type of circuit?

The process of converting analog signals from sensors into digital signals for computer processing is accomplished using an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). This type of circuit takes continuous voltage or current signals, which represent real-world phenomena, and samples them at discrete intervals to produce a digital representation.

An analog signal could vary continuously, while digital signals have specific values (usually represented as binary code). The ADC plays a crucial role in this transformation by quantifying the analog input and mapping it to binary values that a computer can process. This is essential in modern automotive applications where data from various sensors, such as temperature, pressure, and speed, must be interpreted by electronic control units (ECUs).

Digital circuits are involved in processing the digital signals after conversion but do not perform the conversion themselves. Analog circuits deal with continuous signals but are not responsible for converting those signals to digital form. PROM, or programmable read-only memory, is a type of memory storage that refers to storing data rather than converting signals, thus not relevant to the conversion process.