A TEC is typically used as a heating or cooling element to control the temperature of a certain device， which could be a laser module. To achieve good performance， dual closed-loop （the thermal-loop and the current-loop） control is implemented in most applications. Figure 1 is a simplified system block diagram showing the basic idea of TEC control.

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　　Unlike analog TEC controllers， the DS4830 implements the control logic using digital signal processing （DSP） via firmware. This reduces the number of components needed and also makes the control parameters more accurate and repeatable. In addition， it is easier to modify the firmware to accommodate new applications than to change discrete components. Figure 2 is a system block diagram illustrating the digital TEC control approach.

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