Analog signal to digital via integrated circuit?

Question

So I have an accelerometer which outputs an analog signal representing acceleration in the X, Y, and Z directions. How would I go about translating the analog signal into a digital signal for a computer to read in the data?

Are there any recommendations for integrated circuits that can perform this task?

I do not know a clock rate for the system, but I would like to have it be as fast as possible.

PS. I do not have an analog port available :(.

Answer 1

I don't know how much this helps, but VTI Technologies makes accelerometers that will output in serial data.  You can buy these for around 30 bucks from digikey.  

At the very least you can check out their block diagrams to get an idea of some components you might need to interface your accelerometer.  If you are crafty you can check out the specs on their product and use that as a baseline for the yet to be determined parts you are going to choose.

Sometimes you can search digikey and come up with a specialized integrated circuit that does exactly what you need.  That might be worth a try also.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Check out the products from Analog Devices. They have an incredible number of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) available.