Amplifier Basics

Firstly for the purists let us attempt to roughly define a small signal (class A) amplifier:
"An amplifier, with or without negative feedback, having the greatest fidelity in faithfully
reproducing the input with the least distortion. It is however the least efficient, in as
much the power delivered to the load is only a small percentage of the d.c. power used
up in the amplification process".
Feedback - This is where part of the output signal is fedback to the input BUT 180
degrees out-of-phase (i.e. partially cancels the input). If it were in-phase feedback then
we would have an oscillator - which in this case we definitely do not want.
Fidelity - This means many things to many people but to us it means the output must be
an exact replica of the input but only magnified or amplified.
Efficiency - The theoretical limit to this amplifier's efficiency is 50%, meaning for every
watt of output we will use up at least 2 watts of d.c. power input in to the amplifier.
Depending upon the application this may or may not be significant. If we have a large
power transformer available to us and power, literally to burn, who cares?.
On the other hand if miniaturisation were the keyword and precious battery
supply is the only power source available thennnnnn! that's another matter.
Most experts will agree with me when I say you will only see this 50% efficiency in your
dreams. So why use class A?. At low levels of signal and amplification, the losses
through inefficiency are not significant and are far outweighed by the goal of fidelity or
in the r.f. game, linearity, i.e. a linear amplifier.
XTICS
Feedback - This is where part of the output signal is fedback to the input BUT 180
degrees out-of-phase (i.e. partially cancels the input). If it were in-phase feedback then
we would have an oscillator - which in this case we definitely do not want.
Ft - 300 Mhz this means that by the time the frequency reaches 300 Mhz the
amplification factor has dropped off to 1
CONTD: http://www.electronics-tutorials.com/amplifiers/small-signal-amplifiers.htm
http://www.bessernet.com/articles/lowpfilt/bwfiltstep00.html
http://www.electronics-tutorials.com/filters/low-pass-filters.htm
http://www.electronics-tutorials.com/filters/active-bandpass-filters.htm
Capacitive coupling
Use in analog circuits
In analog circuits, a coupling capacitor is used to connect two circuits such that only the
AC signal from the first circuit can pass through to the next while DC is blocked. This
technique helps to isolate the DC bias settings of the two coupled circuits. Capacitive
coupling is also known as AC coupling and the capacitor used for the purpose is known
as a coupling or DC blocking capacitor. Capacitive coupling has the disadvantage of
degrading the low frequency performance of a system containing capacitively coupled
units. Each coupling capacitor along with the input electrical impedance of the next stage
forms a high-pass filter and each successive filter results in a cumulative filter with a
-3dB frequency that may be higher than each individual filter. So for adequate low
frequency response the capacitors used must have high capacitance ratings. They should
be high enough that the reactance of each is at least ten times the input impedance of each
stage, at the lowest frequency of interest. This disadvantage of capacitively coupling DC
biased, transistor amplifier circuits is largely minimized in directly coupled designs.
Use in digital circuits
AC coupling is also widely used in digital circuits to transmit digital signal with a zero
DC component, known as DC-balanced signals. DC-balanced waveforms are useful in
communications systems, since they can be used over AC-coupled electrical connections
to avoid voltage imbalance problems and charge accumulation between connected
systems or components.
For this reason, most modern line codes are designed to produce DC-balanced
waveforms. The most common classes of DC-balanced line codes are constant-weight
codes and paired-disparity codes.
Q factor
In negative feedback systems, the dominant closed-loop response is often well-modeled
by a second-order system. The phase margin of the open-loop system sets the quality
factor Q of the closed-loop system; as the phase margin decreases, the approximate
second-order closed-loop system is made more oscillatory (i.e., has a higher quality
factor).
The width (bandwidth) of the resonance is given by
and the exponential attenuation rate can be expressed as

note
A low Q factor gives a broad band (wide) bandwidth or a high Q factor gives a narrow
band (small) bandwidth.
Example: The cut-off frequencies of a phone line are f1 = 300 Hz
and f2 = 3300 Hz. What is the center frequency?
The center frequency is f0 = 995 Hz as geometric mean and

not f0 = 1800 Hz (arithmetic mean). What a difference!
A graph of a filter's gain magnitude, illustrating the concept of -3 dB at a gain of 0.707 or

half-power bandwidth. The frequency axis of this symbolic diagram can be linear or
logarithmically scaled.
BW = f2 − f1 = f0 / Q
Formula for the lower cutoff
frequency:
Formula for the upper cutoff

frequency:
Formula for the Q factor:
Formula for the bandwidth:

By replacing each inductor with a capacitor and each capacitor with an inductor, a high-
pass Butterworth filter is obtained.
A band-pass Butterworth filter is obtained by placing a capacitor in series with each

inductor and an inductor in parallel with each capacitor to form resonant circuits. The
value of each new component must be selected to resonate with the old component at the
frequency of interest.
A band-stop Butterworth filter is obtained by placing a capacitor in parallel with each

inductor and an inductor in series with each capacitor to form resonant circuits. The value
of each new component must be selected to resonate with the old component at the
frequency to be rejected.
Amplifier stability question,
phase @ wt =180-tan-1(wt/wp1)-tan-1(wt/wp2)
for wt>>wp1 tan-1(wt/wp1)=tan-1(inf)=90

PM = phase(w=wt)=180-90- tan-1(wt/wp2)
PM = 90-tan-1(wt/wp2)=tan-1(wp2/wt)
for wp2=2wt >> PM=63.4deg

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Firstly for the purists let us attempt to roughly define a small signal (class A) amplifier:

Use in analog circuits

Use in digital circuits

and the exponential attenuation rate can be expressed as

The center frequency is f0 = 995 Hz as geometric mean and

A graph of a filter's gain magnitude, illustrating the concept of -3 dB at a gain of 0.707 or

Formula for the upper cutoff

Formula for the Q factor:

Formula for the bandwidth:

A band-pass Butterworth filter is obtained by placing a capacitor in series with each

A band-stop Butterworth filter is obtained by placing a capacitor in parallel with each

Amplifier stability question,

for wt>>wp1 tan-1(wt/wp1)=tan-1(inf)=90

for wp2=2wt >> PM=63.4deg

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