Linear time-base signal: A linear time base generator is one that provides an output waveform, a portion of

which exhibits a linear variation of voltage or current with time.

Since the waveform is used to sweep the electron
beam horizontally across the screen, it is called
sweep voltage.
Deviation from linearity: Practical time base signals
from generator are not precisely linear. Moreover, Figure 1: (a) A general sweep voltage with sweep time 𝑇𝑆
nominally linear sweep may be distorted due to the and retrace time 𝑇𝑟 ) and (b) A sawtooth voltage waveform
transmission through network. The most useful ways
of expressing the deviation from linearity is given below:
The slope or sweep speed error 𝒆𝑺 : The rate of change of voltage with time is called sweep voltage. The
important requirement of sweep is that it must must be constant. It is defined as (consider figure-2):
The different in slope at the beginning and end of sweep
The sweep speed error 𝐞𝐒 ≡
Initial value of slope
𝑑𝑣
( ⁄𝑑𝑡) 𝑑𝑣
− ( ⁄𝑑𝑡)
𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃𝑆 − 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃𝐸
eS ≡ =
(𝑑𝑣⁄𝑑𝑡) 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃𝑆
𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡

Displacement error 𝒆𝒅 : It is the maximum difference between the

actual sweep voltage and linear sweep which passes through the
beginning and the end points of the actual sweep as shown in fig-3.
(vs − vs′ )max
Displacement error ed ≡ Figure 2: Slope error of a sweep waveform
Vs
Transmission error 𝒆𝒕 :

If a ramp voltage is transmitted through a high pass

RC network, the output falls away from the input as
shown in fig-3b. The transmission error is defined
as the difference between input and the output
divided by the input.
VS′ − VS
et ≡
VS′ Figure 3: Displacement (a) and transmission (b) errors
Methods of generating time-base signals:

1. Exponential charging: A capacitor is charged through a resistor to a voltage which is small in

comparison with the supply voltage.
2. Constant-current charging: A capacitor is charged linearly from a constant-current source.
3. The Miller circuit: An operational integrator is used to convert a step into a ramp waveform.
4. The phantastron circuit: It is a modified version of Miller circuit which requires only a pulse input.
5. The Bootstrap circuit: A constant current is approximated by maintaining linearly constant voltage
across a fixed resistor in series with a capacitor.

Page 1 of 7
 6. Compensating networks: A compensating circuit is introduced to improve the linearity of
Bootstrap and Miller circuits.
7. An inductor circuit: An RLC series circuit is used to yield more linear capacitor charging than is
possible without the use of the inductor.

RC Integrator (Exponential Sweep Circuit): The exponential

sweuep circuit and its response is given in fig-3. At 𝑡 = 0, the
switch 𝑆 is open and the voltage across the capacitor is given by
t
𝑣𝑠 = 𝑉 (1 − 𝑒 − ⁄𝜏 ), The sweep speed is defined as
𝑑𝑣𝑠⁄ 𝑑𝑣𝑠⁄
(
𝑑𝑡)𝑡=0 − ( 𝑑𝑡)𝑡=𝑇𝑠
𝑺𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒔 = Figure 4: RC integrator and its response curve
𝑑𝑣
( 𝑠⁄𝑑𝑡)
𝑡=𝑇𝑠
𝑑𝑣𝑠 𝑉 t
= (1 − 𝑒 − ⁄𝜏 )
𝑑𝑡 𝜏
𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑣 𝑇𝑠
Now ( 𝑠⁄𝑑𝑡) = 𝑉⁄𝜏 and ( 𝑠⁄𝑑𝑡) = 𝑉⁄𝜏 (1 − 𝑒 − ⁄𝜏 )
𝑡=0 𝑡=𝑇𝑠

𝑉⁄ − 𝑉⁄ − 𝑉⁄ 𝑒 −𝑇𝑠⁄𝜏
𝜏 𝜏 𝜏 𝑇𝑠 𝑇 𝑇2 𝑇 𝑇𝑠⁄
∴ es = = 1 − 𝑒 − ⁄𝜏 = 1 − {1 − 𝑠⁄𝜏 + 𝑠 ⁄ 2 ⋯ } ≈ 𝑠⁄𝜏 if 𝜏≪1
𝑉⁄ 2𝜏
𝜏
𝐴𝑡 𝑡 = 0, 𝑣𝑠 = 0 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐴𝑡 𝑡 = 𝑇𝑠 , 𝑣𝑠 = 𝑉𝑠 . From the equation of 𝑣𝑠

𝑇𝑠⁄ 𝑇𝑠2 𝑉 𝑇𝑠⁄ 𝑇𝑠⁄

𝑉𝑠 = V {1 − 1 + 𝜏 − ⁄2𝜏 2 ⋯ } ≈ 𝜏 if 𝜏≪1

𝑉𝑠⁄ 𝑇𝑠⁄
∴ 𝑉≈ 𝜏

𝑉𝑠⁄ 𝑇𝑠⁄
es = 𝑉≈ 𝜏 − − − −(1)

Transmission error 𝒆𝒕 : Transmission error occurs due to the non-linearity of output, therefore 2nd term of
𝑇𝑠⁄ 𝑇𝑠2 𝑇𝑠 𝑇𝑠2 𝑉𝑇𝑠⁄ 𝑇𝑠
𝑉𝑠 = V {1 − 1 + 𝜏 − ⁄2𝜏 2 ⋯ } ≈ V { ⁄𝜏 − ⁄2𝜏 2 } = 𝜏 (1 − ⁄2𝜏)

𝑉𝑇
And the linear portion is denoted by 𝑉𝑠′ = 𝑠⁄𝜏
𝑉𝑇𝑠⁄ 𝑉𝑇𝑠⁄ (1 𝑇𝑠⁄ )
𝑉𝑠′ − 𝑉𝑠 𝜏− 𝜏 − 2𝜏 𝑇𝑠
∴ 𝐞𝐭 = = = − − − − − (2)
𝑉𝑠′ 𝑉𝑇𝑠⁄ 2𝜏
𝜏
( 𝑣𝑠 − 𝑣𝑠′ )𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 𝑒𝑑 =
𝑉𝑠
𝑇 𝑇2
𝐴𝑡 𝑡 = 𝑇𝑠 , 𝑣𝑠 = 𝑉𝑠 , therefore 𝑉𝑠 = V ( 𝑠⁄𝜏 − 𝑠 ⁄2𝜏 2 ) this become straight line at 𝑡 = 𝑇𝑠

𝑇𝑠⁄
∴ 𝑣𝑠′ = V (1⁄𝜏 − )𝑡
2𝜏 2

Page 2 of 7
 𝑇 𝑇2 𝑇 𝑉𝑇 𝑡 2
Now 𝑣𝑠 − 𝑣𝑠′ = V ( 𝑠⁄𝜏 − 𝑠 ⁄2𝜏 2 ) − V (1⁄𝜏 − 𝑠⁄2𝜏 2 ) 𝑡 = 𝑠 ⁄2𝜏 2 − 𝑉𝑡 ⁄2𝜏 2

𝑑(𝑣𝑠 − 𝑣𝑠′ )
This (𝑣𝑠 − 𝑣𝑠′ ) becomes maximum if =0
𝑑𝑡
𝑉𝑇𝑠2
∴ ( 𝑣𝑠 − 𝑣𝑠′ )𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
8𝜏 2
𝑉𝑇𝑠2⁄
𝑇ℎ𝑢𝑠 𝑒𝑑 = 8𝜏 2 = 𝑇𝑠 − − − − − (3)
𝑉 𝑇𝑠⁄ 8𝜏
𝜏
Now compare equations (1), (2) and (3), we have
𝑒𝑡 𝑒
𝑒𝑑 = ⁄4 = 𝑠⁄8

Transistor Constant Current Sweep:

The collector current of CB circuit is constant if emitter
current is kept constant. This can be used to charge capacitor
with constant current Figure 5: Transistor Constant current sweep (a)
and its equivalent circuit (b)
(𝑉𝐸𝐸 − 𝑉𝐵𝐵 )
𝐼𝐸 = ⁄𝑅
𝑒

The capacitor is charged linearly when the switch S is open. The charging collector current is 𝐼𝑐 =
ℎ𝐹𝐵 𝐼𝐸 ≈ −𝛼𝐼𝐸 . The collector current is temperature dependent. To investigate the sources of non-
linearity, the equivalent circuit of the transistor is shown in fig-5

Effective input voltage is 𝑣𝑖 = 𝑉𝐸𝐸 − 𝑉𝛾 ≡ 𝑉𝑖 . Now apply KVL to input and KCL to output, we can write
𝑣𝑖 = 𝑖𝑒 (𝑅𝐸 + ℎ𝑖𝑏 ) + ℎ𝑟𝑏 𝑣𝑠 = 𝑉𝑖
𝑑𝑣𝑠
𝑖 𝑐 = 𝑖𝑒 ℎ𝑓𝑏 + ℎ𝑜𝑏 𝑣𝑠 = −𝐶 𝑑𝑡
The solution for output voltage can be found by applying initial condition at 𝑡 = 0, 𝑣𝑠 = 0
𝛼 𝑉𝑖 𝜏 𝑡 1 1 𝛼 ℎ𝑟𝑏
𝑣𝑠 = (1 − 𝑒 − ⁄𝜏 ) where 𝛼 = −ℎ𝑓𝑏 ; 𝑉𝑖 = 𝑉𝐸𝐸 − 𝑉𝛾 ; = (ℎ𝑜𝑏 + )
𝐶(𝑅𝑒 + ℎ𝑖𝑏 ) 𝜏 𝐶 𝑅𝑒 + ℎ𝑖𝑏

Expanding the exponential into power series of 𝑡⁄𝜏 and retaining only first term, we have
𝛼 𝑉𝑖 𝑡
𝑣𝑠 =
𝐶(𝑅𝑒 + ℎ𝑖𝑏 )
𝛼 𝑉𝑖 𝑇𝑠
At 𝑡 = 𝑇𝑠 , 𝑣𝑠 = 𝑉𝑠 =
𝐶(𝑅𝑒 + ℎ𝑖𝑏 )
𝑇 𝑉 ℎ
Slope error, 𝒆𝒔 = 𝑠 ⁄𝜏 = 𝑉𝑠 {ℎ𝑟𝑏 + 𝛼𝑜𝑏 ((𝑅𝑒 + ℎ𝑖𝑏 )} − − − − − (4)
𝑖

Page 3 of 7
Limitations of transistor constant current sweep:
(a) Loading effect: The circuit cannot be loaded appreciably without deteriorating the linearity. It a load
𝑅𝐿 is placed across C, the load appears parallel to 1⁄ℎ . Since 1⁄ℎ ≈ 2 𝑀Ω then even if 𝑅𝐿 =
𝑜𝑏 𝑜𝑏
2 𝑀Ω (unreasonably large value) the second term of equation (4) is doubled.
This problem can be reduced by using a emitter follower as a impedance matching circuit between
sweep generator and load.

(b) Temperature effect: Transistor parameters are temperature

dependent. This variation does not cause sweep non linearity but
make the sweep rate temperature dependent. It is known that 𝑉𝐸𝐵
decreases about 2 𝑚𝑉 per degree centigrade. Therefore sweep
|I | αI Figure 6: Temperature compensation
speed C ⁄C = E⁄C increases with temperature.
circuit for RC integrator
Temperature compensation circuit is shown in fig-6. The voltage 𝑉𝐸𝐸 is equal to 𝑉𝑍 across the Zener
diode plus the voltage drop across diode D. Therefore 𝑉𝐶𝐶 = 𝑉𝑌𝑌 − 𝑉𝐸𝐸 . The diode D and transistor
are made from the same materials. Hence D serve to compensate the temperature dependent emitter
to base voltage 𝑉𝐸𝐵 . If the voltage drop across D and emitter junction voltage 𝑉𝐸𝐵 are always the
same, then voltage across 𝑅𝑒 always equal to 𝑉𝑍 . The sweep speed is essentially independent of
temperature.

Miller time base generator: The linearity of RC integrator can be

improved by introducing a feedback network. If an auxiliary
variable generator 𝑣 is
added in the RC integrator Figure 7: Current varies exponentially with
as shown in fig-7, and 𝑣 is time (left) the linearity is increased (right)
kept always equal to the voltage drop across C, then charging current
will always be consent 𝑖 = 𝑉⁄𝑅 and perfect linearity is achieved.

If the point Z is grounded, a linear sweep will appear between Y

and ground. Let the auxiliary generator is replaced by an amplifier
as shown in fig-8. It is assumed that the generator voltage 𝑣 equal to
the voltage across C, so the input of the amplifier is zero. This can
Figure 8: Point Z is grounded (a), the be achieve by using an amplifier having infinity gain. The circuit is
circuit is simulated with Op-amp (b)
called Miller sweep or Miller integrator.

Page 4 of 7
Bootstrap generator: If the point Y is grounded a linear sweep
will appear between Z and ground.

If the fictitious generator is replaced by a unity gain amplifier

then its output is equal to the input as shown in fig-9. The circuit
is known as bootstrap because voltage V is lifted by its own
Figure 9: Point Y is grounded and circuit is
bootstraps. implemented with unity gain amplifier

Improved Miller Integrator:

𝑉𝑅𝑖
Effective input voltage 𝑉 ′ = − − − −(5𝑎)
𝑅𝑖 + 𝑅
𝑅𝑖 𝑅
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑅′ = − − − − − (5𝑏)
𝑅𝑖 + 𝑅
If we neglect 𝑅𝑜

𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝐶 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑜 = ( 𝑣𝑖 − 𝐴𝑣𝑖 ) = 0 Figure 10: Thevenin's equivalent circuit of Miller integrator

𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑖 = 𝐴𝑣𝑖 = 𝑣𝑜 = 0

At 𝑡 =  Capacitor will charged fully and current will be zero. In that case vi = V ′ and therefore vo =
AV ′
𝑅
𝑉𝑆𝑉𝑆 𝑉𝑆 (1 + ⁄𝑅𝑖 )
𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟, 𝑒𝑠 = = =
𝑣𝑜 A𝑉 ′ 𝑉 𝐴
(𝟏+𝑹⁄𝑹 )
𝒊
Deviation from linearity is times that of a RC integrator (A is the gain of amplifier A>>1)
𝑨

If we consider 𝑅𝑜
𝑉 ′ − 𝑅′ 𝑖 − 𝑅𝑜 𝑖 − 𝐴𝑣𝑖 = 0 − − − − − −(6)
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑖 = 𝑉 ′ − 𝑅′ 𝑖 − − − − − −(7)
Now from equations (5), (6) and (7) we have

(𝑅𝑜⁄𝑅′ ) 𝑉 ′
𝑣𝑖 (𝑡 = 0 +) = ∆𝑉𝑖 = 𝑣𝑜 (𝑡 = 0 +) = ∆𝑉𝑜 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑅′ ≫ 𝑅 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴 ≫ 1
𝑅
1 − 𝐴 + 𝑜⁄𝑅′
′
Charging Current in Miller circuit is constant and given by 𝑖 = 𝑉 ⁄𝑅′
′
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 = 𝑖⁄𝐶 ≈ 𝑉 ⁄𝐶𝑅′ = 𝑉⁄𝑅𝐶. It is seen that the sweep speed of improved Miller
integrator is constant.

Page 5 of 7
Transistor Miller Integrator:
High input impedance amplifier
is a practical need for improved
Miller time base generator.

Hence, the first stage Q1 of fig-

11 is an emitter follower. The
transistor Q2 is used as high
gain voltage amplifier. Q3 is
chosen as emitter follower due
to the following reasons: Figure 11: Transistor Miller Integrator

First, because of its low output impedance 𝑅𝑜 it can drive a load easily.

Second, because of its high input impedance it does not load the collector circuit of Q2 appreciably and
hence its gain remain very high.

Finally, if the gain is very large and 𝑅𝑜 is small enough, no resistance 𝒓 is needed in series with capacitor
C. The sweep speed is changed from range to range by switching R and C and may be varied by varying
𝑉𝐵𝐵 (using voltage divider across supply voltage).

In order to facilitate the rapid discharge of capacitor the switch transistor Q4 and disconnect diode D are
placed across C.

In the quiescent condition Q4 is held conduction by Schmitt trigger. The emitter voltage of Q4 is negative
and hence diode D is also conduction. The current through R is bypassed around C and flows through D
and Q4. Hence C is prevented from charging.

A triggering signal initiate the sweep by charging the state of Schmitt trigger. The corresponding rise in
voltage at the base of Q4 turns off the transistor. The positive voltage across R1 causes D also to be non-
conducting. At this time the upper terminal of C is connected to the collector of Q4 which is in cut off. At
the end of the sweep, C is discharges rapidly through D and Q4.

Page 6 of 7
Bootstraps Integrator:
The bootstraps circuit is been redrawn in
fig-12. As in the case of Miller circuit, we
find (at t=0, S is open) the output
𝑅𝑜 𝑉
𝑣𝑜 (𝑡 = 0 +) = −
(𝑅𝑜 + 𝑅)
And
Figure 12: Bootstrap sweep circuit and its Thevenin's circuit at the base
𝑉(𝑅𝑖 𝐴 − 𝑅𝑜 ) V
𝑣𝑜 (𝑡 = ∞) = ≈ 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐴 ≈ 1 , 𝑅𝑖 ≫ 𝑅𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 R ≫ 𝑅𝑜
𝑅𝑖 (1 − 𝐴) + 𝑅𝑜 + 𝑅 (1 − 𝐴) + 𝑅⁄
𝑅𝑖
Since R ≫ 𝑅𝑜 , we can neglect 𝑣𝑜 (𝑡 = 0 +) in comparison with 𝑣𝑜 (𝑡 = ∞)
The sweep amplitude is given by
𝑉𝑠
Slope error (bootstrap) 𝒆𝒔 = V
(1 − 𝐴 + 𝑅⁄𝑅 )
𝑖

𝑉 𝑉
𝑎𝑡 𝑡 = 0 +, 𝑣𝑖 = 0 and 𝑖 = ≈ Since R ≫ 𝑅𝑜
(𝑅𝑜+𝑅) 𝑅

This current flows into the capacitor C so that the sweep speed at the input is 𝑖⁄𝐶 and at the output

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 = 𝐴𝑖⁄𝐶 ≈ 𝐴𝑉⁄𝑅𝐶

Page 7 of 7