PWANI UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY

STT B301: SIGNAL AMPLIFICATION AND PROCESSING

Lecture Notes

By

FANUEL MUGWANGA KEHEZE

© 2020

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 STT B301: SIGNAL AMPLIFICATION AND PROCESSING
Contact hours 45
Prerequisites: 0
Purpose
To equip the students with knowledge and skills in signal amplification and processing
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course the students should be able to:
i) Describe the various amplification, modulation and demodulation techniques
ii) Design oscillators, signal conditioners and instrumentation amplifiers
iii) Explain the effect of noise on communication signals
iv) Describe different techniques of noise elimination

COURSE DESCRIPTION
1. Signals: Analogue and digital signals. Binary coding, time and frequency form of
a signal, frequency spectrum of a digital signal. Fourier integral methods.
2. Modulation: Sampling theorem: Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), permissible
distortion in received signals. Amplitude Modulation (AM), Frequency Modulation
(FM), and Phase Modulation. Linear channels. Band pass channels. Noise and
limiting effect on communication.
3. Demodulation: in the presence of noise: coherent detection, frequency changing,
the rectifier detector and its applications. Effect of noise on modulation:
comparison on AM and FM, the effect of sampling an noise to signal ratio.
4. Common electronic circuit models. Charge Control Model, rise time, fall time
compensation techniques, cascaded states, Radio Frequency Amplifier Models
and use of admittance. Miller effect. Pulse Amplifiers:
5. Large signal amplifiers. Analysis of class A, B, AB and C amplifiers (push-pull and
complementary symmetry circuits). Calculation of power gain and efficiency,
estimation of distortion. Thermal variation and device parameters.
6. Amplifiers: Tuned Amplifiers, Power Amplifiers and Pulse Amplifier... Noise in
amplifiers: noise sources, types, signal/noise ratio, noise figure temperature.
Design of power amplifiers, R.F. Analysis of broad amplifiers for various circuits
configuration.

Teaching Methodology
Lectures, laboratory practicals, class discussions, tutorials, and field excursions

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Instructional Materials/Equipment
LCD projector, hand-outs, and laboratory apparatus
Course Assessment
Continuous assessment 30% and end semester examination 70%
Textbooks for the course
1. Robert J. Schilling, Sandra L. Harris (2016) Digital Signal Processing Using
MATLAB ISBN 1305887204
2. Rakesh Kumar P, Ramesh Harjani (2016) Inverter-Based Circuit Design
Techniques for Low Supply Voltages ISBN 3319466283
3. Esteban Tlelo-Cuautle (2012) Integrated Circuits for Analog Signal Processing
ISBN 1461413834
4. HolgerSchmeckebier (2016) Quantum-Dot-Based Semiconductor Optical
Amplifiers for O-Band ISBN 3319442759
5. Pieter Harpe, Andrea Baschirotto, Kofi A.A. Makinwa (2014) High-performance
AD and DA Converters, IC Design in Scaled Technologies and Time=Domain
Signal Processing ISBN 3319079387

Journals for the course

1) International Journal of Electronics
2) IET Journal of Circuits , Devices and Systems
3) IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems
4) Journal of Instrumentation-IOP science

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 INTRODUCTION
SIGNALS
Analogue and Digital Signals
- A signal may also be defined as an "observable change in a quantifiable entity".
- Any quantity exhibiting variation in time or variation in space (such as an image) is
potentially a signal that might provide information on the status of a physical system,
or convey a message between observers, among other possibilities.
- The term "signal" includes audio, video, speech, image, communication, geophysical,
sonar, radar, medical and musical signals.
- A signal may or may not contain any information.
- Signals are typically provided by a sensor, and often the original form of a signal is
converted to another form of energy using a transducer.
- The information in a signal is usually accompanied by noise.
- A signal is a codified message, that is, the sequence of states in a communication
channel that encodes a message.

Noise
- The term noise means an undesirable random disturbance,
- It is often extended to include unwanted signals conflicting with the desired signal
(such as crosstalk).
- Engineering disciplines such as electrical engineering have led the way in the design,
study, and implementation of systems involving transmission, storage, and
manipulation of information.

Definitions
- In a communication system, a transmitter encodes a message to create a signal, which
is carried to a receiver by the communications channel..

Categorize of Signals
- The most common distinction is between discrete and continuous spaces. They are
functions defined over discrete and continuous time domains.
- Discrete-time signals are often referred to as time series in other fields. Continuous-
time signals are often referred to as continuous signals.
- A second important distinction is between discrete-valued and continuous-valued.
- A digital signal may be defined as a sequence of discrete values, associated with an
underlying continuous-valued physical process.
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- In digital electronics, digital signals are the continuous-time waveform signals in a
digital system, representing a bit-stream.
- Another important property of a signal is its entropy or information content.

Types of signals
Analog and digital signals
- Two main types of signals encountered in practice are analog and digital.
- The figure below shows a digital signal that results from approximating an analog
signal by its values at particular time instants.

- Digital signals are quantized, while analog signals are continuous.

- A digital signal has two or more distinguishable waveforms, (high voltage and low
voltages), each of which can be mapped onto a digit.
- Noise can be removed from digital signals provided it is not too large.

1) Analog signal
- The term analog signal usually refers to electrical signals; however, mechanical,
pneumatic, hydraulic, human speech, and other systems are be considered analog
signals.
- An analog signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature (variable)
of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to
another time varying signal.
- In an analog audio signal, the instantaneous voltage of the signal varies continuously
with the pressure of the sound waves.
- It differs from a digital signal, in which the continuous quantity is a representation of a
sequence of discrete values which can only take on one of a finite number of values.
- An analog signal uses some property of the medium to convey the signal's information.
- An aneroid barometer uses rotary position as the signal to convey pressure
information.
- In an electrical signal, the voltage, current, or frequency of the signal may be varied
to represent the information.

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 - Any information may be conveyed by an analog signal; often such a signal is a
measured response to changes in physical phenomena, such as sound, light,
temperature, position, or pressure.
- A physical variable is converted to an analog signal by a transducer. (e.g in sound
recording, fluctuations in air pressure (that is to say, sound) strike the diaphragm of
a microphone which induces corresponding fluctuations in the current produced by a
coil in an electromagnetic microphone, or the voltage produced by a condenser
microphone. The voltage or the current is said to be an "analog" of the sound.

2) Digital signal
- A digital signal is a signal that is constructed from a discrete set of waveforms of a
physical quantity so as to represent a sequence of discrete values.
- A logic signal is a digital signal with only two possible values, and describes an
arbitrary bit stream.
- Other types of digital signals can represent three-valued logic or higher valued logics.

- A binary signal, also known as a logic signal, is a digital signal with two distinguishable
levels
- A digital signal may be considered to be the sequence of codes represented by such
a physical quantity.
- A physical quantity may be a variable electric current or voltage, the intensity, phase
or polarization of an optical or other electromagnetic field, acoustic pressure, the
magnetization of a magnetic storage media, etcetera.
- Digital signals are present in all digital electronics, notably computing equipment and
data transmission.
- A received digital signal may be impaired by noise and distortions without necessarily
affecting the digits
- Digital signals often arise through sampling of analog signals, e.g., a continually
fluctuating voltage on a line that can be digitized by an analog-to-digital converter
circuit, wherein the circuit will read the voltage level on the line, say, every
50 microseconds and represent each reading with a fixed number of bits.
- The resulting stream of numbers is stored as digital data on a discrete-time and
quantized-amplitude signal.
- Computers and other digital devices are restricted to discrete time.

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 Time discretization
- If for a signal, the quantities are defined only on a discrete set of times, we call it a
discrete-time signal.
- A simple source for a discrete time signal is the sampling of a continuous signal,
approximating the signal by a sequence of its values at particular time instants.

Fig: Discrete-time signal created from a continuous signal by sampling

- The domain of a continuous-time (CT) signal is the set of real numbers (or some
interval thereof), whereas the domain of a discrete-time (DT) signal is the set of
integers (or some interval).
- A discrete-time real signal can be seen as a function from (a subset of) the set of
integers (the index labeling time instants) to the set of real numbers (the function
values at those instants).
- A continuous-time real signal is any real-valued function which is defined at every
time t in an interval, most commonly an infinite interval.

Amplitude quantization
- Quantization is the process of converting a continuous analog audio signal to a digital
signal with discrete numerical values.
- If a signal is to be represented as a sequence of numbers, it is impossible to maintain
exact precision - each number in the sequence must have a finite number of digits.
As a result, the values of such a signal belong to a finite set; in other words, it is
quantized.

- Digital signal resulting from approximation to an analog signal, which is a continuous

function of time

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- Analog and digital signals are used to transmit information through electric signals.
- In both these technologies, the information, such as any audio or video, is
transformed into electric signals.
- The difference between analog and digital technologies is that in analog
technology, information is translated into electric pulses of varying amplitude.
- In digital technology, translation of information is into binary format (zero or one)
where each bit is representative of two distinct amplitudes.

Comparison chart of analog to digital signals

Analog Digital Analog signal is a continuous Digital signals are discrete time
Signal signal which represents physical signals generated by digital
measurements. modulation.
Waves Denoted by sine waves Denoted by square waves

Representation Uses continuous range of values Uses discrete or discontinuous values

to represent information to represent information
Human voice in air, analog Computers, CDs, DVDs, and other
Example
electronic devices. digital electronic devices.
Samples analog waveforms into a
Analog technology records
Technology limited set of numbers and records
waveforms as they are.
them.

Data Subjected to deterioration by Can be noise-immune without

noise during transmission and deterioration during transmission and
transmissions write/read cycle. write/read cycle.
Response to More likely to get affected Less affected since noise response
Noise reducing accuracy are analog in nature
Digital hardware is flexible in
Flexibility Analog hardware is not flexible.
implementation.
Can be used in analog devices
Best suited for Computing and digital
Uses only. Best suited for audio and
electronics.
video transmission.
Applications Thermometer PCs, PDAs
There is no guarantee that digital
Analog signal processing can be
signal processing can be done in real
Bandwidth done in real time and consumes
time and consumes more bandwidth
less bandwidth.
to carry out the same information.
Memory Stored in the form of wave signal Stored in the form of binary bit
Analog instrument draws large Digital instrument drawS only
Power
power negligible power
Cost Low cost and portable Cost is high and not easily portable
Impedance Low High order of 100 megaohm
Analog instruments usually have Digital instruments are free from
Errors a scale which is cramped at observational errors like parallax and
lower end and give considerable approximation errors.

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 observational errors

Examples of signals
Signals in nature can be converted to electronic signals by various sensors. Some
examples are:
• Motion. The motion of an object can be considered to be a signal, and can be
monitored by various sensors to provide electrical signals. e.g, radar can
provide an electromagnetic signal for following aircraft motion. A motion signal
is one-dimensional (time), and the range is generally three-dimensional.
Position is thus a 3-vector signal; position and orientation of a rigid body is a 6-
vector signal. Orientation signals can be generated using a gyroscope.
• Sound. Since a sound is a vibration of a medium (such as air), a sound signal
associates a pressure value to every value of time and three space coordinates.
A sound signal is converted to an electrical signal by a microphone, generating
a voltage signal as an analog of the sound signal, making the sound signal
available for further signal processing. Sound signals can be sampled at a
discrete set of time points.
• Images. A picture or image consists of a brightness or color signal, a function
of a two-dimensional location. The object's appearance is presented as an
emitted or reflected electromagnetic wave, one form of electronic signal. It can
be converted to voltage or current waveforms using devices such as the
charge-coupled device.
• Videos. A video signal is a sequence of images. A point in a video is identified
by its two-dimensional position and by the time at which it occurs, so a video
signal has a three-dimensional domain. Analog video has one continuous
domain dimension (across a scan line) and two discrete dimensions (frame and
line).
• Biological membrane potentials. The value of the signal is an electric
potential ("voltage"). The domain is more difficult to establish. Some cells or
organelles have the same membrane potential throughout; neurons generally
have different potentials at different points.

Signals and Signal Characterization

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 - Periodic signal being are composed of a number of harmonically related sinusoids
as discussed below:

1.1 Basic Signals

(i) Sine wave
- For real world analogue signals that are periodic, sine waves play a fundamental
role in characterizing the mathematical structure of such signals.
- A general sinusoidal signal v is expressed by;
v(t ) = E sin(t +  )

where E is the amplitude of the sine wave,  is the phase angle, and  is the angular
frequency expressed in rad/s.
- Consider the phase angle  of the primary signal to be zero.

v(ωt) v(ωt) = Esin(ωt+Φ)

E 2π

ωt

- The independent parameter is the angle t, where t carries the time dependence,
and the period is 2.
- We directly represent our signal waveforms as functions of time t and the sine wave
is thus shown in the following diagram:

v(t) v(t) = Esin(ωt)

0 T/2 T t

- The periodic time T is related to angular frequency  by

2
= = 2f
T
where f is the (regular) frequency in Hz.
- Here we have;

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 T
 E 
VDC
1 T
=  E sin(t )dt =
1
−  cos(t ) =−
E
cos(T ) − cos(0)
T 0 T 0 T
- And noting that, T = 2 we get

VDC = −
E
1 − 1 = 0
2
- As expected, the average value of the symmetrical sine wave is zero.

(ii) Square wave

We can formulate the square wave mathematically as;
T
0t  , v(t ) = E
2
T
t T , v(t ) = 0
2
while the periodic nature is captured by
t T v(t ) = v(t − nT ) for integer n.

squarewave
v(t)

0 T/2 T 2T t

- Essentially the square wave is a digital signal, a regular sequence of alternating 0’s
and 1’s more commonly termed a clock signal.
- For the square wave;
 T2 
1  
T
VDC =   Edt +  0dt 
T 0
 T
 E T2 E T E
 2  = t  = =
0
T T 2 2

(iii) Saw tooth wave

- This is given mathematically by
E
0t T v(t ) = t
T
and again
t T v(t ) = v(t − nT )

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 v(t) sawtooth

0 T 2T t

- The voltage is seen to increase linearly until it reaches E at time T and then switches
abruptly back to zero.
- For a saw tooth wave we have;

 
T
E 1 
T
1 E E E
V DC =  tdt = 2  t2 = T2 −0 =
T 0T T 2 0 2T 2
2

- While both of the latter two waveforms happen to have dc values of E/2.

1.2 Average Value

- There are a number of additional signal parameters of interest. The first of these is
the average or DC value and is defined as;
1 T
T 0
VDC = v(t )dt

1.2 Root Mean Square (RMS)

- V2rms is a measure of signal strength.
- Consider a periodic signal voltage v(t) applied to a resistor R and resulting in a current
i (t). The instantaneous power delivered to R is;
1 2
p(t ) = v(t )i(t ) = v (t )
R

i(t)

V(t) R

- The average power is given by

T T
1 1 1 2 1 2
P=
T 0 p(t )dt = R T 0 v (t )dt  R Vrm s
- The quantity Vrms is a measure of the average power available in the signal v(t) — it
needs the R value to specify the actual power delivered to the resistor.

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 Root Mean Square for Sine wave
- For a sine wave; we have,
T
 
T
E2 E2
V 2
rm s =
1
0 ( E sin(  t
2
) ) dt =  (1 − cos(2t ) )dt =
1
t − 2 sin( 2t )
T 2T 2T 0

E2  1   1 
=  T − 2 sin( 2T )  −  0 − 2 sin( 0) 
2T    
- Again noting that T = 2 and that sin( 4 ) = 0 , we have

E2 1
2
Vrms = or Vrms = E
2 2

Root Mean Square for Square wave

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- It is left as an exercise to show that Vrms = E.
2
- We also frequently encounter the square wave with zero DC value:
v(t)

+E

0 T/2 T 2T
t
-E

- For this waveform it may readily be shown that Vrms = E

Root Mean Square for Saw tooth wave

- For saw tooth, we have;
2 T
1 E 
T
E 2 1 3  1 E2 3 1 2
V 2
rms =   t  dt = 3  t  = T = E
T 0T  T 3  0 3 T 3 3

- Each waveform has its own characteristic r.m.s value.

SIGNAL PROCESSING
- A typical role for signals is in signal processing. A common example is signal
transmission between different locations.
- The embodiment of a signal in electrical form is made by a transducer that converts
the signal from its original form to a waveform expressed as a current (I) or a voltage
(V), or an electromagnetic waveform, for example, an optical signal or radio
transmission.

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 Figure: Signal transmission using electronic signals
- Once expressed as an electronic signal, the signal is available for further
processing by electrical devices such as electronic amplifiers and electronic
filters, and can be transmitted to a remote location by electronic transmitters
and received using electronic receivers.

SIGNAL AMPLIFICATION
- Amplification is the set of techniques used to boost a signal's strength,

Maintaining Accurate Gain

- There are a number of secondary goals that must be considered when selecting or
designing an amplifier for increasing the amplitude of the transducer's output signal.
- The first is to simply make the amplifier's input impedance much higher than the
transducer's output impedance. The signal seen at the amplifier's input will be VOCT
× [rIN/(rIN+rOT)], which is about equal to VOCT when rIN >>rOT.
- When implemented with a suitable FET-input op amp, this circuit can provide in
excess of 1010 Ω of input impedance at DC.
- Using a very high input impedance amplifier is often an adequate and simple solution
to many interface problems.

Figure 3. a simple op amp circuit can

help you maintain accurate gain

Signals and systems

- In Electrical engineering programs, a class and field of study known as "signals and
systems" (S and S). The field studies input and output signals, and the mathematical
representations between them known as systems, in four domains: Time, Frequency,

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 s and z. As an example, when working with continuous time signals (t), one might
transform from the time domain to a frequency or s domain; or from discrete time (n)
to frequency or z domains. Systems also can be transformed between these domains
like signals, with continuous to s and discrete to z.

MILLER EFFECT
- In electronics, the Miller effect accounts for an increase in the equivalent
input capacitance of an inverting voltage amplifier due to amplification of
capacitance between the input and output terminals.
- Although Miller effect normally refers to capacitance, any impedance connected
between the input and another node exhibiting high gain can modify the amplifier
input impedance via the Miller effect.
- This increase in input capacitance is given by

AV
where is the gain of the amplifier and C is the feedback capacitance.

History of Miller Effect

- The Miller effect was named after John Milton Miller. When Miller published his work
in 1920, he was working on vacuum tube triodes, however the same theory applies
to more modern devices such as bipolar and MOS transistors.
Derivation
AV
- Consider an ideal voltage amplifier of gain with an impedance Z connected
V0 = AV Vi
between its input and output nodes. The output voltage is therefore and the
input current is

- As this current flows through the impedance Z, this equation shows that because of
the gain of the amplifier a huge current flows in Z; in effect Z behaves as though it
were much smaller than it is. The input impedance of the circuit is

- If Z represents a capacitor, then

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 and the resulting input impedance is

CM
- Thus the effective or Miller capacitance is the physical C multiplied by the
(1 − AV )
factor .

FOURIER TRANSFORM OF SIGNALS

- The relationship between any periodic waveform and the sinewave was fully
developed by the French mathematician Jean Fourier.
- He basically showed that a periodic function could be written as an infinite series of
harmonically related sinusoidal functions.
- There are a number of equivalent ways in which the relationship may be expressed,
one of which is as follows:
Let v(t) represent a signal of period T. Then v(t) may be expanded as

v(t ) = a0 +  a k sin (k 0 t +  k )
k =1

a0 denotes the average value or DC component of the waveform while a k

denotes the amplitude of the k’th sinusoid and k its phase angle.
- The angular frequency of the first, or fundamental, sinusoid is given by
2
0 =
T
and we note that all subsequent sinusoids have a frequency which is an integral
multiple of the fundamental frequency. The 20 component is called the second
harmonic; The 30 component is the third harmonic, etc.
- For the present we simply note the following Fourier series expansions of waveforms
already encountered in APS 4212: Wave Theory and Tidal Energy.

Fourier transform of a Square wave

- It may be shown that the square wave of amplitude E can be expressed
 
sin ( 0 t ) + 3 sin (3 0 t ) + 5 sin (5 0 t ) + 
E 2E 1 1
v(t ) = +
2 
- We have already determined the DC value of the squarewave to be indeed E/2. This
series expansion contains only odd harmonics.
- If the DC component is removed from the waveform leaving

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 v(t)

+E

0 T/2 T 2T
t
-E

- then the Fourier series becomes

4E  
sin ( 0 t ) + sin (3 0 t ) + sin (5 0 t ) + 
1 1
v(t ) = 
  3 5 
- The effect of adding components to the series and producing the square wave is
illustrated by the following diagram:

- Basically, it would take an infinite number of sinusoids to precisely re-construct a

perfect square wave.

Fourier transform of a Saw tooth wave

- Again it may be shown that the Fourier series for the previously specified saw tooth
waveform is given by;
 
sin ( 0 t ) + 2 sin (2 0 t ) + 3 sin (3 0 t ) + 
E E 1 1
v(t ) = −
2 
- All harmonic frequencies are present in this series. Again the underlying harmonic
structure is illustrated by the following:

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 - This composite contains all sinusoids up to and including 70.

1.5 Power Calculations

- Electronic circuits tend to be frequency sensitive, i.e. they may react differently to
sine waves of differing frequency.
- The Fourier series tool allows us to determine the underlying sinusoidal structure of
a given signal and then to calculate how the electronic circuit effects the individual
sinusoidal components, particularly with regards to the distribution of available power
across these components.
- The basic idea is as follows: Consider a periodic signal v(t) for which, for
convenience, the DC component is zero, ie
v(t ) = a1 sin (0 t + 1 ) + a 2 sin (2 0 t +  2 ) + a3 sin (3 0 t + 3 ) + 
- This must equal the available power in the individual sinusoids:
Ptotal = P1 + P2 + P3 + 

2
Vrms =
1 2 1 2 1 2
2
a1 + a2 + a3 + 
2 2
=
2

1 2
a1 + a22 + a32 +  

Example:
The human ear can perceive frequencies up to 20vkHz. If a zero-DC square wave is
played out through a loudspeaker, what fraction of the available signal power is heard
by a listener if the square wave (fundamental) frequency is (a) 15kHz, and (b) 5kHz?

Solution
- As previously noted, a zero-DC squarewave may be expressed
4E  
sin (2f 0 t ) + sin (6f 0 t ) + sin (10f 0 t ) + 
1 1
v(t ) = 
  3 5 
where f0 is the fundamental frequency in Hz.
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 - We know that the total available signal power is given by
2
Vrms = E2

(a) If f 0 = 15kHz , then the only component actually perceived is the f 0 component

since 3 f 0  20kHz . The perceived signal power may be expressed

2
1  4E  1 16 E 2 8E 2
V 2
=   = = 2
2   2 2 
1 rms

The fraction of total power that is perceived is thus

V12rm s 8E 2 1 8
= = 2 = 0.81
Vrm2 s  E
2 2


(b) If f 0 = 5kHz , then the components actually perceived are the f 0 and 3f0

components. The perceived signal power is now given

1 16 E 2   1 2 
V 2
+V 2
= 1 +   
2 2
1 rms 2 rms
  3  
The fraction of the total power that is perceived is
V12rm s + V22rm s 8  1
= 1+ = 0.9
V 2
rm s  2  9 
Stated otherwise, 90% of the power in a square wave is contained in the first two
harmonics.

TOPIC TWO
MODULATION

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 What is Modulation?
- In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or
more properties of a periodic waveform, called the carrier signal, with a modulating
signal that typically contains information to be transmitted.
- Modulation is when a carrier signal varies in accordance with the message signal.
- Modulation technique is used to change the signal characteristics.

- Most radio systems in the 20th century used frequency modulation (FM) or amplitude
modulation (AM) for radio broadcast.

Terms used in Modulation and Communication

- A modulator is a device that performs modulation.

- A demodulator (sometimes detector or demod) is a device that

performs demodulation, the inverse of modulation.

- A modem (from modulator–demodulator) can perform both operations.

- A transmitter is a group of electronic circuits designed to convert the information

into a signal for transmission over a given communication medium.
- A receiver is a group of electronic circuits designed to convert the signal back to the
original information.
- A communication channel is the medium which is designed to transmit the
electronic signal from one place to another.

Types of Modulation
- Basically, the modulation is of following two types:
Analog modulation

- The aim of analog modulation is to transfer an analog baseband (or low pass) signal,
for example an audio signal or TV signal, over an analog band pass channel at a
different frequency, for example over a limited radio frequency band or a cable TV
network channel.

Digital modulation

- The aim of digital modulation is to transfer a digital bit stream over an

analog communication channel, (for example over the public switched telephone
network where a band pass filter limits the frequency range to 300–3400 Hz) or over
a limited radio frequency band.

20
- Analog and digital modulation facilitate frequency division multiplexing (FDM), where
several low pass information signals are transferred simultaneously over the same
shared physical medium, using separate pass band channels (several different
carrier frequencies).

- The aim of digital baseband modulation methods, also known as line coding, is to
transfer a digital bit stream over a baseband channel, typically a non-filtered copper
wire such as a serial bus or a wired local area network.

- The aim of pulse modulation methods is to transfer a narrow band analog signal,
for example, a phone call over a wideband baseband channel or, in some of the
schemes, as a bit stream over another digital transmission system.

Communication
- Communication is the process of exchanging (two way communication) or passing
(one way communication) information from one person to another.
- Communication is the basic attraction of mankind as it gives the knowledge of what
is going on around us.
- We communicate with many people and use the entertainment media like television,
radio, internet and newspaper to get ourselves involved that act as a source of
communication through TV, radio, internet, etc.
- When we want to transmit a signal from one location to another, we have to
strengthen the signal. After undergoing strengthening process the signal travels to
a long distance. This is called as modulation.

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
- The basic electronic communication system consists of these components:
transmitter, receiver and communication channel.

Block diagram of a communication system

21
 Modulation Techniques
Types of Modulation Techniques
There are mainly two types of modulation techniques:
1) Analog Modulation
2) Digital Modulation

1) Analog Modulation (AM)

- In analog modulation, analog signal (sinusoidal signal) is used as a carrier signal that
modulates the message signal or data signal.
- The general function Sinusoidal wave’s is shown below– they are amplitude,
frequency and phase; so, the types of analog modulation are:

Analog Modulation

22
 Types of analog modulation techniques
They include:
i) Amplitude Modulation (AM)
ii) Frequency Modulation (FM)
iii) Phase Modulation (PM)

- Analog modulation includes AM, FM and PM and these are more sensitive to noise.
- If noise enters into a system, it persists and gets carried up to the end receiver. So,
this drawback can be overcome by the digital modulation technique.

-
Figure of Illustration of Types of Analog Modulation

i) Amplitude Modulation (AM)

- Amplitude modulation was developed in the beginning of the 20th century.
- It was the earliest modulation technique used to transmit voice by radio.
- This type of modulation technique is used in electronic communication.
- the amplitude of the carrier signal varies in accordance with the message signal, and
other factors like phase and frequency remain constant.
- This type of modulation requires more power and greater bandwidth; filtering is very
difficult.
- Amplitude modulation is used in computer modems, VHF aircraft radio, and in
portable two-way radio

ii) Frequency Modulation (FM)

- The frequency of the carrier signal varies in accordance with the message signal,
and other parameters like amplitude and phase remain constant.
- is used in different applications like radar, radio, telemetry, seismic prospecting &
monitoring newborns for seizures via EEG.

23
 - is commonly used for broadcasting music and speech, magnetic tape recording
systems, two way radio systems and video transmission systems.
- It has a capacity of cancelling the noise if it naturally occurs in radio systems.
- is a powerful form of synthesis.
- FM involves two oscillators, referred to as the carrier and the modulator.
- As the modulator's waveform oscillates between some minimum and maximum
amplitude value, that momentary value is added to ("modulates") the frequency of the
carrier.
- The carrier is set to oscillate at an audible frequency that we perceive as a pitch—in
this case, it is a sine wave oscillator at 220Hz, equivalent to an "A3" note.
- Modulation Depth describes how much the carrier frequency will modulate. It is
based on the amplitude of the modulator.
- The modulator produces a continuous stream of amplitude values that we will add to
the carrier frequency.
- An amplitude of zero means silence, so the modulation will have no effect. An
amplitude of 1.0 scales the range of output values between +1.0 and -1.0.
- That is the standard range for sound that gets sent to your speakers, but in FM we are
instead sending the modulator's output to the carrier frequency, where we'd barely
notice the +1Hz / -1Hz modulation.
- Modulation Frequency is the speed of modulation. When the modulation frequency
is lower than 20Hz, we stop hearing its frequency as pitch, and start to hear it as a
beating rhythm.
- For example, try 7.5Hz at a depth of 20 to mimic the "vibrato" effect of an operatic
vocalist. The term for this is Low Frequency Oscillator, or LFO.
- Modulators set to higher frequencies can also produce interesting effects, especially
when the frequency has a harmonic relationship to the carrier signal.

Advantages of FM over AM are:

a) Improved signal to noise ratio to man made interference.
b) Smaller geographical interference between neighboring stations.
c) Less radiated power.
d) Well defined service areas for given transmitter power

Disadvantages of FM:
a) Much more Bandwidth (as much as 20 times as much).
b) More complicated receiver and transmitter
24
 iii) Phase Modulation (PM)
- In this type of modulation, the phase of the carrier signal varies in accordance with
the message signal.
- When the phase of the signal is changed, then it affects the frequency.
- So, for this reason, this modulation is also comes under the frequency modulation.
- phase modulation is used for transmitting waves.
- It is an essential part of many digital transmission coding schemes that underlie a
wide range of technologies like GSM, WiFi, and satellite television.
- This type of modulation is used for signal generation in al synthesizers, such as the
Yamaha DX7 to implement FM synthesis.

2) Digital Modulation (DM)

- Digital modulation technique is employed.
- The main advantages of the digital modulation over analog modulation include
available bandwidth, high noise immunity and permissible power.
- a message signal is converted from analog to digital message, and then modulated
by using a carrier wave.
- The carrier wave is switched on and off to create pulses such that its is modulated.
- the type of the digital modulation is decided by the variation of the carrier wave
parameters like amplitude, phase and frequency.

Fig: Digital Modulation

Fig: Types of Digital Modulation

25
- Digital modulation techniques are based on keying such as:
✓ Amplitude Shift Keying,
✓ Frequency Shift Keying,
✓ Phase Shift Keying,
✓ Differential Phase Shift Keying,
✓ Quadrature Phase Shift Keying,
✓ Minimum Shift Keying,
✓ Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying,

Amplitude shift keying

- In an amplitude shift keying, the amplitude of the carrier wave changes based on the
message signal or on the base-band signal, which is in digital format.
- It is sensitive to noise and used for low-band requirements.

Frequency Shift Keying

- In frequency shift keying, the frequency of the carrier wave is varied for each symbol
in the digital data.
-
Frequency-shift keying (FSK) is a frequency modulation in which digital information
is transmitted through discrete frequency changes of a carrier signal.
-
The technology is used for communication systems such as amateur radio, caller ID
and emergency broadcasts. The simplest FSK is binary FSK(BFSK)..
- In this scheme, the "1" is called the mark frequency and the "0" is called the space
frequency. The time domain of an FSK modulated carrier is illustrated in the figures
to the right.

- It needs larger bandwidths as shown in the figure.

26
Implementations of FSK Modems

- The demodulation of a binary FSK signal can be done using the Goertzel
algorithm very efficiently, even on low-power microcontrollers.

Phase Shift Keying

- Similarly, the phase shift keying changes the phase of the carrier for each
symbol and it is less sensitive to noise.

Continuous-phase frequency-shift keying

- In principle FSK can be implemented by using completely independent free-
running oscillators, and switching between them at the beginning of each symbol
period.
- In general, independent oscillators will not be at the same phase and therefore the
same amplitude at the switch-over instant, causing sudden discontinuities in the
transmitted signal.
- In practice, many FSK transmitters use only a single oscillator, and the process of
switching to a different frequency at the beginning of each symbol period
preserves the phase.
- The elimination of discontinuities in the phase reduces sideband power, reducing
interference with neighboring channels.

Gaussian frequency-shift keying

- Rather than directly modulating the frequency with the digital data symbols,
"instantaneously" changing the frequency at the beginning of each symbol period,
Gaussian frequency-shift keying (GFSK) filters the data pulses with a Gaussian
filterto make the transitions smoother.
- This filter has the advantage of reducing sidebandpower, reducing interference with
neighboring channels, at the cost of increasing intersymbol interference. It is used
by DECT, Bluetooth,
- Cypress WirelessUSB, Nordic Semiconductor, Texas Instruments LPRF, Z-
Wave and Wavenis devices. For basic data rate Bluetooth the minimum deviation
is 115 kHz.
- A GFSK modulator differs from a simple frequency-shift keying modulator in that
before the baseband waveform (levels −1 and +1) goes into the FSK modulator, it
is passed through a Gaussian filter to make the transitions smoother so to limit its

27
 spectral width. Gaussian filtering is a standard way for reducing spectral width; it is
called "pulse shaping" in this application.
- In ordinary non-filtered FSK, at a jump from −1 to +1 or +1 to −1, the modulated
waveform changes rapidly, which introduces large out-of-band spectrum.
- If we change the pulse going from −1 to +1 as −1, −.98, −.93 .... +.93, +.98, +1, and
we use this smoother pulse to determine the carrier frequency, the out-of-band
spectrum will be reduced.

Minimum-shift keying
- Minimum frequency-shift keying or minimum-shift keying (MSK) is a particular
spectrally efficient form of coherent FSK.
- In MSK, the difference between the higher and lower frequency is identical to half
the bit rate. Consequently, the waveforms that represent a 0 and a 1 bit differ by
exactly half a carrier period.
- The maximum frequency deviation is δ = 0.25 fm, where fm is the maximum
modulating frequency. As a result, the modulation index m is 0.5. This is the
smallest FSK modulation index that can be chosen such that the waveforms for 0
and 1 are orthogonal.

Gaussian minimum shift keying

- A variant of MSK called Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) is used in
the GSM mobile phone standard.

Audio FSK
- Audio frequency-shift keying (AFSK) is a modulation technique by
which digital data is represented by changes in the frequency of an audio tone,
yielding an encoded signal suitable for transmission via radio or telephone.
- the transmitted audio alternates between two tones: one, the "mark", represents
a binary one; the other, the "space", represents a binary zero.
- AFSK differs from regular frequency-shift keying in performing the modulation
at baseband frequencies.
- In radio applications, the AFSK-modulated signal normally is being used to modulate
an RF carrier for transmission.

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 TOPIC THREE

INTRODUCTION TO THE AMPLIFIER

- An amplifier is an electronic device or circuit which is used to increase the
magnitude of the signal applied to its input
- Amplifier is the generic term used to describe a circuit which produces and
increased version of its input signal.
- However, not all amplifier circuits are the same as they are classified according to
their circuit configurations and modes of operation.
- In “Electronics”, small signal amplifiers are commonly used devices as they have
the ability to amplify a relatively small input signal, for example from a Sensor such
as a photo-device, into a much larger output signal to drive a relay, lamp or
loudspeaker for example.
- There are many forms of electronic circuits classed as amplifiers, from Operational
Amplifiers and Small Signal Amplifiers up to Large Signal and Power Amplifiers.
- The classification of an amplifier depends upon the size of the signal, large or small,
its physical configuration and how it processes the input signal, that is the
relationship between input signal and current flowing in the load.
- The type or classification of an Amplifier is given in the following table.

Classification of Signal Amplifier

Type of Frequency of
Type of Signal Classification
Configuration Operation

Small Signal Common Emitter Class A Amplifier Direct Current (DC)

Large Signal Common Base Class B Amplifier Audio Frequencies (AF)

Common Collector Class AB Amplifier Radio Frequencies (RF)

VHF, UHF and SHF

Class C Amplifier
Frequencies

- Amplifiers can be thought of as a simple box or block containing the amplifying device,
such as a Bipolar Transistor, Field Effect Transistor or Operational Amplifier, which
has two input terminals and two output terminals with the output signal being much
greater than that of the input signal as it has been “Amplified”.
- An ideal signal amplifier will have three main properties: Input Resistance or (RIN),
Output Resistance or (ROUT) and amplification known commonly as Gain or (A).

29
- No matter how complicated an amplifier circuit is, a general amplifier model can still
be used to show the relationship of these three properties.

Ideal Amplifier Model

- The amplified difference between the input and output signals is known as the
Gain of the amplifier.
- Gain is basically a measure of how much an amplifier “amplifies” the input signal.
For example, if we have an input signal of 1 volt and an output of 50 volts, then
the gain of the amplifier would be “50”.
- In other words, the input signal has been increased by a factor of 50. This increase
is called Gain.
- Amplifier gain is simply the ratio of the output divided-by the input. Gain has no
units as its a ratio, but in Electronics it is given the symbol “A”, for Amplification.
- Then the gain of an amplifier is simply calculated as the “output signal divided by
the input signal”.

Amplifier Gain
- The introduction to the amplifier gain can be said to be the relationship that exists
between the signal measured at the output with the signal measured at the input.
- There are three different kinds of amplifier gain which can be measured and these
are:
a) Voltage Gain ( Av ),
b) Current Gain ( Ai )
c) Power Gain ( Ap )
depending upon the quantity being measured with examples of these different
types of gains are given below:-

Amplifier Gain of the Input Signal

30
 Voltage Amplifier Gain

Current Amplifier Gain

Power Amplifier Gain

- Note that for the Power Gain you can also divide the power obtained at the output with
the power obtained at the input.

- Also when calculating the gain of an amplifier, the subscripts v, i and p are used to
denote the type of signal gain being used.
- The power gain (Ap) or power level of the amplifier can also be expressed in Decibels,
(dB). The Bel (B) is a logarithmic unit (base 10) of measurement that has no units.
- Since the Bel is too large a unit of measure, it is prefixed with deci making it Decibels
instead with one decibel being one tenth (1/10th) of a Bel.
- To calculate the gain of the amplifier in Decibels or dB, we can use the following
expressions.

i) Voltage Gain in dB: av = 20*log(Av)

ii) Current Gain in dB: ai = 20*log(Ai)
iii) Power Gain in dB: ap = 10*log(Ap)

- Note that the DC power gain of an amplifier is equal to ten times the common log of
the output to input ratio, where as voltage and current gains are 20 times the common
log of the ratio.
- Note that 20dB is not twice as much power as 10dB because of the log scale.
- Also, a positive value of dB represents a Gain and a negative value of dB represents
a Loss within the amplifier.

31
 - For example, an amplifier gain of +3dB indicates that the amplifiers output signal has
“doubled”, (x2) while an amplifier gain of -3dB indicates that the signal has “halved”,
(x0.5) or in other words a loss.
- The -3dB point of an amplifier is called the half-power point which is -3dB down
from maximum, taking 0dB as the maximum output value.

Example No1:
- Determine the Voltage, Current and Power Gain of an amplifier that has an input
signal of 1mA at 10mV and a corresponding output signal of 10mA at 1V. Also,
express all three gains in decibels, (dB).
- The Various Amplifier Gains:

- Amplifier Gains given in Decibels (dB):

Amplifier Efficiency
- Then the amplifier has a Voltage Gain, (Av) of 100, a Current Gain, (Ai) of 10
and a Power Gain, (Ap) of 1,000

- Generally, amplifiers can be sub-divided into two distinct types depending upon
their power or voltage gain.

Small Signal Amplifier

32
 - One type is called the Small Signal Amplifier which include pre-amplifiers,
instrumentation amplifiers etc.
- Small signal amplifies are designed to amplify very small signal voltage levels
of only a few micro-volts (μV) from sensors or audio signals.

Large Signal Amplifiers

- The other type are called Large Signal Amplifiers such as audio power
amplifiers or power switching amplifiers.
- Large signal amplifiers are designed to amplify large input voltage signals or
switch heavy load currents as you would find driving loudspeakers.

Ideal Amplifier
The characteristics for an ideal amplifier is its Gain, meaning voltage gain:
• The amplifiers gain, (A) should remain constant for varying values of input signal.
• Gain is not be affected by frequency. Signals of all frequencies must be amplified
by exactly the same amount.
• The amplifiers gain must not add noise to the output signal. It should remove any
noise that is already exists in the input signal.
• The amplifiers gain should not be affected by changes in temperature giving good
temperature stability.
• The gain of the amplifier must remain stable over long periods of time.

LARGE SIGNAL AMPLIFIERS

Amplifiers
Amplifier properties are given by parameters that includes:
• Gain, the ratio between the magnitude of output and input signals.
• Bandwidth, the width of the useful frequency range.
• Efficiency, the ratio between the power of the output and total power consumption.
• Linearity, the extent to which the proportion between input and output amplitude is
the same for high amplitude and low amplitude input.
• Noise, a measure of undesired noise mixed into the output.
• Output dynamic range, the ratio of the largest and the smallest useful output
levels.
• Slew rate, the maximum rate of change of the output.

33
 • Rise time, settling time, ringing and overshoot that characterize the step
response.
• Stability, the ability to avoid self-oscillation.

Class AB Amplifier
- The purpose of any amplifier is to produce an output which follows the characteristics
of the input signal but is sufficiently large enough to supply the needs of the load
connected to it.
- One way to produce an amplifier with the high efficiency output of the Class B
configuration along with the low distortion of the Class A configuration is to create an
amplifier circuit which is a combination type of amplifier circuit called a Class AB
Amplifier.
- Class AB amplifier output stage combines the advantages of the Class A amplifier
and the Class B amplifier
- It minimizing the problems of low efficiency and distortion associated with them.
- Class AB amplifier output stage combines the advantages of the Class A amplifier
and the Class B amplifier producing a better amplifier design.
- Power output of an amplifier is the product of the voltage and current, (P = V*I)
applied to the load.
- The power input is the product of the DC voltage and current taken from the power
supply.

Fig. Class AB Amplifier

- Although the amplification of a Class A amplifier, (where the output transistor
conducts 100% of the time) can be high, the efficiency of the conversion from the
DC power supply to an AC power output is generally poor at less than 50%.
- However if we modify the Class A amplifier circuit to operate in Class B mode,
(where each transistor conducts for only 50% of the time) the collector current flows
in each transistor for only 180o of the cycle.

34
 - The advantage here is that the DC-to-AC conversion efficiency is much higher at
about 75%.
- Class AB Amplifier is a combination of Classes A and B in that for small power
outputs the amplifier operates as a class A amplifier but changes to a class B
amplifier for larger current outputs.
- This action is achieved by pre-biasing the two transistors in the amplifiers output
stage. Then each transistor will conduct between 180 o and 360o of the time
depending on the amount of current output and pre-biasing.
- Thus the amplifier output stage operates as a Class AB amplifier.

Comparison of the Different Amplifier Classes

- Look at a comparison of output signals for the different amplifier classes of
operation as shown below.

Then the amplifier classes are always defined as follows:

• Class A: – The amplifiers single output transistor conducts for the full 360o of
the cycle of the input waveform.
• Class B: – The amplifiers two output transistors only conduct for one-half, that
is, 180o of the input waveform.
• Class AB: – The amplifiers two output transistors conduct somewhere between
180o and 360o of the input waveform.

Class A Amplifier
- has low efficiency of less than 40% but good signal reproduction and linearity.

Class A Amplifier Operation

- Class A Amplifier operation is where the entire input signal waveform is
faithfully reproduced at the amplifiers output as the transistor is perfectly biased
within its active region, thereby never reaching either of its cut-off or saturation
regions.

35
 - This then results in the AC input signal being perfectly “centred” between the
amplifiers upper and lower signal limits as shown below.

Class A Amplifier Output Waveform

- In this configuration, the Class A amplifier uses the same transistor for both
halves of the output waveform and due to its biasing arrangement the output
transistor always has current flowing through it, even if there is no input signal.
- The output transistors never turns “OFF”.
- This results in the Class A type of operation being very inefficient as its
conversion of the DC supply power to the AC signal power delivered to the load
is usually very low.
- Generally, the output transistor of a Class A amplifier gets very hot even when
there is no input signal present so some form of heat sinking is required.
- The direct current flowing through the output transistor (Ic) when there is no
output signal will be equal to the current flowing through the load.

- Then a Class A amplifier is very inefficient as most of the DC power is converted

to heat.

Class A Amplifier Operation

- For Class A amplifier operation the switching transistors Q-point is located near
to the centre of the output characteristic load line of the transistor and within the
linear region.
- This allows the transistor to conduct for the complete 360o so the output signal
varies over the full cycle of the input signal.

36
 - The main advantage of Class A is that the output signal will always be an exact
reproduction of the input signal reducing distortion.
- However it suffers from poor efficiency, because to bias the transistor in the
center of the load line there must always be a suitable DC quiescent current
flowing through the switching transistor even if there is no input signal to
amplify.

Class B Amplifier
- It is twice as efficient as class A amplifiers with a maximum theoretical efficiency
of about 70% because the amplifying device only conducts (and uses power)
for half of the input signal.

Class B Amplifier Operation

- Unlike the Class A amplifier mode of operation above that uses a single transistor
for its output power stage, the Class B Amplifier uses two complimentary
transistors (either an NPN and a PNP or a NMOS and a PMOS) for each half of
the output waveform.
- One transistor conducts for one-half of the signal waveform while the other
conducts for the other or opposite half of the signal waveform.
- This means that each transistor spends half of its time in the active region and half
its time in the cut-off region thereby amplifying only 50% of the input signal.
- Class B operation has no direct DC bias voltage like the class A amplifier, but
instead the transistor only conducts when the input signal is greater than the base-
emitter voltage and for silicon devices is about 0.7v.
- Therefore, at zero input there is zero output.
- This then results in only half the input signal being presented at the amplifiers
output giving a greater amount of amplifier efficiency as shown below.

37
 Class B Amplifier Output Waveform
- In a Class B amplifier, no DC voltage is used to bias the transistors, so for the output
transistors to start to conduct each half of the waveform, both positive and negative,
they need the base-emitter voltage Vbe to be greater than the 0.7v required for a
bipolar transistor to start conducting.
- Then the lower part of the output waveform which is below this 0.7v window will not
be reproduced accurately resulting in a distorted area of the output waveform as one
transistor turns “OFF” waiting for the other to turn back “ON”.

- The result is that there is a small part of the output waveform at the zero voltage
cross over point which will be distorted.
- This type of distortion is called Crossover Distortion.

Class B Amplifier Operation

- For Class B amplifier operation, two complimentary switching transistors are used
with the Q-point (that is its biasing point) of each transistor located at its cut-off
point.
- This allows for one transistor to amplify the signal over one half of the input
waveform, while the other transistor amplifies the other half.
- These two amplified halves are then combined together at the load to produce one
full waveform cycle.
- This NPN-PNP complimentary pair is also known as a push-pull configuration.

38
- Because of the cut-off biasing, the quiescent current is zero when there is no input
signal.
- This means that no power is dissipated or wasted when the transistors are in the
quiescent condition, increasing the overall efficiency of a Class B amplifier with
respect to Class A.
- However, as the Class B amplifier is biased so that the output current flows through
each transistor for only half of the input cycle, the output waveform is therefore not
an exact replica of the input waveform since the output signal is distorted.
- This distortion occurs at every zero-crossing of the input signal producing what is
generally called cross-over distortion as the two transistors switch “ON” between
themselves.
- This distortion problem can be easily overcome by locating the biasing point of the
transistor slightly above cut-off.
- By biasing the transistor slightly above its cut-off point but much below the centre Q-
point of the class A amplifier, we can create a Class AB amplifier circuit.
- Then the basic purpose of a Class AB amplifier is to preserve the basic Class B
configuration while at the same time improving its linearity by biasing each switching
transistor slightly above threshold.

Class AB Amplifier
- It has an efficiency rating between that of Class A and Class B but poorer signal
reproduction than Class A amplifiers.

Class AB Amplifier Operation

- The Class AB Amplifier is a compromise between the Class A and the Class B
configurations above.
- While Class AB operation still uses two complementary transistors in its output
stage a very small biasing voltage is applied to the Base of the transistor to bias it
close to the Cut-off region when no input signal is present.

39
- An input signal will cause the transistor to operate as normal in its Active region
thereby eliminating any crossover distortion which is present in class B
configurations.
- A small Collector current will flow when there is no input signal but it is much less
than that for the Class A amplifier configuration.
- This means then that the transistor will be “ON” for more than half a cycle of the
waveform.
- This type of amplifier configuration improves both the efficiency and linearity of the
amplifier circuit compared to a pure Class A configuration.

Class AB Amplifier Output Waveform

- The class of operation for an amplifier is very important and is based on the amount
of transistor bias required for operation as well as the amplitude required for the
input signal.

- Amplifier classification takes into account the portion of the input signal in which
the transistor conducts as well as determining both the efficiency and the amount
of power that the switching transistor both consumes and dissipates in the form of
wasted heat.

Biasing a Class AB Amplifier

- A Class AB amplifier can be made from a standard Class B push–pull stage by
biasing both switching transistors into slight conduction, even when no input signal
is present.
- This small biasing arrangement ensures that both transistors conduct
simultaneously during a very small part of the input waveform by more than 50 per
cent of the input cycle, but less than 100 per cent.
40
- The 0.6 to 0.7V (one forward diode volt drop) dead band that produces the
crossover distortion effect in Class B amplifiers is greatly reduced by the use of
suitable biasing.
- The pre-biasing of the transistor devices can be achieved in a number of different
ways using either a preset voltage bias, a voltage divider network, or by using a
series connected diode arrangement.

a) Class AB Amplifier Voltage Biasing

- Here the biasing of the transistors is achieved by using a suitable fixed bias voltage
applied the bases of TR1 and TR2.
- Then there is a region where both transistors are conducting and the small
quiescent collector current flowing through TR1 combines with the small quiescent
collector current flowing through TR2 and into the load.
- When the input signal goes positive, the voltage at the base of TR1 increases
producing a positive output of a similar amount which increases the collector current
flowing through TR1 sourcing current to the load, RL.
- However, because the voltage between the two bases is fixed and constant, any
increase in the conduction of TR1 will cause an equal and opposite decrease in the
conduction of TR2 during the positive half cycle.

- As a result, transistor TR2 eventually turns off leaving the forward biased transistor,
TR1 to supply all the current gain to the load.
- Likewise, for the negative half of the input voltage the opposite occurs. That is, TR2
conducts sinking the load current while TR1 turns off as the input signal becomes
more negative.
- Then the input voltage, VIN is zero, both transistors are slightly conducting due to
their voltage biasing, but as the input voltage becomes more positive or negative,
one of the two transistors conducts more either sinking of sourcing the load current.
41
 - As the switching between the two transistors occurs nearly instantly and is a smooth
one, the crossover distortion which affects the Class B configuration is greatly
reduced.
- However, incorrect biasing can cause sharp crossover distortion spikes as the two
transistor switch over.
- The use of a fixed biasing voltage allows each transistor to conduct for more than
one-half of the input cycle, (Class AB operation).

b) Class AB Amplifier Resistor Biasing

- When a current passes through a resistor, a voltage drop is developed across the
resistor as defined by Ohm’s law.
- So by placing two or more resistors in series across a supply voltage we can create
a voltage divider network that produces a set of fixed voltages at the values of our
choosing.
- The basic circuit is similar to the above voltage biasing circuit in that transistors,
TR1 and TR2 conduct during the opposite half cycles of the input waveform. That
is, when VIN in is positive, TR1 conducts and when VIN is negative, TR2 conducts.
- The four resistances R1 to R4 are connected across the supply voltage Vcc to
provide the required resistive biasing.
- The two resistors, R1 and R4 are chosen to set the Q-point slightly above cut-off
with the correct value of VBE being set at about 0.6V so that the voltage drops across
the resistive network brings the base of TR1 to about 0.6V, and that of TR2 to about
–0.6V.

- Then the total voltage drop across biasing resistors R2 and R3 is approximately 1.2
volts, which is just below the value required to turn each transistor fully-on.
- By biasing the transistors just above cut-off, the value of the quiescent collector
current, ICQ, should be zero.
42
- Also, since both switching transistors are effectively connected in series across the
supply, the VCEQ volt drop across each transistor will be approximately one-half of
Vcc.
- While the resistive biasing of a Class AB amplifier works in theory, a transistors
collector current is very sensitive to changes in its base biasing voltage, V BE.
- The cut-off point of the two complimentary transistors may not be the same, so finding
the correct resistor combination within the voltage divider network may be
troublesome.
- One way to overcome this is to use an adjustable resistor to set the correct Q-point
as shown.

c) Adjustable Amplifier Biasing

- An adjustable resistor, or potentiometer can be used to bias both transistors onto
the verge of conduction.
- Then transistors TR1 and TR2 are biased via RB1-VR1-RB2 so that their outputs are
balanced and zero quiescent current flows into the load.
- The input signal which is applied via capacitors C1 and C2 is superimposed onto
the biasing voltages and applied to the bases of both transistors.
- Note that both the signals applied to each base has the same frequency and
amplitude as they originated from VIN.
- The advantage of this adjustable biasing arrangement is that the basic amplifier
circuit does not require the use of complimentary transistors with closely matched
electrical characteristics or/ and exact resistor ratio within the voltage divider
network as the potentiometer can be adjusted to compensate.
- As resistors are passive devices that convert electrical power into heat due to its
power rating, the resistive biasing of a Class AB amplifier, either fixed or adjustable,
can be very sensitive to changes in temperature.
- Any small changes in the operating temperature of the biasing resistors (or
transistors) may affect their value producing undesirable changes in the quiescent
collector current of each transistor.
- One way to overcome this temperature related problem is to replace the resistors
with diodes to use diode biasing

43
 d) Class AB Amplifier Diode Biasing
- While the use of biasing resistors may not solve the temperature problem, one way
to compensate for any temperature related variation in the base-emitter voltage,
(VBE) is to use a pair of normal forward biased diodes within the amplifiers biasing
arrangement as shown.

- A small constant current flows through the series circuit of R1-D1-D2-R2, producing
voltage drops which are symmetrical either side of the input.
- With no input signal voltage applied, the point between the two diodes is zero volts.
- As current flows through the chain, there is a forward bias voltage drop of
approximately 0.7V across the diodes which is applied to the base-emitter junctions
of the switching transistors.
- Therefore the voltage drop across the diodes, biases the base of transistor TR1 to
about 0.7 volts, and the base of transistor TR2 to about –0.7 volts.
- Thus the two silicon diodes provide a constant voltage drop of approximately 1.4
volts between the two bases biasing them above cut-off.

44
- As the temperature of the circuit rises, so too does that of the diodes as they are
located next to the transistors.
- The voltage across the PN junction of the diode thus decreases diverting some of
the transistors base current stabilising the transistors collector current.
- If the electrical characteristics of the diodes are closely matched to that of the
transistors base-emitter junction, the current flowing in the diodes and the current
in the transistors will be the same creating what is called a current mirror.
- The effect of this current mirror compensates for variations in temperature
producing the required Class AB operation thereby eliminating any crossover
distortion.
Class AB Amplifier Driver Stage
- In the above Class AB biasing examples, the input signal is coupled directly to the
switching transistors bases by using capacitors.
- But we can improve the output stage of a Class AB amplifier a little more by the
addition of a simple common-emitter driver stage as shown.

- Transistor TR3 acts as a current source that sets up the required DC biasing current
flowing through the diodes. This sets the quiescent output voltage as V cc/2.
- As the input signal drives the base of TR3, it acts as an amplifier stage driving the
bases of TR1 and TR2 with the positive half of the input cycle driving TR1 while
TR2 is off and the negative half of the input cycle driving TR2 while TR1 is off, the
same as before.
- Like with most electronic circuits, there are many different ways to design a power
amplifiers output stage as many variations and modifications can be made to a
basic amplifier output circuit.
- The job of a power amplifier is to deliver an appreciable level of output power (both
current as well as voltage) to the connected load with a reasonable degree of

45
 efficiency. This can be achieved by operating the transistor(s) in one of of two basic
operating modes, Class A or Class B.
- One way of operating an amplifier with a reasonable level of efficiency is to use a
symmetrical Class B output stage based on complementary NPN and PNP
transistors.

Design of a Class AB Amplifier

- We can now design a simple Class AB power amplifier circuit as shown by putting
it all together, producing about one watt into 16 ohms with a frequency response of
about 20Hz to 20kHz.

Summary on Class AB Amplifier

- Class AB amplifier is biased so that output current flows for less than one full-cycle
of the input waveform but more than a half cycle.
- The implementation of Class AB amplifiers is very similar to the standard Class B
configurations in that it uses two switching transistors as part of a complementary
output stage with each transistor conducting on opposite half-cycles of the input
waveform before being combined at the load.
- by allowing both switching transistors to conduct current at the same time for a very
short period, the output waveform during the zero crossover period can be
substantially smoothed reducing the crossover distortion associated with the Class
B amplifier design. Then the conduction angle is greater than 180 o but much smaller
than 360o.
- Class AB amplifier configuration is more efficient than a Class A amplifier but
slightly less efficient than that of a Class B because of the small quiescent current
needed to bias the transistors just above cut-off.
46
- However, the use of incorrect biasing can cause crossover distortion spikes
producing a worse condition.
- Class AB amplifiers are one of the most preferred audio power amplifier designs
due to their combination of reasonably good efficiency and high-quality output as
they have low crossover distortion and a high linearity similar to the Class A
amplifier design.

TOPIC FOUR
TUNED AMPLIFIERS
- The many types of amplifiers cannot work effectively at radio frequencies, even
though they are good at audio frequencies.
- Also, the gain of these amplifiers is such that it will not vary according to the
frequency of the signal, over a wide range.
- This allows the amplification of the signal equally well over a range of frequencies
and does not permit the selection of particular desired frequency while rejecting the
other frequencies.
- So, there occurs a need for a circuit which can select as well as amplify. So, an
amplifier circuit along with a selection, such as a tuned circuit makes a Tuned
amplifier.

What is a Tuned Amplifier?

- Tuned amplifiers are the amplifiers that are employed for the purpose of tuning.
- Tuning means selecting. Among a set of frequencies available, if there occurs a
need to select a particular frequency, while rejecting all other frequencies, such a
process is called Selection.

47
 - This selection is done by using a circuit called as Tuned circuit.
- When an amplifier circuit has its load replaced by a tuned circuit, such an amplifier
can be called as a Tuned amplifier circuit.
- The basic tuned amplifier circuit looks as shown below.

- The tuner circuit is nothing but a LC circuit which is also called as resonant or tank
circuit. It selects the frequency.
- A tuned circuit is capable of amplifying a signal over a narrow band of frequencies
that are centered at resonant frequency.
- When the reactance of the inductor balances the reactance of the capacitor, in the
tuned circuit at some frequency, such a frequency can be called as resonant
frequency. It is denoted by fr.
- The formula for resonance is

1
2f L =
2f c
1
fr =
2 LC
Tuned Circuits
- A tuned circuit can be Series tuned circuit (Series resonant circuit) or Parallel tuned
circuit (parallel resonant circuit) according to the type of its connection to the main
circuit.

i) Series Tuned Circuit

- The inductor and capacitor connected in series make a series tuned circuit, as
shown in the following circuit diagram.

48
 - At resonant frequency, a series resonant circuit offers low impedance which
allows high current through it.
- A series resonant circuit offers increasingly high impedance to the frequencies
far from the resonant frequency.

ii) Parallel Tuned Circuit

- The inductor and capacitor connected in parallel make a parallel tuned circuit, as
shown in the below figure.
- At resonant frequency, a parallel resonant circuit offers high impedance which does
not allow high current through it.
- A parallel resonant circuit offers increasingly low impedance to the frequencies far
from the resonant frequency.

Characteristics of a Parallel Tuned Circuit

- The frequency at which parallel resonance occurs (i.e. reactive component of circuit
current becomes zero) is called the resonant frequency fr.
- The main characteristics of a tuned circuit are as follows:

(a) Impedance
- The ratio of supply voltage to the line current is the impedance of the tuned circuit.
Impedance offered by LC circuit is given by

V
=Supply Voltage /Line Current
I

49
- At resonance, the line current increases while the impedance decreases.
- The below figure represents the impedance curve of a parallel resonance circuit.

- Impedance of the circuit decreases for the values above and below the resonant
frequency fr.
- Hence the selection of a particular frequency and rejection of other frequencies is
possible.
- To obtain an equation for the circuit impedance, let us consider

Line Current I, = I Lcos

V V R 1 R
=  giving = 2
Zr ZL ZL Zr ZL

1 R CR L
= = Since, Z L2 =
Zr L / C L C

- Therefore, circuit impedance Zr is obtained as

L
ZR =
CR
- Thus at parallel resonance, the circuit impedance is equal to L/CR.

(b) Circuit Current

- At parallel resonance, the circuit or line current I is given by the applied voltage
divided by the circuit impedance Zr i.e.,

V L
Line Current. I = where Z r =
Zr CR

- Because Zr is very high, the line current I will be very small.

(c) Quality Factor

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- For a parallel resonance circuit, the sharpness of the resonance curve determines
the selectivity.
- The smaller the resistance of the coil, the sharper the resonant curve will be.
- Hence the inductive reactance and resistance of the coil determine the quality of the
tuned circuit.
- The ratio of inductive reactance of the coil at resonance to its resistance is known as
Quality factor. It is denoted by Q.

X L 2f r L
Q= =
R R

- The higher the value of Q, the sharper the resonance curve and the better the
selectivity will be.

Frequency Response of Tuned Amplifier

- For an amplifier to be efficient, its gain should be high.
- This voltage gain depends upon β, input impedance and collector load. The
collector load in a tuned amplifier is a tuned circuit.
- The voltage gain of such an amplifier is given by
Z c
Voltage gain = where ZC = effective collector load and Zin = input impedance
Z in
of the amplifier.
- The value of ZC depends upon the frequency of the tuned amplifier. As Z C is
maximum at resonant frequency, the gain of the amplifier is maximum at this
resonant frequency.
-
(d) Bandwidth
- The range of frequencies at which the voltage gain of the tuned amplifier falls to
70.7% of the maximum gain is called its Bandwidth.
- The range of frequencies between f 1 and f2 is called as bandwidth of the tuned
amplifier.
- The bandwidth of a tuned amplifier depends upon the Q of the LC circuit i.e., upon
the sharpness of the frequency response.
- The value of Q and the bandwidth are inversely proportional.
- The figure below details the bandwidth and frequency response of the tuned
amplifier.

51
 Relation between Q and Bandwidth
- The quality factor Q of the bandwidth is defined as the ratio of resonant frequency to
bandwidth, i.e.,

fr
Q=
BW

- In general, a practical circuit has its Q value greater than 10.

- Under this condition, the resonant frequency at parallel resonance is given by

1
fr =
2 LC

Types of Tuned Amplifiers

- There are two main types of tuned amplifiers. They are −
a) Single tuned amplifier
b) Double tuned amplifier

a) Single Tuned Amplifier

- An amplifier circuit with a single tuner section being at the collector of the amplifier
circuit is called as Single tuner amplifier circuit.

Construction
- A simple transistor amplifier circuit consisting of a parallel tuned circuit in its
collector load, makes a single tuned amplifier circuit.
- The values of capacitance and inductance of the tuned circuit are selected such
that its resonant frequency is equal to the frequency to be amplified.
- The following circuit diagram shows a single tuned amplifier circuit.

52
 - The output can be obtained from the coupling capacitor CC as shown above or from
a secondary winding placed at L.

Operation

- The high frequency signal that has to be amplified is applied at the input of the
amplifier.
- The resonant frequency of the parallel tuned circuit is made equal to the frequency
of the signal applied by altering the capacitance value of the capacitor C, in the
tuned circuit.
- At this stage, the tuned circuit offers high impedance to the signal frequency, which
helps to offer high output across the tuned circuit.
- As high impedance is offered only for the tuned frequency, all the other frequencies
which get lower impedance are rejected by the tuned circuit.
- Hence the tuned amplifier selects and amplifies the desired frequency signal.

Frequency Response
- The parallel resonance occurs at resonant frequency f r when the circuit has a high
Q. the resonant frequency fr is given by;
1
fr =
2 LC
- The following graph shows the frequency response of a single tuned amplifier circuit.
- At resonant frequency fr the impedance of parallel tuned circuit is very high and is
purely resistive.

53
- The voltage across RL is therefore maximum, when the circuit is tuned to resonant
frequency.
- Hence the voltage gain is maximum at resonant frequency and drops off above and
below it. The higher the Q, the narrower will the curve be

b) Double Tuned Amplifier

- An amplifier circuit with a double tuner section being at the collector of the amplifier
circuit is called as Double tuner amplifier circuit.

Construction
- The construction of double tuned amplifier is understood by having a look at the
following figure.
- The remaining circuit details are same as in the single tuned amplifier circuit, as
shown in the following circuit diagram.

- This circuit consists of two tuned circuits L1C1 and L2C2 in the collector section of
the amplifier.
- The signal at the output of the tuned circuit L1C1 is coupled to the other tuned circuit
L2C2 through mutual coupling method.

54
Operation
- The high frequency signal which has to be amplified is given to the input of the
amplifier.
- The tuning circuit L1C1 is tuned to the input signal frequency. At this condition, the
tuned circuit offers high reactance to the signal frequency. Consequently, large
output appears at the output of the tuned circuit L 1C1 which is then coupled to the
other tuned circuit L2C2 through mutual induction.
- These double tuned circuits are extensively used for coupling various circuits of
radio and television receivers.

Frequency Response of Double Tuned Amplifier

- The double tuned amplifier has the special feature of coupling which is important
in determining the frequency response of the amplifier.
- The amount of mutual inductance between the two tuned circuits states the degree
of coupling, which determines the frequency response of the circuit.

Mutual Inductance
- As the current carrying coil produces some magnetic field around it, if another coil
is brought near this coil, such that it is in the magnetic flux reg.
- ion of the primary, then the varying magnetic flux induces an EMF in the second
coil.
- The figure below gives an idea about this.

- If this first coil is called as Primary coil, the second one can be called as a
Secondary coil.
- When the EMF is induced in the secondary coil due to the varying magnetic field of
the primary coil, then such phenomenon is called as the Mutual Inductance.

55
- The current is in the figure indicate the source current while iind indicates the induced
current.
- The flux represents the magnetic flux created around the coil. This spreads to the
secondary coil also.
- With the application of voltage, the current is flows and flux gets created.
- When the current is varies the flux gets varied, producing iind in the secondary coil,
due to the Mutual inductance property.

Coupling
- Under the concept of mutual inductance coupling will be as shown in the figure
below.

- When the coils are spaced apart, the flux linkages of primary coil L1 will not link the
secondary coil L2.
- At this condition, the coils are said to have Loose coupling.
- The resistance reflected from the secondary coil at this condition is small and the
resonance curve will be sharp and the circuit Q is high as shown in the figure below.

- When the primary and secondary coils are brought close together, they have Tight
coupling. Under such conditions, the reflected resistance will be large and the
circuit Q is lower.

56
 - Two positions of gain maxima, one above and the other below the resonant
frequency are obtained.

Bandwidth of Double Tuned Circuit

- The above figure clearly states that the bandwidth increases with the degree of
coupling. The determining factor in a double tuned circuit is not Q but the coupling.
- The tighter the coupling the greater the bandwidth will be.
- The equation for bandwidth is given as;
BWdt= kfr
Where BW dt = bandwidth for double tuned circuit, K = coefficient of
coupling, and fr = resonant frequency.

Advantages of Tuned Amplifiers

- The following are the advantages of tuned amplifiers.
• The usage of reactive components like L and C, minimizes the power loss, which
makes the tuned amplifiers efficient.
• The selectivity and amplification of desired frequency is high, by providing higher
impedance at resonant frequency.
• A smaller collector supply VCC would do, because of its little resistance in parallel
tuned circuit.

NOTE: It is important to remember that these advantages are not applicable

when there is a high resistive collector load.

TOPIC FIVE
POWER AMPLIFIERS

- The Small Signal Amplifier is generally referred to as a “Voltage” amplifier because

they usually convert a small input voltage into a much larger output voltage.
- Sometimes an amplifier circuit is required to drive a motor or feed a loudspeaker and
for these types of applications where high switching currents are needed Power
Amplifiers are required.
- As their name suggests, the main job of a “Power Amplifier” (also known as a large
signal amplifier), is to deliver power to the load, and as we know from above, is the

57
 product of the voltage and current applied to the load with the output signal power
being greater than the input signal power.
- In other words, a power amplifier amplifies the power of the input signal which is why
these types of amplifier circuits are used in audio amplifier output stages to drive
loudspeakers.
- The power amplifier works on the basic principle of converting the DC power drawn
from the power supply into an AC voltage signal delivered to the load.
- Although the amplification is high the efficiency of the conversion from the DC power
supply input to the AC voltage signal output is usually poor.
- After the audio signal is converted into electrical signal, it has several voltage
amplifications done, after which the power amplification of the amplified signal is
done just before the loud speaker stage.
- This is clearly shown in the below figure.

- While the voltage amplifier raises the voltage level of the signal, the power amplifier
raises the power level of the signal.
- Besides raising the power level, it can also be said that a power amplifier is a device
which converts DC power to AC power and whose action is controlled by the input
signal.
- The DC power is distributed according to the relation;
DC power input = AC power output + losses

Power Transistor
- A transistor is a non-linear device.
- For such Power amplification, a normal transistor would not do.
- A transistor that is manufactured to suit the purpose of power amplification is called
as a Power transistor.
- A Power transistor differs from the other transistors, in the following factors.

a) It is larger in size, in order to handle large powers.

b) The collector region of the transistor is made large and a heat sink is placed
at the collector-base junction in order to minimize heat generated.
58
 c) The emitter and base regions of a power transistor are heavily doped.
d) Due to the low input resistance, it requires low input power.

- Hence there is a lot of difference in voltage amplification and power amplification.

Difference between Voltage and Power Amplifiers

1) Voltage Amplifier
- The function of a voltage amplifier is to raise the voltage level of the signal.
- A voltage amplifier is designed to achieve maximum voltage amplification.
- The voltage gain of an amplifier is given by

R 
AV =   C 
 Rin 
The characteristics of a voltage amplifier are as follows −
i) The base of the transistor should be thin and hence the value of β should
be greater than 100.
ii) The resistance of the input resistor Rin should be low when compared to
collector load RC.
iii) The collector load RC should be relatively high. To permit high collector load,
the voltage amplifiers are always operated at low collector current.
iv) The voltage amplifiers are used for small signal voltages.

2) Power Amplifier
- The function of a power amplifier is to raise the power level of input signal.
- It is required to deliver a large amount of power and has to handle large current.
- The characteristics of a power amplifier are as follows −
i) The base of transistor is made thicken to handle large currents. The
value of β being (β > 100) high.
ii) The size of the transistor is made larger, in order to dissipate more heat,
which is produced during transistor operation.
iii) Transformer coupling is used for impedance matching.
iv) Collector resistance is made low.
- The comparison between voltage and power amplifiers is given below in a tabular
form.
S.No Particular Voltage Amplifier Power Amplifier

59
 1 β High (>100) Low (5 to 20)

2 RC High (4-10 KΩ) Low (5 to 20 Ω)

Usually R-C Invariably transformer

3 Coupling
coupling coupling

4 Input voltage Low (a few m V) High (2-4 V)

5 Collector current Low (≈ 1 mA) High (> 100 mA)

6 Power output Low High

Output
7 High (≈ 12 K Ω) Low (200 Ω)
impendence

- The Power amplifiers amplify the power level of the signal.

- This amplification is done in the last stage in audio applications.
- The applications related to radio frequencies employ radio power amplifiers.
- But the operating point of a transistor, plays a very important role in determining
the efficiency of the amplifier.
- The main classification is done based on this mode of operation.
- The classification is done based on their frequencies and also based on their mode
of operation.

Classification Based on Frequencies

- Power amplifiers are divided into two categories, based on the frequencies they
handle. They are as follows.
• Audio Power Amplifiers − The audio power amplifiers raise the power level of
signals that have audio frequency range (20 Hz to 20 KHz). They are also known
as Small signal power amplifiers.
• Radio Power Amplifiers − Radio Power Amplifiers or tuned power amplifiers raise
the power level of signals that have radio frequency range (3 KHz to 300 GHz).
They are also known as large signal power amplifiers.

Classification Based on Mode of Operation

- On the basis of the mode of operation, i.e., the portion of the input cycle during
which collector current flows, the power amplifiers may be classified as follows.

60
 • Class A Power amplifier − When the collector current flows at all times
during the full cycle of signal, the power amplifier is known as class A
power amplifier.
• Class B Power amplifier − When the collector current flows only during
the positive half cycle of the input signal, the power amplifier is known
as class B power amplifier.
• Class C Power amplifier − When the collector current flows for less
than half cycle of the input signal, the power amplifier is known as class
C power amplifier.

- There forms another amplifier called Class AB amplifier, if we combine the class A
and class B amplifiers so as to utilize the advantages of both.

Terms Considering Performance

- The primary objective of a power amplifier is to obtain maximum output power.
- In order to achieve this, the important factors to be considered are collector
efficiency, power dissipation capability and distortion.

Collector Efficiency
- This explains how well an amplifier converts DC power to AC power.
- When the DC supply is given by the battery but no AC signal input is given, the
collector output at such a condition is observed as collector efficiency.
- For example, if the battery supplies 15W and AC output power is 3W. Then the
transistor efficiency will be 20%.
- The main aim of a power amplifier is to obtain maximum collector efficiency. Hence
the higher the value of collector efficiency, the efficient the amplifier will be.

Power Dissipation Capacity

- Every transistor gets heated up during its operation.
- As a power transistor handles large currents, it gets more heated up. This heat
increases the temperature of the transistor, which alters the operating point of the
transistor.
- Power dissipation capability can be defined as the ability of a power transistor to
dissipate the heat developed in it.
- Metal cases called heat sinks are used in order to dissipate the heat produced in
power transistors.

61
Distortion
- Distortion is defined as the change of output wave shape from the input wave
shape of the amplifier.
- An amplifier that has lesser distortion, produces a better output and hence
considered efficient.

Power Amplifier Classes

Class A B C AB

Conduction
360o 180o Less than 90o 180 to 360o
Angle
In between the
Position of Centre Point of Exactly on the Below the
X-axis and the
the Q-point the Load Line X-axis X-axis
Centre Load Line
Better than A
Overall Poor Better Higher
but less than B
Efficiency 25 to 30% 70 to 80% than 80%
50 to 70%
None if At the X-axis
Signal Large
Correctly Crossover Small Amounts
Distortion Amounts
Biased Point

Term Paper for students to do. Kindly submit two weeks before the start
of the end of semester examinations

Design of power amplifiers

- Choose a type of amplifier of your choice and describe how you can
design it and make an attempt to implement a prototype.

62