Integrated Circuits

Q1. A 100 PF capacitor has a maximum charging current of 150 µA. What is the
slew rate?

Solution:

C = 100 PF=100 x 10-12 F

I = 150 µA = 150 x 10-6 A

Slew rate is 1.5 V / µs

Q2. An operational amplifier has a slew rate of 2 V / µs. If the peak output is 12 V, what is the
power bandwidth?

Solution:

The slew rate of an operational amplifier is

As for output free of distribution, the slews determines the maximum frequency of operation fmax
for a desired output swing.

so
So bandwidth = 26.5 kHz

Q3. The Schmitt trigger circuit of fig. 1 uses 6V zener diodes with VD = 0.7 V. if the threshold
voltage V1 is zero and the hysteresis is VH = 0.2V. Calculate R1 / R2 and VR.
Solution:

The normal output voltage of Schmitt trigger circuit will be either +VO or –VO,
Where, VO = VZ + VD
= 6.7 V

Let the output voltage be +VO. The voltage V1 can be obtained from the voltage divider circuit
consisting of R1 and R2.

When vin > V1 then vo = -VO

Therefore, upper trigger point voltage will be given by,

Similarly, the lower trigger point voltage will be given by,

Therefore, the hysteresis voltage is

Since, the threshold voltage v1 is zero,

Therefore,

Relaxation Oscillator:

With positive feedback it is also possible to build relaxation oscillator which produces rectangular
wave. The circuit is shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 2

In this circuit a fraction R2/ (R1 +R2) = b of the output is feedback to the non-inverting input
terminal. The operation of the circuit can be explained as follows:

Assume that the output voltage is +Vsat. The capacitor will charge exponentially toward +Vsat. The
feedback voltage is +bVsat. When capacitor voltage exceeds +bVsat the output switches from +Vsat
to -Vsat. The feedback voltage becomes -Vsat and the output will remain –Vsat. Now the capacitor
charges in the reverse direction. When capacitor voltage decreases below –bVsat (more negative
than –bVsat ) the output again switches to +Vsat.This process continues and it produces a square
wave. Under steady state conditions, the output voltage and capacitor voltage are shown in fig. 2.
The frequency of the output can be obtained as follows:

The capacitor charges from -β Vsat to +β Vsat during time period T/2. The capacitor charging
voltage expression is given by
This square wave generator is useful in the frequency range of 10Hz to 10KHz. At higher
frequencies, the slew rate of the OPAMP limits the slope of the output square wave.

Q4. Design a Wien-bridge oscillator that oscillates at 25 kHz.

Solution:

Let C1 = C2 = 0.001 µF. Then, the frequency of oscillation is given by,

or,

Let R1 = 10 KΩ. Then,

or, Rf = 20KΩ
Q5. Explain the flash type ADC in detail.

Flash conversion is generally used for high-speed work, such as video applications. The circuits are usually
low resolution. A flash converter is made up of a string of comparators as shown in Figure 12.33. The input
signal is applied to all of the comparators simultaneously. Each comparator is also tied into a reference
ladder. Effectively, there is one comparator for each quantization step. When a given signal is applied, a
number of comparators towards the bottom of the string will produce a high level, as Vin will be greater than
their references. Conversely, the comparators towards the top will indicate a low. The comparator at which
the outputs shift from high to low indicates the step value closest to the input signal. The set of comparator
outputs can be fed into a priority encoder that will turn this simple unweighted sequence into a normal
binary word.

Figure 12.32b Multisim waveforms for trackand- hold circuit

The only time delay involved in the conversion is that of logic propagation delay. Therefore, this
conversion technique is quite useful for rapidly changing signals. Its downfall lies in the fact that one
comparator is needed for each possible output step change. An 8-bit flash converter requires 256
comparators, whereas a 16-bit version requires 65,536. Obviously, this is rather excessive, and units in the
4- to 6-bit range are common. Although 6-bit resolution may appear at first to be too coarse for any
application, it is actually quite useful for video displays.

Q6. Explain the Precision Halfwave Rectifier in detail.

As shown, the diode passes positive half waves and blocks negative halfwaves. But, what happens if the
input signal is only .5 V peak? Rectification never occurs because the diode requires .6 to .7 V to turn on.
Even if a germanium device is used with a forward drop of .3 V, a sizable portion of the signal will be lost.
Not only that, the circuit of Figure 7.1 exhibits vastly different impedances to the driving source. Even if the
signal is large enough to avoid the forward voltage drop difficulty, the source impedance must be relatively
low. At first glance it seems as though it is impossible to rectify a small AC signal with any hope of
accuracy.

Negative feedback tends to reduce errors by an amount equal to the loop gain. This being the case, it should
be possible to reduce the diode's forward voltage drop by a very large factor by placing it inside of a
feedback loop. This is shown in Figure, and is called a precision half-wave rectifier.
To a first approximation, when the input is positive, the diode is forward-biased. In essence, the circuit
reduces to a simple voltage follower with a high input impedance and a voltage gain of one, so the output
looks just like the input. On the other hand, when the input is negative, the diode is reverse-biased, opening
up the feedback loop. No signal current is allowed to the load, so the output voltage is zero. Thanks
to the op amp, though, the driving source still sees a high impedance. The output waveform consists of just
the positive portions of the input signal, as shown in Figure 7.3. Due to the effect of negative feedback,
even small signals may be properly rectified. The resulting transfer characteristic is presented in Figure 7.4.
A perfect one-to-one input/output curve is seen for positive input signals, whereas negative input signals
produce an output potential of zero.
Figure 7.3
Output signal

Q7. Explain the Phase shift Oscillator.

The phase shift oscillator utilizes three RC circuits to provide 180º phase shift that
when coupled with the 180º of the op-amp itself provides the necessary feedback to
sustain oscillations.
Q 8. Design a RC phase shift oscillator that will oscillate at 100 Hz.

Solution:

An RC phase shift oscillator using OPAMP is shown in fig. 7. OPAMP is used as an inverting
amplifier and provides 180° phase shift. RC network is used in the feedback to provide additional
180° phase shift.

Fig. 7

For an RC phase shift oscillator the frequency is given by

Let C = 0.5 µF. Then

Therefore, Rf= 29 R = 29 (1300Ω) = 37.7 kΩ.

The completed circuit is shown in fig. 7. Rf is made adjustable so the loop gain can be set precisely
to 1.
Q9. Explain the Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) ?

A tunable type of oscillators is required for some of the wireless applications for which the output
frequency is a function of the input. Most commonly a voltage signal is used as control input to
vary the output frequency. These type of oscillators are called as Voltage-controlled oscillators or
simply VCO.

Most commonly these are used in pulse modulators (AM), frequency modulators (FM) and phase
locked loops. The frequency is varied by controlling electronically a voltage-dependant
capacitance of the resonant circuit RLC. Let us discuss brief on this concept.

Frequency Control in VCO

VCOs take many forms, it can be some type of LC or crystal oscillator, or it can be some type of
RC oscillator or multivibrator. The below figure illustrates the basic operation of a VCO.

For an RC type oscillator, the frequency of oscillations is inversely proportional to the capacitance
(f = 1 / (2πRC)) and for LC oscillator the frequency of oscillations is 1 / (2π√LC). Therefore, as the
reverse or control voltage increases the capacitance decreases. Thus the increase in control voltage
increases the frequency of oscillations and vice-versa.

In the above figure, the oscillator running at its normal or free-running frequency at nominal
control voltage Vc. The frequency increases with increase in control voltage above the nominal
value and the frequency decrease with decrease in Vc below the nominal voltage.

For achieving this variable voltage, variable capacitance diodes, varactors are used which are
available at different range of capacitance. Alternative methods like , changing the charging rate of
capacitor , with the help of a voltage controlled current source are implemented for low frequency
oscillators.
VCO Working Principle

A wide variety of circuit designs can be made to implement a voltage controlled oscillator using
different voltage control electronic components like transistors, varactor diodes, Op-amps, etc. The
figure below shows a simple voltage control oscillator using astable multivibrator.

In this a time constant resistors R1 and R2 brought out to an external control line Vcontrol. The
voltage to which C1 and C2 discharges through R1 and R2 changes with change in Vcontrol voltage.
Hence the discharging speed is increases with increase of Vcontrol.

This arrangement changes the base voltage to which the base of the transistor must climb or
descend. Therefore, by these RC elements and tun ON or OFF of the transistors alter the operating
frequency of oscillations at the output.

The other form of circuit for a voltage controlled oscillator is shown below which is implemented
by using two operational amplifiers. It generates the square wave at the output whose frequency is
determined by a control voltage. The first op-amp works as an integrator.

The control voltage is applied at the input terminal and due to the voltage divider arrangement, half
the control voltage is applied at the positive terminal of the first op-amp. Also, at the negative
terminal, the voltage is maintained at the same level in order to maintain the voltage drop across
the R1 is half the control voltage.

When the MOSFET is turned ON, the current from the resistor R1 flows through the MOSFET.
The voltage which is now converted into current signal charges the capacitor. Therefore, to source
this current, the first op-amp must provide a steadily rising output voltage.
When the MOSFET is turned OFF, the current flows from the R1 and hence discharges the
capacitor. Therefore from the first op-amp falling output voltage is needed. Thus the output of the
first op-amp is a triangular waveform.

Q10. Explain the Xor type phase detector.

 The exclusive OR, XOR phase detector circuit can provide a very useful simple phase
detector for some applications.

Exclusive OR phase detector

The way in which an exclusive OR, XOR phase detector works can be seen by the diagram
below:

XOR phase detector waveforms

It can be seen that using these waveforms, the XOR gate can be used as a simple but
effective phase detector.

As might be expected for such a simple circuit, there are a few drawbacks to using an XOR
phase detector:

o The phase detector is sensitive to the clock duty cycle. This means that a steady
duty cycle, i.e. 1:1 should be used. It will lock with a phase error if the input duty
cycles are not 50%.
o The output characteristic of the XOR PD show repetitions and gain changes. This
means that if there is a frequency difference between the input reference and PLL
feedback signals the phase detector can jump between regions of different gain. The
characteristic of the phase detector is as shown below:
 XOR phase detector response curve

o The nominal lock point with an XOR phase detector is also at the 90° static phase
shift point.

Unlike an analogue mixer phase detector, the XOR version is independent of input
amplitude and constant over a Π phase range.

Q11. Explain the Dual input balance output Differential Amplifier.

The circuit below shows a generalized form of a differential amplifier with two inputs marked V1
and V2. The two identical transistors TR1 and TR2 are both biased at the same operating point
with their emitters connected together and returned to the common rail, -Vee by way of resistor Re.

Differential Amplifier

The circuit operates from a dual supply +Vcc and -Vee which ensures a constant supply. The
voltage that appears at the output, Vout of the amplifier is the difference between the two input
signals as the two base inputs are in anti-phase with each other.

So as the forward bias of transistor, TR1 is increased, the forward bias of transistor TR2 is reduced
and vice versa. Then if the two transistors are perfectly matched, the current flowing through the
common emitter resistor, Re will remain constant.
Like the input signal, the output signal is also balanced and since the collector voltages either
swing in opposite directions (anti-phase) or in the same direction (in-phase) the output voltage
signal, taken from between the two collectors is, assuming a perfectly balanced circuit the zero
difference between the two collector voltages.

This is known as the Common Mode of Operation with the common mode gain of the amplifier
being the output gain when the input is zero.

Operational Amplifiers also have one output (although there are ones with an additional
differential output) of low impedance that is referenced to a common ground terminal and it should
ignore any common mode signals that is, if an identical signal is applied to both the inverting and
non-inverting inputs there should no change to the output.

However, in real amplifiers there is always some variation and the ratio of the change to the output
voltage with regards to the change in the common mode input voltage is called the Common
Mode Rejection Ratio or CMRR.

Operational Amplifiers on their own have a very high open loop DC gain and by applying some
form of Negative Feedback we can produce an operational amplifier circuit that has a very precise
gain characteristic that is dependant only on the feedback used. Note that the term “open loop”
means that there are no feedback components used around the amplifier so the feedback path or
loop is open.

An operational amplifier only responds to the difference between the voltages on its two input
terminals, known commonly as the “Differential Input Voltage” and not to their common potential.
Then if the same voltage potential is applied to both terminals the resultant output will be zero. An
Operational Amplifiers gain is commonly known as the Open Loop Differential Gain, and is
given the symbol (Ao).

Equivalent Circuit of an Ideal Operational Amplifier

Q12. A Butterworth Second Order Low Pass Filter is to be design around a non-inverting op-amp
with equal resistor and capacitor values in its cut-off frequency determining circuit. If the filters
characteristics are given as: Q = 5, and ƒc = 159Hz, design a suitable low pass filter and draw its
frequency response.

Characteristics given: R1 = R2, C1 = C2, Q = 5 and ƒc = 159Hz

From the circuit above we know that for equal resistances and capacitances, the cut-off frequency
point, ƒc is given as:

Choosing a suitable value of say, 10k Ω’s for the resistors, the resulting capacitor value is
calculated as:

Then for a cut-off corner frequency of 159Hz, R = 10k Ω and C = 0.1uF.

with a value of Q = 5, the filters gain, A is calculated as:

We know from above that the gain of a non-inverting op-amp is given as:

Therefore the final circuit for the second order low pass filter is given as:

Second Order Low Pass Filter Circuit

A13. With the help of a neat block diagram explain the PLL and its transfer characteristics.
Define the terms Lock range, Capture range ?PHASE-LOCKED LOOPS (PLL)

A PLL is an electronic servo loop consisting of a phase detector, a low-pass filter , and a
voltage-controlled oscillator. Its controlled oscillator makes it capable of locking or synchronizing
with an incoming signal. If the phase changes, indicating the incoming frequency is changing, the
phase-detector output voltage increases or decreases just enough to keep the oscillator frequency
the same as the incoming frequency, preserving the locked condition. Thus, the average voltage
applied to the controlled oscillator is a function of the frequency of the incoming signal. In fact,
the low-pass filter voltage is the demodulated output when the incoming signal is frequency-
modulated (provided the controlled oscillator has a linear voltage-to-frequency transfer
characteristic).
Basics of Phase-Locked Loops

The PLL provides frequency selective tuning and filtering without the need for coils or
inductors. As shown in the figure below, the PLL in its most basic form is a feedback system
comprised of three basic functional blocks: A phase comparator , low-pass filter (an integrator),
and a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO).
The basic principle of operation of a PLL can briefly be explained as follows : With no
input signal applied to the system, the error voltage Vd is equal to zero. The VCO operates at a set
frequency f o which is known as the free-running frequency. If an input signal is applied to the
system, the phase comparator compares the phase and frequency of the input signal with the VCO
frequency and generates an error voltage, v.(t), that is related to the phase and frequency difference
between the two signals. This error voltage is then filtered and applied to the control terminal of
the VCO. If the input frequency I. is sufficiently close to fo, the feedback nature of the PLL causes
the VCO to synchronize, or lock, with the incoming signal. Once in lock, the VCO frequency is
identical to the input signal, except for a finite phase difference.

Two key parameters of a PLL system are its lock and capture ranges. They can be defined
as follows :
Lock Range. Range of frequencies in the vicinity of fo, over which the PLL can maintain
lock with an input signal. It is also known as the tracking or holding range. Lock range increases as
the overall gain of the PLL is increased.
Capture Range. Band of frequencies in the vicinity of fo where the PLL can establish or
acquire lock with an input signal. It is also known as the acquisition range. It is always smaller
than the lock range, and is related to the low-pass filter bandwidth. It decreases as the filter
bandwidth is reduced.
The lock and capture ranges of a PLL can be illustrated with reference to the following
figure, which shows the typical frequency-to-voltage characteristics of a PLL. In the figure, the
input is assumed to be swept slowly over a broad frequency range. The vertical scale corresponds
to the loop-error voltage.
In the upper part of the above figure, the loop frequency is being gradually increased. The loop
does not respond to the signal until it reaches a frequency f1, corresponding to the lower edge of the
capture range. Then, the loop suddenly locks on the input, causing a negative jump of the loop-
error voltage. Next, Vd varies with frequency with a slope equal to the reciprocal of the VCO
voltage-to-frequency conversion gain, and goes through zero as fs = fo. The loop tracks the input
until the input frequency reaches f2, corresponding to the upper edge of the lock range. The PLL
then loses lock, and the error voltage drops to zero.
If the input frequency is now swept slowly back, the cycle repeats itself as shown in the
lower part of the preceding figure. The loop recaptures the signal at f3 and traces it down to f4. The
frequency spread between (f1, f3) and (f2, f4) corresponds to the total capture and lock ranges of the
system; that is, f3 - f1 = capture range and f4 - f2 = lock range. The PLL responds only to those input
signals sufficiently close to the VCO frequency fo to fall within the lock or capture range of the
system. Its performance characteristics, therefore, offer a high degree of frequency selectivity,
with the selectivity characteristics centered about fo.
If an incoming frequency is far removed from that of the VCO, so that their difference
exceeds the pass band of the low-pass filter, it will simply be ignored by the PLL. Thus, the PLL is
a frequency-selective circuit.

Q14. Explain the Instrumentation Amplifier.

Instrumentation Amplifiers (in-amps) are very high gain differential amplifiers which have a
high input impedance and a single ended output. Instrumentation amplifiers are mainly used to
amplify very small differential signals from strain gauges, thermocouples or current sensing
devices in motor control systems.

Unlike standard operational amplifiers in which their closed-loop gain is determined by an external
resistive feedback connected between their output terminal and one input terminal, either positive
or negative, “instrumentation amplifiers” have an internal feedback resistor that is effectively
isolated from its input terminals as the input signal is applied across two differential inputs, V1 and
V2.

The instrumentation amplifier also has a very good common mode rejection ratio, CMRR (zero
output when V1 = V2) well in excess of 100dB at DC. A typical example of a three op-amp
instrumentation amplifier with a high input impedance ( Zin ) is given below:
High Input Impedance Instrumentation Amplifier

The two non-inverting amplifiers form a differential input stage acting as buffer amplifiers with a
gain of 1 + 2R2/R1 for differential input signals and unity gain for common mode input signals.
Since amplifiers A1 and A2 are closed loop negative feedback amplifiers, we can expect the
voltage at Va to be equal to the input voltage V1. Likewise, the voltage at Vb to be equal to the
value at V2.

As the op-amps take no current at their input terminals (virtual earth), the same current must flow
through the three resistor network of R2, R1 and R2 connected across the op-amp outputs. This
means then that the voltage on the upper end of R1 will be equal to V1 and the voltage at the lower
end of R1 to be equal to V2.

This produces a voltage drop across resistor R1 which is equal to the voltage difference between
inputs V1 and V2, the differential input voltage, because the voltage at the summing junction of
each amplifier, Va and Vb is equal to the voltage applied to its positive inputs.

However, if a common-mode voltage is applied to the amplifiers inputs, the voltages on each side
of R1 will be equal, and no current will flow through this resistor. Since no current flows through
R1 (nor, therefore, through both R2 resistors, amplifiers A1 and A2 will operate as unity-gain
followers (buffers). Since the input voltage at the outputs of amplifiers A1 and A2 appears
differentially across the three resistor network, the differential gain of the circuit can be varied by
just changing the value of R1.
The voltage output from the differential op-amp A3 acting as a subtractor, is simply the difference
between its two inputs ( V2 – V1 ) and which is amplified by the gain of A3 which may be one,
unity, (assuming that R3 = R4). Then we have a general expression for overall voltage gain of the
instrumentation amplifier circuit as:

Instrumentation Amplifier Equation

In the next tutorial about Operational Amplifiers, we will examine the effect of the output voltage,
Vout when the feedback resistor is replaced with a frequency dependant reactance in the form of a
capacitance. The addition of this feedback capacitance produces a non-linear operational amplifier
circuit called an Integrating Amplifier.

Q15. An op-amp multivibrator circuit is constructed using the following

components. R1 = 35kΩ, R2 = 30kΩ, R = 50kΩ and C = 0.01uF. Calculate the
circuits frequency of oscillation.
Then the frequency of oscillation is calculated as 1kHz. When β = 0.462, this frequency can be
calculated directly as: ƒ = 1/2RC. Also when the two feedback resistors are the same, that is
R1 = R2, the feedback fraction is equal to 3 and the frequency of oscillation becomes:
ƒ = 1/2.2RC.

We can take this op-amp multivibrator circuit one step further by replacing one of the feedback
resistors with a potentiometer to produce a variable frequency op-amp multivibrator as shown.