EDITOR: B. SOMANATHAN
NAIR
In electronic
circuit theory books, electronic circuit designs are not given in a proper
manner. Hence a student finds it difficult to design and construct a circuit so
that he/she can test it for proper functioning. A proper engineering design
requires step-by-step procedure so that the final design can be implemented
directly without any confusion. In this article, we give a standard procedure
for the design of a common-emitter voltage amplifier in the class-A mode of
operation.
It may be noted that the designs
given here are for circuits using discrete devices which are part of first or
second year curriculum in electronics.
1. GIVEN SPECIFICATIONS
An
engineering design is done based on the requirements of a given practical
problem. These requirements are called specifications.
Our first task is therefore to design a single-stage RC-coupled common-emitter class-A voltage amplifier to meet the
following specifications:
·
Voltage gain : 100
(minimum)
·
Voltage swing : 9
V (peak-to-peak)
·
Current swing : 1
mA (peak)
·
Bandwidth : 100
kHz (maximum)
2. DC AND AC LOAD LINES
An
RC-coupled class-A voltage amplifier
can be designed with the help of the DC and ac load lines. Figure 1 shows
theoretical DC and ac load lines and Fig. 2 shows them using practical
numerical values. DC load line is the
straight line connecting the supply voltage VCC
and the maximum DC current ICMAX.
VCC also represents the
maximum value of collector-to-emitter DC voltage VCEMAX, when the DC collector IC = 0. Similarly, the maximum value of collector
current ICMAX occurs when VCE = 0. From Fig. 1, we find
ICMAX = VCC /(RC +RE)
In
the above equation, let VCC
= 10 V, RC = 4.5 kΩ, and RE = 1 kΩ, then
ICMAX = 10 V /5.5
kΩ = 1.82 mA
Now
we draw the DC load line in this case by joining the VCC (=10-V) point on the voltage (x) axis and the ICMAX
(1.82-mA) point on the current (y)
axis, as shown in Fig. 2. It may be noted that in computing ICMAX, we have included
emitter resistor RE as it
forms part of the DC collector-emitter path.
To draw the ac load line, we have to
compute the maximum value of ac collector-emitter voltage Vcemax and the maximum value of ac collector current Icmax. Since emitter
resistor RE is usually bypassed
with capacitor CE, it can
be neglected from computations. Similarly, since the effect of RE does not come under
signaling (or, ac) condition, the DC voltage drop across it can be neglected.
Therefore the effective peak-to-peak value of the collector-emitter voltage Vce(p-p) under signaling conditions is given by
Vce(p-p)
= 2Vcemax = VCC ‒ VRE
In our example, if VCC = 10 V, and VRE = 1 V, then
Vcemax =
(10 ‒1)/2 = 4.5 V
This
represents the point of the ac load line on the voltage axis. To find the
current point of the ac load line, we compute the maximum value of ac current
using the expression
Icmax = Vce(p-p) /RC = 2Vcemax
/ RC
In our example, since Vcemax = 4.5 V and RC = 4.5 kΩ, we obtain
Icmax = 4.5 V /4.5 kΩ = 1 mA
By
joining the 9-V point on the x axis
and the 2-mA point on the y axis, we
draw the ac load line, as shown in Fig. 2.
We have seen that Vcemax is the maximum
possible value of the swing in the signal output voltage. For symmetrical swing
in the output voltage, therefore, we must have
Vcemax = VCEQ = Vce(p-p)/2
where
VCEQ is the steady-state,
quiescent, or DC collector-to-emitter voltage. It is also the voltage across
the collector and the emitter of the transistor immediately after the circuit
has been switched on and with no input signal being applied. ICQ is the DC collector
current corresponding to VCEQ.
It is interesting to note that the ac and the
DC load lines cross each other at the VCEQ-ICQ point, as shown in Fig. 1. It can be seen that the amplified
signal voltage Vce varies
symmetrically with respect to VCEQ
to produce the maximum output voltage swing Vcemax,
as shown. Similarly, collector signal current Ic varies symmetrically about ICQ to produce the maximum output current swing Icmax, as shown. We thus find
that choosing the correct operating (Q)
point VCEQ-ICQ helps in achieving the
maximum swing in the output voltage and current. Thus it is clear that using
the load lines to design an amplifier is an optimum procedure.
fH = 1/2πRLCL (20)
Figure 3 shows the voltage drops across various terminals
of the BJT and Fig. 4 shows the numerical values of the voltage drops used in
the design example.
We now make use of
Figs. 2 and 4 in our design example, which is described below.
3. DESIGN PROCEDURE
Step 1: Fixing
VCC
As explained above,
from Fig. 3, we have
VCC =VRC + VCE + VRE
(1)
where VRC is the voltage across
collector resistor RC, VCE is the voltage across the
collector and the emitter, and VRE
is the voltage across emitter resistor RE.
For maximum symmetrical swing, from load-line analysis, we find the requirement
VRC = VCE (2)
And, for temperature
stability, we take (as a rule-of-thumb)
VRE = 0.1
VCC (3)
It may be noted that
the larger the value of VRE,
the better it is for temperature stability. However, a larger value of VRE means a lower output
voltage swing. To compromise between the two contradictory requirements, we
choose the condition given in Eq. (3). Now, using Eqs. (1), (2), and (3), we
get the peak-to-peak output voltage Vce(p-p)
as
Vce(p-p)
= 2VRC = 2VCE = 0.9VCC
(4)
From this equation,
we get the supply voltage
VCC = Vce(p-p)/0.9 = 2Vcemax/0.9 (5)
where Vcemax (maximum value of the
output voltage) = Vce(p-p)/2.
In the given problem, Vcepp
= 9 V. Therefore we fix the supply voltage
VCC = 9/0.9 =
10 V
Step 2: Fixing
IC
The collector current
IC is fixed according to
the current swing required. From Fig. 3, IC=ICQ=Ic max, where ICQ
= value of collector current under quiescent, steady-state, or zero-signal
condition. It can be seen from Fig. 3 that IC
(=Icmax) also represents
the peak value of the ac collector
current under signaling condition.
Hence IC is fixed at this
value. In our problem, the desired current swing is 1 mA. Therefore, we choose
ICQ = 1 mA
Step 3: Selection
of the Transistor
Selection of a suitable bipolar junction transistor is based
on the following facts:
·
VCEMAX : This is the maximum voltage across the collector
and emitter terminals, which the transistor can withstand without breakdown.
Assuming VCEMAX = VCC (when IC = 0), we may choose
a transistor
whose VCEMAX is at
least 2VCC. In this case, we have chosen a factor-of-safety of 2.
·
ICPP : This is the peak (maximum) value of collector
current that can safely flow through the transistor at any instant. This is
equal to 2ICMAX. The transistor
must be able to withstand this also. Usually, for safety, we choose a
transistor that can withstand at least twice this current.
·
Av : This represents the voltage gain of the transistor
= bRL/Ri, where, b or hFE is the
current amplification factor of the transistor, RL is the load resistance, and Ri is the input impedance of the amplifier. Assuming
that RL= Ri (usually, RL >> Ri), we find that Av = b. This expression puts us in some difficulty. We know that b varies widely even for the same
type of transistor. For example b of BC 107 varies roughly from 125 to 500. Which
value of b is to be chosen for designing the amplifier?
To find a solution to the above question, consider
the value of b of BC 107 itself. As stated above, this varies
from125 to 500. This means that all BC 107 transistors will have a minimum guaranteed value of b (hereafter referred to as bmin)
equal to 125. Current gain b of values greater than this (up to 500) can surely
exist; but the manufacturer does not guarantee any value other than the minimum
value of 125. This forces us to design the amplifier by using the minimum value
of b. In fact, in all our future designs, we shall
be using only the minimum value of a
parameter, if that parameter has a wide range of variation in its value.
·
Voltage gain
given by the expression Av=βRL/RI is only approximate
because it is dependent on the highly variable parameters of b, Ri, and RL. Assuming RL= Ri, it yields a gain lying between bmin and bmax. To get the required
gain to the exact value desired, we must use negative feedback techniques.
Taking into account of the above facts, from the data manual, we choose
BC 107
which has ICMAX=10 mA, VCE
MAX= 45 V, and bmin=125, as the amplifier
device.
Step 4: Design of RC
Collector resistor RC may be designed by using
the expression
RC
= (VCC ‒ VRE)/2IC (6)
Combining the
equations given above, we get
RC
= 0.9VCC/2IC (7)
Substituting,
RC = 0.45´ 10/10−3 = 4.5 kW
Resistors have finite
power rating beyond which, if operated, they are sure to fail. To avoid this,
we must also specify the power rating of resistors. Power rating P of a resistor
P = 2(Imax)2R (8)
where Imax = maximum current
through the resistor. The factor 2 is used as a factor-of-safety. To find the power rating of collector resistor RC, we use the modified
equation
P = 2(2ICQ)2RC
(9)
where 2ICQ
is the maximum current that can flow through the collector when VCE = 0 V. The maximum value
of collector current is also the collector-current swing. So we use Imax= 2 mA. Substituting
values,
P = (2 × 10−3)2 ´ 4.7 ´ 103 = 0.0376 W
The nearest value of
standard carbon resistor (with ± 10% tolerance) is 4.7 kW with (1/8)-W rating. Therefore, we select
RC = 4.7 kW / 0.125 W
Step 5: Design
of RE
As stated earlier, to
choose RE, the following
conditions must be satisfied:
i. RE should be as high
as possible so that Q
point is stabilized. It can be proved from stability analysis that the
collector current is stabilized against variations in ICO and VBE,
if RE is high. The higher
the value of RE the better
the stabilization we get.
ii.
However, if RE is high, the swing in the
output voltage will be reduced.
Conditions (i) and
(ii) are contradictory to each other. In order to compromise between these two
conflicting requirements, we choose, as a
rule-of-thumb
VRE = 0.1
VCC (10)
In our design problem, VRE = 0.1 ´ 10 = 1.0 V. Since RE = VRE/IC, we find RE = 1/1´l0−3 =1 kW. We select
RE = 1 kW / 0.125 W
Step 6: Design
of the Biasing Network consisting of Resistors R1
and R2
The bias network consists of resistors R1 and R2.
The design of these resistors is based on the stability analysis of the
amplifier since the stability of the operating point is mainly dependent on
these resistors. From stability analysis, we have
bmin/10 =
RB/RE (11)
where
RB = R1R2 /(R1 + R2) (12)
Also, from Fig. 4, we
get
VR1 = VCC R1 /(R1 + R2) (13)
But
VR1=VBEQ+VRE (14)
where VBEQ is the
quiescent or steady-state base-emitter voltage of the transistor. This is the
operating or Q-point of the
transistor. By steady-state operation, we mean the operation of the amplifier
when no signal is present. The base-emitter active-region voltage of silicon
transistors usually vary exponentially from 0.5 V to 0.8 V. In such a case, VBEQ is usually taken as 0.7
V. However, with Indian transistors, the authors have found
that VBEQ has the best
value between 0.6 V to 0.65 V. Choosing 0.65 V, we haveVR1= 0.65+1.0 = 1.65 V.
Solving
R1 = RB/(1‒a) (15)
and
R1 = RB/a (16)
where
a
= VR1 / VCC (17)
Substituting values,
we have
R1 = 15 kW and R2 = 82 kW.
The above values are obtained by considering that bmin of BC 107 is 125.
However, it is found that bmin of
the Indian-made BC 107 transistor is only around 100 in majority of the
cases. Therefore, recalculating for R1
and R2 yields the values
of R1=12
kW (1/8 W),
and R2 = 68 kW (1/8 W).
Step 7: Design
of Bypass Capacitor CE
CE is used to bypass AC signal across RE. For designing this, we
use the expression
fL = β/2πR1CE (18)
where fL (lower half-power
frequency) = 30 Hz for AF amplifiers. Substituting values, we find
CE = 50 mF/10 V
Step 8: Design of Coupling Capacitors CC1 and CC2
CC1 and CC2
are designed using the expression
fL
= β/2πR1CC (19)
Substituting values,
we get
CC1 = CC2
= 5.6 mF
Choose
a higher value, say, 10 mF/10 V
Step 9: Design
for a Bandwidth of 100
kHz
The bandwidth of an amplifier is determined by the high-frequency
response of the amplifier. This, in turn, is determined by the load capacitance
C'L. If fH denotes the upper
half-power frequency, then
Given fH = 100 kHz, and assuming R’L = RC we get
C’L= 0.4 nF
The completely designed am plifier is shown in Fig. 5. This amplifier is called as the Standard Amplifier in this text.
.
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