UNIT-III

Power Amplifiers

LARGE SIGNAL AMPLIFIERS

A Power amplifier is large signal amplifier and this is generally a last stageof a multistage amplifier. The function of a practical power amplifier is to amplify a weak signal untilsufficient power is achieved to operate a loudspeaker or output device. Typical output power rating of a power amplifier will be 1W or higher. Theschematic diagram of a practical power amplifier is shown below. The driver stage operates as a class A power amplifier and supplies thedrive for the output stage. The last output stage is essentially a power amplifier and its purpose is totransfer maximum power to the output device (speaker). The output stagegenerally employ class B amplifiers in push-pull arrangement.

A large signal amplifier means much larger portion of load line is usedduring signal operation compared to small signal amplifier. A small signal amplifier (handle ac signal <10mV) operate over a linearportion of load line. In case of power amplifier, we cannot use small signal approximationdirectly to calculate voltage gain, current gain and input/output impedance. Ideal power amplifier will deliver 100% of the power it draws from the supplyto load. In practice, this can never occur. The reason for this is the fact that the components in the amplifier will alldissipate some of the power that is being drawn from the supply. Types: One method used to categorize amplifiers is by class. Basically, amplifier classes represent theamount the output signal varies over one cycle of operation for a full cycle of input signal. A briefdescription of amplifier classes is provided next. Class A: The output signal varies for full 360 of the cycle. it requires the Q-point to be biased at a level so that at least half the signal swing of the output may vary up anddown without going to a high-enough voltage to be limited by the supply voltage level or too low toapproach the lower supply level, or 0 V in this description. Class B: A class B circuit provides an output signal varying over one-half '.-: input signal cycle, or for180 of signal, as shown in Fig. 15.1 b. The dc bias point for class B is therefore at 0 V, with the Output then varying from this bias point for a half-cycle. Obviously, the output is not a faithfulreproduction of the input if only one half-cycle is present. Two class B operations-one to provideoutput on the positive output half-cycle and another to provide operation on the negative-output halfcycleare necessary. The combined half-cycles then provide an output for a full 360 of operation.This type of connection is referred to as push-pull operation, which is discussed later in this chapter.Note that class B operation by itself creates a much distorted output signal since reproduction of theinput takes place for only 180 of the output signal swing.

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Class AB: An amplifier may be biased at a dc level above the zero base current level of class B andAbove one-half the supply voltage level of class A; this bias condition is class AB. Class AB operationstill requires a push-pull connection to achieve a full output cycle, but the dc bias level is usuallycloser to the zero base current level for better power efficiency, as described shortly. For class ABoperation, the output signal swing occurs between 1800 and 3600 and is neither class A nor class Boperation. Class C: The output of a class C amplifier is biased for operation at less than 180 of the cycle andwill operate only with a tuned (resonant) circuit, which provides a full cycle of operation for the tunedor resonant frequency. This operating class is therefore used in special areas of tuned circuits, suchas radio or communication. Class D: This operating class is a form of amplifier operation using pulse (digital) signals, which areon for a short interval and off for a longer interval. Using digital techniques makes it possible to obtaina signal that varies over the full cycle (using sample-and-hold circuitry) to recreate the output frommany pieces of input signal. The major advantage of class D operation is that the amplifier is on(using power) only for short intervals and the overall efficiency can practically be very high, asdescribed next. Class A Amplifier: SERIES-FED CLASS A AMPLIFIER This simple fixed-bias circuit connection shown in Fig. 15.2 can be used to discuss the main featuresof a class A series-fed amplifier. The only differences between this circuit and the small-signal versionconsidered previously is that the signals handled by the large-signal circuit are in the range of voltsand the transistor used is a power transistor that is capable of operating in the range of a few to tensof watts. As will be shown in this section, this circuit is not the best to use as a large-signal amplifierbecause of its poor power efficiency. The beta of a power transistor is generally less than 100, theoverall amplifier circuit using power transistors that are capable of handling large power or currentwhile not providing much voltage gain.

Fig 15.2 Series-fed class A large-signal amplifier

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DC Bias Operation The dc bias set by VCC and RB fixes the dc base-bias current at

With the collector current then being

With the collector-emitter voltage then

To appreciate the importance of the dc bias on the operation of the power amplifier, consider the collector characteristic shown in Fig. 15.3. An ac load line is drawn using the values of VCC and RC.. The intersection of the dc bias value of IB with the dc load line then determines the operating point (Qpoint)for the circuit. The quiescent point values are those calculated using Eqs. (15.1) through (15.3),If the dc bias collector current is set at one-half the possible signal swing (between 0 and VCC/RC),the largest collector current swing will be possible. Additionally, if the quiescent collectoremittervoltage is set at one-half the supply voltage, the largest voltage swing will be possible. With the Qpointset at this optimum bias point, the power considerations for the circuit of Fig. 15.2 aredetermined as described below.

Fig 15.3Transistor characteristic showing load line and Q-point

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AC Operation When an input ac signal is applied to the amplifier of Fig. 15.2, the output will vary from its dc biasoperating voltage and current. A small input signal, as shown in Fig. 15.4, will cause the base currentto vary above and below the dc bias point, which will then cause the collector current (output) to varyfrom the dc bias point set as well as the collector-emitter voltage to vary around its dc bias value.

Fig 15.4 Amplifier input and output signal variation As the input signal is made larger, the output will vary further around the established dc bias point until either the current or the voltage reaches a limiting condition. For the current this limiting conditionis either zero current at the low end or VCC/RC at the high end of its swing. For the collectoremittervoltage, the limit is either 0 V or the supply voltage, VCC. Power Consideration The power into an amplifier is provided by the supply. With no input signal, the dc current drawn is thecollector bias current, ICQ. The power then drawn from the supply is

Even with an ac signal applied, the average current drawn from the supply remains the same, so thatEq. (15.4) represents the input power supplied to the class A series-fed amplifier. OUTPUT POWER The output voltage and current varying around the bias point provide ac power to the load. This ac power is delivered to the load, Rc, in the circuit of Fig. 15.2. The ac signal, Vi, causes the basecurrent to vary around the dc bias current and the collector current around its quiescent level, ICQ. Asshown in Fig. 15.4, the ac input signal result in ac current and ac voltage signals. The larger the inputsignal, the

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larger the output swing, up to the maximum set by the circuit. The ac power delivered tothe load (RC)can be expressed in a number of ways. Using rms signals: The ac power delivered to the load (Rc) may be expressed using:

Using peak signals: The ac power delivered to the load may be expressed using

Using peak-to-peak signals: The ac power delivered to the load may be expressed using

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Efficiency The efficiency of an amplifier represents the amount of ac power delivered (transferred) from the dcsource. The efficiency of the amplifier is calculated using

MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY For the class A series-fed amplifier, the maximum efficiency can be determined using the maximumvoltage and current swings. For the voltage swing it is

For the current swing it is

Using the maximum voltage swing in Eq.(15.7a) yields

The maximum power input can be calculated using the dc bias current set to one-half the maximumvalue:

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We can then use Eq. (15.8) to calculate the maximum efficiency:

The maximum efficiency of a class A series-fed amplifier is thus seen to be 25%. Since this maximumefficiency will occur only for ideal conditions of both voltage swing and current swing, most series-fedcircuits will provide efficiencies of much less than 25%. TRANFORMER-COUPLED CLASS A AMPLIFIER A form of class A amplifier having maximum efficiency of 50% uses a transformer to couple the outputsignal to the load as shown in Fig. 15.6. This is a simple circuit:: form to use in presenting a few basicconcepts. More practical circuit versions are covered later. Since the circuit uses a transformer tostep voltage or current, a review of voltage and current step-up and step-down is presented next.

Fig 15.6 Transformer-coupled audio power amplifier Transformer Action A transformer can increase or decrease voltage or current levels according to the turns ratio, asexplained below. In addition, the impedance connected to one side of a transformer can be made toappear either larger or smaller (step up or step down) at the other side of the transformer, dependingon the square of the transformer winding turns ratio. The following discussion assumes ideal (100%)power transfer from primary to secondary, that is, no power losses are considered.

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Voltage transformation As shown in Fig. 15.7a, the transformer can step up or step down a voltage applied to one side directly as the ratio of the turns (or number of windings) on each side. The voltage transformation isgiven by

Equation (15.9) shows that if the number of turns of wire on the secondary side is larger than on theprimary, the voltage at the secondary side is larger than the voltage at the primary side. Current transformation The current in the secondary winding is inversely proportional to the number turns in the windings.The current transformation is given by

Fig 15.7 Transformer operation: (a) voltage transformation; (b) current transformation; (c) impedance transformation

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This relationship is shown in Fig. 15.7b. If the number of turns of wire on the secondary is greater than that on the primary, the secondary current will be less than the current in the primary. Impedance transformation Since the voltage and current can be changed by a transformer, impedance seen from either side(primary or secondary) can also is changed. As shown in Fig.15.7c, impedance RL is connectedacross the transformer secondary. This impedance is changed by the transformer when viewed at theprimary side (RL ). This can be shown as follows:

If we define a =N1/N2, where a is the turns ratio of the transformer, the above equation becomes

We can express the load resistance reflected to the primary side as:

Where RL is the reflected impedance, as shown in Eq. (15.12), the reflected impedance is related directly to the square of the turns ratio. If the number of turns of the secondary is smaller than that ofthe primary, the impedance seen looking into the primary is larger than that of the secondary by thesquare of the turns ratio Operation of Amplifier Stage DC LOAD LINE The transformer (dc) winding resistance determines the dc load line for the circuit of Fig. 15.6,Typically, this dc resistance is small (ideally 0 ) and, as shown in Fig. 15.8, a 0 - dc load line is astraight vertical line,

Fig 15.8 Load lines for class A transformer-coupled amplifier

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A practical transformer winding resistance would be a few ohms, but only the ideal case will beconsidered in this discussion. There is no dc voltage drop across the 0- dc load resistance, and loadline is drawn straight vertically from the voltage point, VCEQ =VCC QUIESCENT OPERATING POINT The operating point in the characteristic curve of Fig. 15.8 can be obtained graphically at the point ofintersection of the dc load line and the base current set by the circuit. The collector quiescent currentcan then be obtained from the operating point in class A operation, keep in mind that the dc bias pointsets the conditions for the maximum undistorted signal swing for both collector current and collectoremittervoltage. If the input signal produces a voltage swing less than the maximum possible. Theefficiency of the circuit at that time will be less than 25%. The dc bias point is therefore important insetting the operation of a class A series-fed amplifier. AC LOAD LINE To carry out ac analysis, it is necessary to calculate the ac load resistance "seen" looking into the primary side of the transformer, then draw the ac load line on the collector characteristic. Thereflected load resistance (RL)is calculated using Eq. (15.] 2) using the value of the load connectedacross the secondary (RL)and the turns ratio of the transformer. The graphical analysis techniquethen proceeds as follows. Draw the ac load line so that it passes through the operating point and hasa slope equal to -1/ RL ( the reflected load resistance), the load line slope being the negativereciprocal of the ac load resistance. Notice that the ac load line shows that the output signal swingcan exceed the value of V cc. In fact, the voltage developed across the transformer primary can bequite large. It is therefore necessary after obtaining the ac load line to check that the possible voltageswing does not exceed transistor maximum ratings. SIGNAL SWING AND OUTPUT AC POWER Figure 15.9 shows the voltage and current signal swings from the circuit of Fig. 15.6. From the signalvariations shown in Fig. 15.9, the values of the peak-to-peak signal swings are

The ac power developed across the transformer primary can then be calculated using

The ac power calculated is that developed across the primary of the transformer. As summing an ideal transformer (a highly efficient transformer has an efficiency of well over 90%), the powerdelivered by the secondary to the load is approximately that calculated using Eq. (15.13). The outputac power can also be determined using the voltage delivered to the load.

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Fig 15.9 Graphical operation of transformer-coupled class A amplifier For the ideal transformer, the voltage delivered to the load can be calculated using Eq. (15.9):

The power across the load can then be expressed as

and equals the power calculated using Eq. (l5.5c). Using Eq. (15.10) to calculate the load current yields

With the output ac power then calculated using

Efficiency So far we have considered calculating the ac power delivered to the load. We next consider the inputpower from the battery, power losses in the amplifier, and the overall efficiency of the transformercoupledclass A amplifier. The input (dc) power obtained from the supply is calculated from the supplydc voltage and average power drawn from the supply:

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For the transformer-coupled amplifier, the power dissipated by the transformer is small (due to smalldc resistance of a coil) and will be ignored in the present calculation. Thus the only power lossconsidered here is that dissipated by the power transistor and calculated using

Where P Q is the power dissipated as heat. While the equation is simple, it is nevertheless significantwhen operating a class A amplifier. The amount of power dissipated by the transistor is the differencebetween that drawn from the dc supply (set by the bias point) and the amount delivered to the acload. When the input signal is very small, with very little ac power delivered to the load, the maximumpower is dissipated by the transistor. When the input signal is larger and power delivered to the loadis larger, less power is dissipated by the transistor. In other words, the transistor of a class A amplifierhas to work hardest (dissipate the most power) when the load is disconnected from the amplifier, andthe transistor dissipates the least power when the load is drawing maximum power from the circuit. MAXIMUM THEORETICAL EFFICIENCY For a class A transformer-coupled amplifier, the maximum theoretical efficiency goes up to 50%. Based on the signals obtained using the amplifier, the efficiency can be expressed as

The larger the value of VCEmax, and the smaller the value of VCEminthe closer the efficiency approachthe theoretical limit of 50%. Class A Output Waveform 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. This then results in the AC input signal being perfectly "centred" between the amplifiers upper and lower signal limits as shown below.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. In other words 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.

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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 DC 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 pure Class A amplifier is very inefficient as most of the DC power is converted to heat. Class B Amplifier Operation Class B operation is provided when the dc bias leaves the transistor biased just off, the transistorturning on when the ac signal is applied. This is essentially no bias, and the transistor conductscurrent for only one-half of the signal cycle. To obtain output for the full cycle of signal, it is necessary to use two transistors and have each conduct on opposite half-cycles, the combined operationproviding a full cycle of output signal. Since one part of the circuit pushes the signal high during onehalf-cycle and [he other part pulls the signal low during the other half-cycle, the circuit is referred [0 asa push-pull circuit. Figure 15.12 shows a diagram for push-pull operation. An ,IC input signal isapplied to the push-pull circuit with each half operating on alternate half-cycles, the load thenreceiving a signal for the full ac cycle. The power transistors used in the push-pull circuit are capableof delivering the desired power to the load, and the class B operation of these transistors providesgreater efficiency than \\as possible using a single transistor in class A operation

Fig 15.12 Block representation of push-pull operation

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Input (DC) Power The power supplied to the load by an amplifier is drawn from the power supply (or power supplies; see Fig. 15.13) that provides the input or de power. The amount of [his input power can be calculated using

Where Idcis the average or dc current drawn from the power supplies. In class B operation, the current drawn from a single power supply has the form of a full-wave rectified signal, while that drawn from two power supplies has the form of a half-wave rectified signal from each supply. In either case, the value of the average current drawn can be expressed as

Where I(p) is the peak value of the output current waveform. Using Eq. (15.18) in the power input equation (Eq. 15.17) results in

Fig 15.13 Connection of push-pull amplifier to load: (a) using two voltage supplies; (b) using one voltage supply

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Output (AC) Power The power delivered to the load (usually referred to as a resistance, RL) can be calculated using anyone of a number of equations. If one is using an rms meter to measure the voltage across the load, the output power can be calculated as

If one is using an oscilloscope, the peak, or peak-to-peak, output voltage measured can be used:

The larger the rms or peak output voltage, the larger the power delivered to the load Efficiency The efficiency of the class B amplifier can be calculated using the basic equation:

Using Eqs. (15.19) and (15.21) in the efficiency equation above results in

(Using l(p) = VL(p )/RL). Equation (15.22) shows that the larger the peak voltage, the higher the circuit efficiency, up to a maximum value when VL(p) = VCC, this maximum efficiency then being

Power Dissipated by Output Transistors The power dissipated (as heat) by the output power transistors is the difference between the input power delivered by the supplies and the output power delivered to the load.

Where P2Q is the power dissipated by the two output power transistors. The dissipated 'power handled by each transistor is then

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For a maximum transistor power dissipation of

Transformer-Coupled Push-Pull Circuits The circuit of Fig. 15.15 uses a center-tapped input transformer to produce opposite polarity signalsto the two transistor inputs and an output transformer to drive the load in a push-pull mode ofoperation described next.During the first half-cycle of operation, transistor Q1 is driven into conduction whereas transistor Q2 is driven off. The current I1 through the transformer results in the first half-cycle of signal to the load. During the second half-cycle of the input signal. Q2 conducts whereas Q1 stays off, thecurrent I2 through the transformer resulting in the second half-cycle to the load, the overall signaldeveloped across the load then varies over the full cycle of signal operation.

Fig 15.15 Push-pull circuit Complementary-Symmetry Circuits Using complementary transistors (npn and pnp) it is possible to obtain a full cycle output across aload using half-cycles of operation from each transistor, as shown in Fig. 15.16a.While a single input signal is applied to the base of both transistors, the transistors, being of opposite type, will conduct on opposite half-cycles of the input. The npn transistor will be biased into conduction by the positive half-cycle of signal, with a resulting half-cycle of signal across the load as shown in Fig. 15.16b. During the negative half-cycle of signal, the pnp transistor is biased into conduction when the input goes negative, as shown in Fig. 15.16c. During a complete cycle of the input, a complete cycle of output signal is developed across the load.One disadvantage of the circuit is the need for two separate voltage supplies. Another, less obvious disadvantage with the complementary circuit is shown in the resulting crossover distortion in the output signal (see Fig. 15.16d). Crossover distortion refers to the fact that during the signal crossover from positive to negative (or vice versa) there is some nonlinearity in the output signal. This results from the fact that the circuit does not provide exact switching of one transistor off and the other on at the zero-voltage condition.

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Fig 15.16 Complementary-symmetry push-pull circuit Both transistors may be partially off so that the output voltage does notfollow the input around the zerovoltage condition biasing the transistors in class AB improves thisoperation by biasing both transistors to be on for more than half a cycle. Class B Output Waveform 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 (an NPN and a PNP) 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.

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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.

In a class B amplifier, no DC current 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 baseemitter voltageVbeto 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 and is looked at later on in this section. Crossover Distortion When the base voltage is zero as in the case of the circuit in Figure 7, both transistors are off and the input signal voltage must exceed VBE before a transistor conducts. So in between the positive and negative cycle, there is a time when no transistor is conducting as shown in Figure 8. The resulting distortion in the output waveform is called crossover distortion.

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Class AB Amplifier To eliminate crossover distortion, both transistors in the push-pullarrangement must be biased slightly above cut-off when there is no signal. To overcome the distortion, biasing is adjusted to overcome the VBE. This results in class AB amplifier. In class AB amplifier the transistor are biased into conduction even when there is no input signal. This is achieved by voltage-divider and diode arrangement as shown in Figure 9. When D1 and D2 are same, R1 and R2 are same and Q1 and Q2 are of same type, then the currents in the transistor are same. The collector current can be given as

AC Operation The AC collector saturation current with a push-pull amplifier is given as

The AC load line for the class AB amplifier is shown in Figure 9. Under maximum condition, Q1 and Q2 are alternatively driven from near cutoff to near saturation that is for Q1 from 0V to +VCC and for Q2 from 0V to VCC.

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 The main advantage of class B/AB amplifier over the class A amplifier is that there is very little current in the transistor when there is no input signal. This results in low power dissipation when there is no signal. In class A amplifier, they are biased at almost the center of the load line. This results in flow of current from the supply even when there is no input signal resulting in power dissipation. Therefore class B/AB amplifier has more efficiency as compared to class A amplifier.

When the diode characteristics of D1 and D2 are closely matched to thetransconductance characteristics of the transistors, a stable bias can bemaintained over temperature.

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Class AB Power We will discuss the output and input power and calculate the efficiency of class AB amplifier. Maximum Output Power The maximum output power of the class AB amplifier is given as

Class AB Output Waveform 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. 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.

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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. Then we can make a comparison between the most common types of amplifier classifications in the following table. THE CLASS C AMPLIFIER Class C amplifiers are biased such that the conduction occurs for very much less than 1800. Class C amplifiers are more efficient than class A, B and AB amplifiers. They are generally used in radio frequency applications. Class C amplifier operates for less than half of the input cycle. Its efficiency is about 75% because the active device is biased beyond cut off. It is commonly used in RF circuits where a resonant circuit must be placed at the output in order to keep the sine wave going during the non-conducting portion of the input cycle. Basic Class C Operation Class C amplifier operation is shown in Figure 10 with a resistive common emitter configuration. It is biased below cut off with negative voltage (-VBB) supply. The AC input signal has a peak value slightly greater then VBB+VBE so the base voltage exceeds the barrier potential for a very short time near the positive peak as shown in Figure 10(b). At this time, the transistor is turned on. The ideal maximum collector current is Ic(sat) and the ideal minimum collector voltage is Vce(sat). Power Dissipation Power dissipation of class C amplifier is low because it is on for a very small percentage of the input signal.

Figure 11(a) shows collector current pulse with time between successive pulses is T. Figure 11(b) shows the collector current and voltage during on time of the transistor.

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Class C Advantages: Excellent Efficiency Compact Size Multi kilo watt Pulse Output Power Cool Operation CW, FM, Phase and Pulse Amplification

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Class C Disadvantages: Poor Dynamic Range Cannot Support AM Signals Applications: Troposcatter Amplifiers FM Amplifiers EW/ECM Booster Amplifiers Communications Systems TWT Replacements TACAN Systems Radar Systems

Amplifier Distortion If the output of an amplifier is not a complete AC sine wave, then it is distorting the output. The amplifier is non-linear. This distortion can be analysed using Fourier analysis. In Fourier analysis, any distorted periodic waveform can be broken down into frequency components. These components are harmonics of the fundamental frequency. A pure sinusoidal signal has a single frequency at which the voltage varies positive and negative by equal amounts. Any signal varying over less than the full 360 cycle considered to have distortion. An ideal amplifier is capable of amplifying a pure sinusoidal signal to provide a larger version, the resulting waveform being a pure single-frequency sinusoidal signal. When distortion occurs the output will not be an exact duplicate (except for magnitude) of the input signal. Distortion can occur because the device characteristic is not linear, in which case nonlinear or amplitude distortion occurs. This can occur with all classes of amplifier operation. Distortion can also occur because the circuit elements and devices respond to the input signal differently at various frequencies, this being frequency distortion. One technique for describing distorted but period waveforms uses Fourier analysis, a method that describes any periodic waveform in terms of its fundamental frequency component and frequency components at integer multiples-these components are called harmonic components or harmonics. For example, a signal that is originally 1000 Hz could result, after distortion, in a frequency component at 1000Hz (1 kHz) and harmonic components at 2 kHz (2 X 1 kHz), 3 kHz (3 X 1 kHz), 4 kHz (4 X 1 kHz), and so on. The original frequency of 1 kHz is called the fundamental frequency; those at integer multiples are the harmonics. The 2-kHz component is therefore called a second harmonic that at 3 kHz is the third harmonic, and so on. The fundamental frequency is not considered a harmonic. Fourier analysis dose not allow for fractional harmonic frequencies-only integer multiples of the fundamental. Harmonics are integer multiples of a fundamental frequency. If the Fundamental frequency is F kHz: 1st harmonic 1 x F kHz 2nd harmonic 2 x F kHz 3rd harmonic 3 x F kHz

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4th harmonic 4 x F kHz Note that the 1st and 3rd harmonics are called odd harmonics and the 2nd and 4th are called even harmonics. Harmonic Distortion Calculations A signal is considered to have harmonic distortion when there are harmonic frequency components (not just the fundamental component). If the fundamental frequency has an amplitude, A1, and the nth frequency component has an amplitude, An a harmonic distortion can be defined as :

Where A1 is the amplitude of the fundamental frequency an is the amplitude of the highest harmonic. The fundamental component is typically larger than any harmonic component. When an output signal has a number of individual harmonic distortion components, the signal can be seen to have a total harmonic distortion based on the individual elements as combined by the relationship of the following equation: The total harmonic distortion (THD) is determined by:

Where THD is total harmonic distortion.

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2 MARKS: 1. How do you bias the class A operation? In class A mode, the output current flows throughout the entire period of input cycle and the Q point is chosen at the midpoint of AC load line and biased. 2. Define the following modes of operation (a) Class AB (b) Class C. a. Class AB In this mode of operation, the output current flows for more than one half cycle but less than full cycle. b. Class C In this mode, the level current flows for less than one half cycled i.e., th of the input cycle. 3. Define Class B mode of operation and its advantages and disadvantages. Class B mode of operation The Biasing signal and input signal flow through the circuit for half cycle i.e., 180o. Advantages a. Efficiency is increased from 25% to 78.5% b. Due to push pull configuration all even harmonics are reduced. So harmonic distortions are reduced. c. Due to centre-tapped transformer at input and output, the core saturation loss is reduced. Disadvantages a. Transistor is biased above the cut off region b. Due to the centre-tapped transformer at both input and output, the circuit becomes complex 4. State the merits of using push pull configuration. The merits of push pull configurations are, a. Efficiency is high (78.5%) b. Figure of merit is high c. Distortion is less. d. Ripple present in the output due to power supply is multiplied. 5. What are the advantages of using complementary symmetry configuration? The advantages of using complementary symmetry configuration are, a. It does not use centre-tapped transformer either at input or output. b. It uses one PNP transistor and one NPN transistor hence it provides proper impedance matching. Hence its voltage gain is unity. 6. Define conversion efficiency of a power stage. The ratio of the AC output power delivered to the load to DC input power applied is referred to as conversion efficiency. It is also called as collector circuit efficiency in case of transistor amplifier. 7. Write down the values of maximum possible power conversion efficiency for class A direct coupled and transformer coupled. For class A direct coupled = 25% For class A transformer coupled = 50%

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8. What is cross over distortion? In class B mode both transistors are biased at cut off region because the DC bias voltage is zero. So input signal should exceed the barrier voltage to make the transistor conduct. Otherwise the transistor doesnt conduct. So there is a time interval between positive and negative alternations of the input signal when neither transistor is conducting. The resulting distortion in the output signal is cross over distortion. 9. How cross over distortion is eliminated? To avoid cross over distortion, a light forward bias (0.3Vfor ge 0.6V for Si) voltage is applied to the emitter junction of both the transistors. It causes transistor to conduct immediately when the input signal is applied. So Q point is fixed above cut off. 10. What are the drawbacks of the transformer coupled amplifier? The disadvantages of transformer-coupled amplifiers are, a. Transformer are bulky b. Loss is more c. Centre-tapped of transformer is difficult. 11. List the advantages of transformer coupled amplifier. The advantages of transformer coupled amplifier are, a. it is more efficient because the low DC resistance of the primary is connected to the collector circuit. b. It provides excellence impedance matching, thus voltage and power gains are improved. 12. What is the use of transformer coupling in the output stage of multistage amplifier? The transformer coupling provides impedance matching between input and output. As a result the power gain is improved. 13. Define figure of merit. Figure of merit is defined as the ratio of maximum collector current dissipation power to the maximum AC power developed across the load.

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