Using a BJT as a Switch: An Example

Suppose we had a lamp that we wanted to turn on and off with a switch. Such a circuit would be
extremely simple, as in the figure below (a).
For the sake of illustration, let’s insert a transistor in place of the switch to show how it can control the
flow of electrons through the lamp. Remember that the controlled current through a transistor must go
between collector and emitter.
Since it is the current through the lamp that we want to control, we must position the collector and
emitter of our transistor where the two contacts of the switch were. We must also make sure that the
lamp’s current will move against the direction of the emitter arrow symbol to ensure that the transistor’s
junction bias will be correct as in the figure below (b).

(a) mechanical switch, (b) NPN transistor switch, (c) PNP transistor switch.

A PNP transistor could also have been chosen for the job. Its application is shown in the
figure above (c).
The choice between NPN and PNP is really arbitrary. All that matters is that the proper current
directions are maintained for the sake of correct junction biasing (electron flow going against the
transistor symbol’s arrow).
Going back to the NPN transistor in our example circuit, we are faced with the need to add something
more so that we can have base current. Without a connection to the base wire of the transistor, base
current will be zero, and the transistor cannot turn on, resulting in a lamp that is always off. Remember
that for an NPN transistor, base current must consist of electrons flowing from emitter to base (against
the emitter arrow symbol, just like the lamp current).
Perhaps the simplest thing to do would be to connect a switch between the base and collector wires of
the transistor as in the figure below (a).

Transistor: (a) cutoff, lamp off; (b) saturated, lamp on.

IC's can be classified as:

i) Analog IC

ii) Digital IC

Analog IC's operate with analog signals. The output of this IC can be any wave such as Sine, Cosine,
Triangle, Square, Rectangle. IC 741 (OPAMP) is a good example.

The various characteristics of analog IC's are:

1. Input Offset Voltage

Input offset voltage is the voltage that is applied between the two input terminals of the op-amp to null
the output.

2. Input Offset Current

Input Offset Current is the algebraic difference between the currents into the inverting and non-inverting
terminals.

Input Offset Current, Iio = |Ib1 – Ib2|

Ib1 – Non-inverting input current

Ib2 – Inverting input current

3. Input Bis Current

Input bias current is the average value of the inverting and non-inverting current.

Input Bias Current, Ib = (Ib1 + Ib2)/2

4. Differential Input Resistance

Differential Input Resistance is the equivalent resistance that is measured from any one of the input
terminals by keeping the other terminal connected to ground.

5. Input Capacitance

Input Capacitance is the equivalent capacitance that us measured from any one of the input terminals by
keeping the other terminal connected to ground.

6. Input Voltage Range

7. Common Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR)

CMRR is the ratio of the differential voltage gain to the common mode voltage gain.

CMRR = Differential Voltage Gain (Ad)/ Common Mode Voltage Gain (Acm)

8.Supply Voltage Rejection Ratio (SVRR)

The change in the op-amp’s offset voltage caused by variations in supply voltage is called SVRR. The
change in supply voltage can be denoted by dV and the corresponding change in input offset voltage can
be denoted by dVio.

SVRR = Change in input offset voltage (dVio) / Change in supply voltage (dV)

9. Large Signal Voltage Gain

Large signal voltage gain is the ratio between the output voltage and the voltage difference between the
two input terminals.

Voltage Gain, A = Output Voltage (Vo)/ Differential output voltage (Vid)

10.Slew Rate (SR)

Slew Rate is one of the most important

parameters for selecting op-amps for high frequencies. SR is the maximum
rate of change of output voltage per unit of time and is expressed in
volts per microseconds.

Slew Rate, SR = dVo/dt

Digital IC:

Digital IC's operate with digital signals. The output of these kind of IC's will be either ON or OFF. The
Various parameters of Digital IC's are:

1. Fan-out:

Fan out specifies the number of standard loads that the output of the gate can drive without impairment
of its normal operation

2. power dissipation:

Power dissipation is measure of power consumed by the gate when fully driven by all its inputs.

3. propagation delay:

Propagation delay is the average transition delay time for the signal to propagate from input to output
when the signals change in value. It is expressed in ns.

4. Noise margin:

It is the maximum noise voltage added to an input signal of a digital circuit that does not cause an
undesirable change in the circuit output. It is expressed in
volts.
5. Fan in:

Fan in is the number of inputs connected to the gate without any degradation in the voltage level.

6. Operating temperature:

All the gates or semiconductor devices are temperature sensitive in nature.The temperature in which the
performance of the IC is effective is called as operating temperature

Mainly there are two steps for the analog to digital conversion:

1. S/H: Sampling and holding

2. Q/E: Quantizing and Encoding
The ADC process is shown in figure below:

ADC process
Sampling and Holding
An analog signal continuously changes with time, in order to measure the signal we have to keep it steady for a
short duration so that it can be sampled. We could measure the signal repeatedly and very fast, and then find
out the right time scale. or we could measure the signal at different timings and then average it. Or preferably
we can hold the signal for a specific duration and then digitize the signal and sample the value. This is done by
a sample and hold circuit. For, at least the time required for digitization, it keeps the value stable. Figure
shows the circuit for sampling and holding of a signal.
 Sampling and holding circuit
We keep the switch normally open, and when we want to find a measurement, we close the switch
momentarily.

Quantizing and Encoding

On the output of (S/H), a certain voltage level is present. We assign a numerical value to it. The nearest value,
in correspondence with the amplitude of sampling and holding signal, is searched. And this value cannot be
just any value, it should be from a limited set of possible values. It depends on the range of the quantizer and
the range in given in a power of 2 i,e 2n (28 = 256, 210=1024 etc).
After identifying the closest value, a numerical value is assigned to it and it is encoded in the form of a binary
number. The binary encoded numbers generated by quantizer are represented by ‘n’ bits. The resolution of an
ADC can also be denoted by ‘n’ bit.The figure shows the whole conversion process:

Sampling, Holding and Quantizing

The values achieved after the quantization and encoding process cannot be said to be thoroughly accurate.
These are only the approximations of the real world values. The accuracy of the quantizer highly depends on
the resolution of the qunatizer, greater the resolution, more accurate the values will be.The ADC resolution is
limited by a number of constraints, out of which, time is a major issue. If the set of possible values, from
which the closest value is to be searched, is greater, then it will surely take more time. But to accelerate this
process, more techniques have been developed.

The following table shows the performance of different ‘n’ bit ADCs. If the number of bits is greater, then the
frequency is lesser and time consumed is also greater. On the other hand, the error minimizes as the number of
bits is increased. The maximum sampling rates have also been indicated in the table.

ADC steps
TYPES OF ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERETRS
The most common types of analog to digital converters available are:

1. Flash Analog to Digital converter.

2. Dual slope Analog to Digital converter.
3. Successive Approximation Analog to Digital Converter.

Weighted resistor type dac from book page 920

What are A/D and D/A converters?
D/A Converters
D/A converters convert digital signals into analog format.

Digital Data:

Evenly spaced discontinuous values

Temporally discrete, quantitatively discrete

Analog Data (Natural Phenomena):

Continuous range of values

Temporally continuous, quantitatively continuous

A/D Converters
An A/D converter is a device that converts analog signals (usually voltage) obtained from environmental (physical)
phenomena into digital format

Conversion involves a series of steps, including sampling, quantization, and coding.

A/D and D/A Requirements

Electrically sophisticated and high-speed processing are performed digitally in CPUs and DSPs.

Natural phenomena are converted to digital signals using an A/D converter for digital signal processing, then
converted back to analog signals via a D/A converter.

Advancements in Microfabrication Technology→Signal Processing Digitization

→A/D and D/A Converters Required

A/D Converter Applications

Digital Audio:

Digital audio workstations, sound recording, pulse-code modulation

 Digital signal processing:

TV tuner cards, microcontrollers, digital storage oscilloscopes

Scientific instruments:

Digital imaging systems, radar systems, temperature sensors

D/A Converter Applications

Digital Audio：

CD, MD, 1-bit Audio

Digital Video：

DVD, Digital Still Camera

Communication Equipment：

Smartphones, FAX, ADSl equipment

PCs：

Audio, video cards

Measurement instruments：

Programmable power supplies, etc.

Basic Operation of a D/A Converter

A D/A converter takes a precise number (most commonly a fixed-point binary number) and converts it into a
physical quantity (example: voltage or pressure). D/A converters are often used to convert finite-precision time
series data to a continually varying physical signal.

An ideal D/A converter takes abstract numbers from a sequence of impulses that are then processed by using a
form of interpolation to fill in data between impulses. A conventional D/A converter puts the numbers into a
piecewise constant function made up of a sequence of rectangular functions that is modeled with the zero-order
hold.

A D/A converter reconstructs original signals so that its bandwidth meets certain requirements. With digital
sampling comes quantization errors that create low-level noise which gets added to the reconstructed signal. The
minimum analog signal amplitude that can bring about a change in the digital signal is called the Least Significant
Bit (LSB), while the (rounding) error that occurs between the analog and digital signals is referred to as
quantization error

Parallel comparator type of a to d converter from book page : 930

Successive Approximation type ADC is the most widely used and popular ADC method. The conversion
time is maintained constant in successive approximation type ADC, and is proportional to the number of
bits in the digitaloutput, unlike the counter and continuous type A/D converters. The basic principle of this
type of A/D converter is that the unknown analog input voltage is approximated against an n-bit digital
value by trying one bit at a time, beginning with the MSB. The principle of successive approximation
process for a 4-bit conversion is explained here. This type of ADC operates by successively dividing the
voltage range by half, as explained in the following steps.
(1) The MSB is initially set to 1 with the remaining three bits set as 000. The digital equivalent voltage is
compared with the unknown analog input voltage.
(2) If the analog input voltage is higher than the digital equivalent voltage, the MSB is retained as 1 and
the second MSB is set to 1. Otherwise, the MSB is set to 0 and the second MSB is set to 1. Comparison
is made as given in step (1) to decide whether to retain or reset the second MSB.
The above steps are more accurately illustrated with the help of an example.
Let us assume that the 4-bit ADC is used and the analog input voltage is VA = 11 V. when the conversion
starts, the MSB bit is set to 1.
Now VA = 11V > VD = 8V = [1000]2
Since the unknown analog input voltage VA is higher than the equivalent digital voltage VD, as discussed
in step (2), the MSB is retained as 1 and the next MSB bit is set to 1 as follows
VD = 12V = [1100]2

Now VA = 11V < VD = 12V = [1100]2

Here now, the unknown analog input voltage VA is lower than the equivalent digital voltage VD. As
discussed in step (2), the second MSB is set to 0 and next MSB set to 1 as
VD = 10V = [1010]2

Now again VA = 11V > VD = 10V = [1010]2

Again as discussed in step (2) VA>VD, hence the third MSB is retained to 1 and the last bit is set to 1.
The new code word is
VD = 11V = [1011]2
Now finally VA = VD , and the conversion stops.
The functional block diagram of successive approximation type of ADC is shown below.

It consists of a successive approximation register (SAR), DAC and comparator. The output of SAR is
given to n-bit DAC. The equivalent analog output voltage of DAC, VD is applied to the non-inverting input
of the comparator. The second input to the comparator is the unknown analog input voltage VA. The
output of the comparator is used to activate the successive approximation logic of SAR.
When the start command is applied, the SAR sets the MSB to logic 1 and other bits are made logic 0, so
that the trial code becomes 1000.

Advantages:
1 Conversion time is very small.
2 Conversion time is constant and independent of the amplitude of the analog input signal VA.
Disadvantages:
1 Circuit is complex.
2 The conversion time is more compared to flash type ADC.