Blocking oscillator

Basis of solid-state Blocking

oscillator

Blocking oscillator with a few components added. The resistor is required to start the
oscillation.

The waveform generated by this circuit

A blocking oscillator is a simple configuration of discrete electronic components which

can produce a free-running signal, requiring only a resistor, a transformer, and one
amplifying element. The name is derived from the fact that the transistor (or tube) is cut-
off or "blocked" for most of the duty-cycle, producing periodic pulses. The non-
sinusoidal output is not suitable for use as a radio-frequency local oscillator, but it can
serve as a timing generator, to power lights or LEDs, and the simple tones are sufficient
for applications such as alarms or a morse-code practice device. Some cameras use a
blocking oscillator to strobe the flash prior to a shot to reduce the red-eye effect.

When it comes to the components involved in this circuit, specific types of each
component are needed to have it work to its full potential. The transformer is a vital
component. For example, a pulse transformer creates rectangular pulses, which are
characterized by fast rise and fall times with a flat top. There are a seemingly endless
amount of combinations of voltages, transformers, capacitors, transistors and resistors
that can be used to vary and model the circuit.

Due to the circuit's simplicity, it forms the basis for many of the learning projects in
commercial electronic kits. The secondary winding of the transformer can be fed to a
speaker, a lamp, or the windings of a relay. Instead of a resistor, a potentiometer placed in
parallel with the timing capacitor permits the frequency to be adjusted freely, but at low
resistances the transistor can be overdriven, and possibly damaged. The output signal will
jump in amplitude and be greatly distorted.
Circuit operation
The circuit works due to positive feedback through the transformer and involves two
times -- the time Tclosed when the switch is closed, and the time Topen when the switch is
open. The following abbreviations are used in the analysis:

• t, time, a variable
• Tclosed: instant at the end of the closed cycle, beginning of open cycle. Also a
measure of the time duration when the switch is closed.
• Topen: instant at the end of the open cycle, beginning of closed cycle. Same as T=0.
Also a measure of the time duration when the switch is open.
• Vb, source voltage e.g. Vbattery
• Vp, voltage across the primary winding. An ideal switch will present supply
voltage Vb across the primary, so in the ideal case Vp = Vb.
• Vs, voltage across the secondary winding
• Vz, fixed load voltage caused by e.g. by the reverse voltage of a zener diode or the
forward voltage of a light-emitting diode (LED).
• Im, magnetizing current in the primary
• Ipeak,m, maximum or "peak" magnetizing current in the primary. Occurs
immediately before Topen.
• Np, number of primary turns
• Ns, number of secondary turns
• N, the turns ratio defined as Ns/Np, . For an ideal transformer operating under
ideal conditions, Is = Ip/N, Vs = N*Vp.
• Lp, primary (self-)inductance, a value determined by the number of primary turns
Np squared, and an "inductance factor" AL. Self-inductance is often written as Lp
= AL*Np2*10-9 henries. [1]
• R, combined switch and primary resistance
• Up, energy stored in the flux of the magnetic field in the windings, as represented
by the magnetizing current Im.

A more-detailed analysis would require the following:

• M = mutual inductance, its value determined by degree to which the magnetic

field created by the primary couples to (is shared by) the secondary, and vice
versa. coupling. Coupling is never perfect; there is always so-called primary and
secondary "leakage flux". Usually calculated from short-circuit secondary and
short-circuited primary measurements.

• Lp,leak = self-inductance that represents the magnetic field created

by, and coupled to the primary windings only
• Ls,leak = self-inductance that represents the magnetic field created
by, and coupled to the secondary windings only
 • Cwindings = interwinding capacitance. Values exist for the primary turns only, the
secondary turns only, and the primary-to-secondary windings. Usually combined
into a single value.

Operation during Tclosed (time when the switch is closed)

When the switch (transistor, tube) closes it presents the source voltage Vb (e.g. battery
voltage) across the transformer primary. The magnetizing current of the transformer Im
(for low primary and switch resistances) is Im = Vprimary*t/Lp; here t (time) is a variable that
starts at 0. This magnetizing current Im will "ride upon" any reflected secondary current Is
that flows into a secondary load (e.g. into the control terminal of the switch; reflected
secondary current in primary = Is/N). The changing primary current causes a changing
magnetic field ("flux") through the transformer's windings; this changing field induces a
(relatively) steady secondary voltage Vs = N*Vb. In some designs (as shown in the
diagrams) the secondary voltage Vs adds to the source voltage Vb; in this case because the
voltage across the primary (during the time the switch is closed) is approximately Vb, Vs
= (N+1)*Vb. Alternately the switch may get some of its control voltage or current directly
from Vb and the rest from the induced Vs. Thus the switch-control voltage or current is
"in phase" meaning that it keeps the switch closed, and it (via the switch) maintains the
source voltage across the primary.

In the case when there is little or no primary resistance and little or no switch resistance,
the increase of the magnetizing current Im is a "linear ramp" defined by the formula in the
first paragraph. In the case when there is significant primary resistance or switch
resistance or both (total resistance R, e.g. primary-coil resistance plus a resistor in the
emitter, FET channel resitance), the Lp/R time constant causes the magnetizing current to
be a rising curve with continually decreasing slope. In either case the magnetizing current
Im will come to dominate the total primary (and switch) current Ip. Without a limiter it
would increase forever. However, in the first case (low resistance), the switch will
eventually be unable to "support" more current meaning that its effective resistance
increases so much that the voltage drop across the switch equals the supply voltage; in
this condition the switch is said to be "saturated" (e.g. this is determined by a transistor's
gain hfe or "beta"). In the second case (e.g. primary and/or emitter resistance dominant)
the (decreasing) slope of the current decreases to a point such that the induced voltage
into the secondary is no longer adequate to keep the switch closed. In a third case, the
magnetic "core" material saturates, meaning it cannot support further increases in its
magnetic field; in this condition induction from primary to secondary fails. In all cases,
the rate of rise of the primary magnetizing current (and hence the flux), or the rate-of-rise
of the flux directly in the case of saturated core material, drops to zero (or close to zero).
In the first two cases, although primary current continues to flow, it approachs a steady
value equal to the supply voltage Vb divided by the total resistance(s) R in the primary
circuit. In this current-limited condition the transformer's flux will be steady. Only
changing flux causes induction of voltage into the secondary, so a steady flux represents
a failure of induction. The secondary voltage drops to zero. The switch opens.

Operation during Topen (time when the switch is open)

Now that the switch has opened at Topen, the magnetizing current in the primary is Ipeak,m =
Vp*Tclosed/Lp, and the energy Up is stored in this "magnetizing" field as created by Ipeak,m
(energy Um = 1/2*Lp*Ipeak,m2). But now there is no primary voltage (Vb) to sustain further
increases in the magnetic field, or even a steady-state field, the switch being opened and
thereby removing the primary voltage. The magnetic field (flux) begins to collapse, and
the collapse forces energy back into the circuit by inducing current and voltage into the
primary turns, the secondary turns, or both. Induction into the primary will be via the
primary turns through which all the flux passes (represented by primary inductance Lp);
the collapsing flux creates primary voltage that forces current to continue to flow either
out of the primary toward the (now-open) switch or into a primary load such as an LED
or a zener diode, etc. Induction into the secondary will be via the secondary turns through
which the mutual (linked) flux passes; this induction causes voltage to appear at the
secondary, and if this voltage is not blocked (e.g. by a diode or by the very high
impedance of a FET gate), secondary current will flow into the secondary circuit (but in
the opposite direction). In any case, if there are no components to absorb the current, the
voltage at the switch rises very fast. Without a primary load or in the case of very limited
secondary current the voltage will be limited only by the distributed capacitances of the
windings (the so-called interwinding capacitance), and it can destroy the switch. When
only interwinding capacitance and a tiny secondary load is present to absorb the energy,
very high-frequency oscillations occur, and these "parasitic oscillations" represent a
possible source of electromagnetic interference.

The potential of the secondary voltage now flips to negative in the following manner. The
collapsing flux induces primary current to flow out of the primary toward the now-open
switch i.e. to flow in the same direction it was flowing when the switch was closed. For
current to flow out of the switch-end of the primary, the primary voltage at the switch end
must be positive relative to its other end that is at the supply voltage Vb. But this
represents a primary voltage opposite in polarity to what it was during the time when the
switch was closed: during Tclosed, the switch-end of the primary was approximately zero
and therefore negative relative to the supply end; now during Topen it has become positive
relative to Vb.

Because of the transformer's "winding sense" (direction of its windings), the voltage that
appears at the secondary must now be negative. A negative control voltage will maintain
the switch (e.g. NPN bipolar transistor or N-channel FET)open, and this situation will
persist until the energy of the collapsing flux has been absorbed (by something). When
the absorber is in the primary circuit, e.g. a zener diode (or LED) with voltage Vz
connected "backwards" across the primary windings, the current waveshape is a triangle
with the time topen determined by the formula Ip = Ipeak,m - Vz*Topen/Lp, here Ipeak,m being the
primary current at the time the switch opens. When the absorber is a capacitor the voltage
and current waveshapes are a 1/2 cycle sinewave, and if the absorber is a capacitor plus
resistor the waveshapes are a 1/2 cycle damped sinewave.

When at last the energy discharge is complete, the control circuit becomes "unblocked".
Control voltage (or current) to the switch is now free to "flow" into the control input and
close the switch. This is easier to see when a capacitor "commutates" the control voltage
or current; the ringing oscillation carries the control voltage or current from negative
(switch open) through 0 to positive (switch closed).

Repetition rate 1/(Tclosed + Topen)

In the simplest case, the duration of the total cycle (Tclosed + Topen), and hence its repetition
rate (the reciprocal of the cycle duration), is almost wholly dependent on the
transformer's magnetizing inductance Lp, the supply voltage, and the load voltage Vz.
When a capacitor and resistor are used to absorb the energy, the repetition rate is
dependent on the R-C time-constant, or the L-C time constant when R is small or non-
existant (L can be Lp, Ls or Lp,s).