Integrator and differentiator.

Integtators and differentiators are used for dynamic signal conversion. They are based on the
structure of the inverting amplifier. If resistors R1 and R2 are replaced with impedances Z1 and
Z2, then the transfer function of the circuit is:

Z 2 U OUT (s )
K (s ) = − =
Z 1 U IN (s )
1
If Z1 = R and Z2 = see the figure)
sC

then

1 1
k (s) = − =−
sRC sT

where T=RC is the time constant of integration.

In the time domain this can be rewritten as:

t
U OUT (t ) = − U IN (t )dt +U OUT (0)
1
RC ∫0

where Uout(0) is a possible initial voltage across the capacitor.

When we apply a square wave to the input of the integrator, the resistor R acts as a voltage –
to current converter (its right terminal is at virtual ground)
U E
I = IN = ±
R R

This current flows through the

capacitor and the rate of change of
voltage is:
dU C I E
= =± U OUT = −U C
dt C RC
The frequency response of the ideal integrator for a
sine wave input is shown in the following figure.

The magnitude of the transfer function is

K ( jω ) =
1
ωT

and the phase shift between the output and the input
is –90o.

At low frequencies the gain of the ideal integrator tends to infinity, while in real circuits it
cannot exceed the open-loop gain Kd0. Apart from this, the offset voltage and the bias current
of the inverting input cause a small current flowing through the capacitor. With large values
of Dc gain these two components cause the output to ramp up or down, even when no signal
is applied to the input, until it reaches the saturation level. In practical integrators this is
avoided by placing a resistor RF in parallel with the capacitor, which reduces the DC gain.
The practical circuit is shown below and the integration now only occurs at frequencies such
that:

1
ω >ωC =
RF C

(see the figure above)

It is worth mentioning that the practical integrator is, in fact, the first – order low – pass filter.

The differentiator is obtained when Z1=1/sC and Z2=R as shown in the following figure.
The transfer function of the ideal differentiator is:

U OUT (s ) Z
K (s ) = = − 2 = − sRC = − sT
U IN (s ) Z1
In the time domain:
dU IN
U OUT (t ) = − RC
dt

and the frequency response is:

K ( jω ) = − jωRC
⎛Π⎞
K ( jω ) = ωRC ϕ (ω ) = +90 o ⎜⎟
⎝2⎠

The Bode plot for an ideal differentiator has a

constant slope of +20dB/decade, which is
unrealistic because for a real circuit the gain
cannot exceed the open-loop gain as shown in
the figure.

Apart from this, the gain increasing with frequency makes the circuit more sensitive to high –
frequency noise and may result in oscillation (instability).

To prevent this problem, in a practical differentiator another resistor is added, as shown in the
figure below, which reduces the gain at high frequencies.

Now the differentiation only occurs at the frequencies:

as shown in the figure above.

1
ω <ωC =
R1C
Voltage controlled current source

In simple transistor current sources that we discussed earlier the output current is dependent
on the base – emitter forward voltage drop. This effect can be minimized by using an
operational amplifier as shown in the figure.

When the input voltage is near zero, the transistor

does not conduct and the loop is open. The transistor
starts to conduct at

U BEF
U IN =
Kd

and then the loop becomes closed thanks to which the input differential voltage of the
operational amplifier is kept closed to zero. As a result:

U IN
I L = IC ≅ I E =
R

Comparator

One of the simplest applications for the operational amplifier is one which uses the very large
value of open – loop gain to detect when a signal is above or bellow a present level. With no
feedback a very small (e.g. tens of µV) input differential voltage is sufficient to cause the
output of the operational amplifier to saturate at +Usat or – Usat. the basis comparator circuit is
shown below and its operation is illustrated in the following figure.
In order to optimize the performance of the comparator special IC comparators are usually
used rather than typical operational amplifiers.
One of the problems with the simple comparator shown is the effect of electrical noise which
may be combined with the input signal. This is illustrated in the following figure.

Because of the noise the output is switched several times

before the signal is sufficiently above or below UREF for the
noise to have no effect. If the comparator is used to control a
digital circuit, this repeated switching may result in supplying
incorrect data to the digital circuit.

Schmitt trigger

The ineanten triggering of the output of the comparator can be prevented with a Schmitt
trigger. The circuit is shown below.

The Schmitt trigger is very similar in apperance to the non – inverting amplifier, but note that
the input is applied to the inverting input and the feedback is applied to the non – inverting
input (i.e. feedback is positive).
When a large negative voltage is applied to the input, the operational amplifier is saturated at
+USAT (which is slightly less than the supply voltage). The voltage at the non – inverting input

is:

R1
U T 1 = +U SAT
R1 + R2

the input differential voltage UD=UT – UIN is positive and it keeps the amplifier in saturation.
 This situation does not change as long as UIN < UT1. When UIN becomes slightly greater than
UT1, UD will become negative and the operational amplifier will switch to –USAT. This change
of the output voltage is immediately transferred to the non – inverting input:

R1
U T 2 = −U SAT
R1 + R2

UD decreases and the operational amplifier is kept at -USAT. To make the operational amplifier
switch back to +USAT the input voltage must drop below UT2 (UD becomes positive). The
relationship between the output and the input voltage of the Schmitt trigger is shown below.

Thus, the switching of the Schmitt trigger occurs

at different voltages UT1 and UT2. The difference
between these two values is known as the
hysteresis UH:

R1
U =U −U = 2U
R1 + R
H T 1 T 2 SAT
2

The amount of histeresis is controlled by the potential divider and can be selected to avoid
false triggering caused by electrical noise.
A reference voltage may be applied to the lower end of the potential divider, as shown in the
figure below.

In this case the threshold voltages become:

R2 R1 R2 R1
U T 1 = U REF + U SAT U T 2 = U REF − U SAT
R1 + R 2 R1 + R 2 R1 + R 2 R1 + R 2

The amount of hysterisis does not change, but the characteristic is offset by,

R 2
U
R 1 + R
REF
2

as in the figure above.

SINE WAVE OSCILLATORS

An important requirement for many electronic circuits is the generation of a waveform of

some sort. For analogue circuits this may be a sine wave, while for digital circuits it is likely
to be a square wave or rectangular pulses. A signal generator is an example of a test
instrument which is used to produce waveforms to test electronic circuits, and where controls
are provided to change the frequency, amplitude and shape of the waveform. Accuracy and
stability are important features for the waveforms produced by a signal generator, where the
waveform may be used to calibrate external circuits.

a common method of producing sine waves is to use positive feedback and a frequency
selective network. Sine waves can also be created from triangular waves by passing them
through a shaping circuit which usually consists of diodes and resistors. This method is often
very convenient as single Ics are available that produce square waves, triangular waves and
sine waves at the same time. However, for may applications the sine waves produced by such
ICs are not sufficiently free from distortion and harmonics and the available frequency range
may be too low. For these applications feedback oscillators are used.

For the audio frequency range, up to several hundreds of kHz, sine waves can be generated
with RC selective networks, such as a Wien bridge circuit or phase – shift oscillator, but for
frequencies starting from hundreds of kHz up to hundreds of MHz it is usual to use an LC
circuit, such as the Colpitts and Hartley. For very accurate and stable frequency generation a
piezoelectric crystal may be used in the feedback loop of a suitable amplifier.

The basic idea of feedback oscillators is shown in the figure below.

The output from the amplifier is fed back to the input through a feedback network and , with
positive feedback, the phase of the returned signal is the same as the original signal at the
input. If the feedback network is frequency selective then this phase condition only exists for
one frequency and a self – sustained generation of this frequency may take place in the circuit.

If the loop gain kβ is unity then the voltage feedback is equal to Uin and a steady – state
condition is reached where the oscillation is sustained. When the loop gain becomes kβ < 1
the amplitude of oscillation decreases and finally the oscillation is stopped. On the contrary, if
kβ > 1, the amplitude of oscillation increases.
Thus the conditions for oscillation are:
1. The condition gain:

kβ =1 (K ( jω )= K e jϕk
,β ( jω ) = β e jϕβ )
The gain around the loop must be unity.

2.The condition for phase:

ϕk +ϕβ = 0 (2 kΠ )
where φK and φB are the phase shifts introduced by the amplifier and the feedback network,
respectively, for the required frequency of oscillation.
The phase shift around the loop must be zero.

However, to start the oscillation when power is applied to the circuit, |kβ| must be initially
greater than unity. Then from the wide band noise, which is present in each electronic circuit,
only this component whose frequency satisfies the phase condition is amplified and the
amplitude of oscillation increases, until it is limited by non – linear effects in the amplifier or
by an amplitude control circuit (|kβ| becomes unity).

Wien Bridge oscillator

The Wien bridge oscillator is a very popular RC oscillator. It is generally used for frequencies
of less then 1MHz. The frequency – selective network is formed from a resistor – capacitor
network which was described earlier and is shown in the following figure.

The transfer function of this network is :

1
R2
jω C 2
1 R2
R2 +
U OUT ( j ω ) jω C 2 1 + jω R 2C 2
β ( j ω )= = =
U IN ( j ω ) R + 1 + 1 1 + j ω R1C 1
+
R2
jω C1 jω C 2 jω C 1 1 + jω R 2C 2
1

jω C 1 R 2 jω R 2C1
= =
(1 + j ω R1C 1 )(1 + j ω R 2 C 2 ) + j ω R 2 C 1 1 − ω R1C 1 R 2 C 2 + j ω (R1C 1 + R 2 C 2 + R 2 C 1 )
2
The complete basic circuit for the Wien bridge oscillator is shown below (in most practical
realizations R1=R2=R C1=C2=C).

The amplifier is a non – inverting amplifier, so to satisfy the phase condition for oscillation
the phase angle of β must be zero. This can be achieved by ensuring that the real part of the
denominator in the expression for β is zero, that is:
1
1−ω 2 R2C 2 = 0 fr =
2ΠRC

and then:
jωRC 1
β ( jω r ) = = = β max
jω ⋅ 3RC 3

The gain of the amplifier is:

R2
k =1+
R1

and it must be 3 so:

R 2 = 2 R 1

R2=2R1

This condition for the gain will sustain the oscillation, but is not sufficient to start the process.
There are a number of different approaches to ensuring that the gain is greater than 3 initially
and then reduces to 3 when the oscillation has started. One simple approach a tungsten lamp
used as R1. The value of R1 is chosen so that when the lamp is cold the gain is greater than 3.
As the oscillation starts the output level rises and an alternating current flows in the lamp. Its
temperature rises, which causes the lamp resistance to rise and to reduce the gain. When the
gain is less than 3 the amplitude of oscillation begins to fall and the current through the lamp
falls. This causes the resistance to fall and increases the gain. A balance is reached for which
kβ = 1.
In other approaches a thermistor (NTC) is used as R2 or FET is used as a variable resistance
R1. (driven by the rectified and filtered output voltage).

To control the frequency of oscillation various capacitors are attached to a switch to provide
different frequency ranges (e.g. in decade steps from 10Hz to 1MHz) and two coupled
potentiometers are used to provide variation within each frequency range.

LC oscillators
 LC oscillators are suitable for frequencies from hundreds of kHz to hundreds of MHz.
Because these frequencies are far in excess of the operating frequency of general purpose
operational amplifiers. LC oscillators use discrete bipolar transistors and FETs.
The general structure of LC oscillators may be based on the circuit shown below (the biasing
components are missing foe simplicity)

Xbc, Xbe, Xce are reactive components

The gain of the amplifier is:

Ube ( jω )
β ( jω ) =
X be
=
Uce ( jω ) X be + X bc

and the transfer function of the feedback network is:

U ce ( j ω )
k u ( jω )= = −gmZL
U be ( j ω )

(the input resistance of the transistor is assumed to be large).

The load admittance for the amplifier is:
1 1 X be
YL = = GL + j +j
ZL X CE X be + X bc

so the complex condition for oscillation becomes:

1 X be
− gm ⋅ =1
⎛ 1 1 ⎞ X be + X bc
G L + j ⎜⎜ + ⎟⎟
⎝ X ce X be + X bc ⎠

The right side of this equation is a real number, so the imaginary part of the left side must
disappear too:

1 1
+ =0
X ce X be + X bc

Finally, the conditions for oscillation become:

Xbc + Xbe + Xce = 0 phase condition
gain condition
 gm X be
− ⋅ =1
GL X be + X bc

Colpitts oscillator

A practical circuit for the Colpitts oscillator is shown in the following figure.

The inductor LC is a radio frequency choke. It provides

DC bias for the collector but has a large impedance for
the frequency of oscillation.

The coupling capacitor CS prevents the base from being

shorted with the collector through L for DC.

Referring back to the general structure we get:

1 1
Xbe =− Xbc =ωL Xce =−
ωC1 ωC2
Substituting these reactances to the conditions for oscillation (previously derived) we obtained
the frequency of possible oscillation:
1
ω0 =
CC
L 1 2
C1 + C 2

and the gain of the amplifier that ensures sustained oscillation:

gm C1
ku0 = =
GL C2

where GL is the load resistance for the transistor.

To ensure starting conditions the initial gain of the amplifier should be greater.
Hartley oscillator

In the Hartley oscillator there are two inductors and one capacitor, as shown in the figure.
1
Xbe =ωL1 Xbc =− Xce =ωL2
ωC

Using the same conditions for oscillation as previously we obtain:

1 g L
ω0 = ku 0 = m = 2
(L1 + L2 )C G L L1

Meissner oscillator

The Meissner oscillator has a different structure. It uses a parallel resonant circuit as the
collector load, which is transformer – coupled with the input of the amplifier. A practical
circuit is shown below.

For the resonant frequency of the tank circuit:

1
ω 0 =
L 1C

which is the frequency of oscillation, the gain of the amplifier is:

U ds
ku 0 = − g m RL =
U gs
If there is a strong coupling between both windings of the transformer (k≈1), the feedback
ratio is:

U Z
β = gs
= − 2

U ds Z 1

and the condition for gain becomes:

Z1
ku0 =gmRL =
Z2

Crystal-controlled oscillators

The components which determine the frequency of oscillation vary in time and with
temperature. Apart from this, a more detailed analysis shows that this frequency depends also
on the transistor parameters. These are dependent on the DC operating point, which varies
when the supply voltage is changed. This means that the frequency of oscillation may vary
within some range and for simple oscillators the frequency stability ∆f/f0 is typically 10-3 –
10-4.
The most accurate and stable oscillators use piezoelectric crystals in place of an LC circuit.
The piezoelectric effect is found in quartz and certain ceramic materials. Quartz is the
material most commonly used for very stable oscillators.

The piezoelectric effect is an electromechanical process where the application of an

alternating voltage creates a mechanical stress in the material, which causes the material to
vibrate. The crystal has a natural mechanical resonant frequency are greatest when the applied
electrical signal corresponds to this mechanical resonant frequency.
The frequency of vibration of the crystal is inversely proportional to its thickness, and there
are mechanical limits to how thin a crystal can be cut and polished. Crystals can be
manufactured to have fundamental frequencies from a few kHz up to about 10MHz. Higher
frequencies can obtained by operating the crystal in overtone mode, which produces multiples
of the fundamental.

A crystal consists of a thin plate of quartz, a few millimeters in diameter, with metal
electrodes on opposite faces. Wires are attached to the metal electrodes and it is scaled in a
metal case.

The equivalent circuit for the crystal is based on an RLC circuit as shown in the figure below.

Cm is the capacitance between the electrodes, LS represents the inertia of the

crystal, CS corresponds to its compliance and RS represents the loss in the
material.
The reactance of the quartz is dependent on frequency as shown below.

fs is the series resonant frequency:

1
fS =
2Π LS CS

and the parallel resonant frequency is slightly higher:

1 CS
fp = = f S 1+ CS << Cm
CC Cm
2Π Ls S m
CS + Cm

Between fs and fp the reactance is positive and the crystal acts as a large inductive element. It
can replace, for example, the inductor in a Copitts oscillator, as shown in the figure.

The frequency of oscillation will lie somewhere between

fs and fp.

If, fp for example, a quartz crystal has the following

parameters:
L =0.5H, Cs = 0.022pF, Cm= 0.55pF Rs= 150 Ω

the series resonant frequency is:

1
fS = =1.517MHz
2Π LSCS
 1
fp = = 1.521MHz
C C
2Π LS S m
CS + Cm

and the parallel resonant frequency is:

NON SINUSOIDAL WAVEFORM GENERATOR

Square or rectangular waves are usually obtained by changing and discharging of a capacitor.
This form of generation creates an exponential or triangular waveform, which can be used to
switch a comparator to generate a square wave. Generators based on the charging action of a
capacitor are referred to as relaxation oscillators.

A very simple form of relaxation oscillator can be

produced by charging a capacitor from a resistor or
current source, and then discharging it rapidly when it
reaches some preset value, as shown in he figure.

An approximately saw – tooth wave is created across the capacitor.

In the past negative resistance devices were used to make self – oscillating relaxation
oscillators based on this principle.

Astable multivibrator

The figure below shows a relaxation oscillator based on the same RC charging circuit, but
with the addition of an operational amplifier, which is connected as a Schmitt trigger, to
reverse the voltage applied to the capacitor at some preset threshold.
When the supply voltage is applied and the capacitor is discharged, the inverting input is at
ground potential. Any voltage that appears at the output , due to noise or offset, is fed back
through the divider R1R2 to the non – inverting input (positivve feedback) until the
operational amplifier saturates at either +USAT or –USAT. Let us start the analysis of the
operation, which is illustrated graphically in the following figures, assuming that UOUT
=+USAT.

With the operational amplifier saturated at +USAT the

voltage across the capacitor rises exponentially with the
time constant RC and tends to +USAT. Meanwhile, the input
differential voltage decreases. When UN becomes slightly
greater then UP

R2
Up = USAT=βUSAT
R1 +R2

the operational amplifier is switched over. The rapid fall of

UOUT is fed back to the non – inverting input and this
boosts the switching until the operational amplifier becomes
saturated at – USAT. Then the capacitor is charged towards –
USAT until its voltage becomes equal to the voltage at the
non – inverting input:

Up =−βUSAT

The operational amplifier is switched back to +USAT and this process is periodically repeated,
with the voltage across the capacitor having an approximately triangular appearance, while
the output voltage is a square wave, with maximum and minimum values of ±USAT.
In order to determine the frequency of the square wave it is necessary to consider the voltage
across the capacitor. The equation for the positive – going segment of the capacitor voltage
versus time curve is:
⎛ − RC
t
⎞
UN =−βUSAT +(βUSAT +USAT)⎜1−e ⎟
⎜
⎟
⎝ ⎠

For the negative – going segment we get:This segment ends when UN=+βUSAT and:

⎛ −
t2
⎞
βU SAT = − βU SAT +U SAT (1+ β )⎜1− e RC ⎟
⎜ ⎟
⎝ ⎠
1+ β
t2 = RCln
1− β
For the negative – going segment we get:
⎛ −
t
⎞ ⎛ t
− 1 ⎞
U N = βU SAT + (βU SAT +U SAT )⎜⎜1− e RC ⎟ − βU SAT = βU SAT −U SAT (1+ β )⎜1− e RC
⎟ ⎜
⎟
⎟
⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ⎠

1+ β
t1 = RC ln = t2
1− β

1
f=
T

Then the period of oscillation is the sum of t1 and t2,is:

1+β
T =t1 +t2 =2RCln
1−β
The frequency of oscillation is the reciprocal of the period:

The circuit described above produces a square wave (t1=t2).An asymmetric waveform (t1≠t2)
may be obtained with the circuit shown below.

The addition of the diode permits two different time constants and R’ and R’’ are in parallel ,

R'R''
τ2 = C
R'+R''
When the output is negative the diode is reverse biased and the capacitor charges through R’
alone.

τ1 =R'C>τ2
thus the two time constants are different and the output is a rectangular wave.

The 555 timer

The astable multivibrator is so widely used in electronic circuits as waveform generator that a
special purpose IC has been designed – the 555 timer (and its successors). A simplified
schematic of the internal design of the IC is shown below.

The circuit comprises two comparators witch monitor the voltage across an external capacitor
and an RS flip-flop. The transistor acts as a switch to discharge the external capacitor. The
potential divider establishes the voltage levels for the comparators. With equal resistors the
supply voltage is divided in to three with UCC/3 applied to comparator C2 and 2UCC/3 applied
to comparator C1.
An example of the 555 timer connected as an astable multivibrator and its waveforms are
shown below.
After the initial cycle the voltage across the capacitor varies between UCC/3 and 2UCC/3.
_
During the charging cycle (Q is low, T is off) we get:
τ 1 = ( R 1 + R 2 )C
⎛ −
t
⎞
U C (t ) = 1 U CC
2
+ U CC
⎜1 − e τ1
⎜
⎟
⎟
3 3 ⎝ ⎠

C (t 1 ) =
2
U U CC
3
t 1 = τ 1 ln 2 ≅ 0 . 69 ( R 1 + R 2 )C
_
During the discharging process (Q is high, T is on) we get:
τ 2 = R2C
t
−
U C (t ) = U CC e τ 2
2
3
U C (t2 ) = U CC
1
3
t2 =τ 2 ln 2 ≅ 0.69R2C

The total period for the output waveform is the sum of t1 and t2:

T = t1 + t2 = (R1+2R2)C

and the frequency is the reciprocal of this value.

The duty cycle is defined as the ratio of the time when the output is high (t1) to the period, that
is:
t R +R
d= 1 ⋅100%= 1 2 ⋅100%
t1 +t2 R1 +2R2

It is worth mentioning that an oscillator made with the 555 maintains good frequency
stability (about 1%) with supply voltage variations because both thresholds (UCC/3 and
2UCC/3) track the supply fluctuations.

Triangular wave generator

In the astable multivibrator presented previously the output voltage of the operational
amplifier is integrated in the simplest RC integrator to produce a voltage waveform across the
capacitor which is approximately triangular. A true triangular wave could be generated if the
capacitor were charged and discharged through a constant current source, for example by
using an active integrator. A circuit that makes use of this approach is shown in the following
figure.
 R2 R1
U D =U 2 ± U SAT =0
R1 + R2 R1 + R2
R1
UT = ± U SAT
R2

The amplifier A1 is connected as a “non – inverting” Schmitt trigger with the output U2 of the
integrator applied to its input. The switching of the Schmitt trigger occurs wen its input
differential voltage crosses zero. the voltage U1 can only assume two values +USAT or -USAT ,
so the thresholds can be obtained from the equation:

The characteristic of the Schmitt trigger is shown in the following figure.

When the supply voltage is applied to the circuit and the capacitor is discharged, U2 is zero
and the output of A1 becomes either +USAT or –USAT.
If U2 is +USAT , U1 varies linearly in the negative direction with the slope

dU2 USAT
=−
dt RC

until it reaches the lower threshold -UT . The Schmitt trigger is rapidly switched to -USAT and
U2 starts to rise with the slope

dU 2 U
= + SAT
dt RC

until it reaches the upper threshold +UT . Then A1 switches to +USAT and the process is
periodically repeated. The waveforms that illustrate the operation of this generator are shown
in the following figure.
Over half a period the change of U2 for its both positive – going and negative – going
segment is:
U SAT T R
⋅ = 2 1 U SAT
RC 2 R2

The period of the generated waveform is:

R
T = 4RC 1
R2

and the frequency is the reciprocal of the period.

Note that the frequency is independent of the saturation voltage USAT. The frequency of
oscillation is usually controlled by varying either R or the ratio R1/R2 as illustrated in the
figure below.

Obviously the first method is more convenient because the amplitude of oscillation is kept
constant.

The circuit described above generates a square wave and a triangular wave. With a wave –
shaping circuit which is usually a diode – resistor network , it is possible also to generate a
sine wave. This type of circuit, whose general structure is shown below forms the basis for
many low – cost IC function generators.