FEEDBACK AMPLIFIERS

By Pragnan Chakravorty Director, CARET

M.Tech (IIT Kharagpur), Member-IEEE(USA), ACM(USA) Member IEEE :Communication. Soc, Microwave Theory and Techniques Soc, Antenna & Wave Propagation. Soc

Clique for Applied Research in Electronic Technology Advaita Corporation

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FEEDBACK AMPLIFIERS
CONTENTS Introduction What can feedback amplifier do which general ones cant? Properties of Negative Feedback Feedback Stages Four Basic Feedback Topologies Stability/Instability Analysis and Problem Solving
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FEEDBACK AMPLIFIERS
Introduction
Xs Source
Differential signal Xd = Xi

+-

Output signal X0=A Xi

Basic Amplifier

Load

Xf = X0 Feedback signal

Feed back Network

When a proportion of output (current/voltage) of an amplifier is fed back into the input (current/voltage) either by subtraction or addition then the amplifier is known as a feedback amplifier
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Negative or degenerative feedback

(Harold Black invented it in1928)

What can feedback amplifier do which general ones cant?

1. Desensitize the gain: The gain becomes less sensitive to the variations in values of circuit components which change with quantities like temperature such as with temp change 2. Reduce nonlinear distortion: Make gain constant, independent of signal level 3. Reduce effect of Noise: Minimize unwanted signals produced at output 4. Control the I/P & O/P impedances. 5. Extend the bandwidth of the amplifier.
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What is the Bargain? (to gain one we loose other)

All desirable properties are at the cost of lesser gain.

A Af = 1 + A

Af < A
greater than 1

Therefore : More desensitizing--------- Lesser gain Reduce nonlinearity-------- Lesser gain Reduce Noise-----------------Lesser gain Control I/P,O/P impedance- Lesser gain Extend bandwidth------------ Lesser gain

Getting five at the cost of one is not a bad idea!!

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Why do we get five advantages?

Did we ever hear of terms like nonlinearity, noise, temperature dependence of gain in passive elements- perhaps NOT. Therefore we try to make the gain Af(with feedback) more dependent on (which is the loop gain dependent entirely on passive elements).
Differential signal Xd = Xi Output signal X0=A Xi

Xs Source

+-

Basic Amplifier

Load

X d = Xs X f = Xi

Xf = X0 Feedback signal

Feed back Network

Af

Xo Xf ;A Xo Xi

A 1 If A 1 then 1 + A
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Xo A = Xs 1 + A

Here comes the dependence only on passive elements

Properties of Negative Feedback

1. Gain Desensitivity The reduction in sensitivity with respect to negative or degenerative feed back is shown by differentiating Af with respect to A keeping constant.

dA f dA f dA 1 dA = = dA (1 + A ) 2 Af (1 + A ) A
Af less sensitive than A by this amount .Therefore this is known as desensitivity factor and is given by:

D = 1 + A

2. Bandwidth Extension Following is the response at high frequency with being the mid band gain and H is upper 3db frequency.

AM

AM A(s) A(s) = where A f (s) 1 + s / H (1 + A(s) ) A M /1 + A m Therefore A f (s) = 1 + s / H (1 + A m )

and = H (1 + A M ) Hf
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Noise Reduction Noise reduction is possible only if a less noisy amplifier precedes a noisy amplifier in the amplifying stage. The Signal to noise ratio is then increased by the amplification factor of the less noisy amplifier.

Vs S = N Vn

A1A 2 A1 = + Vn Vo Vs 1 + A1A 2 1 + A1A 2 Vs S = A2 N Vn

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Reduction in Nonlinear Distortion As Explained earlier that since closed loop gain is dependent more on therefore it is more linear. Nonlinearity doesnt come from passive elements on which (Feedback Network) depends

(b)

(a) Open Loop (b) Closed Loop

A =100; = 0.01

SamplingFeedbackMixing

Feedback Stages

Sampling Network
Shunt Sampler Series Sampler

Mixing Network
Voltage Mixer Current Mixer

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Four Basic Feedback Topologies

Voltage mixingVoltage sampling Series-Shunt Voltage Series

Voltage mixingCurrent sampling Series-Series Current Series

Current mixingCurrent sampling Shunt-Series Current Shunt

Current mixingVoltage sampling Shunt-Shunt Voltage Shunt

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Stability/Instability
A transistor is unstable when sustained oscillations take place which happens with positive feedback (Regenerative) with value of A 1.Note that if value of |A| >1 it seems that the feedback becomes negative or degenerative but it is not the case. The value of A is kept greater than 1 so that with system nonlinearities it eventually comes down equal to one and carry out sustained oscillations. Therefore system is unstable only with positive feedback and |A|>1

A A f + ve if A < 1system stable = 1 A A 1system unstable

Nyquist Criterion If A is plotted in complex plane as a function of frequency (- to + ) and if the contour traced by |A| encloses the point -1+j0 then the system is unstable and it is stable if the curve doesnt enclose -1+j0
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Nyquist Plots
A = Ao
1 + j(f / f H ) f = Ao fH

A + j A

Stable Amplifier

Unstable Amplifier

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Analysis and Problem Solving

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Problems
1.What kind of feedback do these figures show find A, Af and Rof in each case
R2
R1

R2

R1 + -

Op-Amp
Vo
Op-Amp

Vo

Vs
+ Vs

Fig 1

Fig 2

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2.For the circuit shown below, the transistor hfe=50,hie=1.1k and hoe=hre=0. Find (i) Avf (ii) Rif (UPTU 2003-2004)
Vcc

4k 40k

10k

Vo
+ Vs

Rif

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