Electronic amplifier

An electronic amplifier is a device for increasing the power of a signal. It does this by taking energy from a power supply and controlling the output to match the input signal shape but with a larger amplitude. In this sense, an amplifier may be considered as modulating the output of the power supply.

A practical amplifier circuit

Contents

Types of amplifier

Amplifiers can be specified according to their input and output properties.[1] They have some kind of gain, or multiplication factor relating the magnitude of the output signal to the input signal. The gain may be specified as the ratio of output voltage to input voltage (voltage gain), output power to input power (power gain), or some combination of current, voltage and power. In many cases, with input and output in the same units, gain will be unitless (although often expressed in decibels); for others this is not necessarily so. For example, a transconductance amplifier has a gain with units of conductance (output current per input voltage). The power gain of an amplifier depends on the source and load impedances used as well as its voltage gain; while an RF amplifier may have its impedances optimized for power transfer, audio and instrumentation amplifiers are normally employed with amplifier input and output impedances optimized for least loading and highest quality. So an amplifier that is said to have a gain of 20 dB might have a voltage gain of ten times and an available power gain of much more than 20 dB (100 times power ratio), yet be delivering a much lower power gain if, for example, the input is a 600 ohm microphone and the output is a 47 kilohm power amplifier's input socket.

In most cases an amplifier should be linear; that is, the gain should be constant for any combination of input and output signal. If the gain is not constant, e.g., by clipping the output signal at the limits of its capabilities, the output signal will be distorted. There are however cases where variable gain is useful.

Classification of amplifier stages and systems

There are many alternative classifications that address different aspects of amplifier designs, and they all express some particular perspective relating the design parameters to the objectives of the circuit. Amplifier design is always a compromise of numerous factors, such as cost, power consumption, real-world device imperfections, and a multitude of performance specifications. Below are several different approaches to classification:

Input and output variables

The four types of dependent source; control variable on left, output variable on right

Electronic amplifiers use two variables: current and voltage. Either can be used as input, and either as output leading to four types of amplifiers. In idealized form they are represented by each of the four types of dependent source used in linear analysis, as shown in the figure, namely:

Input Output Dependent source Amplifier type
I I current controlled current source CCCS current amplifier
I V current controlled voltage source CCVS transresistance amplifier
V I voltage controlled current source VCCS transconductance amplifier
V V voltage controlled voltage source VCVS voltage amplifier

Each type of amplifier in its ideal form has an ideal input and output resistance that is the same as that of the corresponding dependent source:[2]

Amplifier type Dependent source Input impedance Output impedance
Current CCCS 0 ∞
Transresistance CCVS 0 0
Transconductance VCCS ∞ ∞
Voltage VCVS ∞ 0

In practice the ideal impedances are only approximated. For any particular circuit, a small-signal analysis is often used to find the impedance actually achieved. A small-signal AC test current Ix is applied to the input or output node, all external sources are set to AC zero, and the corresponding alternating voltage Vx across the test current source determines the impedance seen at that node as R = Vx / Ix.

Amplifiers designed to attach to a transmission line at input and/or output, especially RF amplifiers, do not fit into this classification approach. Rather than dealing with voltage or current individually, they ideally couple with an input and/or output impedance matched to the transmission line impedance, that is, match ratios of voltage to current. Many real RF amplifiers come close to this ideal. Although, for a given appropriate source and load impedance, RF amplifiers can be characterized as amplifying voltage or current, they fundamentally are amplifying power.[3]

Common terminal

One set of classifications for amplifiers is based on which device terminal is common to both the input and the output circuit. In the case of bipolar junction transistors, the three classes are common emitter, common base, and common collector. For field-effect transistors, the corresponding configurations are common source, common gate, and common drain; for triode vacuum devices, common cathode, common grid, and common plate. The output voltage of a common plate amplifier is the same as the input (this arrangement is used as the input presents a high impedance and does not load the signal source, although it does not amplify the voltage), i.e., the output at the cathode follows the input at the grid; consequently it was commonly called a cathode follower. By analogy the terms emitter follower and source follower are sometimes used.

Unilateral or bilateral

When an amplifier has an output that exhibits no feedback to its input side, it is called unilateral. The input impedance of a unilateral amplifier is independent of the load, and the output impedance is independent of the signal source impedance.

If feedback connects part of the output back to the input of the amplifier it is called a bilateral amplifier. The input impedance of a bilateral amplifier is dependent upon the load, and the output impedance is dependent upon the signal source impedance.

All amplifiers are bilateral to some degree; however they may often be modeled as unilateral under operating conditions where feedback is small enough to neglect for most purposes, simplifying analysis (see the common base article for an example).

Negative feedback is often applied deliberately to tailor amplifier behavior. Some feedback, which may be positive or negative, is unavoidable and often undesirable, introduced, for example, by parasitic elements such as the inherent capacitance between input and output of a device such as a transistor and capacitative coupling due to external wiring. Excessive frequency-dependent positive feedback may cause what is supposed to be an amplifier to become an oscillator.

Linear unilateral and bilateral amplifiers can be represented as two-port networks.

Inverting or non-inverting

Another way to classify amps is the phase relationship of the input signal to the output signal. An inverting amplifier produces an output 180 degrees out of phase with the input signal (that is, a polarity inversion or mirror image of the input as seen on an oscilloscope). A non-inverting amplifier maintains the phase of the input signal waveforms. An emitter follower is a type of non-inverting amplifier, indicating that the signal at the emitter of a transistor is following (that is, matching with unity gain but perhaps an offset) the input signal.

This description can apply to a single stage of an amplifier, or to a complete amplifier system.

Function

Other amplifiers may be classified by their function or output characteristics. These functional descriptions usually apply to complete amplifier systems or sub-systems and rarely to individual stages.

The performance of an op-amp with these characteristics would be entirely defined by the (usually passive) components forming a negative feedback loop around it, that is, the amplifier itself has no effect on the output.
Today, op-amps are usually provided as integrated circuits, rather than constructed from discrete components. All real-world op-amps fall short of the idealised specification above – but some modern components have remarkable performance and come close in some respects.

Interstage coupling method

Amplifiers are sometimes classified by the coupling method of the signal at the input, output, or between stages. Different types of these include:

Resistive-capacitive (RC) coupled amplifier, using a network of resistors and capacitors 
By design these amplifiers cannot amplify DC signals as the capacitors block the DC component of the input signal. RC-coupled amplifiers were used very often in circuits with vacuum tubes or discrete transistors. In the days of the integrated circuit a few more transistors on a chip are much cheaper and smaller than a capacitor.
Inductive-capacitive (LC) coupled amplifier, using a network of inductors and capacitors 
This kind of amplifier is most often used in selective radio-frequency circuits.
Transformer coupled amplifier, using a transformer to match impedances or to decouple parts of the circuits 
Quite often LC-coupled and transformer-coupled amplifiers cannot be distinguished as a transformer is some kind of inductor.
Direct coupled amplifier, using no impedance and bias matching components 
This class of amplifier was very uncommon in the vacuum tube days when the anode (output) voltage was at greater than several hundred volts and the grid (input) voltage at a few volts minus. So they were only used if the gain was specified down to DC (e.g., in an oscilloscope). In the context of modern electronics developers are encouraged to use directly coupled amplifiers whenever possible.

Frequency range

Depending on the frequency range and other properties amplifiers are designed according to different principles.

The frequency range handled by an amplifier might be specified in terms of bandwidth (normally implying a response that is 3 dB down when the frequency reaches the specified bandwidth), or by specifying a frequency response that is within a certain number of deciBels between a lower and an upper frequency (e.g. "20 Hz to 20 kHz plus or minus 1 dB").

Type of load

Implementation

Amplifiers are implemented using active elements of different kinds:

For exotic purposes, other active elements have been used. For example, in the early days of the communication satellite parametric amplifiers were used. The core circuit was a diode whose capacity was changed by an RF signal created locally. Under certain conditions, this RF signal provided energy that was modulated by the extremely weak satellite signal received at the earth station. The operating principle of a parametric amplifier is somewhat similar to the principle by which children keep their swings in motion: as long as the swing moves you only need to change a parameter of the swinging entity; e.g., you must move your center of gravity up and down. In our case, the capacity of the diode is changed periodically.

Power amplifier classes

Angle of flow or conduction angle

Power amplifier circuits (output stages) are classified as A, B, AB and C for analog designs, and class D and E for switching designs based upon the conduction angle or angle of flow, Θ, of the input signal through the (or each) output amplifying device, that is, the portion of the input signal cycle during which the amplifying device conducts. The image of the conduction angle is derived from amplifying a sinusoidal signal. (If the device is always on, Θ = 360°.) The angle of flow is closely related to the amplifier power efficiency. The various classes are introduced below, followed by more detailed discussion under individual headings later on.

Class A
100% of the input signal is used (conduction angle Θ = 360° or 2π); i.e., the active element remains conducting[5] (works in its "linear" range) all of the time. Where efficiency is not a consideration, most small signal linear amplifiers are designed as Class A. Class A amplifiers are typically more linear and less complex than other types, but are very inefficient. This type of amplifier is most commonly used in small-signal stages or for low-power applications (such as driving headphones). Subclass A2 is sometimes used to refer to vacuum tube Class A stages where the grid is allowed to be driven slightly positive on signal peaks, resulting in slightly more power than normal Class A (A1; where the grid is always negative[6]), but incurring more distortion.
Class B

50% of the input signal is used (Θ = 180° or π; i.e., the active element works in its linear range half of the time and is more or less turned off for the other half). In most Class B, there are two output devices (or sets of output devices), each of which conducts alternately (push–pull) for exactly 180° (or half cycle) of the input signal; selective RF amplifiers can also be implemented using a single active element.

These amplifiers are subject to crossover distortion if the transition from one active element to the other is not perfect, as when two complementary transistors (i.e., one PNP, one NPN) are connected as two emitter followers with their base and emitter terminals in common, requiring the base voltage to slew across the region where both devices are turned off.[7]

Class AB
Here the two active elements conduct more than half of the time as a means to reduce the cross-over distortions of Class B amplifiers. In the example of the complementary emitter followers a bias network allows for more or less quiescent current thus providing an operating point somewhere between Class A and Class B. Sometimes a figure is added (e.g., AB1 or AB2) for vacuum tube stages where the grid voltage is always negative with respect to the cathode (Class AB1) or may be slightly positive (hence drawing grid current, adding more distortion, but giving slightly higher output power) on signal peaks (Class AB2); another interpretation being higher figures implying a higher quiescent current and therefore more of the properties of Class A.
Class C
Less than 50% of the input signal is used (conduction angle Θ < 180°). The advantage is potentially high efficiency, but a disadvantage is high distortion.
Class D
These use switching to achieve a very high power efficiency (more than 90% in modern designs). By allowing each output device to be either fully on or off, losses are minimized. The analog output is created by pulse-width modulation; i.e., the active element is switched on for shorter or longer intervals instead of modifying its resistance. There are more complicated switching schemes like sigma-delta modulation, to improve some performance aspects like lower distortions or better efficiency.
Additional classes
There are several other amplifier classes, although they are mainly variations of the previous classes. For example, Class G and Class H amplifiers are marked by variation of the supply rails (in discrete steps or in a continuous fashion, respectively) following the input signal. Wasted heat on the output devices can be reduced as excess voltage is kept to a minimum. The amplifier that is fed with these rails itself can be of any class. These kinds of amplifiers are more complex, and are mainly used for specialized applications, such as very high-power units. Also, Class E and Class F amplifiers are commonly described in literature for radio frequencies applications where efficiency of the traditional classes in are important, yet several aspects not covered elsewhere (e.g.: amplifiers often simply said to have a gain of x dB - so what power gain?) deviate substantially from their ideal values. These classes use harmonic tuning of their output networks to achieve higher efficiency and can be considered a subset of Class C due to their conduction angle characteristics.

The classes can be most easily understood using the diagrams in each section below. For the sake of illustration, a bipolar junction transistor is shown as the amplifying device, but in practice this could be a MOSFET or vacuum tube device. In an analog amplifier (the most common kind), the signal is applied to the input terminal of the device (base, gate or grid), and this causes a proportional output drive current to flow out of the output terminal. The output drive current comes from the power supply.

Class A

Class A amplifier

Amplifying devices operating in Class A conduct over the whole of the input cycle such that the output signal is an exact scaled-up replica of the input with no clipping. A Class A amplifier (or operational amplifier) is distinguished by the output stage (and perhaps the driver) device(s) being biased into Class A; even Class AB and B amplifiers normally have early stages operating in Class A. Class A is the usual means of implementing small-signal amplifiers, so the term Class A design applied to equipment such as preamplifiers (for example, in recording studios) implies not so much their use of Class A, but that their sound is top quality - good enough to be matched with top quality Class A power amplifiers.

Advantages of Class A Amplifiers

Disadvantage of Class A Amplifiers

Class A designs have largely been superseded by the more efficient designs for power amplifiers, though they remain popular with some hobbyists, mostly for their simplicity. Also, many audiophiles believe that Class A gives the best sound quality (for their absence of crossover distortion and reduced odd-harmonic and high-order harmonic distortion) which provides a small market for expensive high fidelity Class A amps.

Single-Ended and Triode Class A Amplifiers

Some aficionados who prefer Class A amplifiers also prefer the use of thermionic valve (or "tube") designs instead of transistors, especially in Single-ended triode output configurations for several claimed reasons:

Transistors are much cheaper, and so more elaborate designs that give greater efficiency but use more parts are still cost-effective. A classic application for a pair of class A devices is the long-tailed pair, which is exceptionally linear, and forms the basis of many more complex circuits, including many audio amplifiers and almost all op-amps. Class A amplifiers are often used in output stages of high quality op-amps (although the accuracy of the bias in low cost op-amps such as the 741 may result in Class A or Class AB or Class B, varying from device to device or with temperature). They are sometimes used as medium-power, low-efficiency, and high-cost audio amplifiers. The power consumption is unrelated to the output power. At idle (no input), the power consumption is essentially the same as at high output volume. The result is low efficiency and high heat dissipation.

Class B and AB

Class B amplifiers only amplify half of the input wave cycle, thus creating a large amount of distortion, but their efficiency is greatly improved and is much better than Class A. Class B has a maximum theoretical efficiency of 78.5% (i.e., π/4). This is because the amplifying element is switched off altogether half of the time, and so cannot dissipate power. A single Class B element is rarely found in practice, though it has been used for driving the loudspeaker in the early IBM Personal Computers with beeps, and it can be used in RF power amplifier where the distortion levels are less important. However Class C is more commonly used for this.

Electronic Amplifier Class B fixed.png
Class B Amplifier

A practical circuit using Class B elements is the push-pull stage, such as the very simplified complementary pair arrangement shown below. Here, complementary or quasi-complementary devices are each used for amplifying the opposite halves of the input signal, which is then recombined at the output. This arrangement gives excellent efficiency, but can suffer from the drawback that there is a small mismatch in the cross-over region - at the "joins" between the two halves of the signal, as one output device has to take over supplying power exactly as the other finishes. This is called crossover distortion. An improvement is to bias the devices so they are not completely off when they're not in use. This approach is called Class AB operation.

In Class AB operation, each device operates the same way as in Class B over half the waveform, but also conducts a small amount on the other half. As a result, the region where both devices simultaneously are nearly off (the "dead zone") is reduced. The result is that when the waveforms from the two devices are combined, the crossover is greatly minimised or eliminated altogether. The exact choice of quiescent current, the standing current through both devices when there is no signal, makes a large difference to the level of distortion (and to the risk of thermal runaway, that may damage the devices); often the bias voltage applied to set this quiescent current has to be adjusted with the temperature of the output transistors (for example in the circuit at the beginning of the article the diodes would be mounted physically close to the output transistors, and chosen to have a matched temperature coefficient). Another approach (often used as well as thermally-tracking bias voltages) is to include small value resistors in series with the emitters.

Class AB sacrifices some efficiency over class B in favor of linearity, thus is less efficient (below 78.5% for full-amplitude sinewaves in transistor amplifiers, typically; much less is common in Class AB vacuum tube amplifiers). It is typically much more efficient than class A.

Electronic Amplifier Push-pull.png
Class B push–pull amplifier

Class B or AB push–pull circuits are the most common design type found in audio power amplifiers. Class AB is widely considered a good compromise for audio amplifiers, since much of the time the music is quiet enough that the signal stays in the "class A" region, where it is amplified with good fidelity, and by definition if passing out of this region, is large enough that the distortion products typical of class B are relatively small. The crossover distortion can be reduced further by using negative feedback. Class B and AB amplifiers are sometimes used for RF linear amplifiers as well. Class B amplifiers are also favored in battery-operated devices, such as transistor radios.

Digital Class B

A limited power output Class-B amplifier with a single-ended supply rail of 5±0.5 V.

Class C

Class C amplifier

Class C amplifiers conduct less than 50% of the input signal and the distortion at the output is high, but high efficiencies (up to 90%) are possible. Some applications (for example, megaphones) can tolerate the distortion. A much more common application for Class C amplifiers is in RF transmitters, where the distortion can be vastly reduced by using tuned loads on the amplifier stage. The input signal is used to roughly switch the amplifying device on and off, which causes pulses of current to flow through a tuned circuit.

The Class C amplifier has two modes of operation: tuned and untuned.[10] The diagram shows a waveform from a simple class C circuit without the tuned load. This is called untuned operation, and the analysis of the waveforms shows the massive distortion that appears in the signal. When the proper load (e.g., a pure inductive-capacitive filter) is used, two things happen. The first is that the output's bias level is clamped, so that the output variation is centered at one-half of the supply voltage. This is why tuned operation is sometimes called a clamper. This action of elevating bias level allows the waveform to be restored to its proper shape, allowing a complete waveform to be re-established despite having only a one-polarity supply. This is directly related to the second phenomenon: the waveform on the center frequency becomes much less distorted. The distortion that is present is dependent upon the bandwidth of the tuned load, with the center frequency seeing very little distortion, but greater attenuation the farther from the tuned frequency that the signal gets.

The tuned circuit will only resonate at particular frequencies, and so the unwanted frequencies are dramatically suppressed, and the wanted full signal (sine wave) will be extracted by the tuned load (e.g., a high-quality bell will ring at a particular frequency when it is hit periodically with a hammer). Provided the transmitter is not required to operate over a very wide band of frequencies, this arrangement works extremely well. Other residual harmonics can be removed using a filter.

Class D

Block diagram of a basic switching or PWM (Class-D) amplifier.
Boss Audio Class D mono car audio amplifier with a low pass filter for powering subwoofers

In the Class D amplifier the input signal is converted to a sequence of higher voltage output pulses. The averaged-over-time power values of these pulses are directly proportional to the instantaneous amplitude of the input signal. The frequency of the output pulses is typically ten or more times the highest frequency in the input signal to be amplified. The output pulses contain inaccurate spectral components (that is, the pulse frequency and its harmonics) which must be removed by a low-pass passive filter. The resulting filtered signal is then an amplified replica of the input.

These amplifiers use pulse width modulation, pulse density modulation (sometimes referred to as pulse frequency modulation) or more advanced form of modulation such as Delta-sigma modulation (for example, in the Analog Devices AD1990 Class-D audio power amplifier). Output stages such as those used in pulse generators are examples of Class D amplifiers. The term Class D is usually applied to devices intended to reproduce signals with a bandwidth well below the switching frequency.

Class D amplifiers can be controlled by either analog or digital circuits. The digital control introduces additional distortion called quantization error caused by its conversion of the input signal to a digital value.

The main advantage of a Class D amplifier is power efficiency. Because the output pulses have a fixed amplitude, the switching elements (usually MOSFETs, but valves and bipolar transistors were once used) are switched either completely on or completely off, rather than operated in linear mode. A MOSFET operates with the lowest resistance when fully-on and thus has the lowest power dissipation when in that condition, except when fully off. When operated in a linear mode the MOSFET has variable amounts of resistance that vary linearly with the input voltage and the resistance is something other than the minimum possible, therefore more electrical energy is dissipated as heat. Compared to Class A/B operation, Class D's lower losses permit the use of a smaller heat sink for the MOSFETS while also reducing the amount of AC power supply power required. Thus, Class D amplifiers do not need as large or as heavy power supply transformers or heatsinks, so they are smaller and more compact in size than an equivalent Class AB amplifier.

Class D amplifiers have been widely used to control motors, and almost exclusively for small DC motors, but they are now also used as audio amplifiers, with some extra circuitry to allow analogue to be converted to a much higher frequency pulse width modulated signal. The relative difficulty of achieving good audio quality means that nearly all are used in applications where quality is not a factor, such as modestly-priced bookshelf audio systems and "DVD-receivers" in mid-price home theater systems.

High quality Class D audio amplifiers are now, however, starting to appear in the market:

These revised designs have been said to rival good traditional AB amplifiers in terms of quality.

Before these higher quality designs existed an earlier use of Class D amplifiers and prolific area of application was high-powered, subwoofer amplifiers in cars. Because subwoofers are generally limited to a bandwidth of no higher than 150 Hz, the switching speed for the amplifier does not have to be as high as for a full range amplifier. The drawback with Class D designs being used to power subwoofers is that their output filters (typically inductors that convert the pulse width signal back into an analogue waveform) lower the damping factor of the amplifier.

This means that the amplifier cannot prevent the subwoofer's reactive nature from lessening the impact of low bass sounds (as explained in the feedback part of the Class AB section). Class D amplifiers for driving subwoofers are relatively inexpensive, in comparison to Class AB amplifiers. A 1000W Class D subwoofer amplifier that can operate at about 80% to 95% efficiency costs about $250 USD, much less than a Class AB amplifier of this power, which would cost several thousand dollars.

The letter D used to designate this amplifier class is simply the next letter after C, and does not stand for digital. Class D and Class E amplifiers are sometimes mistakenly described as "digital" because the output waveform superficially resembles a pulse-train of digital symbols, but a Class D amplifier merely converts an input waveform into a continuously pulse-width modulated (square wave) analog signal. (A digital waveform would be pulse-code modulated.)

Additional classes

Class E

The Class E/F amplifier is a highly efficient switching power amplifier, typically used at such high frequencies that the switching time becomes comparable to the duty time. As said in the Class D amplifier, the transistor is connected via a serial LC circuit to the load, and connected via a large L (inductor) to the supply voltage. The supply voltage is connected to ground via a large capacitor to prevent any RF signals leaking into the supply. The Class E amplifier adds a C (capacitor) between the transistor and ground and uses a defined L1 to connect to the supply voltage.

Classe E.svg
Class E Amplifier

The following description ignores DC, which can be added easily afterwards. The above mentioned C and L are in effect a parallel LC circuit to ground. When the transistor is on, it pushes through the serial LC circuit into the load and some current begins to flow to the parallel LC circuit to ground. Then the serial LC circuit swings back and compensates the current into the parallel LC circuit. At this point the current through the transistor is zero and it is switched off. Both LC circuits are now filled with energy in C and L0. The whole circuit performs a damped oscillation. The damping by the load has been adjusted so that some time later the energy from the Ls is gone into the load, but the energy in both C0 peaks at the original value to in turn restore the original voltage so that the voltage across the transistor is zero again and it can be switched on.

With load, frequency, and duty cycle (0.5) as given parameters and the constraint that the voltage is not only restored, but peaks at the original voltage, the four parameters (L, L0, C and C0) are determined. The Class E amplifier takes the finite on resistance into account and tries to make the current touch the bottom at zero. This means that the voltage and the current at the transistor are symmetric with respect to time. The Fourier transform allows an elegant formulation to generate the complicated LC networks and says that the first harmonic is passed into the load, all even harmonics are shorted and all higher odd harmonics are open.

Class E uses a significant amount of second-harmonic voltage. The second harmonic can be used to reduce the overlap with edges with finite sharpness. For this to work, energy on the second harmonic has to flow from the load into the transistor, and no source for this is visible in the circuit diagram. In reality, the impedance is mostly reactive and the only reason for it is that Class E is a Class F (see below) amplifier with a much simplified load network and thus has to deal with imperfections.

In many amateur simulations of Class E amplifiers, sharp current edges are assumed nullifying the very motivation for Class E and measurements near the transit frequency of the transistors show very symmetric curves, which look much similar to Class F simulations.

The Class E amplifier was invented in 1972 by Nathan O. Sokal and Alan D. Sokal, and details were first published in 1975.[11] Some earlier reports on this operating class have been published in Russian.

Class F

In push-pull amplifiers and in CMOS, the even harmonics of both transistors just cancel. Experiment shows that a square wave can be generated by those amplifiers and theory shows that square waves do consist of odd harmonics only. In a Class D amplifier, the output filter blocks all harmonics; i.e., the harmonics see an open load. So even small currents in the harmonics suffice to generate a voltage square wave. The current is in phase with the voltage applied to the filter, but the voltage across the transistors is out of phase. Therefore, there is a minimal overlap between current through the transistors and voltage across the transistors. The sharper the edges, the lower the overlap.

While Class D sees the transistors and the load as two separate modules, Class F admits imperfections like the parasitics of the transistor and tries to optimise the global system to have a high impedance at the harmonics. Of course there has to be a finite voltage across the transistor to push the current across the on-state resistance. Because the combined current through both transistors is mostly in the first harmonic, it looks like a sine. That means that in the middle of the square the maximum of current has to flow, so it may make sense to have a dip in the square or in other words to allow some overswing of the voltage square wave. A Class F load network by definition has to transmit below a cutoff frequency and reflect above.

Any frequency lying below the cutoff and having its second harmonic above the cutoff can be amplified, that is an octave bandwidth. On the other hand, an inductive-capacitive series circuit with a large inductance and a tunable capacitance may be simpler to implement. By reducing the duty cycle below 0.5, the output amplitude can be modulated. The voltage square waveform will degrade, but any overheating is compensated by the lower overall power flowing. Any load mismatch behind the filter can only act on the first harmonic current waveform, clearly only a purely resistive load makes sense, then the lower the resistance, the higher the current.

Class F can be driven by sine or by a square wave, for a sine the input can be tuned by an inductor to increase gain. If Class F is implemented with a single transistor, the filter is complicated to short the even harmonics. All previous designs use sharp edges to minimise the overlap.

Classes G and H

There is a variety of amplifier designs that couple a Class AB output stage with other more efficient techniques to achieve a higher efficiency with low distortion. These designs are common in large audio amplifiers since the heatsinks and power transformers would be prohibitively large (and costly) without the increase in efficiency. The terms "Class G" and "Class H" are used interchangeably to refer to different designs, varying in definition from one manufacturer or paper to another.

Class G amplifiers (which use "rail switching" to decrease power consumption and increase efficiency) are more efficient than Class AB amplifiers. The Class G amplifier has several power rails at different voltages and switches between rails as the signal output approaches each. Thus, the amplifier increases efficiency by reducing the wasted power at the output transistors. Class G amplifiers are more efficient than Class AB but less efficient when compared to Class D, without the negative EMI effects of Class D.

ClassG.GIF

Class H amplifiers take the idea of Class G one step further creating an infinitely variable supply rail. This is done by modulating the supply rails so that the rails are only a few volts larger than the output signal at any given time. The output stage operates at its maximum efficiency all the time. Switched-mode power supplies can be used to create the tracking rails. Significant efficiency gains can be achieved but with the drawback of more complicated supply design and reduced THD performance.

ClassH.GIF

The voltage signal shown is thus a larger version of the input, but has been changed in sign (inverted) by the amplification. Other arrangements of amplifying device are possible, but that given (that is, common emitter, common source or common cathode) is the easiest to understand and employ in practice. If the amplifying element is linear, then the output will be faithful copy of the input, only larger and inverted. In practice, transistors are not linear, and the output will only approximate the input. Non-linearity from any of several sources is the origin of distortion within an amplifier. Which class of amplifier (A, B, AB or C) depends on how the amplifying device is biased — in the diagrams the bias circuits are omitted for clarity.

Any real amplifier is an imperfect realization of an ideal amplifier. One important limitation of a real amplifier is that the output it can generate is ultimately limited by the power available from the power supply. An amplifier will saturate and clip the output if the input signal becomes too large for the amplifier to reproduce or if operational limits for a device are exceeded.

For additional information on Class H: Efficiency Class H

Doherty amplifiers

A hybrid configuration receiving new attention is the Doherty amplifier, invented in 1934 by William H. Doherty for Bell Laboratories (whose sister company, Western Electric, was then an important manufacturer of radio transmitters). The Doherty amplifier consists of a Class B primary or carrier stage in parallel with a Class C auxiliary or peak stage. The input signal is split to drive the two amplifiers and a combining network sums the two output signals. Phase shifting networks are employed in the inputs and the outputs. During periods of low signal level, the Class B amplifier efficiently operates on the signal and the Class C amplifier is cutoff and consumes little power. During periods of high signal level, the Class B amplifier delivers its maximum power and the Class C amplifier delivers up to its maximum power. The efficiency of previous AM transmitter designs was proportional to modulation but, with average modulation typically around 20%, transmitters were limited to less than 50% efficiency. In Doherty's design, even with zero modulation, a transmitter could achieve at least 60% efficiency.[12]

As a successor to Western Electric for broadcast transmitters, the Doherty concept was considerably refined by Continental Electronics Manufacturing Company of Dallas, TX. Perhaps, the ultimate refinement was the screen-grid modulation scheme invented by Joseph B. Sainton. The Sainton amplifier consists of a Class C primary or carrier stage in parallel with a Class C auxiliary or peak stage. The stages are split and combined through 90-degree phase shifting networks as in the Doherty amplifier. The unmodulated radio frequency carrier is applied to the control grids of both tubes. Carrier modulation is applied to the screen grids of both tubes. The bias point of the carrier and peak tubes is different, and is established such that the peak tube is cutoff when modulation is absent (and the amplifier is producing rated unmodulated carrier power) whereas both tubes contribute twice the rated carrier power during 100% modulation (as four times the carrier power is required to achieve 100% modulation). As both tubes operate in Class C, a significant improvement in efficiency is thereby achieved in the final stage. In addition, as the tetrode carrier and peak tubes require very little drive power, a significant improvement in efficiency within the driver stage is achieved as well (317C, et al.).[13] The released version of the Sainton amplifier employs a cathode-follower modulator, not a push-pull modulator. Previous Continental Electronics designs, by James O. Weldon and others, retained most of the characteristics of the Doherty amplifier but added screen-grid modulation of the driver (317B, et al.).

The Doherty amplifier remains in use in very-high-power AM transmitters, but for lower-power AM transmitters, vacuum-tube amplifiers in general were eclipsed in the 1980s by arrays of solid-state amplifiers, which could be switched on and off with much finer granularity in response to the requirements of the input audio. However, interest in the Doherty configuration has been revived by cellular-telephone and wireless-Internet applications where the sum of several constant-envelope users creates an aggregate AM result. The main challenge of the Doherty amplifier for digital transmission modes is in aligning the two stages and getting the class-C amplifier to turn on and off very quickly.

Recently, Doherty amplifiers have found widespread use in cellular base station transmitters for GHz frequencies. Implementations for transmitters in mobile devices have also been demonstrated.

Special classes

Several audio amplifier manufacturers have started "inventing" new classes as a way to differentiate themselves. These class names usually do not reflect any revolutionary amplification technique, and are used mostly for marketing purposes. This can easily be determined by the fact that the class name is trademarked or copyrighted. For example, Crown's K and I-Tech Series as well as several other models utilise Crown's patented Class-I (or BCA) technology. Lab.gruppen use a form of Class D amplifier called Class TD or Tracked Class D which tracks the waveform to more accurately amplify it without the drawbacks of traditional Class D amplifiers.

"Class T" was a trademark of TriPath company which manufactures audio amplifier ICs. This new Class T is a revision of the common Class D amplifier, but with changes to ensure fidelity over the full audio spectrum, unlike traditional Class D designs. It operates at different frequencies depending on the power output, with values ranging from as low as 200 kHz to 1.2 MHz, using a proprietary modulator. Tripath ceased operations in 2007, its patents acquired by Cirrus Logic for their Mixed-Signal Audio division.

"Class Z" is a trademark of Zetex Semiconductors (now part of Diodes Inc. of Dallas, TX) and is a direct-digital-feedback technology.[14] Zetex-patented circuits are being utilised in the latest power amplifiers by NAD Electronics of Canada.

Amplifier circuit

The practical amplifier circuit below could be the basis for a moderate-power audio amplifier. It features a typical (though substantially simplified) design as found in modern amplifiers, with a class AB push–pull output stage, and uses some overall negative feedback. Bipolar transistors are shown, but this design would also be realizable with FETs or valves.

A practical amplifier circuit
A practical amplifier circuit

The input signal is coupled through capacitor C1 to the base of transistor Q1. The capacitor allows the AC signal to pass, but blocks the DC bias voltage established by resistors R1 and R2 so that any preceding circuit is not affected by it. Q1 and Q2 form a differential amplifier (an amplifier that multiplies the difference between two inputs by some constant), in an arrangement known as a long-tailed pair. This arrangement is used to conveniently allow the use of negative feedback, which is fed from the output to Q2 via R7 and R8.

The negative feedback into the difference amplifier allows the amplifier to compare the input to the actual output. The amplified signal from Q1 is directly fed to the second stage, Q3, which is a common emitter stage that provides further amplification of the signal and the DC bias for the output stages, Q4 and Q5. R6 provides the load for Q3 (A better design would probably use some form of active load here, such as a constant-current sink). So far, all of the amplifier is operating in Class A. The output pair are arranged in Class AB push–pull, also called a complementary pair. They provide the majority of the current amplification (while consuming low quiescent current) and directly drive the load, connected via DC-blocking capacitor C2. The diodes D1 and D2 provide a small amount of constant voltage bias for the output pair, just biasing them into the conducting state so that crossover distortion is minimized. That is, the diodes push the output stage firmly into class-AB mode (assuming that the base-emitter drop of the output transistors is reduced by heat dissipation).

This design is simple, but a good basis for a practical design because it automatically stabilises its operating point, since feedback internally operates from DC up through the audio range and beyond. Further circuit elements would probably be found in a real design that would roll off the frequency response above the needed range to prevent the possibility of unwanted oscillation. Also, the use of fixed diode bias as shown here can cause problems if the diodes are not both electrically and thermally matched to the output transistors — if the output transistors turn on too much, they can easily overheat and destroy themselves, as the full current from the power supply is not limited at this stage.

A common solution to help stabilise the output devices is to include some emitter resistors, typically an ohm or so. Calculating the values of the circuit's resistors and capacitors is done based on the components employed and the intended use of the amp.

For the basics of radio frequency amplifiers using valves, see Valved RF amplifiers.

Notes on implementation

Real world amplifiers are imperfect.

Different methods of supplying power result in many different methods of bias. Bias is a technique by which the active devices are set up to operate in a particular regime, or by which the DC component of the output signal is set to the midpoint between the maximum voltages available from the power supply. Most amplifiers use several devices at each stage; they are typically matched in specifications except for polarity. Matched inverted polarity devices are called complementary pairs. Class A amplifiers generally use only one device, unless the power supply is set to provide both positive and negative voltages, in which case a dual device symmetrical design may be used. Class C amplifiers, by definition, use a single polarity supply.

Amplifiers often have multiple stages in cascade to increase gain. Each stage of these designs may be a different type of amp to suit the needs of that stage. For instance, the first stage might be a Class A stage, feeding a Class AB push–pull second stage, which then drives a Class G final output stage, taking advantage of the strengths of each type, while minimizing their weaknesses.

See also

  • Amplifier
  • Audio amplifier
  • Charge transfer amplifier
  • Distributed amplifier
  • Guitar amplifier
  • Instrument amplifier
  • Instrumentation amplifier
  • Logarithmic video amplifier
  • Low noise amplifier
  • Negative feedback amplifier
  • Operational amplifier
  • Optical amplifier
  • Power added efficiency
  • Programmable gain amplifier
  • RF power amplifier
  • Valve audio amplifier

References

  1. ↑ Robert Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky (1996). Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 7th Edition. Prentice Hall College Division. ISBN 978-0133757347. http://books.google.com/books?id=TRBTAAAAMAAJ&q=Electronic+Devices+and+Circuit+Theory&dq=Electronic+Devices+and+Circuit+Theory&pgis=1. 
  2. ↑ It is a curiosity to note that this table is a "Zwicky box"; in particular, it encompasses all possibilities. See Fritz Zwicky.
  3. ↑ John Everett (1992). Vsats: Very Small Aperture Terminals. IET. ISBN 0863412009. http://books.google.com/books?id=MWuXmf4V4NwC&pg=PA84&dq=amplifier+impedance+transmission-line++dB&as_brr=3&ei=nsyFR5GqJ6eGtgPX4rXQBQ&sig=Lwap3QvlOSI2ClwZlO4MM4BcD_A#PPA81,M1. 
  4. ↑ Lee, Thomas (2004). The Design of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. p. 8. ISBN 9780521835398. 
  5. ↑ RCA Receiving Tube Manual, RC-14 (1940) p 12
  6. ↑ ARRL Handbook, 1968; page 65
  7. ↑ Paul Horowitz, Winfield Hill (1989). The Art of Electronics. Cambridge University Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=bkOMDgwFA28C&pg=PA411&dq=crossover-distortion+class-b&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=v7nlR4CCDZaytgOT7IzZBA&sig=Dj6XntJelOmRA80c0IMp9gcG01s. 
  8. ↑ Ask the Doctors: Tube vs. Solid-State Harmonics
  9. ↑ Volume cranked up in amp debate
  10. ↑ A.P. Malvino, Electronic Principles (2nd Ed.1979. ISBN 0-07-039867-4) p.299.
  11. ↑ N. O. Sokal and A. D. Sokal, "Class E — A New Class of High-Efficiency Tuned Single-Ended Switching Power Amplifiers", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. SC-10, pp. 168–176, June 1975. HVK
  12. ↑ US patent 2210028, William H. Doherty, "Amplifier", issued 1940-08-06, assigned to Bell Telephone Laboratories 
  13. ↑ US patent 3314034, Joseph B. Sainton, "High Efficiency Amplifier and Push-Pull Modulator", issued 1967-04-11, assigned to Continental Electronics Manufacturing Company 
  14. ↑ Class Z Direct Digital Feedback Amplifiers, Zetex Semiconductors, 2006.

External links