KNJ2463
Electronic Engineering and
Microprocessor
Amplification
Amplification
Introduction
Electronic Amplifiers
Sources and Loads
Equivalent Circuits of Amplifiers
Output Power
Power Gain
Frequency Response and Bandwidth
Introduction
Amplification is one of the most common
processing functions
Amplification means making things bigger
Attenuation means making things smaller
Passive and active amplifiers
Passive amplifiers have no external energy source
in such amplifiers the power delivered at the output must
be less than (or equal to) that absorbed at the input
some amplifiers are not passive but are
active amplifiers in that they have an external
source of power
in such amplifiers the output can deliver more power than
is absorbed at the input
Electronic Amplifiers
Can be passive (e.g. a transformer) but most
are active
We will concentrate on active electronic
amplifiers
take power from a power supply
amplification described by gain
Voltage Gain ( Av )
Vo
Vi
Current Gain ( Ai )
Power Gain ( Ap )
Io
Ii
Po
Pi
Circuit symbol
Modelling the gain of an amplifier
can be modelled by a controlled voltage source
the voltage produced by the source is determined by
the input voltage to the circuit
10
Equivalent Circuits of Amplifiers
Having modelled the input, the output and the
gain, we can now model the entire amplifier
11
The use of an equivalent circuit
Example: An amplifier has a voltage gain of 10, an input
resistance of 1 k and an output resistance of 10 . The
amplifier is connected to a sensor that produces a voltage of
2 V and has an output resistance of 100 , and to a load of
50 . What will be the output voltage of the amplifier (that is
the voltage across the load resistance)?
12
We start by constructing an equivalent circuit
of the amplifier, the source and the load
13
From this we can calculate the output voltage:
Vi
Ri
Vs
Rs Ri
1 k
2 V 1.82 V
100 1 k
Vo AvVi
10 Vi
RL
Ro RL
50
50
10 1.82
15.2 V
10 50
10 50
14
The voltage gain of the circuit in the previous
example is given by:
Voltage gain ( AV )
Vo 15.2
8.35
Vi 1.82
note that this is considerably less than the stated
gain of the amplifier (which is 10)
this is due to loading effects
the gain of the amplifier in isolation is its
unloaded voltage gain
15
An ideal voltage amplifier would not suffer
from loading
it would have Ri = and Ro = 0
consider the effect on the previous example
16
If Ri = , then
Ri
R
i 1
Rs Ri Ri
Therefore
Vi
Ri
Vs Vs 2 V
Rs Ri
Vo AvVi
10 Vi
RL
Ro RL
50
50
10 2
20 V
0 50
50
17
Output Power
The output power Po is that dissipated in the
load resistor
2
Po
Vo
RL
Power transfer is at a maximum when RL = Ro
maximum power theorem
choosing a load to maximize power transfer is
called matching
often voltage gain is more important than power
transfer
18
Power Gain
Power gain is the ratio of the power supplied to
the load to that absorbed at the input
Vi 2
Pi
Ri
Vo 2
Po
RL
Gain often given in decibels
Power gain (dB) =10 log10
P2
P1
19
Sample gains expressed in dBs
Power gain Decibels (dBs)
Power gain Decibels (dBs)
100 20
0.5 -3
10 10
0.1 -10
1 0
0.01 -20
Using dBs simplifies calculation in cascaded
circuits
20
Power gain is related to voltage gain
P2
V22 / R2
Power gain (dB) 10 log10
10 log10 2
P1
V1 / R1
If R1 = R2
Power gain (dB) 10 log10
V22
V12
20 log10
V2
V1
Power gain (dB) 20 log10 (Voltage gain )
This expression is often used even when R1 R2
21
Frequency Response and Bandwidth
All real amplifiers have limits to the range of
frequencies over which they can be used
The gain of a circuit in its normal operating range is
termed its mid-band gain
The gain of all amplifiers falls at high frequencies
characteristic defined by the half-power point
gain falls to 1/2 = 0.707 times the mid-band gain
this occurs at the cut-off frequency
In some amplifiers gain also falls at low frequencies
these are AC coupled amplifiers
22
(a) shows an AC coupled
amplifier
(b) shows the same
amplifier with gain in dBs
(c) shows a DC coupled
amplifier the gain is
constant down to DC
23
The bandwidth is the
difference between the
upper and lower cut-off
frequencies
or the difference
between the upper-cut-off
frequency and zero in a DC
coupled amplifier
24
