55:041 Electronic Circuits

The University of Iowa

Fall 2011

Exam 3
Name: ___________________________

Score__________/94___

Question 1 Short Takes 1 point each unless noted otherwise.

1.

Write down one phrase/sentence that describes the purpose of the diodes and constant
current source in the amplifier below.

Answer: Reduction of cross-over distortion

2.

What is the maximum theoretical efficiency for a class-B amplifier?

Answer: 78%

3.

Many BJT datasheets do not list

What is this parameter?

explicitly, but list an equivalent h-parameter instead.

Answer:
4.

Consider a frequency
?

. How many octaves higher is the frequency

Answer: Each octave means a doubling in frequency. Thus, we have to find in

( ) ( )
. Substituting values gives
octaves.
5.

Consider a frequency
?

. How many decades higher is the frequency

Answer: Each decade means a frequency

. Substituting values gives

higher. Thus, we have to find

)
decades.

in

55:041 Electronic Circuits

6.

The small-signal output resistance

when the transistor is biased at
Answer:
5 mA, or

7.

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of a BJT biased at
?

is inversely-proportional to
.

Fall 2011

= 1 mA is100K. What is

) so that

will be

smaller at

A MOSFET has rated power of 25 W at an ambient temperature

and a
o
maximum specified junction temperature of 105 C. What is the thermal resistance
between the case and the junction?
Answer:

8.

What does SOA in the context of power transistors stand for?

Answer: Safe Operating Area

9.

True or false: if class-A amplifiers are not carefully biased, they will suffer from
crossover distortion.
Answer: False

10.

Identify the false statement

(a) FETs do not suffer from thermal runaway, but BJTs do
(b) Everything else being equal, BJTs have an order of magnitude more gain than FETs
(c) BJT technology has superior performance in power application when compared to the
modern MOS technology, which explains why BJTs are still widely incorporated in
power designs.
Answer: (c) is false

11.

An engineer designs a MOSFET-based class-AB amplifier to deliver 6.25 W

(sinusoidal) signal power to a
resistive load. What is the required peak-to-peak
voltage swing across the load? (2 points)
Answer:

, so that

, so that

55:041 Electronic Circuits

12.

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In the circuit below, what is the maximum current that can flow through
reasonable assumptions. (2 points)

Answer. Assume that for ,

. Thus,
( )
from additional base current when the current through

through ) is
13.

Fall 2011

? Make

will turn on and starve

(which is also the current

Consider the current mirror below, and neglect base currents. What is

? (2 points)

Answer:

14.

In the current mirrors below, neglect the base currents. What is

Answer:

? (2 points)

55:041 Electronic Circuits

15. In the circuit below

The University of Iowa

. Estimate the midband gain

Fall 2011

. (2 points)

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d) Need additional information

Answer: (b)
16. A BJT has rated power of 115 W at
and maximum allowable junction
temperature
. It is mounted on a heat sink with
. It is
dissipating 5 W at an ambient temperature
. What is the temperature of the
heat sink? (2 points)
(a) Need additional information
(b)
(c)
(d)
Answer: 5 W through the heat sink will elevate the sinks temperature by
=
above the ambient, so the answer is (c).
17.

Estimate

assuming

and

. (2 points)

(a)
(b)

(c)

(d)
(e) Need additional information

Answer: Using BJT scaling the resistance looking into the transistors base is about
and assuming
and
this about 7.3K. This is in parallel with
the 82K and 22K resistors, so (d) is the correct answer.

55:041 Electronic Circuits

18.

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Fall 2011

Consider a first-order RC low-pass filter with 3-dB frequency

phase shift in degrees at 50 Hz? (2 points)

. What is the

Answer: The phase shift at 60 Hz is

and increases at
/ decade. 50 Hz is
( )
decades higher than 60 Hz. (The negative sign implies 50 Hz is
0.08 decades before 60 Hz.) Thus, the phase shift is
.
An alternate and more accurate calculation is
19.

The following circuit has a time-constant of

dB) at
(3 points)

. What is the attenuation (in

Answer. This is a 1st order low-pass network with a corner frequency of

(
)
. The attenuation is 20 dB/decade above
and 30 kHz is 2
decades higher than 300 Hz. Thus, the network will attenuate at 40 dB at 30 kHz.
(

An alternate calculation is

) )

20. In the circuit below

and all the capacitors are large enough to be considered
(3 points)
shorts. Estimate the midband gain
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Answer: (d)

55:041 Electronic Circuits

The University of Iowa

Fall 2011

21. In the circuit below

and all the capacitors are large enough to be considered

shorts. Estimate the midband gain

(3 points)

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Answer:

, so (b) is the answer.

55:041 Electronic Circuits

The University of Iowa

Fall 2011

Question 2 For the BJT amplifier below, determine

and
. For the Si transistor,
, and assume the transistor is operating in the forward active mode. (6 points)

Solution
Replace the base bias network with its Thevenin equivalent network as shown below. For a Si
transistor,
.

Now

However,

so that
(
(

( )
Solving yields

. From this follows

(

)( )(

55:041 Electronic Circuits

The University of Iowa

Fall 2011

Question 3 Consider the amplifier shown. Neglect the

BJTs internal capacitances. Estimate the 3-dB
frequency and the midband gain and then make a plot
of the frequency response. You can assume
and that
. Further,
. (15 points)
Hint: using BJT scaling concepts will greatly simplify
your work.

Solution

(
)
(
)
Note that
. Turn off the input voltage
BJT scaling to determine the resistance looking back into the emitter:
(

sees
)(

) (

(
)(

and use

and the circuit time constant is

) = 10 ms, so that
(
)
.

Using BJT scaling, the resistance looking into the base at midband frequencies is
(
The parallel combination of and
input. Since this is a CC amplifier,

)(

)(

is much larger than

so the amplifier does not load the
. The Bode plot is shown below.

55:041 Electronic Circuits

The University of Iowa

Fall 2011

Question 4 Consider a BJT with a rated power of 115 W at

, and a maximum
allowable junction temperature
. The transistor is mounted on a heat sink with
parameters
, and
. Determine how much power the
BJT can safely dissipate at an ambient temperature of
. (12 points)
Solution
The thermal resistance from the device/junction to the case is not given explicitly, so we need to
determine it before proceeding. The BJT is rated at 115 W at
and a thermal
model and the calculation of
is then

)
(

(3 points)
Now we can determine the maximum allowable power dissipation when the BJT is mounted on a
heat skink with the given parameters. A thermal model for the problem is shown below.

(
(

)
)

(9 points)

55:041 Electronic Circuits

The University of Iowa

Fall 2011

Question 5 Consider the circuit below. The duty cycle and frequency of the 555 astable is 60%
and 10 kHz respectively.

(a) Specify a value for

to ensure that the average current through the IR diode does not
exceed 30 mA (4 points)
(b) Explain (2 sentences maximum) the purpose of the decoupling capacitor (1 point)
(c) Give a reasonable value for the decoupling capacitor (1 point)
Solution
( )
Part (a) The peak current must be
. This value will give an
average of 30 mA with a 60% on time. Assuming the
for the BJT, then
( )

. Choose the closest standard value of

.
Part (b) When the FET switches, large current spikes may appear on the supply rail, which can
propagate into the IC and disturb its operation. The decoupling capacitor provides a local
reservoir of energy, and ensures a clean power supply rail.
Part (c) A good first try would be

10

55:041 Electronic Circuits

The University of Iowa

Fall 2011

Question 6 In the following circuit, the three transistors are matched and in the same thermal
environment. Determine the values for
and
to produce an output current of 0.4 mA. You
may ignore base currents and make reasonable assumptions about VBE. (6 points)

Solution
The voltage across the diode-strapped transistors is
and we ignore base currents, so the
voltage drop across the base-emitter of the output transistor is
, and the voltage drop across
is
. Assume VBE = 0.7 V, so that
(
and

11

55:041 Electronic Circuits

The University of Iowa

Question 7 For the amplifier below,

(8 points)

Fall 2011

. Determine

, and estimate

Hint, use BJT scaling.

Solution
Since

is large,

and

. Then

.
Using BJT scaling:

and
(
This is an Emitter Follower, so

12

)(

55:041 Electronic Circuits

The University of Iowa

Fall 2011

Question 8 Consider the amplifier shown. The maximum

power the transistor may dissipate is
, and
.
(a) Determine a load resistance
so maximum power is
delivered it.
(b) For
, determine the signal power dissipated
in the load
For the power calculations, neglect the base currents
(8 points)
Solution

Part (a) The transistor will dissipate the maximum power (25 W) when

From this follows that

and
(

Part (b) The gain of the amplifier is

, so that the amplitude of the signal output voltage is

13

.
)(

)(
.

The signal power dissipated in the resistor is

)

.
)