EEET 2404 Electronic Circuits

Lecture 8

Class AB and B Power Amplifiers

- operation principles, power and efficiency
Amplifier distortion
Assoc. Prof. James Scott
James.Scott@rmit.edu.au

EEET2404: Electronic Circuits Page 8–1

 Class AB and B Power Amplifiers
•  Reading:
–  Sedra/Smith, sections 13.3 to 13.5
•  Prior Knowledge:
–  DC, AC power calculations
–  BJT characteristics, common-emitter and
common collector configurations
•  Problems:
–  13.9, 13.10, 13.14

EEET2404: Electronic Circuits Page 8–2

 Class B vs Class A
•  In class A amplifiers the transistor
remains ON even when there is no
input signal.
•  Efficiency of class A amplifiers is less
than 25%.
•  In class B amplifiers, when there is no
input signal, the transistor is switched
off. Hence, to obtain full cycle
amplification, two transistors are
needed.
•  Such a configuration is referred to as a
push-pull circuit.
•  Efficiency is better than class A, as the
power device is on only when needed.

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 Class B

Block representation of the push-pull operation."

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 Complementary Symmetry Circuits
•  Using complementary transistors (npn and pnp), it is
possible to obtain a full cycle output across a load
using half-cycles of operation from each transistor.

•  The npn transistor operates in the positive half cycle

and the pnp transistor operates in the negative half
cycle.

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Complementary Symmetry Circuits

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Complementary Symmetry Circuits

Positive input signal!

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Complementary Symmetry Circuits

Negative input signal!

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Disadvantages of Push-pull Circuit

Two separate voltage sources are

needed.
Cross over distortion is generated.
Why?

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Eliminating the Cross-over Distortion
Using a bias
voltage at the base
of the two
transistors!

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 Output Power! in RL!

V+
Voltage at emitter is
always 0.7V less
Q1 VCE1 than the base!
I E1
VBB IL If voltage across
VBE1!
load:!
VBE2!
VBB RL! VL =! Vm! Sin ωt!
IE2
Vin VL
Q2 VCE2 What is the
output
power PL? !
V-
EEET2404: Electronic Circuits Page 8–11
 Output Power! in RL!
V+ T!

1! VL2!
Q1 VCE1 PL =! dt!
T! RL!
I E1
0!
VBB IL
VBE1! T!

PL =!
1! Vm2!Sin2!ωt!
VBE2! dt!
VBB RL! T! RL!
IE2
Vin 0!
Q2 VCE2
VL Vm2! Vm! 2!
PL = ! =!(! )
2RL! 2! RL!
V-

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 Power in RL

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 Power in RL (cont.)

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 Total input power from both sources!

V+
PIN! T!
iC1!
Positive voltage source! Q1 VCE1 PIN =! 1! (|V |i -|V |i )!dt!
CC C1 CC C2
T!
I E1
VBB IL 0!
VBE1!

VBE2!
VBB RL!L!
R
IE2
Vin
Q2 VCE2
VLL
V
iC2!
PIN!
V-
Negative voltage source!

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Total input power is driven from the input
current from each source!
iC1,iC2!

ic1!
IC!

iC1! ≈ iE1
IL! iC2! ≈ iE2

t!
IL!

-IC!

ic2!
Current driven from each source!
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 Total input power!
V+
T!
iC1!
Q1 VCE1 PIN =! 1! (|V |i -|V |i )!dt!
CC C1 CC C2
T!
I E1
VBB IL 0!
VBE1!
iC1 = (Vm/RL) sin ωt!
For the + half cycle"
VBE2!
VBB RL!
IE2 iC2 = - (Vm/RL) sin ωt!
Vin For the - half cycle"
Q2 VCE2
VL
iC2!
V-

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Total input power (calculation)
Note Vm=VL!

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 Total Input Power
As a result:!

Vm
PIN = 2 VCC = 2 I ( average) VCC
π RL

with:!

Vm
I ( average) = (average value of a
π RL half sinusoid)!

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Power Dissipation in the Transistors
•  Power dissipation in the transistors is the
subtraction of the input power from the
power delivered to RL
–  Power dissipation in each transistor is half this
value

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 Power dissipation in transistors!

V+ T!
iC1! 1! vCE1 iC1! dt!
PD1!Q 1 VCE1
PD1 =!
T!
I E1 0!
VBB IL
VBE1!

VBE2!
VBB RL!
IE2
Vin
Q2 VCE2
VL
iC2!
V-
EEET2404: Electronic Circuits Page 8–21
 Power dissipation in transistors!

V+ T!
iC1! 1! vCE1 iC1! dt!
PD1!Q 1 VCE1
PD1 =!
T!
I E1 0!
VBB IL
VBE1!
OR!
VBE2!
VBB RL!
IE2 Vm2!
Vin PD1 = PIN - ! 1!
Q2 VCE2 RL!
VL 2! 4!
iC2!
1!
V- PL!
2!
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 Vm2! Vm! 2!
PL = ! =!(! )
2RL! 2! RL!

PL! PL!

VCC2!
2RL!

VCC! Vm!
Power in RL vs the amplitude of the input voltage!
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 2 |VCC|! Vm!
PIN = !
π
RL!
PIN! PIN!
2
2VCC
π RL PL!

VCC2!
2RL!

VCC! Vm!
Input power PIN vs the amplitude of the input voltage!
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 2|VCC|! Vm! 1! Vm2!
PD,total = ! -!
π
RL! 2! RL!
PD,total! PIN!
Each output! 2
2VCC
device must!πR PL!
L
be capable!
of dissipating! 2! Max. Power Out.!
VCC
half this !
value! 2RL! PD,total!
2
4 VCC
PDmax!
π 2 2RL

2 VCC! Vm!
VCC
π
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 2
CLASS B PUSH PULL! V m
PL 100 2RL 100
η= =
PIN 1 2 Vm 1
VCC
π RL

For: Vm = VCC (maximum efficiency)!

π 100 Efficiency of a
η= = 78% class AB amp
4 1 will be lower.!
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 Summary - Class B
2 | VCC | Vm
•  Pin =
2 πRL
V
•  Po = m
2 RL
•  Efficiency 4Vm
η= ×100
πVCC
VCC
•  For max efficiency when Vm = VCC , Im =
(maximum power): RL

η ≈ 78%
2
4VCC
•  PD,maximum = π 2 2 RL
(when max power is dissipated in
transistors)

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 Class AB Amplifier
•  Crossover distortion can be eliminated by
biasing the complementary output
transistors at a small output current
Emitter-follower! iN = iP = IQ = IS eVBB 2VT

Select VBB to
achieve desired IQ!
€
VBB
vO = v I + − v BEN
2

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 Class AB Amplifier
•  Positive vO causes a current iL to flow
through RL, so iN must increase.
iN = iP + iL

•  Therefore, vBEN must also increase above

VBB/2 and vBEP must fall to maintain:
€
v BEN + v BEP = VBB
iN iP IQ
VT ln + VT ln = 2VT ln
IS IS IS
iN iP = IQ2
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 Class AB Amplifier
•  So, as iN increases, iP decreases by the same ratio,
while the product remains constant.
•  Eliminating iP
iN iP − IQ2 = 0
iN (iN − iL ) − IQ2 = 0
iN2 − iN iL − IQ2 = 0
•  For the positive half-cycle, QN acts as the emitter-
follower and QP can be ignored.
€ •  Opposite for the negative half-cycle.

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 Class AB Amplifier Transfer Characteristic

•  Similar operation to the class B circuit, except:

–  For small vI, both transistors conduct
–  This leads to a smooth transition from one transistor carrying current to
the other
–  Almost totally eliminates cross-over distortion
•  In power calculations, we need to remember that under quiescent
conditions, the circuit dissipates VCCIQ watts per transistor

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 Class AB Output Resistance
•  The output resistance is:
Rout = reN // reP
VT VT
= //
iN iP
VT
=
iN + iP

•  Around vI = 0, the output resistance remains

constant.
€
•  For larger load currents, either iN or iP is
significant and Rout decreases.
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Class AB Biasing Using Diodes
IS for the
transistors is n
times that of the
diodes!
IBIAS must be
greater than the
maximum base
drive for QN!
Sets a lower limit
for IBIAS!
Figure 13.14

EEET2404: Electronic Circuits Page 8–33

 Diode Biasing (cont’d)
•  Since
n = IQ/βN
–  and IQ is usually much smaller than the peak load current (< 10%)
–  n cannot be large
–  so, the diodes cannot be much smaller than the output transistors
•  Diode biasing provides thermal stabilisation
–  As the temperature increases, since VBE is held constant, the
collector current will increase leading to thermal runaway
–  Place the diodes in close thermal contact to the transistors. As the
diodes heat up, VBB will decrease preventing thermal runaway

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Biasing using the VBE Multiplier

VBE1
IR =
R1
VBB = IR ( R1 + R2 )
" R2 %
= VBE1$1+ '
# R1 &
IC1 = IBIAS − IR

€
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 What is distortion?"

Amp

Pure sine wave Pure sine wave?

•  Input is a pure sine – output will be a pure sine

if the amp is ideal. No distortion in this case.!
•  If the output is no longer a pure sine wave then
it has distortion(i.e. we have created new
frequency components in the output spectrum).!
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 Why Distortion Exists
•  Distortion may be due to the nonlinearity of
devices or the circuit itself (like a class-B
amp where cross over distortion will occur.)
•  Due to the nonlinearity of devices -
sometimes called nonlinear distortion or
harmonic distortion. This is the most
common type of distortion.
•  Other forms of distortion are possible – not
considered here.
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 How to Describe Distortion?
A periodic signal can be represented by the Fourier
series:!
!
v = A1cos(ωt+φ1) + A2cos(2ωt+φ2) + A3cos(3ωt+φ3) + ...
+ Ancos(nωt+φn)"
"
Fundamental + 2nd harmonic + 3rd harmonic +..
+ nth harmonic"
"
Dn = |An/A1| = nth harmonic distortion. (Very often
expressed in %.) And"
" Total harmonic distortion"
%THD = √ (D22 + D32 + …. + Dn2 ) x 100%"
EEET2404: Electronic Circuits Page 8–38
 q
PUSH PULL ICONNECTION!
C 2 = IS exp( − VBE2 )
KT
CE! q
IV+
C2 = I S exp( − ( − VBB + Vin ))
VBB KT
VBB − Vin
Q2 IC2 = IS exp(
VCE2 ) exp( )
+! VT VT
I C2 IL
IL = IC2 - IC1!
I C1
Q1 VL = IL RL!
Vin +! VCE1 VL
q
VBB IC1 = IS exp( VBE1 )
KT
V- VBB Vin
IC1 = IS exp( ) exp( )
VT VT
EEET2404: Electronic Circuits Page 8–39
VL = IL RL!
IL = IC2 - IC1!
VBB − Vin VBB Vin
VL = ![!IS exp( ) exp( ) -! IS exp( ) exp( ) ]!RL!
VT VT VT VT
Vin − Vin
VL = − ICRL (exp − exp )
VT VT
/) Even terms # & 2
cancel!
# & 3 , 3
V 1 V 1 V
1+1+ in + % in ( + % in ( + …. 1
11+* VT 2! $ VT ' 3! $ VT ' .- 11
VL = −ICRL 0 4
) 2 3 ,1
1 V 1 # V & 1 # V &
1 − +1− in + % in ( − % in ( + ….1
12 +* VT 2! $ VT ' 3! $ VT ' .-15
) 3 5 ,
V 1 # V & 1 # V &
VL = −2ICRL + in + % in ( + % in ( ….
+* VT 3! $ VT ' 5! $ VT ' .-
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 Vin = Vin,m sin ωt!
3! 3! 3!
Vin = Vin,m sin ωt!
3! V 3! ! 1! ( 3 sin ωt - sin 3ωt )!
Vin = ! in,m
4!
) 3 5 ,
V 1 # V & 1 # V &
VL = −2ICRL + in + % in ( + % in ( ….
+* VT 3! $ VT ' 5! $ VT ' .-
1 +$ 2' 2 .5
$
3 Vin,m -& 1 Vin,m ) ' $
1 Vin,m ' 3
VL ≈ −2ICRL 2 1+ & ) sin ωt − & 0
) sin3ωt 6
34 VT -,&% 8 % VT ( )( 24 % VT ( 03
/7
# &
2
% ( 2
100 # Vin,m & % 1 ( 25 # Vin,m &
%3HD ≈ % ( % 2(
%≈ % (
24 $ VT ' % 1 # Vin,m & ( 6 V
$ T '
% 1+ 8 % V ( (
$ $ T ' '

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 Intermodulation Distortion
•  Intermodulation distortion occurs when we
have multiple input frequencies
•  It results in new frequency components
being generated that are close to the original
frequencies
–  Therefore they cannot be filtered out
–  Especially problematic when amplifying
digitally modulated signals

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 Intermodulation Distortion (2)
( )
Vin = Vin,m sin ω1t + sin ω 2 t {assume freq’s closely spaced}

*
, V 1 $ V '3 -
/
Cannot be!
VL ≈ −2ICRL in
+ & ) in
, VT 3! % VT ( /
+ . Filtered out!
* $ '
3-
( (
, Vin,m sin ω1t + sin ω 2 t
= −2ICRL ,
))
+ &
( ( ))
1 Vin,m sin ω1t + sin ω 2 t ) /
VT 3! & VT ) /
,+ % ( /.
* $1 25 2 '-
$ V ' $ V '
, &21+ 3 & in,m ) 6 sin ω t + sin ω t + 1 & in,m ) sin 2ω − ω t + sin 2ω − ω t
3 3 )/
, &3 8 % VT ( 3 ( 1 2 )
8 % VT (
{ ( 1 2) ( 2 1 )} )/
Vin,m 4 7
= −2ICRL , & )/
, VT & $ V '2 $ V '2 )/
, 1 1
& − & in,m ) sin 2ω + ω t + sin 2ω + ω t −
& { ( 1 2 ) 2 ( )}
1 & in,m ) {sin3ω1t + sin3ω 2 t}))/
,+ % 8 % VT ( 24 % VT ( (/.

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