Amplifiers for analog electronics

In typical analog circuits (as in operational amplifiers) the amplifier must pay attention
to the following aspects:

Signal amplification (voltage or current)

Linearity of the output signal delivered

to the load

Frequency range of the output signal

Input and output resistance of circuit

the power gain between input and
output signals is not the main goal for
the power stage (except for RF power
amplifiers)

input
signal

drivers

Analog
amplifier

load VL

e.g. a radio system that needs to amplify the signal from the antenna but the load is another
circuits that processes the signal.
Too much power transferred to the load could also be detrimental..
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Review of basic of power amplifiers for analog electronics

In typical output stages (as in operational amplifiers and audio systems) the power
amplifier that drives the load must pay attention to the following aspects:

Power conversion efficiency = PL / PS

defined as the ratio between the
average power (in a cycle) given to the
load and the one taken by the power
supply (always less than 1). Often given
as a percentage (<100%).
Power dissipation on the active device
the power gain between input and
output signals is now relevant.

Supply PS

input
signal

Pi
drivers

Power
circuit

load PL

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Classes of operation of power amplifiers (and power circuits)

The operation of the power amplifiers is defined in different classes according to the
way the active devices in the circuit are operating during the period of input signal
(sinusoidal input exemplify the typical working condition).

Class A where the active device is

conducting during the entire time period of
input signal waveform (360)

current
nt

For analog amplifiers we define 2 main classes of operation:

Class B, where the device is conducting for

about one/half the time period of the input
signal waveform (180). Two devices are
required to obtain a good output linearity.

current

time

For the switching circuits we can define a

Class D operation where the device is made
to commutate between full conduction (on)
and interdiction (off) states (we will discuss it
later on)

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current

time

time

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Class A operation
In class A operation the device (here a BJT is assumed) is biased at the middle
point Q(Io, Vo) of the load line, and the operating point is driven by the input
signal along the load line to a max current less or equal than Imax and min current
larger ore equal than 0.
The output power is max when the operating point reaches Imax (ideally, when the
Vcesat is neglected) and 0.
Class-A BJT output stage in
emitter follower configuration

Ic
Imax
Ip
Io

Vp

VCC

Vce

Vo
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Class A power efficiency

Max power efficiency: assuming a linear operation up to the limit values one has:

1
iC (t )dt = VCC I 0

TT
= V CC I 0

Power absorbed from the positive supply voltage: PS + = VCC

Power absorbed from the negative supply voltage:
Total power from the supply:

PS

P S = 2 V CC I 0

VP I P
(VP , I P peak values of the a.c component)
2
VP = VCC , I P = I O
Max a.c. peak values (for maximum efficiency) :
Power provided to the load:

PL =

PLMAX =
The max power efficiency is then:

MAX =

VCC I O
2

PLMAX 1
= = 25%
PS
4

The power absorbed by the supply is always constant and equal to PS.
The efficiency is linearly dependent on output power PL.

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Power balance in class A amplifiers

The power balance of the circuit is:

PS = PDev + Ppol + PL

where:

PDev
is the power dissipation on the power device
Ppol
is the power dissipation on current generator
PL
is the dc power dissipated in the load
The max power dissipation in the circuit is obtained for zero power on the load.
Ppol is constant and is:
Ppol = VCC I O

Max PDev = PS VCC I O = VCC I O

The max power efficiency is:

50% of PS

MAX =

PLMAX
= 25%
PS

Lets consider the meaning of these results:

To obtain a (controlled ) power output of 50 W one need a supply power of at least
200 W
the device must dissipate 100 W in the steady state to transfer a max power of 50 W
to the load!
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Power balance in class A amplifiers

Exercise:
Which is the power dissipation on hte device when the mximum power is
transferred to the load ?
Simple calculation show:

PDev =

VP I P
= PL (VP , I P peak values of the a.c component)
2

Exercise:
Typical impedance of a 50W loudspeaker i 5 Ohms.
Which is the peak voltage and current the BJT needs to handle?
Simple calculation show: Vce_max32V, Ic_max5A
Exercise:
Calculate the efficiency for a costant output voltage

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Class B operation
In class B operation the device (here it is assumed a BJT) is biased at zero current
point Q(0, VCC) of the load line. As a result the power dissipation in the quiescent
state is zero.
Two devices (and two power supplies) are needed to obtain an output signal analog to
the input one. The NPN device operates as an emitter follower for positive signal
swing, while the PNP device operates as an emitter follower for negative signal swing.
Ic

Class-B output stage with 2 BJT

in push-pull configuration

Ip
Io

Q
VCC

Vp

Vce

Vo

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Class B power efficiency

Max power efficiency:
Assuming linear operation up to the limit values, and sinusoidal input
For the power Ps absorbed from the supply,
assuming the following plot for the currents
given by the two supplies:

IMAX

2VCC T/2
2VCC I MAX
PS =
I MAX sin t dt =

T 0

PL =

Q2

Q1
T/2

Q1
T

VP I P
(in that case, the max peak values are : VP = VCC , I P = I MAX )
2

Then, the max output power on the load is:

The max power efficiency is then:

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MAX

PLMAX =

VCC I MAX
2

PLMAX VCC I MAX

=
=
= 78.5%
PS
2
2VCC I MAX 4
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Power Devices and Circuits 2014-15

Power balance in class B amplifiers

The power balance of the class B circuit is:

PS = PD + PL(a.c.)

where:

PD is the power dissipation on both the active devices

PL(a.c) is the a.c. power delivered to the load (d.c. power is zero)
The power dissipation on the devices is null for for zero power on the load. To evaluate
the power dissipation (on both devices) as a function of the output signal, one has:

PD (I P ) = PS(I P ) PL (I P ) =

2VCC I P

I P2 RL

dPD (I P )
2VCC 2I P RL
2V
=0

= 0 I P* = CC
dI P

2
RL
2
2VCC
PD (I ) = PDMAX = 2
RL
*
P

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This is a second order function in IP, and the

(a) max is located somewhere between 0 and
IMAX. It can be found as:

Substituting that value of IP* in (a) one has:

and we obtain the following

ratio between PDMAX and PLMAX

2
PDMAX 2VCC
2RL 4
= 2
= 2 0.4
2
PLMAX RL VCC

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Power balance in class B amplifiers

From the previous results on power efficiency and power dissipation it comes out that:

The max power conversion from power supply to load is 78%

the total power dissipation (on both device) is 40% of the max output power: then
each device must dissipate 20% of the max output power

Lets consider the meaning of these results:

To obtain with class-B a power output of 100 W one need a supply power of at least
130 W
To transfer a max power of 100 W to the load, each device must be able to dissipate
20 W (at the IP* rated)
Conclusion: Class B is better than class A in power conversion, (we pay this with some
degradation in linearity), but this is still not sufficient if we need power conversion above
several kW.
For a 10 kW output power we need a power dissipation on each device of more than
2kW and this is not feasible with usual power packages, as we will see later on.

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What is the Package

It is the plastic, metallic or ceramic box the surounds the piece of silicon (chip) where
the power device is manufactured.
The package provides:
mechanical reliability
protection from environmentl humidity, chemicals, dust and various pollution

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Class D operation
To increase the power available at the output of a power circuit, one must decrease the
power dissipation of the active devices (the circuit)
This is to increase the efficiency and to afford less expensive and bulky power devices
since device power dissipation is upper limited by the package size and material (we
will come back on that point later on).
The best way of reducing the power dissipation on the device is to let it operate into two
limit operating points:
a) OFF state, where the power dissipation is zero because the device current is null.
b) ON state, at the minimum voltage drop allowed by the operation of the device (often
indicated as saturation voltage)
This is the Class-D operation: the device operates as a switch, that is either open (OFF
state) or closed (ON state). In this way, the device, driven by input pulses capable to
bring it either in ON or OFF state, can operate at a power much less than the
available output power, thus increasing both the power output and the power
efficiency.

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Class D operation
Ideally the power dissipation of the device working in the ON-OFF state is
OFF state: P = Vcc * Ileakage -> Negligible
ON state: P = Imax * VON
-> VON is a fraction of Vcc. The power dissipation is small
ON-OFF and OFF-ON transition: depends on the power device. The slower the
transition the higher the power dissipation (more time spent far from ON and OFF states)
In class D operation the chosen power device can easily handle a significant power as
the limitation is NOT on the maximum static power (there is a limitation on the dynamic
power however, but this is less stringent) but on the maximum current and voltage.
Example: designing a circuit with 50V-2A supply voltage and load current (100W)
In Class A operation need to chose a power device with the ratings of 50V, 2A, and 50W
of max. power dissipation.
In Class D operation the max. power dissipation can also be as low as 10W since VON is
about 2V.

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Class D operation
In other words, as schematically shown below with reference to a BJT device, the
operating load line (red line) can overcome the max power dissipation locus (green
hyperbolic line), because in the ON state (point B) the dissipated power is much less
than the maximum power dissipation PDMAX, and in the OFF state (point A) is almost zero
(assuming negligible the leakage current)

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Class D operation
However, one must pay attention on the time required by the device to switch between
ON and OFF states: we can define an average steady-state power dissipation PDS and
an average dynamic power dissipation PDd :
PDS: the average power dissipation
in the ON state (assuming
negligible the one in the OFF
state)
PDd: the average power dissipation
during the switching transitions
T1 and T2 between ON and
OFF states

PDS =

TON
I ON VMIN
T

PDd =

1
i(t)v(t)dt

T T1+T 2

TON

T1

T2

The total power dissipation PD is the sum of the two components PDS and PDd indicated above.
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Class D amplifier
In class D amplifier, the information content of the signal cannot modify the amplitude of
the pulses, because these latter are of constant amplitude, but it can be transferred to the
output by a modulation of the width of the pulses.
In other words, we need a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to drive the device and to
transfer this information to the (amplified) output, i.e. to the load.
The simplest PWM modulation technique is done by using a signal comparator to
compare the analog signal with a triangular waveform.
The output will be made of a pulse train having an amplitude equal to the supply voltage
of the comparator, and ON (OFF) duration defined by the time interval where the
triangular waveform is lower (higher) than the one of the modulation signal.

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PWM Modulation of Class D amplifiers

An example of PWM modulation, made by a sinusoidal signal fS using a signal comparator
and a triangular waveform fM, is reported in the following plot.

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Example of analog Class D amplifier

Driver

Power devices Filter

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Class D power block

Power
supply

signal frequency fS
carrier frequency fM

PWM
modulation

Class D
circuit

signal
demodulation
(filtering)

load

To reconstruct the output signal after the class D operation we need to demodulate
the signal by a low pass filter, that will cut off the carrier frequency fM, while leaving
unaltered the signal frequency fS .
The filter must be realized with only L, C components to minimize the power losses.
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Assuming that the L,C components of the filters are lossless (in real cases at least the
inductance will have some series resistance that will dissipate some power), the
power efficiency of the circuit is basically linked to the power losses of the
semiconductor devices used to realize the switching elements.
We can then define the power efficiency

PL PS PD
PD
= =
= 1
PS
PS
PS

where PD is the total power dissipation on the switching devices.

For each device one can define, as seen before, the steady state power dissipation
PDS as:

PDS =

TON
I ON VMIN
T

and the dynamic (or switching) power dissipation PDd as:

PDd =

1
i(t)v(t)dt

T T1+T 2

We will use these expressions of PDS and PDd to evaluate the power efficiency of
some basic switching power circuits.
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PWM

Modulation

The filter cut-off frequency fF must be:

fF<<fM (modulation frequency) to suppress effectively the carrier frequency of the waveform
fS<<fF (filter frequency) to leave unaltered the signal frequency (up to the max frequency
contained in the signal waveform)
Then fS<<fM - This basic need to push up the operating frequency fM will require power
devices with high operating frequency and low switching times.

Low-pass LC filter with a

slope of 40 db/octave

40 dB/dec

|VO/VI|
(dB)

RL increas.
L
C

RL

fS
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fF

fM

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f
22

Circuit simulation of a class D power Amplifier

A SWCAD analysis of a push-pull power amplifier operated in class D with a PWM
modulation with a voltage comparator and an LC filter at the output, and two
complementary Power MOS is done using the following schematics:

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Discussion on the LC filter

The pole of the LC circuit is at 7.9kHz:

f =

1
2 LC

The signal frequency is 5kHz while the modulating signal is at 50kHz

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Discussion on the LC filter

For analog amplifiers this kind of dimensioning of the LC circuit is adequate.

f =

1
2 LC

As we will see in the following, when dealing with power converters or power supply
circuits, it is more convenient to see the LC tank as an energy storage circut taking care
of providing constant voltage and currrent to the load.

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Power Circuits
The basic power circuits are:
DC/DC converters, that control the d.c. power
on the load, by variable control signals

unregulated
DC
DC Power
supply

regulated
DC

DC/DC
converter

load

control
unregulated
DC
DC/AC converters (Inverters), that generate
a regulated a.c power from a d.c. power
supply, and control the a.c. power delivered

DC Power
supply

regulated
AC

DC/AC
converter

load

control
unregulated
AC
AC/AC converters, that generate a
controlled a.c power (both in frequency and
amplitude) from the line a.c. power supply

AC line

regulated
AC

AC/AC
converter

load

control
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Power Circuits
Apart from the above circuits, we can consider also the power circuits that transform a AC
power (usually the one of the grid main supply) into a DC one (unregulated) : these circuits are
named Rectifiers,

AC/DC converters (Rectifiers), that generate

an (unregulated) d.c power from a a.c.
power supply

unregulated
AC
AC Power
supply

unregulated
DC

DC/AC
converter

load

control
These circuits are usually made of transformers and diodes. They are needed if the
electronic system has to be supplied by the mains; in that case the rectifier is used to give
the unregulated DC input power that is assumed for the power circuits presented above.

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