ChapterTwo:

RadioFrequencyCircuits

Introduction
Thereisaneedtomodulateasignalusinganinformation
signal
Thissignalisreferredtoasabasebandsignal
Thecarrierneedstobeahigherfrequencythanthebaseband
RFAmplifiers,Oscillators,Mixers,andfrequency
synthesizersareusedtomeettheseconditions

HighFrequencyEffects
Atverylowfrequencies,capacitorsandothercomponents
behaveinverystraightforwardways
AcapacitorisconsideredanopencircuittoDCvoltages
andashortcircuitforACatlowfrequencies
Asfrequenciesbecomehigher,componentinteraction
becomesmorecriticalbothdirectlyandasstray
reactances,inductances,andcapacitances

EffectofFrequencyonDevice
Characteristics
Allelectronicdeviceshave
capacitancesandinductances
Asfrequencyincreases,so
doesinductivereactance
Asfrequencyincreases,
capacitivereactance
decreases
Atsomepoint,thetwo
reactanceswillbeequaland
thecircuitwillselfresonate

Lumped&DistributedConstants
Atlowfrequencies,thecapacitancesandinductancesfound
betweenthetracesonaprintedcircuitboardarenegligible
Asfrequencyincreases,thestraycapacitancesand
inductancesareconsideredasdistributedalongthelengthof
thepcboard
Theyaresaidtobedistributedconstants

HighFrequency
ConstructionTechniques
Circuitsaredesignedtoreducethestraycapacitances
andinductancesresultingfromthewiringandcircuitboard
Tracesandwiresarekeptshortandwellseparated
Conductorsandinductorsincloseproximityarekeptat
rightangles
Toroidalcoresforinductorsareusedtoreducestray
magneticfields
Shieldingisused
Agimmickisusedinsomecircuits

RadioFrequencyAmplifiers
RFamplifiersdifferfromaudioamplifiersinthatwide
bandwidthmayormaynotberequired
Linearityoftheoutputmayormaynotberequired
EfficiencycanbeimprovedthroughtheuseofClassC
amplifiers

NarrowbandAmplifiers
ManyRFamplifiersare
requiredtooperateonly
withinanarrowrangeof
frequencies
Filtersareusedtoreduce
thebandwidth
Thetunedamplifierisset
accordingtotheformula:

1
fo
2 L1C1

MillerEffect
Interelectrodecapacitanceandinductanceisaproblem
inRFcircuits
Thisproblemisespeciallysevereforthecollectorbase
capacitanceinacommonemitteramplifier
Themultiplicationoftheeffectofcapacitanceinthis
configurationiscalledtheMillerEffect

CommonBaseAmplifier
Onesolutiontothe
MillerEffectistousea
commonbaseamplifier
configurationasshown
attheright

WidebandAmplifiers
BasebandpartsofRFsystemsmaymakeuseofwideband
amplifiers
Widebandamplifierstypicallyusetransformercoupling
Typicalwidebandamplifiersneednegativefeedbackto
compensateforhigherlowfrequencygain:asfrequency
increases,negativefeedbackdecreases

AmplifierClasses
Amplifiersareclassifiedaccordingtotheportionofthe
inputcycletheactivedeviceconductscurrent
Thisisreferredtoastheconductionangleandis
expressedindegrees
SingleendedaudioampsareoperatedinClassAwhere
thedeviceconductsfor360
PushpullampscanbeaClassBifoneofthetwo
devicesisconductingatalltimes
MostaudiopowerampsoperateinClassABa
compromisebetweenClassAandClassB

ClassBRFAmplifier
AsimpleClassBamplifier
isshownattheright
Itusestransformercoupling
Bothtransistorsarebiased
nearcutoff

ClassCAmplifiers
ClassCamplifiers
conductforlessthan180
oftheinputcycle
ClassCamplifierscanbe
singleendedorpushpull
ClassCamplifiersare
veryefficientinRF
applicationsbutinherently
induceseveredistortion

Neutralization
Transistorsortubesmay
introducesufficientfeedback
tocausethecircuittooscillate
andbecomeunstable
Neutralizationcancancelthis
typeoffeedbackbyfeeding
backaportionoftheoutput
signaltotheinputinsucha
waythatithasthesame
amplitudeastheunwanted
signalbuttheoppositephase

FrequencyMultipliers
Sometimesitisusefultouseharmonicoperationto
generateafrequencyhigherthanisconveniently
generatedbyusingafrequencymultiplier

RadioFrequencyOscillators
RFoscillatorsdonotdifferinprinciplethanother
oscillatorsbutpracticalcircuitsarequitedifferent
Anyamplifiercanbemadetooscillateifaportionofthe
outputsignalisfedbacktotheinput
TheBarkhausencriteriaestablishestherequirementsfora
circuittooscillate

LCOscillators
PracticalRFcircuitswhosefrequencyis
controlledbyaresonantLCcircuitare:
HartleyOscillator
ColpittsOscillator
ClappOscillator

HartleyOscillator

CommonconfigurationsforaHartleyOscillator

ColpittsOscillator
Commonconfigurations
foraColpittsOscillator

ClappOscillator
Common
configurationfora
ClappOscillator

VaractorTunedOscillator
Thefrequencyofanoscillatormaybetunedbyvarying
theinductanceorcapacitanceofthecircuit
Varactorsaremoreconvenientsubstitutesthanvariable
capacitorsinmanycircumstances

CrystalControlledOscillators
CrystalcontrolledoscillatorsaremorestablethanLCoscillators
Crystaloscillatorsutilizethepiezoelectriceffecttogeneratea
frequencyvariablesignal

Mixers
Mixersarenonlinearcircuitsthatcombinetwosignalsto
producethesumanddifferenceofofthetwoinputfrequencies

TypesofMixers
Squarelawmixers:outputisderivedbytheformula:
2

v Av Bv Cv

o
i
i
i

DiodeMixersuseadiodeoperatedintheforwardbiasmode
TransistorMixersusebipolarandFETtransistors
BalancedMixersaremixerswheretheinputfrequenciesdo
notappearattheoutput

FrequencySynthesizers
ConventionalLCoscillatorstendtobeunstablebecauseof:

Vibration
Temperaturechanges
Voltagechanges
Componentaging

Crystaloscillatorsaremorestablebutarearelimitedtoa
narrowrangeofoperatingfrequencies
FrequencySynthesizersovercometheselimitationsand
mayendupbeingmorecosteffective

PhaseLockedLoops
Thephaselockedloopisthebasisofnearlyallmodern
synthesizerdesigns
Theloopconsistsofa:

Phasedetector
Voltagecontrolledoscillator(VCO)
Lowpassfilter
ThepurposeofthePLLislocktheVCOtothereferencesignal

SimpleFrequencySynthesizer
Inadditiontothephasedetector,VCO,andfilter,aprogrammabledividerisnecessaryfor
frequencysynthesisusingaPLLasshownbelow

Prescaling
Becauseprogrammabledividersareunavailableatfrequencies
above100MHz,fixedandtwomodulusprescalersareused
Twomodulusprescalerscanbeprogrammedtodividebytwo
consecutiveintegers