] Balanced Current Amplifier

Reinventing the Power Amplifier - BCA

THE BALANCED CURRENT AMPLIFIER - A NEW careful selection of the class-B bias point, he was able
PARADIGM FOR THE 21ST CENTURY to produce essentially undistorted output without hav-
In 1931 Loy Barton, a research worker employed by ing a massive quiescent power loss. This greatly in-
David Sarnoff , unearthed the paradigm that has domi- creased the power output that could be obtained from a
nated all electronic power amplifiers used for audio re- pair of tubes and reduced the wastage of electricity.
production and industrial power to this present day. Many
incremental additions have embellished Loy’s original While many variations on this basic theme have been
invention since its inception. The embellishments have developed since 1931, Loy’s class-B paradigm has sur-
many names, ultra-linear, Williamson, full complemen- vived unchallenged. Operation of the push-pull power
tary, quasi-complementary, quasi-linear, class-G, class- devices in time alternation has been part of all high per-
H, grounded-bridge, class-D, etc. formance designs for the last 66 years. Even when the
devices became class-D PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)
One common thread in all of the above is the use of switches, they were operated using the class-B para-
push-pull circuitry. Loy did not invent push-pull circuitry. digm, first one on and then the other, in strict time alter-
Class-A push-pull amplifiers were around before 1931 nation.
and were used whenever larger output powers were
needed than could be derived from a single device While switching and PWM methods are the methods of
vacuum tube output stage. Loy was the first to describe choice to all modern power electronics engineers, PWM
class-B push-pull amplifiers which he developed to amplifiers have remained relatively useless for precision
power both the large audio modulators of AM broadcast power amplification. Ironically the class-B paradigm lies
stations and the output stages of home radios. Both at the heart of the problem.
applications had a common need, the need to produce
more high-quality power output with less electricity and To produce a class-D PWM amplifier with low amounts
natural resources. of distortion near zero output current, it has been neces-
sary to operate the time alternating power switches with
In 1931 Loy Barton published “High Audio Output from very precise sequencing of the two switches. If the
Relatively Small Tubes” in the Institute of Radio Engi- switches have any dead time (no switch on) between
neers proceedings. The very theme of the article is in their activation large amounts of distortion will form. If
harmony with the goals of every designer who has ever they overlap, the circuitry would self-destruct with large
wrestled with the power amplifier problem of wanting amounts of shoot-through current. The circuitry has been
unlimited output power from a small box of affordable designed around the paradigm and is therefore not tol-
cost. There are some things which do not change. erant of any violation of time alternation.

One thing has changed since 1931 and that is the vari- So pervasive has been the paradigm that it has gone
ety of electronic devices which are available to imple- unchallenged until now. While Loy’s class-B paradigm
ment circuits. The original electronic power devices were has served us all well for most of a century, its days are
vacuum tubes which were characterized by large out- numbered.
put impedance’s and high saturation resistance’s. They
made poor power switches and were most useful when With a marked bifurcation in design concept, the para-
used with transformers to match their output impedance’s digm for the next century uses simultaneous activation
to lower impedance loads such as loudspeakers. Today’s of its push-pull switches and has been appropriately
solid-state devices such as power MOSFETs offer char- dubbed a “Balanced Current Amplifier”. This is the very
acteristics which are most appropriate to make high- antithesis of the time alternation paradigm.
speed switches, not linear output stages as practiced
by Loy. In the Crown BCA design, when there is no intended
output signal, the power switches are being turned on
Loy’s genius was to operate the two tubes of his class-B and off simultaneously with a 50% duty cycle. The result
output stage in strict time alternation. To produce one is the formation of two balanced and canceling high-
polarity of output current he would turn on one tube; to frequency output currents with no output at the no-sig-
produce the other polarity of output current he would nal condition.
turn on the other tube. Previously with class-A designs,
both tubes were always turned on and even at no signal To produce an output signal the output of one of the
were dissipating large amounts of quiescent power. By switches is increased in duty while the remaining switch

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 ] Balanced Current Amplifier

is decreased by the same amount. Both pulses remain and become sonically dysfunctional with either large
centered on each other or balanced in time. The result amounts of distortion or shutting off entirely. The result is
is that the difference ripple current has a minimum fre- that a BCA output Watt is operationally larger than that
quency which is twice the operating frequency of the of previous amplifier designs.
individual switches.
Real-world high power operation of most large amplifi-
The frequency doubling character of the output is re- ers reveals that rated bench Watts and distortion ratings
markable and further allows advancement towards Loy often bear little if any relationship to what can be sus-
Barton’s goal of more from less. The switching losses tained under normal field conditions by the typical user
are effectively halved by this property as it is only nec- using loudspeakers and music.
essary to switch at 250KHz to make a 500KHz amplifier!
The result is that the operating frequency is taken to its In critical studio environments the K2 is sonically flaw-
theoretical maximum of N (the number of switches) x fs less and will outperform the best large studio amplifiers
(the switching frequency). This is a full factor of two faster in that it does not have the one sonic flaw that any unit
than any known previous design. with a low-speed fan has fan noise. The K2’s over 100dB
of electrical signal to noise (A-weighted) is not rendered
The modulation process makes two decisions per switch- superfluous by fan noise.
ing cycle for each switch, as both the turn-on time and
the turn-off time are independently controlled by the With a low-frequency damping factor of over 10,000 and
modulator. A 250KHz Crown BCA design thus has one low distortion (<0.1%THD), the K2 is ready to give your
million switch decisions made each second. This is what music the quality of presentation that it deserves.
is required for full bandwidth audio operation. Previous
to the BCA the conventional wisdom correctly held that One final footnote: One (the larger) of Loy Barton’s 1931
any full-bandwidth audio amplifier would need operate design examples was a 2.5KW amplifier. Ironically there
at 500KHz. Low quality or limited bandwidth PWM de- are some things that do not change, no matter which
signs have operated at lesser frequencies. century’s paradigms are in force.

The result of the new paradigm is a convection cooled PUSH-PULL

2.5KW amplifier which mounts in two rack spaces. This The basic concept of push-pull amplification is quite old
is approximately an order of magnitude larger amplifier (1920’s) and can be described as an amplifier in which
than could have been built previously in the same space there are two similar signal branch circuits operating in
without any cooling fan. With no fan there is no need for phase opposition and whose outputs are combined in a
filter maintenance, no fan noise and no contamination of difference (summing) circuit to produce an increased
the unit resulting from normal use. power output.

The Crown K2 amplifier has all of the nearly ideal power

converter attributes of class-D PWM amplifiers in that
reactive loads such as loudspeakers are easily
driven. The reactive energy returned from the
load to the amplifier is reabsorbed and
reoutput with little loss. Non-switching
amplifiers are forced to dissipate all
of the returned energy plus much
more (the latter ratio is a function of
the topology used) and is typically
three fold or more.

Difficult loads are driven with grace

and ease. Current overload is
smooth and sonically identical to
voltage overload. Thermal overload
is rendered a thing of the past as it
is difficult to produce large amounts
of heat. Conventional amplifiers
tackling the same difficult loads be-
come overloaded within minutes

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 ] Balanced Current Amplifier

The simplest combining method is to join the output sig- PARADIGMS

nals at a single circuit node. This is the method used in The push-pull paradigm is part of the Crown BCA de-
all power stages that are referred to in the jargon as a sign while the class-B paradigm is not. The distinction is
totem-pole, half-bridge or single-ended push-pull de- that the class-B paradigm is taken to include both the
sign. While combining at a node is the simplest method, push-pull concept and the notion of strict time alterna-
it was not the method first used to produce push-pull tion of the active devices used to effect the push-pull
power amplifiers. power stage.

The second and original method of combining the push- Push-pull operation is possible with the output of a power
pull output signals was to use a magnetic device, a trans- stage being a signal statistic and not an expression of
former with a center-tapped primary, to perform the the immediate state of the power devices used to create
differencing. Transformers had been in use previously the signal statistic. Such is the case within the Crown
to adapt the high output impedance of vacuum tubes to BCA power stage.
lower impedance loads. Power output was obtained at
such a high cost that it was rarely permissible to oper- Note that push-pull concepts in no way imply the oper-
ate a power stage with impedance mismatching. ating efficiency of a power stage. The first push-pull am-
plifiers were very inefficient because they were class-A
Push-pull operation using a transformer with a center- linear designs which by nature have large quiescent
power losses. Loy Barton’s class-B designs were
still inefficient by switch-mode standards as the
vacuum tubes were conductivity modulated to
effect the power output of the stage. Large
voltages were evident on the tubes during
most of their conduction cycle and thus
they dissipated (wasted) much power.

When the output signal becomes a

signal statistic as in a PWM power
stage, it is not necessary to re-
tain the class-B paradigm to re-
tain push-pull operation.

So then is there a class desig-

nator for the BCA paradigm?
This author suggests class-I as
a possible designator. Such a
choice has a mnemonic tag in
that the Crown BCA is implicitly
an interleaved power stage. The
chosen name for the overall
tapped primary as the combiner was particularly attrac- technology where interleaving is taken to its logical con-
tive as it also solved a problem implicit to transformer- clusions has been named OCIA (Opposed Current In-
coupled designs. It was now possible to minimize (can- terleaved Amplifier) technology.
cel) the DC magnetizing force produced by the quies-
cent bias currents in the primary. The output transformer BCA OPERATION
became smaller and less expensive as a consequence. The following figures show the fundamental operation of
Larger low-frequency outputs were possible before core the basic Crown BCA power amplifier. The switch com-
saturation would cause significant distortion. mutation sequence is depicted by the Sp and Sn wave-
forms and the Vp and Vn waveforms are the switched
The invention of the half-bridge power stage was not voltages which are input to the main output inductors Lp
documented until the 1940’s. Vacuum tubes were still and Ln. The currents Ip and In are the currents flowing
the only power devices available, but applications and in Lp and Ln respectively.
circuit design were continuously becoming more diverse.
Fundamental things were slowly but surely coming to The quiescent switching sequence is for both output
the fore. switches to enable and disable in unison (50% duty

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 ] Balanced Current Amplifier

The converter is always biased

such that current continuously
flows in the output inductors which
means that either a FET (Sp or Sn)
or its companion free-wheeling di-
ode (Dp or Dn) are conducting. The
converter is said (in power conver-
sion jargon) to be operating in CCM
(continuous current mode). As
such the Vp and Vn nodes are ei-
ther at the +Vcc or -Vcc potential.

There is an equivalent circuit that

can enlighten one’s understanding
of the circuit’s operation. There are
four state permutations of the
MOSFET switches that can exist.
Two are states with one FET on, one
cycle). When the Sp and Sn switches are both closed with no FETs on and one with both FETs on. The equiva-
during interval Tp (or Tn) the main output inductor cur- lent circuit is composed of a three position switch which
rent magnitudes increase at a rate of Vcc/L where can either output +Vcc, ground or -Vcc to an output in-
L=Lp=Ln. When the switches are both off during the in- ductor of value L/2 where L=Lp=Ln. This equivalent cir-
terval following Tp (equal to Tp=Ts-Tp), the inductor volt- cuit will be switched to ground whenever both Sp and
age is reversed and the output currents ramp down at Sn switches are in the same state (on or off). If only one
the same magnitude. Ip and In are of equal magnitude of the Sp and Sn switches is on, the equivalent circuit
but of opposite polarity, thus the output currents are said switch will be set to the supply polarity of the Sp or Sn
to be balanced and therefore the name Balanced Cur- switch which is on.
rent Amplifier or BCA.

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 ] Balanced Current Amplifier

the effective input voltage to the output inductor (L/2) is

a unipolar pulse sequence at twice the basic switch op-
erating frequency.

When a negative output is to be produced, there will not

be a time when the Sp switch is on and not the Sn, thus
the output will be a unipolar negative double frequency
pulse sequence.

The suggested equivalent circuit reveals the low output

ripple nature of the Crown BCA. A full null in the output
ripple current occurs at zero output, the very state which
is most commonly occupied by audio (and many other)
When the amplifier is at quiescent state with no output signals. The effective output frequency is doubled with-
voltage, the equivalent switch will always be at the ground out operating any switch at double frequency. Bridged
position as the switches are operating in unison, either output circuits are commonly understood to double the
being on or off with a 50% duty cycle. In other words ripple frequency but note that they use four switches to
Tp=Tn=Ts/2 where Ts is the inverse of the switching fre- obtain a doubling of frequency. When the BCA’s output
quency, the switching period. If Tp is the period that Sp stages are used in a full-bridge, the output ripple fre-
is on and Tn is the period that Sn is on, then Tp+Tn=Ts. quency can be quadrupled. The trick is to operate the
second half of the full bridge with phase quadrature
When the output is programmed to be positive, the Sp modulation. The Crown BCA amplifier operates the two
switch will enable before the Sn and disable after the Sn channels in phase quadrature which allows the balanced
switch. The width of Sp (Tp) increases as the width of monaural output to have a 1MHz ripple frequency, yet
Sn (Tn) decreases. The total duty cycle of both switches no switch is operating at other than 250KHz. Since any
is still set to 100% (Tp+Tn=Ts). When the Sp switch is given effective output pulse has two modulation deci-
on and the Sn is not, the equivalent output switch is set sions (one on each edge), the effective control sampling
to +Vcc. Not until negative output is programmed will rate is 1Ms/S (Mega-samples per Second) for each chan-
there be a case of having the Sn switch on and not the nel; but when operated in balanced monaural mode, that
Sp switch. Therefore when producing a positive output, effective rate rises to 2Ms/S.

The methods used to

design the modulation
of the Crown BCA are
those of interleaved
power converter de-
sign. Interleaved power
conversion is one of a
number of cutting-edge
technologies being ex-
plored in the larger
venue of power elec-
tronics. A classification
system exists in power
electronics capable of
describing most cir-
cuits. The Crown BCA’s
power stage is properly
classified as a fully in-
terleaved buck-derived
power converter.

Crown has chosen to

give the generic names
of OCA and OCIA (Oh-
see-yuh) to these new
Positive-Programmed Output
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 ] Balanced Current Amplifier

quired to eliminate the

switching signal from
the output. Since ripple
currents simultaneously
increase in frequency
while decreasing in am-
plitude, the filtering re-
quirements are multiply
relaxed.

Note that no matter how

many balanced current
power stages are inter-
leaved, total ripple re-
jection will always occur
at zero signal. Addi-
tional total nulls of the
output ripple will occur
at evenly spaced levels
inter mediate to full
scale. If N is the num-
ber of total switches in
the design, there will be
N+1 output levels which
Positive-Programmed Output

designs of power converters. OCA is the acronym for

Opposed Current Am-
plifier while OCIA is
short for Opposed
Current Interleaved
Amplifier. The OCIA
designation is for de-
signs which achieve
additional interleaving
by using paralleled
and seriesed OCA
power stages.

Interleaved power
converters have the
highly desirable prop-
erty that converter
speed is enhanced
with increased con-
verter size. As addi-
tional power stages
are paralleled, the
ripple frequencies are
increasing propor-
tional to the number of
switches. This re-
duces the amount of
low-pass filtering re- Negative-Programmed Output

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 ] Balanced Current Amplifier

Negative-Programmed Output

exhibit total ripple cancellation. In standard PWM class- Power converters that use OCIA design principles can
D designs which use interleaving there are (N+2)/2 ripple be used for both inverter and rectifier applications. This
nulls. Thus N/2 more ripple nulls result from OCIA de- is the natural consequence of being a full four-quadrant
sign. power converter. Much more could be said, however it
is not the intent of this document to be a textbook on
state-of-the-art amplifier design.
GRS 12-20-96

Guaranteed Excellence
]
Crown International, Inc.
PO Box 1000 Elkhart, IN 46515-1000
The modulator for the basic Crown BCA power stage is Ph. 800-342-6939/219-294-8200
simpler than one might at first imagine. Having twice the Fax. 219-294-8301
standard amount of resultant information, it has two high- FAST FACTS. 800-294-4094
speed comparators driven from three signals, Verr, -Verr www.crownaudio.com
and Vtr. The same triangle waveform source can be used
by both comparators. ©1998 Crown International, Inc.

BCA™ and Balanced Current Amplifier™ are trademarks and Crown® is

a registered trademark of Crown International, Inc.