Q 1 a) Miller’s theorem states that; in an amplifier circuit if the impedance is connected in

between the input & output nodes, including a reference node ‘N’, then connected impedance
can be changed through two impedances. One impedance can be connected in between the input
& reference node whereas another one is connected in between the o/p & the reference node.

According to miller’s theorem, the impedance effect ‘Z’ on the input circuit is a ratio of the input
voltage & the current ‘I’ which supplies from the input to the output.

Theorem Proof
So, Z = V1/I
I = Vi-V0/Z
I = Vi (1-(V0/Vi)/Z)
I = Vi (1-Av/Z)
Z1 = Z/1-K
Z2 = V0/I
I = V0-Vi/Z
I = V0(1-Vi/V0)/Z)
I = V0(1-1/Av)/Z)
Z2 = Z/1-1/K
So, the above shown is miller’s theorem formula.

b) Operating Regions of MOSFET

A MOSFET is seen to exhibit three operating regions. Here, we will discuss those regions.

Cut-Off Region
The cut-off region is a region in which there will be no conduction and as a result, the MOSFET
will be OFF. In this condition, MOSFET behaves like an open switch.

Ohmic Region
The ohmic region is a region where the current (IDS)increases with an increase in the value
of VDS. When MOSFETs are made to operate in this region, they are used as amplifiers.

Saturation Region
In the saturation region, the MOSFETs have their IDS constant in spite of an increase in VDS and
occurs once VDS exceeds the value of pinch-off voltage VP. Under this condition, the device will
act like a closed switch through which a saturated value of IDS flows. As a result, this operating
region is chosen whenever MOSFETs are required to perform switching operations.

MOSFET as a Switch
MOSFETs are commonly used as switches. The circuit below shows the configuration of
MOSFET when it is used as a switch.
c) (i) Small-signal amplifiers

Those amplifiers which handle small input a.c. signals (a few µV or a few mV) are called small-
signal amplifiers. Voltage amplifiers generally fall in this class. The small-signal amplifiers are
designed to operate over the linear portion of the output characteristics. Therefore, the transistor
parameters such as current gain, input impedance, output impedance etc. do not change as the
amplitude of the signal changes. Such amplifiers amplify the signal with little or no distortion.

(ii) Large-signal amplifiers

Those amplifiers which handle large input a.c. signals (a few volts) are called largesignal
amplifiers. Power amplifiers fall in this class. The large-signal amplifiers are designed to provide
a large amount of a.c. power output so that they can operate the output device e.g. a speaker. The
main features of a large-signal amplifier or power amplifier are the circuit’s power efficiency,
the maximum amount of power that the circuit is capable of handling and the impedance
matching to the output device. It may be noted that all large-signal amplifiers are not necessarily
power amplifiers but it is safe to say that most are. In general, where amount of power involved
is 1W or more, the amplifier is termed as power amplifier.
d) The DC load line is the load line of the DC equivalent circuit, defined by reducing the
reactive components to zero (replacing capacitors by open circuits and inductors by short
circuits). It is used to determine the correct DC operating point, often called the Q point.

The operating point of a device, also known as a bias point, quiescent point or Q-point, is the
steady-state DC voltage or current at a specified terminal of an active device such as a
transistor with no input signal applied.

This is the region in which transistor tends to behave as an open switch. The transistor has
the effect of its collector and base being opened. The collector, emitter and base currents are all
zero in this mode of operation.

e) When a weak input ac signal is applied to the base of the transistor, a small base current flows. Due to
transistor action, a large ac current flows through RC and a large voltage appears across RC and hence at
the output. Therefore, a weak signal applied to the base appears in the amplified form in the collector
circuit. Voltage gain of the amplifier is the ratio of the amplified output voltage to the input voltage.
Frequency response and bandwidth : The voltage gain for different input frequencies can be determined.
A graph is drawn by taking frequency along X-axis and voltage gain (AV) along Y-axis. It can be seen
that the gain decrease for very low and very high frequencies but remains constant over mid frequency
region.
fL: Lower cut off frequency is defined as the frequency in the low frequency range at which the gain of
the amplifier is 21 times the mid-frequency gain (AM).
fU: Upper cut off frequency is defined as the frequency in the high frequency range at which the gain is 2
1 times the mid-frequency gain (AM).
Bandwidth : is defined as the frequency interval between lower cut off and upper cut off
frequencies. BW=fU−fL

Q2 a) Classification Based on Frequencies

Power amplifiers are divided into two categories, based on the frequencies they handle. They are
as follows.
 Audio Power Amplifiers − The audio power amplifiers raise the power level of signals
that have audio frequency range (20 Hz to 20 KHz). They are also known as Small signal
power amplifiers.
 Radio Power Amplifiers − Radio Power Amplifiers or tuned power amplifiers raise the
power level of signals that have radio frequency range (3 KHz to 300 GHz). They are also
known as large signal power amplifiers.

Classification Based on Mode of Operation

On the basis of the mode of operation, i.e., the portion of the input cycle during which collector
current flows, the power amplifiers may be classified as follows.
 Class A Power amplifier − When the collector current flows at all times during the full
cycle of signal, the power amplifier is known as class A power amplifier.
 Class B Power amplifier − When the collector current flows only during the positive half
cycle of the input signal, the power amplifier is known as class B power amplifier.
  Class C Power amplifier − When the collector current flows for less than half cycle of
the input signal, the power amplifier is known as class C power amplifier.
There forms another amplifier called Class AB amplifier, if we combine the class A and class B
amplifiers so as to utilize the advantages of both.

Q3 a)

This increase in input capacitance Ci over the capacitance from gate to source is called Miller
effect.
This input capacitance affects the gain at high frequencies in the operation of cascaded
amplifiers. In cascaded amplifiers, the output from one stage is used as the input to a second
amplifier. The input impedance of a second stage acts as a shunt across output of the first stage
and Rd is shunted by the capacitance Ci.

Output Admittance:

From above figure, the output impedance is obtained by looking into the drain with the input
voltage set equal to zero. If Vi = 0 in figure, rd , Cds and Cgd in parallel. Hence the output
admittance with RL considered external to the amplifier is given by,

Q4 a)

Q5)

Q5 b)
In this circuit, the Vgs is the input signal applied between gate and source terminal, and we know
that the change in drain current is linearly proportional to V gs. In this model, if you consider the
effect of channel and modulation, then there will also be an output resistance (r0). If it is for a
long length channel, then, as read in the Early Voltage section in the MOS transistor for a long
length channel, the curve slope is almost constant in the saturation region, λ is very low,
sometimes considered 0. Therefore, under the small-signal approximation, the MOS transistor
can be replaced by the small-signal model.

In the small-signal model, there is an output resistance r0 and the current source is gmVgs, so if
we can find the Transconductance (gm), we can find the value of current in this circuit. Output
resistance r0 is the fluctuation of drain-source voltage to current. For the long channel transistor,
the VA (early voltage) is high, and as per the equation, r0 is directly proportional to length;
therefore, r0 is high for the long channel transistor. Here, ID is the current bias.

Q6 a) Types of Coupling

Joining one amplifier stage with the other in cascade, using coupling devices form a Multi-stage
amplifier circuit. There are four basic methods of coupling, using these coupling devices such
as resistors, capacitors, transformers etc. Let us have an idea about them.
Resistance-Capacitance Coupling

This is the mostly used method of coupling, formed using simple resistor-
capacitor combination. The capacitor which allows AC and blocks DC is the main coupling
element used here.
The coupling capacitor passes the AC from the output of one stage to the input of its next stage.
While blocking the DC components from DC bias voltages to effect the next stage. Let us get
into the details of this method of coupling in the coming chapters.
Impedance Coupling

The coupling network that uses inductance and capacitance as coupling elements can be called
as Impedance coupling network.
In this impedance coupling method, the impedance of coupling coil depends on its inductance
and signal frequency which is jwL. This method is not so popular and is seldom employed.
Transformer Coupling

The coupling method that uses a transformer as the coupling device can be called as
Transformer coupling. There is no capacitor used in this method of coupling because the
transformer itself conveys the AC component directly to the base of second stage.
The secondary winding of the transformer provides a base return path and hence there is no need
of base resistance. This coupling is popular for its efficiency and its impedance matching and
hence it is mostly used.
Direct Coupling

If the previous amplifier stage is connected to the next amplifier stage directly, it is called
as direct coupling. The individual amplifier stage bias conditions are so designed that the stages
can be directly connected without DC isolation.
The direct coupling method is mostly used when the load is connected in series, with the output
terminal of the active circuit element. For example, head-phones, loud speakers etc.

Construction of Transformer Coupled Amplifier

The amplifier circuit in which, the previous stage is connected to the next stage using a coupling
transformer, is called as Transformer coupled amplifier.
The coupling transformer T1 is used to feed the output of 1 st stage to the input of 2nd stage. The
collector load is replaced by the primary winding of the transformer. The secondary winding is
connected between the potential divider and the base of 2 nd stage, which provides the input to the
2nd stage. Instead of coupling capacitor like in RC coupled amplifier, a transformer is used for
coupling any two stages, in the transformer coupled amplifier circuit.The figure below shows the
circuit diagram of transformer coupled amplifier.

Operation of
Transformer
Coupled Amplifier

When an AC signal is applied to the input of the base of the first transistor then it gets amplified
by the transistor and appears at the collector to which the primary of the transformer is
connected.
The transformer which is used as a coupling device in this circuit has the property of impedance
changing, which means the low resistance of a stage (or load) can be reflected as a high load
resistance to the previous stage. Hence the voltage at the primary is transferred according to the
turns ratio of the secondary winding of the transformer.
This transformer coupling provides good impedance matching between the stages of amplifier.
The transformer coupled amplifier is generally used for power amplification.

Advantages of Transformer Coupled Amplifier

The following are the advantages of a transformer coupled amplifier −

 An excellent impedance matching is provided.
  Gain achieved is higher.
 There will be no power loss in collector and base resistors.
 Efficient in operation.

Disadvantages of Transformer Coupled Amplifier

The following are the disadvantages of a transformer coupled amplifier −

 Though the gain is high, it varies considerably with frequency. Hence a poor frequency
response.
 Frequency distortion is higher.
 Transformers tend to produce hum noise.

Q6 b) Differential mode analysis:

Differential Amplifier, Differential Mode and Common Mode

Gain of an amplifier is defined as VOUT/VIN. For the special case of a differential amplifier, the
input VIN is the difference between its two input terminals, which is equal to (V1-V2) as shown in
the following diagram.

So the gain of this differential amplifier is

Gain = VOUT/(V1-V2). -------------- (1)

We can find the expression of VOUT in term of V1 and V2 by using superposition theorem:
VOUT = [R3/(R1+R3)] [(R4 + R2)/R2] V1 - [R4/R2] V2 -------------- (2)
However, we will not be able to re-arrange this expression in the form of eqn (1) to find the gain
of the amplifier (except in the special case of R1 = R2 and R3 = R4).

Instead of applying superposition theorem with V1 and V2 separately, a better way is to first
combined V1 and V2 in a different format, viz. (V1-V2). This is known as the differential mode
input - Vd. Associated with this differential mode component will be the common mode input -
Vcm., which is equal to the average value of V1 and V2.

Differential mode component : Vd = (V1-V2)

Common mode component : Vcm = (V1+V2)/2

By using these alternate representation of the input components (Vd and Vcm) instead of the
original components (V1 and V2), we can re-express eqn (2) in terms of Vd and Vcm as follows.

Vcm = (V1+V2)/2 Þ 2Vcm = V1 + V2 ---- (3)

Since Vd = V1 - V2 ---- (4)

Therefore
(3) + (4) Þ V1 = Vcm + Vd/2 ---- (5)
and (3) - (4) Þ V2 = Vcm - Vd/2 ---- (6)

Substitute eqns (5) & (6) into eqn (2) :

VOUT = 1/2[R3/(R1+R3)] [(R4 + R2)/R2 + R4/R2] Vd +

[R3/(R1+R3)] [(R4 + R2)/R2 - R4/R2] Vcm -------------- (7)

From this expression, we can find the gain of the differential amplifier
Gain = VOUT/(V1-V2)

= VOUT/Vd

= 1/2[R3/(R1+R3)] [(R4 + R2)/R2 + R4/R2]

This gain is known as the Differential Gain (Ad) as it is based on the differential input alone, i.e.

Ad = 1/2[R3/(R1+R3)] [(R4 + R2)/R2 + R4/R2]

As there is another component in VOUT due to the common-mode component Vcm of the input, we
define another gain for the differential amplifier, the Common Mode Gain (Acm=VOUT/ Vcm).
From eqn (7), this is

Acm = [R3/(R1+R3)] [(R4 + R2)/R2 - R4/R2]

So although a differential amplifier is supposed to amplify the differential component of the
input signals, the common component of the input signals (which is the average value of the two
input voltages) will also appear at the output. In practice, this common mode component will
cause an error in the measurement of the signals.

To eliminate the effect of the common mode component, we can either

(i) make the input common mode component equal to zero, i.e. make V2 = -V1
such that the average value of the two input signals equal to zero
or

(ii) choose the resistor values of R1 to R4 in such a way that Acm is zero.

(i) is usually not possible in practice due to the constraint of the measuring circuitry used to
produce V1 and V2 (e.g. the Bridge circuit).

(ii) can be achieved theoretically by making R1 = R2 and R3 = R4. However, this is not feasible in
practice due to the tolerance of the resistors used.

Because of this imperfection, a figure of merit used to describe differential amplifier is

the Common Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR), which is defined as

CMRR = 20 log (Ad/Acm)

For a perfect differential amplifier, the CMRR is equal to ¥, as Acm is zero.

In practice, a CMRR in excess of 80dB to 100dB will be needed for high accuracy measuring
system (e.g. a microcomputer data acquisition system). This is very difficult to achieve if the
differential amplifier uses discrete resistors for R1 to R4.