KNJ2463

Electronic Engineering and

Microprocessor
Amplification

Amplification

Introduction
Electronic Amplifiers
Sources and Loads
Equivalent Circuits of Amplifiers
Output Power
Power Gain
Frequency Response and Bandwidth

Introduction
Amplification is one of the most common
processing functions
Amplification means making things bigger
Attenuation means making things smaller

 Passive and active amplifiers

Passive amplifiers have no external energy source
in such amplifiers the power delivered at the output must
be less than (or equal to) that absorbed at the input

some amplifiers are not passive but are

active amplifiers in that they have an external
source of power
in such amplifiers the output can deliver more power than
is absorbed at the input

Electronic Amplifiers
Can be passive (e.g. a transformer) but most
are active
We will concentrate on active electronic
amplifiers
take power from a power supply
amplification described by gain
Voltage Gain ( Av )

Vo
Vi

Current Gain ( Ai )
Power Gain ( Ap )

Io
Ii

Po
Pi

Circuit symbol

 Modelling the gain of an amplifier

can be modelled by a controlled voltage source
the voltage produced by the source is determined by
the input voltage to the circuit

10

Equivalent Circuits of Amplifiers

Having modelled the input, the output and the
gain, we can now model the entire amplifier

11

 The use of an equivalent circuit

Example: An amplifier has a voltage gain of 10, an input

resistance of 1 k and an output resistance of 10 . The

amplifier is connected to a sensor that produces a voltage of
2 V and has an output resistance of 100 , and to a load of
50 . What will be the output voltage of the amplifier (that is
the voltage across the load resistance)?

12

 We start by constructing an equivalent circuit

of the amplifier, the source and the load

13

 From this we can calculate the output voltage:

Vi

Ri
Vs
Rs Ri
1 k
2 V 1.82 V
100 1 k

Vo AvVi
10 Vi

RL
Ro RL
50
50
10 1.82
15.2 V
10 50
10 50

14

 The voltage gain of the circuit in the previous

example is given by:
Voltage gain ( AV )

Vo 15.2

8.35
Vi 1.82

note that this is considerably less than the stated

gain of the amplifier (which is 10)
this is due to loading effects
the gain of the amplifier in isolation is its
unloaded voltage gain

15

 An ideal voltage amplifier would not suffer

from loading
it would have Ri = and Ro = 0
consider the effect on the previous example

16

 If Ri = , then
Ri
R
i 1
Rs Ri Ri

Therefore

Vi

Ri
Vs Vs 2 V
Rs Ri

Vo AvVi
10 Vi

RL
Ro RL
50
50
10 2
20 V
0 50
50

17

Output Power
The output power Po is that dissipated in the
load resistor
2
Po

Vo
RL

Power transfer is at a maximum when RL = Ro

maximum power theorem

choosing a load to maximize power transfer is
called matching
often voltage gain is more important than power
transfer

18

Power Gain
Power gain is the ratio of the power supplied to
the load to that absorbed at the input
Vi 2
Pi
Ri

Vo 2
Po
RL

Gain often given in decibels

Power gain (dB) =10 log10

P2
P1
19

 Sample gains expressed in dBs

Power gain Decibels (dBs)

Power gain Decibels (dBs)

100 20

0.5 -3

10 10

0.1 -10

1 0

0.01 -20

Using dBs simplifies calculation in cascaded

circuits

20

 Power gain is related to voltage gain

P2
V22 / R2
Power gain (dB) 10 log10
10 log10 2
P1
V1 / R1

If R1 = R2
Power gain (dB) 10 log10

V22
V12

20 log10

V2
V1

Power gain (dB) 20 log10 (Voltage gain )

This expression is often used even when R1 R2

21

Frequency Response and Bandwidth

All real amplifiers have limits to the range of
frequencies over which they can be used
The gain of a circuit in its normal operating range is
termed its mid-band gain
The gain of all amplifiers falls at high frequencies
characteristic defined by the half-power point
gain falls to 1/2 = 0.707 times the mid-band gain
this occurs at the cut-off frequency
In some amplifiers gain also falls at low frequencies
these are AC coupled amplifiers
22

 (a) shows an AC coupled

amplifier
(b) shows the same
amplifier with gain in dBs
(c) shows a DC coupled
amplifier the gain is
constant down to DC

23

 The bandwidth is the

difference between the
upper and lower cut-off
frequencies
or the difference
between the upper-cut-off
frequency and zero in a DC
coupled amplifier

24