1 FEEDBACK CONCEPTS

Feedback refers to feeding fraction of out signal to the input of circuit. Depending on the
relative polarity of the signal being fed back into a circuit, one may have negative or positive
feedback.
Negative feedback results in decreased voltage gain, for which a number of circuit features are
improved as summarized below.
Positive feedback drives a circuit into oscillation as in various types of oscillator circuits.
A typical feedback connection is shown in Fig. 18.1. The input signal, Vs, is applied to a mixer
network, where it is combined with a feedback signal, Vf. The difference of these signals, Vi, is
then the input voltage to the amplifier. A portion of the amplifier output, Vo, is connected to
the feedback network (β), which provides a reduced portion of the output as feedback signal to
the input mixer network.
If the feedback signal is of opposite polarity to the input signal, as shown in Fig. .1, negative
feedback results. While negative feedback results in reduced overall voltage gain, a number of
improvements are obtained, among them being:
1. Higher input impedance.
2. Better stabilized voltage gain.
3. Improved frequency response.
4. Lower output impedance.
5. Reduced noise.
6. More linear operation.

Figure .1 Simple block diagram of feedback

2 FEEDBACK CONNECTION TYPES
There are four basic ways of connecting the feedback signal. Both voltage and current can be
fed back to the input either in series or parallel. Specifically, there can be:
1. Voltage-series feedback (Fig. 1.2a).
2. Voltage-shunt feedback (Fig. 1.2b).
3. Current-series feedback (Fig. 1.2c).
4. Current-shunt feedback (Fig. 1.2d).
In the list above, voltage refers to connecting the output voltage as input to the feedback
network; current refers to tapping off some output current through the feedback network.
Series refers to connecting the feedback signal in series with the input signal voltage; shunt
refers to connecting the feedback signal in shunt (parallel) with an input current source.
Series feedback connections tend to increase the input resistance, while shunt feedback
connections tend to decrease the input resistance. Voltage feedback tends to decrease the
output impedance, while current feedback tends to increase the output impedance. Typically,
higher input and lower output impedances are desired for most

Figure 1.2 Feedback amplifier types: (a) voltage-series feedback, Af = Vo /Vs;

(b) voltage-shunt feedback, Af = Vo/Is; (c) current-series feedback, Af = Io/Vs; (d)
current-shunt feedback, Af =Io/Is.
cascade amplifiers. Both of these are provided using the voltage-series feedback connection.
We shall therefore concentrate first on this amplifier connection.
Gain with Feedback
The gain of an amplifier after feedback is

---------(1)
Where A = gain of an amplifier without feedback
β = feedback fraction
Af =gain with feedback
In this section we examine the gain of each of the feedback circuit connections of Fig. 1.2.
The gain without feedback, A, is that of the amplifier stage. With feedback, β the overall gain
of the circuit is reduced by a factor (1+βA), as detailed below.
A summary of the gain, feedback factor, and gain with feedback of Fig. 18.2 is provided
for reference in Table .1

A summary of the effect of feedback on input and output impedance is provided in Table .2.
Problem:
Determine the voltage gain, input, and output impedance with feedback for voltage
series feedback having A=-100, Ri = 10 kΩ, Ro =20 kΩ for feedback of
(a) β= -0.1 and (b) β=-0.5

(b)

OSCILLATOR OPERATION
The use of positive feedback that results in a feedback amplifier having closed-loop gain |Af |
greater than 1 and satisfies the phase conditions will result in operation as an oscillator circuit.
An oscillator circuit then provides a varying output signal. If the output signal varies
sinusoidally, the circuit is referred to as a sinusoidal oscillator.
If the output voltage rises quickly to one voltage level and later drops quickly to another
voltage level, the circuit is generally referred to as a pulse or square-wave oscillator.

Any oscillator circuit must satisfies two conditions

1) The loop gain must be unity or greater
2) The feedback signal feeding back at the input must be multiples of 3600
These conditions are known as the Barkhausen criterion for oscillation.

RC -PHASE-SHIFT OSCILLATOR
An example of an oscillator circuit that follows the basic development of a feedback circuit is
the phase-shift oscillator. An idealized version of this circuit is shown in Fig. 18.22.
Recall that the requirements for oscillation are that the loop gain, βA, is greater than unity and
that the phase shift around the feedback network is 180° (providing positive feedback).
As IC circuits have become more popular, they have been adapted to operate in oscillator

circuits. One need buy only an op-amp to obtain an amplifier circuit of stabilized gain setting

and incorporate some means of signal feedback to produce an oscillator circuit. For example,

a phase-shift oscillator is shown in Fig. 18.22. The output of the op-amp is fed to a three-stage

RC network, which provides the needed 180° of phase shift (at an attenuation factor of 1/29).

If the op-amp provides gain (set by resistors Ri and Rf) of greater than 29, a loop gain greater

than unity results and the circuit acts as an oscillator [oscillator frequency is given by Eq.

(18.33)

 For the loop gain βA to be greater than unity, the gain of the amplifier stage must be greater than
1/β or 29:

WIEN BRIDGE OSCILLATOR

A practical oscillator circuit uses an op-amp and RC bridge circuit, with the oscillator frequency
set by the R and C components. Figure 18.23 shows a basic version of a Wien bridge oscillator
circuit. Note the basic bridge connection. Resistors R1 and R2 and capacitors C1 and C2 form
the frequency-adjustment elements, while resistors R3 and R4 form part of the feedback path.
The op-amp output is connected as the bridge input at points a and c. The bridge circuit output
at points b and d is the input to the op-amp.
  wienbridge oscillator are used for low frequency generation

Problem:

Design the RC elements of a Wien bridge oscillator for operation at

fo = 10 kHz.
Solution

Write figure 18.3 with the values are R1 =R2 = R and C1 = C2 = C,

TUNED OSCILLATOR CIRCUIT
Tuned-Input, Tuned-Output Oscillator Circuits
A variety of circuits can be built using that shown in Fig. 18.25 by providing tuning in both
the input and output sections of the circuit. Analysis of the circuit of Fig. 18.25 reveals that
the following types of oscillators are obtained when the reactance elements are as designated

IC COLPITTS OSCILLATOR
An op-amp Colpitts oscillator circuit is shown in Fig. 18.28. Again, the op-amp provides the
basic amplification needed while the oscillator frequency is set by an LC feedback network of
a Colpitts configuration. The oscillator frequency is given by Eq. (18.44).
In this circuit op amp will give gain greater than unity
The tuned circuit provide required phase shift
Hartley Oscillator
If the elements in the basic resonant circuit of Fig. 18.25 are X1 and X2 (inductors)
and X3 (capacitor), the circuit is a Hartley oscillator

Fig: Hartley oscillator

The circuit is drawn so that the feedback network conforms to the form shown in the basic
resonant circuit (Fig. 18.25).
Note, however, that inductors L1 and L2 have a mutual coupling, M, which must be taken
into account in determining the equivalent inductance for the resonant tank circuit. The
circuit frequency of oscillation is then given approximately by

In this circuit op amp will give gain greater than unity

The tuned circuit provide required phase shift
CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR
A crystal oscillator is basically a tuned-circuit oscillator using a piezoelectric crystal as a
resonant tank circuit. The crystal (usually quartz) has a greater stability in holding constant at
whatever frequency the crystal is originally cut to operate. Crystal oscillators are used
whenever great stability is required, such as in communication transmitters and receivers
Characteristics of a Quartz Crystal
A quartz crystal (one of a number of crystal types) exhibits the property that when mechanical
stress is applied across the faces of the crystal, a difference of potential develops across
opposite faces of the crystal. This property of a crystal is called the piezoelectric effect.
Similarly, a voltage applied across one set of faces of the crystal causes mechanical distortion
in the crystal shape

Figure: Electrical equivalent circuit of a crystal.

Crystal Oscillator
An op-amp can be used in a crystal oscillator as shown in Fig. 18.36. The crystal is connected
in the series-resonant path and operates at the crystal series-resonant frequency.
The present circuit has a high gain so that an output square-wave signal results as shown in
the figure. A pair of Zener diodes is shown at the output to provide output amplitude at
exactly the Zener voltage (VZ).

Figure 18.36 Crystal oscillator using op-amp.