Analog Circuit Seminar

Analog circuit requires insight and intuition, as well as analysis tools and familiarity with common building blocks. This course covers the tools and methods necessary for the creative design of useful circuits using active devices. We concentrate on circuits using the bipolar junction transistor, but the techniques studied can be equally applied to circuits using JFETs, MOSFETs, MESFETs, future exotic devices, or even vacuum tubes.

Topics: Transistor circuits from the single-transistor common-emitter amplifier to op amps, multipliers, references, and high speed logic. High-frequency analysis and design techniques. Open-circuit time constants, op amps, transimpedance amps, translinear circuits, bandgap references, and the charge control model.

Course Contents

1. Transistor Modeling:
   Introduction. Device Physics. Bipolar Junction Transistor Models. Specifications.

2. Transistor Amplifiers:
   Single Transistor Amplifiers. Differential Pair Amplifiers. Fairchild uA733 Video Diff Amp.

3. Frequency Response:
   The c_T Approximation. Miller Effect for Fun and Profit. Open-Circuit Time Constants Theory. Single Transistor OCTs.

4. Open-Circuit Time Constants:
   Two-Transistor Amplifiers. Emitter Degeneration. Common Emitter Cascade. Low Frequency Stuff.

5. Design Examples:
   LM172 AGC AM IF Strip. uA733 Video Amp Bandwidth. Wideband Amplifier Design Example. Boot-Strapping. Improving the Figure of Merit.

6. Integrated Circuit Blocks:
   Simple Current Sources. Better Current Mirrors. Active Loads.

7. Operational Amplifiers:
   Op-Amp Applications. Op-Amp Non-Idealities. Basic design. The Fairchild uA741 Op Amp.

8. Op Amp Design:
   Fairchild uA741 Analysis. Frequency Compensation.

9. Commercial Op Amps:
   The History of Monolithic Operational Amplifiers. Early Commercial Op Amp Designs. Other Amplifier Blocks. Transimpedance Amplifiers: Better than Op Amps?

10. Translinear Circuits:
    The Translinear Principle. Translinear Examples. Voltage-to-Current Converters for Translinear Circuits. Mixers, Modulators, and Multipliers.

11. Voltage and Current References:
    Drift. Transistor Temperature Dependence. Biasing Independence. Bandgap References.

12. The Charge Control Model:
    The Basic Model. The Complete Model. Charge Control Example. Charge Control Applications. Digital Circuits and TTL.

Schedule

Weekly four-hour lectures, usually 1pm-5pm with breaks and problem sessions. Weekly practice problems.

Instructor

Kent H. Lundberg attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering in 2002. He is currently a Lecturer with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. His research and teaching interests include the application of classical control theory to problems in analog circuit design. He consults for several industry corporations and organizations.

Dr. Lundberg has been involved in teaching MIT courses in circuit design and feedback systems as recitation instructor and lecturer for ten years. He is Associate Editor for History of IEEE Control Systems Magazine, and he collects old textbooks on radar, nuclear energy, and control.