Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

ECE 3540 Advanced Circuit Analysis and Design (Winter 2013)

Laboratory Assignment 3
Oscillator and Filtering
Instructor:
Teaching Assistant:

Puyan Mojabi
February 15 (B04), 25 (B01), 26 (B02), March 1 (B03) 2013
Mehdi Daryabak, Randupama Gunasekara, Mohammad Asefi
Rooms: E3-558

A. General Instructions

It is required that you keep a lab-book (or lab-binder) for all lab related work: working out all the prelab textbook problems, plots of the Matlab and Spice analyses, and collecting the experimental data. All
work should be dated and well organised. As part of the pre-lab, each lab will have Matlab and Spice
assignments which can be completed during the lab session or you may come prepared with both already
completed.
B. A Quick Overview of The Previous Labs

In Labs 1 and 2, active filters with multiple feedback and Sallen-Key topologies were studied. As you
saw in the previous labs, active filters are circuits that use an active device like an op-amp in combination
with some resistors and capacitors. But why active filters?
At high frequency, say f ! 1MHz , filters usually consist of passive components such as inductors,
resistors, and capacitors; they are then called RLC filters. In the lower frequency range, less than 1 MHz,
however, the inductor value becomes very large making economical production difficult. In these cases, if
power handling capacity is not an issue, active filters become useful to provide RLC-like filter performance
at lower frequencies (See Fig. 1).
In general, the most important benefits of active filters are the elimination of inductors and the fact that
they can be made with a relatively high input impedance as well as a low output impedance due to the use of
op-amps. As a consequence of eliminating inductors, active filters have smaller size in comparison with
passive filters and of course lower cost! The high input and low output impedances produce a high isolation
so that we can cascade these kinds of filters for obtaining higher order filters without worrying much about
loading effect.
These characteristics are gained at the expense of the ability to handle higher powers, the requirement
for an external power supply, and a limited dynamic and frequency range. The dynamic range of an active
filter is restricted by noise in lower voltage limits and by clipping effects in the higher voltage limits. Also,
an active device, like an op-amp, has poor frequency response at high frequencies which will limit the
frequency range of the filter.
1

Figure 1. We can use active filters to provide RLC-like filter performance!

As was seen in the first and second labs, there are two main topologies for a second-order low-pass
filter, i.e., the Sallen-Key and the Mutiple Feedback (MFB) topologies. The Sallen-Key topology (shown in
Fig. 2) was studied in the first lab and it was concluded that if we need an active filter whose gain accuracy
is important then the Sallen-Key filter will be a good choice.
The transfer function of the Sallen-Key topology is
1 + R4 e R3
-.
A  s  = --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2
2
1 + Z c > C 1  R 1 + R 2  +  1 A 0 R 1 C 2 @s + Z c R 1 R 2 C 1 C 2 s

(1)

The MFB topology, shown in Fig. 3, and discussed in the second lab is commonly used in filters that
have high Qs (quality factors) and low sensitivity to the component values, but the gain accuracy of MFB
topology is not as good as Sallen-Key toplogy.

Figure 2. Second-order Sallen-Key low-pass filter

Figure 3. Second-order MFB low-pass filter

The transfer function of MFB topology is:

R2 e R1
A  s  = -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .
 R2 R3 
2
2
1 + Z c C 1 R 2 + R 3 + ----------------- s + Z c C 1 C 2 R 2 R 3 s
R1

(2)

Now, it is better that we go through the bonus questions of the second lab. How can we increase the
order of an active filter by one? Assume that we have a fourth-order MFB low-pass filter, as was the case in
the second lab, and we want to increase its order by one. We can simply use the structure shown in Fig. 4 for
increasing the order by one.

Figure 4. Increasing the order of a MFB low-pass filter from four to five
Moreover, if we want to increase the order of a high-pass filter, say a fourth-order MFB high-pass filter,
by one, we can use the structure shown in Fig. 5.

Figure 5. Increasing the order of a MFB high-pass filter from four to five

C. Objective of this Lab

In this lab, we will study the classical Wien-bridge oscillator. We start by designing this oscillator and
then designing a second-order Sallen-key low-pass filter for removing any harmonic distortion from the
output of this oscillator. In fact, suppose you design a Wien-bridge oscillator to oscillate at a desired
frequency, say f 0 . When you look at the output on an oscilloscope, you may notice that the output signal is
not perfectly sinusoidal. The reason is that clipping and non-linearities in the op-amp will introduce some
harmonics of the fundamental frequency f 0 : nf0 , in the output. These can be eliminated easily by using a
filter that just passes the f 0 frequency.
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D. Introduction to Oscillators
Oscillators are circuits that produce periodic waveforms as their output without having any input! So
where does this output energy come from? Is it like magic?! Actually it is not magic at all, because
oscillators generally use some form of active devices in combination with some passive devices like
capacitors, inductors and, of course, resistors. It is obvious that the active device which is used in oscillators
need a source of power and this power source is responsible for supplying the output energy of the
oscillator.
Generally, there are two kinds of oscillator:

those generating a sinusoidal waveform; and

those generating non-sinusoidal waveforms such as square, sawtooth and triangular

waveforms.

The first kind are simply called sinusoidal oscillators while the second kind are sometimes called
relaxation oscillator. In this lab, we will only be studying the Wien-bridge oscillator as a sinusoidal and opamp-based oscillator.
E. General Requirements for Oscillation
The basic structure of an oscillator circuit consists of an amplifier having amplification A(s) with
positive feedback provided by a network having a transfer function denoted by E  s  . This structure is
depicted in Fig. 7. Note that in an actual oscillator circuit, there is no input signal; but here, we include an
input signal only to help explain the principle of operation.
The transfer function of the basic feedback structure is given by (derive this)
As
T  s  = ------------------------------- .
1 A  s E  s 

(3)

Without going into all of the details, simply by examining the denominator of the above equation, it is easy
to see that the overall gain can be made to go to infinity by setting the round-trip gain, A(s)E(s) , around
the entire feedback loop equal to one:
A  s E  s  = 1
+

A(s)

E(s)

Note: positive feedback!

Figure 6. The basic structure of an oscillator

4

(4)

This condition is called the Barkhausen criterion, and it is a necessary condition for this type of
oscillator to work. Note that it is important that the Barkhausen criterion is satisfied at just one frequency.
In fact, if you satisfy the Barkhausen criterion at just one frequency, you will have a pure sinusoidal output,
but if you satisfy this criterion at more than one frequency, you will have an output signal having a mix of
those frequencies. So, be careful to satisfy this criterion in just one frequency.
In summary, to provide sinusoidal oscillations of frequency Z 0 , we must have A  jZ 0 E  jZ 0  = 1
which means that at Z 0 :

the phase of the loop gain should be zero and,

the magnitude of the loop gain should be unity.

[For further reading on oscillators, you may refer to the textbook: Microelectronics Circuits, Sedra/Smith].
F. Implementation as a Wein-Bridge Oscillator
We are now ready to study one of the most famous (and probably the easiest!) oscillators which is called
Wien-bridge oscillator (A typical implementation is shown in Fig. 7) If we compare the Wien-bridge
schematic with the basic block-diagram structure of an oscillator shown in Fig. 6 we see that the amplifier
gain is given by
R1
A = 1 + -----R2

(5)

Now, what is E  s  ? Actually for finding E  s  , you can consider the circuit shown in Fig. 8. with
V2
E  s  = ------ .
V1

(6)

You will do this as part of the pre-lab. After finding E  s  , you can solve for A  s E  s  = 1 to get the
oscillation frequency. Note that for finding the oscillation frequency, f o , you must substitute s with jZ .

Figure 7. The classical Wien-bridge oscillator

Figure 8. Positive feedback of Wien-bridge oscillator.

G. Pre-lab

In one sense, the opposite of analysis is synthesis (or design). In synthesis, one seeks a circuit having
a desired impedance, admittance, or a transfer function. Assume that we need an LC circuit with an
input admittance:
2s
0.5s ------------+ 2
Y in  s  = ------------2
s +1 s +2

(7)

Now what does the circuit having this admittance look like? (This question is the same as problem
14.81 of the textbook with a small correction.)

Derive E  s  for the Wien-bridge oscillator shown in Fig. 8.

Design a 1 KHz Wien-bridge oscillator. Assume that the value of both resistors which are in the
positive-feedback loop, as well as R 2 , is 10 K: . Try to use real component values!

H. Lab

Simulate your design in MultiSim; can you get it to oscillate?! Make sure that the oscillation is at
1 KHz. Power your op-amp with +15V and -15V.
Hint. When you want to simulate the oscillator that you designed using MultiSim, you must give an
initial push to your circuit for starting the oscillation. So, you must give the oscillator a quick voltage pulse in the beginning, probably lasting only for example 100Ps or 200Ps and voltage of
around 5V. To make this pulse, you can use an element called PWL or VPWL, which stands for
piecewise linear voltage source. Use this as the source of your oscillator input; and hopefully your
designed circuit will oscillate.

After getting your circuit to oscillate, decrease the value of R 1 just a little bit; and run MultiSim
again; what happens?

Design a second-order Sallen-key low-pass filter with a cutoff frequency about 1.2 KHz. Try to use
real component values because we want to use this filter in the experiment.

Check your low-pass filter design with MultiSim to make sure that its cutoff frequency is as wanted.

In MultiSim, connect the input of the low-pass filter to the output of the Wien-bridge oscillator;
then compare the output of the filter with the output of the Wien-bridge oscillator (See Fig. 9).
Discuss what youve understood from this comparison.
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Figure 9. Schematic of the circuit in MultiSim.

Hardware: This experiment is designed to allow you to explore your Wien-bridge oscillator design.
Breadboard your Wien-bridge oscillator design. Use a 50 K: potentiometer instead of your
design value for R 1 (See Fig. 10).

Figure 10. Substitute R 1 with a 50Kohms potentiometer!

Now, adjust the potentiometer to see the resulting oscillation on the scope. Record the frequency of the
oscillation. Is it 1 KHz? Also carefully measure the value of potentiometer without disturbing its settings. Is
this value the same as your designed value for R 1 ? Is your oscillator very sensitive to the value of R 1 ?
Compare the output of the oscillator with your result from MultiSim.
After performing this part of the experiment, you should be convinced that the output waveform of the
Wien-bridge oscillator is somewhat distorted. Now, for getting a better and cleaner waveform, connect your
designed low-pass filter to the output of the oscillator; and view, simultaneously, the output of the filter and
the output of the oscillator on the scope and compare them with each other. Also compare your results with
those obtained from MultiSim.

I. Bonus Experiment
The amplitude of oscillation can be stabilized by using the circuit shown in Fig. 11.

Figure 11. A Wien-bridge oscillator with an alternative method for amplitude stabilization
Find the values of R and C in the above circuit so that the oscillation frequency is at 1 KHz. Are they
different from the values of R and C that you found for a classical Wien-bridge (Fig. 10). Note that as
indicated in Fig. 11, the output is taken at the node which is between R 1 and R 2 .
Wire the circuit and then compare its output with a classical Wien-bridge oscillator. What is the role of
two diodes which are connected back-to-back across R 1 ?