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UNIT - I
Large Signal Amplifiers: Class A
Power Amplifier- Series fed and
Transformer coupled, Conversion
Efficiency, Class B Power Amplifier-
Push Pull and Complimentary
Symmetry configurations,
Conversion Efficiency, Principle of
operation of Class AB and Class –C
and D Amplifiers.

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Large Signal Amplifiers:
A power amplifier is one that is designed to deliver a large amount of power to a load. To
perform this function, a power amplifier must itself be capable dissipating large amounts of
power; so that the heat generated when it is operated at high current and voltage levels is
released into the surroundings at a rate fast enough to prevent destructive temperature
buildup. Power amplifiers typically contain bulky components having large surface areas to
enhance heat transfer to the environment. A power transistor is a discrete device with a large
surface area and a metal case.

Important Features of Power Amplifiers:

1. Some of the features of power amplifiers are
2. Impedance matching with the load is necessary for delivering max power to the load.
3. Power transistors are needed. (To withstand large voltages and currents)
4. Power amplifiers are bulk.
5. Due to the non–linear characteristics of transistors, Harmonic Distortions are available at
the output.
Performance parameters:
The performance of power amplifiers are determined by the following points.
1. Circuit efficiency: Also known as conversion efficiency or overall efficiency.
Its value may be anywhere from 25% to 90%

2. Distortion: The difference between the output & input of an amplifier is known as
distortion. Even though the output is enlarged and faithful reproduction of input but in actual
practice there may be differences in the waveforms or frequencies.
(1) Harmonic or amplitude distortion – Due to nonlinearity in transistor.
(2)Crossover distortion – occurs when transistors not operating in correct phase with each
other.

3. Power Dissipation capacity: It’s defined as the ability to dissipate the heat by the power
transistor. Also known as power rating. During amplification process large current passes
through power transistor hence Heat generated.By connecting a metal sheet (Heat sink)
power dissipation capability can be increased.

Applications
1. Public Address systems
2. Radio Receivers
3. Cathode Ray Tubes
4.Driving Servomotors

Classes of Power Amplifier:

Power Amplifier Classes represent the amount of output signal that varies over one operation
cycle for a complete input signal cycle.
Power amplifiers are generally classified into five types: A, B, AB, and C for analog designs
and class D for switching designs.

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Class A Power Amplifier

In Class A power amplifiers, the transistor is always ON, so the output current flows for the
entire input cycle. The same transistor amplifies the waveform’s positive and negative
portions. Class-A amplifier is biased at a level such that output may vary up and down
without going to a high enough voltage to be limited by the supply voltage level or too low to
approach the lower supply level, as shown below:

Class A amplifiers have a 360° conduction angle, the portion of the amplified waveform.
Therefore, there is much less signal distortion, which improves high-frequency performance.
Class A amplifiers can have many configurations. The most commonly used Class A
amplifiers configurations are:
1. Series fed Class A amplifiers
2. Transformer coupled Class A amplifiers
Series Fed Class A amplifiers: The transistors used in series fed class A amplifiers can
operate in few to tens of watts. In this power amplifier, the transistor is still ON even when
there is no input signal. Due to this, it produces a lot of heat and lowers the efficiency of class
A amplifiers to 25%.

Figure 1 Series-fed class A large-signal amplifier.

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DC Bias Operation: The dc bias set by VCC and RB fixes the dc base-bias current at

To appreciate the importance of the dc bias on the operation of the power amplifier, consider
the collector characteristic shown in Fig. 1 . A dc load line is drawn using the values of VCC
and RC . The intersection of the dc bias value of IB with the dc load line then determines the
operating point ( Q -point) for the circuit. The quiescent-point values are those calculated
using Eqs. (1) through (3). If the dc bias collector current is set at one-half the possible signal
swing (between 0 and VCC/RC ), the largest collector current swing will be possible.
Additionally, if the quiescent collector–emitter voltage is set at one-half the supply voltage,
the largest voltage swing will be possible (Q–point set at optimum bias point).
DC Power Input :

AC Operation : When an input ac signal is applied to the amplifier of Fig. 2, the output will
vary from its dc bias operating voltage and current. A small input signal, as shown in Fig. 4 ,
will cause the base current to vary above and below the dc bias point, which will then cause
the collector current (output) to vary from the dc bias point set as well as the collector–emitter
voltage to vary around its dc bias value. As the input signal is made larger, the output will
vary further around the established dc bias point until either the current or the voltage
reaches a limiting condition.
For the current this limiting condition is either zero current at the low end or VCC /RC at the
high end of its swing. For the collector–emitter voltage, the limit is either 0 V or the supply
voltage, VCC.

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AC Power Output :

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Efficiency :

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Power Dissipation :

Advantages and Disadvantages of Class A amplifier:

Transformer Coupled Class A Amplifier :

Properties of Transformer:

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Analysis of Transformer Coupled Class A Amplifier :

DC Operation :

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DC Power Input :

AC Operation:

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AC Output Power:

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Efficiency :

Maximum Efficiency :

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Power Dissipation :

Advantages and Disadvantages of Transformer Coupled Class A Amplifier :

Analysis of Class B Amplifiers :

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Push Pull Class B Amplifier :

DC Operation:

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DC Power Input:

AC Operation:

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AC Power Output:

Efficiency:

Maximum Efficiency:

Power Dissipation:

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Push Pull Class B Amplifier:

Complementary Symmetry Class B Amplifier :

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Complementary Symmetry Class B Amplifier :

Comparison of Push Pull and Complementary symmetry circuits :

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Class AB Power Amplifier:
Class A and Class B amplifiers are combined to form class AB amplifiers. This class of
amplifiers is created to lessen the problem of class A amplifiers (low efficiency) and class B
amplifiers (crossover distortion).
To overcome crossover distortion, the biasing is adjusted to just overcome the VBE of the
transistors; this results in a modified form of operation called class AB. In class AB operation,
the push-pull stages are biased into slight conduction, even when no input signal is present.
This can be done with a voltage-divider and diode arrangement, as shown in Figure 16. When
the diode characteristics of D1 and D2 are closely matched to the characteristics of the
transistor base-emitter junctions, the current in the diodes and the current in the transistors
are the same; this is called a current mirror. This current mirror produces the desired class AB
operation and eliminates crossover distortion.
The circuit diagram of the class AB amplifier is shown in the figure below.

In the bias path of the circuit in Figure 16, R1 and R2 are of equal value, as are the positive
and negative supply voltages. This forces the voltage at point A (between the diodes) to equal
0 V and eliminates the need for an input coupling capacitor. The dc voltage on the output is
also 0V. Assuming that both diodes and both complementary transistors are identical, the
drop across D1 equals the VBE of Q1, and the drop across D2 equals the VBE of Q2.
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The formula of the efficiency (η) for class AB amplifiers is similar to the class B configuration
and is given by the following equation :

Where VAC represents the AC fluctuation of the output signal. The maximum efficiency here,
not only depends on the maximized value of VAC, but also on the position of the operating
point along the operating zone (see Figure 1) :
• If the class AB amplifier is biased at the limit of the cutoff point, VAC,max=Vsupply and
thus ηmax=π/4=78.5 %.
• If the class AB amplifier is biased at the limit of the class A operating point,
VAC,max=Vsupply/2 and thus ηmax=π/8=39.3 %.
• In the other cases, the maximum efficiency of a class AB amplifier will be in the [39.3 % ;
78.5 %] range.
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. A class C amplifier is
bias for operation for less than 180° of the input signal cycle and its value is 80° to 120°. Less
than 180° (half cycle) means less than 50% and would operate only with a tuned or resonant
circuit, which provides a full cycle of operation for the tuned or resonant frequency.
A class C amplifier, such as that shown in Fig. is biased to operate for less than 180° of the
input signal cycle. The tuned circuit in the output, however, will provide a full cycle of output
signal for the fundamental or resonant frequency of the tuned circuit ( L and C tank circuit) of
the output. This type of operation is therefore limited to use at one fixed frequency, as occurs
in a communications circuit, for example. Operation of a class C circuit is not intended
primarily for large-signal or power amplifiers.
The efficiency of class C amplifier is high while linearity is poor. The conduction angle for
class C is less than 180o. It is generally around 90o, which means the transistor remains idle
for more than half of the input signal. So, the output current will be delivered for less time
compared to the application of input signal.
The following figure shows the operating point and output of a class C amplifier.

Class C amplifier are biased deep into cut off. Fig. shows the configuration of Class-C power
amplifiers. The negative voltage at the base terminal reverse-biases the base-emitter junction
of the transistor such that it will not conduct until the input signal overcomes this reverse
bias. This occurs only for a small part of positive half cycle of input signal. I C is in the form of
pulses, so distortion occurs in Class-C amplifiers. Class C amplifiers are suitable for audio
amplifiers and used at radio frequencies.

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In Fig. a tank circuit is connected in the collector circuit of class C amplifiers. It restores the
sine waveform of the input signal at the output. But it can't restore rectangular waveform or
complex audio waveforms. A parallel LC oscillating circuit is used as a tank circuit which is
excited by collector current pulse and sets the circuit into self oscillations. The energy is
transferred back and forth between capacitor and inductor, thus producing sine waveform.
Because the collector voltage (output) is not a replica of the input, the resistively loaded class
C amplifier alone is of no value in linear applications. It is therefore necessary to use a class C
amplifier with a parallel resonant circuit (tank), as shown in FIG. . The resonant frequency of
the tank circuit is determined by the formula fr = 1/(2 pi radic.(LC)).

The current pulse charges the capacitor to approximately +VCC, as shown in FIG. (a). After
the pulse, the capacitor quickly discharges, thus charging the inductor.

FIG. Resonant circuit action.

Then, after the capacitor completely discharges, the inductor's magnetic field collapses and
then quickly recharges C to near VCC in a direction opposite to the previous charge.
This completes one half-cycle of the oscillation, as shown in parts (b) and (c) of FIG.. Next, the
capacitor discharges again, increasing the inductor's magnetic field.
The inductor then quickly recharges the capacitor back to a positive peak slightly less than the
previous one, due to energy loss in the winding resistance. This completes one full cycle, as
shown in parts (d) and (e) of FIG.. The peak-to-peak output voltage is therefore
approximately equal to 2VCC.
The amplitude of each successive cycle of the oscillation will be less than that of the previous
cycle because of energy loss in the resistance of the tank circuit, as shown in below FIG.(a),
and the oscillation will eventually die out. However, the regular recurrences of the collector
current pulse re-energizes the resonant circuit and sustains the oscillations at a constant
amplitude.
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When the tank circuit is tuned to the frequency of the input signal (fundamental), re
energizing occurs on each cycle of the tank voltage, Vr , as shown in FIG. (b). When the tank
circuit is tuned to the second harmonic of the input signal, re-energizing occurs on alternate
cycles as shown in FIG. (c). In this case, a class C amplifier operates as a frequency multiplier
(x 2). By tuning the resonant tank circuit to higher harmonics, further frequency
multiplication factors are achieved.

FIG. Tank circuit oscillations. Vr is the voltage across the tank circuit.
Maximum Output Power:
Since the voltage developed across the tank circuit has a peak-to-peak value of approximately
2VCC, the maximum output power can be expressed as:

Rc is the equivalent parallel resistance of the collector tank circuit at resonance and represents
the parallel combination of the coil resistance and the load resistance. It usually has a low
value. The total power that must be supplied to the amplifier is:
Therefore, the efficiency is:

When the class C efficiency closely approaches 1 (100 percent).

This kind of biasing gives a much improved efficiency of around 80% to the amplifier, but
introduces heavy distortion in the output signal. Using the class C amplifier, the pulses
produced at its output can be converted to complete sine wave of a particular frequency by
using LC circuits in its collector circuit.

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Class D Amplifier:

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Distortion in Power Amplifiers :

Harmonic Distortion:

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Total harmonic Distortion:

Crossover Distortion:

Elimination of Crossover Distortion:

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Intermediation Distortion:

1.Calculate the input power,output power,and efficiency of the amplifier circuit in below
Fig. for an input voltage that results in a base current of 10 mA peak.

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2. Calculate the ac power delivered to the 8Ω speaker for the circuit of below Fig. The
circuit component values result in a dc base current of 6 mA, and the input signal (Vi)
results in a peak base current swing of 4 mA.

For the circuit of Fig. and results of above Example, calculate the dc input power, power
dissipated by the transistor, and efficiency of the circuit for the input signal of Example

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3. A class A transformer coupled power amplifier has zero signal collector current of 50
mA. If the collector supply voltage is 5 V, find (i) the maximum a.c. power output (ii) the
power rating of transistor (iii) the maximum collector efficiency.

4. For a class B amplifier providing a 20-V peak signal to a 16 Ω load (speaker) and a
power supply of VCC = 30 V, determine the input power, output power, and circuit
efficiency.

5. For a class B amplifier using a supply of VCC = 12V and driving a load of 8Ω, determine
(i) maximum load power (ii) d.c. input power (iii) collector efficiency.

6. A class B push-pull amplifier with transformer coupled load uses two transistors rated
10 W each. What is the maximum power output one can obtain at the load from the circuit?

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The power dissipation by each transistor is PT = 10W. Therefore, power dissipated by two
transistors is P2T = 2 × 10 = 20W.

7.Calculate the harmonic distortion components for an output signal having fundamental
amplitude of 2.5 V, second harmonic amplitude of 0.25 V, third harmonic amplitude of 0.1
V, and fourth harmonic amplitude of 0.05 V. Calculate the total harmonic distortion for the
amplitude components given in Example

8.

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A diode biasing class AB power amplifier is to meet the following specifications;RL=8

output power to load, PL = 5 W;peak output voltage to be not more than 80% of
VCC;minimum value of ID to be no less than 5 Ma.
For both Qn and Qp; For D1 and D2; Determine;
a) IBias and VCC;
b) The quiescent collector currentc) iCn and iCp when the output voltage is at its peak
positive value.

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