ECE484

LECTURE 2: NON-LINEARITY

Mohamed El-Nozahi
Associate Professor
Electronics and Communications Department
Ain Shames University
A. Non-linearity
• Consider a non-linear amplifier

Vin Vout

• The amplifier non-linearity can be modeled by Taylor series

expansion as:
vout (t ) = α 0 + α1vin (t ) + α 2 vin2 (t ) + α 3vin3 (t ) + L

–
 is the DC term,
 is the AC small signal gain

• Example: Find the non-linearity coefficients in a CS amplifier with

resistive load

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1. Harmonic Distortion
• Is more dominate at low frequencies
• Can be explained using a single tone

vin = K ⋅ cos(ωt )
vo = α 0 + α1 ⋅ K ⋅ cos(ωt ) + α 2 ⋅ K 2 ⋅ cos 2 (ωt ) + α 3 ⋅ K 3 ⋅ cos3 (ωt ) + L
 α2K 2   3 3 α2K 2 α3K 3
vo =  α 0 +  +  α1 K + α 3 K  cos(ωt ) + cos(2ωt ) + cos(3ωt ) + L
 2   4  2 4

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1. Harmonic Distortion
• The non-linearity results in:
– A DC term at the output of the amplifier (not an issue in low-IF receivers)
– Gain depends on the input amplitude of the signal:
3
G = α1 + α 3 K 2
4
• For small amplitudes the gain is the small signal gain

– The output spectrum contains the harmonics of the signal

• Is an issue for baseband blocks
• For RF part in the receiver is not an issue at it is outside the desired band
• Is an issue for power amplifiers as the harmonics may interfere another standard
at the harmonics of the transmitted power

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2. Gain Compression
• From the previous analysis the gain is given
by Vout
3 1 dB
G = α1 + α 3 K 2
4
– This equation indicates that the gain reduces as
the signal amplitude increases
Vin
• The 1 dB compression point (P1dB) is the
power of the input signal at which the gain
drops by 1 dB
3
20 log α1 + α 3 Ain2 ,1dB = 20 log α1 − 1dB
4

α1
Ain2 ,1dB = 0.145
α3
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2. Gain Compression
• Notes:
– The 1 dB is an important measure in power amplifier
– The expression gives the peak value
– Typically, the Pin,1dB in CMOS amplifier is about -15 to -25 dBm
– Important of Pin,1dB appears in:
• Digital modulation of QAM signals
• Gain desensitization due to a nearby interferer
– Signal could be blocked

Vout Vout

Vin Vin

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3. Cross Modulation
• The modulation of the interferer may move to the original signal
• Is clear from the gain expression that the gain is proportional to the
largest amplitude
• If the largest amplitude is modulated, so will be the gain
vin = As ⋅ cos(ω s t ) + AI ⋅ cos(ω I t )
 3  m 2
m 2


vo = L +  α1 + α 3 AI 1 +
2
+ cos(2ωmt ) + 2m cos(ωmt )  cos(ωt ) + L
 4  2 2 

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4. Intermodulation Distortion
• Happens when there exist two interferers (blockers)
B1 B2 B1 B2

Signal

• Mathematically, consider both interferers only

vin = AI 1 ⋅ cos(ω I 1t ) + AI 2 ⋅ cos(ω I 2t )

– The non-linearity will produce several components

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4. Intermodulation Distortion
HD2 HD2
IM2 IM2
IM3 IM3

f2-f1 2f1-f2 f1 f2 2f2-f1 2f1 f2+f1 2f2

3 3
@ fundamental : ω1 → α1 AI 1 + α 3 AI31 + α 3 AI 1 AI22
4 2
3 3
@ fundamental : ω2 → α1 AI 2 + α 3 AI32 + α 3 AI 2 AI21
4 2
@ Second order Intermodulation IM2 : ω2 ± ω1 → α 2 AI 1 AI 2
3
@ Third order Intermodulation IM3 : 2ω1 ± ω2 → α 3 AI21 AI 2
4
3
@ Third order Intermodulation IM3 : 2ω2 ± ω1 → α 3 AI 1 AI22
4
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4. Intermodulation Distortion
• Why IM3 is important?

IM3 IM3

∆ ∆ ∆
2f1-f2 f1 f2 2f2-f1

– The IM3 components could lie on top of the original signal

– The IM3 usually happens due to in-band blockers which is hard to filter
– Usually, in baseband a filter is used to relax the IIP3 requirement

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4. Intermodulation Distortion
• The measure of the two tone
distortion is usually called input
referred third order intercept
point (IIP3)

4 α1
IIP3 = [mW] or [V2]
3 α3

• In terms of IM3 component

3 Abloc ker − IM 3 dBm

IIP3 = dBm
2

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4. Intermodulation Distortion
• IIP3 Measurements:

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4. Intermodulation Distortion
• Cascaded blocks IIP3:

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Examples
• Find the IIP3 for the following two cases:
– Check Board

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