Industrial Electronics (EPM 151)

Lecture 2
Prof. Mostafa I. Marei

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 Small-Signal Model
• small-signal diode model
– Diode is modeled as variable resistor, whose value is defined via linearization
of exponential model.
– Around bias point defined by constant voltage drop model.
• VD(0) = 0.7V

• The total instantaneous circuit is divided

into steady-state and time varying
components, which may be analyzed
separately and solved via algebra.
 In steady-state, diode represented as
CVDM.
 In time-varying, diode represented as
resistor.

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 Small-Signal Model
CVDM

DC DC Steady-State
Total Solution (VD.)
Instantaneous
Solution (vD.)
=
AC

+
Time-Varying
AC Solution (vd.)

(a) Given Circuit. (b) Circuit for calculating the dc operating point.
(c) Small-signal equivalent circuit.

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 Small-Signal Model
• Steps to obtain small-signal diode model:
– step #1: Consider the conceptual circuit of Figure aside.
• DC voltage (VD) is applied to diode
• Upon VD, arbitrary time-varying signal vd is super-imposed

• DC only – upper-case w/ upper-case subscript

• time-varying only – lower-case w/ lower-case subscript
• total instantaneous – lower-case w/ upper-case subscript
– DC + time-varying

• step #2: Define DC current as in (8).

• step #3: Define total instantaneous voltage (vD) as
composed of VD and vd.

• step #4: Define total instantaneous current (iD) as

function of vD.

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 Small-Signal Model
• step #5: Redefine (10) as function of both VD and vd.

• step #6: Split this exponential in two.

• step #7: Redefine total instant current in terms of

DC component (ID) and time-varying voltage (vd).

• step #8: Apply power series expansion to (12).

• step #9: Because vd/VT << 1, certain terms may

be neglected.

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 Small-Signal Model
I 
iD (t )  ID   D  vd
• small signal approximation  VT 
 total instant current (iD) id

 small-signal current (id.) iD (t )  ID  id

 small-signal resistance (rd.) 1
id  vd
rd
• Valid for vd < 5mV amplitude (not
VT
peak to peak). rd 
ID

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Example 6:
Consider the circuit shown in Figure in which R = 10k. The power supply V+ has a dc value
of 10V over which is super-imposed a 60Hz sinusoid of 1V peak amplitude (known as the
supply ripple). Calculate both amplitude of the sine-wave signal observed across the diode.
Assume diode to have 0.7V drop at 1mA current.

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 Example 6:

The signal voltage across the diode is found from the small-signal equivalent circuit in Fig. (c)
of the previous slide. Here, vs denotes the 60Hz 1V peak sinusoidal component of supply
voltage V+, and vd is the corresponding signal across the diode, Using voltage divider rule, the
peak amplitude of vd is calculated as follows:

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 Use of Diode Forward Drop in Voltage Regulation
• Voltage regulator is a circuit whose voltage output remains stable in spite of
changes in supply and load.
• The diode used for voltage regulation should approximately has a constant voltage
drop across it (0.7V).

Example 7:
A string of three diodes is used to provide a constant voltage of 2.1V.
What is the change in this regulated voltage caused by:
(a) a  10% change in supply voltage and (b) connection of 1kOhm load
resistor.

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Example 7(a): Diode-Based Voltage Regulator

Thus,

This resistance, along with the resistance R, forms a voltage divider whose
ratio can be used to calculate the change in output voltage due to a ±10%
(i.e. ±1V) change in supply voltage. The incremental resistances of the three
diodes: r = 3*3.2 = 9.6 Ω. Thus the peak-to-peak change in output voltage
will be

That is, corresponding to the ±1V (±10%) change in supply voltage, the output
voltage will change by ±9.5 mV or ±0.45%. Since this implies a change of about
±3.2 mV per diode, our use of the small signal model is justified.
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Example 7(b): Diode-Based Voltage Regulator
When a load resistance of 1 kΩ is connected across the diode string, it draws a current of
approximately 2.1 mA. Thus the current in the diodes decreases by 2.1 mA, resulting in a
decrease in voltage across the diode string given by

Since this implies that the voltage across each diode decreases by about 6.7 mV, our use of
the small-signal model is not entirely justified.

Nevertheless, a detailed calculation of the voltage change using the exponential model
results in ∆𝑣𝑜 = −23 mV, which is not too different from the approximate value obtained
using the incremental model.

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 Rectifier circuits
• One important application of diode is the rectifier –
– Electrical device which converts alternating current (AC) to direct current
(DC)
• One important application of rectifier is dc power supply.

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step #1: Decrease RMS magnitude of AC wave
via power transformer
step #2: convert full-wave AC signal to full-wave
rectified signal (still time-varying and periodic)
step #3: employ low-pass filter to reduce
wave amplitude by > 90%
step #4: employ voltage regulator to
eliminate ripple
step #5: supply dc
load

Block diagram of a dc power supply 13

 The Half-Wave Rectifier
Half-wave rectifier utilizes only alternate half-cycles of the input sinusoid
– Constant voltage drop diode model is employed.
In selecting diodes for rectifier design, two important parameters must be
specified:
• current-handling capability – what is
maximum forward current diode is
expected to conduct?
• peak inverse voltage (PIV) – what is
maximum reverse voltage it is
expected to block w/o breakdown?

It is usually practical to select a diode that

has a reverse breakdown voltage at least
50% greater than the expected PIV.

Half-wave rectifier: (a) Circuit (b) Transfer characteristic of the rectifier circuit (c) Input
and output waveforms
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 The Full-Wave Rectifier
Compared to the half-wave rectifier, the full wave rectifier utilizes both halves of the input.

Full-wave rectifier utilizing a transformer with a center-tapped secondary winding: (a)

circuit; (b) transfer characteristic assuming a constant-voltage-drop model for the diodes;
(c) input and output waveforms. 15
When instantaneous source voltage is positive, D1
conducts while D2 blocks…

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when instantaneous source voltage is negative, D2
conducts while D1 blocks

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 The Full-Wave Rectifier
• The direction of current flowing across load never changes (both halves of AC
wave are rectified).
• PIV for full-wave = 2VS – VD

Example 8:
For the full-wave rectifier circuit, show the following:
(a) The output is zero for an angle of 2 sin−1 (VD ⁄ VS) centered around
the zero-crossing points of the sine-wave input.
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(b) The average value (dc component) of vO is 𝑉𝑜 = 𝑉𝑆 − 𝑉𝐷
𝜋
(c) The peak current through each diode is (𝑉𝑆 −𝑉𝐷 )/𝑅.

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Example 8:

𝜃
𝜋−𝜃 𝜋+𝜃

a) As shown in the diagram, the output is zero between 𝜋 − 𝜃 to 𝜋 + 𝜃 = 2𝜃

Here 𝜃 is the angle at which the input signal reaches 𝑉𝐷
∴ 𝑉𝑆 sin 𝜃 = 𝑉𝐷
𝑉𝐷
∴ 𝜃 = sin−1 𝑉𝑆

𝑉𝐷
The output is zero for an angle of 2𝜃 = 2sin−1 𝑉𝑆

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Example 8:

𝜃
𝜋−𝜃 𝜋+𝜃

b) Average value of the output signal is given by

𝜋−𝜃
1
𝑉o,avg = (𝑉𝑆 sin 𝜙 − 𝑉𝐷 ) d𝜔𝑡
𝜋
𝜃
1  
= −𝑉𝑆 cos 𝜙 − 𝑉𝐷 𝜙 
𝜋
2𝑉𝑆
≈ − 𝑉𝐷
𝜋

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Example 8:

𝜃
𝜋−𝜃 𝜋+𝜃

𝜋
C) The peak current occurs when 𝜙 = 2
𝜋
𝑉𝑆 sin 2 − 𝑉𝐷 𝑉𝑆 − 𝑉𝐷
∴ peak current = =
𝑅 𝑅
If 𝑣𝑆 = 12 Vrms ⇒ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑉𝑆 = 12 2
12 2 − 0.7
∴ peak current = = 163 mA
100

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 The Bridge Rectifier
• An alternative implementation of the full-wave rectifier is bridge rectifier.
• The main advantage of BR is that there is no need for center-tapped
transformer.
• PIV = VS – VD

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when instantaneous source voltage is positive, D1
and D2 conduct while D3 and D4 block

The bridge rectifier circuit.

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when instantaneous source voltage is positive, D1
and D2 conduct while D3 and D4 block

The bridge rectifier circuit.

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 The Rectifier with a Filter Capacitor
• Pulsating nature of rectifier output
makes unreliable dc supply.
• As such, a filter capacitor is
employed to remove ripple.
At no load:
• step #1: source voltage is
positive, diode is forward biased,
capacitor charges.
• step #2: source voltage is
reverse, diode is reverse-biased
(blocking), capacitor cannot
discharge.
• step #3: source voltage is
positive, diode is forward biased,
capacitor charges (maintains
voltage).

(a) A simple circuit used to illustrate the effect of a filter capacitor. (b) input
and output waveforms assuming an ideal diode.

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 The Rectifier with a Filter Capacitor
• When the rectifier is loaded
by a resistor, the capacitor is
discharging across load.

circuit state #1

output voltage for state #1

vO  t   v I  t   v D
t

vO  t   Vpeak e RC

output voltage for state #2

circuit state #2
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output voltage for state #1

vO  t   v I  t 
t

vO  t   Vpeak e RC

output voltage for state #2

Voltage and Current Waveforms in the Peak Rectifier Circuit WITH

RC >> T. The diode is assumed ideal.
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 The Rectifier with a Filter Capacitor
• The diode conducts for a brief interval (Δt ) near the peak of the input
sinusoid and supplies the capacitor with charge equal to that lost during the
much longer discharge interval. The latter is approximately equal to T.
• Assuming an ideal diode, the diode conduction begins at time t1 (at which
the input vI equals the exponentially decaying output vO). Diode conduction
stops at time t2 shortly after the peak of vI (the exact value of t2 is
determined by settling of ID).
• During the diode off-interval, the capacitor C discharges through R causing an
exponential decay in the output voltage (vO). At the end of the discharge interval,
which lasts for almost the entire period T, voltage output is defined as follows –
vO(T) = Vpeak – Vr.
• When the ripple voltage (Vr) is small, the output (vO) is almost constant and equal
to the peak of the input (vI). the average output voltage may be defined as
below…

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