‫‪University of Palestine‬‬

‫جــــــــــامــــــــعـــــــــــــــــة فلســـطــيـــــــــــــن‬
‫كلية الهندسة التطبيقية وـالتخطيط العمرــاني‬
Ch.4 Summary

Biasing

Biasing: Applying DC voltages to a transistor in order

to turn it on so that it can amplify AC signals.
Ch.4 Summary

Operating Point

The DC input
establishes an
operating or
quiescent point
called the Q-point.
Ch.4 Summary

The Three Operating Regions

Active or Linear Region Operation
• Base–Emitter junction is forward biased
• Base–Collector junction is reverse biased

Cutoff Region Operation

• Base–Emitter junction is reverse biased

Saturation Region Operation

• Base–Emitter junction is forward biased
• Base–Collector junction is forward biased
Ch.4 Summary

DC Biasing Circuits
Fixed-bias circuit
Emitter-stabilized bias circuit
Collector-emitter loop
Voltage divider bias circuit
DC bias with voltage feedback
Ch.4 Summary

Fixed Bias
Ch.4 Summary

The Base-Emitter Loop

From Kirchhoff’s voltage
law:

+VCC – IBRB – VBE = 0

Solving for base current:

VCC  VBE
IB 
RB
Ch.4 Summary

Collector-Emitter Loop

Collector current:
IC   IB

From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:

VCE  VCC  IC RC
Ch.4 Summary

Saturation

When the transistor is operating in saturation, current

through the transistor is at its maximum possible value.

V
ICsat  CC
R
C

VCE  0 V
Ch.4 Summary

Load Line Analysis

The load line end points are:

ICsat
IC = VCC / RC
VCE = 0 V
VCEcutoff
VCE = VCC
IC = 0 mA
The Q-point is the operating point where the value of RB sets the
value of IB that controls the values of VCE and IC .
Ch.4 Summary

The Effect of VCC on the Q-Point

Ch.4 Summary

The Effect of RC on the Q-Point

Ch.4 Summary

The Effect of IB on the Q-Point

Ch.4 Summary

Emitter-Stabilized Bias Circuit

Adding a resistor
(RE) to the emitter
circuit stabilizes
the bias circuit.
Ch.4 Summary

Base-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:
 VCC  IE RE  VBE  IE RE  0

Since IE = ( + 1)IB:
VCC  IB RB  (β  1)IB RE  0

Solving for IB:

VCC  VBE
IB 
RB  (β  1)RE
Ch.4 Summary

Collector-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:
IE RE  VCE  IC RC  VCC  0

Since IE  IC:
VCE  VCC – IC(RC  RE )

Also:
VE  IE RE
VC  VCE  VE  VCC  IC RC
VB  VCC – I R RB  VBE  VE
Ch.4 Summary

Improved Biased Stability

Stability refers to a condition in which the currents and

voltages remain fairly constant over a wide range of
temperatures and transistor Beta () values.

Adding RE to the emitter improves

the stability of a transistor.
Ch.4 Summary

Saturation Level

The endpoints can be determined from the load line.

VCE  0 V
VCEcutoff: VCE  VCC ICsat: VCC
IC  0 mA IC 
RC  RE
Ch.4 Summary

Voltage Divider Bias

This is a very stable bias circuit.

The currents and

voltages are nearly
independent of any
variations in .
Ch.4 Summary

Approximate Analysis
Where IB << I1 and I1  I2 :

R2VCC
VB 
R1  R2

Where RE > 10R2:

VE
IE 
RE
VE  VB  VBE
VCE  VCC  IC RC  IE RE
From Kirchhoff’s voltage law: IE  IC
VCE  V CCIC (RC  RE )
Ch.4 Summary

Voltage Divider Bias Analysis

Transistor Saturation Level
V CC
I Csat  ICmax 
RC  RE

Load Line Analysis

Cutoff: Saturation:
V
VCE  VCC I  CC
C R R
C E
IC  0 mA
VCE  0 V
Ch.4 Summary

DC Bias With Voltage Feedback

Another way to improve
the stability of a bias
circuit is to add a
feedback path from
collector to base.

In this bias circuit the

Q-point is only slightly
dependent on the
transistor beta, .
Ch.4 Summary

Base-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:
VCC – IC RC –I B RB –VBE –I E RE  0

Where IB << IC: I'C  IC  IB  IC

Knowing IC = IB and IE  IC, the

loop equation becomes:
VCC – β–B RC  IB RB  VBE  βI B RE  0

VCC  VBE
Solving for IB: IB 
RB  β(RC  RE )
Ch.4 Summary

Collector-Emitter Loop
Applying Kirchoff’s voltage law:

IE + VCE + I’CRC – VCC = 0

Since IC  IC and IC = IB:

IC(RC + RE) + VCE – VCC =0

Solving for VCE:

VCE = VCC – IC(RC + RE)

Ch.4 Summary

Base-Emitter Bias Analysis

Transistor Saturation Level

V CC
I Csat  ICmax 
RC  RE

Load Line Analysis

Cutoff Saturation
V
VCE  VCC I  CC
C R R
C E
IC  0 mA
VCE  0 V
Ch.4 Summary

Transistor Switching Networks

Transistors with only the DC source applied can be

used as electronic switches.
Ch.4 Summary

Switching Circuit Calculations

Saturation current:
VCC
ICsat 
RC

To ensure saturation:
ICsat
IB 
βdc

Emitter-collector
resistance at VCEsat VCC
Rsat  Rcutoff 
saturation and cutoff: ICsat ICEO
Ch.4 Summary

Switching Time

Transistor switching times:

t on  t r  t d

t off  t s  t f
Ch.4 Summary

Troubleshooting Hints
Approximate voltages VBE  .7 V for silicon transistors
VCE  25% to 75% of VCC

Test for opens and shorts with an ohmmeter.

Test the solder joints.
Test the transistor with a transistor tester or a curve tracer.
Note that the load or the next stage affects the transistor
operation.
Ch.4 Summary

PNP Transistors

The analysis for pnp transistor biasing circuits is

the same as that for npn transistor circuits. The
only difference is that the currents are flowing in
the opposite direction.