In a previous article, Design a Bipolar to Unipolar Converter to Drive an ADC, I presented a method for designing a bipolar to unipolar converter using a summing amplifier. In this article I am going to show more examples of bipolar to unipolar converters which are based on a summing amplifier configuration. You can adapt them to your needs if you use the method I described in the previous article.
Figure 1
It is customary to consider the output resistance of the non-inverting amplifier as being zero, but why is that? An Op Amp’s own output resistance is in the range of tens of ohms. Still, when we connect the Op Amp in a feedback configuration, the output resistance decreases dramatically. Why?
To answer these questions, let’s calculate the output resistance of the non-inverting amplifier.
It is widely accepted that the output resistance of a device can be calculated using a theoretical test voltage source connected at the device output. The input, or inputs, are connected to ground. Nevertheless, instead of using this method, let’s try a different one: The small signal variation method.
Figure 1 shows the non-inverting amplifier, which drives a load, RL. This circuit has an equivalent Thevenin source as in Figure 2.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Widely used in Analog Design, the inverting amplifier in Figure 1 has a simple transfer function.
What is the proof of this function?
For those of you who have Mathcad, designing a differential amplifier is really easy.
Let’s say you need to design a unipolar to bipolar converter and you decide to use a differential amplifier for this task. You know the input and output voltage range and you need to calculate the resistors based on a voltage reference you have in the system. All you have to do is to create a Mathcad file for a quick response. Then store it some place for future designs.
If you would like to know why the unipolar to bipolar converter can be designed with a differential amplifier, read this article, Design a Unipolar to Bipolar Converter for a Unipolar Voltage Output DAC .
Let’s take an example.
Unipolar to bipolar converters are useful when we have to have a unipolar component to do a certain job in a mixed signal design environment. For example, Digital to Analog Converters (DACs) may have the output voltage range 0 to 2.5 V, or 0 to 5 V, while the design asks for a range of –5 V to +5 V. To comply with this requirement, we have to design a unipolar to bipolar converter which will be inserted between the DAC output and the following bipolar stage. It looks like the circuit in Figure 1. How did I design it?
Figure 1
Most Analog to Digital Converters have a unipolar input that can be a problem when designing bipolar circuits. Some common ADC input voltage ranges are 0 to 2.5 V, or 0 to 5 V. However, the analog circuit that drives the ADC can have voltage swings of, –1 V to +1 V, –2 V to +2 V , –5 V to +5 V, and so on. Bringing the ADC input below ground is a big No-No, because the current from input will flow through the chip substrate creating irreversible changes in the ADC and damage it. So, how do we connect a bipolar front end circuit with a unipolar ADC? Enters the bipolar to unipolar converter. Let’s design one.
The converter can be designed with a summing amplifier, as in Figure 1. How do we calculate the resistors?
Figure 1
In this article I will show a method to deduce the input and output resistance of the common collector amplifier. The common-collector amplifier is a well known circuit (see Figure 1). It is mostly used as a buffer due to its high input resistance, small output resistance and unity gain. The equations derived in this article are symbolic, as is the derivation of any other formula in this website. Still, even if the resistances’ values are not numeric, the equations are intuitive enough to show the high input, low output resistance property of the amplifier.
Figure 1
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