Structured Design - 1: end terms

This course discusses the theory and the application of basic structured design techniques to the design of application-specific amplifiers with operational amplifiers.

color coded resistors

What you will know at the end of this course

  1. You will know the characteristic properties of amplifiers and you will be able to derive the functional requirements for amplifiers from their application:
    • The input and output impedance
    • The signal transfer from source to load
    • The port isolation requirements
  2. You are able to model and characterize the non-ideal behavior of amplifiers and you will know to derive performance requirements from the application description:
    • The small-signal noise behavior
    • The small-signal dynamic behavior
    • The static nonlinear behavior
    • The dynamic nonlinear behavior
    • The influence of temperature and ageing
  3. You will know about other relevant design aspects of amplifiers such as:
    • Environmental conditions
    • Cost factors
  4. You will be able to design low-noise and power efficient amplifier structures for arbitrary port impedance and port isolation requirements with the aid of feedback techniques, balancing techniques and isolation techniques:
    • Direct feedback and indirect (model-based) feedback
    • Nonenergic feedback, passive feedback and active feedback
    • Balancing and port isolation techniques
  5. You are able to relate the properties of the components in the feedback network to important performance aspects and costs factors of the amplifier:
    • Inaccuracy
    • Noise
    • Nonlinearity
    • Power dissipation
    • Area
    • Costs
  6. You are able to model individual performance aspects of voltage-feedback and current-feedback operational amplifiers:
    • Equivalent-input voltage and current noise sources
    • Equivalent-input voltage and current offset sources
    • Equivalent-input bias sources
    • Gain and input and output impedances, including their dynamic behavior
    • PSRR and CMRR
  7. You know about other relevant performance aspects of operational amplifiers, such as:
    • Input voltage range
    • Output voltage and current drive capability
    • Voltage slew rate
  8. You know in which way and to what extent the equivalent input noise sources of the feedback network affect the noise performance of a negative feedback amplifier.
  9. You know in which way and to what extent the equivalent input noise sources of the controller (operational amplifier) affect the noise performance of a negative feedback amplifier.
  10. You can apply the asymptotic-gain negative feedback model to derive budgets for the gain-bandwidth product of the operational amplifier:
    • Loop gain-poles product
  11. You are able to evaluate the frequency response stability of a negative feedback amplifier:
    • Routh array
    • Nyquist stability criterion
    • Root locus technique
  12. You can apply frequency compensation techniques to achieve the desired dynamic response of an amplifier:
    • Phantom-zero compensation
    • Pole-splitting by means of pole-zero canceling
    • Resistive broadbanding
    • Phase marging correction with lag and lead networks