University of Alabama at Birmingham
Analog Integrated Electronics
EE431 / EE531

Revised  May 9, 2020
Professor Kenneth A. Kuhn (retired)

General Class Information

EE431 Equation Sheet These are the basic equations used in the course.

Latest Class News
I retired from teaching in the spring of 2017. I will maintain and update the files on this site for general use by anyone who is interested.

Introduction

The following files are the lecture notes for the course I teach at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.  Anyone who finds this site is welcome to use the files.

Free text book:
Op-Amps for Everyone
This is an excellent book written at Texas Instruments.

The primary text for EE431/EE531 consists of articles written by the instructor and data sheets and application notes from a variety of manufacture web sites as posted below. You should definitely print out the instructor's articles as those are very applicable to tests.  You may want to print some of the manufacture's information but it is not necessary to print all of it as that would be a huge number of pages and you would be lost in the wealth of information. Definitely read all of them. Note that the data and application notes include material that is beyond the scope of the class - do not worry about sections that are not applicable.  After you have gained more experience those advanced sections will begin to make sense.

Be sure to check out the following interview on National Public Radio with Jim Williams who is an analog electronics engineer and works for Linear Technologies Corporation in Milpitas, CA -- the southeastern end of what is known as Silicon Valley.  The audio is about 5 minutes and there are five interesting pictures of Jim's office and home.  Jim is one of the best known analog designers in the world and the interview is very interesting.  Jim has written many articles concerning electronics engineering.  A few of the application notes below were written by him.  NPR : One Man's Junk Is Another's Marvel

The following companies have excellent web sites with a lot of information.  Their application notes are the basis for many textbooks you could pay a lot of money for.  You can download these for free.  You need to check these sites anytime you need to know anything.

Texas Instruments

Analog Devices 

Omega Engineering This company supplies many different types of transducers and also has some excellent application notes. Their web site contains a lot of data and general information.

Title Page for Notes   This is a title page that goes with the entire note set.

The following sections of the course are grouped by color which is intended to make it easier to locate material.

Operational Amplifiers

The following notes are the primary course material for op-amps.

Op-amp Introduction  This article begins with a brief history and then describes the pins and operation of an op-amp.

Op-amp Analysis  This article describes how to perform classical and ideal analysis of op-amp circuits.

Op-amp DC Error Analysis  This article describes how to analyze an op-amp circuit for the effect of DC errors such as offset voltage, bias current, and offset bias current.

op_amp_calculator.xlsx This is a spreadsheet that analyses a basic op-amp circuit for gain, DC errors such as offset voltage, bias current, and offset bias current, AC bandwidth, and noise.

Op-amp Specifications  This article describes the most common specifications of an op-amp on the data sheet.

Op-amp Single Supply Circuits  This article describes how to analyze op-amp circuits that operate on a single power supply voltage.

Instrumentation Amplifier  This is a brief summary hand calculation of the characteristic of an instrumentation amplifier.  Refer to the manufacturer's notes below for more information.

Op-amp Floating Sources  This note illustrates a common problem in instrumentation and the solution.

Op-amp Frequency Response This article describes the frequency response of an op-amp.

op_amp_frequency_response.xls This spreadsheet simulates up to a third order roll-off in frequency response of an op-amp. Both the open-loop and close-loop responses are shown. It is easy to see the bandwidth limitations at high gain or gain peaking or even instability at low gain.

Op-amp Homework Problems 1   These are a couple of good homework problems to work.  Be sure you understand these -- something similar could be on the tests.

Op-amp Homework Problems 2 This is a set of homework problems to solve concerning various error terms.

EE431 Lab 1: Operational Amplifier Measurements

Here is some supplemental material -- actually it is a lot!  You should read as much of it as you can.

http://www.waltjung.org   This is an excellent web site for students to check out -- be sure to go the Library page and read the material under ADI Books and Articles -- that is better than any text book on op-amps.  There are numerous easy to read articles concerning applications of op-amps in the library section.  An excellent book to have is IC Op-amp Cookbook by Walter Jung. It is a paperback that has been in print for over 30 years. Any edition is excellent for students.  The third edition of this book is still in print although Mr. Jung advises me that the print quality is poor with the newer printings.  He recommends that older third editions be purchased instead.  My thought is that ebay is a good source.

Information:  Even though much of the material in the following is beyond what you can comprehend now it is excellent to read and understand what you can.  This is where your instructor learned op-amps by the same process.

The Monlithic Operational Amplifier: A Tutorial Study Has some good basic information although much of it is advanced -- learn what you can.
 
Monolithic Op-Amp -- the Universal Linear Component -- written by Robert Widlar (the correct pronunciation of his last name is "WIDE-lahr") who is considered to be the greatest op-amp designer that ever lived.
 
Bob Widlar with artwork of LM10 circa 1977

Op-amp Practical Applications This article provides some general and practical information on op-amp circuits.

Op-amp General Considerations This article provides some general considerations on how to choose an op-amp for a particular application.

Op-amp Demo Circuit This article describes a simple op-amp circuit built with discrete components. The purpose of the article is to illustrate the basic internal building blocks.

Data Sheets:  Here are some common data sheets you should be familiar with.

LM741 data sheet This is an old standard op-amp that is good for students to use.

LM324 data sheet This is a quad op-amp that can work on low voltage or even single power supplies.

LM118 data sheet This is an old wide bandwidth op-amp.

AD549 data sheet This is a precision op-amp with input bias currents in the fempto-ampere region.

LT1366 data sheet This is a dual rail-rail op-amp both input and output.

Example Circuits: -- Many examples to give you ideas of what can be done with op-amps.

Op-Amp Circuit Collection

A Collection of Op-Amp Applications

An IC User's Guide to Grounding and Decoupling

Electronic Noise

The following is the text material for this part of the course.

See op_amp_calculator.xlsx for noise calculations.

Thermal Voltage Noise  This is a much expanded version of and replaces noise_notes.pdf except for the HW problems.  New problem sets will be developed and noise_notes will ultimately go away as it won't be needed anymore.  Noise Notes  This note is a brief summary of noise information and includes some homework problems. 

Shot Noise  This note discusses the concept of shot noise.

Noise Analysis of Op-amp Circuits  This note discusses how to calculate noise in op-amp circuits.

Noise Homework  These are homework problems that are very similar to what you might see on a test.

EE431 Lab 2: Random Noise -- This lab is mostly performed with the noise_experiment.xlsx spreadsheet.

The following is supplemental material that you should read.

Amplifier Noise Metrics This is a noise related note that may be useful in a communication course.

Optimum Rs for Minimum Noise   This is a noise related note concerning achieving minimum noise that may be useful in a communication course.

Noise Analysis in Operational Amplifier Circuits 

The following table shows the ratio of noise bandwidth to electrical bandwidth (-3 dB) of a system.  The noise bandwidth is always wider than the electrical bandwidth but approaches the electrical bandwidth as the filter order becomes high.

First order -- 1.57
Second order -- 1.22
Third order -- 1.15
Fourth order -- 1.13
Fifth order -- 1.11

Thus, a first order low-pass filter with an electrical bandwidth of 1 kHz would have a noise bandwidth of 1.57 kHz.
Transducers

This is the primary text for this section of the course.

Signal Processing Introduction  This is a graphical overview of signal processing building blocks from input to output.

Transducers  This is an overview of common signal transducers.

Signal Processing  This is an overview of signal processing on input transducers.

Circuits for Controlling Slope and Offset  This has more text concerning signal processing circuits for transducers and a number of important homework problems

Solid State Temperature Sensing  This has sample problem descriptions and homework using diodes as temperature sensors.

RTD Circuits  This has examples of several RTD circuits and homework problems.

Light Emitting Diodes  This is an overview of light emitting diodes.

Photo-transistors  This is an overview of phototransistors.

Signal Level Calculation  This is an example problem of receiving a signal from an IR emitter.

Thermocouples  This is an introduction text to thermocouples with worked examples and examples (with answers) for students to work.

Thermocouples -- old notes with HW  These are the old hand thermocouple notes but include some homework with answers.

RTD Processing  This article introduces resistor thermometer devices and interface circuits.

EE431 Lab 3: Resistor Temperature Coefficient

The following is supplemental material that all students should read.

Introduction to Thermocouples This is an application note that is an introduction to thermocouples.

Practical Thermocouple Temperature Measurements This is a continuing application about thermocouples.

AD594, AD595 data sheet This is a monolithic thermocouple processor including ambient temperature compensation.

K Thermocouple Table

AD620 data sheet  This is a low-cost instrumentation amplifier

Platinum RTD Table

Electrical Resistivity of Copper, Gold, Palladium and Silver

Understanding and Applying Voltage References

Frequency Filters

The following is the text material for this part of the course.

Frequency Filters  This note is an introduction and general description of frequency filters.

Butterworth Math  This note has the derivation of Butterworth mathematics.

Chebyshev Math  This note has a summary of Chebyshev mathematics.

Filter Tables  This note has filter design tables for a variety of low-pass filters.

Sallen Key Low-Pass Filter  This note has the derivation of analysis and design of Sallen-Key low-pass filters.

Biquad Filter This is the derivation of the general bi-quad filter circuit that can simultaneously do low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, and band-reject filters with easy control of frequency and Q.

Choosing RC Values for Active Filters  This is an article about how to determine practical resistor and capacitor values for RC active filters.

Filter Homework These are a few homework problems you should work.

lpf_design.xls  This spreadsheet computes the pole locations for up to a 16th order Butterworth or Chebyshev low-pass filter

sallen_key_design.xlsx  This spreadsheet computes the resistor and capacitor values for a second-order low-pass Sallen-Key filter section.

frs.xls This spreadsheet plots the frequency response of an s-domain system of up to 7th order.

time_domain.xlsx This spreadsheet enables students to study time domain effects in filters of up to 7th order.


EE431 Lab 4: Low-pass Filters

The following is supplemental material that you should read.

Hall Network: This is an interesting passive RC notch filter that is tunable via a single potentiometer. See the following link (and search for Hall Network) for an article (Rediscover the Truly Tunable Hall Network) I wrote concerning the Hall Network that was published Jan. 31, 2012 in the online version of Electronic Design (http://www.electronicdesign.com).  The online publication is horrible.  My original submission, Design and Applications of the Hall Network, is much easier to read.

Using the Analog Devices Active Filter Design Tool The text and plots for this note are better than any text book you can buy.
Oscillator Circuits

Introduction to Oscillators This is a brief introduction to oscillators in general.

Sine Wave Oscillators  This discusses various forms of sine wave oscillators.

State Machine Oscillators This discusses various state machine driven oscillators using comparators.

Variable Duty Cycle Oscillator  This short note discusses a practical circuit for students. 

Oscillator Homework Here are some homework problems for oscillators.

EE431 Lab 5: Oscillator Circuits In this lab the student re-creates Bill Hewlett's famous lamp stabilized oscillator that became the first product of the Hewlett-Packard Company. The second part of the lab concerns designing rectangular wave oscillators using the LM555 Timer.
 
The following is supplemental material that you should read.

LM555 Square Wave Oscillator with Variable Duty Cycle  This is a modification of the standard LM555 oscillator to produce a near square wave.  The duty cycle is varied by connecting the RC charge/discharge waveform to a comparator with an adjustable threshold.

Articles from the HP Journal

Hewlett-Packard Journal Nov. 1949 This is part 1 of a discussion of the various Wein Bridge oscillators.  These were built using vacuum tubes but you should be able to easily follow the discussion.

Hewlett-Packard Journal Dec. 1949 This is part 2 of a discussion of the various Wein Bridge oscillators.

Hewlett-Packard Journal Jan. 1962 (HP204B) This issue discusses the first solid state version of the Wein Bridge oscillator.

Hewlett-Packard Journal Nov. 1965 (HP3300A) This issue discusses a state machine driven oscillator to generate triangle and square waves and illustrates a piecewise linear transfer function to convert triangle waves into sine waves.

Dating Vintage Hewlett-Packard Oscillators   This is an article that has some interesting history concerning early HP Wein Bridge oscillators.

Non-linear Circuits

The following is the text material for this part of the course.

Comparators  The comparator has many similarities to an op-amp but has a digital output instead. Now includes Schmitt Trigger.

Schmitt-Trigger Homework  These are good problems to work with answers.

comparator_simulation.xlsx   This is a simulation of comparator operation and also includes the two-comparator Schmitt Trigger.

schmitt_trigger.xlsx   This is a simulation of the single comparator Schmitt Trigger and includes an analysis calculator and design calculator.

Precision Diode Rectifiers  A precision rectifier can be built by placing a diode in the feedback path of an op-amp.  The forward voltage of the diode is divided by the open-loop gain of the op-amp to create an essentially zero forward voltage rectifier.

General non-linear Feedback  This brief note illustrates how non-linear feedback is used to create new non-linear funtions

Logarithmic Circuits  This is an example of non-linear feedback using the exponential forward current in a PN junction to make a wide range logarithmic circuit.

Analog Computational Elements  This is a general note about the use of some special integrated circuits to implement some complex non-linear circuits.

EE431 Lab 6: Non-linear Circuits

The following is supplemental material that you should read.

LM311 Data Sheet
This is an excellent general purpose comparator for use with dual power supplies.

LM339 Data Sheet  This is a popular quad comparator.

Piecewise Linear Circuit Notes  These notes shows how a non-linear transfer function can be approximated by piecewise linear sections using diodes.

Piecewise Linear Circuits  This is a more detailed text and illustrates a design application using piecewise linear circuits to implement a simple square-root circuit.

Log Converters

Theory and Applications of Log Amplifiers

Voltage Regulators
Voltage Regulators  This is an introduction to voltage regulators shunt and series.

Voltage_Regulators Using Zener Diodes  This note describes shunt voltage regulators using Zener diodes and includes homework problems with answers.

Voltage Regulators -- Series  This note describes series voltage regulators and includes homework problems with answers.

zener_regulator.xls  This is a spreadsheet to assist in the design (and understanding) of Zener shunt regulators.

EE431 Lab 7: Voltage Regulators  This lab provides experience with Zener shunt regulators and series regulators.
Thermal Analysis and Design

Thermal Calculation Introduction  This note is on thermal analysis and design.

Thermal Homework  These are some good thermal problems (with answers) to work -- do not hand in.

Thermal and Voltage Regulator Problems  These are some more practice problems (with answers) for the test.  Do not hand in.

The following is supplemental material that you should read.

Aavid-Thermalloy web site  This is one of the best known companies for small heat sinks and they have a lot of information on this site.

How to Select a Heat Sink  This is a good article on the selection of heat sinks.

Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog Converters

The following is the text material for this part of the course.

AD Converters  This note describes basic A/D and D/A converters and includes homework problems with answers.

EE431 Lab 8: Analog to Digital Conversion (no longer assigned)  (use with Analog to Digital Simulation Spreadsheet below).  This is no longer assigned as witht he shortened schedule there is no time to do it.  However, students are encouraged to use this as an aid to learning.

a2dsim.xls  This spreadsheet implements a simulation of an analog-to-digital converter and conversion back to analog.

The following is supplemental material that you should read.

The ABCs of ADCs This is an excellent article about analog to digital converters. 

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