Amplifier Input Research Articles

Arbitrary Waveform Voltage Measuring Converter for Wideband AC Voltmeter

Alternating current (AС) voltage measurement is one of the most common types of measurements in various fields of science and technology. To evaluate the AC voltage level, special voltmeters are used which allow recording of amplitude, average and/or root mean square (RMS) voltage values. Among these measuring instruments, voltmeters of mean square voltage are especially significant because RMS is a fundamental physical characteristic of an electrical signal and is a true measure of power. The wide distribution of non-sinusoidal signals necessitates the creation of voltmeters for direct measurement of RMS. The main component of such voltmeter is an AC voltage to direct current (DC) voltage measuring converter based on the root-mean-square value level (AC RMS-DC converter). An analysis of existing technical solutions shows that it is advisable to use a thermoelectric converter (TEC) for high-precision measurement of RMS voltage of an arbitrary shape with a spectrum in the frequency band from 20 Hz to 20–50 MHz. Such a AC RMS-DC converter must contain a differential semiconductor TEC and an input broadband voltage amplifier with low nonlinearity of the frequency response. The aim of the paper was to develop a measuring AC RMS-DC converter of arbitrary shape voltage in which special attention is paid to modernization of the TEC and reduction of the AC RMS-DC converter error using corection of the frequency response of the input amplifier and introduction automatic calibration of the output voltage. Features of semiconductor chips and design of TEC in the form of a microcircuit or microassembly, results of converter’s and TEC elements’ parameters measurements are presented. A significant influence of the frequency response of the input amplifier and the offset voltage of the TEC transistors on the AC RMS-DC converter error was noted. Modernization of the input amplifier and introduction of automatic calibration of the output voltage ensured an error in a sinusoidal signal converting of less than 1 % in the range from 20 Hz to 50 MHz.

Dual-Band Low-Noise Amplifier for GNSS Applications

A new dual-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) operating at L1/E1 1.575 GHz and L5/E5 1.192 GHz center frequencies for global navigation satellite system receivers is proposed. A doubled common-source amplifier architecture is used with a single input, shared gate inductor, and two outputs to split the RF signal into separate RX channels. The main advantage of the proposed circuit is compatibility with widespread multi-band antennas with single RF connectors dedicated to high-precision applications, as well as the possibility to use cheap SAW filters with small footprints to build low-cost, highly accurate GNSS receiver modules. The input and both outputs are well matched to 50 Ω impedance. The LNA is designed with a 110 nm CMOS process, consuming 6.13 mA current from a 1.5 V supply. The measured noise figures and voltage gains of the dual-band LNA are, respectively, NF1/NF5 = 3.23/3.5 dB and G1/G5 = 21.22/18.2 dB in the band of interest for each channel. The measured impedance matching at the input (S11) and output (S22) of the dual-band low-frequency amplifier is as follows: S11_L1 = −23.89, S11_L5 = −8.42, S22_L1 = −12.65, S22_L5 = −15.08. The one-decibel compression points are L1 band PdB1 = −37.71 dBm and L5 band PdB5 = −34.72 dBm, respectively.

Выбор сопротивления нагрузки приемной электрически малой антенны по критерию минимальной неравномерности группового времени запаздывания принятого сигнала

The accuracy of determining coordinates in terrestrial radio navigation systems (RNS) depends on the receiving antenna frequency response irregularity: received signal power and group delay time (GD). Due to the limited space on the carrier, the RNS receiving antennas are small and cannot be effectively matched with feeder over the entire operating frequency band. The paper considers two options for the RNS receiver input circuit. First is a classical matching scheme and second is direct connection of the antenna to the receiver input. It is shown that the most uniform frequency characteristics are achieved when the antenna is connected directly to reciever. In this case, the maximum received signal power occurs when the antenna input resistance module and the load resistance are equal. At the same time, high load resistance increases the frequency response irregularity. Therefore, the choice of load resistance should be made compromising manner, taking into account signal level, available input amplifier gain and the allowed frequency response irregularity.

A Novel Design of an Oral Appliance for Monitoring Electromyograms of the Genioglossus Muscle in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a prevalent source of sleep-disordered breathing. OSA is most commonly associated with dysfunctions in the genioglossus (GG) muscle. In this study, we present the first version of a medical device that produces an electromyogram (EMG) of the GG. The prototype is composed of a (custom-made) 3D-printed mouthpiece. Impressions were taken for the lower arch and scanned with a lab scanner to be converted into digital impressions. ExoCad software was used to design the appliance. Fusion 360 software was then used to modify the design and create tubes to house the electrodes in a bilateral configuration to secure excellent and continuous contact with the GG muscle. Silver-silver chloride electrodes were incorporated within the appliance through the created tubes to produce a muscle EMG. In this preliminary prototype, an EMG amplifier was placed outside the mouth, and isolated electric wires were connected to the amplifier input. To test the design, we ran experiments to acquire EMG signals from a group of OSA patients and a control group in wakefulness. The GG EMGs were acquired from the participants for 60 s in a resting state whereby they rested their tongues without performing any movement. Then, the subjects pushed their tongues against the fontal teeth with steady force while keeping the mouth closed (active state). Several features were extracted from the acquired EMGs, and statistical tests were applied to evaluate the significant differences in these features between the two groups. The results showed that the mean power and standard deviation were higher in the control group than in the OSA group (p < 0.01). Regarding the wavelength during the active state, the control group had a significantly longer wavelength than the OSA group (p < 0.01). Meanwhile, the mean frequency was higher in the OSA group (p < 0.01) at rest. These findings support research that showed that impairment in GG activity continues in the daytime and does not only occur during sleep. Future research should focus on developing the device to be more user-friendly and easily used at home during wakefulness and sleep.

The main directions of enhancement of digital antenna arrays

The development of modern radio electronic systems causes an increase in the requirements for the parameters of antenna devices (AU) and causes the transition from previously used mirror antennas and passive phased array antennas (FAA) to active FAA (AFAA), the considerable advantage of which is a significant reduction in energy losses of transmitted and received signals by reducing the distance of the low-noise amplifier input and output of power amplifier to the antenna element. Further development of the AU is the transition from AFAA with analog beamforming to digital antenna arrays (DAR) with digital beamforming, the advantages of which are due to the possibility of forming multibeam receiving and transmitting radiation patterns with independent control of the direction and shape of the beams, as well as the possibility of flexible change of operating modes. The use of a DAR with two-dimensional electronic scanning provides a significant increase in the efficiency of radio-electronic systems. Thus, their use in radar provides a gain in the efficiency of using the time, energy, frequency and spatial resources of radar with CAR up to 13 times compared with radar with passive FAA and AFAA with one-dimensional scanning. The disadvantages of the DAR are the high cost and increased energy consumption due to the installation of active elements in each transceiver channel, as well as the long time required to create new products, associated with a large amount of software and a complex structure for building a CAR. To overcome these disadvantages, manufacturers of antenna arrays and developers of the radio-electronic element base are creating new technical solutions. The main directions of development of technologies for the production of DAR functional devices that reduce the cost and reduce the time needed to create new products are shown: the development of common modules that allow you to create scalable DAR, increasing the integration of microwave monolithic integrated circuits with the placement of the maximum number of transceiver channels on one chip, increasing the integration of ASIC, including ADCs, DACs and digital signal processing devices, increasing the clock frequencies of digital functional nodes, as well as the development of circuit solutions for building nodes with low energy consumption.

Miniaturized design of multi-octave PA using spoof surface plasmon polaritons

Surface Plasmon Polariton (SSPP), which exhibits subwavelength-scaled field confinement, can be realized at microwave frequencies by ultrathin corrugated metallic strips, providing significant potential for circuit and system miniaturization. A number of SSPP units were employed in this study to design input and output matching networks of a multi-octave RF power amplifier (PA) for the purpose of reducing the overall circuit size. The designed SSPP-based PAs were fabricated and demonstrated to have an output power between 39.1 dBm and 41.8 dBm, and a power added efficiency (PAE) ranging between 60.2 % and 69.8 % in the frequency range of 0.8 GHz to 3.1 GHz, with a size of 35.5 mm * 46.7 mm, which achieves a 47 % size reduction compared to the traditional transmission-line based PA. A highly efficient global optimization method, the Bayesian Optimization (BO), was utilized to further enhance performance. SSPP PA's average output power and PAE have been improved by approximately 0.3 dBm and 2.6 %, respectively. Its overall size remains at the same level. With the use of a 20 MHz 5GNR signal, digital pre-distortion (DPD) has been implemented, and the linearity of the PA has been improved.

Noise in detectors containing distributed resistive elements

We discuss the thermal noise originating from distributed resistive materials in particle detectors like Resistive Plate Chambers or Resistive Micro-Pattern Gas Detectors. The complex impedance Z(f) of the detector as seen by the amplifier input terminal is the key number defining the noise power spectrum. We give some analytic examples and show how this number can be calculated for any detector geometry using numerical simulations programs.

Nonlinear Capacitance Compensation Method for Integrating a Metal–Semiconductor–Metal Varactor with a Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Transistor Power Amplifier

A nonlinear capacitance compensation technique is presented in this paper to enhance the linearity of a power amplifier (PA) in the GaN process. The method involves placing an MSM varactor device alongside the GaN HEMT device, which works as the amplifying unit such that the overall capacitance observed at the amplifier input is constant, thus improving linearity. This approach is a reliable and straightforward way to improve PA linearity in the GaN process. The proof-of-concept prototype in this study involves the fabrication of a PA device using a standard GaN HEMT process, which successfully integrates the proposed compensation technique and demonstrates excellent compatibility with existing processes. The prototype has a saturation output power of 18 dBm, a peak power-added efficiency of 51.8%, and a small signal gain of 15.5 dB at 1 GHz. The measured AM–PM distortion at the 5 dB compression point is reduced by more than 50% compared to that of an uncompensated device. Furthermore, the results of third-order intermodulation distortion demonstrate the effectiveness of the linearity enhancement concept, with values improved by more than 5 dB in the linear region compared to those of the uncompensated device. All of the results demonstrate the potential utility of this design approach for wireless communication applications.

A Fast Transient Response Capacitor-Less LDO with Transient Enhancement Technology.

This paper proposes a fast transient load response capacitor-less low-dropout regulator (CL-LDO) for digital analog hybrid circuits in the 180 nm process, capable of converting input voltages from 1.2 V to 1.8 V into an output voltage of 1 V. The design incorporates a rail-to-rail input and push-pull output (RIPO) amplifier to enhance the gain while satisfying the requirement for low power consumption. A super source follower buffer (SSFB) with internal stability is introduced to ensure loop stability. The proposed structure ensures the steady-state performance of the LDO without an on-chip capacitor. The auxiliary circuit, or transient enhancement circuit, does not compromise the steady-state stability and effectively enhances the transient performance during sudden load current steps. The proposed LDO consumes a quiescent current of 47 µA and achieves 25 µV/mA load regulation with a load current ranging from 0 to 20 mA. The simulation results demonstrate that a settling time of 0.2 µs is achieved for load steps ranging from 0 mA to 20 mA, while a settling time of 0.5 µs is attained for load steps ranging from 20 mA to 0 mA, with an edge time of 0.1 µs.

A precision current sensing circuit with chopper amplifier of symmetric topology

Precision current detection is essential in smart power switches. In this paper, a current-sensing amplifier with symmetric topology is presented, which adopts the chopping technique to improve sensing accuracy. This design offers four advantages at the same time. Firstly, the rail-to-rail complementary differential pairs are achieved to obtain a full input voltage swing, and the Class AB output stage is incorporated to increase the slew rate. Secondly, symmetric topology with the current shunt source provides moderate gain enhancement without extra power consumption and further increases the gain bandwidth product. Thirdly, the chopping technique is applied to achieve a significant reduction in the amplifier's input offset without an extra low pass filter. Fourthly, the constant GM-C biasing circuit is introduced to improve the robustness of system response and current sensing accuracy under process variations. The four advantages can be substantiated through the application of a 0.5-μm BCD technology process, with multiple simulation results, including frequency responses and current sensing accuracy in process corners and temperature variations. The mismatch Monte-Carlo and noise analyses are also conducted with the chopper on or off. Chip experimental results show that the current sensing error is within ±1.6 % from 0.01 A to 3 A load current. Furthermore, multiple tests have been conducted to determine the absolute values of the input offset voltages, ranging between 20 μV and 50 μV, which is a relatively small amount to vastly improve the sensing accuracy.

Characterization of Visible Range Gain in Praseodymium Doped Fiber Amplifier

In the optical (380-700 nm) region, a simulation study was conducted to assess the low-signal gain, power conversion efficiency (PCE), and optical output power of a praseodymium-doped fiber optic amplifier (PDFA). The PDFA performance was assessed using the optimized Pr3+ fiber length, Pr3+ ion concentration, and pump power. Additionally, the effects of input signal voltage and amplifier gain on amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) were investigated. A lower peak signal of roughly 1 dB at 635 nm was obtained with a shorter 5 m Pr3 + doped fiber and a higher pump power of 300 mW. The impact of wavelength and pump power variations on the amplifier's optical output power's spontaneous enhanced emission (EEM) is examined. Finally, the ionic interaction (general-purpose conversion effect) in the low-power amplifier signal is analyzed by taking into account various values of the upconversion factor. Keywords: Praseodymium doped fibre amplifier, Small-signal gain, Pump power, Ultrashort laser.

A high precision and low power consumption switching capacitor readout circuit

In this paper, a high precision and low power switching capacitor readout circuit for MEMS sensors is proposed. The capacitance readout circuit is realized by using the total difference separation loop structure composed of a switching capacitor charge amplifier. In order to reduce the aggravation of common-mode parasitic capacitance to the input offset error and amplifier gain error in the readout circuit, the input common-mode feedback compensation structure and oversampled successive approximation (OSA) readout technology are introduced. In addition, the circuit adopts a non-overlapping nested clock to reduce charge injection and improve output accuracy. Based on SMIC 0.18 μm CMOS technology, the circuit can recognize 0-0.2 pF capacitance signals and convert them into voltage signals, achieving good linear fitting. When the common-mode parasitic capacitance is 1-16 p, it has good resistance to common-mode parasitic capacitance, and the precision of the capacitor readout circuit is increased by 3.9%. Compared with traditional readout circuits, it has a simple structure and low power consumption.

Design Specification and Simulations of a Miller compensated Operational Amplifier with 75dB Gain

This paper presents a two-stage Miller compensated operational amplifier design using cadence 55nm CMOS technology. This circuit provides a single ended output due to mirror pole is implemented while the input of this operational amplifier is differential. A biasing circuit is also designed and attached with this amplifier. This operational amplifier provides a gain of 75.41dB while the phase margin is off 70o. The Gain bandwidth of this operational amplifier is 9.5MHz. The power consumption of this overall circuit including the biasing circuit is 154.69µW. The other performance parameters are also analyzed and provide in this paper. The mathematical calculation for the circuits is also presented. Due to medium power consumption and higher gain bandwidth this amplifier can be used in different data converters like Delta-Sigma ADC. Because the performance of this ADC is depending upon the higher Gain Bandwidth.

A 0.26 [formula omitted]Vrms instrumentation amplifier based on discrete-time DC servo loop with successive-approximation-compensation technique and Chopper DAC Array

A low-noise instrumentation amplifier for bio-signal recording is proposed in this paper. One of the significant disturbances, electrode DC offset, is suppressed using the proposed successive-approximation-compensation (SAC) circuit based on a discrete-time DC servo loop with Chopper DAC Array. Firstly, the DC offset at the output is quantified using the SAR quantizer. Next, the digital code produced by the SAR quantizer is used to control the chopper DAC array. Finally, a suitable compensation voltage is generated and used directly to correct the electrode DC offset at the input of the chopper amplifier. By using the proposed compensation technique, the first-stage chopper amplifier’s quiescent operating state is unaffected. When a 50-mV DC offset voltage exists at the differential input, the SAC circuit can compensate the DC offset voltage close to zero in a relatively short time. At the same time, there are fewer capacitors, which significantly decrease the area consumption. The proposed instrumentation amplifier is implemented in a standard 0.18μm CMOS process. The experiment results show that over a bandwidth from 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz, an input referred noise of 0.26 μVrms at the TT corner has been attained. The total power consumption is about 13.72 μW at the supply voltage of 1.8 V. The gain of the instrumentation amplifier is about 39.15 dB and its Noise Efficiency Factor (NEF) is 2.76.

High rate studies of the ATLAS sTGC detector and optimization of the filter circuit on the input of the front-end amplifier

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is expected to be upgraded to the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) by 2029 and achieve instantaneous luminosity around 5–7.5 × 10^34 cm^-2 s^-1. This represents a more than 3–4 fold increase in the instantaneous luminosity compared to what has been achieved in Run 2. The New Small Wheel (NSW) upgrade is designed to be able to operate efficiently in this high background rate environment. In this article, we summarize multiple performance studies of the small-strip Thin Gap Chamber (sTGC) at high rate using nearly final front-end electronics. We demonstrate that the efficiency versus rate distribution can be well described by an exponential decay with electronics dead-time being the primary cause of loss of efficiency at high rate. We then demonstrate several methods that can decrease the electronics dead-time and therefore minimize efficiency loss. One such method is to install either a pi-network input filter or pull-up resistor to minimize the charge input into the amplifier. We optimized the pi-network capacitance and pull-up resistor resistance using the results from our measurements. The results shown here were not only critical to finalizing the components on the front-end board, but also are critical for setting the optimal operating parameters of the sTGC detector and electronics in the ATLAS cavern.

Wideband SOA fiber-to-fiber gain and saturation output power in the C-band: impact of characteristic parameters

Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs) have numerous attractive characteristics; for example: minimum power usage, broadband, flexible wavelength, wide dynamic range and significant nonlinearities. In this study, we present a comprehensive model of output saturation power and fiber-to-fiber gain of wideband SOAs. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of optical confinement factor, bias current, input signal power, temperature, and amplifier length on the fiber-to-fiber gain spectrum in the C-band. The obtained numerical results are approved by comparison with simulation results showing a fair agreement. The results reveal that output saturation power is improved by decreasing the optical confinement factor. Additionally, when input signal power rises, the maximum fiber-to-fiber gain value declines. Furthermore, as the temperature rises, the fiber-to-fiber gain decreases. Moreover, the maximum fiber-to-fiber gain is obtained at shorter amplifier lengths. Additionally, the effect of carrier density on the spectrum of coefficient of material gain is investigated, showing an increase in its value when increasing the carrier density, with a peak near 1550 nm.

SEISMIC WAVE RECORDER DESIGN FOR DEVELOPMENT FOOTSTEP HUMAN DETECTION ALGORITHMS

The article shoving the results of development seismic signal recorder for purpose of registration human footstep seismic signals. Design of recorder was adopted for collection seismic signals and store it on PC, for next seismic signal processing and creation signal detection and classification algorithms.&#x0D; The article provides an overview of the types of seismic waves, their classification is given. The conditions for the propagation of seismic waves are determined, and the features of Rayleigh waves are clarified. The design structure of the seismic sensor has been developed. The specifics of the functioning of the seismic sensor are described, the place and conditions of power supply and placement of the external interface are recognized. The specifics of using the sensor of an electromechanical transducer - geophone and the features of measurements using a stationary earth are described. It is shown that the development of a seismic signal sensor circuit implies the placement of input amplifiers in its structure. The main amplitude-frequency and phase-frequency characteristics of the geophone are presented. Geophone equivalent circuit, amplifier circuit, low-pass filter circuit are presented. Illustrations of types of seismograms are given, recommendations on the features of digital signal processing are given. The order of seismic signal processing is connected with its transmission from the sensor through the amplifying stage, passing through a low-pass filter in order to minimize noise and interference. The next step is to send a signal to the ADC. From the presented graphs of sensitivity and phase shift of the geophone, it follows that special attention should be paid to the curve corresponding to the sensor with an open output. This configuration of the sensor is optimal in the context of the formation of the maximum equal frequency response.&#x0D; As papers result was proposed structural and schematic design for all main recorders blocks and software features that required for properly using recorder. Tests in real conditions on test sites have shown the correctness of the choice of schemes of technical solutions for the task of registering seismic waves.

Neural network-based control of an ultrafast laser

With the recent advances in machine learning (ML) and data science (DS), the control, modeling, and analysis of these complex systems continues to improve. In this work, we report on the optimization of the intensity of a femtosecond laser using feedforward neural networks (FFNN) that model the input–output relationships of the data. The input parameters of the system were optimized to achieve the required performance of the femtosecond laser. We propose a neural network-based control system to model the relationship between the spectral amplitude and phase of the input laser pulse at the amplifier input and the shape of the output pulse. Low-jitter laser parameter inputs and the resulting laser pulse duration were modeled, and the resulting correlation between the input and output data was used to optimize the laser pulse. We demonstrate improved processing and laser control performance.

Testing transient electromagnetics systems on the ice cover of Lake Baikal

Currently, sites well studied by geological and geophysical methods are used as natural reference models for testing measurement systems used in the transient electromagnetic (TEM) method. However, the electrical properties of these models are rarely known in such detail that the difference between the measured and modeled transient responses can be safely attributed to the measuring system's intrinsic response, rather than the properties of a reference model. In this article, we present and discuss the results of testing TEM systems on Lake Baikal. The measurements were taken in early spring when the lake was covered with ice. More than 1000 m deep, homogeneous and isotropic water column of the lake is a unique natural model with precisely known properties. Testing works on Lake Baikal answered the question why, when using small central loop arrays in resistive environment, an anomalously slow decrease in transient EMF (long tail) is observed at late times. As it turned out, long tails are a slowly decreasing component of the input amplifier's intrinsic response to a voltage pulse induced in the receiving loop during transmitter current turn-off. As for measurements at early times, it was shown how delay effects in turning off the transmitter current manifest themselves in the early-time loop-loop TEM data.

CHANCES OF WRONG INFORMATION RECEPTION DURING ELECTROMAGNETIC INFLUENCE UPON OPTICAL CABLE

Long-distance communication lines are optical fiber lines in most cases now. This moment PM QPSK system (polarization-division multiplex with quadrature phase shift keying) appear. Polarization-division multiplex uses a fact that the optical signal can propagate as two orthogonal polarized modes that allows to use the modes independently and makes it possible to double carrier capacity (together with already other used multiplex system). Two orthogonal waves using in the same fiber can cause problems during lightning discharges close by cable line. Under influence of external cross electrical field (or longitudinal magnetic) the polarizations plane of lights wave can turns on angle, which depends on field value, light path length upon field action and fiber sensitivity. During the influence of external electromagnetic field issue a part of one polarization signal can pass to other orthogonal plane and it will perceive wrongly. The Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) systems development with increasing number of carriers brought to transmission in the same transparency window some tens or hundreds waves. They are shifted relative to each other for some parts of nanometers during the lightning stroke. Therefore the polarization plane rotation will be different for each wave (other conditions being equal): the short waves rotated greater than the long waves. On input of optical amplifier there will be packet of waves with different polarizations, and it can produce problems to filters, optical insulators and amplifiers, to Raman amplifiers specially, which are sensitive to polarization. It is known that short and long waves are moving with different velocity as refraction index depends upon wave length. Usually the rotation angle quantity is small if resistivity of earth near cable is not heavy and if equipment does not contain sensitive to PMD (Polarization Modes Dispersion). This phenomenon passes usually unnoticed. But sometimes with strong thunderstorm and lightning stroke at a short distance the polarization plane rotation can exceed 45º or even 90º. Hereby, it is possible the complex electrical and magnetic fields influence during thunderstorm on orthogonal polarization using, that can lead to additional component appearance in orthogonal axes and to signal reception error. Error level for year is estimated.