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Light controller
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3335A —synthesiser (200Hz-81MHz) £2400 Antritsu MS555A2 £1200
Hewlett Packard Hewlett Packard 8922B (GSM) £6950
436A power meter and sensor (various) from £750 Schlumberger Stabilock 4031 £3995
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• *.'Hz 4 channel DSO £1500
, .-,4201A -300MHz Digitizing £1250
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Philips PM3094 -200MHz -4 channel £1750 Fluke 2620 Data Buckets 70
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Philips PM3392 - 200MHz-200Ms:s - 4 channel £1995 Hewlett Packard 339A Distortion measuring set £1200
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CONTENTS
Oià COMMENT 704 DYNAMIC ART
Wither Wap? Douglas Clarkson argues that electronics
engineers and artists should work
together to produce dynamic works of art,
674 NEWS and makes suggestions for simple artistic
• UK videophone setback
lighting effects using opto-mechanics.
• Internet on TV available this year
• Display technology uses ink-jet printing
709 NEW PRODUCTS
• Electronic product gazumping?
• UK lags Europe with Internet
broadband
720 SPEAKERS' CORNER
Loudspeaker crossover networks:
• Isolated drivers made by
constant voltage or constant power'
micromachining
John Watkinson's answer might
• South Korea scraps phones subsidies
surprise you.
• Modulator scheme for 25Tbit/s
Illustration Mark Oldroyd
• BSkyB must free up encryption
722 SPECIAL RELATIVITY:
RIGHT OR WRONG?
In telecomms, synchronising clocks
around the Earth is an important issue.
Al Kelly believes that the correction
applied to such clocks is not explained
properly by existing theories.

725 BETTER BUFFERS

Is the opto-coupler dead? Find out what the Having been unsuccessful in looking for
benefits of an alternative coupler using information to help him design
micro-machined inductors are on page 677.
Ever-changing light patterns: electronics
adds anew dimension to art. Read how.
680 A NEW LOW-IMD MIXER on page 706.
Chris Trask's new series-shunt feedback
active mixer offers clear advantages over
both the common Gilbert Cell active
mixer and diode-ring mixers. Yet it's
possible to implement the design on the
kitchen table!
complementary compound emitter
686 FLICKER-FUSION METER followers, Dave Kimber set about
The maximum rate of flicker that a developing his own guidelines.
person can perceive relates to how tired
that person is. It is also affected by age, 730 BEGINNERS' CORNER
by whether or not you've been drinking RF oscillators play an important role in ogidight
.
coffee and even on whether you're wireless communications. One is required
introvert or extrovert. Peter Naish in every transmitter, and there is also at Optoelectronics spots cancer cells in
describes how to measures it. least one in most receivers. Ian Hickman seconds using anew technique involving
just an endoscope, light beam and some
explains how to design your own Colpitts
DSP. Dave Mitchell reports on page 694.
oscillator.
694 OPTOELECTRONICS
SPOTS CANCER CELLS 734 CIRCUIT IDEAS
A new technique called light-scattering • Bike computer reads amps, amp.hours
spectroscopy' helps detect pre-cancerous • One-at-a-time phone switch
cells in afraction of asecond using just • Economical level sensor needs just 7pA
an endoscope, light beam and some DSP. • Circuit simulates glitches
Pete Mitchell reports. • PC-controlled bipolar stepper motor
• Simple charger for NiCds and lead acid
696 EVALUATE CAPACITORS • Jingle softener

FOR SMPS DESIGNS 742 WEB DIRECTIONS

When choosing acapacitor for amodern
Useful web addresses for the electronics
switch-mode power supply, high
designer.
frequencies, complex waveforms and the
demand for ever increasing efficiency To evaluate acapacitor for amodern
make life difficult. Cyril Bateman 747 LETTERS switched-mode power supply, agood
explains what the problems are, and how THD. Hard-drive failures, Thoughts from test jig is vital. Find out what
to sort them out. along-standing reader Cyril Bateman uses on page 696.

October issue on sale 7 September

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD

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CIRCLE NO. 104 ON RI %kJ

 Whither WAP?
5
hock, horror, hold the front page... sales in WAP Forum embracing the main companies
the UK of WAP-capable mobile phones —you involved.
know, the ones that work as Internet terminals The marketing of WAP has been less than
as well —have achieved just 200 000 instead of the scintillating too. There's abundant evidence that
EDITOR projected half million. successful extraction of customers' money demands
Martin Eccles But perhaps you didn't know —or didn't even creating an awareness of need or desire; few
020 8652 3614 care? That seems to be the reaction of the public at products sell themselves.
large, even if dealers, manufacturers and pundits are Even when the merchandise itself is appealing, a
CONSULTANTS wailing and gnashing their teeth. Building societies price that's pitched higher than the public is
Ian Hickman and mobile dealers are reduced to giving away prepared to pay will restrict sales to all but 'must
Philip Darrington WAP phones as acome-on, while the prophets of have' early adopters. Pocket calculators, microwave
doom and desperation portray WAP as abigger ovens, video recorders, home computers, CD
Frank Ogden
techno-flop than the Millennium Dome —as if that players —the list is endless of new technologies that
were possible. But is WAP really aclick too far? took awhile to catch on.
EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATION
It depends on your outlook. Undoubtedly the It doesn't help that today's offerings are less than
Jackie Lowe
product has been oversold if the following nonsense compelling. Even the Carphone Warehouse —
020 8652 3614 is typical of the sales pitch for WAP —and no, I arguably Britain's most successful independent
won't embarrass the perpetrator! purveyor of mobile communication —is forced to
EDITORIAL E-MAILS "I'm in the pub, where Iorder around of drinks, concede:
[email protected] paying for them from my mobile and join my "There is alot of current hype in the media about
friends. what WAP is, and while the possibilities in the very
GROUP SALES EXECUTIVE "We gather round one mobile to watch highlights near future are exciting and limited only by the
Pat Bunce of what movies are currently playing at the local imagination, WAP is currently apredominantly
cinema. We make areservation through the mobile text-based view of the Internet. Improvements to the
020 8652 8339
and check out the view from our seats on line. current mobile networks and in screen and battery
"I also order some food to be ready for me to pick technology will all enhance the WAP experience,
ADVERTISEMENT E-MAILS
up when Iarrive. Ilike the film so much that Ibuy eventually delivering rich multi-media content in
[email protected]
and download the soundtrack to my mobile while I the not too distant future."
am watching. Full marks for honesty!
ADVERTISING PRODUCTION
"After the movie Iam too tired to walk home so I To write off WAP entirely would be wrong,
020 8652 8339
call ataxi. Iallow the taxi company to find my though —its time will eventually come when prices
location and Iwatch the taxi approach on amap on fall and product specifications improve. Combining
PUBLISHER
my mobile. The taxi is paid automatically when I aWAP-enabled phone with an electronic organiser,
Mick Elliott get out and the lights in the house come on as I palmtop PC, portable FM radio, MP3 player and TV
approach. would make afar more compelling proposition. And
EDITORIAL FAX "As Isettle down with aglass of wine, the then, finally, amass market could be born.
020 8652 8111 soundtrack Ibought at the cinema is transferred to Mobile phones are aclassic examplar; those clumsy
my hi-fi to end agreat night out!" featureless 'bricks' that cost £1000 back in 1985 were
CLASSIFIED FAX Perhaps life really is like that on planet WAP — scarcely arunaway success, yet fifteen years on more
but not down here. than half the population now owns acellphone and a
020 8652 8938
Clues to WAP's poor performance to date are not sleek, highly featured and affordable one to boot.
NEWSTRADE ENQUIRIES
hard to find. While many people find the ability to Commoditisation is the name of the game.
make phone calls on the move convenient and And that's it. Sorry, what's WAP? Yes, Ishould
020 7907 7777
reassuring, it's less clear whether they have the have defined the term at the outset but nobody else
enthusiasm, requirement or the patience to bothers to. It stands for Wireless Application
ISSN 0939-8332
download stock quotes or e-mail or make travel Protocol, aname that conveys precisely nothing to
bookings and other transactions over aconnection the world at large.
For afull listing of that's slow — at 9600 bit's —expensive — at 5p or Years ago, successful marketeers knew that to sell
RBI magazines:
10p aminute —and hardly ashowpiece of legibility an obscurely titled technology, you had to give it a
http/Avww.reedbusiness.com
or graphic presentation. meaningful name. Touch-Tone, Video Plus and
For WAP browsing online, content must be Walkman all give aclue to their function —but not
redesigned from scratch, without even the benefit of WAP. Time for are-launch with anew name
effl,„.•• REED
414 open standards. WAP technology is proprietary and perhaps?
fair BUSINESS sold under licence, controlled by agroup called the Andrew Emmerson
M.- INFORMATION

Electronics World is published monthly. By post, current issue £2.65, Overseas advertising agents: France and Belgium: Pierre Mussard,
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September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 673

 [
1
11
11DATE
1
UK videophone setback
The launch of the world's first GSM launching the innovative product. various different aspects of the
mobile videophone has been delayed Cambridge Consultants has led the project, with manufacturer Celestica.
for up to six months, according to the overall technical project management The development work has
UK companies behind the project. including both the industrial and included video compression software,
The videophone from Orange was mechanical design of the handset and video specific application software,
most recently scheduled for launch creating the user interface. control protocols, implementation of
this summer but is now not expected ISDN videophone firm Motion the user interface and the design,
to see the light of day until the last Media, Microsoft system integrator development and integration of the
quarter of this year. NMI and the University of electronics.
"The launch date is set for Strathclyde have been working on HSCSD achieves 57.6kbitis data
sometime in Q4," said an Orange
spokeswoman, who refused to

Internet on TV available this year

comment on why the project was
delayed.
According to another member of
Digital terrestrial TV company ONdigital
the entirely UK-based project team, "I haven't seen anything else like it," said the
will be offering Internet on TV to its
working prototypes of the spokesman. Viewers will be able to click
videophone were delivered to subscribers this year. straight from programmes to the Internet while
Orange earlier this year and have An Internet box, around the size of alarge the TV picture remains in the corner of their
also been on display at last week's paperback book, which connects to the digital screen.
Tomorrow's World Live exhibition set-top box and atelephone line is needed to "ONdigital will offer the easiest and most cost
in London. receive the service. effective way of getting on to the Internet," said
• In May of this year the company French company Netgem has been chosen as Stuart Prebble, ONdigital's CEO. "No dish, no
was still saying it would launch in atechnology partner and will be providing the cable, no computer. Simply atelevision and an
the summer when high-speed data Internet box which uses asystem based on the ONdigital subscription."
capability was added to the network Linux operating system. The box will initially connect to the telephone
in the form of HSCSD (high speed Pace Micro Technology, which supplies line via a56k modem but will be capable of
circuit switched data). HSCSD is set ONdigital's set-top boxes, already has an connection to ADSL technology later. Details of
to roll-out at the end of July when Internet TV product on the market, but an price and the launch date will be made available
corporate trials are completed. ONdigital spokesman said the French supplier in the next few weeks. There are plans to
A group of UK technology was chosen because its, "technology seems to integrate the Internet box inside the digital
companies was chosen to work on work particularly well." set-top box.
the design and manufacture of the The Internet pages are instantly reconfigured Pace licensed its Web technology to Alba for
videophone last year and Spring and the system apparently makes the pages use in its Internet browsing TV in March this
2000 was set as the date for readable on aTV screen from 10-15 feet away. year.

Display technology relies on ink-jet printing

Seiko-Epson and Cambridge technology would be anew technical director Jeremy
Display Technology (CDT) outlet for Epson's printing Burroughs, "We now
have demonstrated afull- expertise. have polymers that can
colour, active-matrix Producing the display has match PAL television
light-emitting polymer (LEP) pushed ink-jet technology to colours, but they are not
display. its current limit. Printing 30µm suitable for ink-jet
The display, which is a features with 301im droplets printing yet."
prototype, measures 64 by has required special treatment The companies are
64mm, has 200 by 150 pixels of the printable surface as well aiming the displays
and 16 levels of grey scale — as custom print heads. firmly at the mobile-phone
achieved through acombination Our reporter present at the and PDA markets, and
of time modulation and the use demonstration reports that the expect production within
of sub-pixels. display had no problems with two years. Beyond this, the
The display is notable, not fast action, was acceptably companies are confident they
only for being the first of its bright for shaded viewing, have the technology to push
kind, but for being the first could be viewed easily from into all other display areas,
display made using ink-jet the side and had good including TVs. "We can make
printing techniques. In fact, LCD-like colours, but not as 20 or 30in, no problem," said
the relationship between the well saturated as CRT colours. Mr Shimoda, head of R&D at
two companies was started "The display uses our Epson, "the feasibility is very
when Seiko-Epson approached previous generation of high, the advantage of light
CDT realising that LEP polymers," explained CDT emitting polymer is high."

674 September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD

 TiePieScope HS801 PORTABLE MOST
war»
ABRITARY WAVEFORM GENERATOR-
STORAGE OSCILLOSCOPE-
SPECTRUM ANALYZER-
MULTIMETER-
TRANSIENT RECORDER-

•The sophisticated cursor read outs have

21 possible read outs. Besides the usual
read outs, like voltage and time. also
quantities like rise time and frequency
are displayed.

• Measured signals and instrument

settings can be saved on disk.This
enables the creation of a library of
The HS801: the first 100 Mega samples measured signals. Text balloons can be
per second measuring instrument that added to asignal, for special comments.
consists of a MOST (Multimeter, The (colour) print outs can be supplied
Oscilloscope. Spectrum analyzer and with three common text lines (e.g.
Transient recorder) and an AVVG (abritary company info) en three lines with
waveform generator). This new MOST measurement specific information.
portable and compact measuring
instrument can solve almost every
measurement problem. With the •The HS801 has an 8bit resolution and a
integrated AVVG you can generate every maximum sampling speed of 100 MHz.
signal you want. The input range is 0.1 volt full scale to 80
volt full scale. The record length is
32K/64K samples. The AVVG has a 10 bit
The versatile software has a user-defined resolution and a sample speed of 25
toolbar with which over 50 instrument MHz.The HS801 is connected to the
settings quick and easy can be parallel printer port of a computer.
accessed. An intelligent auto setup
allows the inexperienced user to perform
measurements immediately. Through the The minimum system requirement is a
use of asetting file, the user has the PC with a486 processor and 8 Mbyte
possibility to save an instrument setup RAM available. The software runs in
and recall it at a later moment. The setup Windows 3.xx /95 /98 or Windows NT
time of the instrument is hereby reduced and DOS 3.3 or higher.
to a minimum.
TiePie engineering (UK), 28 Stephenson
Road, Industrial Estate, St. Ives,
When aquick indication of the input Cambridgeshire, PE17 4VVJ. UK
signal is required, a simple click on the Tel: 01480-460028; Fax: 01480-460340
auto setup button will immediately give a
good overview of the signal. The auto TiePie engineering (NL),
setup function ensures a proper setup of Koperslagersstraat 37. 8601 VVL SNEEK
the time base, the trigger levels and the The Netherlands
input sensitivities. Tel: +31 515 415 416: Fax +31 515 418 819

Web: http://www.tiepie.n1

CIRCLE NO. 150 ON REPLY CARD

UPDATE

Is electronic product gazumping back due to scarcities?

Gazumping could be back in the relationship". The distributor told Hoggatt there
semiconductor market after aperiod Four bad years have made chip was asupply shortage. "The supply
in which shortages have — manufacturers nervous about shortage was of course aeuphemism
surprisingly —not translated into offending customers. But there are for 'You've been gazumped',"
higher prices. anecdotal signs from the industry commented Hoggatt.
Normally, when the silicon cycle (not related to Motorola) that things The suspicion was that someone in
turns up, prices increase sharply. may be changing. the supply chain had allocated the
However, in the present up-cycle "We placed an order for 5000 devices elsewhere —quite possibly at a
prices have stayed broadly flat. serial EPROMs back in March for better price.
Asked last week why this is so, delivery in 22 weeks. Confirmed, "To add insult to injury," added
Motorola Semiconductor CEO Fred acknowledged, everything," our Hoggatt, "the distributor offered us
Tucker, replied: "I wish Icould reporter was told by Drew Hoggatt, some devices which 'they found on the
figure that out". managing director of access control grey market' at five times the price on
Tucker added: "Price increases can system manufacturer Paxton Access, our purchase order to them. We could
be so detrimental to acustomer "We got to around week 19, and of course address the same market
relationship. Could you give them a were told by the franchised ourselves and we bought 10k devices at
price increase and get away with it? distributor that we would not receive a40 per cent premium on our original
Yes —but boy would it affect the our EPROMs —ever." order unit price."

UK lags Europe with

Internet broadband
The UK is slipping well behind
Europe, and Europe slipping behind
the US and Asia in upgrading the
Internet to broadband capability, it
appears from speakers at the DSL
Summit in Colorado Springs.
The UK could be the last country
in Europe to open up to free competi-
tion for the upgraded products.
Whereas the EC has recommended
that all countries in the EU should
have free competition by the end of
the year, the UK won't have it until
July 2001.
While BT has the field to itself, for
the next 12 months, it will charge £40
amonth for the service, on top of the
BT line rental charge, whereas
speakers at the DSL Summit agreed
that $40 (£25) amonth was the figure
which would actively encourage
Giving art aplug... The annual design showcase at the Royal College of Art came round
consumers to pay for broadband
recently. Among the things of beauty there were things with practicality as well —particularly
services.
in the industrial design section. This Ergo Plug concept comes from Stephen Waldron who
Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and
worked at Dyson Appliances last year. Waldron is on sj.waldron«,virgin.net. You can read
Hong Kong expect 4.5 million users
more about the exhibition at www.rca.ac.uk.
in 12 months.

BSkyB must free up encryption technology

In amove to further open up the digital TV services so they can provide interactive •The UK is leading the world in
market, watchdog Oftel has decreed that services to their customers. converting to digital TV, according to
encryption technology used by satellite TV "As digital TV becomes more analyst company Strategy Analytics.
company BSkyB should be made openly widespread, it is important that different By the end of the year it, expects 29% of
available. companies can provide new and exciting homes to have switched to digital. The US
The encryption technology is provided interactive services to consumers," said will follow with 24% while in France and
by Sky Subscribers Services (SSSL) and is David Edmonds, Oftel's director general. Spain 15% will have converted.
used in BSkyB's digital set-top boxes to "But it is also important to ensure The company forecasts there will be 56
provide interactive services over digital regulation in this area is only imposed million homes around the world watching
televisions. when justified, otherwise competition and digital TV by the end of this year. By the
The watchdog has decided that SSSL is innovation in afast-moving market could end of last year the figure was 34.4
in adominant position in the market and so be stifled." • million homes with satellite taking the
in the interests of competition it must allow The ruling will be reviewed in the first major share of 77%. Cable achieved 21%
other companies to have fair access to its half of 2001. and terrestrial just 2%.

676 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 UPDATE

Isolated drivers made by nucroma chining

•

A magnetic alternative to
optocouplers has been announced by
Analog Devices.
The 'fflIsolation technology' uses
micromachining —hence 'gm' —to
add coils to the die, isolating driver
and receiver circuitry.
"We use what's called set-reset
technology," said Ronn Kliger,
business development manager at
Analog Devices. The driver side of
the chip looks for edges on the input.
"Whenever it sees an edge it sends a
short pulse to the top coils," said
Kliger.
The receiver side of the die Optocoupler umlsolator
measures pulses using acomparator 25 100
Data rate (Mbit/s)
for detection. In order to distinguish
between rising and falling edges there Propagation delay (ns) 40 10
are two pairs of coils. Transient immunity (kV/ps) 10 25
"With two pairs of coils we can
send two bits of information," said 25Mbit/s consumption (mW) 95 30
Kliger.
Pulses sent to the coils are around To successfully couple the 2ns A standard CMOS process can
2ns long —agood achievement from pulses across the coils, Analog only manage coil depths of 2gm,
the 0.6gm CMOS process. This Devices had to achieve ahigh while the firm's process can manage
length enables the isolator to cope inductance. To do this the firm uses a 8to lOpm. Thus the 300gm diameter
with input data rates above separate process for the copper coils have an inductance of
100Mbit/s. tnicromachining. around 100nH.

Wage rises
South Korea scraps mobile phones subsidies for engineers
Mobile phone operators in South waves through the world's mobile What seems to worry the Korean
Korea have thought the phone markets. government is the high level of stay low
unthinkable and agreed to Low-cost mobile phones, which foreign silicon in each subsidised
government plans to scrap the are heavily subsidised by network mobile phone. It believes too high Engineering pay
subsidises on mobile phones in the operators, are away of life in most aproportion of the financial settlements have
country. of the world's mobile phone benefit of the subsidies paid by remained low
•Faced with the enormous cost of markets, but South Korea has Korean operators is going to with the average
investment in third-generation broken ranks by scrapping handset foreign chip suppliers. pay settlement
mobile phone services, the Korean subsidies this month. For example, atrendy new being 2.5 per cent
operators have said they can no But similar moves are seen as handset valued at $200 is made of over the last three
longer afford the subsidies which highly unlikely in this country. "It $100 to $120 worth of imported months. The latest
keep handset prices down and cost is in no one's interest to stop components, including $30 to $40 survey findings
them 30 per cent of sales. subsidies," said aspokeswoman for worth from Qualcomm's Mobile from the
Korean plans to scrap subsidies UK operator Vodafone. "We are Station Modem 3000 chip and $10 Engineering
on mobile phones could send shock certainly not considering it." worth of Intel flash memory. Employers'
Federation (EEF)
shows that nearly
Hairing aid... Micro-via PCB one in seven
technology called DYCOstrate settlements were
has been used to implement a pay freezes in the
programmable hearing aid by three months to
Swiss firm Sulzer the end of May
Microelectronics. This hearing 2000. The EEF
aid is the smallest of its type, the puts the low level
firm claims. The extreme down to
packaging needs of ahearing aid companies facing
led the firm to use the flexible "difficult
substrate which can be folded up economic
after manufacture. DYCOstrate is conditions".
available in the UK through Rigid
and Flex.

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 677

UPDATE

Modulator scheme for 25Tbitis involves

time-domain and wavelength multiplexing
Researchers in an inter-university University of St Andrews which is multi-coloured wave front hits an array
project have accumulated £12.5m in heading the project. of photodetectors which recover the
grants and investment to develop The wavefront of the spectrally original data.
100Tbit/s fibre-based data separated 100fs pulses impinges on a It is reasonable to predict, says the
communication techniques. multi-channel high speed modulator university, that this modulator will
Behind the project is amodulation block featuring one channel per colour. provide the potential for ten separate
scheme that combines both time The individual modulators block or 2.5Tbit/s channels, thus constituting a
domain and wavelength-division pass the 100fs pulses to add digital bits total transmission rate of 25Tbit/s. "We
multiplexing. to the wave front. therefore believe that it will be
The modulator requires asource of The multicolored, modulated necessary to develop advanced
'hyper-short' 10fs pulses of 800nm wavefront is recombined into asingle femtosecond-based technologies if data
light, although slightly broadened pulse with asecond prism and alens. rates up to 100Tbit/s are to be made
pulses of 1500nm light are also being The spectral content and duration of available," said the University in a
considered. this pulse depends on the data content statement —and this is what the six
Being so short, these pulses have a for any given pulse. year project is all about.
wide spectral content and can therefore "These pulses," says Dr Tom Brown, There are two choices for the source
be broken into individual 'colours' assistant programme director at the of 10fs pulses. "We have some ideas
using aprism. This process is called University of St Andrews, "are suitable for asemiconductor laser. The other
'spectral slicing'. for transmission over local and option is asolid-state crystal laser
The sliced components —and you metropolitan networks, but not pumped with asemiconductor laser.
may have to get out your book of transatlantic communication", adding We can do the solid-state laser now."
Fourier transforms here —are longer "It could also be used between two The technology challenge here,
than the original pulse. The new width adjacent computers or even within a according to Brown, is to get the pulse
depends on how thinly the spectrum is PC'. repetition rate for the system under
sliced, but ten ways yields pulses of At the receiving end, athird prism control, "then miniaturise the whole
around 100fs, according to the splits the pulse again and the re-sliced thing and make it rugged and cheap".
The prisms are acting as 'dispersive
elements' and could in practice be
diffraction gratings or, according to
Spatially separated
modulators Brown, exotic structures in photonic
Lens
bandgap materials.
The spatially-separated modulator
idea is brand new according to Brown,
10 fs pulse but applicable technology already
exists. Marconi already has suitable
lithium-niobate modulators, "well into
development, running at high bit rates.
This is not hugely exotic technology,"
Prism to spread
Prism to
Optical fibre for
he said.
recombine Photodetector technology for the
pulse spectrum pulse spectrum
transmission
receiver does not exist yet. But, says
Modulated data
stream
Brown, "Detectors are running at
40GHz now, but they need good
quality pulses that have not been
messed about."
Streams of
100 fs pulses
Brown says that all of the
components can be miniaturised and
could be put on asingle chip. •

Government faces tax legal challenge foreign labour.

It is claimed that foreign workers brought
The government is facing alegal unfair, wrong and would never work," said here on 'fast-track visas' to tackle the skills
challenge over its controversial IR35 tax aPCG spokeswoman. "We're now shortage are being paid alow wage and then
crackdown on contract employees which following it up because the government rented to clients for an inflated fee. The
affects many self-employed electronics looks intent on pushing this through. The difference can be treated as pre-tax profit
engineers and IT professionals. challenge in the courts is because we think and re-invested by big companies whereas
The Professional Contractors Group it is legally wrong too." small UK consultants must treat any profit
(PCG), an industry body, is preparing The PCG has also urged the as salary and cannot re-invest it in their
papers to go before the court in the next few government to abandon IR35 after a business.
weeks requesting ajudicial review of the loophole was discovered which would The legislation is intended to tackle tax
case. The PCG believes IR35 contravenes allow large foreign-owned companies to avoidance by some self-employed staff
European law and so has astrong case. gain atax advantage over their smaller working for larger electronics firms on
"We believed all along it [IR35] was UK competitors by employing cheap, temporary contracts.

678 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 The Balance Box
Microphone or line level amplifier for
balanced or unbalanced signal lines
Our
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PP3 battery or external mains adaptor

ete
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New concept in data logging has been manufactured in the UK

PC-based data logging and control are and meets CE conformity. And with
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CIRCLE NO.107 ON 11E101 (ARI) (WC! FNO.108 ON REPLY CARD

679
September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD
Anew low-IMD mixer
Chris Trask's new series-shunt Eliminating IMD

ivi
ixers are essential building
blocks of radio communica- Overcoming this unwanted character-
feedback active mixer offers clear tions systems, being used for istic is no small task. Traditionally, the
modulation, demodulation, and signal efforts at improving IMD have includ-
advantages over both the common frequency conversion. Among the var- ed using Class III diode ring and
Gilbert Cell active mixer and ious forms have been transconductance switching FET ring mixers that gener-
multiplication — dual-gate FETs, pen- ally require local oscillator signal levels
diode-ring mixers. With lower tagrid and heptode vacuum tubes, etc. — of +I7dBm or more. This is an unsuit-
diode and switching FET rings, and the able solution for field-portable equip-
local-oscillator power transistor tree — also know as the ment though, where power consump-
Gilbert Cell.
requirements, low distortion, and An inherent undesirable property of
tion is an important parameter.
Active mixers, such as Plessey's
higher saturable output power, this mixers has been —and continues to be SL6440 and the Motorola's MC 1496,
— intermodulation distortion. make use of the six-transistor double-
new mixer is highly suitable for Commonly abbreviated to IMD, inter- balanced transistor tree. Emitter degen-
modulation distortion is caused by two
low-power high-performance adjacent signals interacting. This inter-
eration is applied to the driver transis-
tors to provide some degree of
communications systems. Yet it's action creates spurious signals that can linearisation.
interfere with adjacent smaller signals. Still more recent methods regulate
possible to implement the design In some cases, IMD can actually cause the leg currents using negative feed-
interference within wideband commu- back, but they do not encompass all
on the kitchen table! nications systems themselves. sources of distortion in the mixer.

680 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 RF DESIGN

These sources must include the

lah/t. I. ,11t.a.ureduerforman« ,data for the nett Ini‘er configuration.
switching transistors as well if the
Circuit configuration Gain Input Compression
correction is to be truly effective.
intermodulation point
Until now, it has been generally
intercept point (Pida)
considered that the mixer is an open-
(I1P 3)
ended device. This means that there is
no obvious opportunity to apply the Mini-Circuits SBL-1 —5.0dB +19.0dBm —4.5dBm
Typical Gilbert-cell mixer, see text. —1.5dB +17.5dBm +4.5dBm
traditional linearisation techniques
1st-generation series-shunt feedback mixer, Fig. 3. —7.0dB +21.5dBm +5.5dBm
such as feedback.
2nd-generation series-shunt feedback mixer, Fig. 4. —3.0dB +29.5dBm +10.5dBm
Notable exceptions have been
Plessey's SL6440, devised by Phil
Moon, which originally used aclever
negative feedback amplifier for lin- By using amore detailed method of Signal currents of / 3 and 1 6 are a

earising the leg currentsI• 2. combining the four signal currents in a direct consequence of the input differ-
This linearisation amplifier transistor tree mixer, the amplified ential IF signal voltage. Both are
required p-n-p transistors. Because of intermediate-frequency (IF) signal chopped, or modulated, by switching
the difficulties involved in making voltage can be recovered at the mixer transistor pairs Tri/Tr2 and Tr41Tr5,
suitable p-n-p transistors though, the output and then used in atraditional respectively. This results in afoursome
original circuit was sadly dropped in feedback topology, thereby including of output currents I. 1 2,/ 4,and / 5.

favour of the more easily fabricated all sources of IMD in the feedback These contain components of DC, IF,
version with emitter degeneration scheme 6. 7.
8. LO, and RF signals, each with aunique
resistors 2. In addition, the radio-frequency out- phase relationship. The accompanying
In more recent years, aUS patent put is derived from the combiner as panel on double-balanced active mixers
by Joseph Heck describes an active well, and with agood degree of IF-RF gives amore detailed explanation for
mixer in which the leg currents are and LO-RF isolation. Moreover, the those so interested.
linearised by way of using transcon- circuit can be made to operate from In the traditional double-balanced
ductance amplifiers 3.A later circuit the baseband modulator and demodu- active mixer, the currents /1 and 1 5 are

by Barrie Gilbert uses Norton current lator level to VHF frequencies using combined by connecting the collectors
input amplifiers to achieve the same components that are readily obtainable of Tri and Tr5 together, and the currents
results& These last two are specific from common hobbyist sources. /2 and /4 are combined by connecting the

embodiments of an earlier gener- collectors of Tr2 and Tr4.

alised method patented by Daniel Active mixer basics Combining currents in this way leaves
Talbot 5.All of these methods pro- Before Iget into specifics, to help you an output differential RF current and
duce an appreciable improvement, appreciate this new concept, I'll effectively cancels the output LO and IF
but they fall short of the mark in examine the currents within agener- currents. This last cancellation deprives
terms of complete linearisation. alised transistor tree active mixer with us of the signals needed for the imple-
Presented here is an active mixer the aid of Fig. 1. mentation of a feedback linearisation
circuit that produces substantial IMD Driver transistors Tr3 and Tr6 gen- scheme.
improvement. At the same time, it erate collector currents / 3 and / 6,

uses far less local oscillator (LO) respectively. These currents each con: Signal combining and recovery
power than a diode ring mixer of tain aquiescent DC bias current and a Now consider other combinations of
comparable performance. differential signal current. the four output currents, using Fig. 2as

RF
RF- RF- RF+
LO+ LO - LO+
IF- IF+ IF+ Combiner

12 14 15 IF- 14 15
• • • V •

Tr4 LO- LO+ Tri Tr2 Tr4 Tr5 • LO-

•

16 13
• Tr3 Tre
IF- IF+ 7 IF-

2RE
•

IQ IQ
• •

Fig. 1. Currents involved in the basic transistor tree mixer. Fig. 2. Feedback mixer signal combining and recovery configuration.

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 681

RF DESIGN

aguide. In ageneral sense, the desired ing transistor collectors are a faithful Similarly, by summing / 4 and I. the
outcome of the mixer is to have an out- linear reproduction of the input signal amplified IF signal for the right side can
put RF signal that is alinear combina- voltages. Therefore, an output feedback be recovered. This can be accomplished
tion of the input intermediate-frequency signal needs to be provided for each in avariety of ways. Two of these are
and local-oscillator signals. input signal to be used in comparison described in detail later, after the pre-
By using a saturating LO signal for and subsequently correct for any errors. liminaries are taken care of.
the switching transistors, you are left First, if /I with /
2 are summed, the Once the amplified IF signals are
with the burden of ensuring that the amplified and inverted IF signal current recovered, they can be used as feedback
amplified IF currents at the four switch- for the left side can be recovered. signals for use in the linearisation of the

RF+ RF-
The double-balanced active mixer
Here, I'll briefly examine of the core element of adouble-
17 18
balanced active mixer, as in Fig. A. • •
Drive transistors Tr3 and Tr6 convert the input IF voltage into a •
3 and 1
pair of differential currents / 6,
0
= IQ + Acos(ay) 12 14 15
(1) • • •
RE +r,

Acos(co st) LO + • Tri Tr2 Tr4 Tr5 • LO-

I, = 1
0 (2)
' - R,+r, • • • 4 • *
Here, A is the amplitude of the input IF voltage, / Q,is the
quiescent bias current for each leg, and r e is the nonlinear emitter

resistance of Tr3 and Tr6,assumed to be equal for both devices. 13 16

• •
Fixed resistance RE is used to establish the mixer signal (and
conversion) gain as well as degenerate the driver transistors to IF+ Tr3 Tr6 IF-
provide for some stability over temperature and asmall degree of • e
linearisation. These two currents are then passed on to apair of 2RE
• •
differential switching transistor pairs, Tri/Tr2 and Trer 5,where
an applied LO signal causes each of these currents to be divided Fig. A.
into two differential currents. Ignoring the higher-order terms, Conventional
these currents are: 10
double-balanced •
/ Acos(w sr) /
Q cos(a),r) active mixer.
,= /
Q+
" 2 2( R,+ 2
(3)
A[cos(cos —co, +cos(ws+co, )t]
the IF and LO signals currents:
2( RE +

I, = I + Acos(cos
t) 1
Qcos(co Lt), A[cos(co s —u),.)t +cos(co s +cojt1
=/
Q+ (7)
2 2( R,+ 2 2( RE +
(4)
A[cos(u), —0'L )t +cos(cos+co, A[cos(co s —(0,)t +cos(w s +0L )tj
— (8)
2( RE + 2( RE +r,

— Q Acos(cost) + cos(w,t) This is the very basis of the double-balanced active mixer, which
was originally patented in the form of asynchronous demodulator
2 2( RE + 2
(5) by Howard Jones in 1966 1.It was later given the name Gilbert
A[cosfros — +cos(ws+ )t] Cell after its subsequent use in alater patent for an analogue
multiplier in 1972 by Barrie Gilbert 2.
2( RE +r,
The obscurity of the work by Jones has been detrimental in his
/= l
Q Acos(co st) /
Q cos(co,r) being recognised as the original inventor of this circuit. A more
, detailed explanation can be found in references 3and 4below, as
" 2 2( RE + 2
(6) well as numerous other works on semiconductor circuit theory
A[cosfros — +cos(o), +roL)t] and design.

2( RE +
References
There's agreat deal of information contained in these four 1. Jones, Howard E., 'Dual Output Synchronous Detector Utilising
currents. No two are alike, all four containing elements of RF, LO, Transistorised Differential Amplifiers,' US Patent 3,241,078, 15
and IF signals each with aunique variety of phase relationships. March 1966.
In equations 3to 6, the first term is the quiescent bias current, 2. Gilbert, Barrie, 'Four-Quadrant Multiplier Circuit,' US Patent
the second is the amplified IF signal current, the third is the LO 3,689,752, 5September 1972.
current, and the fourth is the mixing product RF current. By 3. Gray, Paul R. and Robert G. Meyer, 'Analysis and Design of Analog
making various combinations we can recover one and eliminate Integrated Circuits, 2nd ed,' Wiley, 1984, pp. 590-605.
the other two, the most obvious of which is the combining of Ii 4. Burns, Stanley G. and Paul R. Bond, 'Principles of Electronic
with 1 5 and 12 with 14,illustrated in Figure 1, which creates a Circuits,' West Publishing Co., 1987, pp. 737-746.
differential pair of RF output currents 1 7 and 18,cancelling both

682 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 RF DESIGN

mixer as awhole. An alternative method is to take the cancellation of the LO signal, which is
The earlier combining of /I with 15 difference of /I and / 2.This yields a the desired outcome.
and / 2 with / 4 is still apractical choice positive RF signal and anegative LO With the amplified IF signals recov-
for recovering an output RF signal signal on the left side. A similar dif- ered, you can now consider an appro-
while at the same time cancelling the ference between / 5 and /4 on the right priate feedback amplifier topology. For
undesired IF and LO signals at the out- side also yields apositive RF signal, baseband modulation, apair of opera-
put. But it would be preferable to do but now the LO signal is positive. tional amplifiers can be used to com-
this and still accommodate the recovery By adding these two signals together pare the input IF signal with the feed-
of the amplified IF signals. you arrive at apositive RF output and a back IF signals. Then, the amplified

The series-shunt feedback amplifier VD

•
RD

There's ahandful of circuit topologies that are suitable for RF ID

Fig. C. Hybrid
feedback amplifiers. Perhaps the most straightforward of these
1 transformer -originally
is the series-shunt feedback amplifieru.
used in telephony to
RCB enable two-way
• VOUT VA. VB. VG. communication over a
single pair of wires.
RA 11A RB1B RC 'IC

VIN • Tr
Fig. B. Basic series-
shunt feedback
amplifier.
RE

(2)

This circuit, shown in Fig. B, is agood example of how the (3)

simplest of inventions can be the most profound. These simple
wide-band amplifiers are easily designed using the following
simple relationships for input/output resistance and gain: (4)
R,„ =R„„, =\I
R„ x(R, r,)
(1) In other words, the common-mode voltage and current appears
at the centre-tap while the differential voltage and current is at
the secondary. The differential voltage and current are scaled
G=1 It,8 (2) by the turns ratio K. It also follows that,
R, +
f

RA =R, =2R. (5)

where Rcg is the collector-base feedback resistance, RE is the
emitter feedback resistance, and r e is the incremental non-

linear emitter resistance of the transistor. R=— - c (6)

D K2

References The hybrid transformer can be found in numerous applications

1. Seader, Leonard D. and James E. Sterrett, 'Unit Transistor in telecommunications, including repeater amplifiers, crystal
Amplifier with Matched Input and Output Impedances,' US lattice filters, amplifier neutralisation, and frequency
Patent 3,493,882, 3February 1970. multiplexing.

2. Meyer, Robert G., Ralph Eschenbach, and Robert Chin, References

'Wide-Band Ultralinear Amplifier from 3to 300 MHz,' IEEE 1. Sartori, Eugene F., 'Hybrid Transformers,' IEEE Transactions
Journal on Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-9, No. 4, August on Parts, Materials, and Packaging, Vol. 4, No 3, September
1974, pp. 167-195. 1968, pp. 59-66.
2. Gross, Tom, 'Hybrid Transformers Prove Versatile in High-
Frequency Applications,' Electronics, 3Mar. 1977, pp. 113-
115.
Hybrid transformer
The hybrid -or bridge -transformer 1• 2 has been with us for
well over acentury. It was originally used in telephony to
enable two-way communication over asingle pair of wires,
with earth being the required third connection.
As shown in Fig. C, the hybrid transformer is simply atwo-
winding transformer with acentre-tapped primary winding.
The various currents and voltages conform to the following
relationships,
(1)
= +

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 683

RF DESIGN

difference can be applied to the driver value of 100i1 each they produce an the CA3054 for the transistor array
transistors. RE of 33e, giving the mixer an IF sig- using the components values shown
For high-frequency mixer applica- nal amplification factor of around in Fig. 3. For T1, T2, and T3, we used
tions, the use of an operational ampli- —2.16, or 6.7dB All capacitors shown the Mini-Circuits T4-1 transformer.
fier becomes impracticable. Instead, a are lOnF. With asupply of 12V, the resulting
very simple feedback amplifier topol- Resistors R4A_D provide collector quiescent bias current was approxi-
ogy commonly referred to as series- biasing pull-ups. The resistors R4_7 are mately 12mA for each of the driver
shunt can be used. These simple yet in the form of SIP networks in order transistors Tr3 and Tr6.In addition,
effective amplifiers require two addi- that the physical design be somewhat we made acomparable Gilbert Cell
tional resistors to the common-emitter elegant and providing for the practical mixer. Its circuit was essentially that
transistor amplifier. A detailed dis- purpose of tracking over temperature. of Fig. 3 with the shunt feedback
cussion is provided in the accompa- Transformers T1_ 3 are identical, resistors R5 and the associated DC
nying panel. being of a 1:1:1 ratio, in which case blocking capacitors removed.
the centre tap of T3 is not used. A For the test signals, alocal-oscil-
First-generation series-shunt commercially available transformer lator signal of 10.0MHz at alevel of
feedback active mixer such as Mini-Circuits' T4-1 may be 0.0dBm was used, although the cir-
Figure 3illugrates the first generation used here, or you can make one by cuit performs equally well at levels
of what has become known as the twisting three wires together on asuit- as low as —10dBm. For intermodula-
series-shunt feedback active mixer6. 7. able ferrite core. tion measurements, the IF input sig-
Resistors Rm.') serve as both IF feed- It is best to use transistors in the nals were set at 500kHz and 510kHz.
back signal combiners and as the form of an array so that parameter For conversion gain measurements,
shunt feedback resistances for the IF matching doesn't become an issue. the first of these was used.
feedback amplifier. Intersil's (née Harris, née RCA) Mini-Circuits' • popular SBL:1
The combining takes place at their CA3054 and CA3102 arrays come to diode ring mixer was also tested for
common junction with the bases of mind, the former being less costly and comparison. The signals used were
Fig. 3. First- the driver transistors. Since each of more plentiful. as for the active mixers, except that
generation series- these carries only half of the total IF The 3102 should be used where the local oscillator signal level was
shunt feedback feedback signal current, they are of higher frequency performance is need- set at +7.0dBm to ensure proper
mixer. Test the same value as would be derived ed. Other transistor arrays, such as the operation.
results show that for asingle amplifier stage. series of dual transistors made by Test results, listed in Table 1. indi-
this circuit gives Resistors R7A.c perform the series Panasonic and NEC, are equally suit- cated that there is amarked improve-
amarked feedback function for the IF feedback able. ment in the distortion characteristics
improvement amplifier as well as establishing the over the comparable Gilbert Cell
over the Gilbert quiescent bias currents in lieu of using Performance in practice mixer. Input intermodulation inter-
cell. dedicated current sources, and with a We built an example circuit using cept point, IIP 3, is increased by
4.0dB. The ldB compression point,
Pin ,is also improved by ldB.
+12V • • Closing the series feedback loop,
however, decreases the conversion
R1 R4A R4B R4C R4D gain by 5.5dB. Even so, this is a
1k5 470 470 470 470
R6C considerable improvement over the
'R5D
100 330 SBL-1 —particularly in regard to the
• Pia compression point.
R5A R6A Using resistors in the output signal
330 100 combiner of the first generation
RF
series-shunt feedback mixer was a
matter of convenience. It was neces-
R6D R5C sary in order to create acircuit that
100 330 was suitable for possible future
MMIC implementation. Their use
does not impair the linearisation
qualities of the mixer, but they do
LO
result in a decrease in conversion
gain and in the apparent IIP 3 and
Plat.

2nd-generation series-shunt
feedback active mixer
By applying apair of hybrid trans-
formers as ameans of combining the
four switching transistor collector
IF currents, as shown in Fig. 4, the
compromises of the first generation
T2 series-shunt feedback mixer are deci-
sively dealt with.
The result is aseries-shunt active
mixer with markedly improved per-
formance 7.8.This represents the sec-
ond method discussed earlier in the

684 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 RF DESIGN

combining and recovery of signal

7
+12V
voltages.
Simply stated, the hybrid trans-
former combines the two pairs of • RF
collector currents in the following T4
manner. Collector currents of switch-
R1 L1
u
ing transistors Tri and Tr2 are 100H
1k5 100&H
applied to the primary winding of
hybrid transformer T3. As a result,
the common-mode components are
added together at the centre-tap, R4
while the odd-mode terms cancel. < 330
Conversely, the odd-mode terms of
are added together at the secondary
winding, while the even-mode terms
are cancelled. At the same time, the LO
collector currents of switching tran- Tri Tr2 Tr4 Tr5
sistors Tr4 and Tr5 are processed by T1
hybrid transformer T4 in a similar
way.
Clearly, the LO signal appears at
Tr3 T113
the secondary windings of T3 and T4.
But the windings are respectively R6B
180° out of phase, and therefore can- 100
cel, as was discussed earlier.
With the minor exception of bulk
and induced losses in the transformer R6A R6C
windings, the process of combining 100 100
and recovering the signals is virtual-
ly lossless. This is ahighly desirable
circumstance.
The components shown in Fig. 4
follow very much with those of Fig.
3. However, there is now a single Fig. 4. Second-generation series-shunt feedback mixer. Adding apair of hybrid transformers
feedback resistor for each half of the to combine the four collector currents eliminates the compromises of this circuit's
mixer, these being resistors R4 and predecessor.
R5.
Hybrid transformers T3 and T4 are series-shunt feedback mixer is high- References
the same Mini-Circuits T4-1 trans- ly suitable for low-power high-per- I. Chadwick, Peter E.. "Ile SL6440 High
formers as used for T1and T2 earlier. formance communications systems. Performance Integrated Circuit Mixer,'
And as before, all capacitors are Using resistors in the output signal WESCON 81 Conference Record, Session 24,
lOnF. All testing conditions remain combiner is straightforward and con- No 2, pp. 1-9
as before. venient, rendering the series-shunt 2. Peter Chadwick (private communication).

Referring again to Table 1, the feedback mixer suitable for MMIC 3. Heck, Joseph P.. Balanced Mixer Circuit with
performance of the second-genera- implementation. With hybrid trans- Improved Linearity,' US Patent 5,548,840,20

tion series-shunt feedback mixer formers used in lieu of the resistors, Aug. 1996.

greatly exceeds that of the earlier the results are amixer of incompara- 4. Gilbert, Barrie, "rhe MICROMIXER: A

version. By replacing the lossy resis- ble performance. Highly Linear Variant of the Gilbert Mixer

tive combiner network with apair of Noise figure — another important Using aBisymmetric Class-AB Input Stage.'
hybrid transformers, the conversion factor in mixers — was not IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits. Vol. 32,

gain has been improved by 4.0dB, addressed in these designs. This No 9, Sept. 1997, pp. 1412-1423.

the IIP 3 by 8dB, and the Pin com- was because the mechanism that 5. Talbot, Daniel B.. 'Amplitude Modulator

pression point by 5.0dB. causes current-commutating mixers Having Substantially Zero Modulation

Although the open-loop Gilbert such as these to be noisy is still Distortion,' US Patent 4,485,359, 27 Nov.

Cell mixer still has the advantage of present 9. 1984.

slightly higher conversion gain, the It is entirely feasible that other 6. Trask. Chris, 'Feedback Technique Improves

second-generation series-shunt feed- topologies can be employed that Active Mixer Performance.' RF Design, Sept.

back mixer excels in all other will allow this characteristic to be 1997. pp. 46-52.

respects. And it is a substantial improved, while at the same time 7. US patent pending.
improvement over the SBL-1. retaining the desirable linear char- 8. Trask, Chris, A Linearised Active Mixer,'
acteristics shown here. Proceedings RF Design 98. San Jose .
,

In summary For now though, the series-shunt California, Oct. 1998. pp. 13-23.

The series-shunt feedback active feedback mixers presented here rep- 9. Fong, Keng Leong and Robert G. Meyer,

mixer offers definite advantages resent amethod by which the dynam- 'Monolithic RF Active Mixer Design. IEEE

over both the common Gilbert Cell ic range of this important element in Transactions on Circuits and Systems. Part 2,

active mixer and diode ring mixers. radio design can be greatly improved, Vol. 46, No. 3, Mar. 1999, pp. 231-239.

With lower local-oscillator power without excessive local-oscillator

requirements, low distortion, and power generation or DC power con-
higher saturable output power, the sumption increases. •

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 685

 MEDICAL ELECTRONICS

Flicker fusion meter

.i
. he photoreceptors of the eye there is an appreciable integration
and the neurons of the visual time, which is recognised in the
system are relatively sluggish game of cricket, when bad light is
transducers. This is particularly true allowed to stop play. A fast moving
for the cones —the receptors that are cricket ball could hit aplayer, before
colour sensitive, and respond in its location had been recognised.
bright light. Rods on the other hand The panel entitled, 'A dim view is
have faster responses. They signal aslow view' describes aparticularly
intensity only —not colour —and are compelling demonstration of the rel-
principally active in dim light. atively slower processing of dim
The cones are largely clustered in light.
the centre region of the retina, while Not only do characteristics of the
the rods predominate around the light stimulus modify CFF; so also
periphery. The rods' faster responses do factors relating to the viewer.
and peripheral location explain why There is, for example, aclear impact
many people are able to detect the of age. Older viewers exhibit alower
flicker of fluorescent lighting out of fusion frequency. In other words,
the corners of their eyes. their visual system is unable to
To the slower acting cones, this resolve such high rate flashes as can
flicker is imperceptible. But there is younger people I .
of course afrequency below which The stimulating effects of coffee
flashing can be detected — even by and tea raise CFF2,but there is some
the cones. indication that this effect is influ-
The flash rate at which the illumi-
nation just appears to be continuous
enced by personality. Extroverts are
The maximum rate of flicker that a
said to have lower base-line neural
is termed the critical flicker fusion reactivity than introverts 3.This is person can perceive relates to how
frequency, which is frequently short- claimed to explain why, with their
ened to CFF. For many people the greater 'head-room', extroverts enjoy tired that person is. This rate is
critical frequency is in the region of raising their activation by engaging
20 to 40Hz. in exciting activities. Consistent with affected by age and such things as
this description, it is extroverts rather
Factors affecting fusion than introverts who appear to show
whether you're introvert or
frequency the CFF speed-up effect of caffeine 4
A number of factors affect CFF.
extrovert. It is even affected by
These include, as indicated above, Sensitive to fatigue whether or not you've been
whether the light is viewed directly Of particular interest, CFF has been
or with the eye slightly averted, so shown to be sensitive to fatigue, and drinking coffee. Peter Naish
that the image is perceived peripher- can serve as ameasure of workers'
ally. Brightness has an impact, since general 'sharpness' levels. It has describes a meter that measures
the visual system responds more been used in this way to research the
quickly in bright light. effects of shift working, for example
the 'critical flicker fusion
The receptors are :photon gather- with air traffic controllers 5.
ers'. Once they have captured suffi- As you would expect, a fatigued
frequency', and describes how to
cient photons a neural impulse is operator has alower fusion frequen- get the most from it.
generated. Since bright light has a cy. To detect the change, portable
higher photon rate, the neural light-flashing devices, sometimes Dr Peter L. N. Naish, B.Sc., D.Phil., C.Psychol. is with the Department of
response is more rapid. In poor light referred to as fatigue meters, have Psychology at the The Open University in Milton Keynes.

686 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

MEDICAL ELECTRONICS

O + 6volts
0 to 7-segment common anode

Tr2

To 7-segment
0
common cathode

Tri

To segments of both displays

Lj\AF
3
)\A rci

— V\AA,-0 e
— VV0 d
—1\AAA/-ci c
—M AAro b

rt_ot
a
Jack tip
re\AR
/7\Ar°

e\MAI-1 0 LED
j R12

Jac shaft

0 volts
S1 S2 S3 S4 skt

Fig. 1. Complete circuit been designed to measure CFF in the Frequency is displayed on two so writing an appropriate bit pattern
of the flicker fusion workplace 6. seven-segment LED devices, which, to this register drives corresponding
meter, apart from the This measurement is particularly to conserve the battery, are normally pins high or low, turning on and off
display. All 13 i/o lines sensitive to fatigue in the visual sys- turned off. Four push buttons are the various segments of the displays.
of the PIC16C84 are tem. A comparison of manual work- used. Respectively, these permit Bits 0 through 6are used for seg-
used. The controller ers and vdu operators showed that it stepwise increases or decreases in ment control. Bit 7, on pin 13, per-
can be set to work with was only the latter whose CFF frequency, cause a steady ramping mits a multiplexing action, so that
acrystal, resonator or dropped significantly over aworking (up or down) of flash rate, or 'freeze' the seven pins can drive fourteen
RC network, depending day 7. the LED in the on state (without vis- segments in total, via current limiting
on the accuracy you If aworker's fusion frequency does ible flashing). resistors R1.7. This is achieved by
need. In this fall off appreciably over the day, it is Uses of these functions will be using one common anode display, I D
application, aceramic likely that he/she will be feeling described later. (for the `tens') and one common
resonator is the best weary, will not be working as effec- Two ports represent the PIC's i/o cathode, D2 ('units').
compromise. tively, and may be more accident lines internally; Port A addresses five The common pins are respectively
prone. The situation can be amelio- lines while Port B addresses the taken to positive and ground via n-
rated if the worker takes adequate remaining eight. Full details of the PIC and p-channel field effect transistors
breaks or changes the task from time can be found on the data sheet, which Tiand T2. These transistors are driv-
to time. may be downloaded in pdf format en by the eighth pin of Port B, which
A number of different types of from the Arizona Microchip website, when high turns on one, and when
flicker-fusion meter have been used; at http://www.microchip.com. low turns on the other.
the one to be described here, like that Input/output lines can be config- By alternating rapidly between the
in reference 6, employs a flashing ured individually in software to act two displays, at a rate greater than
LED, but has more flexible control as inputs or outputs. When used as twice the flicker fusion frequency, the
of the flash rate than the referenced inputs, the pins associated with Port tens and units of the frequency dis-
device. It is based on aPIC micro- B can also be programmed to have play appear to be on simultaneously
controller. internal weak pull-up resistors. and steadily.
Using the internal pull-ups can lead The bit patterns required to turn on
Circuit details to auseful reduction in external com- the appropriate combinations of dis-
Shown in Fig. 1, the circuit uses a ponent count. It was simpler not to play segments are stored in alook-up
PIC 16C84, although the newer take advantage of it in this design table in the PIC. So, to display the
16F84 could equally have been used. though, as all the Port B pins are digit 8, which has all seven segments
The device has thirteen i/o lines, all configured as outputs, to drive two 7- on, the bit pattern is such as to switch
of which are used in this design. It segment displays. every pin high, i.e. it is seven Is, or
also has an on-chip timer, which is Inside the PIC, this port is repre- 7F in the hexadecimal notation of the
used in setting the flash rate. sented as asingle eight-bit register, PIC, i.e. 7F 16 .

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 687

 MEDICAL ELECTRONICS

To produce an 8, the pattern sent to approximately 1 kHz, which is far

the port is 01111111, which you will above the CFF. The reason for adopt- Components
notice leaves bit 7 off, i.e. at zero. ing this approach is that the normal Microcontroller PIC 16C84
This is the multiplexing bit. When the flashing is via a square wave, with Ti ZVN 2106A
corresponding pin is low, as in this 50% duty cycle. If the 'frozen' LED T2 ZVP 2106A
example, T2 is turned on, which in were in fact permanently on — i.e. LED Standard red device
this case means that 8would be dis- 100% of the time — it would appear DI 7.6mm common anode display, e.g. 5082-7731
played in the units. twice as bright. This would confuse 0 2 7.6mm common cathode display, e.g. 5082-7740
If the same bit pattern is inverted the A/B comparison process. R1-7 12 56os2
before sending to the port the result Switch S2 has asecond role of turn- R8-11 100kí2
will be 801 16,or 100000002.With the ing on the frequency display: while 680nF
multiplex bit high this turns on 7). By the LED is in freeze mode the seven- Resonator 4MHz with integral capacitors, CST4.00MGW
taking every cathode of DIlow — i.e. segment displays are active. The S1-4 SPNO push button switches, Parnell code: 535-916
with bits 0through 6all zeros—all its default ramping direction is up —i.e. Skt 3.5mm stereo jack socket, RS code: 476-328
segments are lit. Again this displays the rate gets faster while the button is Jack plug 3.5mm mono, or stereo with poles shorted
an 8, this time in the 'tens' position. depressed. But the direction depends Battery box 4xAA, pcb mounting. Maplin code: CL19V
In this way, the same bit pattern can upon which of the single-step buttons
be used for agiven digit. Whether or was previously depressed. If S3
not it is inverted determines whether (down) is used before ramping, then crystal option was chosen for greater
the tens or units display shows it. the direction will be down, until SI stability, although rather than acrys-
(up) is next pressed. tal, Iopted for a4MHz ceramic res-
Fusion frequency LED The flashing LED, driven via cur- onator. This particular device has
With the Port B pins fully utilised for rent-limiting resistor, R12 ,could be built-in capacitors, eliminating the
the frequency read out, one pin from mounted directly on the board carry- need for additional components.
Port A has to be used to drive the ing the other components. This is Four AA cells power the unit,
flashing LED that establishes the effectively the approach adopted for capacitor C reducing transients from
fusion frequency. The remaining four the fatigue meter described in refer- the rapidly switched Tiand 7. 2.In the
pins of this port are configured as ence 6. However, leaving the LED prototype, the components are mount-
inputs. But since the port does not exposed in this way leaves measure- ed on apcb, cut to the same dimen-
have an internal pull-up facility, exter- ments open to the effects of ambient sions as afour-cell battery holder. The
nal resistors R8_ 11 are required. The lighting, viewing angle and viewing holder attaches to the track side of the
pins therefore normally sit high, and distance; reproducibility is difficult to pcb and, as explained above, power is
are pulled low when acorresponding maintain. switched on by inserting the jack plug
single pole, normally open, push but- I recommend that the LED is of the flashing LED.
ton is depressed. mounted at the base of atube, about Power consumption is low, being
By polling this port, button presses 25cm long and fitted with an eye- less than 5mA during flashing, and
are detected and acted on. piece at the other end Fig. 2. This can 14mA while displaying the frequency.
Momentary closure of Si or S3 take the form of aplug, with asmall,
respectively increments or decre- say 5mm, axial hole, through which Programming the PIC
ments the flash frequency by 1Hz. the LED is observed. List 1is afully-commented program
Holding S4 down causes the fre- The viewing end of the tube listing so only the salient details need
quency gradually to ramp up or should be fitted with an eye cup. be given here.
down. This is auseful facility, when This cup serves to limit interference Within the PIC are configuration
trying quickly to get to a testee's from extraneous light and can be cut bits. These are set as required during
fusion frequency. Once he/she says from foam rubber. programming. This aspect is not
that the light seems continuous the Paint the inside of the tube matt shown in the listing, since the com-
one-step up and down buttons can be black to reduce reflections which piling-programming software avail-
used to make finer adjustments. would tend to enter the eye more able from Arizona Microchip — and
For afinal judgement, it is useful to obliquely and stimulate the rods. freely downloaded from their web site
be able to make an A/B comparison. In the prototype, the tube-mounted — offers the user the opportunity to
For this purpose, freeze switch S2 has LED is connected to aflexible lead, select required parameters at the time
been added. Holding this down stops so that the viewer can hold it at a of 'blowing' the chip.
visible flashing of the LED, while comfortable distance from the control Two parameters are of interest here:
releasing S2 returns it to the former board. The lead is terminated with a the clock oscillator and the watchdog
rate. If the viewer can see the differ- 3.5mm jack plug; on the board acor- timer. As already stated, the oscillator
ence between these, the CFF point responding stereo socket is used. By is configured to be crystal controlled.
has not been reached. using astereo component the plug can The watchdog timer is based around a
act as apower switch, by shorting the separate, internal RC oscillator, which
Invisible flashing 'spare' contact to ground. increments an 8-bit register. When the
Notice that the freeze option stops The PIC can be configured to be register overflows the device is reset.
visible flashing: in fact this is externally clocked, or to use acrystal To prevent the program from reset-
achieved by turning on and off at or RC oscillator. In this application the ting it is necessary to include com-

Fig. 2. Mounting
the flicker LED in
atube in this way
helps eliminate
reading errors
due to ambient
light and
movement.

688
September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD
MEDICAL ELECTRONICS

A dim view is a slow view who never witnessed it, as he was blind Calculating temporal lag
The separation between the two eyes in one eye. In his honour it bears his From the distance of b behind a it is
affords them slightly different views of the name: the Pulfrich pendulum. possible to calculate the temporal lag,
same scene. The size of this binocular provided the velocity of the pendulum
disparity depends on the distance of a Estimating the eye's speed weight is known, at the centre of its
perceived object, and is used by the brain It is possible to estimate the relative slow- swing.
to make distance judgements. ness of the darker eye. To calculate the velopity it is neces-
In effect, the eyes are used to triangu- Stand an object under the pendulum sary to measure the length, L, of the
late. Each reveals the direction in which weight, high enough that the pendulum pendulum thread, and the half-ampli-
an object lies; where the two direction only just clears it at the lowest point of the tude, A, of its swing. Length A is the
lines intersect the object is to be found. swing. This object acts as apointer to indi- distance from the rest position of the
If an object is moving, its perceived cate the pendulum position; it will facili- pendulum to the widest point of its
location will be slightly outdated, due to tate adjustments if it is attached to along swing, making sure that this was the
the finite time taken by the visual system stick that can be reached from the viewing width of swing used when the viewing
to respond. The delay is greater when the position. measurements were taken.
light is less bright. With the pendulum seeming to make its From the equations of simple har-
This delay results in mis-triangulation, elliptical path, move the pointer to and fro, monic motion, to a close approxima-
when one eye receives adimmer view until it seems to be immediately below the tion the velocity is,
than the other - an effect that can be pendulum when at its furthest point -
demonstrated by viewing a swinging either in front or behind -from the true Ax (2)
L
pendulum through half a pair of sun- line.
glasses. Measure the magnitude of this displace- Here, g is the acceleration due to
Make along pendulum, for example by ment -shown as don the diagram. It is gravity. If the measurements have been
pinning athread to the ceiling and tying also necessary to measure the viewing dis- made in centimetres, then the appro-
on an object near to the floor. Set the tance from the pendulum, D, and the sep- priate value for gis 981 cm s -2 .

pendulum swinging, then stand back aration of the eyes, s. By similar triangles, Using the familiar expression distance
some distance, say 2m. you will find tharthe distance of point b = speed xtime, equations 1and 2can
The direction of swing should be across behind a-or b' behind a' -is given by, be combined to provide an estimate of
the field of view, not towards and away d the difference in response times, .àt,
from the viewer; be sure that the swing is sx— (1) between the eyes.
D
in astraight line. While observing with s d L
both eyes, cover one eye with asunglass Strictly, D should be replaced by D-d, = .L. (3)
A D \g
lens. for the case where the displacement is in
The pendulum weight should no longer front. But if the viewing distance is large The value found is likely to be of
seem to swing in astraight line, but in an compared with the size of displacement, the order of 10ms.
ellipse, closer to the viewer when moving then the approximation is reasonable.
in one direction, then further away on the
return swing.
These diagrams show how aperson visually
This phenomenon's mechanism is illus- C
,
perceives apendulum with one eye filtered.
trated in the diagram, which assumes that
the sunglass filter is placed over the right
eye.
When the pendulum weight moves
from left to right, diagram i, the 'bright' a'
left eye perceives it at point a. But the
slow-responding right eye represents the
weight as being further back along the
path, at position b.
The two direction lines cross at c,
which is where the brain decides the
object actually is; the position is in front
of the true line of swing. When move-
ment is in the opposite direction, diagram
ii, the corresponding positions become a',
b' and c', so that the swinging weight is
perceived to be behind the actual posi-
tion.
When the pendulum is moving fastest,
i.e. at the mid-point of its swing, the dis-
crepancy is greatest. At either extreme the
pendulum momentarily comes to rest, the
slow eye catches up, and the weight is
perceived in its true position.
Consequently, the entire cycle appears to
trace an ellipse, which is widest at the
o
pendulum's mid-point.
It is interesting to note that this phe-
lento 11 2111
,
nomenon was first predicted by a man

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD

I
 MEDICAL ELECTRONICS

mands in the code that regularly clear

the watchdog timer. The watchdog List1.Pherannlisfingforthe flk*erfusionfalipmenteten
facility can be auseful means of auto- ; Hexadecimal values for variable names
PortA equ Ox05 ;five bits wide - LED and control switches
matically resetting the device, should
PortB equ Ox06 ;eight bits for mux 7-seg F readout
it become stuck in a loop. It is not Rate equ Ox0C ;Register for frequency
used in this application though, so the timeCount equ Ox0D ;reg for no. of cycles in delay
configuration is set to disable the HiDig equ Ox0E ;reg for bit pattern for freq readout - hi
watchdog timer. LoDig equ OxOF ;reg for lo digit 7-segment bit pattern
DecRate equ Ox10 ;reg for bcd of rate
Initialisation of the PIC takes place
GPReg equ Ox11 ;general purpose register
in the first part of the program, setting TenReg equ Ox12 ;reg used in hex to dec conversion
i/o pins to the desired input or output. SpeedReg equ Ox13 ;reg for delay between ramp-up/down steps
It also assigns a prescaler to the SpeeDirect equ Ox14 ;reg for ramp direction
watchdog timer. This assignment is RampStart equ Ox15 ;reg for start value for ramping
TRISA equ Ox05 ;Page 1, reg 5 is data direction reg
concerned with the flash rate timing,
TRISB equ Ox06 ;and same for port B
which uses an on-chip timer.
TIMER equ Ox01 ;Timer0 address
The flash-rate timer is another 8-bit Opt equ Ox01 ;Option reg in page 1)
counter that can be incremented by an PCL equ Ox02 ;program counter (lower bits)
external clock, or by the internal sys- Status equ Ox03 ;Status reg
Carry equ
tem clock. In this design the system Ox00 ;carry bit is bit 0
equ Ox02 ;zero flag
clock is used.
pBit equ Ox05 ;Page select bit in status reg
The clock runs at aquarter of the Intcon equ Ox0B ;Interrupt control reg
oscillator rate, so with the 4MHz res- GIE equ Ox07 ;Global interrupt enable bit
onator this design clocks at 1MHz. TF equ Ox02 ;Timer overflow flag
For some applications, such arapid ; First have to set up IO ports etc, for when initially powered up
ORG 0 ;Start address
tick rate may be too fast for the timer,
SETUP BSF Status,pBit ;Get to page 1, for setting port masks
so the PIC offers the option of MOVLW Ox00 ;IO mask for port B. It's 0000 0000 ...
prescaling the tick rate by any power MOVWF TRISB ;all bits output for 7-segments
of 2, up to 2s. MOVLW Ox17 ;0001 0111
Alternatively, this same prescaler MOVWF TRISA ;One output for LED, rest input switches
CLRF Opt
can be assigned to the watchdog ;Zero OPTION, then set desired bits
BSF Opt,7 ;Setting bit disables pull-ups
timer, so that it does not have to be
BSF Opt,3 ;prescaler to WDT, so no dividing
cleared as frequently: the prescaler BCF Status,pBit ;Back to page 0
has to be assigned to one or other BCF Intcon,GIE ;Disable global interrupts
timer. MOVLW OxDO ;208 dec
For timing the flicker rate, this pro- MOVWF SpeedReg ;... so takes 48 steps before ramping
MOVWF RampStart ;Put value here too
gram uses the ips tick length, so to
MOVLW Ox01 ;+1 to add from ...
avoid lengthening this period the MOVWF SpeeDirect up/down direction reg
prescaler is assigned to the watchdog MOVLW Ox0A ;10 down the list of 10 - 60 ...
timer. Although the watchdog is dis- MOVWF Rate ;... to start at 20 Hz
abled in the design, it is legitimate to CLRF PortB ;turn off 7-segment displays at star'
CALL BUTTONS ;button not pressed, but need rate et
make this assignment.
; Now everything in place, go into main monitoring loop
The flashing LED turns on and off MAIN MOVLW Ox07 ;0111 to mask off main button bits
with a50% duty cycle, the duration of ANDWF PortA,0 ;get button state
each half being determined by waiting XORLW Ox07 ;should leave zero if no button down
an appropriate number of timer BTFSS Status,2 ;if zero get on with displaying
CALL BUTTONS ;non-zero;see what's pressed
cycles. How many timer cycles are
MOVF timeCount,0 ;get current delay setting
required is determined by the selected
MOVWF GPReg ;put in general counter
flicker frequency. which is propor- MOVLW Ox08 ;1000 bit pattern
tional to the reciprocal of the fre- XORWF PortA ;toggle bit 3 for flashing LED
quency. BTFSS PortA,4 ;will be clear if speed-up button depressed
CALL SPEEDUP
Rather than implement asoftware ;go and deal with speed-up
TIMING MOVLW Ox3E ;62 dec, which is - 190 off a roll-over
calculation to determine the necessary
MOVWF TIMER ;start timer at preset value
timer delay. Iused a look-up table. BCF Intcon,TF ;clear timeout flag
The subroutine RATEFIX incorpo- WAIT BTFSS Intcon,TF ;time out yet?
rates this table. Instead of the usual, GOTO WAIT ;keep showing frequency
single return-from-subroutine instruc- DOWNTIM DECFSZ GPReg ;go through the delay steps
GOTO TIMING ;off for next step
tion at the end, this routine has multi-
GOTO MAIN ;all steps done: go toggle LED and repeat
ple return instructions, in fact as many ; Next section used when ramp button depressed
as there are elements in the table. SPEEDUP BCF Status,Z ;make sure zero flag is clear
The 'returns' are also alittle more MOVF SpeeDirect,O;get either +1 or -1
complex than normal: the mnemonic ADD MF SpeedReg ;increment or decrement
BTFSS
RETLW represents 'return with liter- Status,Z ;result a zero?
RETURN ;if not just return
al (i.e. anumber) in the W (working)
ADDWF Rate ;add xl to inc/dec rate
register'. Each RETLW instruction is MOVF RampStart,0 ;start value for ramp; don't wait 256 steps
followed by anumber, in hexadeci- MOVWF SpeedReg ;to give 48 delay steps in either direction
mal. It is this value that is contained CALL OVERRUN ;make sure rate is in usable range
CALL
in the W register on returning from RATEFIX ;get required time delay for rate ...
MOVWF timeCount ;... and store it
the routine.
RETURN ;now flash at new rate
In its second line, the routine adds ; Following handles button presses
a value, n say, representing the
Continued over page...

690 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

MEDICAL ELECTRONICS

desired flicker frequency, to the PIC's pro- tion between switch positions; he/she looks even if unsure — which of the two intervals
gram counter. The effect is to make the pro- only when the flash/no-flash conditions are was flashing. The operator should arrange that
gram jump forward by n instructions, to established, and with agap of afew seconds sometimes it is the first of the pair that flashes,
encounter one of the RETLWs. The returned between the two. sometimes the second. If the viewer's hit rate
number is the timer delay appropriate to the In this case, the testee is required to state — is only 50%, then he/she must be guessing, so
frequency.
A similar principle is used in the subroutine
BUTTONS BTFSC PortA,0 ;up button - will use pull-ups
PATTERN, which uses avalue between 0and
GOTO TRY2 ;if up, try other button
9to return with acorresponding 7-segment bit INCF Rate ;go faster
pattern, to send to Port B. MOVLW Ox01 ;+1
MOVWF SpeeDirect ;for adding when speed ramping

Implementing the design MOVLW OxDO ;208

MOVWF RampStart 48 off roll-over
Layout is not critical, but at the breadboard
TRY2 BTFSC PortA,2 ;down button
stage the capacitor C was found to be neces- GOTO GETON ;if not down get on with setting params
sary, to avoid spurious frequency jumps and DECF Rate ;go slower
unwanted device resets. MOVLW OxFF ; equiv to -1

As Iexplained earlier, it is preferable to MOVWF SpeeDirect ;for adding when ramping speed down
MOVLW Ox30 ;48
mount the flashing LED in aviewing tube, but
MOVWF RampStart ;decrement from 48 when ramping down
adequate results are likely to be obtained if the CALL OVERRUN ;check rate still in range
GETON
LED is mounted directly on the main circuit CALL DECIM ;go and decimalise rate
board. Notice, though, that the frequency read- CALL SEGPAT ;use dec values to get 7-seg patterns

out would then also be in view of the person CALL RATEFIX ;go and get delay for current frequency
MOVWF timeCount ;... and put in counter
being tested.
BTFSS PortA,1 ;freeze button
It is likely that knowledge of their CFF CALL FREEZE ;make LED look steady
would influence some people's judgments — DEBOUNCE MOVLW Ox07 ;0111 to mask off button bits
attempting to 'beat' their last score for exam- ANDWF PortA,0 ;is button still down?
ple. For this reason, Irecommend that the XORLW Ox07 ;should leave zero if no button down
BTFSS Status,Z ;if zero get on with displaying
read-out be covered during use, if aboard-
GOTO DEBOUNCE ;wait until button up
mounted LED is used. In this configuration. ;all done
RETURN
without the jack socket, an on-off power ; Next lolt flashes v. fast, to look permanently on
switch would be required. FREEZE MOVLW Ox08 ;1000
The jack socket, switches and battery holder XORWF PortA ;toggle LED
MOVE LoDig,0 ;get units value of frequency
stipulated in the component list fit my pcb design.
MOVWF PortB ;display the value
BCE Intcon,TF ;make sure timer not overflowed
Evaluating and using the meter CLRF TIMER ;zero timer, ready to wait ...
On connecting power, it will be immediately UnitCycle BTFSS Intcon,TF ;... 256 ps
apparent whether the device is functioning, GOTO UnitCycle ;keep waiting
;get lOs frequency value, invert for readout
with LED flashing and frequency displayed COME HiDig,0
MOVWF PortB ;display the value
when the freeze switch is closed.
BCE Intcon,TF ;clear it again
The quickest way of making ameasurement CLRF TIMER ;start another ...
is to use the ramp-up switch, stopping when TenCycle BTFSS Intcon,TF ;... 256 us
the flicker is no longer perceptible. A better GOTO TenCycle ;keep waiting
;freeze button still down?
result will be obtained by finding amean; after BTFSS PortA,1
GOTO FREEZE ;yes - repeat
ramping up, take the flicker rate well above
CLRF PortB ;turn off 7-segs before leaving
the CFF, then ramp down until the flicker is RETURN ;all done
just perceptible. ; Routine to stop rate value going beyond length of look-up table
An average of the two scores will be area- OVERRUN MOVLW Ox32 ;max value Rate should contain

sonable estimate of the CFF. A more accurate SUBWF Rate,0 ;take from actual value
BTFSC Status,Carry;will be clear if Rate has not gone over max
result may be achieved by following ramping
CLRF Rate ;if over, wrap round to zero
with finer adjustments, by means of the up and
RETURN
down switches. Following is table with Nos, of delay steps to get required rate
Even this technique can be influenced by the RATEFIX MOVE Rate, O ;get the rate (0=10 Hz, 50=60 Hz)

testee's judgement criteria; for example aten- ADDWF PCL ;jump forward in table
OxFF ;255 dec for 10 Hz
dency to say 'Yes' to the slightest glimmer of RETLW
RETLW OxE8
aflicker will lead to ahigher CFF than astrat-
RETLW OxD5
egy of saying 'No' to anything but the clearest RETLW OxC4
blinking. RETLW OxB6
RETLW OxAA
RETLW Ox9F
Eliminating false readings
RETLW Ox96
If atruly criterion-free measure is required,
RETLW Ox8E
and speed of measurement-taking is not RETLW Ox86
important, then the two-interval forced-choice, RETLW Ox80
or 2IFC, method should be used. To carry out RETLW Ox79

the 2IFC procedure A/B comparisons are con- RETLW Ox74

RETLW Ox6F
ducted, using the freeze button; it is important
RETLW Ox6A
that the testee cannot see whether the button is RETLW Ox66
depressed or not. RETLW Ox62
Pairs of presentations are given, one 'frozen' RETLW Ox5E

the other flashing. The testee should be asked RETLW Ox5B

RETLW Ox58
to look away from the LED during the transi-

691
September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD
 MEDICAL ELECTRONICS

the flash rate is above the CFF. unbiased critical frequency. The difference in inter-flash intervals repre-
Start with the rate alittle below fusion, then Variation in CFF is most easily tested by find- sented by the frequency difference may be
gradually increment it, giving several pairs of ing the fusion frequency first without, then while compared with the timing difference calculat-
presentations at each stage. Continue, until the wearing sunglasses. When the testee is wearing ed by the method detailed in the panel entitled,
50% criterion is just reached; this will be the sunglasses, the frequency should be lower. 'A dim view is a slow view'. The two are
unlikely to be identical, since each depends on
brightness levels; however, the values should
RETLW Ox55 be of the same order of magnitude.
RETLW Ox52 Testing arange of people should show aten-
RETLW Ox50
dency for CFF to fall with age and with tired-
RETLW Ox4D
RETLW Ox4B
ness. In women, some variation may be found
RETLW Ox49 over the menstrual cycle.
RETLW Ox47 In the workplace, the device can be used as
RETLW Ox45 afatigue meter, testing at the start and end of
RETLW Ox43
the working day. If avdu operator shows an
RETLW Ox41
RETLW Ox40
appreciable drop in CFF of, say, 10% over the
RETLW Ox3E day, then it would be appropriate to examine
RETLW Ox3D the working practice and ergonomical layout
RETLW Ox3B of the workstation.
RETLW Ox3A
Standard health and safety practices should
RETLW Ox39
RETLW Ox37
be employed, checking that there is no glare or
RETLW Ox36 reflection from monitor screens, that the mate-
RETLW Ox35 rial displayed is easily legible and that the
RETLW Ox34 worker wears appropriate glasses if required.
RETLW Ox33
Ambient lighting levels must be adequate.
RETLW Ox32
RETLW Ox31
There is some evidence 8 that the flickering
RETLW 0x30 of standard fluorescent lighting can lead to an
RETLW Ox2F experience of stress, particularly for those with
RETLW Ox2E high CFF thresholds; driving the tubes at high
RETLW Ox2E
frequency leads to greater comfort.
RETLW Ox2D
As ageneral rule, workers should take reg-
RETLW Ox2C
RETLW Ox2B ular breaks, which not only relieve the
RETLW Ox2A; 60Hz demands of the task, but also give aperiod
; Following changes to decimal format - nibbles = tens & units when the eyes can take in scenes of different
DECIM CLRF DecRate ;zero current value brightness and at different distances. •
MOVLW Ox0A ;10 as frequency starts at 10 Hz
ADDWF Rate,0 ;get actual frequency ...
MOVWF GPReg ;... and save it References
MOVLW Ox0A ;a counter for ten operations 1. Mendelson, J.R. & Wells, E.F. 1999, 'The neu-
MOVWF TenReg ;store in register rophysiological effects of aging on the ability of
DECUP INCF DecRate ;start incrementing the register the visual cortex to process temporal informa-
DECFSZ TenReg ;do up to ten additions
tion', Brain and Cognition 39, 55-57.
GOTO MAINDEC ;if not ten yet, nothing to correct
MOVLW Ox0A ;if ten, reset counter
2. Hindmarch, 1., Quinlan, PT., Moore, K.L. &
MOVWF TenReg ;to count next ten Parkin, C. 1998. 'The effects of black tea, and
MOVLW Ox06 ;add another 6 ... other beverages on aspects of cognition and psy-
ADDWF DecRate ;... to rollover to tens nibble chomotor performance,' Psychopharmacology 3,
MAINDEC DECFSZ GPReg ;working through entire No
230-238.
GOTO DECUP ;repeat
RETURN ;all done
3. Eysenck, H.J. 1970, Readings in extraversion-
following gets correct 7-segment patterns from digits introversion: bearings on basic pschological
SEGPAT MOVF DecRate,0 ;get the BCD value processes, Vol. 3, New York: Wiley.
ANDLW OxOF ;mask off lower nibble 4. Corr, P.J., Pickering, A.D. & Gray, J.A. 1995,
CALL PATTERN ;get the pattern
'Sociability, impulsivity and caffeine-induced
MOVWF LoDig ;and put in units store
SWAPF DecRate,0 ;get other nibble at lower end
arousal —Critical flicker fusion frequency and
ANDLW OxOF ;mask again procedural learning', Personality and Individual
CALL PATTERN ;find its 7-seg pattern Differences 18, 713-730.
MOVWF HiDig ;and store it 5. Costa, G. 1993, 'Evaluation of workload in air-
RETURN ;all done
traffic-controllers', Ergonomics 36, 1111-1120.
PATTERN ADDWF PCL ;jump ahead
6. Hosokawa, T., Mikami, K. & Saito, K. 1997,
RETLW Ox3F ;pattern for zero
RETLW Ox06 ;1 'Basic study of the portable fatigue meter:
RETLW Ox5B effects of illumination, distance from eyes and
RETLW Ox4F age', Ergonomics 40, 887-894.
RETLW Ox66 7. Murata, K., Araki, S., Yokoyama, K.,
RETLW Ox6D
Yamashita, K., Okumatsu, T. & Sakou, S. 1996,
RETLW Ox7D
RETLW Ox07 'Accumulation of VDT work-related visual
RETLW Ox7F fatigue assessed by visual evoked potential, near
RETLW Ox6F ;9 point distance and critical flicker fusion',
RETLW Ox40 ;minus Industrial Health 34, 61-69.
END
8. KuIler, R. & Laike, T. 1998, 'The impact of
flicker from fluorescent lighting on well-being,
performance and physiological arousal',
Ergonomics 41, 433-447.

692
ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000
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HP8165A Programmable signal source 1MHZ •50M Gen - 50 -DM Prog Microwave Pulse Counter -300MC/S-26.5GHz -C1.4K.
HP3455/3456A Digital voltmeter -£400. M -(400. Micro Co ter 20HZ•24GHZ -SMA Socket -000.
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Test Sets-1000M 00 inch.
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Anritsu ML938 & Optical L Meter -£50. HP8657A SYN AM-FM 0.1•1040K4C/S -C2K.
MARCONI 2960A RF Test Sets-1000MC)S -£1,500 each.
Power Sensors for above M MASSA -MA913A Battery HP86578 SYN AM-FM 0.1-2060MC-S -f3K.
ANRITSU MS555A2 Radio Comm Anz-1000M/Cs -f750
Pack M295A. HP8660C SYN AM.FM-PM-0.01-1300MC/S•2600MC/S -E2K.
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Anritsu MW97A Pulse Echo Tester. HP8660D SYN AM-FM-PM-0.01-1300MC/S-2600MC/S -C3K.
MARCONI 2019A SYNTHESIZED SIGNAL GENERATORS -
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MH925A 1.3 •MH929A 1.55 •MH925A 1.301 •MH914C 1.3SM - HP3312A Function Generator AM-FM 13MC/S-Dual -000.
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Anritsu ML968 Power Meter & Charger £450. Marconi TF2008 AM-FM-Sweep 10KC/S•510MC/S -(200 Fully
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HP 3580A 5HZ-50KHZ -C750.
Photo Dyne 1950 KR Continuous Att. 1300 -1500 £100. Marconi TF2015 AM-FM-10-520MC/S -(100.
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HP81512A Head 150MC/S 950-1700 £250. R& SSMPD AM-FM-PH 5KHz-2720MC/S -E3K.
HP 856913 10MC/S (0.01-22GHZ) -E3,500.
Anritsu MG3601A SYN AM-FM 0.1-1040M0S -E1.2K.
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 MEDICAL ELECTRONICS

Optoelectronics spots
cancer cells in seconds
A new technique
C
ancers are much more curable if physics professor Michael Feld, has been
spotted early, before malignant cells applying it to measure the spheroid nuclei
called 'light- have spread elsewhere. So doctors of body cells. The key fact is that cancer
are always looking for new ways of precursor cells are different from normal
scattering detecting early-stage tumours or ones —they are closely packed, with
"dysplasias", preferably before they even unusually large nuclei crammed full of
spectroscopy' become visible. DNA.
But it's not easy: the usual method of In the LSS method, the clinician shines
helps detect pre- extracting atissue sample by biopsy and light through the probe onto the patient's

cancerous cells in then examining it microscopically is time-

consuming, invasive, and sometimes
tissue, and the probe collects the light that
bounces back. The spectrum of this
a fraction of a painful.
Now, groups of US researchers have
scattered light is slightly different from that
of the original beam, in away that depends
second using just developed optolectronic methods that need on the size and refraction properties of the
just an endoscope and alight beam —no nuclei. Examining this characteristic
an endoscope, needles or aspirators —and produce results 'signature' of the tissue can reveal a
in afraction of asecond. dysplasia.
light beam and Both methods are based on atechnique The probe is designed for use on
called light-scattering spectroscopy. LSS epithelial tissue —the material that lines
some DSP. has been used for some years in chemistry cavities of the body such as the mouth,
Mitchell reports. to study the size and shape of small spheres
such as droplets. More recently, the MIT
bladder wall and colon. The epithelium is
often the body's first line of defence
Laser Biomedical Research Centre, run by against cancer-causing substances, and
many tumours originate there —including
f4. V y10331 G41189810 1.16 9(0499/9 NM. lung, stomach, breast and cervical cancer.
1,1 6. • 97
1 13 al Such cancers are virtually invisible at the
ss 4 • »I el p
early stages, even through an endoscope.
Gastroenterologist Jacques Van Dam
SealI I I.U3 I fp.14 Ifoe S A.m. I
casassq siss, moegss.sj
is working with Feld to test the LSS
29 89212098 30 19041301 10 4581 3
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29 94269593
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) probe clinically. "Being able to see the
changes while actually there with the
isaus 4 20 09051344 30 411363034 31:149.02051 D 41023056 29 93607716 31 011642116 30 18058254
Fume 9 29 90119264 31 313388449 30 smrns 31 43120477 29 91077298 30 061824773 9115746273
Mat patient has not been possible before,"
Fume 20 199332B93 9C06514 D 4%1%19 30 45915032 29 9291689, 30 00642116 »17233193
F,7 20 e7EC1 331 11%4810 )3 4%49019 D 43171625 29 MOOD 33 0315%10 30 10737951
51441. 4/410/1444 said Van Dam. "If these very subtle
flame 29 93665844 D 3743
3168 » 4%49919 30 444933213 2997077208 3142116 30 17233193 0,41441 changes are detected before they become
F.4•89 29 89144233 31 965C1106 » 4591245 3042349%0 29%999314 30 96329134 3015911486
L.- .r
--- cancerous, we can prevent cancer from
4'5 .
Ftwo 10 93490447 30 17934810 D 44650541 31 415194% 20%W08 31%961 33 14837125
s. 44 omen.
forming."
11 1/1• , 10019 ,0011.1•10,
3319376699
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1.do1
The lab has also developed amore
, 3
sds Soof 10 MV 33 111720106
30 16737951
)3164o7125 advanced LSS imaging device that scans
areas of tissue several centimetres across.
This instrument produces aseries of light
beams formed from white light with
coloured filters and apolarizer. An
electronic camera records apair of images
at each wavelength of the reflected light in
two separate polarizations. The two images
L. are then subtracted, which cuts out
scattered background light and leaves
behind only images relating to the cell
%Mop. p. 81
nuclei.

694 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 MEDICAL ELECTRONICS

Using digital signal processing, this aerospace electronics sectors, to detect very small changes in heat energy caused
analysis can be done in afraction of a more advanced tumours non-invasively. by perfusion changes. The camera is
second and the results displayed in away One such instrument is BioScan, developed sensitive to temperature changes of less
that is easy for the doctor to interpret. "By by the New York company OmniCorder. than 0.015°C and has aspeed of more than
analyzing the intensity variations in this BioScan senses and records heat patterns 200 frames per second.
back-scattered component from colour to radiated by the human body. Body heat is This data is analysed using apowerful
colour, the nuclear size and density can be closely associated with blood flow workstation and aproprietary technique
mapped," says Feld. (technically called perfusion), and tumours called dynamic area telethermometry,
He predicts that, within two years, these are notoriously good at keeping themselves invented by Dr Michael Anbar, the
new devices will lead to anew class of well supplied with blood. founding scientist of OmniCorder.
endoscopes and other diagnostic So mapping 'hot spots' on, say, abreast, This generates an image of the target
instruments that allow physicians to obtain can often reveal where asolid tumour is area and points out the presence and size of
high-resolution images. These easy-to-read forming. Traditional mammograms (breast atumour.
images will map out normal, pre-cancerous X-rays) often give uncertain results because As well as screening, this can also check
and cancerous tissue the way acontour map the transparency of breast tissue to X-rays the effectiveness of radiotherapy or
highlights elevations in reds, yellows and varies sharply between women, depending chemotherapy on aknown tumour. Some
greens. on their age and physiological state. new therapies also attempt to interfere with
In clinical tests, the probe accurately Mammograms are also very uncomfortable the flow of blood to tumours, so BioScan
distinguished dysplasias in the bowel and and pose the usual risk from ionizing can give feedback on how well this is
oesophagus (gullet), where simple radiation. working.
endoscopy would not have worked. For the But the heat differences are so small that The BioScan underwent extensive testing
oesophagus, even biopsies are very hard to only the most sensitive of IR detectors will at the Dana-Farber cancer institute in
interpret, and experienced pathologists do. Omnicorder uses QWIP (quantum well Boston, and was licensed for sale in the US
often disagree on biopsy results. infra-red photodetection) technology in December. OmniCorder says it is
The stakes are high: if adysplasia is developed by NASA and Lockheed Martin, "inundated" with orders for the device.
present, the usual treatment is surgical to which it has obtained the biomedical The company has now contracted AEG
removal of the whole gullet. Feld believes rights. The technology relies on hybrid Infrarot-Module to manufacture its QWIP
the LSS method would be agreat circuits cooled to very low temperatures to cameras modules in volume, using a
improvement. reduce thermal noise. technology developed by the German
Other people are exploring infra-red In the BioScan, adigital infrared camera company in conjunction with the
technology, created by the military and containing the QWIP sensor measures the Fraunhofer Institute in Freiburg.

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September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD I

Evaluate capacitors for
When choosing a capacitor for a linear
power supply, you don't need to
know much more than capacitance
value, working voltage and ripple
rating. For modern switch-mode
power supplies though, high
frequencies, complex waveforms and

designs
the demand for ever increasing
efficiency make the choice significantly
more difficult. Cyril Bateman explains
what the problems are, and how to
sort them out.

T
he ever-increasing demand for ceramic chips, or tantalum or alumini- flat-bottomed over a wide frequency
small, lightweight, efficient um electrolytic capacitors. These pos- band.
equipment has resulted in an sess three undesirable attributes'. At some frequency, the capacitive and
explosion in the number and•variety of inductive reactances are equal and cancel.
switched-mode power supply integrated • As frequency increases, their appar- Measured impedance is then equal to the
circuits. Many of the latest designs are ent, measurable capacitance reduces. capacitor's ESR. Above resonance, the
available only in minute surface mount It can become much smaller than the capacitor's measured impedance increas-
packages, encouraging designers to use marked, low frequency, nominal es with frequency, Fig. 1.
physically small capacitors and induc- value. Some manufacturers provide
tors. • For agiven CV product, case size nominal impedance or ESR values
Increase in switching frequency can reduction invariably increases the for their ranges, usually at 100kHz
reduce the theoretical capacitance value ESR of the capacitor. and at room temperature. High fre-
needed —hence the physical size of the • Measurable self-inductance. quency capacitance and inductance
component. Since almost all practical values are rarely stated though.
capacitors differ considerably from At high frequencies, the equivalent Using asuitable, variable-frequency
these theoretical ideals, trading off size series resistance of an electrolytic LCR meter, these parameter changes
for frequency introduces many pitfalls capacitor can exceed its capacitive reac- with frequency can be accurately
for the unwary designer. tance. When this happens, the capaci- measured. Since even a used meter
For agiven capacitance and working tor's measured phase angles become can be extremely expensive, one may
voltage, the smallest physical size usu- small —afew degrees only. The mea- not be available.
ally results from using either high-K sured impedance curve then appears These measurements are also possi-

696 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 ANALOGUE DESIGN

ble using simple methods and low-cost

Attenuation dB Impedance
laboratory instruments. Taken with
with care, such measurements can o 2
provide useful accuracy.
Impedance is traditionally mea-
sured by passing aknown AC cur- —20 1.6
rent through the capacitor, and
measuring the resulting voltage
drop. Impedance is equal to voltage —40 1.2
drop divided by the through cur-
rent 2.
—60 0.8
Measurement basics
At switching power supply frequen-
cies, the capacitor becomes avery low —80 0.4
impedance. Four-wire test lead con-
nections are essential. For consistency
and accuracy the capacitor should be —100 o
mounted in asuitable test jig. 01 1 10 100 1,000 10,000
When an AC current is passed
through the ideal, or perfect capacitor, Frequency kHz
Fig. 1. Measured
having neither inductance nor resis- Phase +100 —100 ciegres insertion loss,
tance, the voltage waveform lags that blue curve, of a
of the current by 90°. The capacitor 1000µF 25V Philips 135 Capacitor.
1000pF 25V
produces an impedance with aphase Philips 135
angle of —90°. capacitor using
At any one frequency, a practical limiting resistor. This resistance's attenuation, of EMC filters. Such a test jig 1, Method
capacitor can be represented by a value must be much greater than the procedure was originally defined in 1. Impedance, in
series combination of inductance, impedance of the capacitor being mea- MIL-STD-220. red, is calculated
capacitance and resistance. These sured, so that any change in current Using aspectrum analyser and track- using,
combine to produce an impedance due to change in the capacitor's ing generator, apicture of the capaci-
Z= 25 xA
with a much reduced phase angle. impedance can be ignored. tor's performance can be obtained —
Depending on frequency, phase can be Measurements of electrolytic capac- even to very high frequencies. This I—A
either positive or negative. itors can be made using the internal allows very quick comparisons where,
An LCR meter converts this mea- source resistance of asignal generator between capacitor types.
sured impedance and phase angle into to limit current. Accuracy of this Actual impedance values of the A=10 1
two components only, method can be poor though, since the capacitor by frequency can be calcu-
current can vary with frequency. Also, lated from these attenuation measure- Self inductance
IZIZO= R±JX
the voltage drop across the capacitor ments, as detailed in the panel entitled, was calculated as
representing ESR (resistance) and may be extremely small —at best afew 'Implementing Method 1'. 8.75nH,
reactance. millivolts. With the capacitor mounted in asuit- impedance at
If the measured phase angle is nega- able test jig, such measurements can 100kHz measured
tive, the meter calculates acapacitance Measuring impedance: be carried out using low-cost labora-
value, if positive, an inductance value. Method 1 tory equipment. You need only a50f2
Because only asingle frequency has Accurate impedance measurements low distortion signal generator, ahigh
been measured, the meter cannot seg- can be made, based on the techniques input impedance RF millivoltmeter, a
regate this reactance into its inductive used to measure the insertion loss, or 10dB isolating attenuator and a50S2
and capacitive components.

IZIZO=R±j7(=-RX 2

Here, R is capacitor ESR at the mea-

sured frequency while X is reactance at Fig. 2. Impedance
that frequency. measurement
With practical capacitors, this net method, using test
reactance has both a capacitive and jig 1, Method 1,
inductive component. In principle, with ahigh input-
provided impedance and phase angle impedance meter.
are measured at no fewer than two fre- The capacitor lead
quencies, it is feasible to extract these wires were
components from the values of X mea- soldered to the
sured. There's more on this in the stripline and
panel entitled, 'Three-component ground plane. The
modelling'. 10d13 attenuator
isolating the signal
Impedance generator from
Generating aknown alternating cur- line reflections is
rent at various frequencies can be dif- connected to one
ficult. jig connector, the
One common method is to apply a terminating 50i2
constant voltage via aknown current- load to the other.

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 697

ANALOGUE DESIGN

non-inductive termination. Fig. 2. width receiver would be used here, to

Three-component
The test jig shown, test jig has minimise contributions from noise and
modelling
other uses. It was used with afunction distortion.
generator and oscilloscope to provide Although the voltage being measured The results table was calculated
the measurements shown in Figs 6a), is in fact complex -i.e. avector having using the two-component capacitor
6b), and 6c) in the June 2000 issue 3. both magnitude and phase -to calculate model. For best accuracy, athree-
A true four-terminal measurement impedance, you need only measure volt- component evaluation is needed,
method, it can provide extremely accu- age magnitude using a conventional as indicated by,
rate measurements of impedances rang- voltmeter or spectrum analyser.
ing from 51. 2to socia Accuracy This method can provide accurate =.\/EsR2 +(xc-xj
depends on the signal generator source, measurements of impedance and phase Here Xc is capacitive reactance
the terminating load's actual angle. However using only common and XL the inductive reactance at
impedances and your ability to measure laboratory equipment, the small capac- the measured frequency.
small voltages. itor voltages complicate phase angle Solving for three unknowns
Lower impedances require very small measurements. An accurate phase requires aminimum of two
voltages be measured. Ideally aspec- angle reference must also be estab- measurements at differing
trum analyser or atuned narrow band- lished, Fig. 1. frequencies. Ideally, aswept
measurement at several frequencies
is used.
Capacitor performance in practice Some recent swept-frequency
component analysers, such as the
Capacitance and inductance values, calculated from measured RtjX for typical 220pF/10V HP4194 and HP4195, are provided
capacitors. One random sample only of each style was measured. with internal software routines,
which automatically calculate the
Unit/parameter 10kHz 30kHz 100kHz 300kHz 1MHz three-component mode1 7.
220pF/10V Philips 037 Aluminium These evaluate parameters at
IZI 0.824 0.785 0.738 0.706 0.671 frequencies where the measured
ESRLI 0.818 0.783 0.74 0.71 0.67 impedance is afactor of Ni2 smaller
Capacitance 129pF 68.4pF 27.1pF 9.1pF 2.0pF and larger than the maximum and
minimum values measured 8.
220pF/10V Rubycon YXF Aluminium This works well for many stable
IZIS1 0.404 0.372 0.341 0.322 0.308 components, but not for electrolytic
ES131-1 0.394 0.372 0.34 0.32 0.32 capacitors, having ESR and
Capacitance 153pF 94pF 44pF 20.7pF 9.2pF capacitance values that change
with frequency. Self inductance for
220pF/10V Rubycon ZL Aluminium these however is relatively constant
lZl 0.122 0.091 0.082 0.076 0.073 with frequency.
ESKI 0.10 0.09 0.09 0.08 0.08 Iprefer to estimate this inductive
Capacitance 187.5pF 169.5pF 122.3pF 104.5pF 1.21nH component by taking aseries of
impedance measurements at
220pF/10V Rubycon ZA Aluminium frequencies well above resonance.
IZISI 0.087 0.041 0.030 0.028 0.035 But why bother?
ESRQ 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.03 Taking the Oscon capacitor
Capacitance 189.8pF 185.4pF 200.9pF 0.69nH 2.39nH which resonated at 190kHz as an
example, Imeasured impedance at
220pF/10V Elna RSH Aluminium 1MHz intervals up to 10MHz.
IZILI 0.313 0.290 0.270 0.254 0.242 Above 2MHz its apparent
ESRSI 0.31 0.29 0.27 0.26 0.25 measured inductance stabilised
Capacitance 171.7pF 119.7pF 55.0pF 27.6pF 19.33pF close to 5nH, its impedance then
increasing linearly with frequency.
220pF/10V AVX TPS Tantalum A capacitor that measures as an
IZIS2 0.143 0.089 0.06 0.045 0.040 inductive impedance can still act as
ESRS1 0.10 0.08 0.06 0.05 0.05 acapacitor to decouple noise or
Capacitance 149.2pF 100.9pF 62.3pF 45.7pF 0.83nH store and discharge energy. It has
an inductive behaviour simply
220pF/10V Sanyo Oscon Oscon because at that frequency its
IZIS2 0.077 0.027 0.01 0.01 0.029 inductive reactance exceeds its
ESRO 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 capacitive reactance. At high
Capacitance 201.3pF 192.0pF 230.9pF 2.13nH 4.23nH switching frequencies, it will
exhibit an inductive overshoot as in
These values were derived using my dedicated meter, switched to Method 3for impedance Fig. 6a) in the June issue 3.
then Method 2for ESR and capacitance. Many other suitable capacitors are available, from Having areasonable estimate for
other stockists. ESR cannot exceed 14. Where this occurs in the table, it is caused by self-inductance, using the above
insufficient resolution in my phase angle measurement. three-component equation can
While the rapid increase in capacitance of the 220pF/10V Rubycon ZA and the produce abetter estimate of the
220pF/10V Sanyo Oscon may look odd, this is simply areflection of the effect self- true capacitance value at any
inductance has on apparent capacitance when approaching series resonance. A notable frequency.
impedance null is frequently found at resonance with low-loss capacitors. With
electrolytics, series resistance usually dominates, so the effect is not there.

698 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 ANALOGUE DESIGN

Even at 100kHz though, it can be

difficult to guarantee similar path Implementing Method 1
lengths and phase delays between the
reference and measurement channels. For consistent measurements, ajig that While each 10dB attenuator reduces the
maintains agood 50£1 impedance up to and signal level by 10dB, reflected signals are
Simplified measurements: beyond the insertion point of the capacitor twice attenuated, so are reduced by 20dB.
Method 2 being tested is essential. Capacitors should A measurement of attenuation, either as a
In Method I, when measuring low- be soldered to this jig using the same lead voltage ratio or decibels, is taken for each
impedance electrolytic capacitors, lengths as you will use in your application, measurement frequency. At each frequency,
there's awide ratio between the 50Q Fig. 2. the 'jig out' voltage, with the measurement
source and loads used as references, Iuse a3mm-wide stripline on double- test jig replaced by an empty jig, should be
and the capacitor's impedance. This sided FR4 circuit board. The capacitor is noted.
requires voltage measurements over a connected in shunt with this line, to the With no other change in set-up, the
wide dynamic range. ground plane. This ground plane covers the measurement test jig with capacitor, should
A lower-value reference resistor can reverse side of this jig, except for acircular then be inserted into position, and the 'jig
dramatically reduce these voltage dif- area where the capacitor mounts. in' voltage measured, Fig. 1.
ferences, simplifying the measurement The jig is suitable for leaded and surface-
and improving accuracy using low-cost mount components. Both sides of the V„,
Attenuation ratio — =A
instruments. printed board are linked together at the Vmm.)
In this method, the test capacitor is capacitor ground connection using vias and
mounted in ason microstrip line, on a asoldered copper foil wrap. Attenuation in dB = 20log —
Vken-

double sided board, in series with the As with all 5012 measurement systems, Vftagm,
signal generator. The reference resistor reflections caused by mounting acapacitor Convert any decibel readings to attenuation
forms the ground return. across the line must be minimised. A 10dB ratio,
Complex voltages, V(1) and V(2), at attenuator should be inserted in the signal- a
levels suitable for impedance and phase generator cable, as close as possible to the A =1
Oro-
angle measurements, are found on each test jig. 25A
of the capacitor lead wires, Fig. 3. If ahigh-impedance measuring instrument Impedance —
I—A
By these means, alow-cost RF mil- is used, ason through-terminating resistor,
livoltmeter4 can be used with aphase or aterminating 50Q load and 'T' piece, This equation holds good provided both
meter5 to characterise the test capaci- should be placed at the jig output, Fig. 2. source and load impedances are son. In the
tor. While anumber of calculations are If acoaxial cable is necessary between the above, the figure '25' represents the
needed to convert the measured volt- test jig and the measuring instrument, a Thévénin equivalent of the source/load
ages and phase angle into the required second 10dB attenuator should be impedances.
impedance, ESR and capacitance- connected to the test jig output. The coaxial This method can provide very accurate
inductance values, the method is quick cable should be terminated in son at the results, but because of the wide dynamic
and easy to apply —and cheap to carry measuring instrument. range voltage measurements needed, it is
out. To facilitate these calculations, I
use a small program written for my
programmable calculator.
In practice, the main difficulty is pro-
viding a known value, non-inductive
resistor. I needed to measure
impedances at 100kHz from 0.01 to
Lon, increasing to 2.on at lower fre-
quencies. A reference resistor around
0.5 to 1.0Q would be suitable.

Making anon-inductive resistor

Conventional Lon I% resistors are
readily available, but these usually
have aspiral 'cut', used to trim to final
value. Combined with the resistor's
physical length, this results in sufficient
self-inductance that the resistor's
impedance is measurably increased at
100kHz — degrading measurements.
For accuracy, a spiralled reference
resistor should not be used.
Surface-mounted chip resistors offer
less inductance for two reasons. Firstly,
astraight 'L' cut is often used to trim
to value and their physical lengths can
be shorter. Even better, certain types
are available that are wider than they
are long. Sometimes, these are effec-
tively three 1206 resistors in parallel. Fig. 3. Using test jig 2, Method 2, to measure impedance, with ahigh input-impedance meter. My stack
A typical 1206 chip has some 1to of three 1218 surface mount chip resistors, total resistance 0.4989n, are visible near the test-probe
1.5nH inductance, so with three in par- ground clip. Compared with Fig. 1, the test voltages, VM(1) and VM(2) have larger magnitudes. This
allel, this construction provides mini- facilitates both voltage and phase measurement.

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 699

ANALOGUE DESIGN
Probe -[Impedance of capacitor stac

1
222200m.1) -r
28d
Phase in degrees (10.000K,-3 11

-5d

Fig. 4. Simulation 200aU

N. • VII(1) (10.000K,193 357.)
used to verify
Method 2. A stack of -10d -

10pF plastic-film Act al values used in simulation Values calculated from simulation plot
capacitors, each
accurately pre. Rsense=4 75 Ohms. 121 total = Rsense*VM(1)/VM(2) = 5 77856
measured at 10kHz, ESR = 1.02 Ohms ESR = ((Cos-3.1182)*IZItotal)-Rsense = 1.02
180eU -15d
Capacitance = 50,633 uF Xc = (Sin-3.1182)*IZItotal = -3.1433
was assembled and
Capacitance = 50 633 uF
measured. These
pre-measured values Values calculated from stack measurement.

were simulated. ESR Phase = -3.22 .1egrees

-20d
and capacitance was E
>SA = 1..01 Ohms
VII(2) (10.000X.158.940.)
calculated from Capacitance = 49,114 uF
1680
simulated results and
confirm the
calculation method.
Both sets of
measured values
agreed, with less
than 5% error. 140mU
1.0KHz 3.0KHz 10kHz 30KHz 100KHz 380KHz 1.0MHz
Do IM(l) Wt(2) M • (UP(1) -UP(2))
Frequency

Implementing Method 2 mal self inductance 6.

Ibought anumber of 1.511 resistors,
By comparing the voltages at the unknown The reference probe connects to the V(1) Philips type PRC201. These are 1218
capacitor, now placed in series with the test capacitor lead wire while the measurement size, comprising three 1206 resistors in
signal, with those on alow value, non- channel probe connects to the V(2) lead. parallel. Measuring voltage drop while
inductive, current sensing resistor, the Both probe earth leads are grounded. passing a 100mA DC, Iwas able to
voltage range that needs to be measured, is Using normal laboratory instruments, this select a number of identical sets of
minimised. method can measure impedance and phase three, effectively nine 1206 resistors in
This smaller jig again uses a3mm wide angle of acapacitor with good accuracy. parallel. Each set makes anon-induc-
stripline on double sided FR4 circuit board. This is because relatively high and similar tive, near 0.5i2 value, for my test jigs.
The current sense resistor, connected voltages are measured. The selected group of three 1218
between one capacitor lead and ground, Using 'IZI tota fto describe the combined chip resistors were stacked together
terminates this jig. impedance of the test capacitor and sense then soldered in place on my jig. This
The value of the current sensing resistor resistor, assembly can be seen in the photo-
should approximate the mean impedances 171 WNW graph, Fig. 3.
to be measured. It must be non-inductive = MV(2) To validate my reference resistor, I
and its true resistance accurately known. mounted aconventional 1% 10 resis-
To minimise line reflections to the signal where VM(1) and VM(2) are voltage tor rated at 0.6W on this jig. At 100mA
generator, a10dB attenuator should be magnitudes measured at V(1) and V(2) using DC, it measured 0.9960. At 1 kHz it
inserted in the signal coaxial cable, anormal voltmeter. measured 0.998e while at 5MHz it
immediately adjacent to the test jig. ESR =(cos phase angle x14.0- R„.„ measured Lome— equivalent to some
The basis of this measurement is clear 5nH inductance. This confirmed that
from Fig. 3. Two ground-referred voltage Here, phase angle is VP(1)-VP(2). my reference resistors have minimal
measurements at each frequency are X. =sin phase angle x ZL inductance.
needed. These are easily made using ahigh As with all self-built measurement
input-impedance millivoltmeter with a See reference 5for more on the above systems, the remaining problem was to
conventional high-impedance oscilloscope equation. If phase angle is negative, test its measurement accuracy when
probe, contacting each capacitor lead wire 1 measuring capacitors.
in turn, Fig. 3. C-
At 10kHz and above, the largest
Voltage measured at the capacitor lead capacitance Ican accurately measure
nearest the signal generator is V(1). The Or if phase angle is positive, on my 0.1% bridge is 11µF. Iassem-
voltage measured at the capacitor lead near X bled a stack of five 10pF metallised
the current sensing resistor is V(2). L= -s-
2xf PET capacitors, which Ifirst carefully
Both voltage magnitudes will be similar, measured at 10kHz.
simplifying voltage and phase angle =NIFX:
ESR To increase this stack's ESR to rep-
measurements. resent atypical electrolytic capacitor, I
Voltages V(1) and V(2) are complex, having
A measurement of phase angle difference added ala, 1% series resistor. Using a
both magnitude and phase. But for this
across the capacitor, is also required. A high 1%, 4.70 resistor as the reference
method you only need to measure their
input-impedance phase meter with two resistor and Method 2, Imeasured this
voltage magnitudes, Fig. 4.
identical oscilloscope probes can be used. stack, then ran aPSpice simulation.

700 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 ANALOGUE DESIGN
z Probe [Method 3proof.]
DU
u
1.8- Od-r Fig. 5. Simulation
1 2
Phase angle degrees (10 000K,-8 2402) used to verify Method
3. Impedance was
Actual values used in simulation plotted in two ways.
Both curves overlay
-18d Rsense = 0 4995 Ohms
exactly in the plot.
ESR = 0 05 Ohms
The Method 2ratio
Capacitance = 200 uF
needed to calculate
\\
ESR and capacitance
is also plotted.
co 499iive(1) /VM(2) (10 000K,555 232m)
8.6- . .

-3ed
Values calculated from simulation

IZI total = 0 4995*(VM(1)/VM(2) = 0.555232

8.4-
ESR= ((Cos-82402) * IZI tots)) -04995

-48d, =004999
xc = (Sin -8 2402) * 121 total = 0 07958
Capacitance = 199 99 uF

IZI = SORT(ESR*ESR+Xc*Xc) = 0 09398

0.2-
= (0 4995*(V(1)-V(2)))/VM2 = 0 093982
-50d ,
(V(1)-V(2))/1(Rs e) (10.000K,93 982m)

(0 4995*(V(1)-V(2)))/VM(2) (10 000K,93 982m)

-60d+ , r , , , 1
1.0KHz 3. OKHz 10KHz 36KHz 168KHz 368KHz 1.6MHz
rn (U(1)-U(2))/ I(Reenee) - (8.4995u(U(1)-U(2)))/UM(2) • (0.4995NUM(1))/UM(2) Gfl •(UP(1)-UP(2))
Frequency

Measured voltage and phase angle magnitude and phase of the unknown. 5, you will see that V1 and V2 have
agreed closely with the simulation. The Suppose you have an unknown resis- both magnitude and phase. They are
ESR and capacitance values obtained tor in series with aknown resistor to complex voltages. Using the vector dif-
from my measurements were within ground. Because they each pass the ference of these two voltages, you can
5% of the capacitance and ESR for the same current, the unknown resistor calculate the impedance of the capaci-
assembly. Fig. 4. value can be calculated by measuring tor. Fig. 5.
This accuracy is more than sufficient the voltage drop across the unknown, W1) -- 1
1(2)
for my electrolytic capacitor measure- and the voltage drop across the refer- =
VM(2)
ment needs. There's more on this ence resistor.
method in the panel entitled, x At km frequency, you could 'float' a
'Implementing method 2'. &Wm« = V conventional battery powered multi-
ibet,e) meter to measure this difference vector.
()tiler methods If you look at the PSpice plots in Fig. For higher frequencies, a high input
At the self-resonant frequency of the
capacitor, its measured impedance
exactly equals its ESR. This frequency
Implementing Method 3
is determined by the capacitor's effec-
Using the jig outlined in Method 2, both At higher frequencies, atrue differential
tive capacitance and self inductance.
voltages 141) and 142) are complex. voltmeter reading is needed. This can be
Using this resonance technique and
If you take the vector difference of these provided by using ahigh input-impedance,
inserting additional inductance external
two and divide by the current passing instrumentation amplifier having high
to the capacitor, ESR can be measured
through the reference sensing resistor, you common-mode rejection to the highest
at lower frequencies. This inductance
have adirect measurement of the capaci- frequencies measured.
can be provided either by extending the
tor's impedance, Fig. 5. Noted that this differential voltage can be
capacitor leads or by adding alow loss
V(1)— V(2) very small, compared with the common-
inductor.
IA— R mode voltages at 141) and 142), so the
A small additional inductance —even sourlaarrent)
instrumentation amplifier must also have a
that from lcm length leads — can sig-
nificantly reduce the resonance fre-
Voltages V(1) and V(2) are complex. small output offset voltage.
VM(2) The differential voltage is easily divided
quency, allowing ESR measurements
R by VM(2) using amodified PM128 meter,
over arange of frequencies.
exactly as used for my tan8 meter design.
where VM(2) is the voltage drop and, This method provides adirect reading
Method 3— impedance meter
V(1)— V(2) impedance meter, usable over awide
In method 2, both voltage measure- =R frequency range. It iS a ratio method. Since
ments are ground referred, allowing VM(2)
both ratio-ed voltages are measured concur-
easy measurement of voltage magni-
At very low frequencies, the easiest way to rently, accuracy does not depend on signal
tude using conventional instruments.
measure this vector difference is by using a source impedance or amplitude. It can even
Using these complex voltages, you can
conventional battery powered multimeter, be used with asignal generator whose
derive ameasurement method, giving a
connected between 141) and 142). output changes with load and frequency.
direct digital readout of impedance

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 701

 ANALOGUE DESIGN

Fig. 6. My prototype References

test meter with 1. Bateman C, 'Understanding
special jig, developed capacitors', Electronics World, June
for the Method 3 1998.
differential voltage 2. The Impedance Measurement
measurements. Both Handbook. Agilent Technologies
are usable from (HP), USA.
10kHz to 10MHz. 3. Bateman C. 'Efficient battery power
This meter outputs a supplies', Electronics World, June
direct reading of 2000.
capacitor impedance, 4. Bateman C. 'Measure AC millivolts to
from 0.001 to 5MHz', Electronics World, April
1.99%1, on a 2000.
modified PM128 5. Bateman C, 'Fazed by phase?',
meter. A switch Electronics World, November 1997.
provides adirect 6. Bateman C, 'Understanding
reading of the impedance, differential instrumentation A relay could be used to select Capacitors', Electronics Wor/d, April
'llse„sexVM(1)/VM(2)' amplifier with aflat response and good between measuring the two input chan- 1998.
ratio, simplifying common-mode rejection up to the nels or the differential measurement, as 7. 'Parametric Analysis for Electronic
calculations needed highest measurement frequency is required. This new meter could then Components and Circuit Evaluation,' —
for ESR and required. directly display either measured AN339 Agilent Technologies (HP),
capacitance. A Idecided to investigate this approach impedance, as the vector result of USA.
buffered, phase- using two identical high-impedance (V1—V2)/VM2. Alternatively it could be 8. 'Practical Design & Evaluation of
equalised output, input channels, similar to my RF milli- switched to display VM(1)/VM(2) as High Frequency Circuits' —AN317,
suitable for aphase voltmeter'. These would be followed by needed for method 2. See the panel Agilent Technologies (HP), USA.
meter is provided. two identical rectifying stages, as used entitled, 'Implementing Method 3'.
in this meter. The rectified DC outputs Ihave designed and implemented a
were divided using a PM128 meter suitable dedicated meter Fig. 6. Its
modified to ratio mode, as used for my design, construction and use form the
tans meter, in the January 2000 issue. subject of my next article. •

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CIRCLE NO. 111 ON REPLY CARO

ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

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 Dynanïic art
argues that
4111
ust as an artist can call up awide selection of hues
and colours to complete acreative commission, so

electronics engineers and artists the electronics engineer has available awide range
of products and devices that can be used to develop sys-
tems for 'creative' visual effects.
should work together to produce In stage effects, computers interfaced to complex pro-
duction systems have allowed new heights of technical
dynamic works of art, and achievement. Also, once acomplex lighting sequence
has been set up, it can be easily replicated on successive

makes suggestions for simple performances.

Most electronic systems are designed with function-
ality in mind. But there is increasing interest not just in
artistic lighting effects using constructing electronic systems that perform anecessary
task but in exploring the creative potential of abroad
opto-mechanics. spectrum of physical systems. The aim is to basically
make life more varied and stimulating.

Moving art
For avariety of reasons, most works of art are static.
These predominantly consist of images frozen in
two/three dimensions. It may be that artists would want
to use time-varying effects, but they do not have the
technical ability to implement them. Likewise it may be
that those competent in electronics have the ability to
bring dynamism into art, but have little interest in doing
so.
When we perceive aconventional image on display,

ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 OPTOELECTRONICS

we subconsciously move in relation to the light sources described can be

it to change our perspective. In doing modified.
so, we make sense of the image's For the time being though, Iwill
lines, colours and forms. This tells us outline asystem that runs essentially #1
in part how we naturally observe on a9V DC supply.
objects.
We discriminate boundaries Ways and means
between areas. We register the specif- Considering the full range of analogue
ic details of aparticular focus of the and digital circuits at your disposal,
visual field. Our brain scans for mov- there is abewildering number of ways
ing images. In the final product, the that such aprocess can be implement-
brain integrates all these processes ed. Computers make the number of
seamlessly together. The process of options boundless. This article though
visual perception is complex and so outlines an effective artistic light con- 10

successful that we appear to observe troller, made simple by using an opto- Number of rotations
effortlessly. mechanical system.
Fig. 1. Notional variation of sensor parameter as afunction
There is something, however, more Consider nlight sources as having a
of degree of rotation and with the cycle repeating itself every
attention seeking about images that function, fl,f 2,f3... f
n. Each function
revolution.
change their appearance in time. In varies independently with time in a
the supermarket aisle, attention seek- cyclic manner and with uniquely
ing devices attract the eye of the shop- defined amplitude, phase relationship
per with asingle pulse of ared LED and frequency.
Photodiode/transistor positions
every few seconds. This indicates that To make such asystem interesting,
we have the potential to discriminate a around twelve or more separate light-
relatively small change out of alarge ing channels are needed. Wheel with reflective
and complex static visual field. Implementing this would require 12 and non-reflective areas
If avisual display has elements that distinct oscillator and drive systems. It
change over aspecific time frame, it is likely that this would lead to alack
will receive more attention than one of spatial co-ordination between the
that is static. Perhaps one of the rea- elements of the display. It is also Fig. 2. Positioning of the
sons why television is so compulsive unlikely that there would any co-ordi- reflective detectors under
is that it presents avisual field that is nated relationships between the com- the rotating disc.
always changing. It is latching onto ponents.
those receptors in the visual field that A less complex option would be to
would instinctively direct us to move- have asmaller number of oscillators,
ment. say four. These oscillators, designated

Design objectives
This discussion revolves around using R1 R2
10k 50k
electronics to introduce cyclic varia- +9V Wv
tion into a discrete number of light
+9V
sources. One option for the suggested
scheme is to use the light sources as
directly-visible elements in adisplay. Tri
Alternatively, they can be used in
association with apiece of art to pro-
duce reflective or refractive enhance-
ments. R3 LED1/Lamp
While this approach introduces elec- 10k I _
tronics into art, it does not restrict the R6
input of the artist. He or she still has 150R
the task of setting up the actual nature (short if lamp:
of the 'time dependent' profile and the +9V
medium in which the lights are used.
The end product can be considered as
Fig. 3. Basic single channel system
a sub-system for incorporating into
showing photodiode/phototransistor
appropriate works of art.
Motor detector and output drive system.
One example of how the lights can
When areflective area of the disc is
be applied involves a series of
over an opto device, its associated
coloured panels. Each panel can be
lamp turns on gradually. In the lower
back lit by a lamp, which is part of
part of the diagram is the simple
such acontrolled sequence. This is an
motor-speed adjustment buffer.
approach that can be cascaded, adding
complexity, and the output power of

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 705

OPTOELECTRONICS

A, B, C and D, could be arranged to Also, these options would require

produce sum and difference effects, more than afew analogue/logic chips
A—B, A—C, A—D, B—C, C—D, A+B, to implement effectively.
A+C, A+D, B+C and B+D. This
would again tend to produce alack of Towards coherence %out SG-2BC
spatial co-ordination between the ele- It is possible to have aPC provide the (Base view)

ments though, and we are not really in ultimate solution. A computer with 12
Fig. 4. Pin out of photorefkctive
control of the combinations. a-to-d channels could output appro-
device used in the author's prototype
priate analogue voltages under soft-
(SG-28C -Famell code 441-566).
ware control. As a design problem,
Fig. 6. A series of photographs taken using acyclic pattern Device diameter is 4mm.
though, this is beginning to look
change on painted glass and six channels of variable light
daunting and expensive. Are there
output.
more practicable ways of achieving bic to use the system Iam proposing
the same end point? in 'transmission' mode using ambient
A more attractive option is to main- light to modulate the detector array.
tain the same 'cyclic period' for all
elements but to introduce independent The optical modulator
phase and amplitude modulation for Each detector pair comprises an inte-
all elements. Figure 1 shows some gral phototransistor and photodiode.
notional variations of sensed parame- In this way, avoltage is produced that
ter as afunction of degree of rotation. is proportional to the degree of reflec-
The cycle essentially repeats itself tion of the surface. Thus the sequence
after each cycle. of areas to be illuminated can be care-
A novel way to establish this fully selected to take advantage of the
phase/amplitude relationship across known sequence derived from the
say twelve discrete signals is to rotation of the encoded wheel.
encode optical reflectivity/transmis- It may also be possible to introduce
sion parameters onto acircularly rotat- an element of randomness into the dis-
ing disc and use phototransistors/pho- play. This could be done by building
todiodes. This is done in association some eccentricity into the circular
with variation of optical properties of disc, which rotates under the photo-
the disc surface to provide the phase transistor/photodiode heads.
and amplitude relationships. A com- This module is intended to be self
plete cycle of signals will thus be contained. After being powered up it
replicated in one revolution of the will operate as an integral part of an
encoded disc, but each channel can item of art with a minimum of con-
have its own identity. trols. A different 'template' of the disc
Some element for synchronising the produces adifferent series of voltage
variation in levels of the illumination signals from each of the channels.
channels is needed. But remember that My prototype consumes very little
the goal is for visual effect only —not power. Its motor only consumes
for precise control and processing. around 50mA at 6V. It would also be
Figure 2 shows a disc for such a possible to use RGB LEDs so that the
system, involving twelve photodi- variation of sensed voltage was also
ode/phototransistor elements in reflec- translated to colour changes.
tive mode. The concept of a relatively slow
In my design, the small optical units rotating disc maps well into the visual
are actually positioned flush with the changes that may be expected. Thus a
circuit board. The rotating disc — typical repeat interval of 15 seconds
reflective side face down —blocks out requires low levels of rotation of
stray light. As the disc rotates, it pass- around 4rev/min. This requires either
es under units of reflective detector aDC motor with very high gearing or
pairs. astepper motor with small step inter-
As an alternative, it would be possi- vals.

Table 1. Table of rotational speed of iron core motor as afunction of drive

voltage.
Rotational speed (rev/min) Drive voltage
2.9 2.8
4.8 4.0
5.7 5.0
8.4 7.5

706 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 OPTOELECTRONICS

A stepper motor with control of array with 4mm diameter ball bear-
input frequency from 1to 50Hz would ings and use the physics of light
be appropriate. But a stepper motor reflection to provide ahighly complex
with 48 steps per revolution is alittle level of variation? Bearings are only
too coarse relative to the true contin- one of many such 'translational
uous movement of the DC motor. A devices' for transforming achange in
1.8° stepper would provide adequate some physical parameter to a more
resolution, but they tend to require visible set of parameters — which is
more complex drive systems and con- part of a separate aspect of artistic
sequently more power consumption. expression.
In my prototype, Iused a small Figure 6 indicates aseries of pho-
geared iron-core motor. With varia- tographs taken of an 'installation'
tion in voltage control, this gives a where cyclic pattern change on paint-
range of rotational speed as indicated ed glass operates on six channels of
in Table 1. The motor is essentially variable light output.
operating in unloaded mode.
Final thoughts
Elements of circuit design In my view, the step from an elec-
The elements of detection/amplifica- tronic device with an everyday func-
tion of aspecific channel are indicated tion to one that is promoted as aphe-
in Fig. 3. Nominally, the system is nomenon of artistic expression could
adjusted so that full reflection outputs double the end value of the system.
6V and zero reflection, 1V. Surely there is scope for serious and
Power transistors are included in the committed 'wired' artists, who could
output drive elements to allow either produce devices and constructions that
LEDs or conventional filament bulbs would be gladly accepted with pride
to be used. Resistors in the output cir- in a21st-century habitation, organisa-
cuit can be included as needed. The tion or institute?
maximum current per channel is Such devices must of course be con-
around 100mA. Figure 4 shows the structed carefully, to good standards
pin-out of the photoreflective device I of safety, design and functionality.
used. They would give satisfaction to their
A simple potentiometer controls the designer. But they would also satisfy
motor's rotational speed. The motor the customer that there is evidence of
can be switched to rotate either clock- careful thought tempered with rational
wise or anticlockwise. A convention- design and construction. This would
al quad operational amp carries out produce apracticable contrast to the
the simple electronic signal process- splendidly vacant collections of con-
ing. temporary art.
Are there artists who would wel-
Enter the artist come assistance in translating effects
After establishing the core 12-channel into reality using electronic tech-
unit, outlined in Fig. 5, there is then niques? Conversely, are there are elec-
the creative challenge to create the tronics engineers who could work
'reflection template' to control the with 'artists'.
series of changes with rotation. This is Every self respecting electronics
where the artist changes place with engineer should ask himself/herself
the electronics designer in order to the question, "If Iam so creative with
communicate an idea or effect to the electronic components and circuits,
audience. are there areas of creative endeavour
Why not cover the underside of the that might Iturn my hand to?" •

Op-amps Output transistors

To
LEDs/Lamps

Reflective
wheel

Fig. 5. Outline layout of the author's twelve-channel system.

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD

 • e

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Data acquisition
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Version 5.5 of Adept's Dasylab
data acquisition software lets
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MOSFET for 42V automotive
Adept Scientific
Tel. 01462 480055 Intersil's latest power MOSFET is designed time, and alower reverse body-diode charge
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currently being developed for the next switching speeds and improved power
P-channel HEXFET generation of vehicles. efficiency. Intersil's UltraFe. Iprocess
power MOSFETs The HUFA7510S3S UltraFET is a75V, 75A technology achieves the lowest possible on-
International Rectifier has intro- MOSFET with an on-resistance of lOmfl, which resistance per silicon area, lower gate charge and
duced four 12 and 20V p-chan- the company says gives one of the lowest improved dynamic switching characteristics.
nel HEXFET power MOSFETs resistances per area of silicon available. In UltraFET devices withstand high peak currents
for portable applications. They addition the FET features a75V drain-source and energy in the avalanche mode, important
come in TSSOP-8 packages. breakdown voltage, giving it the ruggedness when switching inductive loads. The
The 12V IRF7701 has required for higher-voltage automotive systems. HUFA7510S3S is immediately available for
RDS— at 4.5V. Applications The device is engineered to withstand high volume production in the10263 package.
include cell phones, digital energy in avalanche mode and features a Intersil
cameras and notebook comput- combination of low gate charge, fast recovery Tel: 01344 350250
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the IRF7702. IRF7750 and networking software and hard- ports, RAM, ROM and aJTag
IRF7700. ware needed to begin applica- port. The package also includes
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Tel: 020 8645 8001 on-chip technology to design JTag port to the parallel port of
interne and Ethernet connected the development PC and is used
devices. It includes Green Hills for code downloading.
Development Software's Multi2000 IDE for Netsilicon
environment Windows, ThreadX RTOS Tel: 00 1781 398 4548
Netsilicon has announced from Express Logic and
Net+OS —an out-of-the-box Net+Works drivers, protocols
Reprogrammable
product that integrates an and services for web, email,
embedded development envi- FTP, flash and SNMP applica- FPGA memories
ronment, real-time operating tions. It comes with aNet+Arm Atmel has introduced the AT17
system and the firm's development board including reprogrammable FPGA config-
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September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 709

NEW PRODUCT
Please quote Electronics World when seeking further information

3V transceiver stress-free results typically with and can be used with 128, 192,
Fairchild has introduced the accuracies of ±10 per cent of 256, 384, 512 or 768f, system
74LVTH16500 18-bit universal the thickness of the metal used - clocks. It has single-ended
bus transceiver for 3V systems. from 1.5 to 0.01mm. For more analogue outputs and operates
It has tri-state outputs and oper- accuracy, electrofonning on dual +3.3 and +5V power
ates at 3.7ns maximum at 3.3V techniques are used, atypical supplies.
Vœ .There is input and output tolerance being ±81.1m and, in Burr Brown
interface capability to 5V Vc, some cases, ±2mm can be Tel 01923 233837
systems. For off-board driving achieved.
applications, such as back- Tecan Components
planes, memory arrays, tele- Tel: 01305 765432
Programmable
coms switches and networking, buzzer
the device has outputs rated at Dau has introduced an audible
+64 to —32mA. Latchup perfor- Six-channel buzzer with achoice of 16
and 65k, 128k and 256k densi- mance exceeds 500mA. It is audio d-to-a converter outputs. The output can be set
ties. These nonvolatile memo- fabricated using BiCMOS. Burr-Brown's PCM1604 is a to be constant, swept tone or
ries can be used to load pro- Fairchild Semiconductor six-channel audio d-to-a one of 16 options. It can be
gram data into any SRAM Tel: 01793 856856 converter with 24-bit resolution reset. For use in vehicles or
based FPGA during power-up. and 1921(Hz sampling for buildings as an alarm, it has a
Atmel multi-channel audio sound output of 90dB at lm. It
Tel: 00 1408 441 0311 Optical encoders applications such as DVD. It can be hard wired or connected
Optical encoders are available contains six 24-bit 1921cHz with spade terminals to the
from Tecan through abespoke converters on amonolithic IC power source. The unit can be
Quad 10-bit service for the supply of discs and can be used in AV or run from 12 to 35V DC or 12 to
transceivers and similar components in HDTV receivers, car audio, 24V AC. The AC can be
Vitesse has introduced the control, positioning and multi-channel home theatre, applied directly to the unit and
VSC7182 and VSC7186 quad measurement applications. surround-sound processors and is astandard in the licensed
10-bit Gigabit Ethernet and Different manufacturing digital mixing consoles. The trade. The DC option is
Fibre Channel transceivers for techniques are used. device uses multi-level delta- standard for vehicles. The
switches, routers, hubs, host Photochemical machining, for sigma modulation to improve choice of tone can be set by a
adapters, backplane connec- example, will produce burr and audio dynamic performance code switch, which the user can
tors and test equipment. These and reduce jitter sensitivity. change. The device measures 61
3.3V ICs allow full duplex Dynamic range is 105dB and it by 43mni and is 28mm high.
operation at 1.05 to has —95dB THD+N on each Dau Components
1.36Gbit/s. Each of the four channel. The internal digital Tel: 01243 553031
transmitters serialises 10-bit filter operates at 8times
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BDM tools for
four receivers perform the 192kHz, with selectable sharp Motorola
reverse on incoming serial or slow roll-off. The filter has - Comsol has been appointed
data. They have integrated 82dB stopband attenuation and European distributor of
JTag access ports. Each device ±0.002dB passband ripple. background debug mode (BDM)
dissipates 2.2W typical and Functions include digital tools from P&E Microcomputer
they come in 208-pin, 23mm attenuation, mute and zero flag Systems. DOS versions are used
BGA packages. for each channel. The device as the development environment
Vitesse Semiconductor accepts standard audio data in Motorola evaluation board
Tel: 01634 683393 formats of 16, 18, 20 and 24-bit packages. The Windows

Tuning fork by 4.06mm and C and D 8.7

oscillator by 3.7mm. A and C come
Flint has introduced a with single I/O lead
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time of day clock Available with 6or 12.5pF
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communication equipment nominal frequency of
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710 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

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NEW PRODUCT
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versions include in-circuit WDM application for

debugger, BDM programmer, measuring and recording
register editor, direct BDM channel power, wavelength and
control libraries and BDM optical signal-to-noise ratio
cables. (OSNR). Applications include
Comsol testing WDM passive
Tel: 01932 829460 components such as filters,
multiplexers and Bragg
gratings.
4Mbit SRAMS Agitent Technologies
Memotech has announced Tel: 07004 666 666
4Mbit SRAMs from Brilliance DC power supplies resistance, voltage, current or
Semiconductor for battery The PQ range of current-fed optional IEEE488 and RS232.
Transistor array in
powered applications such as DC power supplies from Diagnostic functions are
digital set-top boxes. Available Kingshill includes 44 models integral to the control loop, 0605 packaging
in 256k by 16 or 512k by 8 supplying 10 to 625V DC and while circuits identify the Rohm has introduced surface
configurations, they are made 5to 600A DC, with powers up control function. There are mount small-signal bipolar and
on 0.25pm CMOS. Based on a to 10kW. The units function as three levels of overvoltage and digital transistor arrays in 0605
six-transistor memory cell voltage or current sources. In overcurrent protection. They equivalent packaging for
design, they have adata voltage-source mode, if the have start and stop push- mobile phones, camcorders and
retention voltage of 1.5V with load increases above the buttons. personal stereo equipment.
an operating current of 30mA current command setting, Kingshill More than 30 transistor devices
for the 5I2k by 8device and a automatic crossover to current Tel: 01634 821200
standby current of 3pA. They mode occurs. Differential
come in Jedec standard TSOP, amplifiers isolate programming
Optical spectrum
TSOP2, STSOP and CSP lines from DC output, enabling
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Please quote Electronics World when seeking further information

are available in five and six- energy in battery powered unaffected by water
pin EMT packages including applications. The receivers condensate, is immune to most
dual small-signal bipolar and remain active during shutdown. reagent vapours and can
dual digital transistor arrays. The ICL3243 detects when the handle temperatures up to
The latter have built-in bias receiver inputs go to ground 180°C. It can measure RH
resistors and optional diodes from, say, adisconnected from 5to 95 per cent with a
to simplify circuit design and RS232 cable, and linearity of ±1 per cent RH
reduce the need for external automatically places itself into and atypical response time of
components. Suitable for shutdown mode. less than 60s for 90 per cent of
operating voltages up to 50V, Intersil total range, or faster for small
the transistors are rated for Tel: 01344 350250 step changes. It requires a+1V
currents up to 150mA. excitation and returns atypical
Rohm Electronics signal between 170 and 230pF
135 MHz oscillator
Tel: 01908 282666 Humidity sensor from 0to 100 per cent RH. Epson has developed the SG-W
Panametrics makes ageneral Panametrics oscillators with output frequen-
purpose thin film polymer Tel 020 8643 5150 cies up to 135MHz. They use
One-chip RS232 capacitive type RH sensor for C PLL technology to reduce long-
transmit/receive OEMs. The Minicap 2sensor term jitter levels. They are for
Intersil has introduced single- has aTO-18 configuration.
CompactPCI networking applications, PCs
chip RS232 transmitters and The dielectric constant of the processor and peripherals. The SG-
receivers for PCs, peripherals polymer thin film changes Teknor Applicom has 531xxW and SG-615xxW each
and portable, battery operated with the atmospheric RH, introduced the Raptor RAP- come in three versions with out-
appliances. The ICL3241 and resulting in linear capacitance C810 CompactPCI processor put frequencies of 66.7 to 135,
ICL3243 have atransmitter changes as afunction of in a3U footprint. The board is 55 to 135 and 26 to 135MHz.
circuit that converts ITL and relative humidity. It is available from Wordsworth: The SG-636xxW comes in 41 to
CMOS signal levels to RS232 Celeron-powered with up to 135 and 32 to 135MHz, and the
levels at minimum data rates of 500MHz CPU speed, 66MHz SG-710xxW in 67 to 135 and
250kbit/s. Applications include front side bus and 128kbyte 80 to 135MHz versions.
laptops, palmtops, printers, level two cache, the board is Frequency stability is ±100 or
terminals, barcode readers, for test and measurement, ±5Oppm. Supply voltage is 3.3
scanners and high-speed in-vehicle transportable and ±-0.3V or 5.0 ±-0.5V.
modems. These 3V products automation applications. Epson Electronics
require 0.3mA supply current Features include integrated 2D Tel: 00 49 89 14005 363
during normal operation. A and 3D graphics and up to
manual and automatic power- 128Mbyte of synchronous
down features increase battery SDRAM on a144-pin Full-brick DC-to-DC
life by reducing standby supply SODIMM socket. Artesyn has launched full-brick,
current to a1µA trickle. A Wordsworth Technology DC-to-DC converters. The
shutdown mode conserves Tel: 01732 861000 BXF300 and 400 are for

Micros takes Riscs with DSPS

Hyundai is launching Rise and DSP analogue signals such as DVDs, flash 32x core combines a32-bit Risc core
microcontrollers. The GMS30C2216/32 cards, digital cameras, PDAs and with a16 to 32-bit fixed point DSP ,
embedded microprocessors are for multimedia electronic systems. Based on using an integrated instruction set to
applications that handle digital and an architecture from Hyperstone, the EI- provide aunified programming model.
The 32-bit wide 96-way register set
supports parallel operation of the ALU,
DSP and load-store units, delivering
2.4Gop/W. The 8kbyte of on-chip
DRAM runs at CPU clock speed.
Operating at 108MHz, power
consumption is 180mW at 3.3V.
On-chip peripheral support includes
DRAM controller, software
programmable PLL, 32-bit timer, three
serial I/0 lines, interrupt controller and
a16 to 32-bit bus interface addressing
4Gbyte of memory. It has power-down
and sleep modes. Power-down halts
instruction execution, while DRAM
refresh and the internal timer are
maintained. Sleep stops everything,
drawing 30pA until awake-up signal is
received.
Hyundai Electronics
Tel: 00 49 02131 754170

714 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

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I CIRCLE NO.117 ON REPLY CARD

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Telephone: 01483 275997. Fax: 276477. Tel 01246 211202 Fax 01246 550959 MastercardNisa/Switch
Callers welcome 9:30 am .to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday

CIRCLE NO.118 ON REPLY CARD

Sepember 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 715

Please quote Electronics World when seeking further information

distributed power applications 75V. Users can draw up to 60A PAL. A separate trigger input is
in computing and from the BXF300 and 80A from provided for synchronising
communications. The single- the BXF400. Both include video capture to external
output units have output short-circuit, overvoltage and events. The graphics controller
voltages of 3.3, 2.5, 2, 1.8 and over-temperature protection, has two independent CRT
1.5V, with anominal input of remote sensing and remote on- controllers. The primary
48V and an input range of 36 to off. controller handles the main
Artesyn Technologies VGA display output and the
Tel: 00 353 24 25572 other handles secondary TV
display output. It provides
arbitrary video scaling and non-
Frame grabber destructive graphics overlay of
Matrox has introduced aPCI live video without host CPU
version of its Orion frame intervention.
grabber. It supports colour and Matrox Imaging
monochrome video capture and Tel: 01753 665500
uses the MGA G400 graphics
controllej. The unit can capture
analog composite (CVBS) Inductors with
and Y/C in NTSC and PAL shields
formats and composite RS-170 Meggitt has introduced shielded twelve sizes with different
and CCIR video formats. It and unshielded power inductors height to size to current ratios.
includes discrete analogue-to- and signal line chokes for The 3622's package is 5mm in
digital converters for capturing industrial applications. The diameter, with up to 1mH
component RGB in NTSC and unshielded range includes inductance. Lower values carry

BOOK TO BUY
LOW-POWER
Low-Power CMOS VLSI Circuit Design
CMOS VLSI
A comprehensive look at the rapidly growing field of low-power VLSI design CIRCUIT DESIGN
Low-power VLSI circuit design is a
Return to Jackie Lowe, Room L333, Quadrant House,
dynamic research area driven by the
The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 SAS
growing reliance on battery-powered
portable computing and wireless
Please supply the following title:
communications products. In addi-
Low-Power CMOS VLSI Circuit Design tion, it has become critical to the con- 111
Total
tinued progress of high-performance SLual C Pra-ul
and reliable microelectronic systems.
Name This self-contained volume clearly
Address introduces each topic, incorporates dozens of illustrations, and
concludes chapters with summaries and references. VLSI circuit
and CAD engineers as well as researchers in universities and
industry will find ample information on tools and techniques for
design and optimisation of low-power electronic systems.

Postcode Topics include:

Telephone • Fundamentals of power dissipation in microelectronic devices
• Estimation of power dissipation due to switching, short
Method of payment (please circle) circuit, subthreshold leakage, and diode leakage currents
Access/Mastercard/Visa/Cheque/PO • Design and test of low-voltage CMOS circuits
Cheques should be made payable to • Power-conscious logic and high-level synthesis
Reed Business Information • Low-power static RAM architecture
• Energy recovery techniques
Credit card no
• Software power estimation and optimisation
Card expiry date

Signed

** Price includes delivery and package **

716 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 PROFESSIONAL 'from Milford Instruments
Development Tools Milford Instruments Tel 01977 683665, Fax 01977 681465
www.milinst.demon.co.uk [email protected]
Milford House, 120 High Street, South Milford, LEEDS LS25 5AQ

BASIC Stamps
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Fast 9Ons, 45ns and 35ns access times Live editing ilJniROM only1
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Full editor and utilities included and SRAAA emulation '•
Il details and demo software at www.tech-tools.com

SX-Key Emulator LOW POWer, Piled

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New to PICs or compatible micros with up to 100mip•
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•Software configured oscillator We stock a range of alphanumeric and graphic displays all fined
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ail s and software at
nc.com RS232 data entry terminal unit also available

CIRCLE NO.I 19 ON REPLY CARD

30% discount for EW readers

on dmm with frequency, capacitance & inductance

Features
3.5 digit 43 ranges 0.25%
AC & DC voltage &. current
Resistance to 20Mohm Vann Draper Electronics Ltd
The test & measurement specialists
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Vann Draper is offering the professional quality LP300 digital multimeter to readers of
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The meter is supplied ready to use complete with test leads, rubber holster, battery, operating
instructions and a 12 month guarantee.

Data sheets for all products are published on our web site at www vanndraper co uk
Tel No
including the new pc based 20MHz 40Ms/s digital scope & spectrum analyser for £159
Total £
To order your meter simply post the coupon to •
Cheques payable to Vann Draper Electronics Ltd
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Or Tel 01283 704706 Fax 01283 704707 Email [email protected]
card type

Key Specifications Card No

DC volts 200m. 2V. 20V. 200V. 1000V -basic accuracy 0.25%
AC volts 200m, 2V, 20V, 200V, 750V -basic accuracy 10%
Expiry date Switch iss No
DC current 200uA, 2mA. 200mA, 10A -200mA & 10A fuse protection
AC current 200uA, 2mA, 200mA, 10A -200mA & 10A fuse protection
Signature
Resistance 200ohm, 2k, 20k, 200k, 2M, 20M -protection to 500Vrms
Capacitance 20nF, 200nF, 2uF, 20uF, 2000uF -by test leads or socket
Overseas readers can still obtain this discount but carriage
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Frequency 2kHz, 20kHz, 200kHz. 2MHz. 20MHz -auto ranging email or write to Vann Draper
Size and weight 200 x95 x55mm. 500g (with holster)
CIRCLE NO.120 ON REPLY CARD
 BOOK TO BUY
Valve Radio and Audio NEW PRODUCTS
Please quote Electronics World

Repair Handbook when seeking further information

•A practical manual for collectors, owners, dealers and up to 7.5A. Shielded devices ports are available —an RS232
service engineers •Essential information for all radio and range from the 3630 with port and afactory configurable
audio enthusiasts Valve technology is ahot topic inductance to 820µH and port for either RS485 or RS232.
maximum current of 3.1A Features include four high-
This book is not only an essential read for every professional working with
(3.7mm diameter) to the current outputs, four digital
antique radio and gramophone equipment, but also dealers, collectors and
valve technology enthusiasts the world over. The emphasis is firmly on the 12.7mm high 3621 at 1000tH inputs, seven timers. real time
practicalities of repairing and restoring, so technical content is kept to a and 7.5A in asquare case. battery-backable clock and
minimum, and always explained in away that can be followed by readers Meggit Electronic Component 10baseT Ethernet interface.
with no background in electronics. Those who have agood grounding in Tel: 01793 487301 TCP/IP source code is provided.
electronics, but wish to learn more about the practical aspects, will benefit Rabbit Semiconductor
from the emphasis given to hands-on repair work, covering mechanical as Tel: 00 1530 757 8400
well as electrical aspects of servicing. Repair techniques are also Development kit for
illustrated throughout. TCP/IP
This book is an expanded and updated version of Chas Miller's classic Ultra low-profile
Rabbit Semiconductor has
Practical Handbook of Valve Radio Repair. Full coverage of valve
amplifiers will add to its appeal to all audio enthusiasts who appreciate the released the Rabbit 2000 keytops
sound quality of valve equipment. TCP/IP development kit Devlin Electronics has
Contents: INCLUDES: Electricity and magnetism; containing the hardware and developed the ML family of
Voltage, current, resistance and Ohm's Law; Real life software to design a .keytops to match the Cherry ML
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Ethernet and uses intemet
superhets; Battery and mains battery portable
protocols. The kit contains a
receivers; Automobile receivers; Frequency
modulation; Tools for servicing radio receivers; Safety
TCP/IP development board with
precautions; Fault finding; Repairing power supply an 8-bit microprocessor,
stages, Finding faults on output stages; Faults on Dynamic C software
detector/AVC/AF amplifier stages; Finding faults on IF development system, power
amplifiers; Faults on frequency-changer circuits; supply and PC serial cable for
Repairing American 'midget' receivers; Repairing faults real-time debugging. The
on automobile radios; Repairing battery operated software includes integrated
receivers; Repairing FM and AM/FM receivers; Public
editor, compiler and debugger, 5.3mm high and available in 1
address and high fidelity amplifiers.
so no in-circuit emulator is by 1, 1by 1with bar, 1by 2
required. Sample demonstration horizontal and 2by 1vertical
UK Price: £22..50 Europe £25.00 ROW £27.00 programs include HT!? Web sizes. There is achoice of
server and SMTP mail client. standard colours with either
** Price includes delivery and package Hardware reference schematics two-pack printing or laser
help with development. engraving. Also available are
Return to Jackie Lowe, Room 1333, Quadrant House, Executable code can be keypad and keyboard
The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS downloaded into flash memory assemblies.
or optional battery-backed Devlin Electronics
RAM. Two communication Tel: 01256 467367
Please supply the following title:

Valve Radio and Audio Repair Handbook

Total

Name

Address

Postcode

Telephone

Method of payment (please circle)

U series signal relays for telecoms
Access/Mastercard/Visa/Cheque/PO NEC is shipping two U-series signal relays for telecoms and
Cheques should be made payable to industrial equipment and consumer appliances. Consisting of a
Reed Business Information slim type UA2 and UB2 relay with amount area of 60mm 2,
through-hole type and flat type UC2 and UD2 relay with a
Credit card no height of 5.45mm, the range uses the firm's magnetic circuit
design, simulation and processing technologies.
Card expiry date NEC Electronics
Tel: 01908 691133
Signed

718 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 Test Equipment Price Blitz!
While Stocks last:

PHILIPS PM3217 Oscilloscopes - -4.% .. ,,

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Sepember 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 71()

 Loudspeaker crossover networks:
constant voltage or constant power?
John Watkinson's answer might
surprise you.

SPEAKERS' CORNEKR
II
nthe last few issues of this maga- resulting crossover would be trans- trying. The only reply Ican make is to
zine there has been a significant parent to the listener. The internal point out that active loudspeakers with
number of constant-voltage operation of the loudspeaker is the inaudible crossovers are commercial-
crossover circuits published, not to designer's problem. But the sound it ly available. And they really do sound
mention acertain amount of debate. It produces should be afunction of the more realistic.
is heartening to see such aresurgence audio waveform and by definition Clearly the ideal is apractical pos-
of interest in this subject, but there should not reveal anything about that sibility. But how is it done? Quite
does appear to be a some confusion construction. simply the answer is to do what
over the question of constant voltage At this point, the conventional acoustics allows, with the degree of
or constant power operation. speaker designer will state that theory precision the ear demands. This means
In an ideal loudspeaker, the use of is all very well but it can't be achieved that the crossover design, the
more than one drive unit and the in practice and so there is no point in crossover frequency and the directivi-
ty and positioning of the drive units
all have to meet certain criteria. If all
are not met, the result is unsatisfacto-

For example, an ideal crossover

topology used with an inappropriate
mix of drive units or an inappropriate
crossover frequency won't sound
much better than a conventional
crossover. This would lead to the false
Fig. 1. The criterion for conclusion that the ideal crossover is
accuracy in atwo-way unnecessary.
speaker is that the Figure 1a) shows one of the criteria
waveform created in the we are trying to meet. This is that the
air at microphone a) is radiation from the two drive units
identical to the input should sum to the original waveform
waveform. This is difficult at the listener. However, this isn't the
enough, but it is also a only issue. Figure lb) shows that
requirement to achieve another requirement is for this condi-
the same result with off- tion to be met off-axis as well. Then
axis microphone at b). the reverberant field will also carry no
evidence of the use of two drive units.

720 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 AUDIO DESIGN

If we meet only the first criterion, we same signal. These drive units are in drive units will be a large part of a
could get awonderful on-axis frequen- one another's close field. So what wavelength and the directivity func-
cy and time response. But the power happens is that the radiation from one tion when both drivers are working at
response —i.e. the power radiated in all doubles the radiation impedance seen the crossover will be seriously lobed
directions —could be unsatisfactory in by the other and vice versa, Fig. 3b). and audible as acoloured reverbera-
the vicinity of the crossover. This The result of the doubling of the tion.
symptom is only too obvious on most acoustic impedance is that the output All that can be done is to narrow the
two-way loudspeakers. of each driver is only 3dB down (half crossover region by using steep filters.
The only solution is that the direc- power) at the crossover so the sum of The trouble is that they almost invari-
tivity functions of the two drive units the two contributions is OdB down, or ably sound pretty grim because they
must be similar in the crossover flat, as in Fig. 3c). impair the time or step response.
region. In traditional speaker design Imust stress that to make this work As far as Ican see, achieving an
this criterion is seldom met. requires suitable drive units. Don't inaudible crossover to adome tweeter
Figure 2 shows that to obtain an think that ablameless constant-voltage isn't possible theoretically, nor have I
inaudible crossover, the two drive crossover will transform the perfor- heard it done. The poor directivity
units must be acoustically close at the mance of the average two-way book- function of domes makes them funda-
crossover frequency. This means that shelf travesty because the dome tweet- mentally narrow bandwidth drivers
the distance between them must be ers won't work at a low enough and pushes crossover designers into
smaller than the crossover wave- frequency. If the transducers aren't up corners that they wouldn't be in with
length. to it and the crossover frequency has wider band transducers.
If this requirement is met, then it to be raised, the technique doesn't The result is the characteristic
doesn't matter which drive unit con- work. 'dome sound' which restilts from a
tributes to the sound, so that the two Once the two drive units are no combination of the poor directivity
contributions can add up in front of longer acoustically close they don't characteristic of the driver itself along
the two drivers. In practice, this augment one another's impedance at with the poor phase characteristics of
requires arelatively low crossover fre- the crossover and aconstant-voltage the necessarily steep crossovers.
quency assuming typical woofer crossover doesn't give the required I personally prefer the 'original
dimensions. results. Instead a constant power waveform sound' where the loud-
Once the drivers are acoustically crossover is needed. speaker hasn't put hoofprints in the
close, something wonderful happens. In general, the spacing between the acoustic output. •
Once in awhile, amidst the struggle
which is high quality audio, physics
gives the designer abreak. Figure 3 Fig. 3. Acoustic
(a) Crossover coupling between drive
shows that if a constant voltage
frequency
crossover is used, in which the high units doubles the
HF impedance at the
and low frequency waveforms add •
LF signal crossover frequency.
back to the original, we can get both a
flat voltage response and aflat acous- This makes up
tic power response through the 6dB perfectly for the power
d
crossover frequency. falling to one quarter
This defies conventional logic. when the drive voltage
Figure 3a) shows that both outputs of is halved. Thus an
aconstant voltage crossover are — by HF signal inaudible crossover is a
definition — 6dB down, i.e. half the L possibility.
midband voltage, at the crossover fre- 6dB
Fig. 2. Distance
quency. •
between speakers d
As power ordinarily goes as the
must be small
square of the voltage, one would con-
compared to
clude that each driver is receiving one wavelength of sound d
quarter of its midband power, and so (b)
at crossover frequency. Acoustic
it is. However, it is completely incor-
This suggests closest Radiation
rect to assume that the radiated power possible mechanical Impedance
at the crossover frequency is then half
coupling and low
the midband power. Pressure response
crossover frequency.
What happens at the crossover fre-
,Both are flat
quency is that there are two acousti- (
C) Power response

cally close drive units radiating the

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 721

COMMUNICATIONS

SPECIAL RELATIVITY
In telecomms, synchronising
clocks around the Earth is an
important issue. Al Kelly right or wrong?
believes that the correction the opposing directions. As shown in standard clock-stations. The difference
the diagram, the time for the signal to between the times going northward and
applied to such clocks is not traverse from the light source at A via southward around the globe is zero.
C-D-E-F-C is less than the time in the The International Telecommunications
explained properly by existing opposite direction A-C-F-E-D-C. Union (ITU) sets the rules for synchro-
theories because they rely on The light source was fixed to the spin- nising clock stations. A signal sent east-
ning disc; the measurement of the time ward around the globe has to allow for
the notion that light has a difference was at an interferometer at C the fact that it travels at the speed of
also fixed to the spinning disc. Sagnac light cplus the rotational speed of the
constant velocity. produced aformula that exactly match- Earth at that latitude 1 ,,giving c+v.
es the difference in the times taken in A signal sent westward has to allow
opposing directions. for the fact that the speed of the signal is

L
ight travels around the Earth faster This formula can be derived, by c—v. According to Special Relativity
eastward than westward. Does not assuming that the light travels in rela- theory, the speed of light is aconstant.
the Special Theory of Relativity tion to the fixed laboratory. But, the Not only that, but the direction is not
claim that the speed of light is acon- measurement of the time difference is supposed to matter to Special Relativity;
stant? done solely aboard the disc. What can going east, west or north should have
The standard answer to this conun- this mean? The only explanation possi- the very same speed.
drum is that the Special Relativity ble is that the time aboard the spinning As shown in the Fig. 2, a ground
applies solely to uniform straight line disc and in the fixed laboratory is the clock station at A is to be synchronised
motion. It is claimed that, no matter very same. This is not in accord with with aground station at B, via asatellite
how big the circle, motion along its Special Relativity. S. The signal sent from A to B travel-
periphery cannot be said to approach Another defence of Relativity theory ling in the same direction as the spin of
straight line motion. This is said to be so is the claim that the light path upon the the Earth takes more time than in the
even if the best measuring instruments disc is longer in one direction than the reverse direction.
devised cannot pick up the divergence other. But, the circumference of the A third defence that is used is that the
from straight line motion over the por- disc, as measured by someone upon it, c+v and c—v are only average figures
tion of circumference being used. is surely the very same in both direc- and that the instantaneous velocity of
In his paper launching the theory in tions. the light signal is always equal to c. On
1905, having applied his theory to In a test in which signals are sent aperfectly circular circuit the c+v in one
straight line motion, Einstein then around the Earth from afixed position, direction is the velocity that would be
applied it to a closed curve of any the light signal is emitted upon the spin- measured at amillion spots on the cir-
shape. This rather undermines the pop- ning Earth, and the record of the time cumference; how then can the average
ular explanation! difference taken by the opposing light become c?
The circuit does not have to be as paths is solely upon the Earth. To claim, Take yas 250 0001cm/s. In amillion
large as the cross section of the Earth to in this case, that the circumferential dis- measurements the speed of the signal is
detect this effect. A Frenchman, Sagnac, tances east and west are different is 550 000km/s while the claim is that the
found in 1914 that light signals go bizarre. instantaneous speed is 300 000km/s.
around adisc of 1m diameter faster A test done in 1926, by Michelson & Bunkum.
against the spin of the disc than in the Gale, first showed that the speed of light The ITU apply the necessary correc-
direction of the spin, Fig. 1. was not the same eastward and west- tion and call it 'a relativistic correction,
By ameasurement made solely upon ward around the Earth. They construct- for the rotation of the Earth'. But it is
the spinning disc, he recorded the dif- ed arectangular circuit of over amile in not arelativistic correction. A person at
ference in the time of the signals sent in periphery. This was aSagnac test on a afixed position sends signals eastward
disc of diameter 9500000m diameter — and westward around the globe.
Fig. 1. Sagnac test. the diameter of the Earth at that latitude. There is no relative motion concerned.
Michaelson and In the case of the Earth at the equator, How then is it that the signals arrive

o
Gale used such a
the difference between the times taken back at different times? There is only
test to show that the
speed of light is in opposing directions is 414.8ns. This one sensible explanation. The signals
different depending result is enormous when considered are travelling at different speeds around
on whether it is against the accuracy —one million times the globe. Taking the speeds to be ctv
travelling eastward
better than that — required to-day of in the opposing directions agrees exact-
or westward.

722 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 COMMUNICATIONS

ly with the experimental result. keep them in synchronisation with S

A test was done in 1976 in which an clocks on the ground. This is also sup-
atomic clock was transported on an posed to be a relativistic correction.
aeroplane from Washington (USA) to But, there is virtually no relative
Tokyo. Also, asignal was sent between motion between the satellite clock and Fig. 2.
the two clock-stations. A correction the ground station; the only relative Synchronising
had to be applied to the signal exactly motion is caused by the slight variation clocks on Earth. A
and 8are ground
as described above, while the trans- in the orbit of the satellite from an ideal
stations, while Sis
ported clock needed no correction. orbit. asatellite.
Despite this, the ITU claims that a The correction applied is huge; it can
correction of 207.4 nanoseconds has to amount to as much as 750Ons per day
be applied to the time on a clock in atypical case; the clock is preset to
brought around the Earth at zero height alter by this amount each day, so that it clock; the c±v of the signals sent
and very slowly; these stipulations will keep the same time as the clock around the Earth is explained simply
ensure that there can be no correction fixed to the ground. It is calculated by the spin of the Earth affecting the
due to General Relativity (height over from the absolute velocity of the satel- speed of the signal.
sea level) or to Special Relativity lite compared with the absolute veloc- What could cause the signals to
(speed). This correction is anonsense. ity of the ground station clock, in rela- behave in this fashion? If light and
The President of the organisation in tion to the centre of the Earth, as it gravity went together, on the Earth's
Paris which oversees these rules wrote orbits around the Sun. orbit around the Sun, then the result
to the author 'you are right stating that This correction is due to this absolute would be fully explained.
the Sagnac effect is not relativistic'. velocity, and not to the relative veloci- We must then take it that the Special
That is an honest answer. ties of the satellite clock and the Theory of Relativity is not correct and
For the sending of signals from one ground clock. that time and space are absolute, not
site to another, their rules work fine. A very simple assumption would fit relative. The speed of light is no longer
Saying the correction is 'relativistic' is all of the these necessary corrections. If sacrosanct.
amisnomer. The rules are wrong in the we assume that the signals travel with But, what about the many many
case of physical transportation of a the Earth, on its orbit around the Sun, experiments that fit Relativity theory?
clock from one site to another, but that but do not adapt to the daily spin of the A thousand things may fit atheory but,
is very rarely done, and can conve- Earth, this fits the facts. In this case, if one fact does not, the theory fails. In
niently be overlooked. the absolute velocity of the satellite the words of Huxley 'the great tragedy
There is also acorrection applied to versus the ground station accounts for of science — the slaying of abeautiful
the clocks that ride on a satellite, to the correction applied to the satellite hypothesis by an ugly fact'.

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 ETTER BUFFERS
.r
he complementary compound emitter follower is a Having been unsuccessful in looking for
useful building block. When compared with the ordi-
nary emitter follower, it can have higher input
impedance, lower output impedance and lower distortion, so
information to help him design
it makes asuperior buffer. In addition, there is avariant that
can provide some voltage gain. complementary compound emitter followers,
Although the textbooks mention this circuit block, not
much guidance is given on suitable component values. Idis-
Dave Kimber set about developing his own
covered this when designing an FM tuner. Iwanted to use a
complementary compound emitter follower —CCEF from
now on —as abuffer for the birdy filter between the FM dis- guidelines. These include easy-to-use
crirninator and the stereo decoder. Ifound that Ididn't know
how to pick component values; then Ifound that none of the approximations for distortion components.
books Ihad was much help either.
Iwas also prompted to investigate CCEF when reading
Selfs book on audio power amplifier design'. He found that
This first article is an introduction to the
acomplementary pair of CCEF made an excellent Class-B
output stage, but with aquiescent current set at what seemed subject and a discussion of how to predict
to me avery low figure in the region of 7-15 mA.
Everybody `knows' that quiescent currents in Class B out- Class-A followers at currents up to audio
put stages are somewhere between 30 and 100mA and rel-
atively non-critical. It turns out that while this may be the
case for aDarlington-pair output it is certainly not true for a power-amp levels.
CCEF output. Self also found that the quiescent current set-

David P. Kimber B.Sc.

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD

ANALOGUE DESIGN

ting was quite critical if crossover distortion is to be min- Simple complementary compound
imised. emitter follower
If you are not familiar with the emitter follower, there's The simplest CCEF just adds asecond transistor, Fig. 1.
more background in the panel below. Total current gain is then roughly PIx (32,which provides a
much higher input impedance.
However, other things being equal, the simple CCEF does
Fig. 1. The simplest Fig. 2. This not reduce output impedance or distortion. This is because
complementary variant of the the input transistor, Tr', runs at areduced current, approxi-
compound emitter complementary mately / 0„/13 2,so has much lower g. This counteracts the
follower is abasic compound current gain provided by the output transistor Tr2.
emitter follower with emitter follower However, by running at a higher current, the output
atransistor added. provides impedance can be reduced while still leaving the input
Input impedance is voltage and impedance above what it would be for aplain emitter fol-
much higher, but current gain. lower.
output impedance A variant of the simple CCEF is the simple complemen-
and distortion remain tary feedback pair, Fig. 2, which provides voltage gain.
the same.

This will be reduced if, as is usually the case, there is an additional AC

The emitter follower
load in parallel with the DC load. Output impedance is approximately
The basic emitter follower, Fig. A, can be analysed as follows. This equal to r, if the input signal source impedance is low.
analysis assumes that the transistor follows the Ebers-Moll model, So far we have ignored the base current /b. For small signal transis-
which relates collector current /, to base-emitter voltage Vbe,and can be tors this is usually proportional to 4,
written as:

=exp(40(Vb,— 1/0)) (rnA) (1) p (7)

where V, is the base-emitter voltage which produces acollector current The input impedance is approximately given by,
of lmA, and is normally somewhere around 0.6V. Collector current 4
is in milliamps. Differentiating this gives the transconductance, or g„,: (8)

g,„ = 40 exp(40(K, — Vo)) =40 x/, (rnA/V) (2) Finally, you can estimate the distortion. The proportion of the input sig-
nal that appears across the base-emitter junction is, from equation (6),
Another way of looking at this is that asmall change in Vbe produces a 0.05/V,. It can be shown that for smallish signals, the percentage of
change in 4which, is equal to the current change that voltage change second-harmonic distortion generated by a base-emitter junction is
would cause across asmall resistor rwith avalue given by: equal to the peak signal amplitude in mV. See reference 2for more
r(i)) =—
25
information on this.
(3) The dominant distortion for the emitter-follower will be second-har-
monic, although higher harmonics are likely to be significant too. The
Here, I. is in milliamps again. distortion will be reduced by the 100% negative feedback, to give a
For small signals you can treat atransistor as if it had an infmite g,, final figure,
but with this small resistor rin the emitter circuit, Fig. B. Now the volt-
0.05 2 l
Distortion (2nd%) =1.414 xV. t x(—
i
age gain of an emitter follower can be found by treating rand R, as a ng (9 )
voltage divider network: 1in,. ) 280 xtic':

where Vng is the RMS signal voltage in millivolts and V, is the supply
gain = R1 1 (4)
R, + r R, voltage in volts. For a 2V signal and a 10V supply, this comes to
0.07%.
For maximum output voltage swing, you would normally arrange the However, this increases quadratically as the AC load increases. For
quiescent conditions such that the output sits at about half the supply example, an AC load in parallel with aDC load of the same value will
voltage, i.e., give four times as much distortion. This is because the base-emitter sig-
nal voltage is increased and the available negative feedback is reduced.
R, =0.5 ÷`
1
(5) To achieve low distortion the DC load must be low compared with
the AC load, i.e. the quiescent current must be high.
Substituting equations (3) and (5) into (4), you will find that the gain is This treatment of the emitter follower may seem laborious, but it is a
given by good introduction to the techniques used for the CCEF. The emitter fol-
0.05 lower can be improved in other ways —for example by introducing an
gain 1— (6)
active load —but this is outside the scope of this article.

Fig. A. Basic emitter follower has no Fig. B. For small signals, it is possible
voltage gain and is widely used as a to treat the transistor of an emitter
buffer, to prevent loading on the follower as though it had infinite
stage before it and increase its gain, provided you also assume that
output current capability. there's alow-value resistor, r, in
series with the emitter.

726 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 ANALOGUE DESIGN

Improving the CCEF 24000

+960 x (mA/V) (13)
Adding asingle resistor across the base and emitter of Tr2
as in Fig. 3, brings much more flexibility. But this simple
change makes analysis more complicated. At the upper end of the region Tr2 begins to load R which
The main advantage is that Tri runs increased current, so reduces the gain. A better approximation is then,

(1+
has ahigher gm than for the simple CCEF. This reduces dis- 24000 960 x42

)
tortion, but at the expense of lower input impedance — (mA/V)
although still higher than for the plain emitter follower. gek,w) — R (14)
The circuit can be considered to operate in three regions.
In the low current region, the voltage drop across R is too where 42( „. h) is the current for the medium-high transition,
low to turn on Tr2 so effectively the CCEF degenerates into given by equation (10).
aplain emitter follower consisting of Tri only.
In the medium current region, both transistors are active, Low-medium transition. It is instructive to compare the
but the current in Tr2 is sufficiently low that its input transconductance just below and just above the low-medium
impedance does not unduly load R. In other words, Tr2 is transition. Assume R equals lkfl, which might be asuitable
voltage driven. value for asmall signal CCEF. Then the transition occurs at
At high currents, Tr2' sinput impedance now swamps R, 0.6mA. For g„, (0.5,„A) ,41=0.5mA and 42=0mA, while for
i.e. Tr2 is current driven. Resistor R still boosts the current in g„, (1 „„t) ,41=0.6mA and 1, 2=0.4rriA,
Tri, so increases gm ,but this effect becomes less important
• =40 x0.5 = 20mAN using eqn (2)

Fig. 3. Adding aresistor across 24000

• = 00 +960 x0.4 =408rnA/V using eqn (13)
the base and emitter of Tr2 10
increases the operating current
of Tr i,and with it, the Thus aratio of 2in current has given rise to aratio of 20 in
transistor's gm . g„. This transition has avery sharp knee. Iwill be returning
to this issue in the third article.
Note that when 1, 1 is 0.5mA, /c 2 will actually be about
18pA. This adds 17.6rnA/V to the 20mA/V calculated
above, so the approximations are not too good just below the
transition.
as the total current rises.
A Class-A CCEF will operate in the medium current High-current region. Current in Tr' still has not increased
region or the lower end of the high current region. very much at the lower end of this region. Transconductance
A Class-B CCEF —to be considered in athird article on in this region is dominated by Tr2 current gain amplifying
this topic —will operate in all three regions. In each case the g„, of Tri. Transconductance is still given by equation (14),
critical feature is the effective transconductance, because this although it can be rewritten as,
determines distortion and output impedance. f

Low-current region. Tr 2 begins to turn on when its base- g„,(mA/V)= x (15)

emitter voltage reaches somewhere around 600mV. Thus the
low current region is the range 0 to 600/R mA.
Transconductance, g„„ is given by equation (2) in the sep-
arate panel, and so increases linearly with current from 0to This makes the mechanism more explicit. Equations (14)
approximately 24 000/R mA/V. and (15) really are equivalent, although they look very dif-
ferent.
Medium-current region. This region is bounded at the For higher currents it is necessary to add in /6 2 to /e l:
lower end by the low current region at 600/R mA. The tran-
sition to the high-current region can be considered to occur
when the input impedance of Tr2 is equal to R. This happens
g(mAN) =40 x(-
6°° + x 1+ e2
,
at, R 0, 1+ (16)

42,„,_„ )=25 x (mA) (10)

For very high currents, /c 2 is much greater than 13 2x600/R.
The total current is /c 2 plus /c i,but ici will change only This can be reduced to the approximation,
slightly from the current at the top of the low current region.
g„,(mAN) 40 x4„,
This is because it only has to provide some base current for
Tr2 and allow for asmall rise in the voltage across R. Thus which is the same as the equation for very small currents!
the size of the medium current region, expressed as aratio of Thus the effect of R is to greatly boost transconductance in
the total current, is, the middle region by increasing the current through Tr i.But
at very low and very high currents the simple formula for an
(25 x +600) =1+ (A (11) emitter follower applies.
600 24 )
The transconductance in this region has two contributions. Medium-high transition. With the medium-high transition,
One comes directly from Tr, and is approximately 24000/R as before, assume R is 11c.0 and also assume 132 is 240. Then
mA/V, as for the top of the low current region. The second from equation (10), the medium-high transition occurs when
contribution is the transconductance of Tr2 multiplied by the 42 is 6mA. Assume total currents of 5mA and 10mA.
voltage gain of Tr ' and R —with care over units!
4.4
000 R • =24 +960 x 4.4 — 2461rnA/V
g ff 40 x x 24R x 1000 (12)
6

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 727

ANALOGUE DESIGN

9.4 Distortion
gm(10mA)= 24 +960 x 9.4 —3540mA/V Now we can consider signal distortion. For low distortion,
1+ the transconductance of the CCEF should be high when
6
compared with the reciprocal of total load impedance, and
In the first instance, 41=0.6mA and 42=4.4mA, while in the should not vary much with current. So it is important to steer
second, 4. 1=0.6mA and 42=9.4mA. well clear of the low-medium transition and the lower part
This transition is much softer than the low-to-medium one. of the medium current region if low distortion is required.
A ratio of 2in current has given rise to aratio of only 1.4 in This is because in these areas g„, is low and strongly depen-
transconductance. dent on current.
Figure 4 shows the overall picture. There is asharp knee As for the simple emitter follower, distortion will be main-
into the medium current region, with steeply rising transcon- ly second harmonic but with higher harmonics not far
ductance. This then gradually moves into the high current behind. To estimate distortion you can use two tricks.
region where transconductance slowly rises until the simple The first is Baxandall's 'reverse distortion' method 3.If
emitter follower has caught up with it again. distortion is not too high, then the distortion produced by an
Current gain of Tr2 determines the size of the boost while amplifier fed with adistortionless signal is approximately
R sets the position of the boost. equal —phase reversal aside —to the pre-distortion required
in the input signal in order to generate adistortionless out-
put.
This trick is useful when, as is the case here, we have a
means of calculating the required input to an amplifier in
Fig. 4. There's aknee in the
order to achieve the desired output but the converse would
medium-current region, which
become intractable.
then rises slowly into the high-
The second trick is that the amount of second-harmonic
current region, where the simple
distortion can be estimated if the gain of the amplifier at the
emitter follower catches up with
signal peaks can be calculated. There's more on this in the
the CCEF.
panel entitled, 'Estimating second-harmonic distortion'.
I'll continue to use the same example CCEF, with
13 2=240, and as before asupply of 10V with the quiescent
output at half this voltage. For acurrent of 5mA, R1is then
1Ica A 2VRMS signal would swing the current from
2.17mA to 7.83mA if no distortion was present.
Current
You can find the transconductance for these two currents,
then estimate the distortion,

Estimating second-harmonic distortion

gain_ = gain„ - a X Vs
Assume that the gain of an amplifier varies linearly with input volt-
age i.e., Then
gain = gain o + a x
a xVPk =—
1 x(gain, - gai&)
Then the amplifier will generate pure second harmonic distortion. 2
Integrating the above gives,
gain o = -
Ix(gain, +gain,)
= gain,, x +—
1 xa x
2 2
So,
plus aconstant, which can be ignored. Then if asinusoidal signal
with peak voltage Vpk is applied, the output positive and negative 1 (gain., - gai&)
distortion„,, — x
peak voltages will be, 4 (gain. +gain_)

= gain, x V1.
4 +—1 xa X Vi
,2 This result is exact if gain varies linearly with input voltage. It pro-
2
vides auseful estimate if this is not the case, but second harmon-
1
ic distortion is the dominant one. It breaks down completely if
= x +—
2 xa xv ,
p2 higher even harmonics are dominant. Iam sure this result is not
original, but Idon't recall seeing it in print before.
The first term in each case is the fundamental signal, amplified by If third harmonic distortion is dominant then an analogous result
the gain, and the second term contains equal amounts of the sec- is,
ond harmonic distortion and a DC level shift.
1 (gain, —gain o)
=gain() xVp, distortion, d = x
12 gain,,

1 1 If both second and third harmonics are present, but higher ones
Vo.,(211d) = x—xax Vp2, are smaller, then these results can still be used but in a modified
2 2
form,
As afraction:
distortion,„, = 1x (gain, - gai&)
1 V2
distortion,,,, = - X a X pk 8 gain,,
4 gain, x
(gain. + gain_) gaino )

You can rewrite this in terms of peak gains by noting that, 1 2

distortion 3rd = x
12 gain,,

728 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 ANALOGUE DESIGN

1.57 means placing the operating point somewhere in the region

= 24 +960 x 1.57 —1219mA/V of the medium-high current transition.
1+ Unfortunately this depends on the current gain of Tr 2,
6
which is apoorly controlled parameter, but fortunately this
7.23 transition has asmooth knee so accuracy is not too impor-
= 24 +960 x 7.23 = 3172mA/V tant. So, we invert equation (10),
1+
6 R = 25 x (17)
distortion,
g. ,— 41 x e "-
g._ =0.111
Here, R is in ohms and 4.2 in milliamps.
Slightly higher values of R may reduce distortion because
0.111 the operating point is moved into the low end of the high-
distortion = =0.005% current region, where transconductance changes only slow-
g„,„ XR,
ly with current. Slightly lower values of R may help high-
This is over ten times better than the emitter follower. Most frequency performance.
of the advantage comes from the higher gn,of the CCEF, but Given R, the performance of the circuit can be calculated.
g„, is also changing more slowly with current. If not quite good enough, try an increase in quiescent current
Adding an AC load would have the same effect as for the and recalculate. If the CCEF still does not meet the require-
emitter follower, i.e. the distortion would vary roughly as the ments, then at least you have pushed it as far as it will go.
square of the ratio of the DC load to the total load. My second article considers the complementary feedback
pair, as aspecial case of the CCEF. A third article will look
Circuit design at using the CCEF in aClass B output stage.
We now have the necessary knowledge to return to the orig-
inal question. How can we choose suitable component val-
ues for aCCEF, given the environment —e.g. supply voltage
—and requirements —e.g. signal level, load?
The first step is to work out the peak signal current and
choose aTr2 quiescent current that is alittle higher than this,
so we keep clear of the low current region. At this stage it
may be worth doing aquick calculation to see if an ordinary References
emitter follower can provide sufficient performance. I. •Audio Power Amplifier Design Handbook,' Douglas Self,
The value of the DC load resistor is found using Ohm's Newnes 1996, Chapter 5.
law. This leaves R to be chosen. The best value would seem 2. Baxandall, Peter J. 'Audio power amplifier design,' Wireless
to be the one that maximises the transconductance boost, World, February 1979, p. 72.
and hence minimises distortion and output impedance. This 3. Baxandall, op di, p. 71.

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September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 729

 Design your own
Colpitts oscillators
Radio-frequency oscillators play As the art progressed, it was desir- tinually makes up the losses.
able to produce radio-frequency energy These losses are due to the finite Q —
an important role in wireless comprising just asingle spectral line — or quality factor —of the capacitor, and
analogous to the output of a laser. more particularly the inductor. The Q
communications. One is required Subsequent modulation would then of the latter may be afew hundred at
in every transmitter, and there is spread the energy over just the neces- most, but probably less than ahundred,
sary bandwidth to communicate the while that of the capacitor will usually
also at least one in most message to be transmitted, rather than be ten or more times better. Operating
receivers. Here, as an aid to spraying it all over awider range like a Q will also be affected by the loading
spark transmitter. of the active device's input and output
giving students and beginners So instead of producing broadband impedances upon the circuit.
energy, and then using atuned circuit There is another sort of oscillator, as
practical experience of building to select just apart of it, oscillators illustrated in Fig. 1b). At first glance, it
circuits, Ian Hickman describes using valves were invented. Here, a looks as though the circuit can never
continuous oscillation in atuned circuit
one of the widely used types - was maintained by an active device —
the Colpitts oscillator. the valve — which made up the In this series
inevitable losses due to dissipation in As explained in apreliminary
the tuned circuit. article in the May 2000 issue,
If the valve were disabled, the oscil- this series is intended to help
lation would die away to nothing in a students —and anyone interested
few cycles, or tens of cycles at most. in getting to grips with RF design

W
hite light contains awide —as abackground in practical
range of visible frequen- Two sorts of oscillator electronic circuitry and
cies, but yellow light from One way to make an oscillator is to troubleshooting.
asodium lamp contains amuch nar- connect asuitable RF amplifier to the The series was originally
rower range. A laser, on the other hand circuit, and then feed its output back developed in response to the
produces monochromatic light, con- into the tuned circuit, in the same government's RF Engineering
taining just asingle frequency compo- phase. If the gain around the circuit, Education Initiative. Below is a
nent. from the input to the amplifier, to its list of the three tutorials that have
In asimilar way, the earliest wireless output, through the tuned circuit and already appeared, together with
transmitters, using aspark gap as the back again to its input, exceeds unity, my plans for future articles in the
Fig. 1. Two types of source of radio frequency energy, pro- then rather than dying away, the oscil- series — 'Beginners' corner'.
oscillator; a) using a duced a broad band of frequencies. lation will build up in amplitude.
maintaining This was soon reduced to arather nar- Eventually, the amplitude will reach a • Timer circuit using the 555,
amplifier, bl rower band using a resonant circuit, stable limit, as the energy the amplifier June issue.
negative resistance more analogous to the sodium lamp can supply is itself limited, by its sup- • Audio oscillator —Wien bridge
oscillator. than white light. ply voltage and its standing current. based, July issue.
This type of oscillator is illustrated in • hie tester, August issue.
Fig. la). Depending on whether the • Radio-frequency oscillator,
amplifier is inverting or non-inverting, Colpitts type.
the coupling winding used to feed its • Audio filter and oscillator —
output energy back into the tuned cir- state-variable based.
cuit will have to be connected one way • Capacitance meter.
b) round or the other, to ensure that the • Radio-frequency
a)
feedback is positive. Thus the amplifi- oscillator/receiver involving
er's output is areplica of the oscillating negative resistance.
voltage in the tuned circuit, and con-

730 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 RF DESIGN

work, as there is no way of coupling as an untapped inductor is cheaper to

the output of the oscillator back into make, test and assemble than atapped
the tuned circuit. But it can work, if the component.
amplifier is suitably designed.
The trick is to make the impedance, The Colpitts oscillator
seen looking into the amplifier's input, Within the basic 'tapped capacitor'
anegative resistance. This then cancels arrangement — actually two separate
output losses in the tuned circuit, capacitors —several variants are possi-
resulting in astable level of oscillation, ble. Figure 3a) shows one of these.
of amplitude determined by the partic- The base of the transistor is refer-
ular circuit design. enced to ground DC-wise, so the aver-
This type of oscillator can be very age emitter current is determined by
Or 9- or
useful, and will be featured in alater the value of R1 and the voltage of the
article in this series. But for the present, negative rail. Effectively, the large
let's look at aversion of the Fig. la) decoupling capacitor C3 connects the
variety. collector to the junction of L1and C2,
exactly as in Fig. 2, where Zi is the Z1= or e
r- Z2, Z3 =# or

Amplifier -
maintained oscillation inductor L1and Z2 the capacitor C2.
The circuit of Fig I a) uses acoupling The amplitude of the oscillation
Fig. 2. Varieties of Fig. la) type oscillator based
winding to inject the 'make-up' energy builds up, resulting in the transistor
on amaintaining amplifier. No separate
from the amplifier, back into the tuned being cut off for much of each cycle,
feedback winding is involved here.
circuit. due to abias voltage being built up
Designers often prefer a circuit across C2.Collector current thus flows
arrangement that dispenses with the in narrow pulses, the transistor operat- Inductor L2 can be acommercial RF
separate winding, for anumber of rea- ing in 'class C'. The fundamental com- choke, as can L1—at least for experi-
sons. Taking technical considerations ponent of these pulses, at the resonant mental purposes.
first, an RF oscillator does not usually frequency of the tuned circuit, main- Magnitude of the emitter current is
use aclosed flux path for the inductor. tains the oscillation. determined by RI,the current gain of
It may be purely air cored, or have a the transistor and the voltage of the
'tuning slug' of ferrite usually, dust Making an oscillator useful positive rail. In fact, if R1 is low
iron, or sometimes brass. It is all very well making an oscillator, enough and the Q high enough, the
Either way though, the coupling but to be useful, it must be possible to amplitude may increase to the point
between the two windings will be bleed off some of the signal, for use where on positive peaks, the base volt-
somewhat unpredictable. It is not sim- say as alocal oscillator in asuperhet age actually rises above the positive
ply determined by the turns ratio, as receiver, or as the exciter in atrans- rail. This is not adesirable condition,
would be the case in atransformer with mitter. as severe damping is applied to the
a closed flux path, such as a mains The signal should be bled off in such tuned circuit, to the detriment of the
transformer. And from the point of away as not to impose excessive fur- purity of the waveform and the stabili-
view of practical economics, both com- ther loading on the oscillator. If it does ty of the frequency.
ponent and labour costs are increased. load the oscillator, the Q of the tuned Given the considerable device-to-
So an arrangement where both input circuit would be reduced, degrading the device variation in current gain ha., the

and output of the maintaining amplifi- oscillator's stability and purity. circuit of Fig. 3b) is thus not as 'des-
er are directly connected to the tuned Various pick-off arrangements are ignable' as that in a). There, the aver-
circuit will often be preferred. Now the possible. One possibility is to draw off age emitter current is determined prin-
amplifier is a three-terminal device; alittle current from the emitter, via a cipally by the value of R1 and the
input, common and output, so there small capacitor of afew picofarads, or voltage of the negative rail.
must be three connection points on the asingle turn coupling winding on Li Emitter current can be set at alevel
tuned circuit. Consequently, asingle could be used. Another popular such that the transistor does not bot-
capacitor and inductor, as in Fig. 1, arrangement is to draw off the signal tom, removing one of the causes of
will not suffice, and the arrangement of across alarge capacitor in series with close-in phase noise and resulting in a
Fig. 2is employed. the earthy end of C2.In the case of Fig. purer output waveform. The advan-
With three connection points avail- 3, where the oscillator runs at about tages of this were appreciated long
able on the tuned circuit, an active 5MHz, its value might be afew nano- ago'.
device, be it valve, transistor or FET, farads.
can be connected as shown. An inter- Figure 36) shows another variation Might it squeg?
esting property of this circuit is that Z2 on the theme, this time requiring only a Choosing the value of C3 in Fig. 3b)
and Z3 must be impedances of the single supply rail. With the emitter dc also needs care. If it is too small, the
same type, either both capacitors or referenced to ground via L2,base cur- circuit will not oscillate; too large and
both inductors, while Z1 must be the rent is supplied via RI.Capacitor C3 the circuit will `squeg'.
other type. Furthermore, the common couples the tuned circuit to the base of Squegging is when the amplitude
terminal of the active device, cathode, the transistor, while preventing the cur- rises up so fast that anegative voltage
emitter or source, must be connected to rent via R1 being simply shunted to builds up on the base end of C3,cutting
the junction of Z2 and Z3. ground via LI. off the transistor completely. The oscil-
If Z/2 and Z3 are inductors —or, more At the operating frequency, the reac- lation across the tuned circuit dies
likely asingle, tapped inductor — the tance of L2 is very high. So as far as away, but the base of Tr' is left at a
circuit is known as aHartley oscillator, the emitter circuit is concerned, it is, negative voltage, charging only slowly
while if Z2 and Z3 are capacitors, it is like R1 in Fig. 3a), virtually an open towards +15V via RI,on the time-con-
known as a Colpitts oscillator. The circuit —just aconvenient way of sup- stant RixC3.
Colpitts arrangement is often preferred, plying the emitter current. When the base reaches about +0.6V,

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 731

RF DESIGN

Tri
BC184
Fig. 3a). A Colpitts
+15V
oscillator, and b), R1
another variant, 1M
C4
which may -or 10n

may not -squeg. Cl Tri

680p BC184 C3 =82pF. CW
Li
C3 =680pF. squegging
10pH C2
L2 (super-regen RX)
120p7 150pH

b)
a)

the transistor begins to conduct, the RF Thus the received signal is demodulat- ing of the transistor's output circuit on
oscillation rapidly builds up again, ed and available at the collector of Tr i the tuned circuit.
resulting in the next cycle of the squeg - you have a simple 'super-regen' Again, go too far, and the circuit will
frequency - amuch lower frequency receiver. not oscillate. Thus there are limits to
than the r.f. oscillation frequency. In Figs 3a) and b), the ratio of C1to the ratio, at both ends of the range, as
A squegging oscillator forms the C2 is one of the many design choices. discussed in reference 2.
basis of a'super-regenerative' receiver Generally, the ratio is between 2to 1
-atype of receiver that saw extensive and 5to I. Increasing the value of C1,
military use in the Second World War. while reducing that of C2 to maintain
If ashort whip antenna is connected to the desired oscillator frequency reduces References
the tuned circuit, as indicated in Fig. the loading of the transistor's input cir- 1. Sutcliffe, H, 'Transistor L.C. oscil-
3b), then any energy incoming at the cuit on the tuned circuit. It also lator circuits with amplitude con-
resonant frequency of the tuned circuit demands ahigher gain from the tran- trolled by mean current', Electronic
causes an increase in the squeg fre- sistor. Engineering July 1968, Vol. 40 No
quency. It also causes acorresponding If the ratio of C1 to C2 is made too 485, 0. 388.
small change in collector current. large, the circuit will not oscillate. 2. Shahzadi, B, Two distinct bound-
This current change can be moni- Conversely, making C2 larger, and aries for feedback transistor oscilla-
tored by the drop across aresistor, con- reducing CI to maintain the desired tors', Electronic Engineering Jan.
nected in series with the +I 5V supply. oscillator frequency reduces the load- 1965, pp. 32-34.

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ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

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 IDEAS
Fact: most circuit ideas sent to
Electronics World get published
The best circuit ideas are ones that save time or money, or stimulate the thought process. This includes the
odd solution looking for a problem —provided it has adegree of ingenuity.
Your submissions are judged mainly on their originality and usefulness. Interesting modifications to
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files in a popular form are best —but please label the disk clearly.

Bike computer reads amps, amp.hours

A bicycle computer counts wheel
revolutions, and displays speed
Such abicycle computer can be used
for other purposes, such as measuring
computer used was up to 2.999m. The
VCO was designed to produce an
and distance travelled. Depending on the charge rate and total charge stored output frequency of up to I3.7Hz for a
the model, it may also show the in asolar panel accumulator charging 140mV input, corresponding to a 14A
maximum and average speeds set-up, Fig. 1. To achieve this, the charging current. With this design of
achieved. charging current is monitored by a oscillator. Fig. 2, acircumference
The user has to program the comput- current shunt R, controlling avoltage- setting C of 2.671m worked well.
er with the wheel circumference C in controlled oscillator. This application is limited by the
metres, since velocity yin km/h is The voltage controlled oscillator lowest and highest frequencies that the
related to the frequency of wheel produces an output frequency such bicycle computer can count, and by
rotation, Frps, by (v÷3.6)/C=F. that abicycle computer velocity VCO offset and linearity errors.
Usually, amagnet attached to awheel reading of 120km/h indicates acurrent A minimum output frequency of
operates areed relay to provide the of 12A, and atrip reading of 2998.9 0.1Hz is produced by the VCO, even
count pulses, but in this application, a km indicates acharge of 299.89A/h. when the drop across R, is zero. But
transistor switch is used. The programmable value of C on the ,linearity errors up to the designed
maximum, checked with aDVM and
DSO, proved to be generally insignifi-

7
PV solar
I
7
Battery
charge
+12V

VCO
BicYcle
computer 712V lead-acid
cant. There is aslight increase in error
at the high frequency end of the range,
due to the finite discharge time of Ci.
panels —T
—
1 -L- regulator +Vin accumulator
Heinz Zanke
I Rs
GR-24002 Messenias
(E10a) Greece
Fig. 1. Block diagram of charger metering system in asolar energy system, using àbicycle El 0
computer to monitor amps and A/h.

F1 TL317LP
+12V +8V stab
•

T6V
0.2A 226R
OV 1:17p 10p Fig. 2. Circuit of charger metering system, using abicycle
IN
computer. A voltage-controlled oscillator produces the pulses
4002 1k2 16V
that would normally be derived using areed switch controlled
by amagnet on the bicycle wheel.

Hl

2p2 1k ^ EiC177 Bicycle

IN 20ps discharge computer
Vin 4148 MkT pulse
0..150mV 3 km/h A
LO
100R BC km -3. Ah
IC1 82
OV
1
4148
IC1, LM358
1N4148
1k 8V
MF IC2, 74C14/CD40106
0.5x8V --- T on
(E10b)

734 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

National Instruments sponsors Circuit Ideas
National Instruments is awarding
over £3500 worth of equipment
for the best circuit ideas.
Once every two months throughout 2000,
National Instruments is awarding an
NI4050 digital multimeter worth over
£500 each for the best circuit idea
published over each two-month period. At
the end of the 12 months, National is
awarding aLabVIEW package worth over
£700 to the best circuit idea of the year.*

About National Instruments

NI4050
National Instruments offers hundreds of software and
hardware products for data acquisition and control, data
The NI 4050 is afull-feature digital multimeter (DMM) for hand-held and
analysis, and presentation. By utilising industry-standard notebook computers with aType II PC Card (PCMCIA) slot. The NI 4050
computers, our virtual instrument products empower users in a features accurate 51/
2 digit DC voltage, true-rms AC voltage, and resistance
wide variety of industries to easily automate their test, (ohms) measurements. Its size, weight, and low power consumption make it
measurement, and industrial processes at afraction of the cost
ideal for portable measurements and data logging with hand-held and notebook
of traditional approaches.
computers.
Software
Our company is best known for our innovative software • DC Measurements: 20mV to 250V DC; 20mA to 10A
products. The National Instruments charter is to offer a • AC Measurements: 20mV rrns to 250V nns; 20mA nns to 10A nns;
software solution for every application, ranging from very
• True rms, 20Hz to 251cHz
simple to very sophisticated. We also span the needs of users,
from advanced research to development, production, and
• Up to 60 readings/s
service. Our flagship LabVIEW product, with its • UL Listed
revolutionary, patented graphical programming technology, • 51/
2 Digit Multimeter for PCMCIA

continues to be an industry leader. Additional software

products, such as LabWindows/CVI, Component Works,
LabVIEW
Measure and VirtualBench, are chosen by users who prefer C
programming, Visual Basic, Excel spreadsheets, and no
LabVIEW is ahighly
programming at all, respectively. productive graphical
programming environment
Hardware that combines easy-to-use
Our software products are complemented by our broad
graphical development with
selection of hardware to connect computers to real-world
signals and devices. We manufacture data acquisition the flexibility of apowerful
hardware for portable, notebook, desktop, and industrial programming language. It
computers. These products, when combined with our offers an intuitive
software, can directly replace.a wide variety of traditional environment, tightly
instruments at afraction of the cost. In 1996 we expanded our
integrated with measurement
high-performance ESeries product line in PCI. ISA and
PCMCIA form factors, shipped our first VXI data acquisition
hardware, for engineers and
products, and added remote (long-distance) capabilities to our scientists to quickly produce
SCXI signal conditioning and data acquisition product line. solutions for data acquisition,
Our virtual instrumentation vision keeps us at the forefront data analysis, and data
of computer and instrumentation technology. National
presentation.
Instruments staff works actively with industry to promote
international technological standards such as IEEE 488,
PCMCIA, PCI, VXI plug&play, Windows 95/NT, and the • Graphical programming development environment
Internet. More importantly, we integrate these technologies • Rapid application development
into innovative new products for our users. • Seamless integration with DAQ, GPIB, RS-232, and VXI
,
'All published circuit ideas that are not eligible for the prizes detailed here
• Full, open network connectivity
will earn their authors aminimum of £35 and up to £100. • Built-in display and file I/O

National Instruments —computer-based measurement and automation

National Instruments, 11 Kingfisher Court, Hambridge Road, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 551. Tel (01635 523545), Fax (01635) 524395
info.ukeni.com www.ni.com.
..)
 CIRCUIT IDEAS

One-at-a-time phones only 10V on-hook. Incoming calls will ring

all phones. as the ringing voltage is 80V

N ormally, where two or more phone RMS.

2 Thyristors 2N5062
share asingle line, someone picking up /M Brassart
another, when the first is in use, can Saint-Laurent-Du-Var
overhear the other party. This circuit allows France 2 15V zener diodes

only one of the phones to be used at any D68 (D681

given time. In some countries, you are not allowed to
One circuit must be connected in series connect any equipment that has not been Connected in series with each phone on
with each phone. This idea relies on the fact formally approved by the service provider to aline, this circuit permits only one to be
that the off-hook line voltage is 48V. but telephone outlet -Ed. used at atime.

Economical liquid level sensor needs just 7pA T his simple sensor circuit consumes
only 71.1A at 3V supply, and is ideal
for battery operation. There is no dc
3 to 15V
through the sensing electrodes,
minimising corrosion.
Sensitivity may be adjusted for different
electrode sizes and fluid conductivities by
100p means of the 1001(12 potentiometer. The
circuit's cost is considerably less than the
LM183, which is in any case currently
unavailable.
Piezo
David Tayler
sounder
/7177 (E9) Sheffield
UK
Low cost, long battery life and adjustable sensitivity are features of th's liquid level sensor circuit.
E9
If you want alogic-level output, tie pin 13 to tit,and omit components A and 13.

Ten year inde TABLE OF CONTENTS

new upd te Applications

Applications by description
Applications by pad numbers
Com an addresses
The Electronics World SoftIndex runs from
January 1989 to May 1996 and contains
references to 1300 articles and 800 circuit ideas
There is aseparate author index with full cross

Hard copies and floppy-disk databases Books

Circuit Ideas
references Reprints can be obtained for all the
articles in this index -see the Information
Information section for more details For up to date
both available Subject Index information about Electronics World see our
Analogue Design websrte at http sperm co uk
Audio
Whether as aPC data base or as hard copy, SoftCopy can Avionics

supply acomplete index of Electronics World articles going back Broadcast

Communications
over the past nine years. Components
Computing
Consumer Electronics
The computerised index of Electronics World magazine covers the Control Electronics
Digital & DSP Design
nine years from 1988 to 1996, volumes 94 to 102 inclusive and History
— . 1:1 "ur
is available now. It contains almost 2000 references to articles.
circuit ideas and applications -including asynopsis for each.

The EW index data base is easy to use and very fast. It runs on
ww.softcopy.co.uk
any IBM or compatible PC with 512K ram and ahard disk.
Ordering details
The disk-based index price is still only £20 inclusive. Please
The EW index data base price of £20 includes UK postage
specify whether you need 5.25in, 3.5in DD or 3.5in HD format.
and VAT. Add an extra £1 for overseas EC orders or £5
Existing users can obtain an upgrade for £15 by quoting their
for non-EC overseas orders
serial number with their order.
Postal charges on hard copy indexes and on photocopies
are 50p UK, £1 for the rest of the EC or £2 worldwide.
Photo copies of Electronics World articles from b For enquires about photocopies etc please send an sae to
issues are available at a flat rate of £3.50 per SoftCopy Ltd. Send your orders to SoftCopy Ltd,
article, £1 per circuit idea, excluding postage. 1Vineries Close, Cheltenham GL53 ONU.
Cheques payable to SoftCopy Ltd, please allow 28 days
Hard copy Electronics World index for delivery.
Indexes on paper for volumes 100,101, and 102
e-mail at [email protected], tel 01242 241455
are available at £2 each, excluding postage.

736 ELECTRONICS WORLD September '2000

 CIRCUIT IDEAS

Measuring femtofarads on traditional AC bridges

Ineeded to check the matching of two ing phase balance to the detector, Fig. 2. No drive current of around 13mA. Individual and
Inominally 1pF capacitors, but all Ihad was modifications are needed inside the TF868B. differential DC offsets, giving inter-amplifier
aMarconi Instruments TF868B universal Figure 3shows the first circuit tried; to and primary DC currents, were <1mV on the
bridge having alowest capacitance range of give arange of 0-10pF. The signal on 'Hi' device used; should this be thought aproblem
0-100pF. never exceeded 1.2V pk-pk, so an op-amp capacitive coupling from the outputs to the
Icould have made atransformer bridge, but with again of 10 could be used when driven transformer could be used at the risk of some
this was not justifiable for the job in hand, from two 9V batteries in series; batteries were phase shift; adding series resistance would
given the extensive screening and construc- used to prevent earth loops and null offsets. also give significant phase shifts.
tional work required. The possibility of using Op-amp / CIA is abuffer —not strictly Supply current was around 11mA and the
the AC source and tuned detector in the necessary —and R5 protects the TL082 FET circuit worked well. Nulled 'tan-delta' setting
TF868B was then considered; ideally without inputs against static build-up when the circuit was non-zero, due to phase shift from op-amp
any alterations. Bridge resolution would have is disconnected. output impedance and primary inductance,
been adequate at 0.1 % at the top end of a Components RI,R2 and C1gave adecou- but asharp capacitive null was obtained.
range. pled reference for the signal to swing about, Output voltage from the transformer was
Figure 1shows the basic bridge circuit for R4 and R3 defining the gain. It worked as 5120V pk-pk and at high impedance, but take
capacitance measurements; the earthing of expected, giving asharp null with atest 2.2pF care to avoid electric shock. Hand-capaci-
one side of the detector allows three-terminal capacitor at the 22pF dial reading. tance effects were very significant and the
capacitance measurement to exclude strays. Figure 4showed the circuit tried to give 0- high voltage output of the transformer
These are either across the detector or across lpF range —with aresolution of IfF at the top secondary was placed at least 2inches away
C2+R i;so of insignificant effect at null. end; stray capacitances Ci and Cs2 are from the `Lo' terminal of the bridge. Even so,
If the voltage across C2+R Iwere multiplied shown. Iconsidered atransformer to be the null readings of over 80fF were obtained, but
by afactor of, say 10, then areduction in the easiest method for giving the voltage step-up use of ametallic screen between the high-
unknown capacitor by afactor of 10 is needed. A tightly-coupled toroid transformer voltage terminal and the 'Lo' terminal
needed to preserve bridge balance. was found with the characteristics shown — reduced this further. Low battery voltage is
Amplification only need be applied to the and aself-resonant frequency well above the shown by adrifting null.
voltage across the standard capacitor, since IkHz of the bridge source. D. Sweetman
the magnified voltage is in phase with the Two op-amps — used as unity gain buffers Surbiton
original voltage across the capacitor, preserv- —were connected in parallel to give the peak Surrey D20

R 2
range From batteries
(D20c) +18V
resistor to'
Fig. 3. An implementation
Unknown of Fig. 2 that results in a
range of 0-10pF.

TL082CP
1/10C x

AC source
Standard cap.
Balance pot. tan-delta
R3 Ri C

PE
(D20a)
Winner of the National
Fig. 1. Showing the basic bridge circuit for

Instruments digital
OV
capacitance measurements. From batteries

range
2a

resistor
,
Lo ,1/10C x
From batteries
+9V multimeter worth
over £500
7
Detector IC 2b

TL082CP
Fig. 4. Final circuit with a resolution
of 11F at the top end of its range and

I I 010.
1pF full scale.
›; R 9 R7
>10M
> :2k7 T,

Tcs, Tcs,
R6 IC 2a
AC source 10k
Standard cap. 2
'Earth' yvy1,
TL082CP/
Balance pot. tan-delta 1:100
R3a Ria C3a
7mH:70H
7 101 2k7
C2 8
PE R
Primary inductance was
(D20b)
0.6pH with secondary
Fig. 2. Outline arrangement to extend the short-circuited
OV From batteries (D20d)
smallest range from 100pF maximum to
10pF maximum.

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD

 CIRCUITS IDEAS

£50 Winner Simple charger for NiCd and lead acid batteries
T his circuit is suitable for charging 1.4V/cell. With experience, the flash rate of
and discharging — i.e. refreshing Charging of NiCd cell with pulsed the green LED can indicate the state
—NiCd and lead-acid batteries. current has some advantages. of charge of the battery. With new
Despite being simple, it also pro- Measuring the off-load voltage works and fully charged batteries, the period
motes long battery life. well with old batteries having a between flashes is several seconds.
Charging current / 2 is constant. In higher internal resistance. The Use of high current pulses up to C
switch position 'NiCd' the current charging current used may be up to avoids the memory effect in NiCd
flows for aperiod of 20ms, deter- the C capacity of the battery; this cells.
mined by R7 and Ci.The next charge permits ashort charge time. On the The semi-automatic discharge
pulse will follow if the off-load other hand, the battery cannot be circuit is optional. Discharge is
voltage of the battery falls below overcharged by a20ms pulse. initiated by the push button, and the
red LED lights, discharging the
battery to, for example, 0.9V/cell.
R9 The circuit then automatically
1/VVN.,
IC3
switches to the charge function.
100k
+ 47011 R3
In switch position 'Pb' for lead-acid
• batteries, aconstant charge current is
6R8
24V employed, until the battery voltage
V3 11 0.85mA
0- 12 reaches, for example, 2.4V/cell.
02A Current is then reduced and the green
R8 LED fades, indicating achange to
1k
constant voltage operation.
Charge 1N4148
P1 4k7 R4 For correct operation, good battery
6k8 1N4002 contacts are required. In the event of
IC2A
Discharge asupply interruption, the battery will
'Charge'
(E19) P2 4k7 not be discharged.
green low
R2 current LED Heinz Zanke
4k7 D-10829 Berlin
R10 100k
*MA, Germany
R11 100k El 9
VVVN.,
This charger uses pulse charging for
R6 13
NiCds, constant current/constant
Hi =Charge voltage for lead acid. Supply voltage
Start 3311 0.2A
discharge IC2B 1N4148 2.5W needs to be 3.4 Vhigher than the
1N4148 Battery
rue highest expected battery voltage.
R5 8-cell Current 1, is about amilliamp.
100n NiCd
C=250mAh Resistor R3 is 1.35 V/12.For lead-acid
• • 6k8 'Discharge' Tri
BD139 cells, VIis between 2.25 and 2.5 Vper
47p
R12 red low
cell and 12 is less than C. For NiCd
current LED
4148
/7177
alternatives, VIis 1.4 Vper cell while
V2 is between 0.9 and 1.1V per cell.
Analogue flop-flop
Discharge circuit Current 1 2 is roughly equal to both 1
3

and C.

Jingle softner
W hen v, ¡itching TV, have you ever been annoyed by
the increase in sound level during the advertise-
20kHz. Capacitors Ciand C3 DC block IC E.Values given
for R3 and C3 produce alow-frequency cut-off close to
ments? One way to deal with it is to press the mute key 10Hz.
of the remote control unit. Another way is to plug this The signal at point B is amplified by IC2a and P1
little unit into the Scart/Peritel socket at the back of your permits the sound level to be adjusted as required. At
TV. point B, the signal follows asecond path and is amplified
The schematic is given Fig. 1. The heart of this circuit by ./C28. R8 protects the output of /C2b.
is the MC3340P from Motorola, which is avoltage- Components C'4, Cs, DIand D2 form adoubler-rectifi-
controlled attenuator. This circuit offers a80dB range er, producing at point D ameasure of the average value
attenuation when driven with a3.5V control voltage for the signal amplitude. The value of R9 has been chosen
range, but in order to obtain areasonable THD (distor- to give atime constant big enough to avoid low frequen-
tion) of less than 3%, the attenuatioa range must be cy distortion. At point D, the voltage is equal to the
limited to 40dB. average value of the signal amplitude at point C.
The input signal is reduced by afactor of 2by resistors Op-amp 1C3 acts as avoltage follower and R10 and C8
RIand R2 because the maximum input voltage of / CIis form an additional low-pass filter. The time constant is
500mV. The signal attenuated by IC Iappears at point B. fixed at 50ms.
The value of C2 is not critical and limits the bandpass to Voltage at point Econtrols the attenuation value of / CI.

738 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

 CIRCUIT IDEAS

TOM
UCC
ONO TL872111
0 1C2B

1N 4148 C4 Re 19 OUT +12U

21(2
F4- 0 _ CI é
GNO
C14 C16
02 4
22), isoc
PI 0 P7 ISSN 701.08 lOSN 470pF
[il P111
1C3
C5 E DI — 1=1
C6 47K 22pF IC2 • SU
T 22pF
Cf1311SE 1N41 42 561C
n R6 C11 ICS de CI 7
U 4k 7 791.118
10011 IBON 47OpF
'AD
UT IN -I 2U
ONO
15E

O'g
i7ta,F-.FT—.--=
Pl 1
Fig. 1. Circuit of
TORN
CB
Cif advert sound
ONO
leveller.
ORD
UCc C3
C2111
Ctrl Uout
- 476 nF 1
ICI
-5. TL072P
1OpF 11C33111P 1KS O
Input
+ Uin Po
8N0 P5

1
C2 -I3 n 114
IIIK
4711 pF L 47K U 1K2 pl

End

ONO
SCART-P ug

Output

Fuctionnal bloc enema

When the sound becomes louder, voltage at D increases,
increasing the attenuation. Thus the sound level at B
Rectification
o Amplification

4— For to ar3343
tat• 13 -MO .(17.2)1 0.10
remains constant. Low -pass A.13
45
filter G.+ 22 dB
Ault --10(7m. V•in lulu
The functional block diagram is given in Fig. 2and the
•.11c•ex
attenuation curve of the MC3340 in Fig. 3. An 8V supply
is used, so the attenuation curve gives a40dBN attenua-
tion factor for control voltages greater than 2V. Level Gain variation Internal • Amplification Level

Gain variation of the device can be derived from the G edema:xi 0> amplification erkstment

Alto 10". A.4 5 A.2 25 A to 1

curve, A . 1/2
G. -6dB G = 0to -8C4B

G = —40 x(V, —2) = 20 log 1.1C3340

Static gain for / CIis 13dB and amplification is 4.5x. Fig. 2. Block diagram of advert sound leveller.
When V, is under 2V, /C i's amplification value is close
to 4and Vb is 4xlia.As Ve=1/cy„,,,x) and V, is 13xVb, you
can work out, Ve=13x4.5x1/„ (,„„, )=58xV,",„, ). Attenuation versus DC control voltage
When V, is less than 2V, Va( „, )is less than 35mV and u
)is less than 70mV (50mV RMS). Thus, when Vin
is under 50mV RMS, the circuit doesn't limit and the Vcc = Vcc = Vcc =
value of V f is given by the linear expression, 20 8Vd e 12Vde 16Vdc
ATTENUATION (dB)

Vf=0.5x4.5x2.25xVin =5xV„
40
Gain is I4dB.
When V is greater than 50mV RMS, V, increases in
order to maintain VI,at the same value. Voltage V1 keeps 60
its former value, Vf=5xVin =250mV RMS. Voltage V, can
be adjusted between 0and 250 mV RMS.
Note that if another value of the starting point for 80
limitation, currently 50mV RMS, is needed, this can be
achieved by changing the values of R7 and/or R6,
2 3 4 5 6
R, 2000
1 CONTROL VOLTAGE (V)
R9 4.5x 0.5 xy„, Rms ,
x1.14

Fig. 3. Attenuation characteristic of Motorola MC3340

M Terrade
63100 Clermont-Ferrand
France
D51

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 739

CIRCUIT IDEAS

Circuit simulates glitches

ircult Fig. 1a) can he used to glitches is needed. Ihe circuit positive going spikes at point Z.
simulate glitches and waveforms described here can be used to produce The output of the differentiator can
encountered in electronic circuits such aglitch-simulating test wave- also be used to test the immunity of a
during operation. Glitches can arise form. digital logic circuit to voltage spike
due to various causes such as bounc- The circuit consists of a556 dual type of glitches. Note that the reset
ing of mechanical switch contacts, timer, both halves of which are function is asynchronous, so that R4
switching transients, timing mis- configured as astable multivibrators. can be set to make the last pulse in a
match, electromagnetic interference, The frequency of the A half is kept train very short or glitch like.
etc. Digital logic can interpret very low, at around 1Hz. On the other Frequencies of the astable multivi-
glitches as valid logic level transi- hand, the frequency of the second brators are given by,
tions and erroneous operation can half, B, is kept high so that B pro- 1.44
OCCUr. duces narrow short-duration pulses.
To avoid such spurious operation, Output of A is connected to the
glitch detectors and glitch elimination reset input of B so that when the and,
1.44
+5V f» = (R3+2R )c
4M7 9 3k3

Duty-cycle of the astable B is given

This generator by,
simulates glitches, 124
contact bounce, w=
(R, +2R4)
etc., as an aid to
making sure that a To simulate different types of glitch-
circuit is glitch es, the duty-cycle can be altered. For
proof. example, to simulate contact bounce,
you can make w around 10ms.
Making R4 variable will enable
(D15) change of pulse-width as required.
The time-constant of the differentia-
tor should be chosen such that
RC<T/10 where R and C are the
G„ich output of A is high, the astable B values of the differentiator's resistor
fry,
waveforms
oscillates and when the output of A and capacitor and Tis the time period
is low, the reset input of B is kept of the input waveform of the differen-
low and it does not oscillate. tiator i.e., at Y.
(015b) The duty-cycle of the output of B Since the circuit is quite simple, it
can be adjusted by varying the can be packaged in the form of a
techniques are used. Nonetheless, resistor R4. Waveforms involved handy testing tool. Usage of alow-
glitches find away into digital are shown in Fig. 1b). Output at power timer such as XR-L556, or
circuits and false operations do occur point Y consists of asequence of equivalent, will enable operation on
in some situations. short-duration pulses coming in batteries.
To test and validate aglitch detec- bursts and this can be used to test V. Lakshminarayanan
tor or aglitch eliminator, or even a logic circuits. Output at Y is Bangalore
circuit designed to be immune to differentiated by aC-R differentia- India
glitches, atest circuit that simulates tor and rectified by diode D to get D15
£50 Winner

PC controlled bipolar stepper motor

A PC can control the speed and
direction of abipolar, i.e. two-
each bridge to the parallel port of
the PC.
drive the stepper motor in one
direction. When alow on data bit
phase, stepper motor, in asimple Data bits Do and DI on pins 2 Do and ahigh on data bit DI is
way as described below. and 3of the parallel port, are used sent, this switches transistors Tr 1.3
Circuit Fig. 1interfaces abipolar to drive abridge circuit. Bits D2 on.
stepper-motor to the parallel LPT and D3, pins 3and 4, drive the The result is acurrent flow
port of an IBM-compatible PC. It second bridge. Pin 25 of the through the motor's R-Y phase in
consists of complimentary parallel port connects to the ground one direction. When ahigh on data
transistors connected in bridges. of the bridge power supply. bit Do and alow on data bit Di is
One bridge is required for each Manufacturers data on a3.6V, sent this switches transistor Tr2
phase winding of the stepper 4A/phase, 1.8°, two-phase stepper and transistor Tr4 on. The result is
motor. motor is provided in Fig. 2. A acurrent flow through the motor's
Each bridge transistor should be power-supply design, capable of R-Y phase in the opposite
installed on 5W rated heat sink. driving two similar motors is direction.
Diodes in each bridge are used to provided in Fig. 3.
provide free-wheeling action. Two Figure 4 gives the data sequence
2N2222-type transistors interface required at the parallel port to Continued on page 745...

740 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

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All prices for UK Manland. UK customers add 17 5°. VAT to TOTAL order arnount. Minimum order £10. Bona Fide account orders accepted horn Government Schack,
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ral
OD
EST (B)=£5.50, (C)=£8.50. (Cl) £1250, (DS£15.CO. (E£18.00, (F)=£20.00, (GSCALL Allow approx 6days le sheçrnig -taster CALL Al goods supplied to our Standard Conditions
e of Sale and unites stated guaranteed Icx 90 days. All guarantees on areturn to base base. Al tilts reserved to change prizes /specrfications iverout prior notice. Orders subtract
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742 ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

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Put your web address in front of 21 000 We understand that cost is an important a full year, which equates to just £29.17 per
electronics enthusiasts and experts. factor, as web sites are an added drain on month.
Electronics World acknowledges your budgets. But we are sure you will agree that This price includes the above mentioned
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issue to announce your FOR 12 ISSUES:
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 CIRCUIT IDEAS

PC controlled bipolar stepper motor

...continued from page 740
Listing. Quick Basic program for driving astepper motor
A simple QuickBasic program to Pressing function key FI should from aPC.
run the stepper motor at any speed move the motor in aclockwise CLS:D=1000
and in any direction is given. The direction, while the motor should PRINT "Press Fl for clockwise rotation
parallel port's address is 378 16 . move in counter clockwise PRINT "Press F2 for counter clockwise"
Duration of execution of four direction by pressing F2. PRINT "Press F3 to change speed"
FOR TO NEXT' loops in This circuit can be used to drive ON KEY(1) GOSUB CW
subroutines CW and CCW two-phase stepper motors of ON KEY(2) GOSUB CCW
determines the speed of the various sizes. ON KEY(3) GOSUB Direction
motor. If the duration of these M T lqbal KEY(1) ON
loops is increased, by increasing Rawalpindi KEY(2) ON
the variable D, the motor speed Pakistan. KEY(3) ON
will reduce. E23 10 GOTO 10
END
Orange Step Red Blue Yellow Orange
1 — CW:
2 + ++
OUT &H378,9
3 +
4 —
FOR I=1 TO D : NEXT I
Blue • OUT &H378,10
FOR I=1 TO D : NEXT I
OUT &H378, 6
Red Yellow
FOR I=1 TO D : NEXT I
Stepper motor Sanyo Denshi model 103H8223-5141, 3.6V, 4A/phase, 1.8°/step
OUT &H378, 5
Fig. 2. Connections for the 13SWG FOR I=1 TO D: NEXT I
26SWG
stepper motor used in the 23T RETURN
660T
author's prototype.
CCW
OUT &H378, 5
FOR I=1 TO D : NEXT
OUT &H378, 6
FOR I=1 TO D : NEXT
(E23d) OUT &H378, 10
DO D1 D2 D3 13SWG
FOR I=1 TO D : NEXT
1HL L H 36T

e
OUT &H378, 9
2LH L H LN Core area =2.5in 2 =1.25M by 2mn
FOR I=1 TO D : NEXT
C,, 3L H H L E
C1: 10 000p, 16V
220Vec
RETURN
4HL H L C2: 22 000p, 25V
50Hz
This supply will drive two motors
Fig. 4. Data sequence on Direction:
parallel port for clockwise Fig. 3. Power supply for the drive INPUT "Please enter new speed"; D
rotation. circuits. RETURN

+5.6V
+5.6V
Fig. 1. Drive bridges,
interface transistors and BDX53B
LPT connections for the +12V Tr i
PC-controlled stepper
motor driver.

All diodes type 1N5401

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 745

 Pico ADC42
Virtual oscilloscope *UK only. Overseas readers please fax or e-mail for
aquote including delivery charges.

Featuring 12-bit resolution and 1MS2 a Net 11,0,6•••••

Ls to
input impedance, the ADC42 samples
at up to 15kS/s and includes software •

for spectrum analysis, oscilloscope ote

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functions and frequency display. 10

Plugging into a PC's LPT port, the unit sdbga

lo
a.•4171paa«.3614
provides large, colourful displays and /

all the usual timebases and trigger 11

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options — all in a case slightly larger
4.1
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1

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Use this coupon to order your ADC42

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Name

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Address

• Low cost and easy to use

• No power supply required
• Ultra compact design
• Oscilloscope and data logging software
included
• Write-to-disk on trigger function standard Phone number/fax
The ADC42 is a single-channel pc based virtual
Total amount £
instrument. Simply plug the unit into the parallel
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for analysing low-frequency signals, it provide all Please charge to my credit/debit card.
the functionality of a conventional scope at a Card type (MasterNisa/Switch etc)
fraction of the price.
The ADC42 has 12-bit resolution making it
suitable for applications where detection of small Card No
signal changes is needed.

Specifications Expiry date

Scope timebases 500ps/div to 50s/div

Spectrum analysis 100Hz to 10kHz Please mail this coupon to Electronics World, together with payment.
Max sampling 15ksample/s
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Voltage range ±5V
Address orders and all correspondence relating to this order to Pico
Resolution 12 bit
Channels 1 BNC Offer, Electronics World, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton,
I/P impedance 1ML2, dc coupled Surrey SM2 5AS.
Accuracy 1% email [email protected]
PC connection D25 to PC parallel port
Make cheques payable to Reed Business Information Group.
Power supply Not required
 Letters to the editor
Letters to "Electronics World" Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS
e-mail [email protected] using subject heading 'Letters'.

THD is throughout its editions -athird

meaningless is imminent -included standard Sizzling hard drives
methods of measurement for The interesting correspondence regarding hard-drive failures due
Anthony New's article in the intermodulation distortion. to overheating, and Ed Dell's "fridge" remedy, suggest that the
June issue has much merit. It The fact that designers don't problem is bearing-related.
would be easy to pick up and use these methods, or, at least,
A number of years ago, Iencountered aregular failure, on very
make much of afew errors, but IMD does not feature in hot days, in the drive of aTranstec HD2 machine. It was
that would do the matter agreat published specifications, is similarly cured by lowering the ambient temperature around the
injustice. regrettable. Ican demonstrate unit and giving it a'nudge'.
What, however, is worthy of the relative inaudibility of Our office had alarge plate-glass window facing on to the
comment, Ithink, is that the harmonics compared with even street. Close to high-noon, the programmers' desk used to get
criticisms of current practices low-order intermodulation alarmingly hot. Invariably, the HD2 would fail at around 2pm!
are actually well-known to products, using contrived A quick burst with the office fan and atap on the casing of the
many audio designers, but circuits that can produce one computer got it healthy again.
nevertheless to far too few. without the other. Many drives rely on the precise alignment of ashaft in aset of
Mr New stands to receive John Woodgate precision agate, ruby, or similar bearings. These have built in
similar criticism to that levelled Via e-mail compensation for temperature changes.
at Matti Otala when he If this sensitive equilibrium is upset, the shaft can expand
published his first paper in Ihad intended to present across- axially and produce heat in the bearing surfaces. This then
English on transient section of responses to Anthony's compounds the problem because some of the heat is transferred
intermodulation distortion. Top article on IMD, but Iran out of to the shaft, which then expands even more, and so on.
designers said, more or less, space again, sorry. I'll try to find If the overheating continues unchecked, radial carrier-shaft
'This is all old stuff, we know space again next month. Ed expansion can become significant and lead to bearing failure.
all about it and any claims of The drive is usually unusable after this point has been reached.
novelty are false.' But lots of Thoughts from a In what we laughingly call 'The-Good-Old-Days', mainframe
designers didn't know about it, long-standing reader rooms were air-conditioned and temperature-controlled.
and designed amplifiers that 1have been areader of Wireless However, with the proliferation of PCs, we seem to have
exhibited it in various degrees. World since 1943 and asub- overlooked the fact that computers, like people, have aoptimum
A limited defence of harmonic scriber since 1949. During my temperature at which they are most comfortable.
distortion measurements is that working life, mainly in engi- Chris Ecdes
the object of design is to achieve neering research and develop- Research Director
linearity. A design exhibiting no ment, Ifound the magazine an Gardner Watts Ltd
THD must be completely linear invaluable source of technical
and cannot produce information.
intermodulation distortion Now Iam well retired, Istill but the delay fell off to about always regarded THD and IMD
either. read it with interest, though not 80ps at 10kHz. as two interdependent facets of
Simple theory can show that having the hardware available, I Imade ashade attenuator non-linearity in amplifiers, IMD
there is astrict numerical do not find the computer articles within ±1dB of the graph given being the worst effect of the
relationship between the very much help. Obviously they by John Watkinson. This con- two.
amounts of THD and IMD help other people in the way that tributed to the delay that now In valve technology, as Iused
produced by agiven non- earlier articles helped me. ranged between 260 and 95s. it in the 1950s, there was a
linearity. But simple theory is Ihave always had astrong By recording short sections commonly held view that IMD
too simple: there are many practical interest in audio and with and without the shuffler in values had asimple relationship
conditions necessary if the sound recording. Since Ido circuit on acassette recorder, I to THD, so that knowledge of
numerical relationship is to be quite alot of headphone listen- was able to assess its effect. THD gave an index of IMD. No
preserved. ing, for various reasons, Iwas First impressions were that the doubt the incidence of higher-
These conditions are rarely very interested in John bass was increased, as you order distortions than we had in
fulfiled. This is discussed in BS Waticinson's article in the would expect from the response those days has affected this
EN 60268-2, which is identical November 1999 issue, particu- of the shader attenuator. relationship and possibly led to
to IEC 60268-2. But if designers larly in the headphone shuffler The 'in-head' effect was the disregard for IMD that •
don't read these standards... circuit. Ihad hoped that he reduced, but the sound only Anthony New is trying to
Reliance on THD control, would produce apractical cir- seemed to be shifted about three redress.
regardless of its psychoacoustic cuit for this, but since he did inches forward, not comparable Ialso enjoyed reading John
significance, if any, worked not, Idecided to try it myself. with actual loudspeaker listen- Linsley Hood's reminiscences.
quite well in historical times, As Iam in my mid-seventies ing. However, it was an inter- They reminded me in places of
when linearity was not very and my maths is well on the way esting experiment. Iwould wel- my own experiences in elec-
good, but it is indeed too 'broad- to rusting up solid, Iadapted the come seeing aproper circuit tronics; though Iwas more
brush' now that linearity is group delay circuit from Bill from John Watkinson. Ifear my interested in sound recording,
excellent. Hardman's 'Precise active circuit is not up to the standard I building my own disc recorder
Having said that, an crossover' in the August issue. I expect from Electronics World. on ashoe-string in the 1950s.
authoritative source of based the system on the equilat- Iwas also very interested in Ilook forward to reading EW
information on measurements of eral triangle spacing of speakers Anthony New's article in the each month.
audio amplifiers is BS EN and listener. This required a June issue; Ithink he was abit A TGranger
60268-3, which is identical to delay of around 200kts. This was too sweeping in dismissing Ledbury
LEC 60268-3. This has, easy to obtain up to about 21cHz, THD measurements. Ihave Herefordshire

September 2000 ELECTRONICS WORLD 747

 VISA
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ELECTRONICS WORLD September 2000

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SUBSCRIPTION RATES Post to . SUBSCRIPTION RATES Post to

UK 1year £36 ELECTRONICS WORLD UK 1year £36 ELECTRONICS WORLD
UK 2years £58 UK 2years £58
P.O. Box 302 P.O. Box 302
UK 3years £72 UK 3years £72
Haywards Heath, Haywards Heath,
Student rate (proof required) £21.30 Student rate (proof required) £21.30
West Sussex RH16 3DH UK. West Sussex RH16 3DH UK.
Airmail Airmail
Europe 1year £51 Europe 1year £51
Europe 2years £82 CREDIT CARD HOTLINE Europe 2years £82 CREDIT CARD HOTLINE
Europe 3years £103 Tel: +44 01444 445566 Europe 3years £103 Tel: +44 01444 445566
Rest of the world 1year £61 Rest of the world 1year £61
Fax: +44 01444 445447 Fax: +44 01444 445447
Rest of the world 2years £98 Rest of the world 2years £98
Rest of the world 3years £123 Please tick here it you do not wish to Rest of the world 3years £123 Please tick here if you do not wish to
Surface mail 1year £41 receive direct marketing-promotion from
Surface mail 1year £41 receive direct marketing-promotion from
other companies
other companies D
049 049
 For development
or production...
A range of truly portable, Universal and EPROM/Flash programmers for every need
•Support for all types of devices including 8and 16-hit memory, up to 128Mbit, PLDs,
CPLCrs, and over 300 microcontrollers
•Uses the parallel port of any PC or laptop
•Program and verify low voltage devices down to 1.8V
•Low cost package adapters available for PLCC, PSOP, TSOP, QFP, SDIP, SOIC and BGA
•No additional modules or adapters required for any DIP device
•Compatible with DOS, Windows 95/98, Windows' NT
•Powerful and comprehensive software interface is easy to use
•Uses PSU/Recharger supplied, or batteries for real portability
•Includes Chiptester for TTL/CMOS, DRAM and SRAM devices
•Optional EPROM/RAM emulators also available

...the be
55oilt•I ,upp, I. Price

EPMaster LV48 48-pin support tor EPROM, EEPROM, Flash 8 Serial PROM

Speedmaster LV48 As EPMaster LV48, plus 13PROMs, PALs, GALs, CPU)', L495
and 8748/51 microcontrollers

programmers
Micromaster LV48 As Speedmaster LV48, plus over 300 microcontrolle, L695
including 87C48/51/196, PIC',, AVRs, 89Cxxxx, SIT,
MC705/711, SA13-05xx, TMS320/370, Z86, COP et,.
FULLY UNIVERSAL

LV40 Portable 40-pin version M Micromaster LV48 + LCD 8 Keypad L'I'li

are here...
The new Matrix Programming System offers the most complete,
flexible gang programmer you will ever need for production
applications at an extremely competitive price from £1,995
•Two levels of device support: Memory only, or Universal support for memory
devices up to 128Mbit, PLDs, CPLDs and over 300 Microcontrollers
•4or 8independent programming sites per box
•Daisy-chaining allows up to 48 centrally controlled sites
•Very high throughput (program/verify time in seconds): 28E400 =4/2.5,
28E16083 = 18/12, 28E64015 = 155/60
•Low cost passive socket modules give support for DIP, PLCC, PSOP, TSOP, QFP etc.
•Modules are not device specific giving major savings in cost of ownership
•True low voltage support down to 1.8V, plus marginal verification
•Intelligent auto-sensing of sockets eliminates need to continually access keyboard
•Powerful and comprehensive software, with easy-to-use interface
•Manufacturer approved algorithms for accurate programming and maximum yield
•Full on-board diagnostics
•Compatible with Windows' 95/98 and Windows NT
•Universal input power supply -90-260V, 50/60Hz

All ICE Technology programmers come with lifetime FREE software

Matrix From updatest and technical support, 12 month warranty and 30-day money-
back guarantee. For complete Device Support lists, FREE software
£1995 updates, Demo software and full product information,
just visit our website at www.icetech.com

...and here, wwwwicetech.com

ILL Penistone Court, Sheffield Road, Penistone, Sheffield. S36 6HP. UK
tel: +44 (0)1226 767404 •fax: +44(0)1226 370434 •email: salesgicetech.com

ICE Ti 5370 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Suite 204B, Longboat Key. FL 34228. USA
tel: 1(941) 387 8166 •fax: 1(941)387 9305 •email: icetechuseïicetech.com

ORDER NOW VIA OUR CREDIT CARD HOTLINE :+44 (0) 1226 767404
ALL PRODUCTS IN STOCK

tCustom software and enhanced priority device support is also available for all programmer platforms. All prices are exclusive of carriage and VAT
All trademarks are recognised as belonging to their respective owners.
CIRCLE NO. 102 ON REPLY ( •IR1)
STILL THE WORLD'

POWERFUL PORTABLE

PROGRAMMERS?
495

CE
7 g 5+VAT

SURELY NOT.
SURELY SOMEONE SOMEWHERE HAS

L
DEVELOPED A PORTABLE PROGRAMMER
THAT HAS EVEN MORE FEATURES, EVEN
GREATER FLEXIBILITY AND IS EVEN
BETTER VALUE FOR MONEY,
ACTUALLY, NO. BUT DON'T TAKE OUR
WORD FOR IT. USE THE FEATURE
SUMMARY BELOW TO SEE HOW OTHER
DATAMAN-48LV MANUFACTURERS' PRODUCTS COMPARE.

• Plugs straight into parallel port of PC or

S4 GAL MODULE MONEY-BACK
laptop
30 DAY TRIAL
• Programs and verifies at 2, 2.7, 3.3 &5V • Programs wide range of 20 and 24 pin
If you do not agree that these truly are the
•True no-adaptor programming up to 48 logic devices from the major GAL vendors most powerful portable programmers you can
pin DIL devices •Supports JEDEC files from all popular buy, simply return your Dataman product
• Free universal 44 pin PLCC adaptor compilers within 30 days for afull refund

• Built-in world standard PSU -for go-

anywhere programming SUPPORT
• Package adaptors available for TSOP, • 3year parts and labour guarantee
PSOP, QFP, SOIC and PLCC
•Windows/DOS software included
• Optional EPROM emulator
• Free technical support for life me' • MI !ale. 4i,
day.
DATAMAN S4 • Next day delivery -always in stock Orders received by 4pm will normally be despatched same

Order today, get it tomorrow!

• Dedicated UK supplier, established 1978
• Programs 8and 16 bit EPROMs,
EEPROMs, PEROMs, 5and 12V FLASH, Still as unbeatable as ever. Beware of
Boot-Block FLASH, PICs, 8751 cheap imitations. Beware of false
microcontrollers and more promises. Beware of hidden extras.
• EPROM emulation as standard If you want the best, there's still only one
• Rechargeable battery power for total choice -Dataman.
portability Order via credit card hotline -phone
•All-in-one price includes emulation today, use tomorrow.
leads, AC charger, PC software, spare
Alternatively, request more detailed
library ROM, user-friendly manual
information on these and other market-
• Supplied fully charged and ready to use leading programming solutions.