Linearity and Distortion

ELEC 483-Microwave and RF Circuits and Systems- Linearity and Distortion
Linearity and Distortion

ELEC 483-Microwave and RF Circuits and Systems Dr. Brian Frank, P.Eng. 2005-2006
Brian Frank, Department of ECE, Queens University
Page 1
Motivation
All active devices are nonlinear - they wouldnt be useful otherwise! For small amplitude inputs, we can often model the devices as quasi-linear (hence small
signal models)
There are always nonlinear effects that show up, like new harmonics at the output: e.g.
amplier below
IN
Voltage (dBm) Voltage (dBm)
OUT
f in
f in
2 f in
3 f in
IN IN
Voltage (dBm)
OUT OUT
Voltage (dBm)
f in1 f in2
f in1 f in2
Page 2
So how do new frequencies show up?
No active devices perfectly linear - the IV curves of diodes and transistors are never perfectly
straight lines
We can model nonlinear components using a Taylor series. For example, for a two port device (such as an amplier), the output may be given by
2 3 vout = a0 + a1 vin + a2 vin + a3 vin ...
= DC offset + Amplied signal + Second order + Third order + . . . If the input is a pure sinusoid vi = V0 cos 0 t, then the output is going to be vo = a0 + a1 V0 cos 0 t + a2 V02 cos2 0 t + a3 V03 cos3 0 t + . . . = 1 a0 + a2 V02 2 3 1 1 + a1 V0 + a3 V03 cos 0 t + a2 V02 cos 20 t + V03 cos 30 t + . . . 4 2 4
Output will consist of the desired frequency (but potentially not the desired magnitude) plus
other harmonics
Page 3
1. Harmonics
The second, third, etc. powers in the transfer function give rise to a2 cos2 0 t + a3 V03 cos3 0 t + . . . The cos2 term leads to a new harmonic at 2fin , the cos3 term gives rise to a harmonic at 3fin , etc. How could these components cause problems? How can these problems be mitigated?
IN
OUT
f in
f in
2 f in
3 f in
IN
OUT
Page 4
2. Intermodulation
We see that there are nonlinear effects which can distort a sinusoid, but there are additionaly
affects to consider when a signal with nite bandwidth is input
The nonlinear transfer function will result in input signals at different frequencies modulating
one another
Consider an input signal with two frequencies: vi = V0 (cos 1 t + cos 2 t) Applying this signal to the input of a nonlinear device (amplier, mixer, etc.) gives an output vo = a0 +a1 V0 (cos 1 t+cos 2 t)+a2 V02 (cos 1 t+cos 2 t)2 +a3 V03 (cos 1 t+cos 2 t)3 . . . If we expand out the second order term, (cos 1 t + cos 2 t)2 = cos2 1 t + cos2 2 t + 2 cos 1 t cos 2 t = 1 + cos 21 t + cos 22 t + 2 cos(1 + 2 )t + 2 cos(2 1 )t, i.e. the second order
harmonic and second order intermodulation harmonics
The same applies for third and higher order terms
Page 5
Intermodulation Products
As we found, when multiple input frequencies are present, the second order term gives cos 21 t and cos 22 t (second harmonics) (but not shown below), and frequencies corresponding to the term cos 1 t cos 2 t, which are 1 + 2 and 2 1 (known as
second order intermodulation products)
Similarly, the third order term gives outputs at frequencies corresponding to 21 t 2 t and 1 t 22 t (third order intermodulation products) in addition to the terms at 31 t and 32 t
(third harmonics)
IN
OUT
f in1 f in2
IN
OUT
f in2 f in1
f in1 f in2
f in1 + f in2
Pair activity:of the harmonics and second and third order intermodulation products, which are
likely to cause the most problems in an amplier?
Page 6
Third-Order intercept Point
We want a way to characterize how signicant the third order intermodulation products are Commonly the gure of merit used is the third order intercept point IP3 , which describes the
input or output power at which the magnitude of the third order products are the same as the fundamental
This is a theoretical gure of merit, as gain compression will ususally become signicant before the output power is large enough to reach the IP3 point
P out (dBm) 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 60 50 40 30 Fundamental Second harmonic IP 3 IP 2
Third harmonic 20 10 0
P in (dBm)
Page 7
Third-Order intercept Point (sec. 2.3.2)
When plotted on a dBm vs. dBm scale, the fundamental is a line with unity slope, and the third
order intermodulation product has a slope of three
Question: How could we estimate the third-order intercept by measuring the fundamental and
third-order harmonic powers for some known input power?
P out (dBm) 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 60 50 40 30 Fundamental Second harmonic IP 3 IP 2
P in (dBm)
Page 8
Estimating the Third-Order Intercept Point (IP3)
We want
a rough estimate of the third order intercept
P out (dBm) 20 10 IP 3 IP 2
We can calculate the amplitude

of the fundamental harmonic and compare it to the third order modulation product
0 10 20 30 40 60 50 40 30 Fundamental Second harmonic
Assume that two signals with amplitudes vi are applied to the input of the nonliner
device, and that we can neglect fourth and higher order terms. Then the fundamental term is given by a1 vi
P in (dBm)
3 3 3 +9 4 a3 vi and the third order intermodulation term is given by 4 a3 vi
9 3 The 4 a3 vi term is what causes the attening of the fundamental, i.e. the a3 coefcient is negative, and for large vin causes a reduction in output voltage relative to the straight-line
extrapolation
Page 9
Third-Order Intercept Point (contd)
Since we want the point where the linear approximation to the fundamental meets the third 3 order intermodulation product we eliminate the vi term of the fundamental and solve for the value of vi that sets 3 3 a1 vi = a3 vi 4 Solving gives vIP3 = 2
a1 3a3 , or expressing in terms of power,
Third order input-referred intercept where Rin is the input resistance of the device
= IIP3 =
2 a1 3Rin a3
Page 10
Calculating the Third-Order intercept Point (c.f. Lee p. 298)
We can estimate the value of vIP3 by expressing a1 and a3 in terms of small signal parameters like gm One simple method is known as the three-point method, which only requires knowing gm at
three different small signal input voltages
Recall that gm is a function of the input bias current in a transistor; for example, for a BJT the i small signal transconductance can be expressed as gm = v C = V1 iC BE T Usually we calculate gm at one DC bias current IC and use the same value for small
deviations in input voltage, but strictly speaking this is not true - it is this small variation in gm that gives rise to intermodulation harmonics
Assume that we calculate or measure gm at three closely spaced input bias voltages: gm (Vo ), gm (V + ), and gm (V ) where Vo is the dc bias voltage, V + is slightly higher, and V is slightly lower. Then it can be shown that 4V 2 g (Vo ) + IIP 3 (W), where V = V V = V V o o Rin g (V + ) + g (V ) 2g (Vo )
Page 11
Example: Third-Order intercept Point

Estimate the third order intercept of a MOSFET biased at Vgs
= 1 V with Vt = 0.8 V, a gate length of L = 0.35 m, and electric eld channel saturation value of Esat = 4 106 V/m. Assume that the input resistance of the FET is 50 . The transconductance of a short-channel MOSFET may be expressed as gm =
where
1 + /2 W (Vgs Vt ) C n ox (1 + )2 L
Vgs Vt LEsat .
Notice that if we plug this expression for gm in to our expression for IIP3, the n Cox W terms
will cancel, so they are not needed for the calculation
Letting Vo = 1 V, V + = 1.1 V, and V = 0.9 V, and plugging these in for Vgs we get
IIP3=10.3 mW, or 10.1 dBm.
Page 12
Gain compression
Real devices cannot output an innite amount of power As the input power increases, the output power will increase linearly over a certain range of
powers
For large output powers, the output power does not increase linearly with input power - gain
compression
Output Power (dBm) 10 ideal (uncompressed) output 5 P1dB 0 Real output 5 1 dB
10 10
Input Power (dBm)
Page 13
1-dB Compression Point
The 1 dB compression point P1dB gives the output power where at which the difference
between the true output power and the ideal uncompressed power is 1 dB.
The compressed gain G1 is the gain of the amplier at this 1 dB compression point
10 10
Input Power (dBm)
Page 14
1-dB Compression Point (sec. 2.3.4)
At the 1 dB compression point, 20 log
vo vo,ideal
= 1, or
vo vo,ideal
= 0.89125.
3 Recall that the output voltage is vo = a1 vi + 3 4 a3 vi (for a single tone input - notice the
difference from the equation for double tone input discussed in the third order intercept section)
The ideal, linear output voltage is vo = a1 vi Solving yields v1dB = 0.38

a1 a3 a1 a3
3 If two tones are applied, vo = a1 v1 + 9 4 a3 vi , and solving yields v1dB = 0.22
How would we convert the 1 dB voltage to 1 dB power (more common) if we know the output
resistance?
Page 15
1-dB Compression Point and IIP3
Using the equations for IIP3 and P1dB we can nd a relationship between them For a single input tone vIP 3 is higher by about 10 db (actually 9.66 dB) For two-tone input, vIP 3 is higher by 14.4 dB Same relationship for powers (e.g. IIP3 is 9.66 dB higher than P[ 1dB )
10 10
Input Power (dBm)
Page 16

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ELEC 483-Microwave and RF Circuits and Systems- Linearity and Distortion