Schematic symbol for an OTA with differential input. Like the standard operational amplifier, it has both inverting (−) and noninverting (+) inputs; power supply lines (V+ and V−); and a single output. Unlike the traditional op-amp, it has two additional biasing inputs, Iabc and Ibias.
The operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) is an amplifier that outputs a current proportional to its input voltage. Thus, it is a voltage controlled current source (VCCS). Three types of OTAs are single-input single-output, differential-input single-output, and differential-input differential-output (a.k.a. fully differential),[1] however this article focuses on differential-input single-output. There may be an additional input for a current to control the amplifier's transconductance.
The first commercially available integrated circuit units were produced by RCA in 1969 (before being acquired by General Electric) in the form of the CA3080.[2] Although most units are constructed with bipolar transistors, field effect transistor units are also produced.
The OTA outputs a current while a standard operational amplifier outputs a voltage.
The OTA is usually used "open-loop"; without negative feedback in linear applications. This is possible because the magnitude of the resistance attached to its output controls its output voltage. Therefore, a resistance can be chosen that keeps the output from going into saturation, even with high differential input voltages.
In the ideal OTA, the output current is a linear function of the differential input voltage, calculated as follows:
where Vin+ is the voltage at the non-inverting input, Vin− is the voltage at the inverting input and gm is the transconductance of the amplifier.
If the load is just a resistance of to ground, the OTA's output voltage is the product of its output current and its load resistance:
The voltage gain is then the output voltage divided by the differential input voltage:
The transconductance of the amplifier is usually controlled by an input current, denoted Iabc ("amplifier bias current"). The amplifier's transconductance is directly proportional to this current. This is the feature that makes it useful for electronic control of amplifier gain, etc.
Non-ideal characteristics
As with the standard op-amp, practical OTA's have some non-ideal characteristics. These include:
Input stage non-linearity at higher differential input voltages due to the characteristics of the input stage transistors. In the early devices, such as the CA3080, the input stage consisted of two bipolar transistors connected in the differential amplifier configuration. The transfer characteristics of this connection are approximately linear for differential input voltages of 20 mV or less.[5] This is an important limitation when the OTA is being used open loop as there is no negative feedback to linearize the output. One scheme to improve this parameter is mentioned below.
Temperature sensitivity of transconductance.
Variation of input and output impedance, input bias current and input offset voltage with the transconductance control current Iabc.
Subsequent improvements
Earlier versions of the OTA had neither the Ibias terminal (shown in the diagram) nor the diodes (shown adjacent to it). They were all added in later versions. As depicted in the diagram, the anodes of the diodes are attached together and the cathode of one is attached to the non inverting input (Vin+) and the cathode of the other to the inverting input (Vin−). The diodes are biased at the anodes by a current (Ibias) that is injected into the Ibias terminal. These additions make two substantial improvements to the OTA. First, when used with input resistors, the diodes distort the differential input voltage to offset a significant amount of input stage non linearity at higher differential input voltages. According to National Semiconductor, the addition of these diodes increases the linearity of the input stage by a factor of 4. That is, using the diodes, the signal distortion level at 80 mV of differential input is the same as that of the simple differential amplifier at a differential input of 20 mV.[6] Second, the action of the biased diodes offsets much of the temperature sensitivity of the OTA's transconductance.
A second improvement is the integration of an optional-use output buffer amplifier to the chip on which the OTA resides. This is actually a convenience to a circuit designer rather than an improvement to the OTA itself; dispensing with the need to employ a separate buffer. It also allows the OTA to be used as a traditional op-amp, if desired, by converting its output current to a voltage.
An example of a chip combining both of these features is the National Semiconductor LM13600 and its successor, the LM13700.[4]
An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal. It is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power supply to increase the amplitude of a signal applied to its input terminals, producing a proportionally greater amplitude signal at its output. The amount of amplification provided by an amplifier is measured by its gain: the ratio of output voltage, current, or power to input. An amplifier is defined as a circuit that has a power gain greater than one.
An operational amplifier is a DC-coupled electronic voltage amplifier with a differential input, a (usually) single-ended output, and an extremely high gain. Its name comes from its original use of performing mathematical operations in analog computers.
In electronics, a comparator is a device that compares two voltages or currents and outputs a digital signal indicating which is larger. It has two analog input terminals and and one binary digital output . The output is ideally
A negative-feedback amplifier is an electronic amplifier that subtracts a fraction of its output from its input, so that negative feedback opposes the original signal. The applied negative feedback can improve its performance and reduces sensitivity to parameter variations due to manufacturing or environment. Because of these advantages, many amplifiers and control systems use negative feedback.
In electronics, negative resistance (NR) is a property of some electrical circuits and devices in which an increase in voltage across the device's terminals results in a decrease in electric current through it.
A differential amplifier is a type of electronic amplifier that amplifies the difference between two input voltages but suppresses any voltage common to the two inputs. It is an analog circuit with two inputs and and one output , in which the output is ideally proportional to the difference between the two voltages:
In electronics, a Schmitt trigger is a comparator circuit with hysteresis implemented by applying positive feedback to the noninverting input of a comparator or differential amplifier. It is an active circuit which converts an analog input signal to a digital output signal. The circuit is named a trigger because the output retains its value until the input changes sufficiently to trigger a change. In the non-inverting configuration, when the input is higher than a chosen threshold, the output is high. When the input is below a different (lower) chosen threshold the output is low, and when the input is between the two levels the output retains its value. This dual threshold action is called hysteresis and implies that the Schmitt trigger possesses memory and can act as a bistable multivibrator. There is a close relation between the two kinds of circuits: a Schmitt trigger can be converted into a latch and a latch can be converted into a Schmitt trigger.
In electronics, a buffer amplifier is a unity gain amplifier that copies a signal from one circuit to another while transforming its electrical impedance to provide a more ideal source. This "buffers" the signal source in the first circuit against being affected by currents from the electrical load of the second circuit and may simply be called a buffer or follower when context is clear.
In electronics, a common collector amplifier is one of three basic single-stage bipolar junction transistor (BJT) amplifier topologies, typically used as a voltage buffer.
In electronics and electromagnetics, slew rate is defined as the change of voltage or current, or any other electrical or electromagnetic quantity, per unit of time. Expressed in SI units, the unit of measurement is given as the change per second, but in the context of electronic circuits a slew rate is usually expressed in terms of microseconds (μs) or nanoseconds (ns).
Transconductance, also infrequently called mutual conductance, is the electrical characteristic relating the current through the output of a device to the voltage across the input of a device. Conductance is the reciprocal of resistance.
A current source is an electronic circuit that delivers or absorbs an electric current which is independent of the voltage across it.
This article illustrates some typical operational amplifier applications. A non-ideal operational amplifier's equivalent circuit has a finite input impedance, a non-zero output impedance, and a finite gain. A real op-amp has a number of non-ideal features as shown in the diagram, but here a simplified schematic notation is used, many details such as device selection and power supply connections are not shown. Operational amplifiers are optimised for use with negative feedback, and this article discusses only negative-feedback applications. When positive feedback is required, a comparator is usually more appropriate. See Comparator applications for further information.
The LM13700 is an integrated circuit (IC) containing two current-controlled operational transconductance amplifiers (OTA), each having differential inputs and a push-pull output. Linearizing diodes at the input can optionally be used by applying a bias current into Ibias to reduce distortion and allow increased input levels. The output bias can be programmed using an optional current into the Iabc pin. Two unconnected Darlington emitter follower output buffers capable of 20 mA each can be optionally connected to each OTA's output to complement the OTA's wide dynamic range. The bias currents of the Darlington output buffers on the LM13700 are independent of the Iabc pin. This may result in performance superior to that of the LM13600 in audio applications. This chip historically has been useful in audio electronics, especially in analog synthesizer circuits like voltage controlled oscillators, voltage controlled filters, and voltage controlled amplifiers.
A fully differential amplifier (FDA) is a DC-coupled high-gain electronic voltage amplifier with differential inputs and differential outputs. In its ordinary usage, the output of the FDA is controlled by two feedback paths which, because of the amplifier's high gain, almost completely determine the output voltage for any given input.
Current differencing transconductance amplifier (CDTA) is a new active circuit element.
The input offset voltage is a parameter defining the differential DC voltage required between the inputs of an amplifier, especially an operational amplifier (op-amp), to make the output zero.
The Miller theorem refers to the process of creating equivalent circuits. It asserts that a floating impedance element, supplied by two voltage sources connected in series, may be split into two grounded elements with corresponding impedances. There is also a dual Miller theorem with regards to impedance supplied by two current sources connected in parallel. The two versions are based on the two Kirchhoff's circuit laws.
In electronics, a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) is a current to voltage converter, almost exclusively implemented with one or more operational amplifiers. The TIA can be used to amplify the current output of Geiger–Müller tubes, photo multiplier tubes, accelerometers, photo detectors and other types of sensors to a usable voltage. Current to voltage converters are used with sensors that have a current response that is more linear than the voltage response. This is the case with photodiodes where it is not uncommon for the current response to have better than 1% nonlinearity over a wide range of light input. The transimpedance amplifier presents a low impedance to the photodiode and isolates it from the output voltage of the operational amplifier. In its simplest form a transimpedance amplifier has just a large valued feedback resistor, Rf. The gain of the amplifier is set by this resistor and because the amplifier is in an inverting configuration, has a value of -Rf. There are several different configurations of transimpedance amplifiers, each suited to a particular application. The one factor they all have in common is the requirement to convert the low-level current of a sensor to a voltage. The gain, bandwidth, as well as current and voltage offsets change with different types of sensors, requiring different configurations of transimpedance amplifiers.
The diamond buffer or diamond follower is a four-transistor, two-stage, push-pull, translinear emitter follower, or less commonly source follower, in which the input transistors are folded, or placed upside-down with respect to the output transistors. Like any unity buffer, the diamond buffer does not alter the phase and magnitude of input voltage signal; its primary purpose is to interface a high-impedance voltage source with a low-impedance, high-current load. Unlike the more common compound emitter follower, where each input transistor drives the output transistor of the same polarity, each input transistor of a diamond buffer drives the output transistor of the opposite polarity. When the transistors operate in close thermal contact, the input transistors stabilize the idle current of the output pair, eliminating the need for a bias spreader.
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