EECS 142

Lecture 8: Distortion Metrics

Prof. Ali M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley Copyright
c

2005 by Ali M. Niknejad

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 1/26

Output Waveform
In general, then, the output waveform is a Fourier series
o1 cos 1 t + V o2 cos 21 t + V o3 cos 31 t + . . . vo = V
o V 100mV

10mV

1mV

Gain Compression Higher Order Distortion Products

100V o2 V 10V o3 V 1V

1V

10V

100V

1mV

10mV

i V

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 2/26

Fractional Harmonic Distortion

The fractional second-harmonic distortion is a commonly cited metric ampl of second harmonic HD2 = ampl of fund If we assume that the square power dominates the second-harmonic
HD2 =
2 S1 a2 2

a1 S1
1 a2 2 a S1 1

or
HD2 =

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 3/26

Third Harmonic Distortion

The fractional third harmonic distortion is given by ampl of third harmonic HD3 = ampl of fund If we assume that the cubic power dominates the third harmonic 2 S1 a3 4 HD3 = a1 S1 or 1 a3 2 HD3 = S1 4 a1

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 4/26

Output Referred Harmonic Distortion

In terms of the output signal Som , if we again neglect gain expansion/compression, we have Som = a1 S1
1 a2 HD2 = Som 2 2 a1 1 a3 2 HD3 = Som 3 4 a1

On a dB scale, the second harmonic increases linearly with a slope of one in terms of the output power whereas the thrid harmonic increases with a slope of 2.

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 5/26

Signal Power
Recall that a general memoryless non-linear system will produce an output that can be written in the following form
o1 cos 1 t + V o2 cos 21 t + V o3 cos 31 t + . . . vo (t) = V

By Parsevals theorem, we know the total power in the signal is related to the power in the harmonics
v 2 (t)dt =
T T j

oj cos(j1 t) V
k

ok cos(k1 t)dt V

=
j
A. M. Niknejad

oj cos(j1 t)V ok cos(k1 t)dt V

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 6/26

Power in Distortion
By the orthogonality of the harmonics, we obtain Parsevals Them
v 2 (t)dt =
T j k 1 oj V ok V jk 2

1 2 j

2 V oj

The power in the distortion relative to the fundamental power is therefore given by
2 V Power in Distortion Vo2 3 2 + o2 + = 2 Power in Fundamental Vo1 Vo1 2 2 2 = HD2 + HD3 + HD4 +

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 7/26

Total Harmonic Distortion

We dene the Total Harmonic Distortion (T HD) by the following expression
T HD =
2 + HD 2 + HD2 3

Based on the particular application, we specify the maximum tolerable T HD Telephone audio can be pretty distorted (T HD < 10%) High quality audio is very sensitive (T HD < 1% to T HD < .001%) Video is also pretty forgiving, T HD < 5% for most applications Analog Repeaters < .001%. RF Ampliers < 0.1%
A. M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 8/26

Intermodulation Distortion
So far we have characterized a non-linear system for a single tone. What if we apply two tones
Si = S1 cos 1 t + S2 cos 2 t
2 3 So = a1 Si + a2 Si + a3 Si +

= a1 S1 cos 1 t + a1 S2 cos 2 t + a3 (Si )3 +

The second power term gives

2 2 a2 S1 cos2 1 t + a2 S2 cos2 2 t + 2a2 S1 S2 cos 1 t cos 2 t

2 2 S1 S2 = a2 (cos 21 t + 1) + a2 (cos 22 t + 1) + 2 2 a2 S1 S2 (cos(1 + 2 )t cos(1 2 )t)

A. M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 9/26

Second Order Intermodulation

The last term cos(1 2 )t is the second-order intermodulation term The intermodulation distortion IM2 is dened when the two input signals have equal amplitude Si = S1 = S2 Amp of Intermod a2 IM2 = = Si Amp of Fund a1 Note the relation between IM2 and HD2
IM2 = 2HD2 = HD2 + 6dB

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 10/26

Practical Effects of IM2

This term produces distortion at a lower frequency 1 2 and at a higher frequency 1 + 2 Example: Say the receiver bandwidth is from 800MHz 2.4GHz and two unwanted interfering signals appear at 800MHz and 900MHz. Then we see that the second-order distortion will produce distortion at 100MHz and 1.7GHz. Since 1.7GHz is in the receiver band, signals at this frequency will be corrupted by the distortion. A weak signal in this band can be swamped by the distortion. Apparently, a narrowband system does not suffer from IM2 ? Or does it ?
A. M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 11/26

Low-IF Receiver
In a low-IF or direct conversion receiver, the signal is down-converted to a low intermediate frequency fIF Since 1 2 can potentially produce distortion at low frequency, IM2 is very important in such systems Example: A narrowband system has a receiver bandwidth of 1.9GHz - 2.0GHz. A sharp input lter eliminates any interference outside of this band. The IF frequency is 1MHz Imagine two interfering signals appear at f1 = 1.910GHz and f2 = 1.911GHz. Notice that f2 f1 = fIF Thus the output of the amplier/mixer generate distortion at the IF frequency, potentially disrupting the communication.
A. M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 12/26

Cubic IM
Now lets consider the output of the cubic term
3 a3 s3 = a ( S cos t + S cos t ) 3 1 1 2 2 i

Lets rst notice that the rst and last term in the expansion are the same as the cubic distortion with a single input
3 a3 S1 ,2

(cos 31,2 t + 3 cos 1,2 t)

The cross terms look like

3 2 a3 S1 S2 cos 1 t cos2 2 t 2
A. M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 13/26

Third Order IM
Which can be simplied to
3 3 cos 1 t cos 2 t = cos 1 t(1 + cos 22 t) = 2
2

3 3 = cos 1 t + cos(22 1 ) 2 4 The interesting term is the intermodulation at 22 1

By symmetry, then, we also generate a term like

3 2 a3 S1 S2 4 cos(21 2 )

Notice that if 1 2 , then the intermodulation 22 1 1

A. M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 14/26

Inband IM3 Distortion

S ( )

Interfering Signals wanted distortion product

3 21

1 2 2 22 1

Now we see that even if the system is narrowband, the output of an amplier can contain in band intermodulation due to IM3 . This is in contrast to IM2 where the frequency of the intermodulation was at a lower and higher frequency. The IM3 frequency can fall in-band for two in-band interferer
A. M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 15/26

Denition of IM3
We dene IM3 in a similar manner for Si = S1 = S2 Amp of Third Intermod 3 a3 2 = IM3 = Si Amp of Fund 4 a1 Note the relation between IM3 and HD3
IM3 = 3HD3 = HD3 + 10dB

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 16/26

Complete Two-Tone Response

S ( ) 2 1 22 21

1 + 2 1 2 31 21 22 2 32 1 31 21 22 2 22 1 32 21
A. M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley

31 32 21 + 2 22 + 1

We have so far identied the harmonics and IM2 and IM3 products A more detailed analysis shows that an order n non-linearity can produce intermodulation at frequencies j1 k2 where j + k = n All tones are spaced by the difference 2 1
EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 17/26

Distortion of AM Signals
Consider a simple AM signal (modulated by a single tone) s(t) = S2 (1 + m cos m t) cos 2 t where the modulation index m 1. This can be written as m m s(t) = S2 cos 2 t + cos(2 m )t + cos(2 + m )t 2 2 The rst term is the RF carrier and the last terms are the modulation sidebands

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 18/26

Cross Modulation
Cross modulation occurs in AM systems (e.g. video cable tuners) The modulation of a large AM signal transfers to another carrier going thru the same amp
Si = S1 cos 1 t + S2 (1 + m cos m t) cos 2 t
wanted interferer

CM occurs when the output contains a term like

K (1 + cos m t) cos 1 t

Where is called the transferred modulation index

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 19/26

Cross Modulation (cont)

For So = a1 Si + a2 Si2 + a3 Si3 + , the term a2 Si2 does not produce any CM The term 3 = + 3a S cos t (S (1 + m cos t) cos t)2 is a3 Si 3 1 1 2 m 2 expanded to
2 cos 1 t(1 + 2m cos m t + m2 cos2 m t) = + 3a3 S1 S2 1 2 (1 + cos 22 t)

Grouping terms we have in the output

a3 2 So = + a1 S1 (1 + 3 S2 m cos m t) cos 1 t a1

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 20/26

CM Denition

unmodulated waveform (input)

modulated waveform due to CM

Transferred Modulation Index CM = Incoming Modulation Index a3 2 CM = 3 S2 = 4IM3 a1

= IM3 (dB) + 12dB = 12HD3 = HD3 (dB) + 22dB
A. M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 21/26

Distortion of BJT Ampliers

VCC RL vo + vs

Consider the CE BJT amplier shown. The biasing is omitted for clarity.

The output voltage is simply

Vo = VCC IC RC

Therefore the distortion is generated by IC alone. Recall that IC = IS eqVBE /kT

A. M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 22/26

BJT CE Distortion (cont)

Now assume the input VBE = vi + VQ , where VQ is the bias point. The current is therefore given by
IC = IS e
VQ VT

vi VT

IQ

Using a Taylor expansion for the exponential

1 2 1 3 e = 1 + x + x + x + 2! 3!
x

1 vi + IC = IQ (1 + VT 2

vi VT

1 + 6

vi VT

+ )

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 23/26

BJT CE Distortion (cont)

Dene the output signal ic = IC IQ
IQ 1 q vi + ic = VT 2 kT
2 2 IQ vi

1 q + 6 kT

3 + IQ vi

Compare to So = a1 Si + a2 Si2 + a3 Si3 +

qIQ a1 = = gm kT 1 q a2 = 2 kT 1 q a3 = 6 kT
A. M. Niknejad University of California, Berkeley

IQ
3

IQ

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 24/26

Example: BJT HD2

For any BJT (Si, SiGe, Ge, GaAs), we have the following result i 1 qv HD2 = 4 kT where v i is the peak value of the input sine voltage For v i = 10mV, HD2 = 0.1 = 10% We can also express the distortion as a function of the output current swing i c
1i 1 a2 c S = HD2 = om 2 a2 4 IQ 1

For
A. M. Niknejad

i c IQ

= 0.4, HD2 = 10%

University of California, Berkeley EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 25/26

Example: BJT IM3

Lets see the maximum allowed signal for IM3 1%
3 a3 2 1 S1 = IM3 = 4 a1 8 qv i kT
2

Solve v i = 7.3mV. Thats a pretty small voltage. For practical applications wed like to improve the linearity of this amplier.

A. M. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

EECS 142 Lecture 8 p. 26/26