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This is the first of a set of articles about a new Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) design for
electronic music applications based on a Quadrature Trapezoid wave oscillator core. Here I
want to discuss the basic design, its goals, and applications.
The VCO core is the heart of the oscillator; the part of the circuit responsible for determining
the frequency of oscillation as well as the basic capabilities of the unit. The VCO core is
supplemented with input circuitry to interface with the input control voltages and output
circuitry to provide a number of desired waveforms. So while electronic music VCO's produce
many waveforms, they are almost always implemented as a sawtooth or triangle wave VCO
core with a set of waveshaping circuits to provide the remaining waveforms.
What is a Quadrature Trapezoid? It's a pair of trapezoidshaped waveforms; one is called the
Trapezoid Sine and one is called the Trapezoid Cosine. They're 90 degrees apart so that the
horizontal section of one wave corresponds to the the sloping section of the other. This is what
they look like:
(I made up the terms Quadrature Trapezoid, Trapezoid Sine and Trapezoid Cosine. I also
abbreviate Trapezoid Sine as TSin and Trapezoid Cosine as TCos.)
I offer the quadrature trapezoid VCO core as an alternative to traditional VCO cores for both
the audio and low frequency (control and modulation) ranges.
The quadrature trapezoid VCO has a number of interesting features:
Quadrature outputs
Graceful thruzero FM capability
Exponential, Scaled Linear, and Offset Linear voltage control
Audio or low frequency range
Classic waveforms are easiliy derived from the quadrature trapezoid waves
Phasecorrect classic audio and LFO waveforms available
Multicycle voltage controlled phase shift is possible
(I'll be defining what some of those strange phrases mean later in this article.)
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One of the goals of this project is to create a break with tradition and provide an alternative
VCO design with new features and new modes of operation. The VCO is the primary source
for sounds and modulation sources in electronic music synthesizers, yet it is often said that the
filter is the heart of a synthesizer. This is because there are more available variations in filter
designs and each filter design has side effects that create an interesting sonic character. I'll
claim that this situation is because VCO designs are too much alike, have been stuck in a rut for
a few decades and need to jump in a new direction to be more imaginative and musically
useful. So exploring new territory is important.
Thru-zero FM
The original incentive of this project was the challange of building a VCO that could perform
thruzero Frequency Modulation (FM) this is where a control voltage can tune the oscillator
down through 0 Hz to negative frequencies in a graceful manner. This is a major component of
FM synthesis. While easy to implement in the digital world, it is a really difficult problem in
the analog domain.
Exactly why would anyone want to tune an oscillator to negative frequencies?
FM synthesis
Chorus effect by FM modulating an LFO with an audio signal
Rotating speaker and rotational sound source effects
LFO modulation in general
Local oscillator for a Bode/Moog style frequency shifter
Chaotic systems
Analog computer simulation of rotating objects
Implementing analog thruzero FM that performs gracefully near 0 Hz is especially difficult.
I'd like to be able to run the VCO near 0 Hz and modulate it both positively and negatively from
there, and be able to do so without any glitches. I couldn't find a way to do this with traditional
VCO cores.
In the digital domain:
The standard digital implementation of a VCO incorporates a register containing the frequency
value, an accumulator, and a lookup table. On each clock pulse the value in the frequency
register is added to the accumulator, the carry bit is thrown away, and the accumulator value
maps to a waveform value with a waveform lookup ROM. The digital VCO is easily tuned to
negative frequencies by setting the frequency register to a negative (two's complement) number.
(Now back to analog...)
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20/04/2019 Quadrature Trapezoid VCO: Part 1 Discussion
In an analog sawtooth VCO core, the input control voltage is converted into a current source
that charges the capacitor linearly up to a reference voltage point, at which the capacitor is
quickly discharged.
Taking the sawtooth VCO core to negative frequencies requires ramping in the opposite
direction, sensing a negative reference voltage and also resetting the capacitor voltage in the
other direction. But after the reverse reset the waveform is at a point where it's ready to be
forward reset again. It's very easy for the wave to get stuck at one state or oscillate
inappropriately between the two resets.
The triangle wave VCO core is a better candidate for thruzero operation because there are no
sudden discontinuities. The input control voltage is (effectively) converted into positive and
negative current sources, the positive current source charges the capacitor linearly up to a
positive reference voltage, at that point the VCO switches state and the negative current source
discharges the capacitor linearly down to a negative reference voltage where the VCO switches
state back.
But it turns out to be very difficult to take a triangle VCO core through to negative frequencies.
For one thing, the positive and negative reference voltages could be approached from either the
forward or reverse directions. Hitting the postive reference voltage no longer implies that we
are going forward or that inverting the current source will switch direction.
If the control voltage goes through zero at the same time the triangle wave hits a reference
voltage then it shouldn't be necessary to switch current sources at all. If the wrong decision is
made when the triangle wave hits a reference voltage, the triangle voltage could get lost beyond
the reference voltage.
What exactly defines the states? What exactly defines the transitions between the states? What
about the case where we go to a state boundry and bounce back without actually changing
states? Does the state depend on knowing the polarity of the input control voltage? If so, how
is that affected by real world offset voltages in either the control circuitry or the capacitor
voltages?
I could not find a way to address these issues with a triangle VCO core.
Two Dimensions
The fundamental problem is that voltage is a one dimensional quantity, while waves are
continuous and cyclic; they need two dimensions to physically describe their state accurately.
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The digital VCO addresses the two dimensions with a one dimensional
accumulator value that automatically wraps around as a result of throwing away the
carry bit. There's a discontinuity at the wrap, but there's also a discontinuity on
each clock pulse.
The state of a sawtooth core is described by a continuous voltage plus a momentary
reset state. The oscillator is effectively "off line" during the reset and comes back
when the reset is finished.
The triangle core uses a continuous voltage plus a binary direction for it's two
dimensions. But the points where the binary part changes state are less clearly
defined as the frequency nears 0 Hz.
I decided that I needed two continuous values for my two dimensions. A sine wave and a
cosine wave are an obvious approach, but maintaining the mathematical relationship between
them near 0 Hz is difficult. And it's difficult to derive other waveforms from a quadrature pair
of sines.
The quadrature trapezoid core has two continuous values for its two dimensions, like a
sine/cosine relationship. And the quadrature trapezoid is easy to implement at any given time
one of those values is changing while the other stays constant.
Implementation
Instead of the traditional single ramping capacitor found in a sawtooth or triangle VCO core,
the quadrature trapezoid VCO core uses two separate ramping capacitors. The waveform is
divided up into four quadrants. During each quadrant one capacitor is ramping between a
postive reference voltage ("+VRef") and a negative reference voltage ("VRef") while the other
capacitor is being held at one of those reference voltages.
Here is a plot showing the quadrature trapezoid waveforms and states:
The order of the states is Gray Code, a binary counting system where only one bit changes at a
time. Here we go from binary 00 to 01 to 11 to 10 and back around to 00. Or in reverse.
The state chages when the capacitor that's ramping crosses the positive or negative value of the
capacitor that's being held at a reference voltage.
Here is the state diagram (the colors match the plot above):
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State 0 (TCos < TSin) State 1
Here the states are all well defined, the transitions between the states are well defined, and there
are no discontinuities when transitioning between states. Any offset voltages will only have the
effect of altering the specific point where a transition between adjoining states occurs.
When the states are defined this way, it's very easy to derrive StateA and StateB, the first and
second bits of the state value, by simply comparing the two capacitor voltages:
Here is a block diagram of the quadrature trapezoid VCO core implementation:
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(The second article in this series presents a complete schematic.)
The VCO uses complementary current sources +Icontrol and -Icontrol to ramp the voltages
on capacitors C1 and C2. Each current source is capable of both positive and negative current
flow (sourcing and sinking) and both are controlled by the input control voltages. The current
sources run "pushpull", so the current of one is equal and opposite the current of the other.
S1 and S2 are two halves of a dual 4input analog multiplexer chip. The multiplexors choose
the source for both capacitors for each quadrant as follows:
State to C1 to C2
0 +Icontrol +VRef
1 +VRef -Icontrol
3 -Icontrol -VRef
2 -VRef +Icontrol
+VRef and -VRef are the reference voltages, typically +5.0 V and 5.0 V respectively. The
reference voltages define the amplitude of the trapezoid waveforms.
Voltage followers A1 and A2 buffer the capacitor voltage providing TSin and TCos outputs.
Amplifiers A3 and A4 each have a gain of 1 and provide the -TSin and -TCos outputs.
A5 and A6 are comparators. These provide the StateA and StateB signals, defining which
quadrant we're in, and those feed the analog multiplexer.
StateA and StateB are also available as separate outputs for other purposes (free square waves,
waveshaping, voltage controlled phase shift, etc.).
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Waveforms
A trapezoid is probably not the most useful musical waveform there is. It doesn't have a lot of
harmonic content and the harmonic content it does have contains only odd harmonics. The
waveform also cannot be morphed under voltage control (compared to a square wave which can
have its duty cycle controlled).
However, the quadrature trapezoid is relatively easy to shape into the classic synthesizer
waveforms. And having quadrature phases available allows waveform conversion techniques
that minimize glitches.
The triangle wave is easiest; simply average the TSin and TCos waveforms:
A second triangle wave in quadrature with the first is readily available by choosing the TSin
wave instead of the TSin. And the triangles can be converted to sine waves with the classic
triangle to sine shaper circuit.
It's only slightly more difficult to build a sawtooth wave from a quadrature trapezoid core. One
way is to use the StateB line to switch between two triangle waves:
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Another feature of the quadrature trapezoid core is that, since quadrature phases are available, it
is possible to have much greater control over the phase of the generated waveforms. Phase
correct waveforms are sets of waveforms that are crafted so that their relative phases are
aligned for a particular purpose, and will be the subject of a later article.
Typically VCO's for musical work are exponential; their frequency is an exponential function of
the input control voltage. This is the way we hear; the frequencies of an equal tempered scale
are exponential, and the ratio of one note to the next chromatic note is a constant. To be
especially useful, the input control voltage is typically calibrated to 1.0 Volt/Octave, so
increasing the input control voltage by 1.0 V doubles the frequency and decreasing the input
control voltage by 1.0 V halves the frequency.
An exponential control voltage by itself cannot tune a VCO to negative frequencies; as the
control voltage goes more negative the frequency goes toward zero. Thruzero FM requires
linear frequency control.
When you have both exponential and linear control, there are two ways the linear control can be
implemented; offset linear and scaled linear. (I made up those terms also.)
In the offset linear case, the linear control is added after the exponentional control:
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Where:
Fvco is the frequency of the VCO in Hertz
Fexp0 is the frequency in Hertz with a 0 V exponential control voltage
Vexp is the exponential control voltage in Volts
Klin is the linear scaling constant, in Hz/Volts
Voffsetlin is the offset linear control voltage, in Volts
A typical application of offset linear control would be to detune an oscillator by a fixed amount
for a chorus effect. This would involve a very low value Klin constant and the oscillator would
only go to negative frequencies at low values of Vexp.
In the scaled linear case, the linear control is effectly placed before the exponential control and
therefore scaled or multiplied by it:
Where:
is the scaled linear control voltage in Volts
Vscaledlin
Vscaledlin might be nominally held at 1.0 V, raised to 2.0 V to double the frequency of the VCO,
or lowered to 1.0 V to bring it down to the mirrorimage negative frequency. This arrangement
is much more useful for FM Synthesis.
Here is a block diagram of the circuit I use to generate +Icontrol and -Icontrol:
A1 and A2 are Operational Transconductance Amplifiers (OTA's). An OTA is an opamplike
device whose output is a current source with a current propotianal to the differential input
voltage. The OTA gain is a transconductance, and is proportional to the bias input current. An
exponential control voltage input, Vexp, drives an exponential converter which provides the bias
currents for the two OTAs.
Of course you can have both scaled linear and offset linear inputs:
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And of course this would lead to a discussion about the most appropriate value of Klin, which
would lead to making it voltage controlled over a wide range. Which is effectively the same as
a pair of scaled linear controls in parallel. And it is completely practical to parallel multiples of
the above circuit.
While the Yamaha DX7 synthesizer is well known for its use of FM Synthesis, it really works
with phase modulation. (The phrase FM Synthesis is used as a generic term to describe both
frequency and phase modulation.) So analog versions of many DX7 algorithms are good
applications for voltage controlled phase shift.
Summary
This article is an introduction to the quadrature trapezoid VCO describing the basic operations
and features and suggesting some possibilities. Future articles will explore this more.
References
ASM1 Analog Synthesizer Module,
Gene Stop and Magnus Danielson.
Moog Modular System Technical Service Manual,
Norlin Music.
ARP 2600 Service Manual,
ARP Instruments, Inc., September 1977.
The Synthesis of Complex Audio Spectra by Means of Frequency Modulation,
John M. Chowning, Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, 1973.
US Patent 4,018,121: Method of Synthesizing a Musical Sound,
John M. Chowning, Issued April 19, 1977
US 4,018,121 at the USPTO
US 4,018,121 from pat2pdf.org
US Patent 4,554,857: Electronic Musical Instrument Capable of Varying a Tone Synthesis
Operation Algorithm,
Tetsuo Nishimoto, November 26, 1985
US 4,554,857 at the USPTO
US 4,554,857 from pat2pdf.org
Bucha 258B Oscillator Module Schematic,
Don Buchla, June 1970.
CA3280 Dual Operational Transconductance Amplifier,
Intersil data sheet.
Updates
19 July 2003 Originally published.
24 July 2003 Spelling, typos, tweaks.
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Copyright 2003, J. Donald Tillman
don@till.com
http://www.till.com
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