Homework Assignment 4 Solution

Question 1 (Linear Regulators) Below is the schematic of a circuit that use a 5 V, three-
terminal regulator to generate some higher regulated output voltage. The data sheet for the
LM7805 indicate that the quiescent bias current, , is less than 8 mA. Design, by specifying
values for and , a 12 V regulator. (8 points)

Given that could be less that 8 mA, what is the minimum value for (2 points)

Solution

The regulator maintains a constant 5 V across so that the current flowing through is
. The current flowing through is then . The output voltage is

Choose so that variations in are minimized. For example, choose

. Then, . Choose the nearest standard
value. Then

Solving for yields . These calculations assume , the maximum value.

If then

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Question 2 (Linear Regulators) Modern three-terminal linear voltage regulators are very easy
to use, and a great boon to designers. However, a caveat with most of these regulators is that
they require two capacitors and (see below) for reliable operation.

(a) Explain the purpose of and . (2 points each)

(b) If these capacitors are so important, then why don’t IC manufacturers integrate them into
their regulators? (2 points)

Solution

is a decoupling capacitor that removes some of high-frequency noise that may be present on
the input. Internally, the regulator uses a feedback loop to stabilize the output voltage at a (near)
fixed value. ensures that this feedback loop is stable.

Capacitors consume large IC real estate and it is impractical or uneconomical to integrate a high-
voltage, capacitor. However, there are three-terminal regulators on the market that
integrate the capacitor

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Question 3 (Concepts) The datasheet for a 5 V, three-terminal regulator indicate that the
output voltage typically changes by 3 mV when the input voltage is varied from 7 V to 25 V, and
by 5 mV when the load current is varied from 0.25 A to 0.75 A. Further, the ripple rejection
ratio is 78 dB at 120 Hz.

(a) Estimate the typical line- and load regulation for the regulator. (2-points each)
(b) What is the output resistance of the regulator? (2 points)
(c) Estimate the output ripple amplitude for every volt of input ripple at 120 Hz. (2 points)

Hint

“NL” means “No Load”, and “FL” means ‘Full Load”

Here is the input (line) voltage.

Solution

Part(a)

Part (b)

Part (c)

Thus, a 1-V, 120-Hz ripple at the input will result in an output ripple of 0.126 mV

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Question 4 (Components) State and briefly (1–2 sentences) explain two benefits of operating
photodiodes under reverse bias (4 points)

Solution

Benefit 1. Reverse bias increases the depletion region of the diode, which is where
photons are converted to electron-hole pairs. Thus, increasing the reverse bias voltage
effectively increases the diode’s active area.

Benefit 2. Reverse bias reduces the junction capacitance, improving the photodiode
response time (making it faster).

Question 5 (Components) Assume a TRC of +150 ppm/˚C for a 1K resistor. If the ambient
temperature rises from 25 ˚C to 30 ˚C, determine the change in the resistor’s value. (4 points)

Answer

Question 6 (Components) Calculate the thermal noise generated by a 10K resistor in a 10 kHz
bandwidth at room temperature. (2 points)

Answer

Question 7 (Components) A circuit diagram specifies a capacitor as 18 pF, 4,000V, and N750.
What does the “N750” part mean? Be as specific as possible. (2 points)

Answer

This refers to the temperature coefficient of the capacitor. “N” means negative, and “750” means
750 parts-per-million (ppm) per degree Celcius. Thus, the temperature coefficient of the
capacitor is –750 ppm/°C

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Question 8 (Components) A 0.22 F capacitor is charged to 5 V. Now assume a 50 ms, 1-A
(constant) current pulse drawn from the capacitor. What is the resulting voltage across the
capacitor? (2 points)

Answer

A 0.22 F capacitor is charged to 5 V. contains a charge of . A 50

ms, 1A discharge is equivalent to a charge of , and the charge remaining
after the pulse is 1.05 C. Thus, the voltage across the capacitor is

Question 9 (Concepts) The secondary voltage of the transformer below, namely is 40 V (i.e.,
18V peak-to-peak). What is the minimum PIV rating for the rectifier diodes? (2 points)

Solution

This problem was poorly posed, and to not penalize students, the T.A. will reduce the
maximum score for the total homework assignment by 2 points.

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Problem 10. (Buck) For a buck regulator with smoothing capacitor with value and ESR = 0,
the output ripple voltage is

(a) Derive an expression for the output ripple voltage amplitude for the case when
(10 points)
(b) Next calculate the ripple voltage for and
(5 points)

Solution

Part (a) The capacitor current approximately equals the time-varying component of the inductor
current, namely . This current develops a voltage . Note however, that this
voltage is out of phase with the capacitor voltage. The total ripple voltage is then

Part (b)

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Question 11 (Linear Power Supplies) Each of the circuits below has a serious flaw. Identify
and briefly describe the serious them. (2 points each)

(a)

(b)

(c)

Solution

Circuit (a): The 7915 regulator cannot generate a negative voltage. Rather, it needs a negative
voltage input voltage.

Circuit (b): There is no smoothing capacitor after the bridge rectifier.

Circuit (c): There is no current limiting resistor for the Zener diode.

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Question 12 When researching part numbers for three-terminal regulators, an engineer
encounters the term “LDO”. What does “LDO” stand for? (2 points)

Answer: “Low Drop Out”

Question 13 The output voltage of a three-terminal voltage regulator is 5 V @ 5 mA load, and

4.96 V @ 1.5 A load. What is the regulator’s output resistance? (2 points)

Answer.