ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I rejoice in expressing my prodigious gratification to Mr. Diwakar

Agrawal, Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering
Department, G.L.A. Institute of Technology & Management, Mathura for his
indispensable guidance, generous help, perpetual encouragement, constant
attention offered throughout in preparing the mini project.

LIST OF CONTENTS
1 | Page

Abstract...4
Introduction....4
Component List..5
Component Description....6
Circuit Diagram....18
Working Principle....18
Observation & Simulation Results.19
Conclusion.....19
Bibliography.19

2 | Page

 Abstract
Here is the circuit for a portable electric LED flasher. It uses nine LEDs. When the
IC555 output is high all the LEDs remain 'off, 'and when the IC 555 output is low LEDs
remains 'off.'
The circuit is built around timer IC 555 (IC1), which is wired as an astable multi vibrator
generating square wave. The output of IC1 drives transistor Q1.

Introduction
FLASHERS FOR DIWALI
The circuit is a LED Flasher whose flashing speed depends on the output square wave
frequency of the IC 555.When the output of the IC 555 is high ,the transistor Q1 is on and
the LEDS are OFF and when the output of IC555 is Low then transistor Q1 is OFF and the
LEDS are ON.

About Multisim
NI Multisim
NI Multisim (formerly MultiSIM) is an electronic schematic capture and simulation
program which is part of a suite of circuit design programs, along with NI Ultiboard.
Multisim is one of the few circuit design programs to employ the original Berkeley SPICE
based software simulation. Multisim was originally created by a company named Electronics
Workbench, which is now a division of National Instruments. Multisim includes
microcontroller simulation (formerly known as MultiMCU), as well as integrated import and
export features to the Printed Circuit Board layout software in the suite, NI Ultiboard.
Multisim is widely used in academia and industry for circuits education, electronic
schematic design and SPICE simulation.

HISTORY

3 | Page

Multisim was originally called Electronics Workbench and created by a company

called Interactive Image Technologies. At the time it was mainly used as an educational tool
to teach electronics technician and electronics engineering programs in colleges and
universities. National Instruments has maintained this educational legacy, with a specific
version of Multisim with features developed for teaching electronics.
In 1999, Multisim was integrated with Ultiboard after the original company merged
with Ultimate Technology, a PCB layout software company.
In 2005, Interactive Image Technologies was acquired by National Instruments
Electronics Workbench Group and Multisim was renamed to NI Multisim.

What Is NI Multisim?
Multisim equips educators, students, and professionals with the tools to analyze
circuit behavior. The intuitive and easy-to-use software platform combines schematic
capture and industry-standard SPICE simulation into a single integrated environment.
Multisim abstracts the complexities and difficulties of traditional syntax-based simulation,
so we no longer need to be an expert in SPICE to simulate and analyze circuits. Multisim is
available in two distinct versions to meet the teaching needs of educators or the design needs
of professionals.
Multisim makes it easier to engage students and reinforce theory. Educators
worldwide are using the academic features of the Multisim education edition to foster
learning and guide student exploration of circuit concepts. Using what-if experiments and
simulation-driven instruments to visualize circuit behavior, students gain intuition and a
deeper understanding of circuit concepts.
Engineers, researchers, and domain experts use the Multisim environment for
schematic capture, SPICE simulation, and circuit design. Without needing any expertise in
SPICE, engineers can use simulation to reduce prototype iterations earlier in the design flow.
Multisim can be used to identify errors, validate design behavior, and prototype faster.

4 | Page

Schematics can then be transferred to NI Ultiboard layout to prototype completed printed

circuit boards (PCBs).

Component List
1. Resistance.
a) 2 resistances of 1.6 K
b) 1 resistances of 1K.
c) 1 resistance of 100 ohm.

2. BJT Transistor
a) NPN BJT transistor BC547BP.

3. Capacitor
a) 2 capacitors of 100nF.

4. IC 555.
5. 12 V DC Power Supply.
6. LED
a) 3 RED LIGHT LED.
b) 3 GREEN LIGHT LED.
c) 3 SKY BLUE LIGHT LED.

Component Description
Resistance
Resistors "resist" the flow of electrical current. The higher the value of
resistance

(measured

in

ohms)

the

lower

the

current

will

be.

Resistors are color coded. To read the color code of a common 4 band 1K
ohm resistor with a 5% tolerance, start at the opposite side of the GOLD tolerance band and
read from left to right. Write down the corresponding number from the color chart below
for the 1st color band (BROWN). To the right of that number, write the corresponding
number for the 2nd band (BLACK) . Now multiply that number (you should have 10) by
the corresponding multiplier number of the 3rd band (RED)(100). Your answer will be 1000
or

5 | Page

1K.

It's

that

easy.

* If a resistor has 5 color bands, write the corresponding number of the 3rd band to the
right of the 2nd before you multiply by the corresponding number of the multiplier band. If
you only have 4 color bands that include a tolerance band, ignore this column and go
straight to the multiplier.
The tolerance band is usually gold or silver, but some may have none. Because
resistors are not the exact value as indicated by the color bands, manufactures have included
a tolorance color band to indicate the accuracy
of the resistor. Gold band indicates the resistor
is within 5% of what is indicated. Silver =
10% and None = 20%. Others are shown in
the chart below. The 1K ohm resistor in the
example

(left),

may

have

an

actual

measurement any where from 950 ohms to

1050

ohms.
If a resistor does not have a tolerance band, start from the band closest to a lead.

This will be the 1st band. If you are unable to read the color bands, then you'll have to use
your

multimeter.

Be

sure

to

zero

it

out

first!

Resistor Color Codes

1st Band # 2nd Band #

*3rd Band #

Multiplier x

Tolerances %

Black

Brown

10

1%

Red

100

2%

Orange

1000

Yellow

10,000

6 | Page

Green

100,000

0.5 %

Blue

1,000,000

0.25 %

Violet

10,000,000

0.10 %

Grey

100,000,000

0.05 %

White

1,000,000,000

Gold

0.1

5%

Silver

0.01

10 %

None

20 %

BJT Transistor
Working

Fig.NPN BJT with forward-biased EB junction and reverse-biased

BC junction
An NPN transistor can be considered as two diodes with a shared anode. In typical
operation, the base-emitter junction is forward biased and the basecollector junction is
reverse biased. In an NPN transistor, for example, when a positive voltage is applied to the
baseemitter junction, the equilibrium between thermally generated carriers and the
repelling electric field of the depletion region becomes unbalanced, allowing thermally

7 | Page

excited electrons to inject into the base region. These electrons wander (or "diffuse") through
the base from the region of high concentration near the emitter towards the region of low
concentration near the collector. The electrons in the base are called minority carriers
because the base is doped p-type which would make holes the majority carrier in the base.
To minimize the percentage of carriers that recombine before reaching the collector
base junction, the transistor's base region must be thin enough that carriers can diffuse across
it in much less time than the semiconductor's minority carrier lifetime. In particular, the
thickness of the base must be much less than the diffusion length of the electrons. The
collectorbase junction is reverse-biased, and so little electron injection occurs from the
collector to the base, but electrons that diffuse through the base towards the collector are
swept into the collector by the electric field in the depletion region of the collectorbase
junction. The thin shared base and asymmetric collectoremitter doping is what
differentiates a bipolar transistor from two separate and oppositely biased diodes connected
in series.

Voltage, current, and charge control

The collectoremitter current can be viewed as being controlled by the baseemitter
current (current control), or by the baseemitter voltage (voltage control). These views are
related by the currentvoltage relation of the baseemitter junction, which is just the usual
exponential currentvoltage curve of a p-n junction (diode).
The physical explanation for collector current is the amount of minority-carrier
charge in the base region. Detailed models of transistor action, such as the GummelPoon
model, account for the distribution of this charge explicitly to explain transistor behavior
more exactly. The charge-control view easily handles phototransistors, where minority
carriers in the base region are created by the absorption of photons, and handles the
dynamics of turn-off, or recovery time, which depends on charge in the base region
recombining. However, because base charge is not a signal that is visible at the terminals,
the current- and voltage-control views are generally used in circuit design and analysis.

8 | Page

In analog circuit design, the current-control view is sometimes used because it is

approximately linear. That is, the collector current is approximately F times the base
current. Some basic circuits can be designed by assuming that the emitterbase voltage is
approximately constant, and that collector current is beta times the base current. However, to
accurately and reliably design production BJT circuits, the voltage-control (for example,
EbersMoll) model is required.[1] The voltage-control model requires an exponential
function to be taken into account, but when it is linearized such that the transistor can be
modelled as a transconductance, as in the EbersMoll model, design for circuits such as
differential amplifiers again becomes a mostly linear problem, so the voltage-control view is
often preferred. For translinear circuits, in which the exponential IV curve is key to the
operation, the transistors are usually modelled as voltage controlled with transconductance
proportional to collector current. In general, transistor level circuit design is performed using
SPICE or a comparable analog circuit simulator, so model complexity is usually not of much
concern to the designer.

Turn-on, turn-off, and storage delay

The Bipolar transistor exhibits a few delay characteristics when turning on and off.
Most transistors, and especially power transistors, exhibit long base-storage times that limit
maximum frequency of operation in switching applications. One method for reducing this
storage time is by using a Baker clamp.

Transistor 'alpha' and 'beta'

The proportion of electrons able to cross the base and reach the collector is a
measure of the BJT efficiency. The heavy doping of the emitter region and light doping of
the base region causes many more electrons to be injected from the emitter into the base than
holes to be injected from the base into the emitter. The common-emitter current gain is
represented by F or hFE; it is approximately the ratio of the DC collector current to the DC
base current in forward-active region. It is typically greater than 100 for small-signal
transistors but can be smaller in transistors designed for high-power applications. Another
important parameter is the common-base current gain, F. The common-base current gain is

9 | Page

approximately the gain of current from emitter to collector in the forward-active region. This
ratio usually has a value close to unity; between 0.98 and 0.998. Alpha and beta are more
precisely related by the following identities (NPN transistor):

Function
Transistors amplify current, for example they can be used to amplify the small
output current from a logic IC so that it can operate a lamp, relay or other high current
device. In many circuits a resistor is used to convert the changing current to a changing
voltage, so the transistor is being used to amplify voltage.
A transistor may be used as a switch (either fully on with maximum current, or fully
off with no current) and as an amplifier (always partly on).
The amount of current amplification is called the current gain,

Coding
Codes beginning with B (or A), for example BC108, BC478
The first letter B is for silicon, A is for germanium (rarely used now). The second
letter indicates the type; for example C means low power audio frequency; D means high
power audio frequency; F means low power high frequency. The rest of the code identifies
the particular transistor. There is no obvious logic to the numbering system. Sometimes a
letter is added to the end (eg BC108C) to identify a special version of the main type, for
example a higher current gain or a different case style. If a project specifies a higher gain
version (BC108C) it must be used, but if the general code is given (BC108) any transistor
with that code is suitable.

Capacitor
This is a measure of a capacitor's ability to store charge. A large capacitance means that
more charge can be stored. Capacitance is measured in farads, symbol F
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There are many types of capacitor but they can be split into two groups, polarised and
unpolarised. Each group has its own circuit symbol.
Polarised capacitors (large values, 1F +)

Examples:

Circuit symbol:

Electrolytic Capacitors
Electrolytic capacitors are polarised and they must be connected the correct way
round, at least one of their leads will be marked + or -. They are not damaged by heat when
soldering.
There are two designs of electrolytic capacitors; axial where the leads are attached to
each end (220F in picture) and radial where both leads are at the same end (10F in
picture). Radial capacitors tend to be a little smaller and they stand upright on the circuit
board.
It is easy to find the value of electrolytic capacitors because they are clearly printed
with their capacitance and voltage rating. The voltage rating can be quite low (6V for
example) and it should always be checked when selecting an electrolytic capacitor. If the
project parts list does not specify a voltage, choose a capacitor with a rating which is greater
than the project's power supply voltage. 25V is a sensible minimum for most battery circuits.

11 | P a g e

Tantalum Bead Capacitors

Tantalum bead capacitors are polarised and have low voltage ratings like electrolytic
capacitors. They are expensive but very small, so they are used where a large capacitance is
needed in a small size.
Modern tantalum bead capacitors are printed with their capacitance, voltage and
polarity in full. However older ones use a colour-code system which has two stripes (for the
two digits) and a spot of colour for the number of zeros to give the value in F. The standard
colour code is used, but for the spot, grey is used to mean 0.01 and white means 0.1 so
that values of less than 10F can be shown. A third colour stripe near the leads shows the
voltage (yellow 6.3V, black 10V, green 16V, blue 20V, grey 25V, white 30V, pink 35V). The
positive (+) lead is to the right when the spot is facing you: 'when the spot is in sight, the
positive is to the right'.
For

example:

blue,

grey,

black

spot

means

68F

For

example:

blue,

grey,

white

spot

means

6.8F

For

example:

blue,

grey,

grey

spot

means

0.68F

Unpolarised capacitors (small values, up to 1F)

Examples:

Circuit symbol:
Small value capacitors are unpolarised and may be connected either way round. They
are not damaged by heat when soldering, except for one unusual type (polystyrene). They
have high voltage ratings of at least 50V, usually 250V or so. It can be difficult to find the

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values of these small capacitors because there are many types of them and several different
labelling systems!
Many small value capacitors have their value printed but without a
multiplier, so you need to use experience to work out what the multiplier
should be!
For example 0.1 means 0.1F = 100nF.
Sometimes

the

multiplier

is

used

in

place

of

the

decimal

point:

For example: 4n7 means 4.7nF.

Capacitor Number Code

A number code is often used on small capacitors where printing is difficult:

the 1st number is the 1st digit,

the 2nd number is the 2nd digit,

the 3rd number is the number of zeros to give the capacitance in pF.

Ignore any letters - they just indicate tolerance and voltage rating.

For example: 102 means 1000pF = 1nF (not 102pF!)

For example: 472J means 4700pF = 4.7nF (J means 5% tolerance).

IC 555
IC555 as Astable Multivibrator
The astable multivibrator generates a square wave, the periodof which is determined
by the circuit external to IC 555. The astable multivibrator does not require any external
trigger to change the state of theoutput. Hence the name free running oscillator. The time
during which the output is either high or low is determined by the two resistors and

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a capacitor which are externally connected to the 555 timer.The above figure shows the 555
timer connected as an astable multivibrator.

Initially when the output is high capacitor C starts charging towards Vcc through RA and RB.

14 | P a g e

However as soon as the voltage across the capacitor equals 2/3 Vcc , comparator1
triggers the flip-flop and the output switches to low state.Now capacitor C discharges
through RB and the transistor Q1. When voltage across C equals 1/3 Vcc, comparator 2s
output triggers the flip- flop and the output goes high. Then the cycle repeats.
The capacitor is periodically charged and discharged between 2/3 Vcc and 1/3 Vcc
respectively. The time during which the capacitor charges from 1/3 Vcc to 2/3 Vcc is equal to
the time the output remains high and is given by

where RA and RB are in ohms and C is in Farads. Similarly the time during which the
capacitor discharges from 2/3 Vcc to 1/3 Vcc is equal to thetime the output is low and is given
by

Thus the total time period of the output waveform is

Therefore the frequency of oscillation

The output frequency, f is independent of the supply voltage Vcc.

The output waveform may be observed in the waveform viewer.

15 | P a g e

 12 Volt DC power supply.

LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator
lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting. Introduced as a practical
electronic component in 1962, early LEDs emitted low-intensity red light, but modern
versions are available across the visible, ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths, with very high
brightness.
When a light-emitting diode is forward biased (switched on), electrons are able to
recombine with electron holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons.
This effect is called electroluminescence and the color of the light (corresponding to the
energy of the photon) is determined by the energy gap of the semiconductor. LEDs are often
small in area (less than 1 mm2), and integrated optical components may be used to shape its
radiation pattern.[4] LEDs present many advantages over incandescent light sources including
lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved robustness, smaller size, and faster
switching. LEDs powerful enough for room lighting are relatively expensive and require
more precise current and heat management than compact fluorescent lamp sources of
comparable output.
Light-emitting diodes are used in applications as diverse as replacements for aviation
lighting, automotive lighting (particularly brake lamps, turn signals and indicators) as well
16 | P a g e

as in traffic signals. LEDs have allowed new text, video displays, and sensors to be
developed, while their high switching rates are also useful in advanced communications
technology. Infrared LEDs are also used in the remote control units of many commercial
products including televisions, DVD players, and other domestic appliances.

Parts of an LED. Although not directly labeled, the flat bottom surfaces of the anvil
and post embedded inside the epoxy act as anchors, to prevent the conductors from being
forcefully pulled out from mechanical strain or vibration.

Working Of LED
The LED consists of a chip of semiconducting material doped with impurities to
create a p-n junction. As in other diodes, current flows easily from the p-side, or anode, to
the n-side, or cathode, but not in the reverse direction. Charge-carrierselectrons and holes
flow into the junction from electrodes with different voltages. When an electron meets a
hole, it falls into a lower energy level, and releases energy in the form of a photon.

17 | P a g e

The wavelength of the light emitted, and thus its color depends on the band gap
energy of the materials forming the p-n junction. In silicon or germanium diodes, the
electrons and holes recombine by a non-radiative transition which produces no optical
emission, because these are indirect band gap materials. The materials used for the LED
have a direct band gap with energies corresponding to near-infrared, visible or nearultraviolet light.

Fig.The inner workings of an LED

Fig.I-V diagram for a diode.

An LED will begin to emit light when the on-voltage is exceeded. Typical on
voltages are 23 volts LED development began with infrared and red devices made with
gallium arsenide. Advances in materials science have enabled making devices with evershorter wavelengths, emitting light in a variety of colors.

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LEDs are usually built on an n-type substrate, with an electrode attached to the ptype layer deposited on its surface. P-type substrates, while less common, occur as well.
Many commercial LEDs, especially GaN/InGaN, also use sapphire substrate.
Most materials used for LED production have very high refractive indices. This means
that much light will be reflected back into the material at the material/air surface interface.
Thus, light extraction in LEDs is an important aspect of LED production, subject to much
research and development.

Circuit Diagram

Working Principle
Working of the circuit is simple. When output pin 3 of IC555 goes high, transistor
Q1 conducts and LEDs are OFF.
When output pin 3 of IC555 goes low.The collector of transistor Q1 is connected to
anodes of all the LEDs (LED1 through LED9). So when Q1 is cut-off the LEDs
glow, and when Q1 conducts the LEDs go off. Current-limiting resistor R4 protects
the

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LEDs

from

higher

currents.

In brief, the LEDs flash alternately depending on the frequency of IC555.

A 12V DC power supply is used to power the circuit.

Observation & Simulation Results

Conclusion
The LEDs flash according to the output frequency of the IC555.
Bibliography
1. http://www.electronicsforu.com/electronicsforu/lab/ad.asp?
url=www.electronicsforu.com/electronicsforu/circuitarchives/view_article.asp?
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

sno=99&title
http://www.the12volt.com/resistors/resistors.asp#calc
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/capac.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipolar_junction_transistor
http://www.ni.com/multisim/whatis.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NI_Multisim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode

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