Abstract recently a fourth circuit element, predicted four

decades ago, has been discovered by HP researchers. This

device, known as the memristor, is basically a resistance with
memory that can be used as a tunable gain in control systems.
In this paper the memristor experimental characteristic is
modeled with a describing function and used to predict
oscillations in closed loop systems with linear plants.

I. INTRODUCTION
our decades ago a fourth circuit element was predicted
based on symmetry considerations to link the four
electric circuit variables, current, voltage, flux, and
charge [1]. This new element, known as the memristor, was
recently found by a group of researchers from HP. Basically
the memristor is a resistance with memory; when a voltage
is applied to this element, its resistance can be changed and
remains on that particular value when the source is removed.
The main difference between the memristor (M) and the
three traditional circuit elements (R, L, C) is the nonlinear
input output characteristic [2].
In control systems the memristor can be used as a tunable
gain, but it is necessary to have a mathematical model for
analysis purposes. Here a describing function is formulated
for the memristor then it is used to predict oscillations in a
closed loop system with a linear system as the plant and the
memristor as controller.
The paper is organized as follows: section two presents the
device known as memristor, the operating principle, and its
voltage current characteristic. Section three introduces the
closed loop with the memristor as tunable gain; the error
control input characteristic is modeled with a describing
function; an example illustrates the application of the
describing function to predict the frequency and amplitude
of closed loop oscillations. In section four the harmonic
balance technique is used to find the memristor describing
function without piecewise linear approximations. Finally
section five presents the conclusions.
II. MEMRISTOR
The HP memristor has three layers metal/oxide/metal as
shown in figure 1; the oxide layer has two regions, one with
insulating TiO
2
and one with oxygen vacancies TiO
2 - x
. The
frontier between both regions is mobile and can be changed
by the applied voltage; the boundary TiO
2
- TiO
2 x
does not
move when the source is removed. This property makes the
device behave as a resistance with memory. When a voltage
is applied to the memristor, the oxygen vacancies act as
mobile dopants increasing or decreasing the insulating

1
The author is with the Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Department of the National University of Colombia at Bogota.
Email: adelgado@ieee.org.
region which in turn changes the resistance of the whole
device.



Fig.1. Memristor: there are three layers, metal oxide - metal. The oxide
has two regions that depend on the concentration of oxide
vacancies.



Fig.2. Experimental voltage current characteristic for the memristor,
notice the nonlinear change in resistance. This v - i characteristic is
known as the pinched hysteresis loop.

The Memristor as Controller
A. Delgado
1

F

2010 IEEE Nanotechnology Materials and Devices Conference
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III. CONTROLLER
In control systems, the memristor can be used as a tunable
gain; the input is the closed loop error e(t) and the output is
the control action u(t) as shown in figure 3.



Fig.3. Closed loop with a memristor controller.

The memristor has a nonlinear input output characteristic
that can be defined with three parameters, M, k
1
, and k
2
as
shown in figure 4.



Fig.4. Memristor as a tunable gain, three parameters define the I/O
characteristic.

A. Describing Function

In order to understand the dynamics of the closed loop
with a memristor controller it is necessary to have a
mathematical model. Here a describing function if found for
the memristor input out put characteristic, figure 4.
The definition [3] of a describing function (a) for
nonlinearities with odd symmetry is given by

0
. sin ). (
.
2
) ( d e
a
a (1)

Where the input e is a periodic function

sin . a e =

The input output characteristic of the memristor shown
in figure 4 can be described in three intervals in the 0 -
semi-cycle,

sin . . ) ( ; 0
1
a k e = < <

M e = < < ) ( ;

sin . . ) ( ;
2
a k e = < <
Where,
|

\
|
=

a
M
1
sin

Replacing these intervals into definition (1) yields,

+
+ =

d a k
a
d M
a
d a k
a
a
. sin . .
.
2
. sin .
.
2
. sin . .
.
2
) (
2
2
0
2
1
(2)

Integrating each term with the WolframAlpha [4] tool,

(
(

\
|

|

\
|
=

2
1 1
0
2
1
1 sin
2
.
. sin . .
a
M
a
M
a
M a k
d a k

2
1 . 2 . sin .
|

\
|
=

a
M
M d M

(
(

\
|

|

\
|
=

2
1 2 2
2
1 sin
2
.
. sin . .
a
M
a
M
a
M a k
d a k

Replacing these integrals into the describing function
formula (2) and grouping some terms,

2
2
1 2 1
1
.
. 4
1 sin
) (
) (
|

\
|
+
(
(

\
|

|

\
|
+
=

a
M
a
M
a
M
a
M
a
M k k
a

(3)

B. Stability

377



The closed loop transfer function T(s) for the system
shown in figure 3 obeys the expression,

) ( ). ( 1
) ( ). (
) (
) (
) (
s G a
s G a
s R
s Y
s T
+

= = (4)

Where (a) is the memristor describing function; the
stability conditions for the closed loop can be derived from
the characteristic polynomial,

0 ) ( ). ( 1 = + s G a (5)

In the frequency domain, we can separate the real and
imaginary parts,

{ } 0 ) ( Im = j G (6)
{ } 0 ) ( Re ). ( 1 = + j G a (7)

Equation (6) allows finding the oscillation frequency for
any nonlinearity then this frequency is replaced into
equation (7) to get the oscillation amplitudes.

C. Example

Consider the closed loop shown in figure 3 with the plant,

) 2 )( 1 (
10
) (
+ +
=
s s s
s G

Transforming from the Laplace domain to the frequency
domain,

2 2 3
2
2 2 3
) 2 ( 9
) 2 ( 10
) 2 ( 9
30
) (

+
+

= j j G

From the stability condition (6) the oscillation frequency is
found,

{ } 2 0 ) ( Im = = j G

The second stability condition (7) allows finding the
oscillation amplitudes,

{ } 6 . 0 ) ( 0 ) 2 ( Re ) ( 1 = = + a j G a

Where the describing function is given by (3),

[ ]
2
2 1
1 2 1
1
.
) ( 4
sin
) (
) (
|

\
|

+
+
|

\
|
+
=

a
M
a
k k M
a
M k k
a

Using the parameters from figure 2: M = 1, k
1
= 0.0005,
and k
2
= 0.004. There are two exact solutions, with the
WolframAlpha tool [4], for this equation a
1
= 1.2230, and
a
2
= 1.7343, see figure 5.




Fig.5. Solutions for the describing function when (a) = 0.6; there are two
oscillations with the same frequency but different amplitudes.

An additional simplification is possible for the memristor
describing function of figure 2; notice that the slopes k
1
and
k
2
are small and can be ignored in comparison with the other
factors in (3),

( ) 0
2 1
+ k k

With this consideration, the describing function is reduced to
this simplified version,

2
1
.
. 4
) ( |

\
|
=
a
M
a
M
a

(8)

Solving again for (a) = 0.6 with (8), there are two
solutions for the simplified describing function a
1
= 1.2243
and a
2
= 1.7333. Notice that the exact and approximated
solutions are very close.

IV. HARMONIC BALANCE

In this section the technique of harmonic balance [5] is used
to find the describing function for the memristor [2] without
the piecewise linear approximation shown in figure 4.

The memristor is described by two equations [6],
378



[ ] ) ( . ) ( . ) (
) ( .
) (
t i R t x R t v
t i
dt
t dx
off
+ =
=
(9)

Where x(t) [0, 1] is the memristor internal state, is a
constant that depends on the memristor physical properties,
R is the memristor dynamic resistance interval (R
off
R
on
),
and R
off
is the maximum memristor resistance.

To find out the describing function, a sinusoidal input is
considered,

t A t i . sin . ) ( = (10)

Solving for the memristor internal state,

t
A
t x . cos .
.
) (

= (11)

Replacing (11) into the second equation (9),

t A R t t
A
R t v
off
. sin . . . cos . . sin .
.
. ) (
2

+
|
|

\
|
=

Using the identity,

t t t . . 2 sin
2
1
. cos . . sin =

Finally,

t A R t
A R
t v
off
. sin . . . . 2 sin .
.
.
2
) (

+ |

\
|
= (12)

Considering the first harmonic, the describing function is
constant and equal to R
off
. Also notice that for high
frequencies the effect of the second harmonic is zero and the
memristor behaves as a linear resistor.


V. CONCLUSIONS

A memristor can be used as a tunable gain for closed loop
systems with a linear plant; oscillations can be predicted
with the describing function found in this paper using a
piecewise linear approximation for the memristor input
output characteristic. The harmonic balance technique
applied to the original memristor equations produces a
constant describing function R
off
, also for high frequencies it
can be seen that (12) the memristor behaves as a linear
resistor.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author thanks the National University of Colombia
for the financial support.
REFERENCES
[1] Chua, L.O.: Memristor The Missing Circuit Element. IEEE
Transactions on Circuit Theory, Vol. 18, No. 5, pp. 507 - 519,
September 1971.
[2] Strukov, D.B., Snider, G.S., Stewart, D.R., Williams, R.S.: The
Missing Memristor Found. Nature, Vol. 453, pp. 80 - 83, May 2008.
[3] Khalil, H.K.: Nonlinear Systems. Macmillan Publishing, New York,
1992.
[4] WolframAlpha: www.wolframalpha.com. Accessed on December 9,
2009.
[5] Chung, S.C., Huang, S.R., Huang, J.S., and Lee, E.C.: Applications of
Describing Functions to Estimate the Performance of Nonlinear
Inductance. IEE Proc. Sci. Meas. Technol., Vol. 148, No. 3, pp. 108-
114, 2001.
[6] Delgado, A.: Input Output Linearization of Memristive Systems. IEEE
Nanotechnology and Materials Conference, Traverse City, Michigan,
June 5-9, 2009.
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