Department of Control & Computer Engineering 3’rd Year

Example (3.2):
Determine the maximum and minimum frequency of oscillations of a Wien
Bridge Oscillator circuit having a resistor of 10kΩ and a variable capacitor
of 1nF to 1000nF.
Solution:

H.W:
A Wien Bridge Oscillator circuit is required to generate a sinusoidal
waveform of (5.2kHz). Calculate the values of the frequency determining
resistors and the two capacitors to produce the required frequency.
Also, if the oscillator circuit is based around a non-inverting operational
amplifier configuration, determine the minimum values for the gain resistors
to produce the required oscillations. Finally draw the resulting oscillator
circuit.
59
Analogue Electronics Dr. Loai Ali Talib
Department of Control & Computer Engineering 3’rd Year

3.7 Twin-T Oscillator

Another type of RC feedback oscillator is called the twin-T because of the two
T-type RC filters used in the feedback loop, as shown in Figure 3–9. One of
the twin-T filters has a low-pass response, and the other has a high-pass
response. The combined parallel filters produce a band-stop or notch response
with a center frequency equal to the desired frequency of oscillation, fr, as
shown in Figure 3–9.

Figure 3–9: Twin-T oscillator and twin-T filter response.

Oscillation cannot occur at frequencies above or below fr because of the

negative feedback through the filters. Feedback is provided by the twin-T
configured RC network allowing some of the output signal to be fed back to
the amplifier’s input terminal. Thus, the twin-T RC network provides the
180o phase-shift and the amplifier providing another 180o of phase-shift. These
two conditions create 360o in total of phase-shift allowing for sustained
oscillations.
The resonant frequency can be calculated by:
1
𝑓𝑟 =
2𝜋𝑅𝐶
60
Analogue Electronics Dr. Loai Ali Talib
Department of Control & Computer Engineering 3’rd Year

Example (3.3):
A twin-T oscillator circuit is required to produce a 1kHz sinusoidal output
signal for use in an electronic circuit. If an operational amplifier with a gain
ratio of 200 is used, calculate the values of the frequency determining
components R and C, and the values of the gain resistors.
Solution:

61
Analogue Electronics Dr. Loai Ali Talib
Department of Control & Computer Engineering 3’rd Year

3.8 A Triangular-Wave Oscillator

Figure 3-10 below shows a triangular-wave oscillator.

Figure 3–10: A triangular-wave oscillator using two op-amps.

The operation of the triangular-wave oscillator shown in figure 3-10 is as

follows. To begin, assume that the output voltage of the comparator is at its
maximum negative level. This output is connected to the inverting input of the
integrator through R1, producing a positive-going ramp on the output of the
integrator. When the ramp voltage reaches the upper trigger point (UTP), the
comparator switches to its maximum positive level. This positive level causes
the integrator ramp to change to a negative-going direction. The ramp
continues in this direction until the lower trigger point (LTP) of the comparator
is reached. At this point, the comparator output switches back to the maximum
negative level and the cycle repeats. This action is illustrated in Figure 3–11.

Figure 3–11: Waveforms for the circuit in figure 3-10.

62
Analogue Electronics Dr. Loai Ali Talib
Department of Control & Computer Engineering 3’rd Year

Since the comparator produces a square-wave output, the circuit in Figure 3–

10 can be used as both a triangular-wave oscillator and a square-wave
oscillator. Devices of this type are commonly known as function generators
because they produce more than one output function. The output amplitude of
the square wave is set by the output swing of the comparator, and the resistors
R2 and R3 set the amplitude of the triangular output by establishing the UTP
and LTP voltages according to the following formulas:

where the comparator output levels, + Vmax and - Vmax are equal. The frequency
of both waveforms depends on the R1C time constant as well as the amplitude-
setting resistors, R2 and R3. By varying R1, the frequency of oscillation can be
adjusted without changing the output amplitude.

63
Analogue Electronics Dr. Loai Ali Talib
Department of Control & Computer Engineering 3’rd Year

Example (3.4):
Determine the frequency of oscillation of the circuit in Figure beliw. To what
value must R1 be changed to make the frequency 20 kHz?

Solution:

H.W:
What is the amplitude of the triangular wave in figure above if the comparator
output is ± 10 V?

64
Analogue Electronics Dr. Loai Ali Talib