EKT 104

Analog Electronic Circuits 1

Cascaded Systems
Chapter 2
 Cascaded Systems
• The output of one amplifier is the input to the next
amplifier
• The overall voltage gain is determined by the product of
gains of the individual stages
• The DC bias circuits are isolated from each other by the
coupling capacitors
• The DC calculations are independent of the cascading
• The AC calculations for gain and impedance are
interdependent
 R-C Coupled BJT Amplifiers

Voltage gain:
𝑹𝑪 | (𝑹𝟏 | 𝑹𝟐 ||𝜷𝒓𝒆 )
𝑨𝒗𝟏 = −
𝒓𝒆
𝑹𝑪
𝑨𝒗𝟐 = −
𝒓𝒆
𝑨𝒗𝑻 = 𝑨𝒗𝟏 ∙ 𝑨𝒗𝟐

Input impedance, Output impedance,

first stage: second stage:

𝒁𝒊𝟏 = 𝑹𝟏 | 𝑹𝟐 |𝜷𝒓𝒆 𝒁𝒐𝟐 = 𝑹𝑪

Exercise
Answer:
 Answer:
with the 4.7 kΩ applied:
 Cascode Connection
This example is a
CE–CB combination.
This arrangement
provides high input
impedance but a low
voltage gain.

The low voltage gain

of the input stage
reduces the Miller
input capacitance,
making this
combination suitable
for high-frequency
applications.
Cascode Connection
 Darlington Connection

The Darlington circuit provides

very high current gain, equal to the
product of the individual current
gains:
D = 1 2

The practical significance is that

the circuit provides a very high
input impedance.
 DC Bias of Darlington Circuits
Base current:
𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝑉𝐵𝐸1 − 𝑉𝐵𝐸2
𝐼𝐵 =
𝑅𝐵 + (𝛽𝐷 𝑅𝐸 )

Emitter current:
IE  (D  1)IB  DIB

βD:
𝛽𝐷 = 𝛽1 ∙ 𝛽2

Emitter voltage of Q2:

𝑉𝐸2 = 𝐼𝐸 𝑅𝐸

Base voltage of Q1:

𝑉𝐵1 = 𝑉𝐸2 + 𝑉𝐵𝐸1 + 𝑉𝐵𝐸2
Example
Calculate the dc bias
voltages and currents
(𝐼𝐵 , 𝐼𝐶 , 𝑉𝐵 and 𝑉𝐶𝐸 ) for the
Darlington configuration
of Fig. 5.76

Answer:
𝐼𝐵 = 3.16 μA
𝐼𝐶 = 15.80 mA
𝑉𝐵 = 7.56 V
𝑉𝐶𝐸 = 11.84 V
 Feedback Pair
This is a two-transistor circuit that operates like a Darlington
pair, but it is not a Darlington pair.

It has similar characteristics:

• High current gain
• Voltage gain near unity
• Low output impedance
• High input impedance

The difference is that a Darlington uses a pair of like

transistors, whereas the feedback-pair configuration uses
complementary transistors.
 Current Mirror Circuits
Current mirror
circuits provide
constant current in
integrated circuits.