Pulse and Digital Circuits

Venkata Rao K., Rama Sudha K. and Manmadha Rao G

Chapter 13
Current Sweep Generators
1.

In the circuit shown in Fig.13p.1, L = 100 mH. It is required that the current in L
increases from 0 to 50 mA in 1 ms. Find V CC for R L = 0 and V CE(sat) = 0. If R d
(damping resistance) is 10 , draw the waveforms of i L and vCE with voltage levels.
If the transistor can withstand a collector to emitter voltage of 60 V, what is the
maximum value of R d that may be used?

Fig.13p.1 The given current sweep generator

Solution:
Assume diode is ideal. Given that the inductor current increases from 0 to its maximum
value of 50 mA in 1 ms, as shown in Fig. 1.1.

(a) VCC

Fig. 1.1 Calculation of the slope of the sweep

di
50 0
L L 100 103
5V
dt
1 0

(b) Time constant

L 100 103

10 ms
Rd
10

For 0 < t < T s

Dorling Kindersley India Pvt. Ltd 2010

Pulse and Digital Circuits

Venkata Rao K., Rama Sudha K. and Manmadha Rao G

VCC t 1 RL RCS t
1

L 2
L

at t Ts 0.001 s

iL

0 0
5 1 103 1
0.001
1
3
3
100 10 2 100 10

I L 0.05 A
For t > T s , i L decays with a time constant 10 ms.
The waveforms of i L and v CE are shown in Fig. 1.2.
iL I L

Fig. 1.2 Waveforms of i L and v CE

Spike amplitude = I L R d = 0.0510 = 0.5 V.
(c) If the transistor can withstand a collector to emitter voltage of 60 V,
vCE VCC I L Rd (max)
Rd (max)

vCE VCC
55

1100 .
IL
0.05

2. For the circuit shown in Fig.13p.2, at t = 0 the input waveform is applied to the base
of the transistor.
(a) Calculate the time required for the inductor current to reach a maximum value of I L .
Assume that inductor is ideal and the saturation resistance of transistor is zero and h FE =
40.
(b) Calculate the time required for the inductor current to decay to 10 mA.
(c) If the sum of saturation resistance and inductive resistance is 20 , determine the time
required for sweep, T s , to reach its maximum value I L .
(d) Calculate collectoremitter voltage at T s when the transistor is reverse-biased.

Dorling Kindersley India Pvt. Ltd 2010

Pulse and Digital Circuits

Venkata Rao K., Rama Sudha K. and Manmadha Rao G

Fig.13p.2 The given current sweep and the input

Solution:

vB VBE (20 0.7) V

1.93 mA .
RB
10 k
iL I L hFE I B 40 1.93 77.2 mA
Since the transistor is in saturation, the voltage available for charging the inductor is:

(a) At t = 0, the base current iB I B

v L = V CC V CE (sat) = 20 0.3 = 19.7 V

v
i L max L Ts
L
3
L iL 10 10 77.2 103

39.18 106 s.
Ts
19.7
vL
(b) At t Ts , the transistor is reverse-biased, current flowing in the inductor decays with a
L 10 103

1ms. The time duration in which the current in

Rd
10
inductor decays to 10 mA can be found from:
time constant

iL I L e
We have to calculate t at which i L = 10 mA.
3
10 10 3 77.2 10 3 e t / 110
3
et /10 7.72
t 2.04 ms.
(c) If we consider inductor resistance R L and transistor saturation resistance R CS , the
current flowing in the circuit is given by
vL
t ( R R ) / L
iL
1 e L CS
RL RCS
At t = T s , i L = I L .

Dorling Kindersley India Pvt. Ltd 2010

Pulse and Digital Circuits

Venkata Rao K., Rama Sudha K. and Manmadha Rao G

3
19.7
1 e 20t /1010

20
Ts 38.4 s
(d) At the instant when transistor is reverse-biased, v CE is equal to
vCE VCC I L Rd

77.2 103

20 77.2 103 10
20 0.772
20.772 V.

Dorling Kindersley India Pvt. Ltd 2010