DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING

NORTH SOUTH UNIVERSITY

EEE 482, ETE 482: Advanced Electrical and Electronics Lab II
Experiment No: 01 (a)

Name of the Experiment:

Basic Principles and operation of a VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator)
Objectives:
In this experiment, you shall get acquainted with the basics of Voltage Controlled Oscillator
(VCO).
Theory:
VCO is an inseparable and important part of PLL (Phase Locked Loop) and is widely used in
communication circuits and other control circuits where desirable amounts of oscillations are
required. So what is this VCO? Well, just like the speed breakers you see on the roads its
function is quite vividly explained in its name. It is simply an oscillator whose frequency of
oscillation can be varied by applying an input voltage to it which is also known as its control
voltage. Generally in this course the VCO that we would be using lies inside an IC (4046). So
you wouldnt really get a chance to see much of its construction. (Details of an IC based
VCO is also given in this Lab Manual). So in this experiment your job will be to construct a
VCO by using the resources available in our lab and observe its characteristics in a CRO
(Cathode Ray Oscilloscope) screen.
The two basic components that we need to make a VCO are a current source that can charge
& discharge a capacitor and a comparator circuit. The current source that we need must have
a variable magnitude. Because the variation in the magnitude of the current determines how
fast the capacitor will charge and discharge which is very crucial in determining the
frequency of oscillation of the VCO? A comparator circuit will be needed to produce a square
waveform as output; this will basically do the conversion from analog to digital transmission.
Such a circuit will take in two signals as input: one is the varying input voltage and the other
a fixed voltage known as the reference voltage. The job of the comparator is to compare the
input voltage with the reference voltage and swing between a High voltage output and a low
voltage output. It can be made easily using an operational amplifier in which an input voltage
is connected to either the inverting or the non-inverting terminal while the other terminal
takes in the reference voltage. If the input is connected to the inverting terminal of an op-amp
(operational amplifier) and if the magnitude of the input voltage drops below the reference
voltage then the output will be High whereas it would have been Low if input was connected
to the non-inverting terminal of the op-amp. The magnitudes of High and Low voltages will
depend on the positive and negative biasing voltages of the op-amp. The graphs below show
EEE 482, ETE 482 lab (NSU)
Course Instructor: Mr. Rashed Shelim

the output waveform of a comparator with a positive reference voltage of 1V and a sinusoidal
signal as input at the non-inverting terminal of the op-amp:

But a simple comparator circuit built using an op-amp has a few problems in it. First of all,
for a slowly varying input the output swing can be rather slow. Secondly, if the input is noisy
then the output can make several transitions as the input passes through the reference voltage
(or the trigger point) the problem is illustrated in the diagram below:

This problem can be solved by using a feedback resistor in the op-amp based comparator
circuit as shown by the diagram below:

EEE 482, ETE 482 lab (NSU)

Course Instructor: Mr. Rashed Shelim

In the diagram above, a noisy input voltage is applied through the inverting terminal and a
voltage divider circuit is used to apply a reference voltage at the non-inverting terminal of the
op-amp. Note that without feedback the output will appear shadowy or blurry whereas using
a feedback resistor the problem gets solved. But the use of the feedback resistor causes the
reference voltage to change since now the output voltage from the op-amp has an effect on
the voltage drop at the non-inverting terminal where the reference voltage is connected. This
means that now the comparator will compare the input voltage with two different reference
(also known as threshold) voltages instead of one. Thus, the circuit set-up no longer remains
as a comparator and now becomes that of a Schmitt Trigger as it is called. In a Schmitt
trigger circuit, if the input voltage falls below the lower threshold voltage then a High voltage
is obtained at the output (assuming the input was connected at the inverting terminal) and this
voltage is retained until the input voltage climbs and crosses the upper threshold after which
the output swings to the Low voltage as illustrated by the diagram below:

EEE 482, ETE 482 lab (NSU)

Course Instructor: Mr. Rashed Shelim

As you can see in the diagram, unlike a typical comparator, in a Schmitt trigger the output
swings occur only when the magnitude of the input voltage crosses the upper threshold from
smaller values to larger values and when the magnitude of the input voltage crosses the lower
threshold from larger values to smaller values. (You will find another graph explaining the
output of the Schmitt trigger inside the lab manual). Now, take a look at the circuit diagram
with which you will be doing your experiment:

CRO

EEE 482, ETE 482 lab (NSU)

Course Instructor: Mr. Rashed Shelim

The circuit concerning the second Op-Amp is a Schmitt Trigger circuit where the input is
connected at the inverting terminal and at the non-inverting terminal you can see a Voltage
divider network. Suppose, initially there isnt any feedback resistor connected, so the circuit
works like a comparator and the Voltage drop at the non-inverting terminal becomes the
reference voltage for this comparator which is (100K/(100k+100K)) X 5 = 2.5V
When the feedback resistor is connected then the output of the second Op-amp will
contribute to the voltage drop at the non-inverting terminal. Suppose, initially there is a High
voltage output (+5V in this case) then there will be another voltage divider network from the
output pin of op-amp 2 through the 100 K feedback resistor to the ground supply connected
with the 100 K resistor at non-inverting terminal. This causes another 2.5V voltage drop at
the same resistor which had a 2.5V voltage drop due to another voltage divider network.
Thus, the overall voltage at that terminal becomes 2.5+2.5=5V which is the upper threshold
of the Schmitt trigger. Now when the output of the Schmitt trigger swings to a Low voltage (5V in this case) then the voltage drop at the non-inverting terminal is = 2.5(due to the
external voltage divider network which doesnt change with the output swings of the Schmitt
trigger) - 2.5 (caused due to the -5V output at Pin 6 of the second op-amp) = 0V this becomes
the lower threshold of the Schmitt trigger. The magnitudes of the upper and lower thresholds
can be varied by changing the resistor and supply voltage combination of this circuit
configuration. Now that we have established the upper and lower threshold voltages of the
Schmitt trigger lets take a look with the circuit concerning the first op-amp.

As said earlier, we would need a current source to charge and discharge a capacitor at a
variable speed and this circuit with the first Op-amp does exactly that. It is basically an
integrator circuit which takes in the magnitude of the input voltage and multiplies it with the
duration up to which the magnitude stays at the input terminal to provide an output until
saturation is reached. The saturation level depends on the capacitance level and the duration
at which saturation is reached is given by the resistor and capacitor combination (the RC time
constant). So if we apply a dc voltage at the input of this circuit we will get a ramp signal
output which reaches saturation and then goes flat (horizontal). As you can see in the circuit
diagram, the output from this circuit (op-amp 1) is connected to the input of the Schmitt
trigger circuit but for a Schmitt trigger to produce a square wave output it needs a varying
input waveform which passes through and between its two threshold voltages which doesnt
take place yet. This is where the BJT Transistor (npn in this case) comes into play. The Base
of the transistor is connected with the output of the second Op-Amp which means that when
the Schmitt trigger gives a High Voltage as output (+5V here) then there will be a voltage
drop of more than 0.7V between the base and the emitter terminal which consequently turns
on the transistor. When the transistor is turned on then the capacitor sees a new path now to
the ground (through the emitter terminal of the transistor) and so discharges using this new
path. You may say a capacitor is analogous to a gas tank where initially a dc voltage was
charging up the leftward plate of the capacitor where positive charges were getting
accumulated at high pressure. While the capacitor sees a path to discharge it thinks of it as a
leak in the tank and tries to come out at high pressure. When discharging, the charges are
getting drained from the leftward plate of the capacitor which makes it negatively charged
and with a parallel plate capacitor when one plate is negatively charged the other plate gets
EEE 482, ETE 482 lab (NSU)
Course Instructor: Mr. Rashed Shelim

positively charged; so the output at the Op-Amp 1 would then be rising. At one point, this
output from Op-Amp 1crosses the upper threshold of the Schmitt trigger which then swings
the output of Op-Amp 2 from High to Low. This causes the voltage drop between Base and
Emitter terminal of the transistor to be negative and turns off the path for discharging of the
capacitor. So the capacitor now charges again with its polarities at its plates being swapped
now. While the capacitor is charging the output voltage of Op-Amp 1 is decreasing and when
it goes beyond the lower threshold of the Schmitt trigger then again the transistor gets turned
on due to a swing in output of Op-Amp 2 and the capacitor starts to discharge again. In this
way the process continues while the transistor acts as a switching device as you can see it
doesnt have any biasing network connected to it. Thus, the circuit set-up produces a
triangular output from Op-Amp 1 and a square wave output from Op-Amp 2 the frequency of
which can be varied by changing the dc input voltage and hence we have our VCO. One
important thing you should keep in mind is that in a VCO there is something called the free
running frequency. It is the frequency of oscillation of a VCO when the input voltage is zero.
In a IC based VCO the current source is powered up by the biasing voltage of the IC so even
when the input to VCO is zero there is a frequency of oscillation existing but in the circuit
setup of this experiment no frequency exists when input voltage is zero because at zero volt
no current reaches the capacitor.

Circuit Diagram:

CRO

EEE 482, ETE 482 lab (NSU)

Course Instructor: Mr. Rashed Shelim

Procedure:
1. While at Lab, setup the circuit using the diagram given.
2. Make a table with two columns one with the Voltage readings and another with
frequency readings.
3. Vary the input voltage and measure the corresponding output frequency from Pin 6 of
Op-Amp 2 using the cursor function of the CRO. Take minimum 15 readings.

This experiment can also be conducted using a VCO integrated in the 4046 IC. The concepts
of this experiment can also be used to generate a FM wave.
Input Voltage Reading

Output Frequency Reading

EEE 482, ETE 482 lab (NSU)

Course Instructor: Mr. Rashed Shelim

Questions:
1. What is the difference between a Schmitt trigger circuit and a comparator circuit?
2. Explain why a Schmitt trigger circuit is better than a comparator.
3. Explain how you can design a VCO using a Voltage Controlled Current Source, a
capacitor and a comparator.
4. What sort of a waveform would you observe if you had connected the CRO at pin 6 of
the first Op-Amp?
5. What can you do to change the values of the upper and lower threshold voltages of a
Schmitt trigger circuit?
6. There is a feedback used in Schmitt trigger circuit. What type of feedback is that?
7. Explain the role of the transistor in this circuit.
8. Explain how charging and discharging of the capacitor takes place in this circuit.
9. Without varying the input voltage how can you change the frequency of oscillation of the
VCO?
10. Why cant we see a free running frequency using this circuit configuration?
11. Briefly explain the working principle of this circuit.
12. What will happen if we change the value of feedback capacitor used with first Op-Amp?

EEE 482, ETE 482 lab (NSU)

Course Instructor: Mr. Rashed Shelim