Simulating Loop Gain - Spring 1997 Stránka 1

Simulating Loop Gain

The problem when trying to simulate loop gain is that in opening up the loop to make the
proper measurements, the DC bias point of the circuit will be altered. Since the circuit is
linearized around the DC bias point in AC analysis, this will throw off the results of the
entire simulation. One technique can make these measurements without opening up the
loop. This technique is taken from an article by Dr. R. D. Middlebrook which appears in the
International Journal of Electronics, volume 38, number 4, 1975.

News:
Spectrum Software
has released Micro-
Cap 9, the ninth
generation of our
SPICE circuit
simulator.

For users of previous

Micro-Cap versions,
check out the new
features available in
the latest version. The figure above displays the block diagram for a feedback amplifier. The gain may be
For those of you who calculated with either voltage or current. The current and voltage designators for the
are new to Micro- block diagram are as follows: source (is and vs), input (ii and vi), feedback (if and vf), and
Cap, take our output (io and vo). The open loop voltage gain and the open loop current gain are defined
features tour to see as:
what Micro-Cap has
to offer. Av = vo / vs
Ai = io / is

The system voltage gain and system current gain are defined as:

Avf = Av / (1+Av*B)
Aif = Ai / (1+Ai*B)

where B is the feedback transfer ratio. The quantity A*B is the loop gain. A positive loop
gain implies that the feedback is negative. A negative loop gain would mean that the
feedback is positive which may lead to oscillations in the circuit. The loop gain is also
equivalent to the following:

Gv = vf / vi

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Simulating Loop Gain - Spring 1997 Stránka 2

Gi = if / ii

Now it is not necessary to break the loop in order to measure these gains. The loop may be
opened in its feedback path and the appropriate test signal injected. Injecting a current
into the signal path will split the current into its feedback and input currents. This ratio
can then be measured to produce a current loop gain. The voltage gain may also be
measured through the same technique by placing a voltage source in the loop. The gain
measurement setups are displayed in the figure below.

For the actual measurements, macros will be created for the voltage and current injections
in order to measure the voltages and currents with user functions. Both the voltage loop
gain and the current loop gain must be taken into account to measure the total loop gain.
They are related through the following equation:

G + 1 = (Gv + 1) || (Gi + 1)

where

x || y = (x * y)/(x + y)

The above equation may be reduced to:

G = (Gi * Gv - 1)/(Gi + Gv + 2)

As is normal in parallel calculations, the lower of the current or voltage gain will be the
one that dominates. The feedback amplifier circuit that is to be analyzed is shown below.
The circuit is shown in its closed loop measurement configuration.

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Simulating Loop Gain - Spring 1997 Stránka 3

Macros
Two macros need to be created for open loop measurement. These macros will inject the
test signal and provide the means for measuring the loop gain. One macro will measure the
open loop current gain and the other will measure the open loop voltage gain.

The figure below displays the GI macro which will measure the open loop current gain. The
macro consists of two batteries and the independent SPICE current source called I. The
current source is defined as 'AC 1' so that it will provide a 1A small signal current in the AC
analysis. The two batteries are used to measure the current in each direction. They are
given a voltage of 0 so that they don't affect simulation results. The VII battery measures
the Ii current and the VIF battery measures the If current.

The figure below displays the GV macro which will measure the open loop voltage gain. The
macro consists of two batteries and the independent SPICE voltage source called V. The
voltage source is defined as 'AC 1' so that it will provide a 1V small signal voltage in the AC
analysis. The two batteries provide fixed nodes (VIM and VFM) within the macro. This is
done so that the user functions may reference a fixed node in its equation because the
input and output pins of the macro always change to what they are connected to which
would make a global .define more complex. The batteries are again given a voltage of 0 to
not affect the simulation.

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Simulating Loop Gain - Spring 1997 Stránka 4

User Functions
The user functions provide a means for users to create their own functions and operators
by being able to pass parameters through a .define statement. The three user functions
created for loop gain are shown below.

.define GIM(X) I(X.VIF)/I(X.VII)

.define GVM(X) V(X.VFM)/(-V(X.VIM))
.define G(X1,X2) (GIM(X1)*GVM(X2)-1)/(GIM(X1)+GVM(X2)+2)

GIM(X) defines the equation for the loop current gain. The parameter it passes is the PART
attribute of the GI macro in the schematic. It divides the current in the VIF battery by the
current in the VII battery. Both of these batteries exist inside the GI macro. GVM(X) defines
the equation for the loop voltage gain. The parameter it passes is the PART attribute of the
GV macro in the schematic. It divides the voltage of the VFM node by the negative voltage
of the VIM node. Both of these nodes exist within the GV macro. G(X1,X2) defines the
equation for the total open loop gain. It passes two parameters. X1 is the PART attribute
for the GI macro in the schematic and X2 is the PART attribute for the GV macro in the
schematic.

The user functions within a circuit are local to that one circuit. However, the user
functions in the DEF.MC5 file are globally available to all circuits. This file is accessed from
the User Definitions item on the Options menu.

Analysis Example
The schematic that is to be analyzed is shown below. This is actually two copies of the
circuit from the closed loop circuit above. The AC source has been removed from the
noninverting inputs and the GI and GV macros have been added to the feedback loops. The
circuit on the left measures the open loop current gain and the circuit on the right
measures the open loop voltage gain. The opamp that is being analyzed is the OP_27. The
circuits need to be analyzed at the same time in order to produce the total gain as the
total gain relies on both the open loop current gain and the open loop voltage gain.

The open loop analysis is shown below. The top plot contains the open loop magnitude
responses for the current gain (GI), the voltage gain (GV), and the total gain (G). The
bottom plot contains the open loop phase responses for the current gain (GI), the voltage
gain (GV), and the total gain (G). Note that the user functions have been used to plot these
curves. The PART attribute for the GI macro in the schematic is X3, and the PART attribute
for the GV macro in the schematic is X4.

Because the loop has never been broken, the operating point calculations are exactly the
same between the closed loop circuit and the open loop circuits.

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Simulating Loop Gain - Spring 1997 Stránka 5

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