A Signal can also be called as a Wave.

Every wave has a certain shape when it is

represented in a graph. This shape can be of different types such as sinusoidal, square,
triangular, etc. which vary with respect to time period or they may have some random
shapes disregard of the time period.

Types of Wave Shaping

There are two main types of wave shaping. They are −

 Linear wave shaping

 Non-linear wave shaping

Linear Wave Shaping

Linear elements such as resistors, capacitors and inductors are employed to shape a
signal in this linear wave shaping. A Sine wave input has a sine wave output and hence
the nonsinusoidal inputs are more prominently used to understand the linear wave
shaping.
Filtering is the process of attenuating the unwanted signal or to reproduce the selected
portions of the frequency components of a particular signal.

Filters
In the process of shaping a signal, if some portions of the signal are felt unwanted, they
can be cut off using a Filter Circuit. A Filter is a circuit that can remove unwanted
portions of a signal at its input. The process of reduction in the strength of the signal
is also termed as Attenuation.
We have few components which help us in filtering techniques.
 A Capacitor has the property to allow AC and to block DC
 An Inductor has the property to allow DC but blocks AC.
Using these properties, these two components are especially used to block or
allow AC or DC. The Filters can be designed depending upon these properties.
We have four main types of filters −

 Low pass filter

 High pass filter
 Band pass filter
 Band stop filter
Let us now discuss these types of filters in detail.

Low Pass Filter

A Filter circuit which allows a set of frequencies that are below a specified value can be
termed as a Low pass filter. This filter passes the lower frequencies. The circuit
diagram of a low pass filter using RC and RL are as shown below.

The capacitor filter or RC filter and the inductor filter or RL filter both act as low pass
filters.
 The RC filter − As the capacitor is placed in shunt, the AC it allows is grounded.
This by passes all the high frequency components while allows DC at the output.
 The RL filter − As the inductor is placed in series, the DC is allowed to the
output. The inductor blocks AC which is not allowed at the output.
The symbol for a low pass filter (LPF) is as given below.

Frequency Response
The frequency response of a practical filter is as shown here under and the frequency
response of an ideal LPF when the practical considerations of electronic components
are not considered will be as follows.

The cut off frequency for any filter is the critical frequency fc for which the filter is
intended to attenuate cut the signal. An ideal filter has a perfect cut-off whereas a
practical one has few limitations.

The RLC Filter

After knowing about the RC and RL filters, one may have an idea that it would be good
to add these two circuits in order to have a better response. The following figure shows
how the RLC circuit looks like.
The signal at the input goes through the inductor which blocks AC and allows DC. Now,
that output is again passed through the capacitor in shunt, which grounds the remaining
AC component if any, present in the signal, allowing DC at the output. Thus we have a
pure DC at the output. This is a better low pass circuit than both of them.

High Pass Filter

A Filter circuit which allows a set of frequencies that are above a specified value can
be termed as a High pass filter. This filter passes the higher frequencies. The circuit
diagram of a high pass filter using RC and RL are as shown below.
The capacitor filter or RC filter and the inductor filter or RL filter both act as high pass
filters.

The RC Filter
As the capacitor is placed in series, it blocks the DC components and allows the AC
components to the output. Hence the high frequency components appear at the output
across the resistor.

The RL Filter
As the inductor is placed in shunt, the DC is allowed to be grounded. The remaining AC
component, appears at the output. The symbol for a high pass filter (HPF) is as given
below.
Frequency Response
The frequency response of a practical filter is as shown here under and the frequency
response of an ideal HPF when the practical considerations of electronic components
are not considered will be as follows.

The cut-off frequency for any filter is the critical frequency fc for which the filter is
intended to attenuate cut the signal. An ideal filter has a perfect cut-off whereas a
practical one has few limitations.

The RLC Filter

After knowing about the RC and RL filters, one may have an idea that it would be good
to add these two circuits in order to have a better response. The following figure shows
how the RLC circuit looks like.

The signal at the input goes through the capacitor which blocks DC and allows AC. Now,
that output is again passed through the inductor in shunt, which grounds the remaining
DC component if any, present in the signal, allowing AC at the output. Thus we have a
pure AC at the output. This is a better high pass circuit than both of them.
 Band Pass Filter
A Filter circuit which allows a set of frequencies that are between two specified
values can be termed as a Band pass filter. This filter passes a band of frequencies.
As we need to eliminate few of the low and high frequencies, to select a set of specified
frequencies, we need to cascade a HPF and a LPF to get a BPF. This can be
understood easily even by observing the frequency response curves.
The circuit diagram of a band pass filter is as shown below.

The above circuit can also be constructed using RL circuits or RLC circuits. The above
one is a RC circuit chosen for simple understanding.
The symbol for a band pass filter (BPF) is as given below.
Frequency Response
The frequency response of a practical filter is as shown here under and the frequency
response of an ideal BPF when the practical considerations of electronic components
are not considered will be as follows.

The cut-off frequency for any filter is the critical frequency fc for which the filter is
intended to attenuate cut the signal. An ideal filter has a perfect cut-off whereas a
practical one has few limitations.

Band Stop Filter

A Filter circuit which blocks or attenuates a set of frequencies that are between two
specified values can be termed as a Band Stop filter. This filter rejects a band of
frequencies and hence can also be called as Band Reject Filter.
As we need to eliminate few of the low and high frequencies, to select a set of specified
frequencies, we need to cascade a LPF and a HPF to get a BSF. This can be
understood easily even by observing the frequency response curves.
The circuit diagram of a band stop filter is as shown below.

The above circuit can also be constructed using RL circuits or RLC circuits. The above
one is a RC circuit chosen for simple understanding.
The symbol for a band stop filter (BSF) is as given below.

Frequency Response
The frequency response of a practical filter is as shown here under and the frequency
response of an ideal BSF when the practical considerations of electronic components
are not considered will be as follows.

The cut-off frequency for any filter is the critical frequency fc for which the filter is
intended to attenuate cut the signal. An ideal filter has a perfect cut-off whereas a
practical one has few limitations.
Wave shaping circuits are the electronic circuits, which produce the desired shape
at the output from the applied input wave form. These circuits perform two
functions −

 Attenuate the applied wave

 Alter the dc level of the applied wave.

There are two types of wave shaping circuits: Clippers and Clampers. In this chapter,
you will learn in detail about clippers.

Op-amp based Clippers

A clipper is an electronic circuit that produces an output by removing a part of the

input above or below a reference value. That means, the output of a clipper will be
same as that of the input for other than the clipped part. Due to this, the peak to
peak amplitude of the output of a clipper will be always less than that of the input.

The main advantage of clippers is that they eliminate the unwanted noise present
in the amplitude of an ac signal.

Clippers can be classified into the following two types based on the clipping portion
of the input.

 Positive Clipper
 Negative Clipper

These are discussed in detail as given below −

Positive Clipper
A positive clipper is a clipper that clips only the positive portion(s) of the input
signal.

The circuit diagram of positive clipper is shown in the following figure −

In the circuit shown above, a sinusoidal voltage signal Vt is applied to the non-
inverting terminal of the op-amp. The value of the reference voltage Vref can be
chosen by varying the resistor R2.
The operation of the circuit shown above is explained below −

 If the value of the input voltage Vi is less than the value of the reference
voltage Vref, then the diode D1 conducts. Then, the circuit given above behaves
as a voltage follower. Therefore, the output voltage V0 of the above circuit will
be same as that of the input voltage Vi, for Vi < Vref.
 If the value of the input voltage Vi is greater than the value of reference
voltage Vref, then the diode D1 will be off. Now, the op-amp operates in an
open loop since the feedback path was open. Therefore, the output
voltage V0 of the above circuit will be equal to the value of the reference
voltage Vref, for Vi > Vref.

 The input wave form and the corresponding output wave form of a positive
clipper for a positive reference voltage Vref, are shown in the following figure −
Negative Clipper
A negative clipper is a clipper that clips only the negative portion(s) of the input
signal. You can obtain the circuit of the negative clipper just by reversing the diode
and taking the reverse polarity of the reference voltage, in the circuit that you have
seen for a positive clipper.

The circuit diagram of a negative clipper is shown in the following figure −

In the above circuit, a sinusoidal voltage signal Vi is applied to the non-inverting

terminal of the op-amp. The value of the reference voltage Vref can be chosen by
varying the resistor R2.
The operation of a negative clipper circuit is explained below −

 If the value of the input voltage Vt is greater than the value of reference
voltage Vref, then the diode D1 conducts. Then, the above circuit behaves as
a voltage follower. Therefore, the output voltage V0 of the above circuit will be
same as that of the input voltage Vi for Vi> Vref.

 If the value of the input voltage Vi is less than the value of reference voltage ,
then the diode D1 will be off. Now, the op-amp operates in an open loop since
the feedback path is open. Therefore, the output voltage V0 of the above circuit
will be equal to the value of reference voltage ,Vref for Vi < Vref.

 The input wave form and the corresponding output wave form of a negative
clipper, for a negative reference voltage Vref, are shown in the following figure −
Clamper Circuit

A Clamper Circuit is a circuit that adds a DC level to an AC signal. Actually, the

positive and negative peaks of the signals can be placed at desired levels using the
clamping circuits. As the DC level gets shifted, a clamper circuit is called as a Level
Shifter.

Clamper circuits consist of energy storage elements like capacitors. A simple

clamper circuit comprises of a capacitor, a diode, a resistor and a dc battery if
required.

A Clamper circuit can be defined as the circuit that consists of a diode, a resistor
and a capacitor that shifts the waveform to a desired DC level without changing the
actual appearance of the applied signal.

In order to maintain the time period of the wave form, the tau must be greater
than, half the time period. Discharging time of the capacitor should be slow.

τ=Rc

Where

 R is the resistance of the resistor employed

 C is the capacitance of the capacitor used

The time constant of charge and discharge of the capacitor determines the output
of a clamper circuit.

In a clamper circuit, a vertical shift of upward or downward takes place in the

output waveform with respect to the input signal.
The load resistor and the capacitor affect the waveform. So, the discharging time of
the capacitor should be large enough.

The DC component present in the input is rejected when a capacitor coupled

network is used as a capacitor blocks dc. Hence when dc needs to be restored,
clamping circuit is used.
Types of Clampers

There are few types of clamper circuits, such as

 Positive Clamper
 Positive clamper with positive Vr
 Positive clamper with negative Vr
 Negative Clamper
 Negative clamper with positive Vr
 Negative clamper with negative Vr

Let us go through them in detail.

Positive Clamper Circuit

A Clamping circuit restores the DC level. When a negative peak of the signal is
raised above to the zero level, then the signal is said to be positively clamped.

A Positive Clamper circuit is one that consists of a diode, a resistor and a capacitor
and that shifts the output signal to the positive portion of the input signal. The
figure below explains the construction of a positive clamper circuit.

Initially when the input is given, the capacitor is not yet charged and the diode is
reverse biased. The output is not considered at this point of time. During the
negative half cycle, at the peak value, the capacitor gets charged with negative on
one plate and positive on the other. The capacitor is now charged to its peak
value Vm. The diode is forward biased and conducts heavily.

During the next positive half cycle, the capacitor is charged to positive Vm while the
diode gets reverse biased and gets open circuited. The output of the circuit at this
moment will be

V0=Vi+Vm

Hence the signal is positively clamped as shown in the above figure. The output
signal changes according to the changes in the input, but shifts the level according
to the charge on the capacitor, as it adds the input voltage.

Positive Clamper with Positive Vr

A Positive clamper circuit if biased with some positive reference voltage, that
voltage will be added to the output to raise the clamped level. Using this, the
circuit of the positive clamper with positive reference voltage is constructed as
below.

During the positive half cycle, the reference voltage is applied through the diode at
the output and as the input voltage increases, the cathode voltage of the diode
increase with respect to the anode voltage and hence it stops conducting. During
the negative half cycle, the diode gets forward biased and starts conducting. The
voltage across the capacitor and the reference voltage together maintain the output
voltage level.
Positive Clamper with Negative Vr

A Positive clamper circuit if biased with some negative reference voltage, that
voltage will be added to the output to raise the clamped level. Using this, the
circuit of the positive clamper with positive reference voltage is constructed as
below.

During the positive half cycle, the voltage across the capacitor and the reference
voltage together maintain the output voltage level. During the negative half-cycle,
the diode conducts when the cathode voltage gets less than the anode voltage.
These changes make the output voltage as shown in the above figure.

Negative Clamper

A Negative Clamper circuit is one that consists of a diode, a resistor and a capacitor
and that shifts the output signal to the negative portion of the input signal. The
figure below explains the construction of a negative clamper circuit.
During the positive half cycle, the capacitor gets charged to its peak value vm. The
diode is forward biased and conducts. During the negative half cycle, the diode gets
reverse biased and gets open circuited. The output of the circuit at this moment
will be

V0=Vi+Vm

Hence the signal is negatively clamped as shown in the above figure. The output
signal changes according to the changes in the input, but shifts the level according
to the charge on the capacitor, as it adds the input voltage.

Negative clamper with positive Vr

A Negative clamper circuit if biased with some positive reference voltage, that
voltage will be added to the output to raise the clamped level. Using this, the
circuit of the negative clamper with positive reference voltage is constructed as
below.

Though the output voltage is negatively clamped, a portion of the output waveform
is raised to the positive level, as the applied reference voltage is positive. During
the positive half-cycle, the diode conducts, but the output equals the positive
reference voltage applied. During the negative half cycle, the diode acts as open
circuited and the voltage across the capacitor forms the output.
Negative Clamper with Negative Vr

A Negative clamper circuit if biased with some negative reference voltage, that
voltage will be added to the output to raise the clamped level. Using this, the
circuit of the negative clamper with negative reference voltage is constructed as
below.

The cathode of the diode is connected with a negative reference voltage, which is
less than that of zero and the anode voltage. Hence the diode starts conducting
during positive half cycle, before the zero voltage level. During the negative half
cycle, the voltage across the capacitor appears at the output. Thus the waveform is
clamped towards the negative portion.
Applications

There are many applications for both Clippers and Clampers such as

Clippers
 Used for the generation and shaping of waveforms
 Used for the protection of circuits from spikes
 Used for amplitude restorers
 Used as voltage limiters
 Used in television circuits
 Used in FM transmitters

Clampers
 Used as direct current restorers
 Used to remove distortions
 Used as voltage multipliers
 Used for the protection of amplifiers
 Used as test equipment
 Used as base-line stabilizer
Comparators
A comparator is an electronic circuit, which compares the two inputs that are
applied to it and produces an output. The output value of the comparator indicates
which of the inputs is greater or lesser. Please note that comparator falls under
non-linear applications of ICs.

An op-amp consists of two input terminals and hence an op-amp based

comparator compares the two inputs that are applied to it and produces the result
of comparison as the output. This chapter discusses about op-amp based
comparators.

Types of Comparators

Comparators are of two types : Inverting and Non-inverting. This section discusses
about these two types in detail.

Inverting Comparator
An inverting comparator is an op-amp based comparator for which a reference
voltage is applied to its non-inverting terminal and the input voltage is applied to
its inverting terminal. This comparator is called as inverting comparator because the
input voltage, which has to be compared is applied to the inverting terminal of op-
amp.

The circuit diagram of an inverting comparator is shown in the following figure.

The operation of an inverting comparator is very simple. It produces one of the two
values, +Vsat and −Vsat at the output based on the values of its input voltage Vi and
the reference voltage Vref.

The output value of an inverting comparator will be −Vsat, for which the
input Vi voltage is greater than the reference voltage Vref.
The output value of an inverting comparator will be +Vsat, for which the input Vi is
less than the reference voltage Vref.

Example
Let us draw the output wave form of an inverting comparator, when a sinusoidal
input signal and a reference voltage of zero volts are applied to its inverting and
non-inverting terminals respectively.
The operation of the inverting comparator shown above is discussed below −

 During the positive half cycle of the sinusoidal input signal, the voltage present
at the inverting terminal of op-amp is greater than zero volts. Hence, the
output value of the inverting comparator will be equal to −Vsat during positive
half cycle of the sinusoidal input signal.
 Similarly, during the negative half cycle of the sinusoidal input signal, the
voltage present at the inverting terminal of the op-amp is less than zero volts.
Hence, the output value of the inverting comparator will be equal
to +Vsat during negative half cycle of the sinusoidal input signal.

 The following figure shows the input and output waveforms of an inverting
comparator, when the reference voltage is zero volts.
In the figure shown above, we can observe that the output transitions either
from −Vsat to +Vsat or from +Vsat to −Vsat whenever the sinusoidal input signal is
crossing zero volts. In other words, output changes its value when the input is
crossing zero volts. Hence, the above circuit is also called as inverting zero crossing
detector.
Non-Inverting Comparator
A non-inverting comparator is an op-amp based comparator for which a reference
voltage is applied to its inverting terminal and the input voltage is applied to its
non-inverting terminal. This op-amp based comparator is called as non-
inverting comparator because the input voltage, which has to be compared is
applied to the non-inverting terminal of the op-amp.

The circuit diagram of a non-inverting comparator is shown in the following figure

The operation of a non-inverting comparator is very simple. It produces one of the
two values, +Vsat and −Vsat at the output based on the values of input
voltage Vt and the reference voltage +Vref.

The output value of a non-inverting comparator will be +Vsat, for which the input
voltage Vi is greater than the reference voltage +Vref.
The output value of a non-inverting comparator will bee −Vsat, for which the input
voltage Vi is less than the reference voltage +Vref.

Example
Let us draw the output wave form of a non-inverting comparator, when a sinusoidal
input signal and reference voltage of zero volts are applied to the non-inverting and
inverting terminals of the op-amp respectively.
The operation of a non-inverting comparator is explained below −

 During the positive half cycle of the sinusoidal input signal, the voltage present
at the non-inverting terminal of op-amp is greater than zero volts. Hence, the
output value of a non-inverting comparator will be equal to +Vsat during the
positive half cycle of the sinusoidal input signal.
 Similarly, during the negative half cycle of the sinusoidal input signal, the
voltage present at the non-inverting terminal of op-amp is less than zero volts.
Hence, the output value of non-inverting comparator will be equal
to −Vsat during the negative half cycle of the sinusoidal input signal.

 The following figure shows the input and output waveforms of a non-inverting
comparator, when the reference voltage is zero volts.
From the figure shown above, we can observe that the output transitions either
from +Vsat to −Vsat or from −Vsat to +Vsat whenever the sinusoidal input signal
crosses zero volts. That means, the output changes its value when the input is
crossing zero volts. Hence, the above circuit is also called as non-inverting zero
crossing detector.
 Circuit Switching
Circuit switching is a connection-oriented network switching technique. Here, a
dedicated route is established between the source and the destination and the
entire message is transferred through it.

Phases of Circuit Switch Connection

 Circuit Establishment : In this phase, a dedicated circuit is established from the source
to the destination through a number of intermediate switching centres. The sender and
receiver transmits communication signals to request and acknowledge establishment of
circuits.
 Data Transfer : Once the circuit has been established, data and voice are transferred
from the source to the destination. The dedicated connection remains as long as the
end parties communicate.
 Circuit Disconnection : When data transfer is complete, the connection is relinquished.
The disconnection is initiated by any one of the user. Disconnection involves removal
of all intermediate links from the sender to the receiver.

Diagrammatic Representation of Circuit Switching in

Telephone

The following diagram represents circuit established between two telephones

connected by circuit switched connection. The blue boxes represent the switching
offices and their connection with other switching offices. The black lines connecting
the switching offices represents the permanent link between the offices. When a
connection is requested, links are established within the switching offices as
denoted by white dotted lines, in a manner so that a dedicated circuit is
established between the communicating parties. The links remains as long as
communication continues.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Circuit Switching

Advantages
 It is suitable for long continuous transmission, since a continuous transmission route is
established, that remains throughout the conversation.
 The dedicated path ensures a steady data rate of communication.
 No intermediate delays are found once the circuit is established. So, they are suitable
for real time communication of both voice and data transmission.

Disadvantages
 Circuit switching establishes a dedicated connection between the end parties. This
dedicated connection cannot be used for transmitting any other data, even if the data
load is very low.
 Bandwidth requirement is high even in cases of low data volume.
 There is underutilization of system resources. Once resources are allocated to a
particular connection, they cannot be used for other connections.
 Time required to establish connection may be high.