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Dave OB

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Quantify Amplifier Linearity: Is there a definition of linearity?
Aug 24^th, 2009, 2:54am

I'm trying to quantify the linearity of Gain for an amplifier design and compare it against another.

I'm currently calculating the maximum deviation of the output from linear as a percentage of the maximum output voltage swing.

Does this sound reasonable? Or is there an better definition for this value.

Thanks all

Dave.

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raja.cedt Senior Fellow Offline Posts: 1516 Germany	Re: Quantify Amplifier Linearity: Is there a definition of linearity? Reply #1 - Aug 24^th, 2009, 5:11am refer any RF book ..you will see terms like IIP,1-dB comression point.... Thanks, rajasekhar
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Dave OB New Member Offline Posts: 2	Re: Quantify Amplifier Linearity: Is there a definition of linearity? Reply #2 - Aug 24^th, 2009, 7:56am Thanks.
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sos

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Re: Quantify Amplifier Linearity: Is there a definition of linearity?
Reply #3 - Aug 26^th, 2009, 1:17pm

Dave OB wrote on Aug 24^th, 2009, 2:54am:

I'm trying to quantify the linearity of Gain for an amplifier design and compare it against another.

I'm currently calculating the maximum deviation of the output from linear as a percentage of the maximum output voltage swing.

Does this sound reasonable? Or is there an better definition for this value.

Thanks all

Dave.

Some context would help in making a useful reply. There are loads of ways to measure linearity, depending on what you're interested in. If your signals are large, your description makes sense. If you have a small signal that moves around to different dc levels, you might want an entirely different definition.

Steve

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Sumit Adhikari Community Member Offline Posts: 44	Re: Quantify Amplifier Linearity: Is there a definition of linearity? Reply #4 - Aug 28^th, 2009, 12:14am Do a FFT on your output. See at what level down your harmonics are. Regards, Sumit
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