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This is a follow-up from here. I have got the following Schmitt trigger circuit implemented already on a breadboard. As seen, the input signal at the non-inverting and inverting terminals of the op amp is the same, but with the addition of a RC circuit in the inverting terminal. In this way, I am comparing the input signal with a delayed version of the same signal such that I can identify peaks.

schematic

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab

What I am trying to do now is to analytically obtain the hysteresis of the circuit. I have done so using the superposition theorem, but I am not sure of whether the result is right, and if so, how I can apply it.

I followed a similar procedure as in here:

The output voltage of the circuit, \$V_o\$, is given by: \begin{equation} V_{o} = A_{v}(V^{+} + V^{-}) \end{equation} where \$V^+\$ and \$V^-\$ are the voltages at the non-inverting and inverting terminals, and \$A_v\$ is the circuit's gain. This gain is: \begin{equation} V_{+} = \dfrac{V_{OH} - V_{OL}}{V_{IH} - V_{IL}} \end{equation} where \$V_{IH}\$ is the smallest voltage at which the output voltage is \$V_{OL}\$, while \$V_{IL}\$ is the largest input voltage at which the output voltage is \$V_{OH}\$.

The voltage \$V^{+}\$ is: \begin{equation} V_{+} = V_{in}\dfrac{R_{f}}{R_{1} + R_{f}} + V_{o}\dfrac{R_{1}}{R_{1} + R_{f}} \end{equation}

The voltage \$V^{-}\$ (it is from here where I start doubting) is actually the voltage accross the capacitor \$C^{1}\$: \begin{equation} V^{-} = V_{in}(1-e^{-t/R_{2}C_{1}}) \end{equation}

If we assume the initial state of \$V_{o}\$ is \$V_{OH}\$ then: \begin{equation} V_{+} = V_{in}\dfrac{R_{f}}{R_{1} + R_{f}} + V_{OH}\dfrac{R_{1}}{R_{1} + R_{f}} \end{equation}

and the output is:

\begin{equation} V_{o} = A_{v}\bigg[V_{OH}\dfrac{R_{1}}{R_{1} + R_{f}} - V_{in}\bigg(1 - \dfrac{R_{f}}{R_{1} + R_{f}} - e^{-t/R_{2}C_{1}}\bigg)\bigg] \end{equation}

So from the previous equation one can see that the output will remain at \$V_{OH}\$ as long as: \begin{equation} V_{OH}\dfrac{R_{1}}{R_{1} + R_{f}} > V_{in}\bigg(1 - \dfrac{R_{f}}{R_{1} + R_{f}} - e^{-t/R_{2}C_{1}}\bigg) \end{equation}

or

\begin{equation} V_{OH}\dfrac{R_{1}}{R_{1} - (R_{1} + R_{f})e^{-t/R_{2}C_{1}} } > V_{in} \end{equation}

and the transition from \$V_{OH}\$ to \$V_{OL}\$ will happen when \$V_{OH}\$ as long as: \begin{equation} V_{in} > V_{IL} \equiv V_{OH}\dfrac{R_{1}}{R_{1} - (R_{1} + R_{f})e^{-t/R_{2}C_{1}} } \end{equation}

If we follow a similar procedure, we find that \begin{equation} V_{IH} \equiv V_{OL}\dfrac{R_{1}}{R_{1} - (R_{1} + R_{f})e^{-t/R_{2}C_{1}} } \end{equation}

And that the hysteresis is:

\begin{equation} V_{Hysteresis}=V_{IL} - V_{IH}=(V_{OH} - V_{OL})\dfrac{R_{1}}{R_{1} - (R_{1} + R_{f})e^{-t/R_{2}C_{1}} } \end{equation}

Does all of this make a degree of sense? If so, because of the exponential term, I cannot see how to proceed from here to obtain a measurable value of the hysteresis (e.g., everything beyond some voltage threshold value triggers a transition. What is this voltage threshold value?) I have seen that modifying the resistors \$R_{1}\$ and \$R_{f}\$ allows me to pass higher or lower input voltages, but then at some point I need to change the values of \$R_{2}\$ and \$C_{1}\$ as otherwise I see nothing in the output. How can I relate all of this to the math (or even simulation)?

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

sigur_ros
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  • Not sure exactly what you are trying to figure out. The signal at the non-inverting input is low-pass filtered, not delayed. – Spehro Pefhany May 31 '18 at 15:04
  • Hello, and thanks for your comment. Sorry, did you mean the signal at the inverting input? The RC network there is a single-pole low pass filter, that’s right, but it is allowing me to compare the input signal al the non- inverting input with a slightly delayed version of the same signal. Now, what I believe is, because it is a Schmitt trigger, there must be some hysteresis, and I would like to get to know what it is. And this is because I am interested in specific high voltage amplitudes, and I would like to filter smaller ones out. – sigur_ros May 31 '18 at 15:30
  • Yes, inverting input. – Spehro Pefhany May 31 '18 at 15:49
  • The hysteresis is just +/-0.05*3.3V or about +/-16mV. But I don't think that helps.. – Spehro Pefhany May 31 '18 at 15:50
  • Sorry, could you tell me where the 0.05 value comes from?

    What I have seen is that by varying R1 and/or Rf, minimum voltage amplitude of the input signal to trigger a change in the circuit's output either increases or decreases (depending on the values of these resistors) so I believe there may be some equation that tells me what this minimum value is. I just don't know how to derive it.

    Thanks by the way :)

    – sigur_ros May 31 '18 at 16:05
  • +/-0.5 * 10K/(1M + 10K) – Spehro Pefhany May 31 '18 at 16:11
  • I've lost your logic but the total hysteresis is independent of the voltage at the negative input and is equal to Vrr*(R1/Rf) where Vrr is the difference between max output and minimum output voltage of OA1, if it's rail to rail (almost true for OPA347) then 3.3V/100, 33mV as Sphero pointed before, see also the page 14 of the document linked as example. The positive and negative hysteresis depends on Vin, higher V- means lower positive hysteresis but the sum is constant and independent of V- – Dorian May 31 '18 at 16:49
  • I was just looking at that again and ended up coming to that same conclusion before reading @Dorian's comment. It is just a non-inverting schmitt trigger with Vref, and where Vref is the delayed version of Vin. Therefore, the equations from page 14 apply. Dammit... And yeah, the logic I used doesn't make sense now. I still don't know why the RC network affects so much when I try to increase the hysteresis (usually when I increase R1 while Rf is fixed). I guess there is some sort of tradeoff between these two, meaning that I can't just vary one of them.

    Thanks again to all of you

    – sigur_ros May 31 '18 at 17:29

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