CHAPTER FOUR

Oscillators

4.1 OSCILLATOR FUNDAMENTALS

An oscillator is essentially an amplifier that produces its own input. That is, if we connect an oscillator circuit to a DC power supply, it will generate a signal without having a similar signal available as an input. One of the most fundamental ways to classify oscillator circuits is by the shape of the waveform generated. In this chapter, we will study oscillator circuits that produce waveforms such as sinewave, rectangular wave, ramp wave, and triangular wave.

In general, in order for a circuit to operate as an oscillator, three basic factors must be provided in the circuit. They are

1. Amplification

2. Positive feedback

3. Frequency determining network

Suppose that many random signal ...

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