Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Nonlinear elements – these are elements in which the relation between voltage and current is a nonlinear function. An example is a diode, where the current is an exponential function of the voltage. Circuits with nonlinear elements are harder to analyse and design, often requiring circuit simulation computer programs such as SPICE.
An important consideration in non-linear analysis is the question of uniqueness. For a network composed of linear components there will always be one, and only one, unique solution for a given set of boundary conditions. This is not always the case in non-linear circuits.
In graphical analysis of nonlinear electronic circuits, a load line is a line drawn on the current–voltage characteristic graph for a nonlinear device like a diode or transistor. It represents the constraint put on the voltage and current in the nonlinear device by the external circuit.
Small-signal modeling is a common analysis technique in electronics engineering used to approximate the behavior of electronic circuits containing nonlinear devices with linear equations. It is applicable to electronic circuits in which the AC signals (i.e., the time-varying currents and voltages in the circuit) are small relative to the DC ...
Linear vs nonlinear: A straight line through the origin represents a linear circuit element, while a curved line represents a nonlinear element. For example, resistors, capacitors, and inductors are linear, while diodes and transistors are nonlinear.
Large-signal modeling is a common analysis method used in electronic engineering to describe nonlinear devices in terms of the underlying nonlinear equations. In circuits containing nonlinear elements such as transistors, diodes, and vacuum tubes, under "large signal conditions", AC signals have high enough magnitude that nonlinear effects must be considered.
Linear circuits, that is, circuits wherein the outputs are linearly dependent on the inputs, can be analyzed by hand using complex analysis. Simple nonlinear circuits can also be analyzed in this way. Specialized software has been created to analyze circuits that are either too complicated or too nonlinear to analyze by hand.
So in analyzing many circuits where the signal levels are small, for example those in TV and radio receivers, nonlinear elements can be replaced with a linear small-signal model, allowing linear analysis techniques to be used. Conversely, all circuit elements, even "linear" elements, show nonlinearity as the signal level is increased.