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–3 dB +
1
2p C R
Ri
(1)
INPUT CAPACITOR, C
i
f
c(highpass) +
1
2 p Z
IN
C
i
3 dB
fc
(2)
C
i +
1
2 p Z
i
fc
(3)
POWER SUPPLY DECOUPLING, C
(S)
MIDRAIL BYPASS CAPACITOR, C
(BYP)
TPA0242
SLOS287C – NOVEMBER 1999 – REVISED SEPTEMBER 2004
APPLICATION INFORMATION (continued)
To increase filter accuracy, increase the value of the capacitor and decrease the value of the resistor to ground.
In addition, the order of the filter can be increased.
In a typical application, an input capacitor (Ci) is required to allow the amplifier to bias the input signal to the
proper dc level for optimum operation. In this case, Ci and the input impedance of the amplifier (Zi) form a
high-pass filter with the corner frequency determined by Equation 2.
The value of Ci directly affects the bass (low frequency) performance of the circuit. Consider the example where
Zi is 55 k and the specification calls for a flat bass response down to 30 Hz. Equation 2 is reconfigured as
Equation 3.
In this example, Ci is 72 nF, so one would likely choose a value in the range of 0.1 F to 1 F. A further
consideration for this capacitor is the leakage path from the input source through the input network (Ci) and the
feedback network to the load. This leakage current creates a dc offset voltage at the input to the amplifier that
reduces useful headroom, especially in high-gain applications. For this reason a low-leakage tantalum or ceramic
capacitor is the best choice. When polarized capacitors are used, connect the positive lead of the capacitor to
the amplifier input in most applications, as the dc level there is held at VDD/2, typically higher than the source dc
level. Note that it is important to confirm the capacitor polarity in the application.
This high-performance CMOS audio amplifier requires adequate power-supply decoupling to minimize output
total harmonic distortion (THD). Power-supply decoupling also prevents oscillations with long lead lengths
between the amplifier and the speaker. Optimum decoupling is achieved by using two capacitors of different
types that target different types of noise on the power-supply leads. To filter high-frequency transients, spikes, or
digital hash on the line, a good low equivalent-series-resistance (ESR) ceramic capacitor, typically 0.1 F, placed
as close as possible to the device VDD lead, works best. For filtering low-frequency noise signals, an aluminum
electrolytic capacitor of 10 F or greater placed near the audio power amplifier is recommended.
The midrail bypass capacitor, C(BYP), is the most critical capacitor and serves several important functions. During
startup or recovery from shutdown mode, C(BYP) determines the rate at which the amplifier starts up. The second
function is to reduce power-supply noise coupling into the output drive signal. This noise is from the midrail
generation circuit internal to the amplifier, and appears as degraded PSRR and THD+N.
Bypass capacitor (C(BYP)) values of 0.47-F to 1-F, and ceramic or tantalum low-ESR capacitors are
recommended for best THD and noise performance.
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