Subscribe Recommend		Op-Amp Gain and Offset Design with the HP-67 Programmable Calculator This is the third in an ongoing series of electronic design programs that I'm writing for the HP-67. This program is for designing offset-and-gain stages using a single operational amplifier. Such stages are often necessary to convert an input signal covering one range of voltages (e.g., 0.1V to 0.2V from a sensor) to an output signal covering a different range (e.g., 1.0 to 4.0V into an A/D converter). Mathematically, such a stage performs a linear transformation on the input voltage, VOUT = m VIN + b where m is the slope and b is the intercept or offset. Given an input voltage range, VIL to VIH, and an output voltage range, VOL to VOH, the slope and offset are given by: There are four main cases to consider, with different circuits for each, that are addressed by this program: Positive slope and offset (m > 0 and b > 0) Positive slope and negative offset (m > 0 and b < 0) Negative slope and positive offset (m < 0 and b > 0) Negative slope and offset (m < 0 and b < 0) Positive Slope and Offset A positive slope and offset stage is implemented by the following circuit: Positive gain, positive offset amplifier The designer must select values for R1 and RF, and then appropriate values for R2 and RG can be calculated using the following formulae: After determining theoretically ideal values for R2 and RG, real-world values can be chosen and the following formula applied to VIL and VIH to see the resulting values of VOL and VOH respectively: This case is also used to handle the special case where b = 0 (postive gain with no offset). In such a case, the formula for R2 would result in dividing by zero, which means R2 is infinite. In other words, R2 and VREF are not needed. The value of R1 won't matter then either, and can be replaced by a direct connection. The circuit reduces to: Positive gain, zero offset amplifier Positive Slope and Negative Offset The following circuit implements a positive slope and negative offset stage: Positive gain, negative offset amplifier After choosing values for R1 and RF, values for R2 and RG can be be calculated using these formulae: The following formula can then be used to determine the effect of real-world values of R2 and RG on the transformation: Negative Slope and Positive Offset A negative slope and postive offset stage is implemented by the following circuit: Negative gain, positive offset amplifier Given values for R1 and RF, values for R2 and RG can be be calculated as follows: The following formula can then be used to determine the effect of substituting real-world values of R2 and RG: This case is also used to handle the special case where b = 0 (negative gain with no offset). As in case 1, the formula for R2 would involve division by zero, so R2 and VREF are not needed. The non-inverting input of the op-amp can be connected directly to ground, giving the following circuit: Negative gain, zero offset amplifier Negative Slope and Offset The following circuit implements a negative slope and offset stage: Negative gain, zero offset amplifier This circuit has no R1, so it is only necessary to choose a value for RF, after which R2 and RG are given by: The effect of using real-world values of R2 and RG can then be tested using this formula: Limitations Theoretically, the formulae presented here work perfectly well for gains between -1 and 1 (i.e. |m| < 1). However, many real-world op-amps are unstable in such cases. Instead, it will usually be necessary to design for a higher gain (|m| ≥ 1), with an attenuator on the input side. The design procedures for this are described on Texas Instruments' Op Amp Gain and Offset Page. Using the Program First type in the program and save it, or read it from a previously recorded magnetic card. The card should be labelled as follows: OP-AMP GAIN AND OFFSET STAGE DESIGN VREF VIL,VIH VOL,VOH     →m,b →CASE R1,RF→R2,RG R2,RG→VOL,VOH   Forward Solution: Finding R2 and RG Consider the following example. A sensor has an output ranging from 0.5V to 0.7V, and we want to interface it to an A/D converter that is expecting an input between 1V and 4V. There is no reference voltage available other than the well regulated 5V supply voltage of the circuit. Use a 10kΩ resistor for R1, and 100kΩ for RF. Follow these steps to solve the problem: Description Keystrokes Display Use engineering notation   h  ENG   DSP 2   0.00  00  Enter VREF  5    f  a   5.00  00  Enter VIL and VIH  0.5 ENTER 0.7    f  b   500. -03  Enter VOL and VOH  1 ENTER 4    f  c   1.00  00  Compute slope m  A   15.0  00  Compute offset b  R/S  -6.50  00  Determine case number  B   2.00  00  Enter R1 and RF, compute R2  10 EEx 3 ENTER 100 EEx 3   C   1.02  03  Compute RG  R/S   6.21  03  Notes It is not necessary to compute the slope and offset (by pressing A) before determining the case number. Likewise, it isn't necessary to determine the case number (by pressing B) before computing resistor values (although you'll want to know the case number in order to know which circuit to build). The program keeps track of which information is up to date, and will (re)compute anything that it needs that hasn't already been computed. Reverse Solution: Finding the Effect of R2 and RG on VOL and VOH The closest available 5% resistor values for R2 and RG are 1kΩ and 6.2kΩ respectively. What effect does using these have on the solution? Follow these steps to find out: Description Keystrokes Display Enter R2 and RG, compute VOL  1 EEx 3 ENTER 6.2 EEx 3   D   1.13  00  Compute VOH  R/S   4.15  00  This is within the A/D's input range at the lower bound, but outside the range at the upper bound. What happens if we use the next available value for RG, 6.8kΩ, instead? Description Keystrokes Display Enter R2 and RG, compute VOL  1 EEx 3 ENTER 6.8 EEx 3   D   1.09  00  Compute VOH  R/S   3.88  00  This is almost centered within the desired output range, and covers 93% of it. The only remaining concern is how component tolerances might affect the solution. This can be analyzed by trying different combinations of R1, R2, RF, and RG representing resistors that are maximally out of tolerance (±5%) in each direction. For example, to test the case where R1 and RF are 5% low and R2 and RG are 5% high, follow these steps: Description Keystrokes Display Enter low R1 and RF, ignore computed R2  0.95 EEx 3 ENTER 95 EEx 3   C   920.  00  Enter high R2 and RG, compute VOL  1.05 EEx 3 ENTER 7.14 EEx 3   D   808. -03  Compute VOH  R/S   3.48  00  The results show that in this case, the lower limit of the output is out of range, meaning either a redesign is necessary, or tighter tolerance components are needed. Cases where b = 0 In cases where the offset, b, is zero, the program will instead use b = 10-9 as the offset. This will avoid any division-by-zero errors. The program will then use case 1 (if m > 0) or case 3 (if m < 0) to compute the solution. In both cases, the computed value for R2 will be very large, typically around 109 times the value specified for R1. This indicates that R2 and VREF can be omitted, and that R1 can be replaced by a direct connection. Program Listing Line Instruction Comments 001♦   LBL a  Enter available reference voltage 002  STO 9    003  RTN    004♦   LBL b  Enter VIL and VIH 005  STO 6  Store VIH 006  x↔y    007  STO 5  Store VIL 008  CF 0  Must recompute m and b 009  RTN    010♦   LBL c  Enter VOL and VOH 011  STO 8  Store VOH 012  x↔y    013  STO 7  Store VOL 014  CF 0  Must recompute m and b 015  RTN    016♦   LBL A  Compute transfer function slope (m) and intercept (b) 017  F? 0  Are m and b already up to date? 018  GTO 5    019  RCL 8  Compute and store m = (VOH - VOL) ÷ (VIH - VIL) 020  RCL 7    021  −    022  RCL 6    023  RCL 5    024  −    025  ÷    026  STO A    027  RCL 5  Compute and store b = VOH - m VIL 028  ×    029  RCL 7    030  −    031  CHS    032  x≠0?    033  GTO 7    034  EEx  Make sure b is never exactly 0 035  CHS    036  9    037♦   LBL 7    038  STO B    039  SF 0  Stored m and b are now up to date 040  CF 1  Must recompute case number now 041♦   LBL 5  Display computed or already up-to-date m and b 042  RCL A    043  RTN  Return, leaving m on stack 044  RCL B  Display b if user pressed R/S after return 045  RTN    046♦   LBL B  Compute case number and store in I 047  GSB A  Make sure m and b are up to date 048  F? 1  Is case number already up to date 049  GTO 8    050  x<0?    051  GTO 6  Handle cases where m < 0 052  1    053  ST I    054  RCL B    055  x<0?    056  ISZ I  Case 2: m positive and b negative 057  GTO 8  Case 1: m positive and b positive 058♦   LBL 6  Cases where m is negative 059  3    060  ST I    061  RCL B    062  x<0?    063  ISZ I  Case 4: m negative and b negative 064♦   LBL 8  Case 3: m negative and b positive 065  SF 1  Case number is now up to date (or was already up to date) 066  RC I  Display case number and return 067  RTN    068♦   LBL C  Compute solution using appropriate case 069  STO 3  Store RF 070  x↔y    071  STO 1  Store R1 072  GSB B  Get case number 073  GTO (i)  Branch to appropriate case 074♦   LBL 1  Positive m and positive b 075  RCL 1  Compute and store R2 = VREF R1 m ÷ b 076  RCL 9    077  ×    078  RCL A    079  ×    080  RCL B    081  ÷    082  STO 2    083  R/S  Display R2; 9.99e99 means "open circuit" 084  RCL 9  Compute and store RG = VREF RF ÷ (VREF (m - 1) + b) 085  RCL 3    086  ×    087  GSB 9  Compute VREF (m - 1) + b 088  GTO 5  Divide, store RG, and return, leaving RG on stack 089♦   LBL 2  Positive m and negative b 090  RCL 1  Compute and store R2 = -R1 b ÷ (VREF (m - 1) + b) 091  RCL B    092  CHS    093  ×    094  GSB 9  Compute VREF (m - 1) + b, leaving VREF (m - 1) in register 0 095  ÷    096  STO 2    097  R/S  Display R2 098  RCL 1  Compute and store RG = (R1 b + VREF RF) ÷ (VREF (m - 1)) 099  RCL B    100  ×    101  RCL 9    102  RCL 3    103  ×    104  +    105  RCL 0  Subroutine 9 left VREF (m - 1) in register 0 for us 106  GTO 5  Divide, store RG, and return, leaving RG on stack 107♦   LBL 3  Negative m and positive b 108  RCL 1  Compute and store R2 = R1 (VREF (m - 1) + b) ÷ -b 109  GSB 9  Compute VREF (m - 1) + b 110  ×    111  RCL B    112  CHS    113  ÷    114  STO 2    115  R/S  Display R2 116  RCL 3  Compute and store RG = -RF ÷ m 117  CHS    118  RCL A    119  GTO 5  Divide, store RG, and return, leaving RG on stack 120♦   LBL 4  Negative m and negative b 121  RCL 9  Compute and store R2 = VREF RF ÷ -b 122  RCL 3    123  ×    124  RCL B    125  CHS    126  ÷    127  STO 2    128  R/S  Display R2 129  RCL 3  Compute and store RG = RF ÷ m 130  RCL A    131  CHS    132♦   LBL 5  Common code to compute y ÷ x and store in RG 133  ÷    134  STO 4    135  RTN  Return, leaving RG on stack 136♦   LBL 9  Compute VREF (m - 1) + b, leaving VREF (m - 1) in register 0 137  RCL A    138  1    139  −    140  RCL 9    141  ×    142  STO 0  Save VREF (m - 1) in register 0 for later 143  RCL B    144  +    145  RTN    146♦   LBL D  Compute VOL,VOH using supplied R2,RG 147  STO 4  Store RG 148  x↔y    149  STO 2  Store R2 150  GSB B  Get case number 151  RCL 5    152  GSB (i)  Compute VOL from VIL 153  R/S  Display computed VOL 154  RCL 6    155  GTO (i)  Compute VOH from VIH 156♦   LBL 1  Compute VOUT for positive m and positive b 157  RCL 2    158  ×    159♦   LBL 0  Entry point to compute (x + VREF R1) (1 + RF ÷ RG) ÷ (R1 + R2) 160  RCL 9    161  RCL 1    162  ×    163  +    164  RCL 3    165  RCL 4    166  ÷    167  1    168  +    169  ×    170  RCL 1    171  RCL 2    172  +    173  ÷    174  RTN    175♦   LBL 2  Compute VOUT for positive m and negative b 176  RCL 1    177  1/x    178  RCL 2    179  1/x    180  +    181  1/x    182  RCL 4    183  +    184  STO 0  Store RG + R1 R2 ÷ (R1 + R2) for later 185  RCL 3    186  +    187  ×    188  RCL 0    189  ÷    190  RCL 9    191  RCL 2    192  ×    193  RCL 3    194  ×    195  RCL 1    196  RCL 2    197  +    198  RCL 0    199  ×    200  ÷    201  −    202  RTN    203♦   LBL 3  Compute VOUT for negative m and positive b 204  0    205  GSB 0  Compute (VREF R1) (1 + RF ÷ RG) ÷ (R1 + R2) 206  GTO 9  Subtract VIN RF ÷ RG 207♦   LBL 4  Compute VOUT for negative m and negative b 208  RCL 9    209  RCL 3    210  ×    211  RCL 2    212  ÷    213  CHS    214♦   LBL 9  Entry point to compute x - y RF ÷ RG 215  x↔y    216  RCL 3    217  ×    218  RCL 4    219  ÷    220  −    221  RTN    Two interesting aspects of this program are its use of indirect addressing for branching to the forward and reverse solution subroutines for each of the four cases, and its use of repeated labels. The forward solution for each of the four slope/offset cases is implemented by a sequence of instructions starting with the label corresponding to the case number (1 to 4). When the user presses C, the case number is computed if necessary, and a GTO (i) instruction then branches to the appropriate case. Similarly, the reverse solution for each case is also labeled according to the case number. When the user presses D, VIL is recalled to the stack, after which a GSB (i) instruction causes VOL to be calculated. Then VIH is recalled, and GTO (i) is used to calculate VOH and then return. So, there are two each of LBL 1 through LBL 4. This works because the HP-67 (and other vintage HP calculators) search forwards from the current step for the matching label. Thus the GTO (i) in step 73 will branch to the appropriate forward solution, and the GSB (i) in step 152 and GTO (i) in step 155 will branch to the appropriate reverse solution. This program also makes use of many small subroutines to compute sub-expressions common to multiple solutions. Since there were not enough labels for all the subroutines needed, the same labels were used more than once. Had this not been done, the same sequence of steps would have been repeated several times, and the program would not have fit into the calculator's 224 step memory. Registers and Flags Register Use  0  Temporary register  1  R1 (Ohms)  2  R2 (Ohms)  3  RF (Ohms)  4  RG (Ohms)  5,6  VIL and VIH, input voltage range  7,8  VOL and VOH, output voltage range  9  VREF  A  m, slope of transfer function  B  b, intercept of transfer function  I  Case number (1,2,3,4) Flag Meaning  0  m and b are up to date  1  Case number is up to date Revision History 2008-Dec-04 — Initial release. Other HP Calculator Programs I've written programs for many of the HP calculators calculators in my collection. You may be interested in some of these: HP 35s Curve Fitting Matrix Multi-Tool HP-41C/CV/CX Low-Sensitivity Sallen-Key Filter Design Op-Amp Gain and Offset Stage Design Op-Amp Oscillator Design HP-67 Low-Sensitivity Sallen-Key Filter Design Op-Amp Oscillator Design Resistor Networks of 1 or 2 Nodes     Buy Stefan a coffee! If you've found this article useful, consider leaving a donation to help support stefanv.com   Last updated Tuesday May 26, 2009. E-mail Stefan   Disclaimer: Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and reliability, the information on this web page is presented without warranty of any kind, and Stefan Vorkoetter assumes no liability for direct or consequential damages caused by its use. It is up to you, the reader, to determine the suitability of, and assume responsibility for, the use of this information. 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