NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
ANALOGUE ELECTRONICS II
Assignment 2 EEE 2215
November 2025
Due Date: 11 November 2025 @1000hrs
Total Marks: 100
Special Requirements: N/A
Examiner’s Name: MR B. DLODLO & MISS H. MAKISENI
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Answer all questions.
2. Use of calculators is permissible
3. Submit your TYPEWRITTEN work with this cover page.
MARK ALLOCATION
QUESTION MARKS
1. 50
2. 50
TOTAL 100
Name………………………………………………………………………… Date……………………………………………………….
© National University of Science and Technology, 2025
Question 1
a) Design for a simple zener diode shunt regulator circuit for a makeshift cell phone charger
with the following specifications:
Required maximum load current of 350mA.
Output voltage of 5.1V.
Nominal input voltage of 9V.
Maximum input voltage of 11V.
Assume a minimum zener breakdown current of 2mA.
Circuit:
(FIG 1)
1. Find a value for RS
RS must supply sufficient current to keep IZ at or slightly above 1mA when the zener diode
is passing its minimum current. As the total circuit current I IN = IOUT + IZ. The minimum
zener diode current will occur when the input voltage (V IN) is at its minimum value and
the load current (IOUT) is at its maximum value. Under these conditions the current (I IN)
flowing through RS will be IOUT max + IZ min Which is 350mA + 2mA = 352mA.
As R = V/I and the voltage across RS = VIN min - VZ
Then RS = (VIN min - VZ)/IIN = (11 - 9) / 352 exp-3 = 5.7Ω
Therefore, a practical value for RS will be the next lowest preferred value 5.6Ω (+/-
5% tolerance E12 series).
2. Calculate the maximum current (IIN max) that will pass through RS.
The maximum current (IIN max) will occur when VIN is at its maximum value, i.e. 16V I IN
max = (VIN max - VZ) / RS = (11 – 5.1) / 5.6 = 4 / 27 = 1.053A
Therefore IIN = 1.053 A
3. Calculate the maximum power requirement for RS This will occur when VIN is at its
maximum value).
(VIN max - VZ) x IIN max = (11 - 5.1) x 1.053 = 6.212W.
A practical power rating for R S will therefore be the next highest available power rating
= 10W
4. Calculate the maximum power (PZ max) that must be dissipated by the zener diode:
This will be the power that the zener diode would need to dissipate if the load was
disconnected while the input voltage was at maximum, causing the maximum current (I IN
max) of 1.053 A to flow through the vener diode. As Power P = I x V, then P Z max = IIN max x
VZ = 1.053 x 5.1 = 5.370 = approx. 5.4W.
Therefore, PZ max = approx. 5.4W
A suitable shunt regulator would therefore consist of a 5.6Ω 10W resistor and a 5.1V
zener diode with a power rating of at least 10 Watts.
b) Showing how a fixed output voltage integrated circuit (IC) regulator is connected in
circuit for safe operation:
(FIG 2)
Above is an example of integrated circuit (IC) regulator WHICH is connected in circuit
for safe operation.
Zooming in on the IC a safe connection would look like this:
(FIG 3)
Purpose of each additional component:
Input electrolytic capacitor C1:
Supplies transient current to the regulator input and smooths input supply ripple. Prevents
input voltage dips that could destabilize the regulator.
Output electrolytic capacitor C2:
Stabilizes the output and supplies transient currents to the load. Many fixed regulators
require an output capacitor for stability.
Protection diode:
There is a possibility that if the input is shorted to ground, either temporarily (or
permanently because of a fault) that the charge on C2 will cause a large current to flow
back into the I.C. output terminal, damaging the I.C. To prevent this, a diode such as a
1N4002 can be connected across the I.C. as shown in Fig.3 so that if, at any time the input
terminal is at a lower potential than the output, the diode will conduct any charge at the
output terminal to ground, rather than allowing the current to flow though the I.C.
c) State two major advantages of switched mode power supplies over linear power supplies:
1. Higher efficiency (much less heat):
SMPS convert power by switching elements and energy storage (inductors/capacitors), so
they can achieve efficiencies commonly >85–95%. Linear supplies (shunt/series
regulators) dissipate excess voltage as heat equal to . Less heat means smaller heatsinks
and lower wasted energy (important for battery-powered chargers).
2. Smaller size & lighter weight (and wider input range):
Because they dissipate less heat, SMPS components (and their heatsinks) are smaller.
Also SMPS can accept a wide input range and still regulate output efficiently, which
makes them better for battery-operated or automotive applications where input varies.
Question 2
A photodiode with the characteristics shown in figure 1 is placed in series with a 200Ω
resistor and a 0.4V power supply providing reverse bias to the diode. The circuit is used in an
optic fiber communication system to detect light pulses. A non-inverting operational
amplifier with a gain of 10 is used to amplify the voltage from the photodiode. The amplified
voltage is fed to a comparator whose output goes high (logic 1) if the received light intensity
is greater than 5000lm/m2 and low (logic 0) if the received intensity is below 5000lm/m2.
a) Design the amplifier circuit and show how it will be connected to the photodiode.
[17 marks]
b) Calculate the output voltage from the amplifier when the illumination is 5000lm/m 2.
[13 marks]
c) Considering design specifications, design the comparator circuit and show how it will be
connected to the amplifier. [15 marks]
d) Define loading and state how loading of the photodiode circuit can be minimised.
[5 marks]
Figure 1