UEEA1253 – CIRCUITS, SIGNALS

AND SYSTEMS

LAB 1
ATTENUATOR DESIGN &
MEASUREMENT
NAME : LAU LOK BIN
ID : 1902064
GROUP : 1
COURSE : MH
DATE OF SUBMISSION : 14/02/2022
EMAIL : [email protected]

Contribution Details and

Percentage
Introduction (10%)
Results and Discussion (50%)
Conclusions (20%)
References (5%)
Report presentation format and proper English
(15%)
PENALTY

Total
A) Introduction

Attenuators are passive electrical components with the function of reducing the
amplitude of a signal passing through it or also known as a known insertion loss,
without distorting the signal. Insertion loss is referring to the amount of energy that an
input signal loses during its travel along a wiring, it occurs naturally in any type of
transmission such as electricity or data. (Fluke Networks 2021). The most common
uses of attenuators are in broadcasting stations’ volume control equipment, to rectify
impedance matching in circuits, as protection for circuits from high voltage damages
etc.

The formula for insertion loss is known to be 20log10N dB, where it is in the units of
𝑣
decibels, while N is the ratio of insertion loss, where 𝑁 = 𝑣1
2
B) Equipment & Components

1) Signal generator, oscilloscope, multimeter, breadboard.

2) Resistors of varied resistances.

C) Results

Part A. Finding the internal resistance Rg of the signal generator.

Figure 1. The left circuit represents the signal generator, the right circuit represents a
load connected to the signal generator.

a) The Signal generator is connected to the oscilloscope, vg is set to be 8Vpp and

frequency is set to be 1Khz.
b) A load resistor of 100Ω, RL is placed between the connection points, and v1 is
measured to be 5.36V.
c) Rg is calculated with the voltage divider rule, where
𝑅𝐿
𝑣1 = 𝑣
𝑅𝑔 + 𝑅𝐿 𝑔
100
5.36 = 8
𝑅𝑔 + 100
Rg = 49.25 Ω

It is observed that the experimental value of Rg is 49.25 Ω under laboratory

conditions and RL is 100 Ω.
Part B. Signal generator with a built-in variable attenuator.

In theory, the signal generator is equipped with a built-in variable attenuator that
could provide a 20dB insertion loss. This is then proven by experimentally measuring
the voltage values and calculating the insertion loss with the formula 20log10vg/v1 dB

The variable attenuator is set to position 0dB, frequency 1kHz and output voltage vg =
8Vpp. The output voltage v1 is then measured with the oscilloscope.
dB vg (pp) v1 (pp) (measured by oscilloscope) Calculate 20log10vg/v1
dB
20 8V 800mV 20dB
Table 1. Experimental results of the insertion loss of the signal generator

In this part, a matching value of insertion loss is obtained, where the theoretical
insertion loss of the signal generator is 20dB, and the experimental insertion loss also
returns 20dB.

Part C. Attenuator experiments.

A 5 dB T-attenuator is constructed as below, where R1= 14.7Ω, R2= 81Ω and R3=
R1= 14.7 Ω.

Figure 2. T-attenuator.

Figure 3. T-attenuator is inserted into the test circuit

a) The T-attenuator experiment circuit is constructed on a breadboard,

b) The signal generator’s output voltage is set to 8Vpp.
c) The signal generator’s frequency is set to 1kHz.
d) A load resistor, RL of value 51Ω is added, v1 and v2 are measured, N and I.L. is
 calculated.
e) Steps b) to d) are repeated for RL of value 100Ω, 330Ω and ∞.
Remarks : N= v1/ v2
I.L.= 20log10N dB
f) The readings are tabulated in the table below.

No RL (Ω) v1 v2 N I.L. (dB)

1 51 4.00 2.48 1.61 4.15
2 100 5.36 3.20 1.68 4.51
3 330 6.96 3.36 2.07 6.32
4 ∞ (o/c) 8.00 4.48 1.78 5.04
Table 2. Experimental results of insertion loss of T-attenuator.

In this section, the experimental insertion losses obtained are nearly around 5db,
which is the theoretical insertion loss for the T-attenuator. The most extreme cases are
when RL = 51 Ω and RL = 330 Ω, where the percentage error for RL = 51 Ω is 17%
whereas the percentage error for RL = 330 Ω is 26.4%. In conclusion for this part, the
fluctuation and inaccuracy of readings are due to the three resistors used to construct
the T-attenuator, as requested, resistors of 14 Ω and 82.4 Ω should be used for R1=R3
and R2 respectively, but instead the actual resistance values of the resistors are 14.7 Ω
and 81 Ω, which is quite a difference from the theoretical values. Besides that, the
cable and breadboard resistances are also ignored in this experiment, so the results are
not as ideal and have high errors.

No F v1 v2 N I.L (dB)
1 100kHz 3.96 2.30 1.72 4.71
2 200kHz 3.96 2.28 1.74 4.81
3 500kHz 4.00 2.30 1.74 4.81
4 1Mhz 4.04 2.14 1.89 5.53
5 2MHz 3.96 2.04 1.94 5.76
Table 3. For RL = 51Ω, the experiment is repeated with higher frequencies.

For this part, there is little fluctuation in the experimental insertion loss obtained
compared with the theoretical insertion loss of the T-attenuator, as the input signal’s
frequency does not affect the voltage ratio of the circuit. The most extreme cases are
when F = 100kHz with a percentage error of 5.8% and F = 2Mhz with a percentage
error of 15.2%. The conclusion for this part is that the difference of readings are
caused by wiring and breadboard resistances which are ignored, and the different
values of resistors used to construct the T-attenuator as mentioned in part C, section f.
 A 8 dB Pi-attenuator is constructed as below, where Ra= 109.5Ω, Rb= 50.8Ω and
Rc= Ra= 109.5 Ω.

Figure 4. Pi-attenuator.

No RL (Ω) v1 v2 N I.L (dB)

1 51 4.00 1.68 2.38 7.53
2 100 5.36 2.22 2.41 7.64
3 330 6.96 2.74 2.54 8.10
4 ∞ (o/c) 8.00 3.12 2.56 8.16
Table 4. Experimental results of insertion loss of Pi-attenuator.

For this part, the experimental insertion losses are close to the value of theoretical
insertion loss of pi-attenuator which is 8db, the extremities are when RL= 51 Ω and
RL= 330 Ω, where the percentage errors are 5.8% and 1.25% respectively. Conclusion
for this part is that the results are almost ideal, as the percentage errors are relatively
low, which in turn means that the actual resistors used to construct this circuit returns
favorable results.
Part D. Analysis of T-attenuator and Pi-attenuator.

1) Mesh analysis of T-attenuator experiment.

2) Nodal analysis of pi-attenuator experiment
 For the mesh and nodal analysis of the attenuators, a high percentage error is obtained,
this is due to invalid value of Rg, hence it is proven that Rg is not 49.25 Ω as
experimentally obtained.

D) Purpose of the experiment.

This experiment is done to learn on how to design attenuators and grab hold of the
concept of attenuators where it is proven with the experimental results that attenuators
reduce the amplitude of the input signal, which is its main purpose. Through this
experiment, the behavior of T and Pi-attenuators are studied with varied values of
load resistance, and different input signal frequencies, which returns expected results
as described in theory, as the attenuator fitted circuits do show a reduction in voltage
of the circuit.

X) REFERENCES
ELPROCUS. What is an Attenuator – Design, Types and Applications [online]. Available
from : https://www.elprocus.com/what-is-an-attenuator-design-types-and-applications/
[accessed 9 February 2022].

Fluke Networks. (2021). Insertion Loss [online]. Available from :

https://www.flukenetworks.com/blog/cabling-chronicles/cable-testing-101-insertion-loss-
matters-fiber-and-copper [accessed 9 February 2022].