Function generator with MAX038

Sometime, to test operational amplifiers performance, to be used in audio, it would have been nice to test them at
over 10MHz. For that reason I wanted to design a simple and low cost one, and decided that I needed to build a
high speed function generator.

The design was starting to look on the web - and I chose the MAX038 chip from Maxim. A complete 20MHz
sine/square/triangle function generator in a single chip! While it is possible to build a complete function generator
using just the MAX038, I found that it needed just a little bit more circuitry to make it into a fully fledged function
generator design.

The final design described here is capable of producing sine, square, triangle, and TTL level waveforms at up to
and beyond 20MHz. Normally, an analog function generator capable of this frequency would be very expensive
and very complex. But as you can see, this entire design consists of little more than 4 IC's for generator and 2 for
power supply.

Please note, this project has been designed for the highest possible frequency coverage, and for the lowest
possible distortion level, with that it should be fine for any kind of application.

Figure 1 Bloc diagram and basic operating circuit of MAX038

Surprisingly, the MAX038 does not use any fancy techniques to produce frequencies from 1 Hz up to 20MHz or
more. Instead it uses a simple relaxation type oscillator that operates by charging and discharging a capacitor (on
pin 5) using a constant current. It is basically a dual slope integrator that produces a triangle wave the frequency of
which is determined by the external oscillator capacitor and the input current at the IIN pin. This internal triangle
wave is fed into an internal comparator to produce the square wave function. The sine wave function is produced
by feeding the triangle wave into a sine wave shaping circuit that automatically corrects for the desired frequency,
and produces a reasonably low distortion sine wave at a constant amplitude. The sine, square, and triangle waves
are then fed into a multiplexer that selects which function to output through a low impedance output buffer.

The MAX038 does all of the work in generating the actual waveform, so the rest of circuits just tell which frequency
to operate, and which type of waveform (sine/square/triangle) to produce.

Figure 2 The schematic of function generator

The output frequency is determined by three factors. The first one is the value of the oscillator capacitor on pin 5,
which sets the frequency range that the chip will operate within. The second and third factors are the Current Input
"IIN" (pin 10) and the Frequency Adjust "FADJ" (pin 8) pins. Somewhat contrary to it's name, the Frequency Adjust
pin is not the best way to adjust the output frequency. The output frequency is actually directly proportional to the
current going into the IIN pin. The FADJ input is merely used for finer frequency adjustment (or for frequency
modulation), as it only has about 70% of the adjustment range of IIN. The FADJ circuit adds a small temperature
coefficient to the output frequency. For critical open-loop applications, I turned off by connecting FADJ to GND (not
REF) through a 12kohm resistor (R8 in Figure 2).

The current into IIN used to adjust the output frequency can range from approximately 2uA to 750uA, but for
optimal performance must be between 10uA to 400uA. The IIN pin acts as a virtual ground, and thus it is a simple
matter of applying a positive voltage via a resistor to IIN. This produces a current into IIN which can be simply
worked out using Ohm's law. In fact, the output frequency can be related by the simple formula : Fo (MHz)=
IIN(uA)/Cf(pF) Where Cf is the value of the oscillator capacitor on pin 5. This formula assumes that FADJ is at zero
volts. Used capacitors for 6 frequency ranges: 22pF, 220pF, 2.2nF, 22nF, 220nF and 2.2uF. Excepting 22pF (NPO
ceramics) and 220pF (polistyrol), the rest of capacitors are polipropylene type.
The voltage on DADJ (pin 7) controls the waveform duty cycle (defined as the percentage of time that the output
waveform is positive). If VDADJ = 0V (selected by SW2), the duty cycle is 50%. Varying this voltage from +2.3V to -
2.3V via P1 causes the output duty cycle to vary from 15% to 85%, about -15% per volt. Voltages beyond 2.3V
can shift the output frequency and/or cause instability.

SYNC (pin 14) is a TTL/CMOS-compatible output that can be used to synchronize external circuits. The SYNC
output is a square wave whose rising edge coincides with the output rising sine or triangle wave as it crosses
through 0V. When the square wave is selected, the rising edge of SYNC occurs in the middle of the positive half of
the output square wave, effectively 90 degree ahead of the output. The SYNC duty cycle is fixed at 50% and is
independent of the DADJ control. Because SYNC is a very high speed TTL output, the high-speed transient
currents in DGND (pin 15) and DV+ (pin 16) can radiate energy into the output circuit, causing a narrow spike in
the output waveform. (This spike is difficult to see with oscilloscopes having less than 100MHz bandwidth). The
inductance and capacitance of IC sockets tend to amplify this effect, so sockets are not recommended when SYNC
is on. SYNC is powered from separate ground and supply pins (DGND and DV+), and it can be turned off by
making DV+ open circuit with SW3. If synchronization of external circuits is not used, turning off SYNC by DV+
opening eliminates the spike.

The MAX038 contains a TTL/CMOS phase detector that can be used in a phase-locked loop (PLL) to synchro- nize
its output to an external signal - which is not used in my design. Because that internal phase detector is not used,
PDI and PDO are connected to GND.

To eliminate any distorsions regarding load, I use an opamp as output buffer - AD847, a video buffer circuit.
Figure 3 Solder side of pcb
 Figure 4 Cooper or component side of pcb

Realizing the full performance of the MAX038 require careful attention to power-supply bypassing and board
layout. I use a low-impedance ground plane, and all five GND pins are directly connected to it. V+ and V- are
directly bypassed to the ground plane with 22nF NPO type ceramic capactors in parallel with 47uF ultra low
impedance electrolitic capacitors. To keep capacitor leads short (especially with the 22nF ceramics) to minimize
series inductance, they are connected to MAX038's pins directly on the ground-plane. Because SYNC can be used
(switched on/off via SW3), DV+ are connected to V+, DGND must be connected to the ground plane, one 22nF and
an 1uF tantalum capacitor are connected between DV+ and DGND (pins 16 and 15). It is no necessary to use a
separate supply or run separat traces to DV+.
 Figure 5 A look inside

The power supply circuit comprising 78L05 and 79L05 is a standard +/- 5V regulated supply fed by a full wave
rectified AC input.
 Figure 6 The final function generator

Conclusion: the MAX038 integrated circuit is the most performant one-circuit function generator, which
manufacturing was unfortunately stopped - for that reason the aquisition is difficult. Sincerly I can not understand
the reson why was stopped, or why other manufacturers did not develop till now similar integrated circuit.