All Topics  
Electronic mixer

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Electronic mixer
 
 
  Topics Electronic mixer Topic Home

An electronic mixer is a device that combines two or more electronic
Electronics

Electronics refers to the flow of charge through nonmetal electrical conductor , whereas electrical refers to the flow of charge through metal electrical conductor....
 signals into one composite output signal. There are two basic types of mixer. Additive mixers add two signals together, and are used for such applications as audio mixing. Multiplying mixers multiply the signals together, and produce an output containing both original signals, and new signals that have the sum and difference of the frequency
Frequency

Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency....
 of the original signals.

tive mixers add two or more signals
Superposition principle

In physics and systems theory, the superposition principle, also known as superposition property, states that, for all linear systems,So that if input A produces response X and input B produces response Y then input produces response ....
, outputting a composite signal that contains the frequency components of each of the source signals.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Electronic mixer'
Start a new discussion about 'Electronic mixer'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


An electronic mixer is a device that combines two or more electronic
Electronics

Electronics refers to the flow of charge through nonmetal electrical conductor , whereas electrical refers to the flow of charge through metal electrical conductor....
 signals into one composite output signal. There are two basic types of mixer. Additive mixers add two signals together, and are used for such applications as audio mixing. Multiplying mixers multiply the signals together, and produce an output containing both original signals, and new signals that have the sum and difference of the frequency
Frequency

Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency....
 of the original signals.

Additive mixers

Additive mixers add two or more signals
Superposition principle

In physics and systems theory, the superposition principle, also known as superposition property, states that, for all linear systems,So that if input A produces response X and input B produces response Y then input produces response ....
, outputting a composite signal that contains the frequency components of each of the source signals. The simplest additive mixers are simple resistor networks, and thus purely passive
Passivity (engineering)

Passivity is a property of engineering systems, most commonly used in electronic engineering and control systems. A passive component, depending on field, may either refer to a component that consumes energy, or to a component that is incapable of gain....
, while more complex mixers employ active
Passivity (engineering)

Passivity is a property of engineering systems, most commonly used in electronic engineering and control systems. A passive component, depending on field, may either refer to a component that consumes energy, or to a component that is incapable of gain....
 components such as buffer amplifiers for impedance matching
Impedance matching

Impedance matching is the electronics design practice of setting the input impedance of an electrical load equal to the fixed output impedance of the signal source to which it is ultimately connected, usually in order to Maximum power theorem and minimize Signal reflection from the load....
 and better isolation.

Product Mixers

Ideal product mixers act as signal multipliers, producing an output signal equal to the product of the two input signals. Product mixers are often used in conjugation with an oscillator in the communications field to modulate signal frequencies. Product mixers can either up-convert or down-convert an input signal frequency, but it is more common to down-convert to a lower frequency to allow for easier filter design. In many typical circuits, the single output signal actually contains multiple waveforms, namely those at the sum and difference of the two input frequencies and harmonic waveforms. The ideal signal may be obtained by removing the other signal components with a filter.

Product mixers have been implemented in a wide variety of ways. The most popular are Gilbert cell
Gilbert cell

In electronics, the Gilbert cell is an Electronic mixer first described by Barrie Gilbert in 1968. The output current of the circuit is an accurate multiplication of the base currents of both inputs....
 mixers, diode mixers, diode ring mixers (ring modulation
Ring modulation

Ring modulation is a signal-processing effect in electronics, related to amplitude modulation or frequency mixer, performed by multiplying two signals, where one is typically a sine-wave or another simple waveform....
) and switching mixers. A diode
Diode

In electronics, a diode is a two-terminal device .Diodes have two active electrodes between which the signal of interest may flow, and most are used for their unidirectional electric current property....
 mixer has two or more signals going into a diode. Diodes mixers take advantage of the non-linearity of diode devices to produce the desired multiplication in the squared term. It is a very inefficient method as most of the power output is in other unwanted terms which need filtering out. Inexpensive AM radios still use diode mixers.

Gilbert cell mixers are just an arrangement of transistors that multiplies the two signals. The switching mixers (below) pass more power and usually insert less distortion.

Switching mixers use an array of Field effect transistor
Field effect transistor

The field-effect transistor is a type of transistor that relies on an electric field to control the shape and hence the electrical conductivity of a channel of one type of charge carrier in a semiconductor material....
s or (in older days) vacuum tube
Vacuum tube

In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , thermionic valve, or just valve is a device used to amplifier, switch, otherwise modify, or create an Electricity signal by controlling the movement of electrons in a low-pressure space....
s. These are used as electronic switches, to permit the signal to go one direction, then the other. They are controlled by the signal being mixed. They are especially popular with digitally-controlled radios.