Analysis of emitter-coupled multivibrators by singularly perturbed systems

Emitter-coupled multivibrators play a decisive role in electrical engineering, especially for phase locked loops which are key-building blocks of analogue RF front-ends. Since multivibrators correspond to relaxation oscillators, in the following the modelling and analysis by the theory of singularly perturbed systems is presented. Models for fast and slow phenomena are derived, and the fast transients of emitter-coupled multivibrators are analysed for the first time. The results of our analysis lead to significant advantages for the design of electrical multivibrators.