CIRCUIT FOR GENERATING TRIANGULAR WAVEFORM HAVING RELATIVELY SHORT LINEAR RISE TIME AND SUBSTANTIALLY LONG LINEAR FALL TIME

A circuit includes a pulse transformer having primary and secondary windings. An oscillating waveform is applied to the primary winding to induce an oscillating waveform at the secondary winding. A transistor in series with a first resistor is coupled between the secondary winding and the ground. An R-C network formed by a second and a third resistor and a capacitor is coupled to a base junction of the transistor. The R-C network causes a slow, tapered linear pinch off of the transistor's conductance to enable the circuit to output a triangular waveform, which is characterized by a relatively short linear rise time followed by a substantially long linear fall time. The R-C network is coupled to the secondary winding via a first and a second diode, respectively.