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Reference.org
Open-circuit time constant method
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<p>The open-circuit time constant (OCT) method is an approximate analysis technique used in electronic circuit design to determine the <a href="/facts/Corner_frequency/vc8veeXp">corner frequency</a> of <a href="/facts/Complex_circuit/zt94kTW0">complex circuits</a>. It is a special case of zero-value time constant (ZVT) method technique when reactive elements consist of only capacitors. The zero-value time (ZVT) constant method itself is a special case of the <a href="/facts/General_Time-_and_Transfer_Constant_(TTC)_analysis/DABdbwvH">general Time- and Transfer Constant (TTC) analysis</a> that allows full evaluation of the zeros and poles of any lumped LTI systems of with both inductors and capacitors as reactive elements using <a href="/facts/Time_constant/5na4AbzV">time constants</a> and <a href="/facts/Transfer_constant/qlgtxs79">transfer constants</a>. The OCT method provides a quick evaluation, and identifies the largest contributions to time constants as a guide to the circuit improvements. </p><p>The basis of the method is the approximation that the corner frequency of the amplifier is determined by the term in the denominator of its <a href="/facts/Transfer_function/slDsh1lH">transfer function</a> that is linear in frequency. This approximation can be extremely inaccurate in some cases where a zero in the numerator is near in frequency. If all the poles are real and there are no zeros, this approximation is always conservative, in the sense that the inverse of the sum of the zero-value time constants is less than the actual corner frequency of the circuit. </p><p>The method also uses a simplified method for finding the term linear in frequency based upon summing the RC-products for each capacitor in the circuit, where the resistor R for a selected capacitor is the resistance found by inserting a test source at its site and setting all other capacitors to zero. Hence the name <i>zero-value time constant technique</i>. </p>