Is the term common cathode equivalent to common emitter?

[Chris Hornbeck]

I'll have whatever he's having.


Chris

 

[Ken Newton]

Ken,
the single-stage amplifier topology denotes devices operating with a single-polarity power supply, the three terminals refered to ground through a passive element, such as wire, resistor, choke. Do you stick to this definition?

No, I do not. Power supply polarity could be D.C. mono or bipolar or even floating, relative to D.C. ground. Similarly, the passive elements you mention have much to do with establishing D.C. bias through an device. What matters towards establishing device signal operating mode is A.C. ground. A.C. ground can sit at any D.C. potential above or below D.C. ground. An A.C. ground can be established passively or actively, an directly wired connection to D.C. ground is not required.

A commonly seen example is the cathode-follower. It is defined as an grounded(common)-anode operating mode. The anode may be directly connected to hundreds of volts D.C., so, ask yourself, how then is the anode also considered to be grounded?

 

[N101N]

You should accept that convention.

Ground means signal-wise invariant, such as the power supply rails.

 

[Ken Newton]

You should accept that convention.

Ground means signal-wise invariant, such as the power supply rails.

There's no purpose in my continuing.

Cheers.