page_title: Two-port network
section_title: Example: common-base amplifier
hierarchical_section_title: Two-port network / Hybrid parameters (h-parameters) / Example: common-base amplifier
caption_attribution_description: Common base hybrid pi with current drive
context_page_description: A two-port network is an electrical network or device with two pairs of terminals to connect to external circuits. Two terminals constitute a port if the currents applied to them satisfy the essential requirement known as the port condition: the electric current entering one terminal must equal the current emerging from the other terminal on the same port. The ports constitute interfaces where the network connects to other networks, the points where signals are applied or outputs are taken. In a two-port network, often port 1 is considered the input port and port 2 is considered the output port.
  The two-port network model is used in mathematical circuit analysis techniques to isolate portions of larger circuits. A two-port network is regarded as a "black box" with its properties specified by a matrix of numbers. This allows the response of the network to signals applied to the ports to be calculated easily, without solving for all the internal voltages and currents in the network. It also allows similar circuits or devices to be compared easily. For example, transistors are often regarded as two-ports, characterized by their h-parameters which are listed by the manufacturer.
context_section_description: Note: Tabulated formulas in Table 2 make the h-equivalent circuit of the transistor from Figure 6 agree with its small-signal low-frequency hybrid-pi model in Figure 7. Notation: rπ = base resistance of transistor, rO = output resistance, and gₘ = transconductance. The negative sign for h₂₁ reflects the convention that I₁, I₂ are positive when directed into the two-port. A non-zero value for h₁₂ means the output voltage affects the input voltage, that is, this amplifier is bilateral. If h₁₂ = 0, the amplifier is unilateral.
caption: Figure 7: Common-base amplifier with AC current source I1 as signal input and unspecified load supporting voltage V2 and a dependent current I2.
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