CHAOS IN THE COLPITTS OSCILLATOR

In this work, we present experimental results and SPICE simulations of chaos in a Colpitts oscillator. We show that the nonlinear dynamics o f this oscillator may be modeled by a third-order autonomous continuou s-time circuit consisting of a linear inductor, two linear capacitors, two linear resistors, two independent voltage sources, a linear curre nt-controlled current source, and a single voltage-controlled nonlinea r resistor. The nonlinear resistor has a two-segment piecewise-linear DP characteristic. With the appropriate choice of parameters, the piec ewise-linear circuit model has a positive Lyapunov exponent.