Nonlinear distortion reduction by complementary distortion

Nonlinear distortion produced in a given circuit can be reduced by pre- or postdistorting the signal applied to or from the circuit. Such complementary distortion cannot reduce the original distortion to zero in practice because of distortion of distortion, but it can result in greatly reduced output distortion over a limited amplitude range. General results for the design of pre- or postdistortion circuits are given, and the mathematical results are illustrated by comparing the total harmonic distortions obtained with pre- and postdistortion corrections of increasing complexity applied to a simple nonlinear circuit.