A fast and simple implementation of Chua's oscillator with cubic-like nonlinearity

The nonlinearity in Chua's oscillator is commonly implemented as a three-segment piecewise-linear resistor. The piecewise-linear nature of the element means that the implementation requires a significant amount of circuitry and the speed of operation is limited. The qualitative behavior of Chua's oscillator has also been captured using a smooth cubic nonlinearity; the implementation of the latter also requires a significant amount of circuitry and suffers from limited speed of operation. This work describes a novel implementation of Chua's oscillator using just four transistors and a battery to produce a cubic-like nonlinearity. The circuit is simple, robust, and capable of operating at frequencies over one thousand times greater than the original Chua's oscillator.