Frequency Response and Active Filters

This document is an introduction to frequency response, and an introduction to active filters (filters using active amplifiers, like op amps). You might also want to read a similar document from National Semiconductor, !asic "ntroduction to #ilters $ ctive, %assive, and Switched$&apacitor.

Frequency Response -- Background

'p to now we have looked at the time$domain response of circuits. (owever it is often useful to look at the response of circuits in the frequency domain. "n other words, you want to look at how circuits )ehave in response to sinusoidal inputs. This is important and useful for several reasons* +) if the input to a linear circuit is a sinusoid, then the output will )e a sinusoid at the same frequency, though its amplitude and phase may have changed, ,) any time domain signal can )e decomposed via #ourier analysis into a series of sinusoids. Therefore if there is an easy way to analy-e circuits with sinusoidal inputs, the results can )e generali-ed to study the response to any input. To determine the response of a circuit to a sinusoidal signal as a function of frequency it is possi)le to generali-e the concept of impedance to include capacitors and inductors. &onsider a sinusoidal signal represented )y a comple. e.ponential*

where /0($+)+1, (engineers use / instead of i, )ecause i is used for current), is frequency and t is time. "t is a common shorthand to use 2s2 instead of 2/2. Now let us look at the voltage$current relationships for resistors capacitors and inductors. #or a resistor ohms law states*

where we define the impedance, 232, of a resistor as its resistance 242. #or a capacitor we can also calculate the impedance assuming sinusoidal e.citation starting from the current$voltage relationship*

Note that for a capacitor the magnitude of the impedance, +1&, goes down with increasing frequency. This means that at very high frequencies the capacitor acts as an short circuit, and at low frequencies it acts as an open circuit. 5hat is defined as a high, or low, frequency depends on the specific circuit in question. 6ikewise, for an inductor you can show that 30s6.

#or an inductor, impedance goes up with frequency. "t )ehaves as a short circuit at low frequencies, and an open circuit at high frequencies7 the opposite of a capacitor. (owever inductors are not used often in electronic circuits due to their si-e, their suscepti)ility to parisitic effects (esp. magnetic fields), and )ecause they do not )ehave as near to their ideal circuit elements as resistors and capacitors..

A Simple Low-Pass Circuit To see how comple. impedances are used in practice consider the simple case of a voltage divider.

"f 3+ is a resistor and 3, is a capacitor then

8enerally we will )e interested only in the magnitude of the response*

4ecall that the magnitude of a comple. num)er is the square root of the sum of the squares of the real and imaginary parts. There are also phase shifts associated with the transfer function (or gain, 9o19i), thought we will generally ignore these. This is o)viously a low pass filter (i.e., low frequency signals are passed and high frequency signals are )locked).. "f :+14& then &4:+ and the magnitude of the gain is appro.imately unity, and the output equals the input. "f ;+14& (&4;+ ) then the gain goes to -ero, asdoes the output. t 0+14&, called the )reak frequency (or cutoff frequency, or <d! frequency, or half$power frequency, or )andwidth), the magnitude of the gain is +1sqrt(,)=.>+. "n this case (and all first order 4& circuits) high frequency is defined as ;+14&7 the capacitor acts as a short circuit and all the voltage is across the resistance. t low frequencies, :+14&, the capacitor acts as an open circuit and there is no current (so the voltage across the resistor is near -ero). "f 3+ is an inductor and 3, is a resistor another low pass structure results with a )reak frequency of 416.

A Simple Hig -Pass Circuit

"f 3+ is a capacitor and 3, is a resistor we can repeat the calculation*

and

t high frequencies, ;+14&, the capacitor acts as a short and the gain is + (the signal is passed). t low frequencies, :+14&, the capacitor is an open and the output is -ero (the signal is )locked). This is o)viously a high pass structure and you can show that the )reak frequency is again +14&. "f 3+ is a resistor and 3, is an inductor the resulting circuit is high pass with a )reak frequency of 416. This concept of a comple. impedance is e.tremely powerful and can )e used when analy-ing operational amplifier circuits, as you will soon see.

Active Filters Low-Pass filters - the integrator reconsidered.

"n the first la) with op$amps we considered the time response of the integrator circuit, )ut its frequency response can also )e studied. First !rder Low Pass Filter wit !p Amp

"f you derive the transfer function for the circuit a)ove you will find that it is of the form*

which is the general form for first$order (one reactive element) low$pass filters. t high frequencies (??o) the capacitor acts as a short, so the gain of the amplifier goes to -ero. t very low frequencies (@@o) the capacitor is an open and the gain of the circuit is (o. !ut what do we mean )y low (or high) frequencyA 5e can consider the frequency to )e high when the large ma/ority of current goes through the capacitor7 i.e., when the magnitude of the capacitor impedance is much less than that of 4+. "n other words, we have high frequency when +1&@@4+, or ??+14+&0o. Since 4+ now has little effect on the circuit, it should act as an integrator. 6ikewise low frequency occurs when @@+14+&, and the circuit will act as an amplifier with gain $4+14,0 (o.

High-Pass filters - the differentiator reconsidered.

The circuit )elow is a modified differentiator, and acts as a high pass filter. First !rder Hig Pass Filter wit !p Amp

'sing analysis techniques similar to those used for the low pass filter, it can )e shown that

which is the general form for first$order (one reactive element) low$pass filters. t high frequencies (??o) the capacitor acts as a short, so the gain of the amplifier goes to (=0

$4+14,. t very low frequencies (@@o) the capacitor is an open and the gain of the circuit is (o. #or this circuit =0+14,&. Therefore this circuit is a high$pass filter (it passes high frequency signals, and )locks low frequency signals.

Band-Pass circuits
!esides low$pass filters, other common types are high$pass (passes only high frequency signals), )and$re/ect ()locks certain signals) and )and$pass (re/ects high and low frequencies, passing only signal areound some intermediate frequency). The simplest )and$pass filter can )e made )y com)ining the first order low pass and high pass filters that we /ust looked at. Simple Band Pass Filter wit !p Amp

This circuit will attenuate low frequencies (@@+14,&,) and high frequencies (??+14+&+), )ut will pass intermediate frequencies with a gain of $4+14,. (owever, this circuit cannot )e used to make a filter with a very narrow )and. To do that requires a more comple. filter as discussed )elow.

Hig " #Low Bandwidt $ Bandpass Filters% #or a second$order )and$pass filter the transfer function is given )y

where o is the center frequency, is the )andwidth and (o is the ma.imum amplitude of the filter. These quantities are shown on the diagram )elow. The quantities in parentheses are in radian frequencies, the other quantities are in (ert- (i.e. fo0o1,, !01,). 6ooking at the equation a)ove, or the figure, you can see that as >= and $

?infinity that B((s0/)B>=. You can also easily show that at 0o that B((s0/o)B0(=. Cften you will see the equation a)ove written in terms of the quality factor, D, which can )e defined in terms of the )andwidth, , and center frequency, o, as D0o1. Thus the D, or quality, of a filter goes up as it )ecomes narrower and its )andwidth decreases.

"f you derive the transfer function of the circuit shown )elow* Hig -" Bandpass Filter wit !p Amp

you will find that it acts as a )and$pass filter with*

and the center frequency and )andwidth given )y* Radian &requency Hert'

The notation 4+BB4, denotes the parallel com)ination of 4+ and 4,,

Switched Capacitor Filters

There is a special type of active filter, the switched capacitor filter, that takes advantage of integration to achieve very accurate filter characteristics that are electronically tunea)le. The page Switched &apacitor #ilters descri)es these in more detail.