5/26/2015

DragonBranch

RelatedSearches
UltraHighFrequency
HighFrequency
PassFilter
PowerAmps
CrossoverFrequency
HighPassFilter
BandPassFilter
FilmCapacitors
NotchFilter
FourierTransform

IntroductiontoFilters

FrequencyResponseandActiveFilters
Thisdocumentisanintroductiontofrequencyresponse,andan
introductiontoactivefilters(filtersusingactiveamplifiers,likeop
amps).Youmightalsowanttoreadasimilardocumentfrom
NationalSemiconductor,ABasicIntroductiontoFiltersActive,
Passive,andSwitchedCapacitor.

FrequencyResponseBackground
Uptonowwehavelookedatthetimedomainresponseofcircuits.
However it is often useful to look at the response of circuits in the
frequencydomain.Inotherwords,youwanttolookathowcircuits
behaveinresponsetosinusoidalinputs.Thisisimportantanduseful
for several reasons: 1) if the input to a linear circuit is a sinusoid,
thentheoutputwillbeasinusoidatthesamefrequency,thoughits
amplitudeandphasemayhavechanged,2)anytimedomainsignal
can be decomposed via Fourier analysis into a series of sinusoids.
Thereforeifthereisaneasywaytoanalyzecircuitswithsinusoidal
inputs, the results can be generalized 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 possible to generalize the concept of
impedancetoincludecapacitorsandinductors.Considerasinusoidal
signalrepresentedbyacomplexexponential:

where j=1)1/2 (engineers use j instead of i, because i is used for

current), is frequency and t is time. It is a common shorthand to
use"s"insteadof"j".
Now let us look at the voltagecurrent relationships for resistors
capacitorsandinductors.
Foraresistorohmslawstates:

where we define the impedance, "Z", of a resistor as its resistance

"R".
For a capacitor we can also calculate the impedance assuming
sinusoidalexcitationstartingfromthecurrentvoltagerelationship:
http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/echeeve1/Ref/FilterBkgrnd/Filters.html

1/8

5/26/2015

IntroductiontoFilters

Notethatforacapacitorthemagnitudeoftheimpedance,1/C,goes
down with increasing frequency. This means that at very high
frequencies the capacitor acts as an short circuit, and at low
frequencies it actsasanopen circuit. What is defined as a high, or
low,frequencydependsonthespecificcircuitinquestion.
Likewise,foraninductoryoucanshowthatZ=sL.

Foraninductor,impedancegoesupwithfrequency.Itbehavesasa
short circuit at low frequencies, and an open circuit at high
frequencies the opposite of acapacitor.However inductors arenot
usedofteninelectroniccircuitsduetotheirsize,theirsusceptibility
to parisitic effects (esp. magnetic fields), and because they do not
behave as near to their ideal circuit elements as resistors and
capacitors..

ASimpleLowPassCircuit
To see how complex impedances are used in practice consider the
simplecaseofavoltagedivider.

http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/echeeve1/Ref/FilterBkgrnd/Filters.html

2/8

5/26/2015

IntroductiontoFilters

IfZ1isaresistorandZ2isacapacitorthen

Generally we will be interested only in the magnitude of the

response:

Recallthatthemagnitudeofacomplexnumberisthesquarerootof
thesumofthesquaresoftherealandimaginaryparts.Therearealso
phase shifts associated with the transfer function (or gain, Vo/Vi),
thoughtwewillgenerallyignorethese.
This is obviously a low pass filter (i.e., low frequency signals are
passed and high frequency signals are blocked).. If <<1/RC then
CR<<1andthemagnitudeofthegainisapproximatelyunity,and
the output equals the input. If >>1/RC (CR>>1 ) then the gain
goes to zero, asdoes the output. At =1/RC, called the break
frequency (or cutoff frequency, or 3dB frequency, or halfpower
frequency, or bandwidth), the magnitude of the gain is
1/sqrt(20.71. In this case (and all first order RC circuits) high
frequencyisdefinedas>>1/RCthecapacitoractsasashortcircuit
and all the voltage is across the resistance. At low frequencies,
<<1/RC, the capacitor acts as an open circuit and there is no
current(sothevoltageacrosstheresistorisnearzero).
If Z1 is an inductor and Z2 is a resistor another low pass structure
resultswithabreakfrequencyofR/L.

ASimpleHighPassCircuit
http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/echeeve1/Ref/FilterBkgrnd/Filters.html

3/8

5/26/2015

IntroductiontoFilters

IfZ1isacapacitorandZ2isaresistorwecanrepeatthecalculation:

and

Athighfrequencies,>>1/RC,thecapacitoractsasashortandthe
gainis1(thesignalispassed).Atlowfrequencies,<<1/RC,the
capacitorisanopenandtheoutputiszero(thesignalisblocked).
Thisisobviouslyahighpassstructureandyoucanshowthatthe
breakfrequencyisagain1/RC.
IfZ1 is a resistor and Z2 is an inductor the resulting circuit is high
passwithabreakfrequencyofR/L.
Thisconceptofacompleximpedanceisextremelypowerfulandcan
be used when analyzing operational amplifier circuits, as you will
soonsee.

ActiveFilters

LowPassfilterstheintegratorreconsidered.
Inthefirstlabwithopampsweconsideredthetimeresponseofthe
integratorcircuit,butitsfrequencyresponsecanalsobestudied.
FirstOrderLowPassFilterwithOp
Amp

http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/echeeve1/Ref/FilterBkgrnd/Filters.html

4/8

5/26/2015

IntroductiontoFilters

Ifyouderivethetransferfunctionforthecircuitaboveyouwillfind
thatitisoftheform:

whichisthegeneralformforfirstorder(onereactiveelement)low
pass filters. At high frequencies (>>o) the capacitor acts as a
short, so the gain of the amplifier goes to zero. At very low
frequencies (<<o) the capacitor is an open and the gain of the
circuitisHo.Butwhatdowemeanbylow(orhigh)frequency?
Wecanconsiderthefrequencytobehighwhenthelargemajorityof
current goes through the capacitor i.e., when the magnitude of the
capacitorimpedanceismuchlessthanthatofR1.Inotherwords,we
have high frequency when 1/C<<R1, or >>1/R1C=o. Since R1
now has little effect on the circuit, it should act as an integrator.
Likewiselowfrequencyoccurswhen<<1/R1C,andthecircuitwill
actasanamplifierwithgainR1/R2=Ho.

HighPassfiltersthedifferentiatorreconsidered.
Thecircuitbelowisamodifieddifferentiator,andactsasahighpass
filter.
FirstOrderHighPassFilterwithOpAmp

Usinganalysistechniquessimilartothoseusedforthelowpass
filter,itcanbeshownthat

whichisthegeneralformforfirstorder(onereactiveelement)low
pass filters. At high frequencies (>>o) the capacitor acts as a
http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/echeeve1/Ref/FilterBkgrnd/Filters.html

5/8

5/26/2015

IntroductiontoFilters

short,sothegainoftheamplifiergoestoH0=R1/R2 .Atverylow
frequencies (<<o) the capacitor is an open and the gain of the
circuitisHo. For this circuit0=1/R2C.Therefore this circuit is a
highpass filter (it passes high frequency signals, and blocks low
frequencysignals.

BandPasscircuits
Besideslowpassfilters,othercommontypesarehighpass(passes
onlyhighfrequencysignals),bandreject(blockscertainsignals)and
bandpass(rejectshighandlowfrequencies,passingonlysignal
areoundsomeintermediatefrequency).
Thesimplestbandpassfiltercanbemadebycombiningthefirst
orderlowpassandhighpassfiltersthatwejustlookedat.
SimpleBandPassFilterwithOpAmp

Thiscircuitwillattenuatelowfrequencies(<<1/R2C2)andhigh
frequencies(>>1/R1C1),butwillpassintermediatefrequencies
withagainofR1/R2 .However,thiscircuitcannotbeusedtomake
afilterwithaverynarrowband.Todothatrequiresamorecomplex
filterasdiscussedbelow.

HighQ(LowBandwidth)BandpassFilters.
Forasecondorderbandpassfilterthetransferfunctionisgivenby

whereoisthe center frequency, is the bandwidth and Ho is the

maximumamplitudeofthefilter.Thesequantitiesareshownonthe
diagram below. The quantities in parentheses are in radian
http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/echeeve1/Ref/FilterBkgrnd/Filters.html

6/8

5/26/2015

IntroductiontoFilters

frequencies,theotherquantitiesareinHertz(i.e.fo=o/2,B=/2).
Lookingattheequationabove,orthefigure,youcanseethatas
0and>infinitythat|H(s=j)|0.Youcanalsoeasilyshowthat
at =o that |H(s=jo)|=H0. Often you will see the equation above
written in terms of the quality factor, Q, which can be defined in
terms of the bandwidth, , and center frequency, o, as Q=o/.
ThustheQ,orquality,ofafiltergoesupasitbecomesnarrowerand
itsbandwidthdecreases.

Ifyouderivethetransferfunctionofthecircuitshownbelow:
HighQBandpassFilterwithOpAmp

youwillfindthatitactsasabandpassfilterwith:

andthecenterfrequencyandbandwidthgivenby:
http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/echeeve1/Ref/FilterBkgrnd/Filters.html

7/8

5/26/2015

IntroductiontoFilters

Radianfrequency

Hertz

ThenotationR1||R2denotestheparallelcombinationofR1andR2,

SwitchedCapacitorFilters
Thereisaspecialtypeofactivefilter,theswitchedcapacitorfilter,
thattakesadvantageofintegrationtoachieveveryaccuratefilter
characteristicsthatareelectronicallytuneable.ThepageSwitched
CapacitorFiltersdescribestheseinmoredetail.

http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/echeeve1/Ref/FilterBkgrnd/Filters.html

8/8