Frequency Domain Techniques

The term frequency response means the steady state output due to sinusoidal input. The
following figure shows that the frequency response of any linear system G(s) is sinusoidal
having the same frequency as the input but with a different amplitude (due to the system gain)
and also having a phase shift (due to the system lag).

A.sin(ωt) kA.sin(ωt+φ)
G(s)

where k = G( jω ) ,φ = ∠G ( jω ) . There are many standard plots to represent the frequency

response, e.g., Bode plot, polar plot, Nyquist plot …etc. We are going to present Bode plot in
this tutorial. The Bode plot contains two curves, the first is the MAGNITUDE curve which
represents the relation of G( jω ) Vs ω , and the other is the PHASE curve which represents the
relation of ∠G ( jω ) Vs ω . The following figure is an example of the bode plot for a certain
physical system.

Bode Diagram
0

-10
Magnitude (dB)

-20

-30

-40
0
Phase (deg)

-45

-90
-2 -1 0 1 2
10 10 10 10 10
Frequency (rad/sec)

Usually, the magnitude is plotted in dB form (dB = 20 log |G|).

Note that the Bode plot for any physical system will have the same trend as the one shown
above. This is because in any physical system, as the input frequency increases (input changes
rapidly), the system will not respond to these very fast input variations, i.e., the output is very
low due to these fast variations. This is represented mathematically by a low system magnitude
for high frequency. Thus in the Bode plot of any physical system, the magnitude curve will
decrease as the frequency increases. The same concept applies to the phase.
Example 1: Plot the bode diagram for the following open loop transfer function, and determine
its band width:
( s + 2)( s + 6)
L( s ) =
s ( s + 1)( s + 5)( s + 10)
Magnitude Bode Plot:
1st we put the T.F. in the Bode form (+1 form)
 s  s  6 s  s 
12 + 1 + 1  + 1 + 1
L( s) =  2  6  =
25  2  6 
 s  s   s  s 
50 s (s + 1) + 1 + 1 s (s + 1) + 1 + 1
 5  10   5  10 

 jω  jω 
 + 1 + 1
L( jω ) = 0.24  2  6 
 jω  jω 
jω ( jω + 1) + 1 + 1
 5  10 
The system can be composed of
0.24
• Singularity:
jω
1  jω  1  jω  1
• 1st order: , + 1, , + 1,
( jω + 1)  2   jω + 1  6   jω + 1
   
 5   10 
The break frequencies are
ωbreak = 1, 2, 5, 6, 10 rad / sec . So choose the plot starting frequency to be equal to or less than
tens of the lowest break frequency ( ωstart = 0.1rad / sec )

Then we start to plot the magnitude curve by plotting the low frequencies portion which is
related to the singularity term K 0 ( jω ) n .
Here, K 0 ( jω ) n = 0.24( jω ) −1 then, when ω = 1 the magnitude 20 log L( jω ) = 20 log 0.24 = −12.4
and the slope of the amplitude ratio curve is –20dB/decade.

The curve slope changes at each break point according to the following general rule “Any break
frequency in the denominator will decrease the slope by 20dB/decade and vice versa”.
• At ωbreak = 1 the slope changes by -20 dB/decade since this break point corresponds to a
first order term in the denominator
• At ωbreak = 2 the slope changes by+ 20dB/decade since this frequency corresponds to a
first order term in the numerator
• At ωbreak = 5 the slope will change by -20dB/decade
• At ωbreak = 6 the slope will change by +20dB/decade
• And at ωbreak = 10 the slope will change by -20dB/decade.
This plot is an asymptotic (not exact) plot.
Both The magnitude curve and the phase curve are plotted on semi-log sheets. The frequency
range is very wide and it’s preferred to study the variations clearly in both the low and high
frequency ranges; such a matter is not available except with the log scale.
Phase Bode Plot:
To get the exact phase plot construct the following table using :
φ = ∠L( jω ) = ∠0.24 + ∠(0.5 jω + 1) + ∠(0.167 jω + 1) − ∠( jω ) − ∠( jω + 1) − ∠(0.2 jω + 1) − ∠(0.1 jω + 1)
0 .5 w 0.167 w w 0 .2 w 0.1w
φ = ∠L( jω ) = 0 + tan −1 + tan −1 − 90 − tan −1 − tan −1 − tan −1
1 1 1 1 1
ω (rad / sec .) φ
0.1 -93.6
0.2 -97.1
0.5 -106.3
0.6 -108.8
1 -116.0
2 -123.1
5 -132.3
6 -135.1
10 -145.0
20 -158.9
50 -171.0
60 -172.4
100 -175.4
We usually substitute for ω by the break frequencies values, their tens, and ten times.
Example 2: Plot the bode diagram for the following open loop transfer function:
s 2 + 2s + 8
L( s) =
s ( s 2 + 2s + 10)
Magnitude Bode Plot:
1st put the T.F. in the Bode form
 s 2 2s  s2 s   ( jω ) 2 jω 

8 + + 1  0.8 + + 1 0.8
  + + 1
2 8 8 8 4 8 4
=  2  =  =  
s + 2s + 8
L( s) = 2
s ( s + 2 s + 10)  s 2s   s 2
s   jω 2
jω 
10 s + + 1 s + + 1 ( jω ) + + 1
 10 10   10 5   10 5 
The break frequencies are
ωbreak = 8 = 2.83, 10 = 3.16 rad / sec
ωstart = 0.1 rad / sec
2nd start to plot the magnitude curve by plotting the low frequencies portion which is related to
the K 0 ( jω ) n term.
Here, K 0 ( jω ) n = 0.8( jω ) −1 then, when ω = 1 the magnitude 20 log L( jω ) = 20 log 0.8 = −1.9 and
the slope of the amplitude ratio curve at this point is -20dB/decade.
The curve slope changes at each break point as follows:
At ωbreak = 2.83 the slope changes by +40 dB/decade ;since this break point corresponds to a
second order term in the numerator, and at ωbreak = 3.16 the slope changes by - 40 dB/decade
since this frequency corresponds to a second order term in the denominator.

Phase Bode Plot:

To plot the exact phase plot we construct the following table using
φ = ∠L ( jω ) = ∠0.8 + ∠[0.125( jω ) 2 + 0.25 jω + 1] − ∠jω − ∠[0.1( jω ) 2 + 0.2 jω + 1]
0.25w 0.2 w
φ = ∠L ( jω ) = 0 + tan −1 2
− 90 − tan −1
1 − 0.125w 1 − 0.1w2
ω (rad / sec .) φ
0.283 -89.2
0.316 -89.1
2.83 = 8 -70.5
3.163 = 10 -72.31
28.3 -90.0
31.6 -90.0

- We can obtain the Bode diagram using MATLAB by writing the following code:
num = [1 2 8];
den = [1 2 10 0]
bode(n,d)
grid on