IT2140E-Electronics for Information Technology DCE-SOICT-HUST

LAB 3. RC FILTERS

1 Goals
After this lab you will be able to:
• Know Fourier series and the Fourier transform.
• Know the function of a filter in signal processing.
• Analyze RC low-pass and high-pass filters.

2 Introduction

2.1 Fourier Series

A periodic function 𝑠(𝑡) of period T (f0=1/T) can be represented in its Fourier series (sine-
cosine form or exponential form) as:
∞

𝑠 (𝑡) = 𝑆0 + ∑(𝑎𝑛 cos(𝑛2𝜋𝑓0 𝑡) + 𝑏𝑛 sin(𝑛2𝜋𝑓0 𝑡))

𝑛=1
or
∞

𝑠(𝑡) = ∑ 𝑆𝑛 exp(𝑗𝑛2𝜋𝑓0 𝑡)
𝑛=−∞
where
- n = 1, 2, 3, …
- an, and bn are called Fourier coefficients.
- S0 is called the 0th harmonic or DC component.
- Sn is called the nth harmonic.

The Fourier Transform is an extension of Fourier Series to non-periodic functions. It

converts signals from time domain in to frequency domain.
The importance of the Fourier Transform/Series in signal processing:
- It is a mathematical tool used for frequency analysis of signals.
- A signal 𝑠(𝑡) with a frequency 𝑓0 can be considered as a sum of sines and cosines
with frequencies that are multiples of the frequency 𝑓0 (i.e., 2𝑓0 , 3𝑓0 , …).
- The Fourier Transform helps to reveal frequency components of a signal.

2.2 Power Spectrum of Signal

The power spectrum of a given time-domain signal 𝑠(𝑡 ) is the distribution of power
contained within the signal over frequency. When the signal 𝑠(𝑡) is processed, it is often
represented in the frequency domain (rather than the time domain). In order to obtain a plot
of the power spectrum of the signal 𝑠(𝑡), we can perform a fast Fourier transform (FFT) on
the signal. The plot consists of data points (𝑛, 𝑆𝑛 ), where 𝑆𝑛 is the magnitude of the signal
at the frequency nf0.
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2.3 Filter
In signal processing, a filter is an electronic circuit that has the characteristics of passing
only signals of certain frequencies while attenuating others.
The following block diagram illustrates the frequency response H(n) of a filter. When the
signal S(n) is applied to the input of the filter, the output F(n) is determined by:
𝐹 (𝑛) = 𝑆(𝑛)𝐻(𝑛)

S(n) F(n)
H(n)

Filters are of 2 types: passive and active. In this lab, we only take into consideration of
passive filters, which contain only passive elements such as resistors, capacitors, and
inductors.
Three most commonly-used of passive filters:
- Low-pass filter: 𝐻 (𝑛) ≈ 1 if 𝑛 ≤ 𝑁0 and 𝐻 (𝑛) ≈ 0 if 𝑛 > 𝑁0
- High-pass filter: 𝐻 (𝑛) ≈ 0 if 𝑛 ≤ 𝑁0 and 𝐻 (𝑛) ≈ 1 if 𝑛 > 𝑁0
- Band-pass filter: 𝐻 (𝑛) ≈ 0 if 𝑛 < 𝑁𝑙𝑜𝑤 or 𝑛 > 𝑁ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ , and 𝐻 (𝑛) ≈ 1 if 𝑁𝑙𝑜𝑤 ≤ 𝑛 ≤
𝑁ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ .

where 𝑁0 𝑓0 , 𝑁𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑓0 , and 𝑁ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑓0 are the cut-off frequency. In almost all cases, the cutoff
frequency is determined at the point the filter attenuates the input power by half or 3 dB
𝐹(𝑛) 1 1
( = = 0.707; 20 log ( ) = −3.01 𝑑𝐵)
𝑆(𝑛) √2 √2

2.4 RC Low-Pass Filter

The following figures show the circuit of a simple low-pass RC filter and its gain-magnitude
frequency response.

Cutoff frequency:
𝟏
𝒇𝟎 =
𝟐𝝅𝑹𝑪
IT2140E-Electronics for Information Technology DCE-SOICT-HUST

2.5 RC High-Pass Filter

The following figures show the circuit of a simple high-pass RC filter and its gain-
magnitude frequency response.

Cutoff frequency:
𝟏
𝒇𝟎 =
𝟐𝝅𝑹𝑪

3 AC Sweep Analysis
AC Sweep in Multisim performs a complex analysis of the circuit across a range of
frequencies. It is useful for analyzing the frequency response of a circuit. For an AC sweep
analysis, the output includes voltages and currents with the magnitude and phase.
In order to perform an AC Sweep simulation in Multisim, select the Simulation Toolbar /
AC Sweep. Then, choose appropriate values for the Frequency parameters (FSTART,
FSTOP, Sweep type, Number of points, Vertical scale).
See https://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/375482B-01/multisim/acanalysis/ for details.

4 Inlab Activities

4.1 Synthesis of a square wave

Square waves are commonly used in digital systems. For example, the clock signal for
microprocessors is a square wave.

1
1
0 𝑓0
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In order to produce an ideal square wave (𝒓(𝒕)) with an amplitude of 1 and a frequency 𝑓0 ,
you can use the Fourier Transform to represent the square wave as an infinite sum of
sinusoidal waves:
𝟒
𝒓(𝒕) = ∑ 𝒔𝒊𝒏(𝒏𝟐𝝅𝒇𝟎 𝒕)
𝒏𝝅
𝒏=𝟐𝒌+𝟏

Follow the steps below to produce a square wave.

Step1: In the Multisim software (or Multisim Live), build the following circuit.
(https://www.multisim.com/content/974iT7f6TVe58S8JJvaWVg/squarewave/open/)

Step 2: Open all the switches (S1 – S6). Run an interactive simulation and close the switches
in order.
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Comments:
- It is impossible to achieve an ideal square wave in practice.
- When the number of harmonics increases, the output wave is approximate to the
square wave shape.
- The Gibbs phenomenon occurs.
- The magnitude of the output wave is affected by the reactance of the capacitors.

4.2 Low-Pass Filter

4.2.1 Designing a Low-Pass RC Filter
Build the following low-pass RC filter circuit.
- The AC V1 is set to 5V (peak) and a frequency of 10Hz; the AC V2 is set to 5V (peak)
and a frequency of 1KHz.
- The cutoff frequency is set to 25.2 Hz.
V1
C1

1uF
5Vpk
10Hz V R1 V
PR1 PR2
0°
1kΩ
V2 C3
C2
6.3uF

1uF
1Vpk
1KHz
0°

Run an interactive simulation and observe the output results.

IT2140E-Electronics for Information Technology DCE-SOICT-HUST

Comments:
- The low-frequency input signal is passed to the output. The high-frequency component
(red line) is greatly attenuated.
- The phase angle of the output signal lags that of the input signal.

4.2.2 Analyzing the Frequency Response of a Low-Pass RC Filter

Run an AC sweep simulation of the following circuit (the low-pass RC filter in Subsection
4.2.1) with Start frequency = 1Hz and Stop frequency = 1kHz and observe the output results.
V1
R1 V
PR2

1000Ω
5Vpk C3
10Hz 6.3uF
0°

Comments:
- The frequency response of the filter is nearly flat for low frequencies.
- After the cutoff frequency point, the response of the circuit rapidly decreases to zero.

4.3 Designing a High-Pass RC Filter

Build the following high-pass RC filter circuit.
- The AC V1 is set to 5V (peak) and a frequency of 10Hz; the AC V2 is set to 5V (peak)
and a frequency of 1KHz.
- The cutoff frequency is set to 252 Hz.
IT2140E-Electronics for Information Technology DCE-SOICT-HUST

V1
C1

1uF
5Vpk C4
10Hz V V
PR1 PR2
0°
6.3uF R2
V2
C2
100Ω
1uF
1Vpk
1KHz
0°

Requirements:
- Comment on the output results of the above interactive simulation.
- Run an AC sweep simulation and comment on the output results.

5 Inlab Exercises
a. Add 5 more sinusoidal components (i.e., harmonics) to the circuit in Subsection 4.1.
Perform an interactive simulation of the circuit and write your comments on the output
results.
b. Design a low-pass RC filter with the cutoff frequency set to 200Hz. Perform an AC
sweep simulation of the circuit and compare the output results with that in Subsection
4.2.
c. Analyze the frequency response of the high-pass RC filter in Subsection 4.3. Compare
the frequency response of the high-pass RC filter with that of the low-pass RC filter in
Subsection 4.2.