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Lect_17_2_2016

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12 views

Lect_17_2_2016

Uploaded by

mohammed Al-basrawi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Active filters

Basics, theory and application


What are these stuffs?

 As the name suggests, active filters use ‘active’ elements


as a part of their circuit
 These may consist of either opamp, BJT or any FET
 Generally, opamps are used in designing active filters
 Why opamps !! Guess why…
Why use an active filter
 Less cost: Inexpensive opamps and absence of costly
inductors (especially at lower frequencies)
 Gain and frequency adjustment flexibility: Opamp
provides gain (adjustable) -> input signal not attenuated
as in case of passive filters
 No loading problem: Excellent isolation between stages
due to high input impedance (opamps again) and low
output impedance. The output can drive other circuitry
without loading the source or load
 Size: Small in size (due to absence of bulky ‘L’)
 Non-floating terminals: Active filters generally have
single ended input and output which do not float with
respect to the system power supply
Disadvantages of passive filters

 Cannot be used to filter power as they require power to


bias themselves
 Frequency limitation: Opamps have finite gain-
bandwidth product (GBW) and hence are limited in their
frequency range (> 10 MHz for example)
 At high frequencies, passive filter design for rough uses is
convenient because the inductor size reduces to a nice
value (EHF -> Surface Acoustic Wave filters)
The active Low Pass Filter

• Transfer function: Av = − 𝑅2 1
𝑅1 1+𝑅2𝐶𝑠
• We know, s=jω (neglecting convergence factor)
• Consider two cases: at ω=0 and at ω=∞
𝑅2
• At ω=0, Av = − and at ω=∞, Av = 0
𝑅1
• This denotes that the circuit allows signals at low
frequency to pass through and blocks signals at higher
frequencies
Frequency response of the active LPF
The active High Pass Filter

• Transfer function: Av = − 𝑅2
𝑅1 1
𝐶𝑠
+𝐶𝑠
𝑅1
• We know, s=jω (neglecting convergence factor)
• Consider two cases: at ω=0 and at ω=∞
𝑅2
• At ω=0, Av = 0 and at ω=∞, Av = −
𝑅1
• This denotes that the circuit allows signals at high
frequency to pass through and blocks signals at lower
frequencies
Frequency response of active HPF
The active Band Pass Filter

• Transfer function: Av = − 1+𝑅1𝐶1𝑠𝑅2𝐶1𝑠


1+𝑅2𝐶2𝑠
• At both cases of ω=0 and ω=∞, Av turns out to be 0
• Now, if we consider an intermediate value of ω, we
would see that Av has a finite value
• This signifies that the circuit blocks signals at both high
and low frequencies, but passes the same at an
intermediate frequency level
Frequency response of active BPF
What is Bandwidth
 Bandwidth means, the frequencies that are effectively
passed by a circuit, i.e. the circuit is operable only at
those particular frequencies
 For the case of a BPF, bandwidth is the range of
frequencies that fall between the upper cutoff frequency
and the lower cutoff frequency
 Mathematically, its (fH - fL )
 The higher the Bandwidth, more frequency channels can
be introduced which allows possibilities for higher rates
of data transfer
 BUT, this comes with a sacrifice !! Guess what…
The Quality Factor
 The actual width of the pass-band between the two
corner frequency points determine the ‘Q’-factor of the
circuit
 It measures “how selective” the circuit is towards a given
spread of frequencies
 The lower the value of the Q- factor, the wider is the
bandwidth of the filter (less selective); higher Q signifies
narrowband circuit (highly selective)
The All Pass Filter

• As the name suggests, it passes all signals, irrespective


of their frequencies
• Then what’s the use of this ‘seemingly useless’ circuit?
• Well, it acts as a phase shifter which introduces a 180°
phase shift to the applied signal (phase rotator)
Frequency response of the active APF
Higher order filters

 Higher order filters are necessary for a better roll-off


 Addition of an extra frequency dependent element
(capacitor or inductor) increases the order of the circuit
by one
 The roll-off rate is -20n dB/dec, where ‘n’ is the order
of the filter
 Rapid transition band (high roll-off) introduces
disturbances or oscillations in the passband edge (Gibbs
phenomenon) -> Why?
Responses of various order filters

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