Op-Amp & LICs 18EE46

Module 2

ACTIVE FILTERS
First and second order high pass and low pass filters
band pass filter
band stop filter
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, A Basic Introduction to Filters - Active,
Passive, and Switched-Capacitor.

Frequency Response -- Background

Up to now we have looked at the time-domain response of circuits. However it is often

useful to look at the response of circuits in the frequency domain. In other words, you
want to look at how circuits behave in response to sinusoidal inputs. This is important
and useful for several reasons: 1) if the input to a linear circuit is a sinusoid, then the
output will be a sinusoid at the same frequency, though its amplitude and phase may have
changed, 2) any time domain signal can be decomposed via Fourier analysis into a series
of sinusoids. Therefore if there is an easy way to analyze circuits with sinusoidal 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 impedance to include capacitors and inductors.
Consider a sinusoidal signal represented by a complex exponential:

where j=-1)1/2 (engineers use j instead of i, because i is used for current),  is frequencyand
t is time. It is a common shorthand to use "s" instead of "j".

Now let us look at the voltage-current relationships for resistors capacitors and inductors.

For a resistor ohms law states:

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

For a capacitor we can also calculate the impedance assuming sinusoidal excitation
starting from the current-voltage relationship:

Note that for a capacitor the magnitude of the impedance, 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 acts as an open circuit. What is defined as a high,
or low, frequency depends on the specific circuit in question.

Likewise, for an inductor you can show that Z=sL.

For an inductor, impedance goes up with frequency. It behaves as a short circuit at low
frequencies, and an open circuit at high frequencies; the opposite of a capacitor. However
inductors are not used often in electronic circuits due to their size, their susceptibility to
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parisitic effects (esp. magnetic fields), and because they do not behave as near to their
ideal circuit elements as resistors and capacitors..

A Simple Low-Pass Circuit

To see how complex impedances are used in practice consider the simple case of a
voltage divider.

If Z1 is a resistor and Z2 is a capacitor then

Generally we will be interested only in the magnitude of the response:

Recall that the magnitude of a complex number 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, Vo/Vi), thought we will generally ignore these.

This is obviously a low pass filter (i.e., low frequency signals are passed and high
frequency signals are blocked).. If  «1/RCthen  CR«1 and the magnitude of the gain is
approximately unity, 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 half-power frequency, or bandwidth), the magnitude of
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the gain is 1/sqrt(2 0.71. In this case (and all first order RC circuits) high frequency is
defined as  »1/RC; the capacitor acts as a short circuit 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 (so the voltage across the resistor is near zero).

If Z1 is an inductor and Z2 is a resistor another low pass structure results with a break
frequency of R/L.

A Simple High-Pass Circuit

If Z1 is a capacitor and Z2 is a resistor we can repeat the calculation:

and

At high frequencies,  »1/RC, the capacitor acts as a short and the gain is 1 (the signal is
passed). At low frequencies,  «1/RC, the capacitor is an open and the output is zero (the
signal is blocked). This is obviously a high pass structure and you can show that the
break frequency is again 1/RC.

If Z1 is a resistor and Z2 is an inductor the resulting circuit is high pass with a break
frequency of R/L.

This concept of a complex impedance is extremely powerful and can be used when
analyzing operational amplifier circuits, as you will soon see.

Active Filters

Low-Pass filters - the integrator reconsidered.

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In the first lab with op-amps we considered the time response of the integrator circuit, but
its frequency response can also be studied.

First Order Low Pass Filter with Op Amp

If you derive the transfer function for the circuit above you will find that it is of the form:

which is the general form for first-order (one reactive element) low-pass filters. At high
frequencies ( >>o) the capacitor acts as a short, so the gain of the amplifier goes tozero.
At very low frequencies ( <<o) the capacitor is an open and the gain of the circuit is Ho.
But what do we mean by low (or high) frequency?

We can consider the frequency to be high when the large majority of current goes
through the capacitor; i.e., when the magnitude of the capacitor impedance is much less
than that of R1. In other words, 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.
Likewise low frequency occurs when  <<1/R1C, and the circuit will act as an amplifier
with gain -R1/R2= Ho.

High-Pass filters - the differentiator reconsidered.

The circuit below is a modified differentiator, and acts as a high pass filter.

First Order High Pass Filter with Op Amp

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Using analysis techniques similar to those used for the low pass filter, it can be shown
that

which is the general form for first-order (one reactive element) low-pass filters. At high
frequencies ( >>o) the capacitor acts as a short, so the gain of the amplifier goes toH0=
-R1/R2. At very low frequencies ( <<o) the capacitor is an open and the gain of the
circuit is Ho. For this circuit 0=1/R2C. Therefore this circuit is a high-pass filter (it
passes high frequency signals, and blocks low frequency signals.

Band-Pass circuits

Besides low-pass filters, other common types are high-pass (passes only high frequency
signals), band-reject (blocks certain signals) and band-pass (rejects high and low
frequencies, passing only signal areound some intermediate frequency).

The simplest band-pass filter can be made by combining the first order low pass and high
pass filters that we just looked at.

Simple Band Pass Filter with Op Amp

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This circuit will attenuate low frequencies ( <<1/R2C2) and high frequencies (
>>1/R1C1), but will pass intermediate frequencies with a gain of -R1/R2. However, this
circuit cannot be used to make a filter with a very narrow band. To do that requires a
more complex filter as discussed below.

High Q (Low Bandwidth) Bandpass Filters.

For a second-order band-pass filter the transfer function is given by

where o is the center frequency,  is the bandwidth and Ho is the maximum amplitude of
the filter. These quantities are shown on the diagram below. The quantities in parentheses
are in radian frequencies, the other quantities are in Hertz (i.e. fo=o/2 , B= /2).
Looking at the equation above, or the figure, you can see that as   0 and-
>infinitythat |H(s=j )| 0. You can also easily show that at  = o that |H(s=jo)|=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/ . Thus the Q,
or quality, of a filter goes up as it becomes narrower and its bandwidth decreases.

If you derive the transfer function of the circuit shown below:

High-Q Bandpass Filter with Op Amp

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you will find that it acts as a band-pass filter with:

and the center frequency and bandwidth given by:

Radian frequency Hertz

The notation R1||R2 denotes the parallel combination of R1 and R2,

Switched Capacitor Filters

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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
tuneable. The page Switched Capacitor Filters describes these in more detail.

BUTTERWORTH FILTER

The Butterworth filter is one type of electronic filter design. It is designed to have a
frequency response which is as flat as mathematically possible in the passband. Another
name for it is maximally flat magnitude filter.

The Butterworth type filter was first described by the British engineer Stephen
Butterworth in his paper "On the Theory of Filter Amplifiers", Wireless Engineer (also
called Experimental Wireless and the Wireless Engineer), vol. 7, 1930, pp. 536-541.

OVERVIEW

The frequency response of the Butterworth filter is maximally flat (has no ripples) in the
passband, and rolls off towards zero in the stopband. When viewed on a logarithmic Bode
plot, the response slopes off linearly towards negative infinity. For a first-order filter, the
response rolls off at −6 dB per octave (−20 dB per decade) (all first-order lowpass filters
have the same normalized frequency response). For a second-order lowpass filter, the
response ultimately decreases at −12 dB per octave, a third-order at −18 dB, and so on.
Butterworth filters have a monotonically changing magnitude function with ω, unlike
other filter types that have non-monotonic ripple in the passband and/or the stopband.
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Compared with a Chebyshev Type I/Type II filter or an elliptic filter, the Butterworth
filter has a slower roll-off, and thus will require a higher order to implement a particular
stopband specification. However, Butterworth filter will have a more linear phase
response in the passband than the Chebyshev Type I/Type II and elliptic filters.

A SIMPLE EXAMPLE

A simple example of a Butterworth filter is the 3rd order low-pass design shown in the
figure on the right, with C2 = 4 / 3 farad, R4 = 1 ohm, L1 = 3 / 2 and L3 = 1 / 2 henry.
Taking the impedance of the capacitors C to be 1/Cs and the impedance of the inductors
L to be Ls, where s = σ + jω is the complex frequency, the circuit equations yields the
transfer function for this device:

The magnitude of the frequency response (gain) G(ω) is given by:

and the phase is given by:

The group delay is defined as the derivative of the phase with respect to angular
frequency and is a measure of the distortion in the signal introduced by phase differences
for different frequencies. The gain and the delay for this filter are plotted in the graph on
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the left. It can be seen that there are no ripples in the gain curve in either the passband or
the stop band.

The log of the absolute value of the transfer function H(s) is plotted in complex
frequency space in the second graph on the right. The function is defined by the three
poles in the left half of the complex frequency plane. These are arranged on a circle of
radius unity, symmetrical about the real s axis. The gain function will have three more
poles on the right half plane to complete the circle.

By replacing each inductor with a capacitor and each capacitor with an inductor, a high-
pass Butterworth filter is obtained. If we change each capacitor and inductor into a
resonant capacitor and inductor in parallel, with the proper choice of component values, a
band-pass Butterworth filter is obtained.

THE TRANSFER FUNCTION

Like all filters, the typical prototype is the low-pass

low filter, which can be modified into a
high-pass
pass filter
filter, or placed in series with others to form band-pass and band
band-stop filters,
and higher order versions of these.

The gain G(ω)

(ω) of an n-order
order Butterworth low pass filter is given in terms of the transfer
function H(s) as:

where

n = order of filter
ωc = cutoff frequency (approximately the -3dB frequency)
G0 is the DC gain (gain at zero frequency)
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It can be seen that as n approaches infinity, the gain becomes a rectangle function and
frequencies below ωc will be passed with gain G0, while frequencies above ωc will be
suppressed. For smaller values of n, the cutoff will be less sharp.

We wish to determine the transfer function H(s) where s = σ + jω. Since H(s)H(-s)
evaluated at s = jω is simply equal to |H(jω)|2, it follows that:

The poles of this expression occur on a circle of radius ωc at equally spaced points. The
transfer function itself will be specified by just the poles in the negative real half-plane of
s. The k-th pole is specified by:

and hence,

The transfer function may be written in terms of these poles as:

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The denominator is a Butterworth polynomial in s.

Normalized Butterworth polynomials

The Butterworth polynomials may be written in complex form as above, but are usually
written with real coefficients by multiplying pole pairs which are complex conjugates,
such as s1 and sn. The polynomials are normalized by setting ωc = 1. The normalized
Butterworth polynomials then have the general form:

for n even

for n odd
To four decimal places, they are:

n Factors of Polynomial Bn(s)

1 (s + 1)
2 s2 + 1.4142s + 1
2
3 (s + 1)(s + s + 1)
4 (s2 + 0.7654s + 1)(s2 + 1.8478s + 1)
5 (s + 1)(s2 + 0.6180s + 1)(s2 + 1.6180s + 1)
2 2 2
6 (s + 0.5176s + 1)(s + 1.4142s + 1)(s + 1.9319s + 1)
7 (s + 1)(s2 + 0.4450s + 1)(s2 + 1.2470s + 1)(s2 + 1.8019s + 1)
8 (s2 + 0.3902s + 1)(s2 + 1.1111s + 1)(s2 + 1.6629s + 1)(s2 + 1.9616s + 1)

Maximal flatness

Assuming ωc = 1 and G0 = 1, the derivative of the gain with respect to frequency can be
shown to be:
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which is monotonically decreasing for all ω since the gain G is always positive. The gain
function of the Butter
Butterworth
worth filter therefore has no ripple. Furthermore, the series
expansion of the gain is given by:

In other words, all derivatives of the gain up to but not including the 2n-th
2 th derivative are
zero, resulting in "maximal flatness". If the requirement to be monotonic is limited to the
passband only and ripples are allowed in the stopband, then it is possible to de
design a filter
of the same order that is flatter in the passband than the "maximally flat" Butterworth.
Such a filter is the inverse Chebyshev filter.

High-frequency
frequency roll
roll-off

Again assuming
uming ωc = 1, the slope of the log of the gain for large ω is:

In decibels, the high

high-frequency roll-off
off is therefore 20n
20 dB/decade, or 6n dB/octave (The
factor of 20 is used because the power is proportional
proportional to the square of the voltage gain;
see 20 log rule
rule.)

FILTER DESIGN

There are a number of different filter topologies available to implement a linear analogue
filter. These circuits differ only in the values of the components, but not in their
connections.

Cauer topology

The Cauer topology uses passive components (shunt capacitors and series inductors) to
implement a linear analog filter. The Butterworth filter having a given transfer function
can be realised using a Cauer 11-form. The kth element is given by:
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; k = odd

; k = even

The filter may start with a series inductor if desired, in which case the Lk are k odd and
the Ck are k even.

Sallen-Key
Key topology

The Sallen-Key
Key topology uses active and passive components (op
( amps and capacitors) to
implement a linear analog filter. Each Sallen-Key
Sallen Key stage implements a conjugate pair of
poles; the overall filter is implemented by cascading all stages in series. If there is a real
pole (in the case where n is odd), this must be implemented separately, usually as an RC
circuit, and cas
cascaded with the op-amp
amp stages.

The Sallen-Key
Key transfer function is given by

We wish the denominator to be one of the quadratic terms in a Butterworth polynomial.

Assuming that ωc = 1, this will mean that

and
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This leaves two comp

component
onent values undefined, which may be chosen at will.

COMPARISON WITH OTHER LINEAR FILTERS

Here is an image showing the gain of a discrete-time

discrete time Butterworth filter next to other
common filter types. All of these filters are fifth-order.
fifth

The Butterworth filter rolls off more slowly around the cutoff frequency than the others,
but shows no ripples.

How to design a second

second-order
order high pass Butterworth filter:

1. Determine your cutoff frequency

2. Make = = R and = =C
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3. Select a mylar or tantalum capacitor with a value of less than about 1 F.

4. Calculate the value of R using

5. Choose a value of that's less than

6. Make = 0.586 . Note that this makes your passband gain approximately
equal to 1.586. This is necessary to guarantee a Butterworth response[].

BAND-PASS FILTER

A band-pass
pass filter is a device that passes frequencies within a certain range and rejects
(attenuates)) frequencies outside that range. An example of an analogue electronic band band-
pass filter is an RLC circuit (a resistor–inductor
inductor–capacitor circuit).
). These filters can also
[1]
be created by combining a low-pass filter with a high-pass filter.

Bandpass is an adjective that describes a type of filter or filtering process; it is frequently

confused with passband, which refers to the actual portion of affected spectrum. The two
words are both compound words that follow the English rules rules of formation: the primary
meaning is the latter part of the compound, while the modifier is the first part. Hence, one
may correctly say 'A dual bandpass filter has two passbands'.

An ideal bandpass filter would have a completely flat passband (e.g. with no
gain/attenuation throughout) and would completely attenuate all frequencies outside the
passband. Additionally, the transition out of the passband would be instantaneous in
frequency. In practi
practice, no bandpass filter is ideal. The filter does not attenuate all
frequencies outside the desired frequency range completely; in particular, there is a
region just outside the intended passband where frequencies are attenuated, but not
rejected. This is known as the filter roll-off, and it is usually expressed in dB of
attenuation per octave or decade of frequency. Generally, the design of a filter seeks to
make the roll
roll-off
off as narrow as possible, thus allowing the filter to perform as close as
possible to its intended design. Often, this is achieved at the expense of pass-band or
stop-band ripple
ripple.

The bandwidth of the filter is simply the difference between the upper and lower cutoff
frequencies. The shape factor is the ratio of bandwidths measured using two different
attenuation values to determine the cut
cutoff
off frequency, e.g., a shape factor of 2:1 at 30/3 dB
means the bandwidth measured between frequencies at 30 dB attenuation is twice that
measured between frequencies at 3 dB attenuation.
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Outside of electronics and signal processing, one example of the use of band-pass filters
is in the atmospheric sciences. It is common to band-pass filter recent meteorological data
with a period range of, for example, 3 to 10 days, so that only cyclones remain as
fluctuations in the data fields.

In neuroscience, visual cortical simple cells were first shown by David Hubel and Torsten
Wiesel to have response properties that resemble Gabor filters, which are band-pass

BAND-REJECTION FILTER

1-39 Figure 1-20C.—Components of a simple bandpass filter. Band-Reject Filter A band-

reject filter circuit is used to block the passage of current for a narrow band of
frequencies, while allowing current to flow at all frequencies above or below this band.
This type of filter is also known as a BAND-SUPPRESSION or BAND-STOP filter. The
way it responds is shown by the response curve of figure 1-21. Since the purpose of the
band-reject filter is directly opposite to that of a bandpass filter, the relative positions of
the resonant circuits in the filter are interchanged. The parallel-LC circuit shown in figure
1-22, view (A), replaces the capacitor of figure 1-18, view (A). It acts as a band-reject
filter, blocking the passage of currents having frequencies at or near resonant frequency
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and passing all currents having frequencies outside this band. The series-LC
circuit shown in figure 1-22, view (B), replaces the inductor of figure 1-18,
view (B). If this series circuit is tuned, to the same frequency as the parallel
circuit, it acts as a bypass for the band of rejected frequencies. Then, the
simplest type of band- reject filter is obtained by connecting the two circuits
as shown in figure 1-22, view (C). Figure 1-21.—Band- reject filter response
curve.