CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5
FILTER

5.1 Definition
An electrical filter is a device designed to separate, pass or suppress a group of signals from a mixture
of signal
. Chen

Any combination of passive and/or active elements designed to select or reject a band of frequencies is
called a
filter
.
Broylestad

On a larger scale, televisions and radios are typical examples of electrical filters.
On a smaller scale, filters are basic electronic components used in the design of communication systems such
as telephone, radar and computer.
When a TV is tuned to a particular channel, it will only pass those signals transmitted by that channel
and will block all other signals.
In communication systems, filters are employed to pass those frequencies containing the desired
information and reject the remaining frequencies.
In fact, electrical filters permeate modern technology so much that it is difficult to find any electronic system
that does not employ a filter in one form or another.
5.2 Classification of Filters
Electrical filters may be classified in a number of ways.
An analog filter is a filter used to process analog or continuous time signals.
A digital filter is a filter used to process discrete-time or digital signals.
Analog filters may further be divided into passive or active filters, depending on the type of elements used in
their realization.
Passive filters are those filters composed of series or parallel combinations of R, L and C elements.

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Active filters are filters that employ active devices such as transistors and operational amplifiers in
combination with R, L and C elements.
Filters are also classified according to the functions they perform.

A passband is a frequency band in which the attenuation of the filter transmission characteristic is small
A stopband is a frequency band in which the attenuation of the filter transmission characteristic is high.
The patterns of passband and stopband give rise to the four most common filter, i.e.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

LOW-Pass
HIGH-Pass
Band-PASS
Band-STOP

i) Low Pass Filter

An ideal low pass characteristic is shown in Figure a

Passband extending from = 0 to = c

Stopband extending from = c to =

where c (or fc) is called the cutoff frequency.

ii) High Pass Filter

An ideal high pass characteristic is shown in Figure b

Stopband extending from = 0 to = c

Passband extending from = c to =

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iii) Band Pass Filter

Figure c is the characteristic for an ideal band pass filter, in which radian frequency extending from 1 to 2
are passed, while all other frequencies are stopped.

iv) Band Stop Filter

Figure d is the characteristic for an ideal band stop filter, in which radian frequency extending from 1 to 2
are stopped and all other frequencies are passed.

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5.3 Low Pass Filter

The RC low pas filter can be used as a low pass or high pass. If the output Vo is taken off the capacitor as
shown in the diagram, it will respond as a low pass filter.

5.3.1 Vo vs. f
The RC filter, incredibly simple in design, can be used as a low pass filter.

Let us examine the network at the frequency extremes of f = 0 Hz and very high frequencies to test the
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response of the circuit.

At f = 0 Hz,

Vo = Vi

At f = very high frequencies,

Vo 0
A plot of the magnitude of Vo versus frequency will result in the curve as shown in the diagram. The cutoff
frequency is defined at the 0.707 level, i.e. the frequency at which the transition takes place from a pass band to
stop band

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5.3.2 The voltage gain Av

The voltage gain Av is given by

5.3.3 Phase Angle

The phase angle is,

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The angle is the angle by which Vo leads Vi. Since the angle is always negative (except at f = 0), it is clear
that Vo will always lag Vi as shown in the following graph.
Since the angle is the angle by which Vo lags Vi throughout the frequency range, the low pass RC filter is
referred to as a lagging network.

Cutoff frequency fc interms of R and C :

At this time :
R = Xc
The frequency at which R = Xc is determined by :

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5.3.4 Summary
In summary, for the RC low pass filter :

Frequency

Magnitude Vo

Angle

f < fc

Vo > 0.707 Vi

approaching 0

f > fc

Vo < 0.707 Vi

approaching 90

f = fc

Vo = 0.707 Vi

= 45

5.3.5 RL Low Pass Filter

The low pass filter can also be obtained using the R-L combination as shown in the diagram.

In this case, the cutoff frequency is,

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5.4 High Pass Filter

As noted earlier, a high pass RC filter can be constructed by simply reversing the positions of the capacitor and
resistor as shown in the diagram.

5.4.1 Vo vs. f
At f = 0, the reactance Xc of the capacitor is quite high, and the open circuit equivalent can be substituted as
shown in the diagram. In this case, Vo = 0 V.

At very high frequencies, the reactance of capacitor Xc is very small and the short circuit equivalent can be
substituted as shown in the diagram. The result is Vo = Vi.

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Therefore

At f = 0 Vo = 0 V

At high frequencies Vo = Vi

5.4.2 The cutoff frequency fc

The output voltage can be determined using voltage divider rule :

At the cutoff frequency : the magnitude response is given by

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Therefore at cutoff frequency R = Xc. The frequency at R = Xc which is determine by :

5.4.3 The angle

The phase angle between Vo and Vi is

.
Since the angle is the angle by which Vo leads Vi throughout the frequency range, the high pass RC filter
is referred to as a leading network.

5.4.4 Summary
In summary, for the RC high pass filter :

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Frequency

Magnitude Vo

Angle

f < fc

Vo < 0.707 Vi

approaching 90

f > fc

Vo > 0.707 Vi

approaching 0

f = fc

Vo = 0.707 Vi

= 45

5.4.5 RL High Pass Filter

The high pass filter can also be obtained using the R-L combination as shown in the diagram.

In this case, the cutoff frequency is,

5.5 Band Pass Filter

There are a number of methods to establish the band-pass characteristic. One method employs both a low pass
and high pass filter in cascade as shown in the diagram.

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The components are chosen to establish a cutoff frequency for the high pass filter that is lower than the cutoff
frequency of the low pass filter as shown in the diagram. A frequency f0 near the centre of the pass band will
pass through both filters with very little degeneration.

5.5.1 Band Pass characteristic using RC circuits

The example of the network that will generate the band pass characteristic is shown in the diagram.

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5.5.2 Band Pass characteristic using series resonant circuits

The band pass response can also be obtained using the series resonant circuits.

In this case, Vo will not be equal to Vi in the pass band, but a frequency range in which Vo will be equal to or
greater than 0.707 Vmax can be defined. For the series resonant circuit,

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At resonance (f = fs) XL = XC, therefore :

The resonance frequency fs is

The quality factor Qs is

The bandwidth is

5.6 Band Stop Filters

Band stop filters can also be constructed using a low pass and high pass filter. However, rather than the
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cascaded configuration used for the pass band filter, a parallel arrangement is required as shown in the
diagram.

A low frequency f1 can pass through the LPF and higher frequency f2 can use the parallel path.

Since the characteristics of a band stop are the inverse of the pattern obtained for the band pass filters, we can
employ the fact that at any frequency the sum of the magnitudes of the two waveforms will equal to the applied
voltage Vi.

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5.6.1 Band Stop characteristic using series resonant circuits

For the series resonant circuit, at resonance,

At f = 0 Hz : the inductor can be replaced by a short circuit equivalent and the capacitor can be replaced by its
open circuit. Therefore, Vo,max = Vi at f = 0 Hz.
At high frequency : the capacitor can be replaced by a short circuit equivalent and the inductor can be replaced
by its open circuit. Therefore, Vo,max = Vi at high frequency.

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5.7 Filter Approximations

In this section, we consider techniques for approximating ideal filter transmission characteristics. Here we
confine our discussion to the low pass situation.
The ideal low pass filter transmission characteristic is shown in the diagram, where the amplitude of the desired
transfer function is constant from = 0 to = c and zero for all greater than c.

Because of its shape, this characteristic is called a brick-wall type of response. However, such overly stringent
requirements cannot be realized with finite network elements. The only alternative is to approximate the
transmission characteristic. Instead of seeking an overly idealistic performance criterion, we specify the
maximum permissible loss or attenuation over a given frequency band of interest called the passband, the
minimum allowable loss over another frequency band called the stopband.
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To introduce this concept along with a discussion of the approximating functions, we consider the ideal low
pass brick wall type of response and show how it can be approximated by four popular rational function
approximation schemes, i.e.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

the Butterworth response

the Chebyshev response
the inverse Chebyshev response
the Bessel-Thomson response

A Maximally Flat Filter Response :

The general form of the transfer function of a filter may be represented as :

The magnitude response is then given by

Using Taylor series expansion ,

where

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and so on.

If for 0c

T(2) = T(4)= T(6)= .=0

Then | H( )|2 = K0
=0

0c
> c

which represents an ideal Low-pass filter.

If T(2) = 0 gives a1=b1

T(4) = 0 gives a2 = b2

T(6) = 0 gives a3 = b3
Then

5.7.1 Butterworth Response

If all a's are zeroes, then the maximally flat magnitude of the low-pass function is
given by
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where Bn(j

) is the Butterworth Function of order n.

H(j) is known as the nth.-order Butterworth or maximally-flat low pass response

with K0=H0=H(0).

The diagram illustrates the Butterworth response of several orders as well as the ideal brick wall of response,
which corresponds to the limiting case as n approaches infinity.

At = 0,

At = c,

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At >> c,

If the normalized frequency is defined as

' = /c , then

For ' = 1, | Bn(j 1) |2 = K0/2 and | Bn(j ) |= (K0/2)

If K0 = 1, | Bn(j 1) |2 = 1/2 and | Bn(j ) |= (1/2) = 0.707

Expression for Butterworth Polynomial Bn(s) :

If is normalized frequency then

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As s=j , and = s/j

where

Therefore:
For n=1 : D1 = 1+(-1) s2 = 1 - s2= (1+s)(1-s)
For n=2, D2 = 1 + (-1)2 s4 = 1+s4 = (1+ 2 s+s2)(1- 2 s+s2)
For n=3, D3 = 1+(-1)3 s6 = 1- s6 = (1-s3)(1+s3)=(1-s3)(1+s)(s2+s+1)
For stable system, poles must lie on the Left Half of s-plane. Thus the stable functions for Bn(s) are :

Roll-off for a Butterworth Filter : The roll-off in the transfer function of a BW filter is defined as

So the roll-off is -20n dB/decade (-6n dB/octave) for a BW filter of order n. For n=1 the roll-off is -20
dB/decade and -40 dB/decade for a 2nd order BW filter. Higher order BW filters thus provide better roll-off.

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5.7.2 The Chebyshev Response

Chebychev approximation of a Low-pass filter or equal ripple approximation :
The Chebychev approximation which is also called equal ripple approximation to an ideal LP filter is
represented by

Where 1 and Cn( ) is the Chebychev polynomial of order n.

Here | Tn( )| 2 oscillates between a minimum value of 1/[1+ 2] and a maximum value of 1 for a certain
number of times n. Thus n gives the number of ripples in the pass-band and specifies the amount of ripple.
The total number of maxima and minima is also given by n.

Chebychev polynomial Cn( ) :

The Chebychev polynomial Cn( ) is defined as

Let =cos-1 ( )
then

= cos for 0< <1

and

=cosh( ) for >1

Then

For 0 1,
n=0 gives C0( )=cos (0) = 1

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n=1 gives C1( )=cos ( ) =

n=2 gives C2( )=cos (2 ) = 2cos2 - 1= 2 2 -1 = 2(s/j)2 -1 = -(2s2+1)
n=3 gives C3( )=cos (3 ) = cos3 -3 cos sin2 = 3-3 (1- 2) =43-3

Thus Cn( ) 1 for 0 1

For > 1,
Cn( ) n 2n/2

Thus for 0 1,

For > 1,

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i.

In the range 0 1, all of the Chebyshev polynomials have the equal-ripple property, varying
between a maximum of 1 and a minimum of -1. Outside of this interval, their magnitude increases
monotonically as is increased, and approaches infinity. Sketches of the polynomials for n = 4
and n = 5 are shown in the diagram.

ii. The Chebyshev polynomials posses special values at = 0, 1 or -1.

Cn(0) = (-1)n/2 n = even
= 0 n = odd

Cn( 1) = 1 n = even
= 1 n = odd

Roll-off for Chebychev Filter :

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Roll-off in dB per Octave = -[6(n-1) +6n+20log( )]

For the same order, the Chebychev flter provides higher roll-off than Butterworth
filter.
Because of equal ripple property in the passband, the Chebyshev response is also known as the equiripple
response. Plots showing equiripple response for n = 4 and n = 5 are presented in the diagram.

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