Analog Low Pass Filter:

Magnitude function || 1/

where N = 1,2,3,.... N is the order of the filter and
c
is the cut off frequency.
Magnitude square function of a normalized Butterworth filter is ||

||

To derive the transfer function of a stable filter we substitute by

||

To obtain the poles the denominator is equated to zero
So, 1+ (-1)
N
S
2N
= 0
If N were even, 1 + S
2N
= 0
S
2N
= -1 = e
j(2K-1)
where K = 1, 2, 3, . . . 2N
S
K
=

If N were odd, 1 S
2N
= 0
S
K
=

For example if N=3
S
K
=

where K = 1, 2, 3, . . . 6
S
1
=

= Cos

S
2
=

= -0.5 + j0.866

p

S

S
3
= e
j
= -1
S
4
=

= -0.5 j0.866
S
5
=

= 0.5 j 0.866
S
6
=

= 1
For a system to be stable, poles should lie on the left half of the S plane. The poles on the left half of
the S plane are S
2
, S
3
, S
4

So the denominator polynomial is (S-S
1
)(S-S
2
)(S-S
3
)
Which is (s+1)(s+0.5-j0.866)(s+0.5+j0.866) = (S+1)(S
2
+S+1)
Order N Butterworth Polynomial
1 S+1
2
S
2
+ +1
3 (S+1)(S
2
+S+1)
4 (S
2
+0.7653S+1)(S
2
+ 1.8477S + 1)
5 (S+1)(S
2
+0.618S+1)(S
2
+1.618S+1)

Pole locations of Butterworth filter for
c
=1 are known as normalised poles. Un normalized poles
are given by S
K
=
c
S
K
Transfer function of such a filter can be obtained by substituting S

Now maximum pass band attenuation in (+)ve dB is
p
at pass band frequency
p
and
S
is the
minimum stop band attenuation at stop band frequency of
s
.
H(j) =

||

Taking log on both sides and multiplying by 10 we get
20 log || *

+
At =
p
, attenuation is
p

20 log || = -
p

-
p
=

p
=

0.1
p
=

At =
s
, minimum stop band attenuation is
s

20 log|

| *

+
20 log|

|
s


s =
[

]
0.1
s
= log *

+

Taking log on both sides, we have
N log(

) =log

+

Order of the filter N =

]
[

]
(

)

N normally does not result in an integer. S we round off to the next higher integer.
.

To find
c
:
||

-------------------------(1)
||

-------------------------(2)
Comparing (1) and (2)
(

Steps to design an analog Butterworth filter:
1. Find the order of the filter N
Order of the filter N =

]
[

]
(

)

2. Round it off to the next higher integer.
3. Find the transfer function H(S) for

for the given N.

4. Calculate cut off frequency

5. Find the transfer function H
a
(S) for the above value of

substituting
S