0.

1 Single Time Constant Circuit

Consider a LTI network containing just one reactive element.

We may consider such reactive element to be connected to a LTI network without any energy
storage elements (so a memoryless circuit).

In this example we will consider such reactive element to be a capacitor, since capacitors are
more used than their counterparts, the inductors.
Moreover, we may identify a generator and a load in the memoryless circuit.

The resulting topology is the following:

ic
vc

iin iout

passive load
LTI
generator

vin No energy storage vout

elements
No independent
generators

We may write down the characteristic equation of the capacitor:

dvc
ic = C
dt
We may now identify an input among the quantities at the terminals of the generator:

• The input voltage of the circuit vin

• The input current of the circuit iin

Whatever the choice, we may call the chosen input quantity with u.

We may now identify an output among the quantities at the terminals of the load:

• The output voltage of the circuit vout

• The output current of the circuit iout

Whatever the choice, we may call the chosen output quantity with y.

1
Since the block composed by the generator, the LTI memoryless element and the load is LTI
memoryless as well, we may obtain a relation between the current and the voltage at which the
capacitor is connected:

ic
vc

iin iout
generator
LTI

load
vin No energy storage vout
elements
No independent
generators

Such relation will involve a proportionality constant and a term proportional to the input
quantity of the circuit:
ic = k · vc + w · u k, w constants
Where k is the equivalent conductance seen from the port to which the capacitor is connected.

We can substitute this equation into the characteristic equation of the capacitor to get:
dvc
k · vc + w · u = C
dt
dvc k w
= · vc + · u
dt C C
We can now apply the Laplace transform to both sides of the equation to get:
   
dvc k w
L =L · vc + · u
dt C C
k w
s · Vc − vc (0+ ) = · Vc + · U
C C
k w
s · Vc − · Vc = · U + vc (0+ )
C C
 
k w
Vc · s − = · U + vc (0+ )
C C
1 hw i
Vc =  · U + vc (0+ )
C

k
s−
C
w
1
Vc =  C  · U +  +
 · vc (0 )
k k
s− s−
C C
Now that we have an input quantity at the port of the generator and the voltage at the port of
the capacitor we can exploit the equations of the LTI, memoryless circuit to derive an expression
for the output quantity y.

2
This will be a linear combination of the input and the capacitor voltage:

y = q · vc + p · u q, p constants

Which in the Laplace domain becomes:

L[ y ] = L[ q · vc + p · u ]

Y = q · Vc + p · U
Substituting the expression for Vc we get:
q·w
q
Y =  C  ·U +  +
 · vc (0 ) + p · U
k k
s− s−
C C

We can decompose it into two terms:

 
q·w k
+p· s−
C C
Y1 =   ·U
k
s−
C
| {z }
transfer function

q +
Y2 =   · vc (0 )
k
s−
C

The second part Y2 is dependent just on the initial conditions of the capacitor and, if the system
is stable, it dies out exponentially.

The first part Y1 is dependent solely on the input quantity U .

The transfer function is defined as the ratio:

 
q·w k
+p· s−
Y1 (s) C C
H(s) = =
U (s)
 
k
s−
C

We can see from this formula how a reactive element introduces a zero and a pole in the transfer
function.

Special case 1

We may have that pk = qw, in which case the transfer function becomes:
p·s
H(s) =  
k
s−
C

3
In which case we have a zero at the origin and a real (negative) pole.

We have this case whenever a capacitor, when it tends to become an open circuit at low fre-
quency, interrupts the path of the signal, which implies the transfer function going to zero.

An example of this is a coupling capacitor:

VDC

VDC
RC

RB1 out
(C)

(B)

(E)

C RB2
Vs
RE

The corresponding Bode plot is:

|H(jω)|dB

|AHF|
ec
/d
db
0
+2

fp
log10(f/f0)

Special case 2

We may have that p = 0, in which case the transfer function becomes:

q·w
H(s) =  C 
k
s−
C

4
We can see this as:
q·w s
+
H(s) = C x with x → ∞

k
s−
C
The zero sz can be written as:
q·w
sz = − x with x → ∞
C
We then have:
sz → ∞
Hence, we can consider this transfer function as having a zero at infinity and a real (negative)
pole.

We have this case whenever a capacitorconnected between the signal path and the ground, since,
for high frequencies, the capacitor short-circuits the signal to the ground, giving zero output.
An example of this is the following:

VDC

VDC
RC

RB1 out
(C)

(B)
C
(E)

RB2
Vs
RE

The corresponding Bode plot is:

|H(jω)|dB

|ALF|
-2
0
db
/
de
c

fp
log10(f/f0)

5
General case

We can have two general cases:

1. the zero precedes the pole: fz < fp

2. the pole precedes the zero: fp < fz

The Bode diagrams will look like this:

|H(jω)|dB |H(jω)|dB
1 2

|AHF| |ALF|

-2
ec

0
/d

db
db

/ de
0
+2

c
|ALF| |AHF|

fz fp fp fz
log10(f/f0) log10(f/f0)

We have two forms of the transfer function in this general case.

The first canonical form is:
 
s
1+
sz
H(s) = ALF ·   LOW FREQUENCY CANONICAL FORM
s
1+
sp

If we compute the modulus of the transfer function computed on the imaginary axis (for jf )
we get:  
 jf 
 1+  (
 fz  sz = 2πfz
|H(jf )| = |ALF | ·     with
 1+ jf  sp = 2πfp
 f  p

Note: The reason for the 2π factor is that the substitution should be s → 2πjf and so the
2π factor can be moved at the denominator, giving the frequencies of the poles and zeroes in Hz.

In the limit for f → 0 the modulus of the gain is:

  
jf 


 1+ 
  fz  
lim |H(jf )| = lim  |ALF | ·  
    = |ALF |
f →0 f →0  1 + jf 
 fp 

So, the reason for the name is that at low frequency the gain is exactly the constant in front of
the zeroes and pole terms

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The second canonical form is:
(s + sz )
H(s) = AHF · HIGH FREQUENCY CANONICAL FORM
(s + sp )

If we compute the modulus of the transfer function computed on the imaginary axis (for jf )
we get: (
 
 (jf + fz )  sz = 2πfz
|H(jf )| = |AHF | ·   with
(jf + fp )  sp = 2πfp
Note: The reason for the 2π factor is that the substitution should be s → 2πjf and so the 2π
factor can be taken out of the brackets and simplified, leaving the frequencies of the poles and
zeroes in Hz.

In the limit for f → +∞ the modulus of the gain is:

  
 (jf + fz ) 
lim |H(jf )| = lim |AHF | · 
  = |AHF |
f →+∞ f →+∞ (jf + fp ) 

So, the reason for the name is that at high frequency the gain is exactly the constant in front
of the zeroes and pole terms.

Let’s now compare the two forms:

  
s
1+


sz


H(s) = ALF · 

  low frequency canonical form

 s
1+
 sp




 (s + sz )
H(s) = AHF · high frequency canonical form


(s + sp )

We cand derive the low-frequency canonical form from the high-frequency canonical form:
 
s
1+
(s + sz ) sz sz
H(s) = As · = AHF ·  
(s + sp ) sp s
| {z } 1 +
ALF sp

Therefore, we have the useful relationship:

sz 2πfz fz
ALF = AHF = AHF = AHF
sp 2πfp fp

Which can be reordered, becoming:

ALF fz
=
AHF fp
This relationship is very useful to be able to derive one of the four quantities when we know
the other three.

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0.1.1 Finding the pole frequency
We would now like to have a fast way to derive the pole frequency.

We recall that the transfer function is the following:

 
q·w k
+p· s−
Y1 (s) C C
H(s) = =
U (s)
 
k
s−
C

Moreover, we recall the starting point, where we considered everything attached to the capacitor
as a network admitting a Thevening/Norton equivalent (depending on whether the input u is
a resistance/inductance).

The mathematical relation we obtained was:

ic = k · vc + w · u k, w constants

We can now notice that k is the equivalent Thevenin/Norton conductance seen by the capacitor
(when the input is zero: u = 0).
We can therefore write:
Geq (C)
sp = −
C
With Geq (C) the equivalent resistance seen by the capacitor C.
1
Introducing the equivalent resistance Req (C) = the equation becomes:
Geq (C)

1
sp = −
Geq (C) · C

Which gives the following pole frequency:

sp 1
fp = =−
2π 2πGeq (C) · C

We can therefore find the pole frequency as:

1
fp = −
2πGeq (C) · C

with Req (C) the equivalent resistance seen by the capacitor.

0.1.2 Finding the high and low frequency gains

The high frequency gain AHF can be found by taking the limit of the transfer function for
f → +∞.

Since in the high-frequency limit capacitors become short-circuits, we may evaluate such limit
on the circuit simply by replacing the capacitor with a short-circuit and evaluating the gain of

8
the obtained circuit.

The low frequency gain ALF can be found by taking the limit of the transfer function for
f → 0.

Since in the low-frequency limit capacitors become open-circuits, we may evaluate such limit
on the circuit simply by replacing the capacitor with a open-circuit and evaluating the gain of
the obtained circuit.

0.1.3 Finding the zero frequency

The frequency of the zero can be easily found by applying the previously seen relation:
ALF fz
=
AHF fp
Which can be rewritten as:
ALF
fz = fp
AHF
Notice that this formula works just when ALF and AHF are real, finite and nonzero.

The remaining two cases are easy to recognize:

• ALF = 0 ⇒ zero at the origin

• AHF = 0 ⇒ zero at infinity

Of course, we still have the (more complicated) possibility of writing down the transfer func-
tion manually and finding out at which frequency the signal is forced to become zero, but this
method is much more efficient and easy to use.

0.1.4 Additional considerations

Let’s compare the expression for the transfer function:
 
q·w k
+p· s−
Y1 (s) C C
H(s) = =
U (s)
 
k
s−
C
with the expression in the Laplace domain for the response to the initial conditions with zero
input (zero-input response):
q +
Y2 =   · vc (0 )
k
s−
C

We can notice that, if no zero-pole cancellations occur in H(s) the transfer function and the
zero-input response have the same pole!
If, on the other hand, some zero-pole cancellations occur, we still have that the poles of the
transfer function are a subset of the poles of the zero-input response (in this case the empty
subset since there is just one pole).

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This last case is technically useless here since there would be no poles (and we could see it from
the fact that, in such case, we have ALF = AHF ).

It is however of great importance to introduce the study of circuits with multiple time constants.

Hence, one simple way of determining the poles of the transfer function is to study the poles of
the zero-input response and then argue that the poles of the transfer function are a subset of
them.

If cancellations occur this won’t be a problem since we will simply get that the gain before and
after the pole are the same and we will be able to conclude that the zero and the pole must
ALF
coincide! (we will have a more general version of the formula fz = fp )
AHF

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