• Introduction • The cutoff frequency is also called the rolloff

frequency.
A filter is a circuit that is capable of passing a
• The cutoff frequency is the frequency at which
specific range of frequencies while blocking other
frequencies [1]. Filters have many practical the transfer function H drops in magnitude to
applications in electronics. For example, within a dc 70.71% of its maximum value. It is also regarded
power supply, filters can be used to eliminate as the frequency at which the power dissipated in
unwanted high- frequency noise present within the ac a circuit is half of its maximum value.
line voltage, and they act to flatten out pulsing dc
voltages generated by the supply’s rectifier section. 1
𝐻(𝜔𝑐 ) = (3)
[1] √1 + 𝜔𝑐2 𝑅 2 𝐶 2
1 Passive Filters
1 1
Passive Filters do not require an external power 𝜔𝑐 = , 𝑓𝑐 = (4)
𝑅𝐶 2𝜋𝑅𝐶
supply as they rely on passive components like
capacitors, resistors, and inductors to filter the
signals. They are simpler and less expensive than 1.2 Passive High-pass Filter
active filters. A filter is a passive filter if it consists of
only passive elements R, L, and C. [2] A high-pass filter is designed to pass all frequencies
above its cutoff frequency 𝜔𝐶 . A high-pass filter is
1.1 Passive Lowpass Filter formed when the output of an RC circuit is taken off
the resistor as shown in Fig.3. The transfer function
A lowpass filter is designed to pass only frequencies
of Passive Lowpass filter is
from dc up to the cutoff frequency 𝜔𝐶 . A typical
lowpass filter is formed when the output of an RC
circuit is taken off the capacitor as shown in Fig. [2].
The transfer function of Passive Lowpass filter is
𝑉𝑜 1/𝑗𝜔𝐶
𝐻(𝜔) = = (1)
𝑉𝑖 𝑅+ 1/𝑗𝜔𝐶
𝑉𝑜 1 Figure 4:A high-pass filter
𝐻(𝜔) = = 1+ 𝑗𝜔𝑅𝐶 (2)
𝑉𝑖
𝑉𝑜
𝐻(𝜔) =
𝑉𝑖
𝑅 (5)
=
𝑅 + 1/𝑗𝜔𝐶
𝑉𝑜 𝑗𝜔𝑅𝐶
𝐻(𝜔) = = (6)
Figure 1: A lowpass filter. 𝑉𝑖 1 + 𝑗𝜔𝑅𝐶
The half power frequency, which is equivalent to the 1 1
corner frequency on the Bode plots but in the context 𝜔𝑐 = , 𝑓𝑐 = (7) Figure 3:Ideal and actual frequency
𝑅𝐶 2𝜋𝑅𝐶 response of a high-pass filter.
of filters is usually known as the cutoff frequency
ω_c is obtained by setting the magnitude of H (ω) 2 Active Filters
equal to 1/√2 [2]
Passive filters have three major limitations: they
cannot generate gain greater than 1, may require
bulky and expensive inductors, and perform poorly at
frequencies below the audio frequency range (300 Hz
< f < 3,000 Hz). On the other hand, active filters
consist of resistors, capacitors, and op amps, and
offer advantages such as smaller size and lower cost,
the ability to provide amplifier gain, and the ability to
be combined with buffer amplifiers for isolation.

Figure 2:Ideal and actual frequency response of a lowpass

filter.
 However, active filters are less reliable and stable, We notice that Eq. (10) is similar to Eq. (2), except
with a practical limit of around 100 kHz. that there is a low frequency 𝜔 → 0 gain or dc gain
𝑹𝒇
• Op-Amplifier Function in Active Filters of − Also, the corner frequency is
𝑹𝒊

The amplifier in active filters serves several

1 1
functions such as providing gain to the filtered 𝜔𝑐 = , 𝑓𝑐 = (11)
signal, compensating for attenuation caused by 𝑅𝑓 𝐶𝑓 2𝜋𝑅𝑓 𝐶𝑓
passive components, and introducing negative
which does not depend on 𝑅𝑖 . This means that several
feedback to achieve the desired filter response. An
operational amplifier is typically used as the active inputs with different 𝑅𝑖 could be summed if required,
component to amplify and process the input signal and the corner frequency would remain the same for
before filtering. Amplification increases signal each input.
amplitude and adjusts phase to match the filter
response, allowing for greater control over filter
2.2 Active High-pass Filter
characteristics and precise filtering of specific Figure 8 shows a typical high-pass filter. As before,
frequency ranges. The amplifier also compensates for
signal attenuation caused by passive components,
providing a stronger output signal.
2.1 Active Lowpass Filter
One type of first-order filter is shown in Fig. 5. The
components selected for and determined whether the
filter is lowpass or high-pass, but one of the Figure 87:Active first-order high-pass filter
components must be reactive. Figure 6 shows a 𝑉𝑜 𝑍𝑓
typical active lowpass filter. For this filter, the 𝐻(𝜔) ==− (12)
𝑉𝑖 𝑍𝑖
transfer function is 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑍𝑖 = 1 + 𝑗𝜔𝐶𝑖 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑍𝑓 = 𝑅𝑓 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡
𝑅𝑓 𝑗𝜔𝐶𝑖 𝑅𝑓
𝑉𝑜 𝑍𝑓 𝐻(𝜔) = − =
𝐻(𝜔) = =− (8) 1 1 + 𝑗𝜔𝐶𝑖 𝑅𝑖 (13)
𝑉𝑖 𝑍𝑖 𝑅𝑖 +
𝑗𝜔𝐶𝑖
𝑅𝑓
This is similar to Eq. (6), except that at very high
1 𝑗𝜔𝐶𝑓 𝑅𝑓
𝑍𝑓 = 𝑅𝑓 ‖ =
𝑗𝜔𝐶𝑓 𝑅 + 1
=
1 + 𝑗𝜔𝑅𝑓 𝐶𝑓
(9) frequencies 𝜔 → ∞ the gain tends to −𝑅𝑓 /𝑅𝑖 the
𝑓 𝑗𝜔𝐶𝑓 corner frequency is.
𝑹𝒇 1
𝐻(𝜔) = −
𝑹𝒊 1 + 𝑗𝜔𝐶𝑓 𝑅𝑓 (10) 1 1
𝜔𝑐 = , 𝑓𝑐 = (14)
𝑅𝑖 𝐶𝑖 2𝜋𝑅𝑖 𝐶𝑖

Figure 5: A general first-order Figure 6:Active first-order high-pass

active filter filter

Figure 9:Bode Plot for |H|

References
[1] Alexander, C. K., &amp; O., S. M. (2009).
Fundamentals of Electric Circuits (4th ed.).
Boston; McGraw Hill.
[2] Sedra, A. S., & Smith, K. C. (2015).
Figure 7: Bode Plot for |H|
Microelectronic Circuits (7th ed.). The Oxford
Series in Electrical and Computer Engineering.