INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CIRCUIT THEORY AND APPLICATIONS

Int. J. Circ. Theor. Appl. 2013; 41:59–67

Published online 12 October 2011 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/cta.785

RC models of a constant phase element

Juraj Valsa1,*,† and Jiri Vlach2

1
Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Electrical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Kolejní 4, Brno,
Czech Republic
2
University of Waterloo, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 200 University Avenue, Waterloo,
Ontario Canada

SUMMARY
The paper describes models of a constant‐phase element consisting of passive R and C components. The
models offer any input impedance argument (phase) between −90° and 0° over a selectable frequency band
covering several decades. The design procedure makes it possible to choose values of average phase, phase
ripple, frequency bandwidth, and total number of R and C elements. The model can cover three frequency
decades with as few as five resistors and five capacitors. The models can be used for practical realization of
fractional analog differentiators and integrators, fractional oscillators, chaotic networks or for analog
simulation of fractional control systems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Received 14 July 2010; Revised 20 March 2011; Accepted 3 April 2011

KEY WORDS: constant phase element; fractance; Warburg diffusion element; nanotechnology; fractional
control system

1. INTRODUCTION

In the last quarter of the 20th century, we have seen an increased interest in fractional differential
equations and in their application. An exhausting survey of reports devoted to the problems in viscose‐
elasticity, vibration of large structures, chaos, nanotechnology, electro‐chemistry, signal processing,
automatic control, electronics, and many others can be found in [1–3]. One of the possible tools that
may simplify the solution of such problems is to derive simple mathematical or network models of the
so‐called constant phase element (CPE).
An ideal CPE is defined as an element whose admittance or impedance has a constant phase over
the entire frequency band from zero to infinity. Its impedance is

Z ðsÞ ¼ ψsα ; −1≤α≤ þ 1 : (1)

In this paper, we discuss the fractional capacitor (with −1 < α < 0) and its network model. We
believe that in the near future the RC models of CPEs will be available before any robust, linear,
possibly electrochemical elements [4] having comparable properties.
For s = jω the impedance is

Z ðjωÞ ¼ ψωα jα ¼ ψωα ð cos ϕ þ j sin ϕÞ

π (2)
ϕ ¼ α in radians; or ϕ ¼ 90α in degrees:
2

*Correspondence to: Juraj Valsa, Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Electrical Engineering, Brno University of
Technology, Kolejní 4, Brno, Czech Republic.
†
E‐mail valsa@feec.vutbr.cz

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

60 J. VALSA AND J. VLACH

The paper is organized as follows: First, we introduce the ideal fractional capacitor. In Section 2, we
discuss some previous realization attempts. Next, as a basis for further investigation, we use an idea
from [1] that differs from the majority of previous publications. We analyze the phase response ripple
and show that the basic model is too complicated for practical purposes. Section 3 improves the
properties of the network by introducing correcting elements, whereas in Section 4, we show how to
design the model to comply with given requirements.

2. BASIC NETWORK MODEL OF THE CONSTANT PHASE ELEMENT

The majority of papers published so far (for instance [5–8]) start with the expansion of sα into an
infinite series that leads to a chain fraction. By a suitable manipulation, this expansion is usually
converted into a ladder network consisting of resistors and capacitors. In some cases, the networks
contain even inductors or elements with negative parameters. The procedure is often quite difficult and
does not result in a sufficiently correct and simple model with phase angles other than −45°. Our aim is
to present fractance capacitor CPE models that use standard, on the market available R and C
components. The model offers any phase angle in the range between −90° and 0°, all realized with a
low number of components. The idea is based on the results published in [1].
The network shown in Figure 1 is a parallel connection of m series RC branches with recursive
parameters

Rkþ1 ¼ aRk ; Ckþ1 ¼ bCk ; k ¼ 1; …; m−1

: (3)
0 < a < 1; 0 < b < 1

The input admittance of the network is

I ðjωÞ m jωbk−1 C1
Y ðjωÞ ¼ ¼ ∑ : (4)
U ðjωÞ k¼1 1 þ jωðabÞk−1 R1 C1

The average value of the phase difference between input current and voltage (see [1]), in radians, is

π log a π log a
φav ¼ ¼ : (5)
2 log a þ log b 2 logðabÞ

In the rest of the paper, we will express the angle in degrees,

log a log a
ϕav ¼ 90 ¼ 90 : (6)
log a þ log b log ðabÞ

The choice of parameters a and b directly defines the phase angle Φav and the exponent α.
The input impedance Z(s) = 1/Y(s) has one pole in the origin p0 = o.

Figure 1. Basic RC model.

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Circ. Theor. Appl. 2013; 41:59–67
DOI: 10.1002/cta
 SIMPLE MODEL OF THE CPE 61

The zeros are

1 1
zk ¼ − ¼− k−1
; k ¼ 1; 2; … (7)
Rk Ck ðabÞ R1 C1
and (if m is sufficiently high) for the other poles, we get

1 1
pk ¼ zk ¼ pk−1 ; k ¼ 2; 3; … (8)
b ab

Figure 2(a) presents an example of the phase response of the network. The total number of
branches, m, is very high (may be considered infinite). The parameters a = 0.5, b = 0.25 determine an
average phase ϕav = −30°.
It is evident from the figure that starting from a certain ωmin, the phase response is flat with an
average value −30°. Figure 2(b) (detail of Figure 2(a)) shows that the phase oscillates around its
average value with an amplitude ±Δϕ and a period (in logarithmic frequency scale) equal to

1
per ¼ log : (9)
ab

The phase Φ and amplitude Δϕ depend on the parameters a and b. The computer simulation
resulted in Figure 3 showing both phase and ripple as function of these parameters. At least for
30° < = Φav < = 60° the product ab is approximately given as

a
-20

-30

-40
(Z) [ ]

-50

-60

-70

-80

-90
10-10 100 1010 1020
[1/s]

b
-29

-29.5
(Z) [ ]

-30

-30.5

-31
1014 1016 1018 1020
[1/s]

Figure 2. (a) Phase response of the model with a = 0.5, b = 0.25, m = 100. (b) Detail of the phase response in (a).

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Circ. Theor. Appl. 2013; 41:59–67
DOI: 10.1002/cta
62 J. VALSA AND J. VLACH

0.8
70 60
50
0.7

0. 40
05 45
0.6

0.
1

30
0.5

b
0.
2
0.4
0.5

20
0.3
1
2
0.2
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
a

Figure 3. Dependence of phase Φ and amplitude Δϕ (in degrees) on parameters a and b. Notice that a = b
corresponds always to Φ = 45°.

0:24
ab ¼ ; Δφ in degrees: (10)
1 þ Δφ

3. IMPROVED MODEL

As shown above, the proposed model can realize any phase angle between −90° and zero with a
prescribed ripple of the phase response. The results depend on the total number m of parallel RC
branches, as it is evident from Figure 4. If m < 20, the response is hardly satisfactory.
For practical reasons, we need to keep m as low as possible. Consider, for instance, a or b equal to
0.3. Then with m = 20 the span of values of resistances in the network will be

R1 =Rm ¼ a−ðm−1Þ ¼ 0:3−19 ≈8:6  109 :

Should R1 = 10 kΩ, then R20 = 1.16 μΩ. Similarly, if we select C20 = 10 pF, then C1 must be of the
order of 86,000 μF.
Fortunately, this problem has a relatively simple solution. In order to understand the principle, consider
Figure 5(a) with the number of branches m = 20. At the frequency ω = 1010, admittances of the branches

0
m=5 m=10 m=20
-20

m=40
(Z) [ ]

-40

-60

-80

100 1020 1040

[1/s]

Figure 4. Phase responses of the basic model for different number of branches m.

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Circ. Theor. Appl. 2013; 41:59–67
DOI: 10.1002/cta
 SIMPLE MODEL OF THE CPE 63

Figure 5. (a) Absolute value of k‐th section admittance at some middle frequency. (b) Situation at a low
input frequency. (c) Situation at a high input frequency.

have different absolute values, and therefore their currents have different influence on the input current of
the model. It is evident that only a limited number of branches have decisive effect on the current and thus
on the input admittance phase. Branches with k < 5 and k > 14 have negligible impact in this case.
Figure 5(b) shows the situation for a low input frequency ω = 103. The left branches with low serial
numbers are missing, the conditions for correct setting of phase are not fulfilled, and the branches have
to be substituted by some additional network component. These branches, if existing, would have huge
capacitances and their admittances will be virtually real, equal to 1/Rk. If we suppose that the number
of these missing branches is infinitely high, then their parallel combination can be replaced by a single
conductance
a a2 a3 1 a
Gp ¼ þ þ þ …: ¼ : (11)
R1 R1 R1 R1 1−a

The formula utilizes the fact that the conductances 1/Rk of the missing branches form an infinite
geometrical sequence with the exponent equal to a and the first one equal to a/R1.

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Circ. Theor. Appl. 2013; 41:59–67
DOI: 10.1002/cta
64 J. VALSA AND J. VLACH

If, on the other hand, the input signal frequency is high, the situation is shown in Figure 5(c). The
right missing branches must be substituted by a capacitance, equal to the sum of capacitances of these
branches. The capacitance of the first right branch is equal to C1bm and the infinite sum is

C1 b m
Cp ¼ (12)
1−b

The resulting model is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 7 presents the phase responses of the model with m = 10, both without and with the
additional Gp and Cp elements. The original network is not satisfactory, whereas that with Gp and Cp is
good. In Figure 8, similar responses show the situation for m = 4. The difference is drastic; the original
response is useless, whereas the corrected one is very good.

Figure 6. Final model.

0
m=10

-20
2
(Z) [ ]

-40
1

-60

-80

100 105 1010

[1/s]

Figure 7. Phase responses with m = 10. Curve 1 basic model, curve 2 model with Gp and Cp elements.

0
m=4

-20
2
(Z) [ ]

-40

1
-60

-80

100 102 104

[1/s]

Figure 8. Phase responses with m = 4. Curve 1 basic model, curve 2 model with Gp and Cp elements.

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Circ. Theor. Appl. 2013; 41:59–67
DOI: 10.1002/cta
 SIMPLE MODEL OF THE CPE 65

The zeros of Z(s) are given by 7 irrespectively of m or Rp and Cp.With a finite m and without
correction, the poles differ from the ideal ones considerably. Table I shows the effect of correction for
m = 10, R1 = 1, C1 = 1, a = 0.3, b = 0.7, [9]. Similar results can be derived for any combination of
model parameters. The correct position of zeros and poles means good phase response of the network.
The finite number of branches leads, of course, to a narrower constant‐phase frequency band. The
band is limited by ωmin and ωmax. These frequencies are given approximately by

1 ω min
ω min ≈ ; ω max ≈ : (13)
R1 C1 ðabÞm−1

Thus, the relative width of the frequency band ωmax/ωmin and amplitude of Δϕ act against each
other, and the product ab is to be chosen as a compromise.

4. DESIGN PROCEDURE OF THE MODEL

Start with given values α (or ϕav = 90α), Δϕ, ωmin, ωmax.
Step 1: R1C1 = 1/ωmin, choose R1 or C1
Step 2: based on Φav and Δϕ, 6, 10, find product ab and parameters a and b
Step 3: given ωmax and the product ab, determine the necessary number of sections m


log ω max =ω min
m ¼ 1− ; (14)
logðabÞ
(round m to the nearest integer),
Step 4: calculate the values of all

Rk ¼ R1 ak−1 ; Ck ¼ C1 bk−1 ; k ¼ 1; 2; …; m
and correction elements

1−a bm
RP ¼ R1 ; Cp ¼ C1 ; (15)
a 1−b

Step 5: calculate ψ

ψ ¼ Z ðωav Þωαav ; (16)

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
where ωav ¼ ω min ω max .

Table I. Effect of correcting elements on the position of poles.

Index Ideal Uncorrected Corrected

1 −1.4286 −1.3899 −1.4223

2 −6.8027 −6.8370 −6.8010
3 −32.394 −33.054 −32.393
4 −154.36 −159.51 −154.26
5 −734.56 −772.92 −734.56
6 −3497.9 −3778.7 −3497.9
7 −16657 −18788 −16658
8 −79317 −96352 −79367
9 −3.7770e5 −5.3323e5 −3.7941e5
10 −1.7986e6 −1.8846e6

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Circ. Theor. Appl. 2013; 41:59–67
DOI: 10.1002/cta
66 J. VALSA AND J. VLACH

-20

-30

-40

-50

-60

-70

-80

-90
100 102 104 106

Figure 9. Phase response of the Example model (full line) with a model using commercially available
elements (dotted).

Example

Given ϕav = −60°, Δϕ = ±0.5°, ωmax/ωmin = 103,

choose R1 = 10 kΩ, C1 = 1 μF.
According to 10 and 6 ab = 0.24/(1 + 0.5) = 0.160, a = 0.295, b = 0.543.
Then m = 4.77, rounded to the nearest integer, m = 5.
ψ = 108,000.
Rk = 10 kΩ, 2.96 kΩ, 876 Ω, 259 Ω, 76.8 Ω,
Ck = 1.0 μF, 544 nF, 296 nF, 161 nF, 87.6 nF, k = 1, … 5.
Rp = 23.8 kΩ, Cp = 104 nF.For practical realization, use commercial values that differ slightly from the
calculated ones.
Rk = 10 kΩ, 3.3 kΩ, 1.0 kΩ, 330 Ω, 100 Ω,Ck = 1.0 μF, 560 nF, 330 nF, 180 nF, 100 nF,Rp = 22 kΩ,
Cp = 120 nF.

Figure 9 compares the resulting phase responses.

The resulting model, built with standard film or metalized paper capacitors, can have a size of only
about 20 × 30 × 5 mm. If realized in the technology Surface‐Mount Design, the size of the model could
be even smaller, comparable with integrated circuits in the package DIL14 (14‐pin dual‐in‐line).

5. CONCLUSION

The described RC models can be used for experiments with analog fractional differentiators and
integrators [4], generators of sinusoidal waveforms [10,11], chaos in fractional systems [12–14] or
simulation of fractional control systems and regulators [2,7,8].
The model offers a good correspondence of phase responses with those of the ideal CPE. Compared
with the original network taken from [1], it uses two special elements that drastically improve the
responses and make it possible to realize very simple and simultaneously reasonably accurate model
networks. In the majority of cases, five commercial resistors and five capacitors fulfill the task.
Widening the constant phase frequency band can be accomplished very easily by increasing the
number of parallel branches and by recalculating the correcting capacitance Cp.

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Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Circ. Theor. Appl. 2013; 41:59–67
DOI: 10.1002/cta