CE223 – Signal Processing

Dr. Eirina Bourtsoulatze

eb20668@essex.ac.uk

School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 1

 Circuit Analysis in Laplace Domain
(Example)

School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 2

Application of Laplace transform to
circuit analysis
Analysis of an electrical circuit can be done in both the time-domain and the
Laplace domain with the same result. However, the Laplace domain solution
is normally much simpler and faster.

Example: Find the behaviour of the current with time in the circuit shown
below.
v t = V&u t

v+ t C
t=0 i t
v, t R
V&

School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 3

Application of Laplace transform to
circuit analysis
Solution: Time-domain method
The voltage equation for the circuit is
v t = v$ t + v& t t > 0)
1 /
Recall that v$ t = , i τ dτ + v$ 0) and v& t = i t R.
C -.
Substituting these and the expression for the source voltage v t = V-u t
in the above equation, the integrodifferential equation describing the
behaviour of the current i t is obtained:
1 /
V-u t = , i τ dτ + v$ 0) + i t R, t > 0)
C -.
To find i t the integrodifferential equation is differentiated wrt time to get a
pure differential equation:
School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 4
Application of Laplace transform to
circuit analysis
Solution: Time-domain method
du t 1 di t
V" = i t +R t > 0. ⟹
dt C dt
di t 1
R + i t = V"δ t t > 0.
dt C
The solution to the homogeneous equation is obtained first:
di t 1 di t 1 di t 1
R + i t =0⟹ + dt = 0 ⟹ 1 + 1 dt + K = 0 ⟹
dt C i t RC i t RC
: :
6 . =>
ln i t =− t+K ⟹ i t =e ;< ⟹i t =± e.>e.;< ⟹
78
A
.78
i t = Ie (I: arbitrary constant)
School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 5
Application of Laplace transform to
circuit analysis
Solution: Time-domain method
To find i t , the solution to the nonhomogeneous equation is then obtained
using the method of variation of parameters. To this aim, we assume that
I = I t and i t = I t e&(⁄)* . We then insert this assumed solution in the
nonhomogeneous differential equation to find I t :
d (
&)* 1 (
&)*
R I t e + I t e = V1δ t ⟹
dt C
dI t & ( d &( 1 &
(
R e )* + RI t e )* + I t e )* = V1δ t ⟹
dt dt C
dI t & ( 1 &
( 1 &
( dI t & (
R e )* − I t e )* + I t e )* = V1δ t ⟹ R e )* = V1δ t ⟹
dt C C ( dt
V1 ( V1 7 V1
dI t = e δ t dt ⟹ I t = 5 e δ τ dτ + K ⟹ I t = + K
)* )*
R R 16 R
School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 6
Application of Laplace transform to
circuit analysis
Solution: Time-domain method
Inserting I t in the assumed solution i t = I t e&(⁄)*, the final solution is
obtained:
V,
i t = + K e&(⁄)*
R
where K is an integration constant. The integration constant can be
determined from the initial value of the voltage across the capacitor. Recall
that v* 0& = v* 02 . Applying the law of voltages at t = 02, we obtain:
V, − v* 0&
v 02 = v* 02 + v) 02 ⟹ V, = v* 0& + i 02 R ⟹ = i 02
R
V, − v* 0& V, v* 0&
⟹ = +K⟹K=−
R R R
School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 7
Application of Laplace transform to
circuit analysis
Solution: Time-domain method
Thus the current i t is:
V% − v( 0*
i t = e*.⁄/( t > 0*
R

where v( 0* is the initial voltage across the capacitor. If the capacitor is

not charged at t = 0*, then v( 0* = 0 and
V% *.⁄/(
i t = e t > 0*
R

School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 8

Application of Laplace transform to
circuit analysis
Solution: Laplace (s-) domain method
The circuit elements are expressed in the Laplace domain (it is assumed
that v" 0$ = 0):
V,
. s =ℒ v t = V,ℒ u t =
s
1
." s
t=0 Cs
' s
./ s R
V,

School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 9

Application of Laplace transform to
circuit analysis
Solution: Laplace (s-) domain method
The voltage equation around the circuit loop is:
! s = !* s + !, s
The Laplace transform of the excitation v t is
V(
! s = ℒ v t = V(ℒ u t =
s
Inserting ! s and the current-voltage relationships in the loop equation
leads to:
V( 1 V(⁄s V(⁄R
= / s + R/ s ⇒ / s = =
s Cs 1 1
+R s+
Cs RC
School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 10
 Application of Laplace transform to
circuit analysis
Solution: Laplace (s-) domain method
! s is converted to time-domain by taking the inverse Laplace transform:
'( '(
V+⁄R V+ '1⁄23
i t =ℒ ! s =ℒ = e t > 0'
1 R
s+
RC
Note: The above expression for the current
time constant
can be written as: i t
V+ '1⁄6 τ = RC
i t = e t > 0' V+
R '1⁄6
where τ = RC is called the time constant of the circuit R e
and is an important parameter as it defines the
decay rate of the transient response in the circuit. t
The smaller the time constant, the faster the circuit. The response of the circuit
School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 11
Application of Laplace transform to
circuit analysis
Exercise: Solve the example on slide 11 using the Laplace domain method.

School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering CE223 Signal Processing 12