Chapter 4:

Electronic Filter Synthesis

Topics:
Filter background, definition and application
The properties of an ideal filter
Filter classification
Filter design
Basic and characteristic filter


An introduction to filter
A filter is
1. a circuit designed to pass signals with desired frequencies and
reject the others.
2. important to attenuate unwanted frequencies noise due to the
background noise or nonlinear characteristic of some
electronic devices
3. suitably used to
(a) block high pitches that cannot be efficiently broadcast.
(b) remove high frequencies which causes image blurring (via
low pass filter)
(c) remove low frequencies, sharpen and enhance edge (via
high pass filter)
(d) In biomedical applications for instance; to filter out the
EEG signals, to detect abnormal signal in ECG analysis, to
distinguish the heart beat sound between mother and foetus.



Properties of an ideal filter
Must have identical gain at all frequencies
in its pass band
Should have zero gain outside its pass
band
Tolerable frequencies response curve
around +/-3dB

Ideal low-pass filter
Ideal high-pass filter
Ideal band-pass filter
Ideal notch filter
Common types of filters
Properties of fundamental filters
Low pass filter
o Pass only signals with frequencies lower than fc and
attenuate the rest
High pass filter
Pass only signals with frequencies greater than fc and
attenuate the rest
Band pass filter
Pass only signals with frequencies between f1 and f2
Band stop filter
attenuate only signals with frequencies between f1 and f2









Filter classification
Passive filter consists only of passive elements
(R,L,C)
Active filter consists of active element (transistor, op-
amp) in addition to passive elements

Passive filter Active filter
Comparing Active and Passive filters
Aspect Passive filter Active filter
Gain Cannot generate gain >1 and is
lossy
Provide amplification and voltage gain
but need external sources
cost Expensive (because of the use
of inductors)
Cheap
Complexity Simple topology More complex topology
Flexibility - Isolation of each stage of filters from
source and load impedance effects can
be achieved by the use of buffer
amplifiers
Practicality Difficult to implement at low
frequencies (f<1kHz) and poor
performance in audio range
Work well at all frequencies but highly
sensitive to the variations in circuit
parameters caused by environmental
Frequency
Selectivity
High selectivity if inductors
with high quality factors is
used
Limited quality factor
Designing a filter circuit
Parameters to be considered in designing
a filter
1. Quality factor
-The higher the Q factor, the more (frequency)
selective a circuit is, producing a high gain at the
circuit end
2. Damping ratio
- Determine the filter response characteristic
3. RC pole
- A filter pole consists of a RC circuit. Each pole
doubles the roll-off rate.
Passive Low-pass filters circuit
(using RC network)
First order Low-pass filter
Second order Low-pass filter
Cut-off frequency:
Cut-off frequency:
Second order Low-pass filter has higher rate of roll-off in which it
attenuates higher frequency more quickly.

Application where filter with high roll-off is desired:
1. to prevent crosstalk between adjacent channels on telephone FDM
(frequency division multiplexing) systems
2. Improve EEG signals
The frequency response of First and second order
low pass filter
Passive High-pass filter circuit
(using RC network)
First order High-pass filter
Second order High-pass filter
Cut-off frequency:
Cut-off frequency:
Identify the types of filter (1)
Given that we have a circuit as follow;




We know that



Using the voltage division, high f leads to low Xc hence low voltage
drop across capacitor, where Vout:


the otherwise is true if f is low.







where;
f = oscillating frequency
C = capacitance
Fig. 1
Identify the types of filter (2)
As a rule of thumb:









This shows that the circuit shown in Fig.1 is a low pass filter
Hi f => Low Xc => Low Vout
Low f =>Hi Xc =>Hi Vout
This is true only for the
circuit shown in Fig. 1
where;
Identify the types of filter (3)
Alternatively, we can also identify the types of filter for the circuit
shown in Fig. 1 by writing its transfer function, H(S) which is
given as

RC j
C j
R
C j
V
V
S H
in
out
e
e
e
+
=
+
= =
1
1
1
1
) (
Substituting the value of =0 and = into the transfer function gives
0 1
1
) 0 (
+
= H
0
1
1
) ( =
+
= H
Showing that it is a low pass filter
Passive band-pass and band-
stop filters using RC network
Band-pass filter via
cascaded RC circuits
Band-stop filter via
Twin T
Passive band-pass filter using RC
network
Band-pass filter via cascaded RC circuits
1. An ideal bandpass filter would have a completely flat passband(e.g. with no
gain/attenuation throughout) and would completely attenuate all frequencies
outside the passband.
2. The bandwidth of the filter is simply the difference between the upper and lower
cutoff frequencies, while the centre frequency is given by;
Frequency response of a Band-pass filter
where

L
is the lower -3dB cut-off frequency point

H
is the upper -3dB cut-off frequency point
Band-stop filter via Twin T
The twin T provides a large degree of rejection at a particular frequency,
e.g. to filter out unwanted noise at 50 or 60 Hz that may be entering a circuit.

The response provided by the filter consists of a low level of attenuation away
from the notch frequency. As signals move closer to the notch frequency, the
level of attenuation rises, giving the typical notch filter response.

The notch frequency, fnotch, is given by

Passive band-stop filter using RC
network
Example of second order RLC
passive filters:
RLC low pass filter
RLC band pass filter
Exercise
Identify the types of filter for the following circuit and give your
reason why.
Solution
At low frequency, lets assume f approaching 0 (f > 0), XL appeared as a
short while XC an open, so that the circuit becomes
There is no current passing through the circuit hence no signal appear at
the output at low frequency
The reactance of capacitor , XC, and inductor , XL, in the circuit is given by
Whereas at high frequency, lets assume f approaching infinity (f > ), XL
appeared as an open while XC as a short, so that the circuit becomes
Again, there is no current passing through the circuit hence no signal
appear at the output at high frequency
However, at the resonance frequency, the circuit appeared as
The reason is because:
Minimum impedance at resonant
frequency for L-C connected in series
Maximum impedance at resonant
frequency for L-C connected in parallel
At the resonance frequency, fr, there is voltage drop across parallel L-C
branch, hence Vo is nonzero.
The above derivations show that this circuit is a Band-pass filter and its
frequency response can be sketched as
Example
Based on the filter circuit below


1. Find the transfer function.
2. Given that |H()| = , calculate the cutoff frequency. Use L = 4.5mH, C =
25F and R = 100k.
sC
R sL
sC
R
v
v
s H
i
1
1
) (
0
+
= =
Solution:
Using the voltage division rule, H(s) is given by:
sRC
R
sC R
sC R
sC
R
+
=
+
=
1 / 1
/ 1
where
R sL RLC s
R
sRC R sL
sRC R
s H
+ +
=
+ +
+
=
2
) 1 /(
) 1 /(
) (
hence
RLC L j R
R
j H
2
) (
e e
e
+
=
Since s =j, so
Solution for (b)
The magnitude of H(j) is given by
( ) ( )
2
1 0
| ) ( |
2
2
2
2
=
+
+
=
L RLC R
R
H
e e
e
Squaring the |H()|, |H()|
2
reduces the equation to
2
2
) 1 ( 2
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
R
L
LC
c
c
e
e
2
3
3
2 6 3
10 100
) 10 5 . 4 (
)] 10 25 )( 10 5 . 4 ( 1 [( 2
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =


x
x
x x
c
c
e
e
Substitute the values into the equation gives:
Solve for the quadratic equation of
c
:
a
ac b b
2
4
2

) 10 25 . 1 ( 2
) 1 10 25 . 1 4 ( ) 10 25 . 2 ( ) 10 25 . 2 (
14
14 2 7 7

=
x
x x x x x

c
=
Therefore,

c
= 4657 rad/s @ 4.657 krad/s
First order Active filter circuits
(using RC circuit)
Active low-pass filter
Active high-pass filter
Second order Active filter circuits
(using RC circuit)
Active band-pass filter
Again,
Given that we have an active filter as follows;
If f > , Xc > 0, the circuit becomes:
The capacitor acts as a short, the amount of current passed through R2
becomes negligible so the gain of the amplifier goes to zero
Identify the types of Active filter(part1)
Fig.2
If f > 0, Xc > , the circuit becomes:
The capacitor acts as an open, the circuit will act as an amplifier with gain
-R
1
/R
2

*This shows the circuit is a low pass filter.
Identify the types of Active filter(part2)
Identify the types of Active filter(part3)
In the case of Fig.3
This circuit will attenuate low frequencies ( <<1/R
2
C
2
) and high
frequencies (>>1/R
1
C
1
), but will pass intermediate frequencies with a gain
of -R
1
/R
2
. So, it is a band-pass filter.
Fig.3
Example
Figure below shows a filter circuit
1. Prove that the transfer function is given as:
RC j
RC j
R
R
H
f
e
e
e
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
1
1 ) (
1
2. Identify the type of filter
According to the golden rule of op-amp: V
+
=V
-
, therefore op-amp appeared as
an open circuit

It can be seen from the circuit that voltage across Node A gives V
+
, while
voltage drop across Node B gives V
-
, and we know that

Using voltage division rule to give V
+
and V
-
as

Eq. 1

Eq. 2

Eq. 3

Substitute Eq.2 and Eq.3 into Eq. 1 produces

Rearranging the equation gives

The A
OL
(open loop gain) of an op-amp is always approaching infinity, hence
the transfer function of this circuit can be reduced to

RC j
RC j
R
R
V
V
s H
i
f
i
o
e
e
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ = =
1
1 ) (
0
) 0 ( 1
) 0 (
1 ) 0 ( =
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
RC j
RC j
R
R
H
i
f
1
) ( 1
) (
1 ) ( =
+

|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
RC j
RC j
R
R
H
i
f
Solution (Q2):

Substituting the value of = 0 and = into the equation

The above shows that this circuit is a high pass filter.
Characteristic filter: Butterworth filter
(Part I)
The third-order low-pass design shown above is a simple
example of Butterworth filter
1. The distinctive characteristic of this filter is the maximally flat
frequency response which is desired for various applications.
2. The roll-off rate for this filter starts with 20n dB/decade. The
higher number of n, the flatter the response will be - hence the
filter is approaching to an ideal frequency curve
Characteristic filter: Butterworth filter
(Part II)
Characteristic filter: Chebyshev filter I
1. This filter is well-known by the existence of ripple in the pass band and
rapidly increasing attenuation in the transition band.
2. Standard roll-off rate for Chebyshev filter is 40dB/decade which means
the response will be steeper at the edge- hence it has a sharper cutoff as
compared to Butterworth filter.
3. This filter belongs to active filter group and which has irregular pass
band response.
4. The higher number of N the faster the roll off rate but also results in an
increase in the amount of ripple in the pass band
Characteristic filter: Chebyshev filter II
1. The response is monotone at the pass band but equiripple
response at the stop band.
2. This filter is not commonly in used as it gives inconsistent
gain due to fluctuations.
Sallen Key (Two-Pole) Low Pass Filter
-
+
+V
-V
R
1
R
f1
R
f2
C
1
v
in
v
out
C
2
R
2
Low Pass Filter
1. To obtain an n
th
order filter, n/2
SK circuits should be cascaded
(assume K=1)
2. As K increased from 0 to 3, the
transfer function displays more
peaking
3. The circuit becomes unstable
when K>3
where,
R1 = R2
C1 = C2
Rf1 = (K-2)Rf2
Sallen Key (Two-Pole) High Pass Filter
-
+
+V
-V
R
1
R
f1
R
f2
C
2
v
in
v
out
R
2
C
1
High Pass Filter
1. Using op amp, the SK is not
truly a high-pass filter,
because the gain of the op
amp eventually falls off.
2. However, the frequencies at
which the op amp gain is
fairly high, the circuit
behaves as a high-pass filter.
3. Since the HP SK circuit is
equivalent as the low-pass,
the empirical values for K
would be still valid in this
case also.
where,
C1 = C2
Rf1 = (K-2)Rf2
Peaking clearly be seen in
the stopband
The typical Sallen Key frequency response: