EEE 2501 : Electronics-II

Lecture-3
Active Filters

Sanjid-E-Elahi
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology (DUET)
 Electric Filters
Any network which possesses definite properties of frequency
discrimination and which is capable of separating electric waves of
different frequencies is called an electric wave filter or, simply, & a filter.

Or,

Any combination of passive (R, L, and C) and/or active (transistors or

operational amplifiers) elements designed to select or reject a band of
frequencies is called a filter. In communication systems, filters are used
to pass those frequencies containing the desired information and to
reject the remaining frequencies.

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 Electric Filters (Contd.)

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 Classification of Electric Wave Filter
• Based on the component used
a. Active Filter – A Filter Circuit which consists of active components like Transistors and Op-amps in
addition to Resistors and Capacitors is called an Active Filter.
b. Passive Filter – A filter circuit that consists of passive components such as Resistors, Capacitors, and
Inductors is called a Passive Filter.

• Based on the frequency response characteristics

a. Low Pass Filter (LPF)
b. High Pass Filter (HPF)
c. Band Pass Filter (BPF)
d. Band Reject/Stop/Notch Filter (BRF)

• Based on the shape of frequency response (ideal approximation)

a. Butterworth Filter
b. Chebyshev Filter
c. Inverse Chebyshev Filter
d. Elliptic Filter (Cauer)
e. Bessel Filter
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 Ideal Filters Frequency Response
Characteristics
A lowpass filter passes low frequencies and stops high
frequencies, as shown ideally in Fig. (a).
A highpass filter passes high frequencies and rejects low
frequencies, as shown ideally in Fig. (b).
A bandpass filter passes frequencies within a frequency band
and blocks or attenuates frequencies outside the band, as
shown ideally in Fig. (c).
A bandstop filter passes frequencies outside a frequency band
and blocks or attenuates frequencies within the band, as shown
ideally in Fig. (d)

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 Practical Filters Frequency Response
Characteristics

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 Shape of frequency response
The design of any filter involves an attempt to achieve some unattainable ideal. For
example, an ideal low-pass filter would have the amplitude response shown in the figure
below, and would pass all frequencies with uniform gain in the pass region from DC to
some cutoff frequency fc; above fc, in the stopband, all frequencies would be infinitely
attenuated and the attenuation rate (slope of the curve at fc) would be infinite and would
appear as a vertical straight line at fc.

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 Shape of frequency response (Contd.)
Practical amplitude responses are not ideal; nevertheless, they are useful in many
applications. Practical filters approach the ideal response in different ways; for
example, some emphasize flatness in the passband, but do not have a particularly
steep attenuation slope; others have steep attenuation slopes, but do not have flat
gain in the passband. Certain classes of filters are designed to have linear phase
response (important in minimizing overshoot or ringing in pulse circuits) at the
expense of flatness of gain and steepness of attenuation. In general, a practical low-
pass filter will approach the ideal by emphasizing one or more of the basic filter
characteristics of passband flatness, attenuation slope, or phase linearity. Other
factors, such as infinite attenuation of a particular frequency or the degree of
attenuation in some given region of the stopband, are often important.

The various approximations to the ideal filter response are identified by such names
as Butterworth, Chebyshev, Bessel, and others

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 Butterworth Filters
Probably the most commonly used filter is the Butterworth,
Example: A Butterworth Low
which has the characteristic amplitude response shown in
the figure below. Butterworth filters have a maximally-flat
Pass Filter of Various Order
response in the passband; that is, passband flatness is the
ideal filter characteristic emphasized, but it is achieved at
the expense of phase linearity and of steepness of
attenuation slope. However, the attenuation slope of the
Butterworth filter is quite good and, for applications where
phase linearity is not important, the Butterworth response is
an excellent general purpose approximation to the ideal
filter.

Butterworth filters are typically forgiving to part tolerances

and values of discrete elements (capacitors, inductors, and
resistors). For most bandpass designs, the (Voltage
Standing Wave Ratio) VSWR at center frequency is
extremely good.

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 Chebyshev Filters
The Chebyshev filter is known for it's ripple response. This ripple
response can be designed to be present in the passband (Chebyshev)
or in the stopband ( Inverse Chebyshev). The amplitude of the ripple is
directly proportional to steepness of the rolloff. That is, if you want a
steeper response, you'll see a larger ripple response. These filters offer
performance between that of Elliptic function filters and Butterworth
filters. The phase response of the Chebyshev filter is relatively non-
linear, which ultimately wreaks havoc on demodulators because it tends
to distort pulses because of the non-linear delays. The most common
work-around for this phenomena is to increase the bandwidth of the
Chebyshev filter to push this non-linear region further out.

Best used for:

The Chebyshev filter is the workhorse of the common filter typologies.
It's response is easily realised with few componets and offers very good
selectivity with one of the steepest roll-off responses of the group.

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 Elliptic (Cauer) Filters
The elliptic filters is characterized by ripple that exists in both
the passband, as well as the stopband. The passband ripple of
the elliptic filter is similar to the Chebyshev filter, however the
selectivity is greatly improved. The downside to this improved
selectivity is a more complex filter network that requires more
components. The elliptic filter also has the sharpest roll-off of
all filters in this group. This sharp roll-off comes with the
unitended consequince of ripples in both the passband and
stopband (shown above).

Best used for:

Despite the passband and stopband ripple, the elliptic filter is
best used in applications where selectivity is a key driver in the
filter design. The elliptic filter's ripple amplitude of the passband
and stopband can be adjusted seperately to fit the application.

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 Bessel filter
The Bessel filter has the gentlest response of the
group. Even though it doesn't have a sharp cutoff, it
offers superior phase shift (delay) compared to the
other filters in the group. The Bessel filter requires the
most stages (i.e. most components); however, it offers
excellent characteristics: low sensitivity to component
tolerance, superior step response.

Best used for:

The Bessel filter is ideal for applications that require
minimal phase shift. Due to the gentle frequency
response of the Bessel filter, it can only be used in
applications where there is adequate space between
the passband and stopband.

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 Applications of Filter Circuit
• Radio communications: Filters enable radio receivers to only "see" the
desired signal while rejecting all other signals (assuming that the other
signals have different frequency content).

• DC power supplies: Filters are used to eliminate undesired high

frequencies (i.e., noise) that are present on AC input lines. Additionally,
filters are used on a power supply's output to reduce ripple.

• Audio electronics: A crossover network is a network of filters used to

channel low-frequency audio to woofers, mid-range frequencies to
midrange speakers, and high-frequency sounds to tweeters.

• Analog-to-digital conversion: Filters are placed in front of an ADC input

to minimize aliasing.
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 First Order Low Pass Butterworth Filter

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 First Order Low Pass Butterworth Filter
1
The cutoff frequency is obtained by setting the magnitude of 𝑯 𝝎 equal to = 0.707
2
thus,

of 𝜔𝑐 of f𝑐

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 Example-11.1

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 First Order LPF Butterworth with Gains

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 First Order LPF Butterworth with Gains Design

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 Example 7-1 (Gayakward)

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 Example 7-3 (Gayakward)

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 High Pass Butterworth Filter

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 First Order High Pass Butterworth Filter

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 First Order High Pass Butterworth Filter

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 Examples-11-6

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 First Order HPF Butterworth with Gains

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 Example 7.5

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 Second Order (-40 dB/decade) LPF Butterworth
Two first-order LPF can be coupled together to make a second order
LPF (i.e Filter gives a roll off of -40 dB/decade. This would not be most
economical design, because it would require two op-amps.
We can design a Second Order Low Pass with a single op-amp.

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 Second Order Low Pass Butterworth Filter

See this derivation

in Class day Notes

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 Example 11-4

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 Second Order (+40 dB/decade) HPF Butterworth

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 Second Order (+40 dB/decade) HPF Butterworth

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 Example 11-8 and 11-9

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 Third Order (-60 dB/decade) LPF Butterworth

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 Third Order (-60 dB/decade) LPF Butterworth

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 Example 11-5

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 Third Order (+60 dB/decade) HPF Butterworth

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 Third Order (+60 dB/decade) HPF Butterworth

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 Example 11-10 and 11-11

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 Band Pass Filter

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 Wide Bandpass Filter

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 First Order Wide Bandpass Filter
Q: How to build a Higher order
active Butterworth BPF?

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 Example 7-7

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 Example 7-7(Contd.)

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 Band Reject Filter

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 Wide Band Reject Filter

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 First Order Wide Band Reject Filter

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 Example 7-9
Design a wide band reject filters having 𝒇𝑯 = 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝑯𝒛 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝑳 = 𝟏 𝒌𝑯𝒛

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 Reference Books

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 Thank
You
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