Analog Electronics

Unit-3
Topic-Filter Analysis using Operational Amplifier
(Active Filters)

Major Refs:
1. Operational Amplifiers & Linear Integrated Circuits: By James M. Fiore
2. Op-Amps and Linear Integrated Circuits: By Ramakant A. Gayakwad
Filters
As the meaning of the term ‘filter’ implies, electronic filter circuits filter-out/eliminate unwanted
signals. Filter circuits are classified as:
• Active Filters
• Passive Filters

Active Filters:
Filter circuits using active components like op-amps are called active filters. In active filter circuits,
active elements like BJTs, ICs are used.

Passive filter circuits:

Uses passive components like R, L, and C. Network synthesis is the term applied to the systematic
method of specifying components in a circuit, so that the circuits output is a prescribed function of its
input function of frequency.
Ideal Filters
Filter Types
High pass filter (HPF) Band pass filter (BPF)
Low pass filter circuit (LPF)
Allows higher frequency signals beyond Allows signals in a particular
Allows low frequency signals only.
cut-off frequency frequency range called band width.
Attenuates higher frequency signals
beyond the cut-off frequency

Resonant filters Notch filters

Band reject or notch filter (BRF)
Allows any one particular frequency A band-stop filter with a narrow
Attenuates in a particular frequency range.
component (signal) f0. stopband (high Q factor).
Filter-Frequency Response: Three basic regions

• The flat area where the input signal is allowed to pass

through is known as the pass band.

• The break frequency is usually defined as the point at

which the response has fallen 3 dB from its pass-band
value.

• The area where the input signal is fully suppressed is

called the stop band.

• The section between the pass band and the stop band
is referred to as the transition band.

Ø An ideal filter has a zero attenuation in its pass band and infinite attenuation in the attenuation band.
Ø However, ideal filter response is not practical because linear network cannot produce discontinuities.
Ø But, it is possible to obtain a practical response that approximates the ideal response by using special
design techniques as well as precision components and high speed opamps.
Advantages of Active Filter Circuits
1. Loading effect can be reduced using op-amps.
2. Voltage gain can be greater than 1, whereas for passive circuits it is always less than 1.
3. Cheaper circuits, because with low values of R and C, we can realize the same transfer
functions. Op-amps is also cheaper due to mass VLSI production. Hence filter is less costly.
4. They eliminate the need of inductors which are bulky and costly.
5. Technology Compatibility

Disadvantages of Active Filter Circuits

1. An op amp has a finite gain-bandwidth product, so cannot perform beyond it, e.g. using 741 IC
you cannot passes frequencies above 10 MHz. Passive circuits can work well into the
hundreds of MHz
2. Selectivity and sensitivity are dependent an the gain of op-amp.
3. Require Power supplies for active components
4. Increased sensitivity to variations to circuit parameters caused by environmental changes
compared to passive filters
5. Active filters are not designed to handle large amounts of power. They are low signal-level
circuits. With appropriate component ratings, passive filters may handle hundreds of watts of
input power.
Filter Order and Poles
Filter Order:
• This is the rate at which a filter's response falls in the transition band.
• The higher the order of a filter, the faster its roll-off rate is. The order of a filter is given as an integer value
and is derived from the filter's transfer function.

• The order of a filter also indicates the minimum number of reactive components that the filter will require.
e.g. a third-order filter requires at least three reactive components: one capacitor and two inductors,
two capacitors and one inductor, or in the case of an active filter, three capacitors.

Filter Poles:
• For most general-purpose high- or low-pass filters, the terms pole and order may be used interchangeably and
completely describe the roll-off rate.

• For more complex filters this isn't quite the case, and you may also hear descriptions such as “a sixpole, two-
zero filter”

• However, for this class we shall restrict to the general purpose assumption where Nth –order filter means N-
Pole Filter
Understanding, Order, Pole, Roll-Off

• Generally roll-off rate of a filter will eventually approach 6 dB per octave per pole (20 dB per decade per pole).
• e.g. a third order filter (i.e., three-pole) eventually rolls off at a rate of 18 dB per octave (60 dB per decade).
• We say “eventually” because the response around the break frequency may be somewhat faster or slower
than this value.
 Decibel factors -A Quick Look
deciBel gain =log10(𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛)

Two important things show up with this representation.

• First, ratios of change become constant offsets in the decibel
system, and second, the entire range of values diminishes in size.
• Wide range of gains may be represented within a fairly small scope
of values,
àThe corresponding calculations become quicker.

•The amplifier has a gain of 20

•20 can be written as 2 times 10
•The factor of 2 is 3 dB, the factor of 10 is 10 dB
•The answer must be 3 dB + 10 dB, or 13 dB
•This verifies our earlier result

Q: An amplifier has a power gain of 23 dB. If the input is 1 mW, what is the output?

23 𝑑𝐵=3 𝑑𝐵+10 𝑑𝐵+10 𝑑𝐵 =2 X 10 X 10 =200

Vo= 200 mW= 0.2V
 Filter Types based on Circuit

There are basically 4 types of active filters. They are butterworth, Chebyshev, Bessel and Elliptic filters

(i) Butterworth Filter:

• This filter is also called as maximally flat or flat flat filter and
has an essentially flat amplitude-frequency response upto the
cutoff frequency.

• It achieve the sharp attenuation, however, their phase-shift as

a function of frequency is non-linear

• It has a monotonic drop in gain with frequency in the cut-off

region and a maximally flat response below cut-off frequency.

• The Butterworth filter has characteristic somewhere between Which one to Choose?
those of Chebyshev and Bessel filters. It has a moderate roll- Depends upon:
off of the skirt and a slightly nonlinear phase responses. •Frequency response
•Selectivity
•Number of stages (complexity)
•Phase delay
 Filter Types based on Circuit...continued
Chebyshev Filter:
• It is also called a equal ripple filter.
• It gives a sharper cut-off than Butterworth filter in the passband.
Both Butterworth and Chebyshev filters exhibit large phase
shifts near the cut-off frequency.

• A drawback of the Chebyshev filter is the appearance of gain

maxima and minima below the cut-off frequency. This gain
ripple, expressed in db, is an adjustable parameter in filter
design.
• The faster the roll-off, the greater the peak-to-peak ripples in the
passband.
• The phase response is highly non-linear in the skirt region.
• Such unequal delays of data frequency in the passband causes
severe pulse distortion and thus increased errors at modern
demodulators.
• This can be overcome somewhat by increasing the BW of the
filter so that the phase region is extended.
• A Chebyshev filter is used where very sharp roll-off is required.
However, this is achieved at the expense of a gain ripple in the
lower frequency passband.
Filter Types based on Circuit...continued

Bessel Filter:

• The Bessel filter provides ideal phase characteristics with

an approximately linear phase response upto nearly cut-
off frequency.

• Though it has a very linear phase response but a fairly

gentle edge slope, as shown in figure.

• For applications where the phase characteristic is

important, the Bessel filter is used.

• It is a minimal phase shift filter even though its cut-off

characteristics are not very sharp. It is well suited for
pulse applications.
 Filter Types based on Circuit...continued
Elliptical (Cauer) Filter:

• Sharpest roll-off of all filters in the transition region but has

ripples in both the pass band and stop band regions, as
illustrated in figure.
• Can be designed to have very high attenuation for certain
frequencies in the stop band, which reduces the attenuation for
other frequencies in the stop band

• The passband ripple is similar to the Chebyshev filter,

however the selectivity is greatly improved.
Best used for:
• The downside to this improved selectivity is a more complex • Applications where selectivity is a key
filter network that requires more components. driver in the filter design.
• Ripple amplitude of the passband and
• It also has the sharpest roll-off of all filters in this group. stopband can be adjusted separately to fit
the application.
• This sharp roll-off comes with the unintended consequence of
ripples in both the passband and stopband
Filter Class or Alignment
These terms are synonymous and reflect the filter's damping factor. Damping factor is the reciprocal of Q, the
quality factor.
Realizing Practical Filters

Desired parameter:
• Break frequency, the amount of ripple that may be tolerated in the pass band (if any), and desired
attenuation levels at specific points in the transition and stop bands.
• Phase response and associated time delays may also be specified.

• If phase response is paramount, the Bessel is normally chosen. Likewise, if pass-band ripple cannot be
allowed, Chebyshevs are not considered.
Thus, for the range of frequencies, 0 < f < fH, the gain is almost constant equal to fH which is high cut off
frequency.
At f = fH, gain reduces to 0.707 AF i.e. 3 dB down from AF.
As the frequency increases than fH, the gain decreases at a rate of 20dB/decade.

The frequency fH is called cut off frequency, break frequency, — 3dB frequency or corner frequency.
The frequency response is shown in the Fig.
Frequency Scaling:

• The method used to change the original cut-off frequency fH to a new cut-
off frequency fH1 is called as frequency scaling.
• The standard value capacitor C is selected first and calculating
corresponding value of resistance R.
Example-2: To convert the Cutoff Frequency from 1kHz to 1.6 kHz

To change a cutoff frequency from kHz to 1.6 kHz, 15.9 k resistor should be multiplied by:
 Second Order Low Pass Butterworth Filter:
• 40 dB/decade roll-off
• Simply add additional RC network to the 1st order
• 2nd order filters are important bcz higher order filter can be
designed using them.
• Gain set by R1 and RF
• High cut of frequency fH is determined by R2, C2 and R3, C3, given
by:

Voltage gain magnitude:

The normalized Butterworth polynomials are given in Table

Example:
Frequency response:
Thus, the circuit acts as high pass filter with a pass band gain
as Af. For the frequencies, f < fL, the gain increases till f = fL at
a rate of + 20 dB/decade. Hence, the slope of the frequency
response in stop band is + 20 dB/decade for first order high
pass filter.
Solution:
Second Order High Pass Butterworth Filter:

Like the 1st order filter, 2nd order high pass filter can be designed from a 2nd order low-
pass filter just by interchanging the Frequency determining R and C components.
The voltage gain magnitude equation of the second order high pass filter is given by

Where
AF = 1.586 = pass band gain for the second order Butterworth response
f = frequency of the input signal in Hertz.
fL = low cutoff frequency

The above equation may be derived using the mathematical analysis given in the
appendix Slides

Since the second order low-pass and high pass filters are the the same circuits except the
positions of the resistors and capacitors are interchanged, the design and frequency scaling
procedures for the high-pass filter are the same as those for low-pass filters
High Order Filters

• As the order of the Filter is increased, actual stopband response of the filter approaches to ideal characteristics
• Higher order Filtersè By cascading the the 1st and 2nd order filters e.g.:
• 3rd Order Low-Pass Filterè Cascade 1st and 2nd order low pass filter
• 4rth order Low-pass filterè Cascade two 2nd order low-pass filter sections etc.
• Higher ordersà Size and accuracy issues (difference between the actual stopband response and the theoretical
stopband response increases)

In a third order filter the voltage gain of the first order section is one and that of the second
order section is two.
Fourth order low-pass filter

• In a fourth order filter the gain of the first section is 1.152 while that of the second section is 2.235.
• These gain values are necessary to guarantee Butterworth response and must remain the same regardless
of the filter cutoff frequency.
• Also, the overall filter gain is equal to the product of the individual voltage gains of the filter sections.
• Hence, the overall gain of a third order filter is 2.0 and that of the fourth order is (1.152) x (2.235) = 2.57.
Since the frequency determining resistors and capacitors are equal, the high cutoff frequencies of
the third and fourth order low pass filters in Fig (a) and (b) must also be equal, and are given by

As with first and second order filters, third and fourth order
high pass filters are formed by simply interchanging the
position of frequency determining resistors and capacitors.

The overall gain of higher order filter design is fixed

because all the frequency determining resistors
and capacitors are equal.
Band Pass Filter
A Band Pass Filter passes signals only in a certain band of frequencies while rejecting all signals outside this band.
There are basically two types of Band Pass Filters:
•Wide band pass
•Narrow band pass; While there is no firm dividing line between the two,
Wide band pass à figure of merit or quality factor Q < 10.
if Q > 10 àthe filter is a narrow Band Pass Filter
Hence Q is a measure of selectivity meaning the higher the value of Q, the more selective is the filter, or the narrower
is the band width. The relationship between Q, 3 db band width and the centre frequency fc is given by

For the wide Band Pass Filter Circuit, the centre frequency can be defined
as
where
•fH = high cutoff frequency
•fL = low cutoff frequency of the wide bandpass BW = fH – fL
A narrow band filter is one that has a band width < 0.1 fc. A wide band filter has band
width > 0.1 fc).
The ratio of resonant frequency to band width is known as the quality factor Q.
Wide Band Pass Filter

Formed by simply cascading high pass and low pass section

To obtain a ± 20 db/decade band pass filter, a 1st order high pass filter and a 1st low pass sections are cascaded, for a ±
40 db/decade band pass filter, 2nd order high pass filter and 2nd order low pass filter are cascaded and so on for higher
orders.
Narrow Band Pass Filter:

The narrow Band Pass Filter Circuit using multiple feedback is shown in Fig. the filter uses only
one opamp. This filter is unique in the following respects.
• It has two feedback paths, which is why it is called a multiple feedback
• The opamp is used in the inverting mode.
Generally a narrow band pass filter is designed for specific values of center frequency fc and Q, or fc and
band width.

Mathematical Derivation for Narrow Band Pass Filter…may be covered in Tutorial

Band Reject Filter Circuit

Frequencies are attenuated in the stop band and passed outside it.
As with band pass filters, band reject filters can also be classified as (i) wide and (ii) narrow band.
• The narrow band reject filter circuit is also called the notch filter.
• Because of its higher Q which is greater than 10, the bandwidth of the narrow band reject filter is much
smaller than that of the wide band reject filter.
• The band reject filter is also called a band stop or band elimination filter because it eliminates a certain
band of frequencies.
Narrow Band Reject Filter

The narrow band reject filter, often called the notch filter, is commonly used for the attenuation of a single
frequency.
For example, it may be necessary to attenuate 60 Hz or 400 Hz noise or hum signals in a circuit. The most
commonly used notch filter is the Twin T network, shown in Fig., which is a passive filter composed of two
T shaped networks.

One T network is made up of two resistors and a capacitor,

while the other is made of two capacitors and a resistor. The
frequency at which maximum attenuation occurs is called the
notch-out frequency, given by

One disadvantage of the passive twin T network is that it has a relatively

low figure of merit, Q.
As discussed earlier, the higher the value of Q, the more selective is the
filter. Therefore, to increase the Q of the twin T network significantly, it
should be used with a voltage follower
All Pass Filter Design
• The All Pass Filter Design is one that passes all frequency components of the input signal without attenuation.
• Any ordinary wire can be used to perform this characteristic but the most important factor in an all pass filter is that it
provides predictable phase shifts for different frequencies of the input signal.

These All Pass Filter Design are widely used in communications.

For example, when signals are transmitted over transmission lines, such as telephone wires, from one point
to another, they undergo a change in phase. All pass filters are used to compensate for these phase changes.
They are also called delay equalizers or phase correctors.

Figure shows an all pass filter with the output lagging the input.
From Fig., we see that

The equation indicates that the amplitude of Vo/Vin is unity,

where that is IVoI = |Vin| throughout the useful frequency range and
the phase shift between Vo and Vin is a function of input
frequency f. The phase angle Φ is given by

where
• Φ = phase in degrees
• f = frequency in Hz
• R = resistance in Ω
• C = capacitance in F

Referring to Fig., if the positions of R and C are

interchanged, the phase shift between input and output
becomes positive. That is, output Vo leads input Vin.

è
Appendix
General filter Design
--Sallen and Key VCVS Filters
Sallen and Key VCVS Filters (Derivation of General Equation for higher order filters)

They use series-parallel negative feedback. A general circuit for these models is shown in Figure below

• This circuit is a two-pole (second-order) section and can be configured for either high- or low-pass filtering.
• There are four general impedances in the circuit. Usually, each element is a single resistor or capacitor.
• The selection of the component type will determine the type of filter.
For simplification, let’s assume that the voltage Vy =1 V

By inspection, we can write:

(1)

(2)

(3)

By the substituting Equation (2) in Equation (3), 𝑉𝑥 may be expressed as

(4)
We now sum the currents according to the figure,

substitute our current equivalences

and solve the equation in terms of 𝑉𝑖𝑛

(5)

We can now write our general transfer equation using Equations (1) and (5)

(4)
 Capacitive reactance in Laplace notation = 1/sC

Sallen and Key Low-Pass Filters

A low-pass filter is a lag network, so use resistors for the first two elements and capacitors for the third
and forth.
Using the 𝑠s operator we find, 𝑍1=𝑅1, 𝑍2=𝑅2, 𝑍3=1/𝑠𝐶1, and 𝑍4=1/𝑠𝐶2.

(6)

The highest power of 𝑠s in the denominator determines the number of poles in the filter. Because this is
a 2 here, the filter must be a 2 pole-type (second-order), as expected.

generalized form of one group of second-order responses is given by

(7)

where 𝐴 is the gain of the system, 𝜔 is the resonant frequency in radians, and 𝛼 is the damping factor
 By comparing the general form of Equation

(8)

(9)

it is convenient to work with normalized frequency instead of a true frequency. This means that the critical
frequency will be set to 1 radian per second

The normalized version of Equation (7) is

(10)

In order to determine the gain and phase expressions, Equation (10) must be split into its real
and imaginary components. The first step is to replace 𝑠 with its equivalent, 𝑗𝜔, and then group
the real and imaginary components.
 èè (11)

For the gain magnitude, recall that Mag = (√(real2+imaginary2). Applying Equation (11) to
this relation yields

(12)

For the phase response, recall that θ=tan−1(imaginary/real). Applying

Equation (11) to this relation yields

(13)
As one possible example, the damping factor for a second-order Butterworth
alignment is √2. Substituting this into Equation (12) produces

There are a large number of ways of configuring a low-pass filter given the above equations.

Two distinct and useful variations:

(1) Equal component realization
(2) The unity gain realization.
The equal-component version
Here, set R1=R2 and C1=C2. To keep the resulting equation generic, we will use a normalized
frequency of 1 radian per second.
Omega=1, R1=R2=1, C1=C2=1
Eq. (6) becomes The finished prototype

the damping factor is now given by

We see that the gain and damping of the filter are linked
together. Indeed, for a certain damping factor, only one
specific gain will work properly:

As the gain of a noninverting amplifier is

è
The Unity-Gain Version

Here we will set A=1, and R1=R2 The finished prototype

if ω=1, then R1R2C1C2=1, and therefore C1=1/C2. In

effect, the ratio of the capacitors will set the damping
factor for the system. Equation (6) may be simplified to

The damping factor is now given by

è
There is quite a bit of similarity between the two
versions.
It is important to note that the inputs to these circuits
must return to ground via a low-impedance DC path
Design a 1 kHz low-pass, second-order Butterworth filter. Examine both the
equal-component and the unity-gain forms
Let's start with the equal-component version. First, find the
required value for Rf from the damping factor, as given on
the diagram

Initial damping calculation. Its

critical frequency is 1 radian/s. è
Need to scale this to 1 kHz.

As ωc = 1/RC, to translate the frequency up, all we need to do is

divide R or C by 6283. although it is generally easier to find “odd”
sizes for resistors than capacitors,
The approach for the unity-gain version is similar
First, adjust the capacitor values in order to
achieve the desired damping,

The circuit must be scaled to

the desired fc. The factor is
6283 once again, and the
result is shown

The final component scaling

Thanks