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The fractal active low-pass filter Low-pass filter

within the local fractional

derivative on the Cantor set
Kang-Jia Wang
School of Physics and Electronic Information Engineering,
Received 14 September 2022
Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, China Revised 22 November 2022
9 January 2023
Accepted 10 January 2023

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to derive a new fractal active low-pass filter (LPF) within the local
fractional derivative (LFD) calculus on the Cantor set (CS).
Design/methodology/approach – To the best of the author’s knowledge, a new fractal active LPF
within the LFD on the CS is proposed for the first time in this work. By defining the nondifferentiable (ND)
lumped elements on the fractal set, the author successfully extracted its ND transfer function by applying the
local fractional Laplace transform. The properties of the ND transfer function on the CS are elaborated in detail.
Findings – The comparative results between the fractal active LPF (for g = ln2/ln3) and the classic one (for
g = 1) on the amplitude–frequency and phase–frequency characteristics show that the proposed method is
correct and effective, and is expected to shed light on the theory study of the fractal electrical systems.
Originality/value – To the best of the author’s knowledge, the fractal active LPF within the LFD calculus on
the CS is proposed for the first time in this study. The proposed method can be used to study the other problems in
the fractal electrical systems, and is expected to shed a light on the theory study of the fractal electrical systems.
Keywords Local fractional derivative, Active low-pass filter, Fractal circuit systems,
Local fractional Laplace transform, Cantor set
Paper type Research paper

Nomenclature
LPF = Low-pass filter;
LFD = Local fractional derivative;
ND = Nondifferentiable;
CS = Cantor set;
NDC = ND capacity;
NDR = ND resistor;
LFLT = Local fractional Laplace transform; and
ILFLT = Inverse local fractional Laplace transform.

This work is supported by the Key Programs of Universities in Henan Province of China
(22A140006), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Universities of Henan Province
(NSFRF210324), Program of Henan Polytechnic University (B2018-40), the Innovative Scientists and
Technicians Team of Henan Provincial High Education (21IRTSTHN016).
Declaration of interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial COMPEL - The international
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this journal for computation and
mathematics in electrical and
paper. electronic engineering
Data availability statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the © Emerald Publishing Limited
0332-1649
corresponding author upon reasonable request. DOI 10.1108/COMPEL-09-2022-0326
COMPEL 1. Introduction
The fractional differential equations are more general than integral differential equations, and
can more accurately describe objective laws and the essence of things under the extreme
conditions such as the unsmooth boundary (He et al., 2021a, 2021b; Wang, 2022a, 2022b, 2022c;
Wang et al., 2022; Wang, 2022a, 2022b, 2022c), microgravity space (He, 2020; He et al., 2021a,
2021b), porous media (Xiao et al., 2019; Wang, 2023a, 2023b; Xiao et al., 2021; Wang and Shi,
2023a, 2023b) and so on (Atangana, 2016; Wang and Zhu, 2022; Ghanbari and Abdon, 2020;
Wang, 2022a, 2022b, 2022c) than integral differential equations. In addition, the fractional
differential equations have greatly enriched the content of mathematical theory and penetrated
into many fields of natural science. Thus, the fractional calculus has been applied in many
fields, and attracted more and more attention. Recently, the local fractional derivative (LFD)
(Yang, 2011; Yang et al., 2015a, 2015b) is a new definition of the fractional derivative and has
been successfully applied to describe many complex phenomena involving in the wave (Yang
et al., 2019), diffusion (Yang et al., 2017a, 2017b), physics (Zhang and Yang, 2016; Wang and Si,
2023; Yang, 2017; Wang and Shi, 2023a, 2023b; Wang, 2023a, 2023b) and so on (Yang et al.,
2014; Yang et al., 2016). As an important field, the fractional calculus has been used widely to
model the fractal electrical systems such as the fractal LC electric circuit (Yang et al., 2017a,
2017b), fractal RC circuit (Zhao et al., 2017), fractal RL high-pass filter (Wang and Li, 2020),
fractal high-pass filter (Wang, 2020) and so on (Banchuin, 2023; Banchuin, 2022; Wang et al.,
2020). Inspired by recent research results on the fractal electrical systems, in this paper, we will
derive a fractal active low-pass filter (LPF) based on the LFD, and investigate the dynamic
characteristics via the local fractional Laplace transform (LFLT) and inverse local fractional
Laplace transform (ILFLT). The ideas in this work can be used to study the other problems in
the fractal electrical systems and hoped to shed a light on the theory study of the fractal
electrical systems. The whole structure of this paper is given as follows. In Section 2, the
fundamental theory about the definitions of LFD, LFLT, ILFLT, some special functions and
their properties are introduced. In Section 3, the nondifferentiable (ND) lumped elements on the
fractal set are defined within the LFD. In Section 4, the fractal active LPF is proposed and
studied with the help of the LFLT and ILFLT in detail. Then, we analyze the related properties
of the fractal active LPF in Section 5. Finally, we come to the conclusion in Section 6.

2. The fundamental theory

In this section, some fundamental theory about the definitions of the LFD, LFLT, ILFLT,
some special functions such as Mittag-Leffler function, sine function and cosine function on
the Cantor sets (CS), and their properties are presented.
Definition 2.1. For the function }(t), its LFD with the order g (0 < g # 1) can be defined
as (Yang et al., 2015a, 2015b):


ðgÞ d}ðtÞ Dg }ðtÞ  }ðt0 Þ
} ðt0 Þ ¼ j ¼ lim ; (1)
dtg t¼t0 t!t0 ðt  t0 Þg

which for V« > 0, d > 0 and 0 < jt  t0j < d satisfies the condition that there exists:

j}ðtÞ  }ðt0 Þj < g« :

Here, Dg [}(t)  }(t0)] % C (1 þ g )[}(t)  }(t0)]

Definition 2.2. Some special functions such as the Mittag-Leffler function MIg(tg), sine
function sing(tg) and cosine function cosg(tg) on the CS of the fractal dimension g can be
defined as (Yang et al., 2015a, 2015b):
 X
1
mpg Low-pass filter
MIg ðtg Þ ¼ : (2)
p¼0
Cð1 þ pgÞ

X
1
tð 2pþ1Þg
sing ðtg Þ ¼ ð1Þg ; (3)
p¼0
C½1 þ ð 2p þ 1Þg

X
1
t2pg
cosg ðtg Þ ¼ ð1Þg ; (4)
p¼0
Cð1 þ 2pgÞ

where p [ R, 0 < g < 1 the LFDs of several functions are listed in Table 1.
And the behavior of the special function sing(tg) within the LFD on CS is described in
Figure 1.
Definition 2.3. The LFLT operator denoted by Ng ½}ðtÞ ¼ Zg} ðxÞ can be defined by Yang
et al. (2015a, 2015b):

}(t) }(g)(t)
p (a constsnt) 0 Table 1.
MIg(ptg ) p MIg(ptg ) LFDs of several
sing(ptg ) p cosg(ptg ) functions on Cantor
cosg(ptg ) p sing(ptg ) sets

Figure 1.
Behavior of the
sing(tg) within LFD
on Cantor set
 ð1
COMPEL 1 g
Ng ½}ðtÞ ¼ Zg} ðxÞ ¼ }ðtÞMIg ðtg xg ÞðdtÞ : (5)
Cð1 þ gÞ 0

where Ng is called the LFLT operator.

Theorem 1. For the LFLT of }(t), we have (Yang et al., 2015a, 2015b):
h i X
i1
Ng }ðigÞ ðtÞ ¼ xig Ng ½}ðtÞ  xði1jÞ }ðigÞ ð0Þ: (6)
j¼0

where i, j [ N (natural number) and }(ig)(t) is the LFD of order ig. The LFLTs of some
functions can be seen in Table 2.
Definition 2.4. The ILFLT of Zg} ðxÞ is defined as Yang et al. (2015a, 2015b):
ð bþiX
1
}ðtÞ ¼ Zg} ðxÞMIg ðxg tg ÞðdxÞg : (7)
ð2pÞg biX

where x = b þ iX, xg = bg þ igXg and X ! 1.

3. Nondifferentiable lumped elements within the local fractional derivative

In this section, we aim to introduce the ND lumped elements within the LFD such as the ND
capacity and ND resistor, which are first proposed by Yang et al. (2017a, 2017b).

3.1 Nondifferentiable capacity

The constitutive relation between the ND current cg(t) and ND charge ig(t) within the LFD
can be expressed as (Yang et al., 2017a, 2017b):

d g cg ð tÞ
ig ðtÞ ¼ : (8)
d tg

Definition 3.1. The capacitance of the NDC on the fractal set can be defined as (Yang et al.,
2017a, 2017b):
cg;C ðtÞ
Cg ¼ : (9)
Ug;C ðtÞ

}(t) Ng [}(t)]
p
p (a constsnt)
xg
1
MIg(ptg)
xg  p
Table 2. pg
LFDs of several sing(ptg)
x2g þ p2
functions on Cantor xg
sets cosg(ptg)
x2g þ p2
In the above equation, Cg and Ug,C(t) represent the ND capacitance and the ND voltage of Low-pass filter
the NDC, respectively.
From equations (8) and (9), we can get the relationship between the ND voltage and ND
current on the fractal set as:

dg Ug;C ðtÞ
ig;C ðtÞ ¼ Cg : (10)
d tg

3.2 Nondifferentiable resistor

Definition 3.2. The Ohm’s law of NDR on the fractal set can be defined by Yang et al. (2017a,
2017b):

Ug;R ðtÞ
ig;R ðtÞ ¼ : (11)
Rg

where Rg represents the resistance value of the NDR. Ug,R(t) and ig,R(t) represent the ND
voltage and ND current of the NDR on the fractal set, respectively.

4. Fractal active low-pass filter within the local fractional derivative

The fractal active LPF model described by the LFD is shown in Figure 2. Using the concept
of virtual open circuit on the fractal set, we have the following relationship:

ig; ðtÞ ¼ ig;þ ðtÞ ¼ 0; (12)

where ig,þ(t) and ig,(t) represent the ND current of the noninverting input and inverting
input, respectively.
In the view of ig,(t) = 0, we have:
ig;1 ðtÞ ¼ ig;f ðtÞ: (13)

Figure 2.
Fractal active LPF
model within the LFD
COMPEL The ND voltage Ug,1(t) across the NDC Rg,1 equals to the ND voltage Ug,(t) of the inverting
input, that is:

Ug;1 ðtÞ ¼ Ug; ðtÞ: (14)

Combining equations (13) and (14) gives the following relation:

Ug; ðtÞ Ug;O ðtÞ

¼ : (15)
Rg;1 Rg;1 þ Rg;f

Similarly, we can get the following expression according to ig,þ(t) = 0:

ig ðtÞ ¼ ig;C ðtÞ: (16)

As shown in Figure 1, the ND input voltage Ug,I(t) is equal to the sum of the ND voltage
Ug,C(t) across the NDC Cg and the ND voltage Ug,R(t) across the NDR Rg, that is:

Ug;I ðtÞ ¼ Ug;C ðtÞ þ Ug;R ðtÞ: (17)

The ND voltage Ug,C(t) across the NDC Cg equals to the ND voltage Ug,þ(t) of the
noninverting input, there is:

Ug;C ðtÞ ¼ Ug;þ ðtÞ: (18)

By using equations (10), (11), (16) and (17), the following expression can be obtained:

dg Ug;C ðtÞ
Ug;I ðtÞ ¼ Rg Cg þ Ug;C ðtÞ: (19)
d tg

Equation (15) can be rewritten as:

!
Rg;f
Ug;O ðtÞ ¼ 1þ Ug; ðtÞ: (20)
Rg;1

The following relation uses virtual short theory:

Ug;þ ðtÞ ¼ Ug; ðtÞ: (21)

With the help of equations (18) and (21), equation (20) can be modified as:
!
Rg;f
Ug;O ðtÞ ¼ 1 þ Ug;C ðtÞ; (22)
Rg;1

Taking the LFLT on both sides of equations (19) and (22) yields:
 h i
U U U
Zg g;I ðxÞ ¼ Rg Cg xg Zg g;C ðxÞ þ Ug;C ð0Þ þ Zg g;C ðxÞ Low-pass filter
!
U Rg;f U ; (23)
Zg g;O ðxÞ ¼ 1 þ Zg g;C ðxÞ
Rg;1

In the light of the zero state of the circuit as Ug,C(0) = 0, equation (23) can be written as
follows:
U U U
Zg g;I ðxÞ ¼ Rg Cg xg Zg g;C ðxÞ þ Zg g;C ðxÞ
!
Ug;O Rg;f U ; (24)
Zg ðxÞ ¼ 1 þ Zg g;C ðxÞ
Rg;1

Based on above results, we can get the ND transfer function of the fractal active LPF as:
!
Rg;f 1
Hg ðxÞ ¼ 1 þ : (25)
Rg;1 1 þ Rg Cg xg

Let «g = RgCg, x = jv, equation (25) can be rewritten as:

!
Rg;f 1
Hg ð jvÞ ¼ 1 þ : (26)
Rg;1 1 þ «g ð jvÞg

Then the expression of ND amplitude–frequency characteristic can be extracted as:

!
Rg;f 1
jHg ð jvÞj ¼ 1 þ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi : (27)
Rg;1 1 þ «2 v2g g

And the ND phase–frequency characteristics expression satisfies the following equation:

 
Hg ðvÞ ¼ arctan «g vg : (28)

For the special case g = 1, the fractal active LPF becomes the ordinary one and its transfer
function is:
!
Rg;f 1
Hð jvÞ ¼ 1 þ : (29)
Rg;1 1 þ «ð jvÞ

The corresponding amplitude–frequency and phase–frequency characteristics can be

expressed as:
!
Rg;f 1
jHð jvÞj ¼ 1 þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi : (30)
Rg;1 1 þ «v2
COMPEL HðvÞ ¼ arctanð«vÞ: (31)

5. Results and discussion

R
Figure 3 plots the behavior of the ND amplitude–frequency characteristic with different Rgg;1;f ,
R
and v for «g = 1 on the CS at g ¼ ln2 g;f
ln3. It can be seen that, for the different Rg;1 , the outline
decreases with the increase of v, where the high-frequency signal attenuates fast, and the
low-frequency signal hardly attenuates, which is consistent with the characteristics of the
LPF.
R
By choosing Rgg;f;1 ¼ 1, «g = 1, we compare the curves of the amplitude–frequency
characteristic between the ND transfer function and classic transfer function in Figure 4,
where the black solid line indicates the ND transfer function for g ¼ ln2 ln3 and the red one
represents the ordinary one for g = 1. On our observation, it can be found that the two
curves gradually attenuate with the increase of the frequency v, that is, the lower the
frequency, the easier the signal passes, thus, we call it the fractal active LPF.
By selecting «g = 1, the comparative results between the ND phase–frequency
characteristic and the ordinary phase–frequency characteristic are illustrated in
Figure 5. Here, the black solid line indicates the phase–frequency characteristics of
ND transfer function on the CS for g ¼ ln2 ln3 and the red one represents the phase–
frequency characteristics of the ordinary transfer function for g = 1. On our
observation, it can be found that the phase change increases as the angular frequency
v increases.
R
Here, we use the input signal as Ug,I = sing(tg), and the parameters as Rgg;f;1 ¼ 1, RgCg = 1,
the comparative results of the input signal and the output signal between the fractal active
LPF (for g ¼ ln2
ln3 ) and the classic active LPF (for g = 1) are depicted in Figure 6.

Figure 3.
3D plot of the ND
amplitude–frequency
characteristic with
«g = 1 on the Cantor
set at g ¼ ln2
ln3
 Low-pass filter
γ
γ

Figure 4.
Comparative results
between the ND
amplitude–frequency
characteristic and the
ordinary amplitude–
frequency
characteristic

Figure 5.
Comparative results
between the ND
phase–frequency
characteristic and the
ordinary phase–
frequency
characteristic

6. Conclusion
Aided by the LFD, a new fractal active LPF is derived in this work for the first time. On
defining the ND capacitor and resistor on the fractal set, the ND transfer function on the
fractal set is obtained with the help of the LFLT. Then, the ND amplitude–frequency and
COMPEL
γ
γ

γ
γ

γ
γ

γ
γ

Figure 6.
Comparative results
of input signal and
the output signal
between the fractal
active LPF (for
g ¼ ln2
ln3) and the
classic active LPF (for
g = 1)

phase–frequency characteristics on the CS are analyzed in detail. In addition, a comparison

between the fractal active LPF and the ordinary one is also discussed. The obtained results
in this work reveal the sufficiency of the local fractional calculus in the analysis of the fractal
electrical systems and can be used to study the other fractal electrical systems such as the
fractal resonant circuits, fractal amplifiers, fractal R-L-C circuits and so on.

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Corresponding author
Kang-Jia Wang can be contacted at: [email protected]

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