1.

Lecture 1 – Simple Filters

Introduction. Op-amp ccts. Bilinear transfer functions. Transfer function
representation. Magnitude responses. Phase responses. Bode plots. Magnitude
and frequency scaling. Cascading circuits. Inverting op-amp cct. Cascade
design.

Introduction
Filters are essential to electrical engineering. They are used in all modern
electronic systems. In communications, filters are essential for the generation
Filters are essential
and detection of analog and digital signals, whether via cable, optic fibre, air or to all modern
electronic systems
satellite. In instrumentation, filters are essential in “cleaning up” noisy signals,
or to recover some “special” part of a complicated signal. In control, feedback
through a filter is used to achieve a desired response. In power, filters are used
to inject high frequency signals on the power line for control purposes, or for
removing harmonic components of a current. In machines, filters are used to
suppress the generation of harmonics, or for controlling switching transients.
The design of filters is therefore a useful skill to possess.

Filters can be of two types: analog and digital. In this subject, we will
concentrate on analog filters. There are two reasons for this: analog filters are
necessary components in “digital” systems, and analog filter theory serves as a
precursor to digital filter design. The analog filters we will be looking at will
also be of two types: passive and active. Active filters represent the most
common, and use electronic components (such as op-amps) for their
implementation. This is opposed to passive filters, which use the ordinary
circuit elements: resistors, capacitors, inductors.

Filter has the commonly accepted meaning of something retained, something

rejected. There are many examples of filters in everyday life:

 You’re being a filter right now. You have removed external distractions
and are concentrating on reading these notes. Your brain is filtering out the
unnecessary things going on around you (for a while, anyway).

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 1.2

 The media are information filters. They supposedly decide for us what is
important information, and what is not. We rarely have time to investigate
a topic for ourselves, and so we rely on them to pass us the essential points.
The extreme of this is propaganda.

 More tangible filters are sunglasses, tinted windows, ear muffs, air filters,
flour sifters, radios, TVs, etc.

For us, a filter is very simple: it is an electric circuit designed to implement a

A filter is a circuit
specific transfer function. Given a filter, obtaining the transfer function is just a
that implements a matter of applying circuit theory. This is analysis. The choice of a transfer
specific transfer
function function and the choice of an implementation for a filter, however, are never
unique. This is called design.

To firstly analyse, and then design, active analog filters, a review of op-amps,
transfer functions and frequency response is beneficial.

Op-Amp Circuits
A simplified model of an op-amp is:

v-

Ro
Ri vo

v+
A( v + - v - )

Figure 1.1

For most applications, we assume the op-amp is ideal.

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 1.3
An ideal op-amp has the following parameter values:

A
Ri   (1.1) The ideal op-amp’s
parameters
Ro  0

If there is a negative feedback path (ie a connection between the output of the
amplifier and the (-) input terminal), then the op-amp will have a finite output
voltage. It follows that:

vo  A v  v 
vo vo
v  v    0
A  (1.2)
v  v

The input to the op-amp looks like a short circuit for voltages, but due to the
The virtual short
input resistance being infinite, it looks like an open circuit for currents. The circuit is the key to
analysing op-amp
input terminals can therefore be considered a virtual short circuit. We will use circuits
the virtual short circuit concept frequently.

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 1.4

Inverting Amplifier

An inverting amplifier is constructed as:

The inverting
amplifier R2
R1
vi
vo

Figure 1.2

We analyse the circuit using a virtual short circuit:

analysed using a
virtual short circuit
R2

R1
vi i2
vo
i1

Figure 1.3

KCL at the middle node gives:

vi  vo

R1 R2
vo R
 2 (1.3)
vi R1

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 1.5

Non-Inverting Amplifier

A non-inverting amplifier and its equivalent circuit for analysis are:

The non-inverting
amplifier analysed
R2 using a virtual short
circuit
R1
vo
vi

R2

R1
i2
i1 vo
vi

Figure 1.4

KCL at the middle node gives:

vi vo  vi

R1 R2
vo R
 1 2 (1.4)
vi R1

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 1.6

The Voltage Follower

A voltage follower is a special case of the non-inverting amplifier circuit. If we

set R1   , then any value of R2 will give the gain as:

vo
1
vi (1.5)

A simple value of R2 is 0, a short circuit. The voltage follower circuit is

therefore:

The voltage follower

circuit

vo
vi

i=0
vo
vi

Figure 1.5

The circuit differs from a piece of wire in that the input resistance for vi is
acts as a buffer
between two parts infinite and the controlled-source nature of the circuit provides isolation. It is
of a circuit
sometimes called a unity-gain buffer.

The voltage follower is used to provide isolation between two parts of a circuit
when it is required to join them without interaction.

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 1.7
For example, to couple a high resistance source to a low resistance load,
without suffering a voltage drop, we insert a buffer between source and load:

A buffer is used to
couple a high
1000  impedance to a low
impedance

v o = 0.01 V
v i = 0.1 V
100 

1000 

i=0 Voltage v o = 0.1 V

v i = 0.1 V 0.1 V Follower 100 

Figure 1.6

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 1.8

Bilinear Transfer Functions

Filter design and analysis is predominantly carried out in the frequency
domain. The circuits we design and analyse will be assumed to be operating
with sinusoidal sources and be in the steady state. This means we can use
phasors and complex numbers to describe a circuit’s response.

Define the voltage ratio transfer function as:

Ts  
Transfer function Vo
defined (1.6)
Vi

For example, consider a simple RC circuit:

vi C vo

Figure 1.7

The transfer function is:

Ts  
Vo 1 RC

Vi s  1 RC (1.7)

When a transfer function is the quotient of two linear terms like Eq. (1.7), it is
said to be bilinear. Thus a bilinear transfer function is of the form:

a1s  a2
Ts  
Bilinear transfer
function defined
b1s  b2 (1.8)

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 1.9
where the a and b constants are real numbers. If Eq. (1.8) is written in the
form:

a1 s  a2 a1 sz
Ts  
and rewritten in
K terms of poles and
b1 s  b2 b1 s p (1.9) zeros

then -z is the zero of Ts  and -p is the pole of Ts  . In the s plane the pole and
zero are located at:

s   z and s   p (1.10)

Since z and p are real, the zero and pole of Ts  are located on the real axis of
the s plane. For real circuits, p will always be on the negative real axis, while z
may be on either the positive or negative part of the real axis.

For Ts  as in Eq. (1.7), the pole-zero plot in the s plane is:

The pole-zero plot of

a bilinear transfer
j function

 
-1 RC

Figure 1.8

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 1.10

Transfer Function Representation

The sinusoidal steady state corresponds to s  j . Therefore, Eq. (1.7) is, for
the sinusoidal steady state:

(1.11)
T j  
1 1
RC j  1 RC

The complex function T j  can also be written using a complex exponential

in terms of magnitude and phase:

T j   T j  e j   (1.12a)

which is normally written in polar coordinates:

The transfer function

T j   T j    
in terms of (1.12b)
magnitude and
phase

We also normally plot the magnitude and phase of T j  as a function of 

or f . We use both linear and logarithmic scales.

If the logarithm (base 10) of the magnitude is multiplied by 20, then we have
the gain of the transfer function in decibels (dB):

The magnitude of
the transfer function
in dB
A   20 log T j  dB (1.14)

A negative gain in decibels is referred to as attenuation. For example, -3 dB

gain is the same as 3 dB attenuation.

The phase function is usually plotted in degrees.

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 1.11

Example

For the RC circuit, let 0  1 RC so that the frequency response can be written

as:

T j  
1
1  j 0

The magnitude function is found directly as:

T j  
1
1   0 
2

The phase is:


     tan 1  
0 

These are graphed below, using a normalised log scale for  :

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 1.12

Magnitude Responses
A magnitude response is the magnitude of the transfer function for a sinusoidal

The magnitude steady-state input, plotted against the frequency of the input. Magnitude
response is the
magnitude of the
responses can be classified according to their particular properties. To look at
transfer function in these properties, we will use linear magnitude versus linear frequency plots.
the sinusoidal
steady state For the RC circuit of Figure 1.7, the magnitude function given by Eq. (1.16)
has three frequencies of special interest corresponding to these values of
T j   :

T j 0  1

T j0  
1
 0.707
2
T j   0
(1.18)

The frequency  0 is known as the half-power frequency. The plot below

shows the complete magnitude response of T j  as a function of  , and the
circuit that produces it:

A simple low pass

filter
|T|
1
R
1 2

vi C vo

0
0 0 2 0 

Figure 1.9

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 1.13
An idealisation of the response in Figure 1.9, known as a brick wall, and the
circuit that produces it are shown below:

An ideal lowpass
filter
|T| Cutoff
1

ideal
vi vo
Pass Stop filter
0
0 0 

Figure 1.10

For the ideal filter, the output voltage remains fixed in amplitude until a critical
frequency is reached, called the cutoff frequency,  0 . At that frequency, and
for all higher frequencies, the output is zero. The range of frequencies with
output is called the passband; the range with no output is called the stopband. Pass and stop
bands defined
The obvious classification of the filter is a lowpass filter.

Even though the response shown in the plot of Figure 1.9 differs from the
ideal, it is still known as a lowpass filter, and, by convention, the half-power
frequency is taken as the cutoff frequency.

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1.14
If the positions of the resistor and capacitor in the circuit of Figure 1.9 are
interchanged, then the resulting circuit is:

vi R vo

Figure 1.11

Show that the transfer function is:

Ts  
s
s  1 RC (1.19)

Letting 1 RC   0 again, and with s  j , we obtain:

j  0
T j  
1  j  0 (1.20)

The magnitude function of this equation, at the three frequencies given in

Eq. (1.18), is:

T j 0  0

T j0  
1
 0.707
2
T j   1
(1.21)

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 1.15

The plot below shows the complete magnitude response of T j  as a function

of  , and the circuit that produces it:

A simple highpass
filter
|T|
1
C

1 2

vi R vo

0
0 0 2 0 3 0 

Figure 1.12

This filter is classified as a highpass filter. The ideal brick wall highpass filter
is shown below:

An ideal highpass
filter
|T| Cutoff
1

ideal
vi vo
Stop Pass filter
0
0 0 

Figure 1.13

The cutoff frequency is  0 , as it was for the lowpass filter.

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 1.16

Phase Responses

Phase response is
Like magnitude responses, phase responses are only meaningful when we look
obtained in the at sinusoidal steady-state circuits. From Eq. (1.6), a transfer function in the
sinusoidal steady
state sinusoidal steady-state is:

Vo Vo 
T j     T 
Vi Vi 0 (1.22)

where the input is taken as reference (zero phase).

For the bilinear transfer function:

z  j
T j   K
p  j (1.23)

the phase is:

The phase of the  1 

 
bilinear transfer   K  tan    tan  
1
function  z  p (1.24)

If K is positive, its phase is 0 , and if negative it is 180 . Assuming that it is

positive, we have:

   
  tan 1    tan 1  
z  p (8B.1)

 z   p

Lead and lag circuits We use the sign of this phase angle to classify circuits. Those giving positive
defined
 are known as lead circuits, those giving negative  as lag circuits.

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 1.17

Example

For the simple RC circuit of Figure 1.7, we have already seen that:

   tan 1   0 

Since  is negative for all  , the circuit is a lag circuit. When    0 ,

   tan 1 1  45 . A complete plot of the phase response is shown below:

0 0 2 0 
0º

Lagging phase
response for a
simple RC lowpass
 -45 º filter

-90 º

Example

For the simple RC circuit of Figure 1.11, we can show that the phase is given
by:

  90  tan 1   0 

The phase response is shown below:

90 º

Leading phase
response for a
 45 º simple RC highpass
filter

0º
0 0 2 0 

The angle  is positive for all  , and so the circuit is a lead circuit.

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1.18

Example

Consider the RL circuit shown below:

RL
Vi Vo
jL

Using the voltage divider rule, we obtain:

R L  j L
T  j  
R  R L  jL

If we write this in the standard form:

1  j z
T  j   K
1  j p

then:

RL R R  RL
K , z L and p
R  RL L L

so that p  z . We can see that:

RL
T j 0   K 
R  RL

T j    K
1z
1
1 p

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 1.19
The magnitude response is:

|T( j) |
1

RL
R+ R L

0
log 10 
z p

This does not approximate the ideal of Figure 1.13 very well, but it is still
known as a highpass filter.

From (8B.1) we see that  is characterized by the difference of two angles, the
first a function of the zero numerator term, the second a function of the pole
denominator term:    z   p . For p  z the phase function  z reaches

 45 at a low frequency, while  p reaches  45 for a higher frequency.

Therefore, the phase response looks like:


90°
z

45°
 z + p
z
p log 10 
0°
p
-45°

-90°

Thus, the circuit provides phase lead.

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1.20

Summary of Bilinear Frequency Responses

We can summarize the magnitude and phase responses of T j  for various

values of z and p , where K is assumed to be positive, in the table below:

T j   Magnitude Response Phase Response

|T | 
1 90°

K
K j  0 0
log 10  log 10 
0 0°

|T | 
2 log 10 
0°

K K
j  0 0
0 log 10  -90°

|T | 
3 90°

2K 45°

K 1  j z 
K
0 log 10 
log 10  0°
z z

|T |  p
4 K log 10 
0°
K/ 2
1 -45°
K
1  j p 0
log 10  -90°
p

|T | 
5 K 90°
K/ 2
j p 45°
K
1  j p 0
p
log 10  0° p
log 10 

|T |  p z
6 log 10 
0°

1  j z
K
1  j p 0
log 10  90°
p z

z p

|T | 
7 90°

1  j z
K
1  j p 0
log 10  0° z p
log 10 
z p

pz

Table 1.1

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 1.21

Bode* Plots
If we plot the magnitude A as in Eq. (1.14) as a function of  with logarithmic
coordinates, then the plot is known as a magnitude Bode plot. If we plot  as a Bode plots defined
function of  with logarithmic coordinates it is known as a phase Bode plot.

The advantages of Bode plots in the design of filters are:

1. Using a logarithmic scale for the magnitude of T makes it possible to add

and subtract rather than multiply and divide. This applies to phase also.

2. The slope of all asymptotic lines in magnitude plots for bilinear functions is
0 or ±20 dB per decade. The advantages of
using Bode plots

3. Asymptotic plots serve to sketch out ideas in design - a kind of shorthand.

4. Because decades occur at equal linear distances, the shape of a Bode

magnitude plot is maintained when frequency is scaled (see the next
section).

The following figure shows how simple it is to design a particular response:

Composing a Bode
plot from first-order
A1 A2 A3 A
parts
2 3
1  +  +  =  1  2 3 

A
Scale

1 2  3 '1 '2 '3 

shape maintained

Figure 1.14

*
Dr. Hendrik Bode grew up in Urbana, Illinois, USA, where his name is pronounced boh-dee.
Purists insist on the original Dutch boh-dah. No one uses bohd.

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 1.22

Frequency and Magnitude Scaling

In filter design, it is common practice to normalise equations so that they have
the same form. For example, we have seen the bilinear transfer function:

Ts  
1 RC
s  1 RC (1.27)

expressed as:

0 (1.15)
Ts  
s  0

Normalising We normalise the equation by setting  0  1 :

frequency means
setting it to 1

Ts  
1
s 1 (1.28)

Every equation in filter design will be normalised so that  0  1 . This is

helpful, since every equation will be able to be compared on the same base.
Also, tables of values such as pole locations can be easily made up for the unit
circle.

The difficulty that now arises is denormalising the resulting equations, values
or circuit designs.

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 1.23

Frequency Scaling (Denormalising)

Frequency scaling, or denormalising, means we want to change  0 from 1

back to its original value. To do this, we must change all frequency dependent and denormalising
means setting the
terms in the transfer function, which also means frequency dependent elements frequency back to its
in a circuit. Furthermore, the frequency scaling should not affect the magnitude original value
of any impedance in the transfer function.

To scale the frequency by a factor k f , for a capacitor, we must have:

1 1 1
ZC   
C k f  1 k f C k f  Cnew (1.29)

We must decrease the capacitance by the amount 1 k f , while increasing the Frequency scaling
must keep the
frequency by the amount k f if the magnitude of the impedance is to remain the magnitude of the
impedance the
same. same

For an inductor, we must have:

Z L  L  k f   L  k f  Lnew
1
kf (1.30)

Therefore, new element values may be expressed in terms of old values as

follows:

1
Lnew  Lold
kf (1.31a)

1
Cnew  Cold The frequency
kf (1.31b) scaling equations

Rnew  Rold
(1.31c)

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 1.24

Magnitude Scaling

Since a transfer function is always a ratio, if we increase the impedances in the

Magnitude scale to
get realistic element numerator and denominator by the same amount, it changes nothing. We do
values
this to obtain realistic values for the circuit elements in the implementation.

If the impedance magnitudes are normally:

1
Z R  R, Z L  L, ZC 
C (1.32)

then after magnitude scaling with a constant k m they will be:

k m Z R  k m R,
km Z L  kmL,
1 (1.33)
km ZC 
 C km

Therefore, new element values may be expressed in terms of old values as

follows:

Lnew  km Lold (1.34a)

The magnitude 1
scaling equations Cnew  Cold (1.34b)
km

Rnew  k m Rold
(1.34c)

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 1.25

Cascading Circuits
How can we create circuits with higher than first-order transfer functions by
“cascading” first-order circuits? Consider the following circuit:

R R

vi C C vo

Figure 1.15

Show that the transfer function for the above circuit is:

Vo
 2
1 RC  2

Vi s  3 RC s  1 RC 2 (1.35)

Compare with the following circuit:

R R

vi C C vo

Figure 1.16

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 1.26
which has the transfer function:

Vo 1 RC 1 RC

Vi s  1 RC s  1 RC

 2
1 RC 
2

s  2 RC s  1 RC 
2
(1.36)

We can only We can cascade circuits if the “outputs” of the circuits present a low
cascade circuits if impedance to the next stage, so that each successive circuit does not “load” the
they are buffered
previous circuit. Op-amp circuits of both the inverting and non-inverting type
are ideal for cascading.

Inverting Bilinear Op-Amp Circuit

The transfer function of the inverting op-amp circuit is:

Ts   
Z2
Z1 (1.37)

Since we are considering only the bilinear transfer function, we have:

The inverting op-

amp circuit is one Z2 sz
way to implement a T  K
bilinear transfer
function
Z1 s p (1.38)

The specifications of the design problem are the values K, z and p. These may
be found from a Bode plot - the break frequencies and the gain at some
frequency - or obtained in any other way. The solution to the design problem
involves finding a circuit and the values of the elements in that circuit. Since
we are using an active device - the op-amp - inductors are excluded from our
circuits. Therefore, we want to find values for the R’s and the C’s. Once found,
these values can be adjusted by any necessary frequency scaling, and then by
magnitude scaling to obtain convenient element values.

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 1.27
For the general bilinear transfer function, we can make the following
identification:

s  z 1 s K  p K  Z 2
K  
s p 1 s  z  Z1 (1.39)

Therefore:

1 1
Z2   The impedances for
s K  p K C2s  1 R2 (1.40a) the inverting op-amp
circuit to implement
1 1 a bilinear transfer
Z1   (1.40b) function
s  z C1s  1 R1

The design equations become:

Element values for

1 K 1 the inverting op-amp
R1  , C1  1, R2  , C2  circuit in terms of
z p K (1.41)
the pole, zero and
gain

One realisation of the bilinear transfer function is then:

An inverting op-amp
K p circuit that
implements a
bilinear transfer
function

1 z
1 K
vi
vo
1

Figure 1.17

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1.28

Inverting Op-Amp Circuits

The approach we took in obtaining a circuit to implement the bilinear
frequency response can be applied to other forms of Ts  to give the entries in
the table below:

Frequency Response Circuit

T j  
1 K

1
vi
 K 1  j z  vo
1 z

2 K

1
1 pK
1 vi
K vo
1  j p

3 K

1 p
1
vi
j p vo
K
1  j p

4 K

1
1 pK
1  j z vi
K vo
1  j p
1 z

5 K p2

1 p1
1 1 K
j p1 p 2 vi
K
1  j p1 1  j p 2 
vo

Table 1.2

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 1.29
The last entry in the table illustrates an important point. If we use a series RC
connection for Z1 but a parallel RC connection for Z 2 , then the frequency
response becomes one of second-order. So the manner in which the capacitors
are connected in the circuit determines the order of the circuit.

Cascade Design
We can make use of cascaded modules, each of first order, to satisfy
specifications that are more complicated than the bilinear function.

Example – Band-Enhancement Filter

The asymptotic Bode plot shown below is for a band-enhancement filter:

A , dB 20 dB

0 dB A band-
enhancement filter
10
2
10
3
10
4
10
5
 rad/s (log scale)

We wish to provide additional gain over a narrow band of frequencies, leaving

the gain at higher and lower frequencies unchanged. We wish to design a filter
to these specifications and the additional requirement that all capacitors have
the value C  10 nF .

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 1.30
The composite plot may be decomposed into four first-order factors as shown
below:

A , dB 20 dB
Decomposing a
Bode plot into first-
order factors
0 dB
10  rad/s (log scale)
2 3 4 5
10 10 10

A , dB
1 4

 rad/s (log scale)

2 3

Those marked 1 and 4 represent zero factors, while those marked 2 and 3 are
pole factors. The pole-zero plot corresponding to these factors is shown below:

j
The pole-zero plot
corresponding to the 1
4 3 2
Bode plot


From the break frequencies given, we have:

T j  
1  j 10 1  j 10 
2 5

1  j 10 1  j 10 
3 4

Substituting s for j gives the transfer function:

The transfer function

Ts  
s  10 s  10 
2 5

corresponding to the
Bode plot s  10 s  10 
3 4

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 1.31

We next write Ts  as a product of bilinear functions. The choice is arbitrary,

but one possibility is:

The transfer function

s  102 s  105
Ts   T1 s T2 s    as a cascade of
s  103 s  104 bilinear functions

For a circuit realisation of T1 and T2 we decide to use the inverting op-amp

circuit of Figure 1.17. Using the formulas for element values given there, we
obtain the realisation shown below:

-2 -3 -5 -4
10 10 10 10

vi vo A realisation of the
specifications
1 1 1 1

Frequency scaling is not required since we have worked directly with specified
frequencies. The magnitude scaling of the circuit is accomplished with the
equations:

Magnitude scaling is
1
Cnew  Cold and Rnew  km Rold required to get
km realistic element
values

Since the capacitors are to have the value 10 nF, this means k m  108 . The
element values that result are shown below and the design is complete:

1 M 100 k 1 k 10 k

vi vo A realistic
implementation of
the specifications
10 nF 10 nF 10 nF 10 nF

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1.32

References
Van Valkenburg, M. E.: Analog Filter Design, Holt-Saunders, Tokyo, 1982.

Williams, N.: Hi-Fi: An Introduction, Federal Publishing Company, Sydney,

1994.

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 1.33

Quiz
Encircle the correct answer, cross out the wrong answers. [one or none correct]
1.
The half power
R
vi vo frequency is given by:
C

(a)  0 C  R (b) 1  0C  R (c)  20  1 RC

2.
To frequency and magnitude scale a capacitor at the same time, the formula is:

km kf 1
(a) Cnew  Cold (b) Cnew  Cold (c) Cnew  Cold
kf km k f km

3.
The magnitude of a transfer function, in dB, is:

(a) A  10 log T j  (b) A  20 log T j  (c) A  20 ln T j 

4.
A , dB 20 dB The pole-zero plot

0 dB
corresponding to the
 rad/s asymptotic Bode plot
is:

j j j

(a)  (b)  (c) 

5.
The magnitude
C
vi vo 0 = 1 function, T j  , is:
R RC

1    0  (b) 1  20   2 1 2
2
(a) 1 (c) 1

Answers: 1. b 2. c 3. b 4. b 5. x

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1.34

Exercises

1.
For the circuit shown below, prepare the asymptotic Bode plot for the
magnitude of T j  . Carefully identify all slopes and low and high frequency
asymptotes.

10 k 10 k

10 k 1 nF 10 k 10 pF
vi
vo

2.
Design an RC op-amp filter to realise the bandpass response shown below.

A, dB
20 dB
+20 dB/decade -20 dB/decade

0 dB
10 10 4  rad/s (log scale)

Use a minimum number of op-amps in your design, and scale so that the
elements are in a practical range.

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 1.35

3.
The asymptotic Bode plot shown below represents a lowpass filter-amplifier
with a break frequency of   1000 rads-1 .

A, dB

20 dB

-40 dB/decade

1000  rad/s

Design a circuit to be connected in cascade with the amplifier such that the
break frequency is extended to   5000 rads-1 :

A, dB

20 dB

-40 dB/decade

5000  rad/s

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1.36

Problems

1. [Three-phase Voltage Generator]

Design a circuit to provide a set of three-phase 50 Hz voltages, each separated
by 120 and equal in magnitude, as shown below.

Vc

120°
120° Va
120°

Vb

These voltages will simulate those used in ordinary three-phase power

distribution systems. Assume only one 50 Hz source is available.

2. [FM Radio Preemphasis-deemphasis]

Radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM) uses a system of
preemphasis-deemphasis (PDE) of the voice or music signal to increase the
signal to noise ratio of high frequencies and thereby improve listening
conditions.

For a radio broadcast, the signal m t  can sometimes reach a frequency of

15 kHz. Unfortunately, the noise at the receiver is strongest at this high
frequency. If we boost the high-frequency components of the signal at the
transmitter (preemphasis), and then attenuate them correspondingly at the FM
receiver (deemphasis), we get back m t  undistorted.

Using this scheme, the noise will be considerably weakened. This is because,
unlike m t  , the noise enters the system after the transmitter and is not
boosted. It undergoes only deemphasis, or attenuation of high-frequency
components, at the receiver.

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 1.37
The figure below shows a system with PDE filters as used in commercial FM
broadcasting:

Hp( ) FM FM Hd( )
transmitter receiver
preemphasis deemphasis
filter filter
high frequency
noise

Filters H p   and H d   are shown below:

20log| Hp( )|, dB

+20 dB/decade

0 dB
1 2  rad/s (log scale)
20log| Hd ( )|, dB
1
0 dB
 rad/s (log scale)
-20 dB/decade

The frequency f 1 is 2.1 kHz, and f 2 is typically 30 kHz or more (well beyond
audio range).

Find implementations for the preemphasis and deemphasis filters.

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1.38

3. [Mains Impedance Tester]

Power line carrier (PLC) communication systems are used by electricity supply
authorities for communication on the low voltage (240 V) network. PLC units
are installed at the low voltage distribution centre and at each electricity meter.
When transmitting, the PLC unit produces a sinusoidal voltage in the range
3 kHz to 5 kHz. It is important to know what the magnitude of these sinusoids
is at the receivers. This depends on the power line’s impedance which changes
from minute to minute as load is switched on and off. Also, a power line’s
impedance varies not only in time, but also with location, being strongly
dependent on the length of the underground cables and overhead conductors.

A mains impedance tester is therefore devised which has the following block
diagram:

in-phase
V cos 2 f 0t output
sine lowpass
wave filter
generator
mains
current I cos(2 f 0t +  )
sensor quadrature
V sin 2 f 0t output
-  phase lowpass
2 shifter filter

mains
coupler LV mains

(i) What are the outputs of the four-quadrant multipliers? (The mains
coupler circuit severely attenuates the 50 Hz mains, and passes signals
between 3 kHz and 5 kHz without attenuation).

(ii) Design the output lowpass filters to produce a voltage readable by a DC

meter, with any sinusoidal term above 1 kHz attenuated by at least
40 dB.

(iii) How can we use the direct and quadrature outputs to determine the
impedance of the power line at a particular frequency?

Analog Electronics Spring 2012