19ECE111/Circuit Theory

II Semester
Department of ECE
Amrita School of Engineering,
 Frequency Response

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Introduction
• Amplitude of the Source Signal remains constant and only Frequency
variable.
• Frequency response of a circuit is the variation in its behavior with
change in signal frequency. It may be regarded as a complete
description of the sinusoidal steady-state behavior of a circuit as a
function of frequency.
• Applications:
• Communication
• Control Systems
• Electric Filters -> in Radio, TV and Telephone etc.

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Frequency Response – Transfer Function
• Angular frequency is represented by w with the unit of
radians/second.
• Transfer Function H(w) used to find the frequency response of the
circuit. Hence it is frequency dependent ratio of a forced function
(output) to a forcing function (input).
• Frequency response is the plot of circuit’s transfer function H(w)
versus w, with w varying from w = 0 to w = ∞.

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Frequency Response – Transfer Function

• The transfer function H(w) of a circuit is the frequency dependent ratio

of a phasor output Y(w) (an element Voltage or Current) to a phasor
input X (w) (Source Voltage or Current)

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Frequency Response – Transfer Function

H(w) has a magnitude H(w) and a phase φ

H(w) = |H(w)| φ

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Transfer Function
• To obtain Transfer Function, obtain Frequency domain equivalent of the
circuit by replacing Resistors (R), Inductors (L) and Capacitors (C) with
their impedances R, jwL and (1/jwC)

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Useful Information
Component Impedance Voltage (V) Current
Z = V/I (Ohm) (I) Relationship
(Z is frequency
dependent quantity)

Resistor ( R) Z=R V = RI
Inductor (L) Z = jwL V = jwLI For DC, Inductor acts
as a short and for AC,
Inductor acts as open
circuit at high
frequency
Capacitor ( C) Z = 1/jwC V = I/jwC For DC, Capacitor
acts as open and for
AC, Capacitor as
short circuit at high
frequency

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Transfer Function of RC Circuit

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 Transfer Function of RC Circuit
H = |H(w)| i.e. is Magnitude of H(w) and φ is the phase

At w = 0, H = 1 and φ = 0
At w = ∞, H = 0 and φ = - 90 Degrees

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Transfer Function of RL Circuit

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Transfer Function of RL Circuit
H = |H(w)| i.e. is Magnitude of H(w) and φ is the phase

At w = 0, H = 0 and φ = 90 Degrees
At w = ∞, H = 1 and φ = 0

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Example 1
• Question : For the circuit, calculate the gain Io(w)/Ii(w).

Frequency domain representation

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Example 2
• Question : Find the transfer function Vo(w)/Ii(w) for the circuit.

Frequency domain representation

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Filters
• Filter is a circuit that is designed to pass signals with desired
frequencies and reject or attenuate others.
• Applications: Radio and TV receivers
• Filter
• Passive : Consists of only passive elements R, L and C
• Active : Consists of active elements such as transistors and Operational
Amplifiers in addition to passive elements R, L and C

• Four types of Filters whether passive or active

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 1. A lowpass filter passes low frequencies and stops high
frequencies, as shown (a).
2. A highpass filter passes high frequencies and rejects
low frequencies, as shown (b).
3. A bandpass filter passes frequencies within a frequency
band and blocks or attenuates frequencies outside the
band, as shown (c).
4. A bandstop filter passes frequencies outside a frequency
band and blocks or attenuates frequencies within the band,
as shown in (d)

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Low Pass Filter
• A Low pass filter is formed when the output of an RC circuit is taken off the Capacitor.
• A Low pass filter can also be formed when the output of an RL circuit is taken off the
Resistor.
is called as Cut Off Frequency or
Corner frequency or Half Power
Frequency and is
obtained by setting magnitude of
H(w) equal to

At w = 0, H = 1 Therefore, 2πfc = 1/RC

At w = ∞, H = 0 Therefore, fc = 1/2πRC
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Low Pass Filter
• A Low Pass Filter is designed to pass only frequencies from dc up to
cut off frequency Wc.
• Cut off Frequency is the frequency at which the transfer function
H drops in magnitude to 70.71% of its maximum value. It is also
regarded as the frequency at which the power dissipated in a circuit is
half of its maximum value.
• A Low Pass Filter can also be formed when the output of an RL
circuit is taken off the Resistor.

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High Pass Filter
• A High pass filter is formed when the output of an RC circuit is taken off the Resistor.
• A High pass filter can also be formed when the output of an RL circuit is taken off the
Inductor.

is called as Cut Off Frequency

or Corner frequency
or Half Power Frequency and is
obtained by setting magnitude of
H(w) equal to

At w = 0, H = 0 Therefore, 2πfc = 1/RC

At w = ∞, H = 1 Therefore, fc = 1/2πRC
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High Pass Filter
• A High pass filter is designed to pass all frequencies above its cut off
frequency.
• Cut off Frequency is the frequency at which the transfer function
H drops in magnitude to 70.71% of its maximum value. It is also
regarded as the frequency at which the power dissipated in a circuit is
half of its maximum value.
• A High pass filter can also be formed when the output of an RL circuit
is taken off the Inductor.

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