Sinusoidal Frequency Response

• Behavior of circuits under sinusoidal

excitation having varying frequency
• Since inductive and capacitive reactances
change with frequency, hence, the circuit
response would also change with frequency
• Need to have the concept of Transfer
Function and Bode Plot
• Also, to understand various types of filter
topologies: Low-Pass, High-Pass, Band-Pass
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 1
Transfer Function:
* Expressed as: Xi(j) X0(j)
H(j)
X 0  j 
H  j  
X i  j 
X: either voltage (V) or current (I)
* Four different topologies possible:
 Voltage Gain = V0 Vi (dimensionless)
 Current Gain = I0 Ii (dimensionless)
 Transresistance Gain = V0 Ii ()
 Transconductance Gain = I0 Vi ()
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 2
* In polar form:
H  j  H 
H : Magnitude and : Phase of the transfer function
* Note: H(j) is not a phasor
It simply is a complex number
* Example: Consider a voltage amplifier (X = V)
Let Vi and V0 be expressed in phasor form as:
Vi  j  Vi i and V0  j  V0 0
 V0  j  H  j Vi  j
 V0  H Vi and 0    i
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 3
 Sinusoidal Frequency Response: R1
1 k
1
 1  RL +
Zeq    jC   +
 RL  1  j R L C Vi
C RL
V
10 µF 10 k 0
V0 Zeq –
H  j    –
Vi Zeq  R1 Zeq

RL K
 
 R L  R1   jR L R1C 1  j c
K  R L  R L  R1  = 10/11, c  1  R1  R L  C   110 rad/sec 
K
H  ,  =  tan 1   c 
1    c 
2

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 4

• Filters:
– Pass signals of desired frequency and block all
others
– Immensely useful module in all kinds of circuit
design
– Four Types:
• Low-Pass Filter (LPF)
• High-Pass Filter (HPF)
• Band-Pass Filter (BPF)
• Band-Reject (or Notch) Filter (BRF)

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 5

Low -Pass Filter (LPF ):

* As   0, X C  1  jC    R
+ +
 C behaves like an open-circuit
 V0 follows Vi Vi C V0

* As   , X C  0
– –
 C behaves like a short -circuit
 V0  0
* Thus, low frequency signals are passed (known as
pass -band ) while high frequency signals are blocked
(known as stop-band )  LPF

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 6

* Transfer function:
V0 1  jC  1
H  j    
Vi R  1  jC  1  j C
C  1  RC  is known as the upper cutoff
frequency
* Note: As   0, H  1; as   , H  0.
and at  = C , H  H max 2  0.707 H max
 This is the definition of cutoff frequency

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 7

 |H|

0.707 1/2

Pass-Band
Stop-Band

0

C
(log scale)

For LPFs, pass-band extends from 0 toc

and stop-band extends fromc to 

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 8

High-Pass Filter (HPF ):
C
* Just interchanging R and C + +

converts an LPF to an HPF

Vi R V0
* As   0, X C  1  jC   
 The capacitor behaves like an
– –

open-circuit , and Vi is blocked

 V0 = 0
* As   , X C  0 (short -circuit )
 V0 follows Vi

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 9

* Thus, low frequency signals are blocked (stop-band )
while high frequency signals are passed (pass -band )
 HPF
* Transfer function:
V0 R j C
H  j    
Vi R  1  jC  1  j C
C  1  RC  is known as the lower cutoff frequency
* Note: As   0, H  0; as   , H  1; and
at  = c , H  1 2

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 10

 |H|

Stop-Band
0.707 1/2

Pass-Band

0

C
(log scale)

For HPFs, pass-band extends fromc to 

and stop-band extends from 0 toc

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 11

Band -Pass Filter (BPF ):

* Extremely useful circuit to pass signals within a certain

range of frequencies bounded between two cutoff
frequencies 1 and 2 , with 2  1
1: Lower Cutoff Frequency (0 to 1: stop-band )
2 : Upper Cutoff Frequency (2 to : stop-band )
1 to 2 : pass -band
* Can be constructed simply by putting an LPF and an
HPF in series!

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 12

Simplest Construction of a BPF :
* Connect an LPF (with upper
cutoff frequency f 2 ) in series Vi V0
with an HPF (with lower LPF HPF

cutoff frequency f1 ) Upper Cutoff Lower Cutoff

Frequency f2 Frequency f1
* Make sure that f 2 > f 1
* The LPF would pass all signals till f 2
* The HPF would block all signals below f1
* Thus, all signals below f1 and above f 2 will be blocked
(stop-bands), while passing signals within a range
between f1 and f 2 (pass -band )  BPF
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 13
 |H|

1
LPF HPF

0.707
Stop- Stop-
Band Pass-Band Band

0
f1 f2 f

Band-Pass Filter Response

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 14

Implementation of a BPF Using RLC 2nd -Order Circuit:
* For very low frequency, C
behaves like open-circuit , C L
+ +
and Vi gets blocked
 V0  0 Vi R V0

* For very high frequency, L – –

behaves like open-circuit ,
RLC Circuit Implementation
and again Vi gets blocked for a Band-Pass Filter

 V0  0
* In between, V0 increases with  initially, reaches a peak ,
and then starts to drop again
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 15
Series Resonance:
V0 R
* Transfer function: H  j  
Vi R  j  X L  X C 
with X L  L and X C  1  C 
R
 H  j  
R   XL  XC 
2 2

1  XL  XC 
and    tan  
 R 
* If X L  X C , the circuit is inductive and  is negative
* If X C  X L , the circuit is capacitive and  is positive
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 16
* Note: At a certain frequency 0 , X L would
become equal to X C
 H  j  1 and   0
* Thus, the circuit becomes purely resistive
 Known as series resonance
* Under this condition, V0 attains its maxim um
value and occurs at 0 = resonance frequency
 1 LC
* For  < 0 , the circuit response is capacitive
* For  > 0 , the circuit response is inductive

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 17

 |H(j)|

0.707=1/2

capacitive inductive
Bandwidth

0
1 0 2 

lower upper
resonance
cutoff cutoff
frequency
frequency frequency

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 18

* Second -order circuit with two roots (1 and 2 )
* To find them, put H  j  1 2
2
R  R  1
 1      
2L  2L  LC
2
R  R  1
and 2     
2L  2L  LC
* Note: 1 and 2 are perfectly symmetric around 0
 The response is a mirror image around 0
* Actually, 0 is a geometric mean of 1 and 2
 0  12
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 19
* Bandwidth BW = 2  1  R L
* The sharpness of the peak is defined by the
Quality Factor (QF):
0 0 L 1 L
QF   
BW R R C
* A high QF implies a very narrow and sharp response
* Note: For given values of L and C, QF is an inverse
function of R
 Small R gives sharp response, and vice versa
* Application: Selectively picking up a narrow band
of signal  tuning circuits
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 20
Parallel RLC Circuit (Parallel Resonance ):
* Tank Circuit: L and C in parallel IR IL IC

* Admittance method works best for IS R L C

this circuit
* Note: All currents are sinusoids
* Net admittance Y = G +j  BC  BL 
G  1 R, BL  1  L  , BC  C
 1 
 Y  G  j  C  
  L 
* Note: For C = 1  L  , imaginary part of Y vanishes
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 21
* Known as parallel resonance, with the parallel
resonance frequency 0  1 LC (same as
series resonance )
* Transfer function:
IR 1R j L
H  j    
IS 1 R  1  jL   jC R 1  2 LC   jL
L
 H  j  
R 1   LC    L 
2 2 2 2

* Note: At resonance, H  j  1

 Current through R is maximum under this condition
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 22
 |H(j)|

0.707=1/2

inductive capacitive
Bandwidth

0
1 0 2 

lower upper
resonance
cutoff cutoff
frequency
frequency frequency

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 23

* Again a second -order circuit with two roots (1 and 2 )
* To find them, put H  j  1 2
2
1  1  1
 1      
2RC  2RC  LC
2
1  1  1
and 2     
2RC  2RC  LC
* Again note that 1 and 2 are perfectly symmetric
around 0
* BW = 2  1  1  RC 
C
* QF = 0 BW  0 RC  R
L
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 24
Observations:
* In series RLC circuit at resonance:
 Net impedance is minimum
 Current drawn from the voltage source is
maximum
 Voltage drop across R is maximum
 Voltage drops across L and C are equal in
magnitude but opposite in phase
 They cancel out , making the entire source
voltage drop across R
 As R decreases, the response becomes sharper
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 25
* In parallel RLC circuit at resonance:
 Net admittance is minimum
 Net impedance is maximum
 Current drawn from the voltage source is
minimum
 Current through R is maximum
 Currents flowing through L and C are equal in
magnitude but opposite in phase
 known as circulating current
 Entire current supplied by source flows through R
 As R increases, the response becomes sharper
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 26
Band -Reject (or Notch) Filter:
* Simplest implementation: put an
LPF
LPF having upper cutoff frequency Vi V0

f1 and an HPF having lower cutoff HPF

frequency f 2 (with f 2  f1 ) in parallel

* It will pass frquencies below f1 and above f 2 (pass -
bands ), while blocking frequencies within the band
(f 2  f1 ) (stop-band )
 Band -reject filter
* If (f 2  f1 ) is made extremely narrow , then we arrive
at the notch filter
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 27
 |H|

1
LPF HPF

0.707
Stop-
Pass-Band Band Pass-Band

0
f1 f2 f

Band-Reject Filter Response

Note: Upper cutoff frequency of LPF =
Lower cutoff frequency of BRF
Lower cutoff frequency of HPF =
Upper cutoff frequency of BRF

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 28

 |H(j)|

0.707 = 1/2

C: Notch Frequency

1: Lower Cutoff Frequency
2: Upper Cutoff Frequency

0
1 C 2 

Notch Filter Response

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 29

Simplest RLC Implementation of a Notch Filter:
* Z  Impedance of parallel C

combination of L and C + +

jL L
= Vi R V0
1  2 LC
* Note: For 2 LC  1, Z   – –

 Vi gets blocked and V0  0

* This frequency is known as the notch frequency
1
C , and is given by C 
LC

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 30

* Transfer function:
V0 R R
H  j    
Vi R  Z R  jL
1  2 LC
1
* Ex.: Find 1 and 2 by substituting H  j 
2
and show that C  12
* BW = 2  1
C
* QF =
BW

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 31

Bode Plot:
* The most convenient way to plot a transfer function
* Conceived by Hendrik W. Bode of the Bell
Telephone Laboratories
* Provides a very easy and convenient method of
extracting information regarding variation of
magnitude and phase of any transfer function as a
function of frequency
* Can be made even simpler by a technique known as
the Asymptotic Bode Plot
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 32
* H is plotted in decibels  dB  , while  is
plotted in degrees ( ), both in linear scale,
while the frequency is plotted in log scale,
in a semilog graph
* H  dB   20 log10 H  j
* Inverse operation:
 H  dB   20
H  j  10
* Note: In Bode plot, the frequency  is always
plotted in log scale

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 33

H  j H  dB  H  j H  dB 

0.001 –60 0.01 –40

0.1 –20 1/√2 –3

1 0 √2 3

5 14 10 20

100 40 1000 60

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 34

Bode Magnitude Plot:
* Consider the transfer function:

H  j   1  j
a
2
 H  j  1  2 and
a
 2 
H  dB   20 log10  1  2 
 a 
 
Observations:
* For   a, | H( j) |  1, and H  dB   0

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 35

* For   a, | H( j) |   / a, and H  dB  
20log10 ( / a ), which is linear with respect to
 (   is plotted in log scale ), and increases
at the rate of  20 dB / decade
* At   a, | H( j) | = 2, and H  dB   3
* The angular frequency a has several names:
corner frequency, cutoff frequency, break -
point frequency, +3-dB frequency, etc.
* It is also known as the zero of the transfer
function
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 36
Concept of Asymptotes:
* Simplification of the actual Bode plot
* For   a, it is taken to be equal to zero
* For  > a, it is assumed to be a straight line,
starting from a, with a slope of + 20 dB /decade
* Note: Maximum error occurs at  = a, which
is equal to 3 dB
 a is known as the 3-dB frequency

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 37

 |H|
(dB)
60

Asymptotes
40

Actual
20

3
0
3
0.01a 0.1a a 10a 100a 10 a 
(log scale)

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 38

Bode Phase Plot:
* Phase  of the transfer function:
1 
  tan  
a
Observations:
* At  = a,  = 45;  = 0.1a,  = 6;  = 10a,  = 84;
and as   ,  = 90
* Can be adequately described by three asymptotes:
1. 0 for   0.1a
2. 90 for   10a
3. Between 0.1a and 10a, changing linearly with a
slope of + 45° /decade
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 39
 

90

84

Asymptotes

45
Actual

0
0.1a a 10a (rad/sec)

Note: Actual phase at 0.1a and 10a is equal to 6 and

84 respectively, hence, these two frequencies are
known as lower and upper 6° frequencies
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 40
* Consider another transfer function:
1
H  j  
1  j b
 H  j  1 1  2 b 2 and

H  dB   20 log10  1  2 b 2 
Observations:
* For   b, | H( j) |  1, and H  dB   0
* For   b, | H( j) |  b  , and H  dB  
20log10  b  , which is linear with respect to
, and changes at the rate of  20 dB /decade
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 41
* Also, at   b, | H( j) |  1/ 2, and H  dB   3
* Similar to a, the angular frequency b also has several
names : corner frequency, cutoff frequency, break -
point frequency, 3-dB frequency, etc.
* It is also known as the pole of the transfer function
* Asymptotes:
 For   b, it is taken to be equal to zero
 For  > b, it is assumed to be a straight line, starting
at b, with a slope of  20 dB /decade

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 42

 |H|
(dB) 3

0.1b b 10b 100b 10 b (log scale)
0
–3

–20 Actual

–40
Asymptotes

–60

Note: Maximum error occurs at  = b, which is equal

to  3 dB
Hence, b is known as the  3-dB frequency
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 43
* Phase  of the transfer function:
1  
   tan  
b
Observations:
* At  = b,  =  45;  = 0.1b,  =  6;
 = 10b,  =  84; and as   ,  =  90
* Can be adequately described by three asymptotes:
1. 0 for   0.1b
2.  90 for   10b
3. Between 0.1b and 10b, changing linearly with
a slope of  45° /decade
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 44
 
0.1b b 10b
0
(rad/sec)
–6

Actual

–45

Asymptotes
–84

–90

Note: Actual phase at 0.1b and 10b is equal to  6 and

84 respectively, hence, these two frequencies are
known as lower and upper 6° frequencies

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 45

* Consider another simple transfer function: H  j  j
 H  , and H  dB   20 log(), and a constant
phase of 90°
 H  dB  versus  is a straight line in the asymptotic
Bode plot, having a positive slope of 20 dB /decade,
and crossing the 0 dB line at   1 rad/sec
* Similarly, the asymptotic Bode plot of the function
H( j)  ( j) 1 is another straight line having a slope
of  20 dB/decade, crossing the 0 dB line at   1
rad/sec, and having a constant phase of  90°
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 46
Ex: Asymptotic magnitude and phase Bode plots for the
j 1  j 100 
function: H  j 
1  j 10 1  j 1000 
Magnitude Plot:
jω: straight line with a slope of +20 dB/decade, crossing
0 dB at  = 1 rad/sec (plot a )
 1 + jω 100  : 0 for   100 rad/sec, then increasing
@+20 dB/decade (plot b)
 1 + jω 10  : 0 for   10 rad/sec, then decreasing
@  20 dB/decade (plot c )
Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 47
 1 + jω 1000  : 0 for   1000 rad/sec, then
decreasing @  20 dB/decade (plot d )
The net plot is an algebraic sum of all the individual plots
H (dB)

60
a
40

20
Net b
0
1 10 100 1k 10k 
d
(rad/sec)
–20
c
–40

–60

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 48

Phase Plot:
jω: constant phase of 90 (a )
 1 + jω 100  : 0 for   10 rad/sec, 45 at  = 100
rad/sec, and 90 for   1000 rad/sec (b)
 1 + jω 10  : 0 for   1 rad/sec,  45 at  = 10
rad/sec, and  90 for   100 rad/sec (c )
 1 + jω 1000  : 0 for   100 rad/sec,  45 at  = 1000
rad/sec, and  90 for   104 rad/sec (d )
The net plot is an algebraic sum of all the individual plots

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 49

 

135
a
90
b
Net
45

0
1 10 100 1k 10k 
(rad/sec)
–45
c d
–90

–135

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 50

Note: If the transfer function contains any constant
K, then it will add a constant offset of
20log10 K to the magnitude plot , while the
phase plot will remain unaffected

Aloke Dutta/EE/IIT Kanpur 51