Bode Diagrams

When we apply sinusoidal signals to LTI systems, we are primarily interested in the steady state
response. Moreover, we are not only interested in the system response at one specific frequency
but rather we are trying to find how the system responds over a large span of frequencies. This is
particularly important for analyzing electronic equipment.
In the 1930’s, H. W. Bode of Bell Labs proposed a specific way of presenting the frequency
response of LTI systems. Bode Diagrams allow us to quickly (and visually) evaluate the system
frequency response over wide bandwidth.
The “Bode Diagram” consists of two graphs:
(1) The first graph is a plot of the magnitude of 𝐻 𝑠 |𝑠 𝑗𝜔 vs. The magnitude of H(j) is
presented in Decibel (dB) and  is plotted on a log scale.   

(2) The second graph is a plot of the phase of 𝐻 𝑠 |𝑠 𝑗𝜔 vs. The phase of H(j) is
presented in degrees and  is marked on a log scale.   
Definition of Decibel (dB)
The word Decibel is made up of two parts: Deci which means one tenth of and bel which is part
of Alexander Graham Bell. The ratio of two power levels, P1 and P2 can be expressed in
Decibel units as follow: 

 
- If P1 is 10 times bigger than P2, we say P1 is 10 dB higher than P2
- If P1 is 100 times bigger than P2 we say P1 is 20 dB higher than P2
- If P1 is 1000 times smaller than P2 we say P1 is ‐30 dB compared to P2.. and so on. 
- The logarithm function compresses very large range of values into a more visible range
and shows the details equally at lower and higher values. A semi-log paper looks like this.

 
Note that the zero never appears of a log scale. log 0 ∞
The Bode Diagrams look like this:
  
The best way to explain Bode Diagrams is through a series of examples that covers all possible
combinations of poles and zeros.
Illustrative Example
This is a normalized first order system with one real pole at =-2.

 
I used Matlab to plot the magnitude and phase response of this simple system

 
The script used to plot these diagrams is:
  
In all other examples we would like to graph Bode diagrams by hand without computers.
(1) Single Real Pole
Single real pole is a first order system.

 
 
The frequency response is obtained by substituting s jω

 
 
To obtain the static gain normalize the pole, 𝑘 𝐻 0  

k Normalized pole  
“a” is called the “corner frequency”. 
The procedure of plotting the magnitude of h in dB on a semi-log graph paper is as follow:
- Obtain the static gain, k
‐ Compute k in dB  k in dB 20 log k 
- Mark k dB on the vertical axis and adjust the scale accordingly.
- Mark the corner frequency, a, on the horizontal scale.
- The range of interest is from a/10 to 10a, (two decades).
- Draw a low frequency asymptote along the k level and a high frequency asymptote from the 
corner frequency down at slope of ‐20 dB/decade. 
  

Low Frequency Asymptote (LFA) and High Frequency Asymptote (HFA):

Asymptotes are approximations of the frequency response at low and high frequencies. Low
Frequency Asymptote (LFA) applies to frequencies below the corner frequency and High
Frequency Asymptote (HFA) applies to frequencies higher than the corner frequency.
Consider a normalized first order system:

Example:
Plot the frequency response (Bode Diagram) of the following H(s).
6
𝐻 𝑠  
𝑠 100
- The static gain k = H(0)=0.06  𝑘 𝑑𝐵 20 𝑙𝑜𝑔 0.06 24.44 𝑑𝐵
- The corner frequency = 100 rad/sec
- The range of interest is from (100/10) to (100x10)  10 to 1000
(2) Multiple Real Poles
400
𝐻 𝑠  
𝑠 2 𝑠 100
Step 1: the static gain k  k H 0 2  k dB 20log 2 6 dB
.

This step is valid ONLY when there is no 𝑠 in the numerator or denominator for any value of
"m". In case we have s on its own the dc gain would be either zero or infinity. In this case the
process is modified slightly by simply normalizing each pole or zero to find the constant and
proceed as usual.
Step 2: Identify the corner frequencies and range of interest:
2 real poles at 2 and 100. The range from 0.2 to 1000
Step 3: draw the asymptotes of the amplitude.
Step 4: sketch the amplitude
Step 5: draw the asymptotes of the phase
Step 6: sketch the phase
  
Note:
The exact value of the magnitude at the corner frequencies would be 3 dB below the asymptote if
the pole is isolated (no other pole or zero exist one decade below or one decade above). Two
poles of zeros within one decade from each other will interact and the 3 dB rule is no longer
valid. (The actual value may deviate from the asymptote by more or less than 3dB.

(3) Combination of Real Poles and Zeros:

A zero is in the denominator; therefore the amplitude and phase increase with the frequency
(opposite to a pole). This means that an asymptote associated with a zero has a slope of
+20dB/dc (not -20dB/dc), and the phase rises by +90 degrees (not -90 degrees).
Example: 
8 𝑠 20
𝐻 𝑠  
𝑠 1 𝑠 100
Follow the same steps as in the previous example.
3 cornet frequencies: A pole at 1, a zero at 20 and another pole at 100
The range is 0.1 to 1000 (one decade below the lowest corner frequency to a one decade above
the highest corner frequency).
 .
Static gain: k  k H 0 8.2  k in dB 20 log 8.2 18.28 dB
.

 
(4) Second Order System:
a. The two poles of a second order system could be:
b. Real and different (if the damping factor is larger than 1) in this case we treat this case as
we did in “multiple real poles”
c. Real and equal (if the damping factor equals 1) an example is given below
d. Complex conjugate (if the damping factor is less than 1) this case will be treated in details
Example (damping factor =1) 
This case is a case of two real poles but the distance between them is zero
100
𝐻 𝑠  
𝑠 50
2 overlapped corner at ω 50
The range is 5 to 500.
Static gain: k  𝑘 𝐻 0 .04  𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝐵 20 𝑙𝑜𝑔 . 04 27.96 𝑑𝐵 

 
 
 
 
True Second Order (Damping Factor <1)
When the damping factor is less than one, the system is “true” second order because it cannot be
treated as a cascade of two first order systems.
Recall the standard form of a second order system:
𝑘𝜔 𝑘𝜔
𝐻 𝑠  
𝑠 2𝜂𝜔 𝑠 𝜔 1 𝑝 1 𝑝
Where the two roots (poles) are:
𝑝 𝜂𝜔 𝑗𝜔 𝜂 1 
𝑝 𝜂𝜔 𝑗𝜔 𝜂 1 
When the damping factor 𝜁 1 the two poles are complex conjugate and can be written as: 
𝑝 𝜂𝜔 𝑗𝜔  
 𝑝 𝜂𝜔 𝑗𝜔  
Where 𝜔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝜔 1 𝜂  
For normalized second order k=1, the squared magnitude of H jω is
𝜔
|𝐻 𝑗𝜔 |  
𝜔 𝜔 2𝜂𝜔𝜔
We know that at 𝜔 0, the magnitude is “one” and at 𝜔 ∞ the magnitude is “zero”. But,
how the magnitude decays from one to zero? Does it decay monotonically or does it peak first
and then decay??

Actually both scenarios are possible depending on the value of the damping factor 𝜼.
Mathematically, we can prove or disprove the presence of a peak by taking the derivative of the
magnitude with respect to 𝝎 and setting it equal to zero. If we find a feasible solution to the
resultant equation then the function peaks before it decays and if we did not find a feasible
solution then there is no peal (we call the peaking :resonance”).
The steps are as follow:

The analysis above indicates that the magnitude peaks at 𝜔 𝜔 1 2𝜂 . Since the
resonance frequency 𝜔 must be “real”, then, 1 2𝜂 0. This condition is satisfied when
𝜂 Therefore,
√

- If 𝜂 0.707  Second order system with resonance

- If 1 𝜂 0.707  Second order system without resonance
When the system has resonance:
- The resonance frequency is 𝜔 𝜔 1 2𝜂
 - The magnitude at resonance is 𝑀 (if k is not unity we multiply Mp by k)

Example (second order without resonance) 𝐻 𝑠

𝜔 √625 25  𝜂 0.8  No resonance

.

Static gain: k  𝑘 𝐻 0 .016  𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝐵 20 𝑙𝑜𝑔 . 016 35.91 𝑑𝐵 

 
Example (second order with resonance)
10
𝐻 𝑠
𝑠 4𝑠 625
𝜔 √625 25  𝜂 0.08  Resonance
.

Static gain: k  𝑘 𝐻 0 .016  𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝐵 20 𝑙𝑜𝑔 . 016 35.91 𝑑𝐵 

Resonance frequency:  𝜔 𝜔 1 2𝜂 =24.998
Peak 𝑀 6.27  𝑀 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝐵 20 𝑙𝑜𝑔 6.27 15.95 𝑑𝐵
  
Magnitude and phase near the corner frequency
The peak at resonance and the phase transition at the corner frequency take different shapes
based on the value of the damping factor. The following two diagrams illustrate this point*
*
High Quality Resonance Filter
When the damping factor is too small (approximately less than 0.2), the resonance peak becomes
strong and the system is called “High Quality Bandpass Filter” because it responds strongly to a
narrowband of frequencies and tends to rejects frequencies outside that band. There is a useful
graphical interpretation to this mechanism as shown in the diagram below:

The two vectors H1 and H2 are explained as follow:

𝐻 𝑠 𝑝 and 𝐻 𝑠 𝑝

When the damping factor is too small, the vector H1 becomes very small as the frequency
becomes closer to 𝜔 and that causes the magnitude to increase significantly.
The peak of the high quality Band Pass Filter (BPF) is approximated as:
Q is called the Quality factor, and the 3dB bandwidth of the BPF is
Δ 2𝜂𝜔
Clearly, the damping factor plays an important role in shaping the behaviour of the second order
system. This is summarized in the following diagram:

Other Cases
- Complex conjugate zeros: treated exactly like complex poles but the magnitude and phase
curves are flipped upside down
- The cases with S’s appear alone as zeros or poles: These cases have to corner frequencies.
Only one asymptote the intercept the frequency axis at ω 0
- Combinations of real and complex poles and zeros
 
 
 
Example 1/s


𝜔 0 never appears on the diagram
The magnitude is 0 dB at 𝜔 1
No corner frequency
The phase is fixed at -90o

Example First and second order (no resonance)

 
 The corner frequencies [2, 25]
 Range: 0.2  250
 or 4 cycles 0.1 : 1000
 Damping factor=0.8
Matlab code

Example First and second order (with resonance)

  
 The corner frequencies [2, 25]
 Range: 0.2  250
 or 4 cycles 0.1 : 1000
 Damping factor=0.08