Experiment Guide: RC Filters and Simulation/Instrumentation Software Description and Background In this lab you will (a) manipulate

instruments manually to determine the input-output characteristics of RC filters, (b) use software systems to simulate the characteristics as functions of frequency, and (c) use a software system to control equipment to measure and plot the filter characteristics automatically. A. RC Filter Characteristics Figure below shows an RC filter connected to a sinusoidal !oltage source. "his circuit is termed a two-port circuit (see Fig. #) where the !oltage source produces the input !oltage $in and the output !oltage $out appears across resistor R.

+ Vin C R

+ Vout -

Figure . RC filter with series capacitor and output resistor R.

vin

vout

Figure #. "wo-port circuit. Recall that we customarily represent an %C !oltage as a periodic function of time such as V(t) & V'cos(t) where V' is the amplitude of the !oltage, t is time, and is the socalled angular frequency, whose units are radians per second. "he angular frequency is related to the (ordinary) frequency, f, measured in *ert+, by & #f. For e,ample, if the frequency, f, of the ordinary power line !oltage in the -. .. is /' *+, then the associated angular frequency, , is 011 radians2s (#/'). Transfer Function % two-port circuit is characteri+ed by its so-called transfer function, whose magnitude is defined as 3Vout2Vin3, where Vout and Vin are phasor !oltages (as indicated by the boldface type). "he !ariation of the transfer function with frequency characteri+es the circuit, whether the circuit is an amplifier (does it amplify high frequencies more than low

frequencies4) or a filter (does the filter pass the low frequencies or the high frequencies better4). If you analy+e the RC circuit of Fig. using 5irchhoff6s !oltage law, the phasor !oltages Vout and Vin, the resistance R and the impedance of the capacitor ZC = 1/jC, you can show that the magnitude of the transfer function is
Vout |V /V | ;RC o ut= i n Vin + (;RC) # 1

(Eq. 1)

%n appro,imate log-log plot of transfer function magnitude !s. frequency is shown in RC Figure 09 1

Fig. 0. 7og-log plot of transfer function magnitude !s. angular frequency times RC . 8ote9 the hori+ontal a,is is really a frequency a,is since R and C are constants. "he filter characteristic has been simplified to appear as two lines that intersect at the angular frequency for which RC & , or & , where is the time constant RC for this circuit. If plotted precisely, the characteristic would transition smoothly from the upward sloping line to the hori+ontal line, but for many purposes the straight-line appro,imation is adequate. "his circuit is called a high-pass filter, since for frequencies abo!e & 2RC the output !oltage equals the input !oltage. If we re!erse the positions of R and C in the filter circuit (Figure :), we obtain the transfer function and filter characteristic shown below9

+ Vin -

+ R C Vout -

Fig. :. Circuit with a series resistor R and the capacitor C as the output element.

= V out 1 -------------------------------= --------2 Vin ( RC) + 1

|V /Vi n | o ut 1

& RC

Fig. <. 7og-log plot of transfer function magnitude !s. frequency times RC for the circuit of Fig. :.

Procedures P1. Connect a '> resistor and a (non-polari+ed) '. F capacitor in series with a signal generator, ma>ing sure that your oscilloscope ground and the signal generator ground are connected together. .et the signal generator to output a -!olt pea> sine wa!e. ?easure and plot the amplitude of the !oltage between the components !ersus frequency on log-log graph paper. @ou can download log-log graph paper from the AAC. :02 '' web site. P2. Re!erse the order of the two components and repeat. P3. Bbser!e the effects of filtering on square and triangular wa!es. P4. -sing software .ignalA,press References (on Reserve for EE 40 in En ineerin !i"rar#$
C. *orowit+ and D. *ill, The Art of Electronics, #nd ed. (Cambridge -. Cress, EFE), pp. 0<-F. R. Dhite and R. Goering, Electrical Engineering Uncovered, #nd ed. (Crentice *all, #'' ). .ee p. #1 ff. for e,planation of decibels, and pp. #F<-1 on transfer functions and Hode plots.

%escri&tion and 'ac( round Iraphical circuit stimulation software, such as !a"V)E* (8ational Instruments, Inc.), is popular among engineers wor>ing in industry and researchers in uni!ersities because it reduces the tedium and cost of circuit and system testing. .o far in this lab, you6!e used an analog function generator and an oscilloscope to get the graph that shows the transfer functions -- the ratios of the output and input !oltages !ersus the frequency. Clotting the graph by hand is time-consuming and it may gi!e inaccurate results. Dith 7ab$IAD, howe!er, you can obtain accurate tabular and graphical results automatically after you program the system. % recent de!elopment from 8ational Instruments is the application +i nalE,&ress, which enables you to set up and control the measurement equipment easily. .ignalA,press actually creates the 7ab$IAD programs that run the equipment. Aach piece of equipment you use here J the function generator and the oscilloscope, for instance, has a cable connected to it to pro!ide control signals ((set the function generator frequency to 0'' *+)) and to collect data from a real circuit under test (here the actual !oltages input to and output from the RC circuit are measured by the real oscilloscope, whose measurement go to the computer !ia the cable connected in the bac> of the oscilloscope). Aach piece of equipment has a unique number so that the .ignalA,press or 7ab$IAD program can recogni+e it. "hese cables are identified as ICIH buses (ICIH & Ieneral Curpose Interface Hus).

8ote that your AAC. :' te,t (%. R. *ambley, Electrical Engineering: rinciples and Applications!, 0rd Ad.) discusses 7ab$IAD on pages :#<-:01, and contains a 7ab$IAD CG-RB? in the en!elope inside the bac> co!er of the boo>. Bn the class web site you should find the brief document -+i.ulation and )nstru.entation +oft/are0 that describes in simple terms what se!eral popular and useful simulation and instrumentation applications do. Included are 7ab$IAD and .ignalA,press, along with Brcad (the schematic capture program on a CG inside the bac> co!er of your te,t), C.pice (a !ery popular and useful circuit simulation program J use it to chec> your homewor>K), and ?ulti.I? (a !ersatile circuit simulation program that e!en shows pictorial !iews of circuit components and circuits built on protoboards li>e those you6!e used in this laboratory). +o.e Co..ents A"out !a"V)E* for the Co.&uter12riented +tudent9 7ab$IAD is a graphical programming language that shares some aspects with traditional non-graphical programming languages (C, H%.IC, Cascal, etc.) and some aspects of hardware definition languages ($*G7, $erilog). It combines the generality and power of traditional programming data structures such as loops, if-then branches, and arithmetic operators with the ability of hardware definition languages to perform multiple tas>s simultaneously. Crogramming in a graphical en!ironment consists of placing functional bloc>s that perform specific tas>s on a wor>sheet and wiring them together to send data from one bloc> to another. "hese bloc>s can do anything from simple tas>s (add the data on the two input wires together and place the answer on the output wire) to comple, tas>s (ta>e two arrays of data as input and display the contents on a log-log graph as ,,y pairs). "hese functional bloc>s can also translate data in the graphical program into a form that e,ternal equipment can use. Dith the appropriate software dri!ers, any button or >nob that can be pressed manually can be controlled automatically by one of these function bloc>s. Finally, certain special bloc>s can control the flow of a program by specifying that a few tas>s should be performed in a certain order, or that a tas> should be repeated a certain number of times. %ll of these types of bloc>s are used in this lab. In addition to placing bloc>s on the wor>sheet, bloc>s must be wired together. "his is complicated by the fact that not all wires in 7ab$IAD carry the same >inds of dataK .ome wires will carry a single number. Bther wires will carry a whole list of numbers. Bther wires carry multiple >inds of data, where the amount and type of data are determined by the bloc>s to which they6re connected. -nfortunately, most bloc>s require that the data coming in be formatted correctly, otherwise they will not perform their Lob. For an e,ample of bloc>s wired together on a wor>sheet and a front panel of an instrument simulated in 7ab$IAD, see Figs. E.## and E.#0 in your te,t. T/o of the "i est challen es &eo&le face /hen first startin to learn !a"V)E* are decidin /hich t#&e of /ire to use /here3 and convertin fro. one t#&e to another.

)n this la"3 #ou don4t have to &ro ra. in !a"V)E* "ecause the +i nalE,&ress soft/are does that for #ou.

E5ui&.ent Cersonal computer running Dindows MC with .ignalA,press . . , ?ulti.I? F, and 7ab$IAD 1. installedN printerN '> resistorN '. F non-polari+ed capacitor(listen to the "% to ma>e sure the capacitor is non-polari+ed)N *C <:/''H oscilloscopeN *C 00 #'% function generatorN *C 0::' % multimeterN. "he ICIH cables ha!e been connected by the instructional lab technical staff. P4. Procedures "# +oft/are %. Huild your RC circuit (with %C input from the function generator, and probe the input and output !oltages using the scope). *oo> up a '> resistor and a (non-polari+ed) '. F capacitor in series with the signal generator (the same procedure that you used earlier in this lab when you made measurements manually). -se the oscilloscope to monitor the !oltage wa!eforms during the test9 connect the function generator to channel O and use channel O# to monitor the !oltage across the capacitor. Cerform a frequency sweep from ' *+ to '>*+ with 0 steps per decade by filling in the appropriate te,t bo,es and pressing the play button. 6sin the soft/are9 In this lab, you6ll use .ignalA,press to control actual equipment to monitor real-time RC circuit beha!ior. *ere are the instructions for operating the .ignalA,press measurement system9 To &ro ra. in +i nal E,&ress to .onitor real1ti.e RC circuit "ehavior. . Crogram PP 8ational Instruments PP .ignalA,press PP .ignalA,press. #. Clic> on (%dd Gisplay) on the top toolbar. 8ow you should ha!e # display windows shown. "he top one is used for displaying input and output signals, and the bottom one is for the frequency response ($out2$in). 0. Right-clic> on the blan> space left of the display windows, and then analog PP Ienerate signals PP I$I FIA8 .tandard Function. :. -nder the I$I session name, choose 7#)viF en0 or h&33120a) from the dropdown menu. %fter initiali+ing (automatic), you should ha!e 8P)'0991099):+TR under Resource descriptor, and hp00 #' under Instrument dri!er. "hen clic> close on the upper left corner to close the display. <. Change the Frequency to ''' *+, and the %mplitude to $pp. Clic> on Close.

+creen Ca&ture of Function 8enerator Confi uration /. Clic> on the blan> space and right clic> PP analog PP %cquire .ignals PP I$I .cope %cquire. 1. Gouble clic> on that and select (I!iscope<) or (hp<:/:<) under I$I session name. ?a>e sure to turn on %8%7 and %8%7# on the !ertical bo,. Increase the (time per record) to be 100.. ?a>e sure the Impedance is set to 17.

F. Clic> on the blan> space and right clic> PP analog PP time domain measurementsPP%mplitudes and 7e!els

E. Io to the Input2Butput tab. Chec> the bo, for (E,&ort R7+ values) and select Input signal (hp<:/:<(%8%7 )) - should ha!e abo!e window after this step.

'. Repeat step F-E, selecting (hp<:/:<(%8%7#)) instead. . Clic> on the blan> space and right clic> PP analog PP Crocessing PP Formula(scalar) #. .et Input !ariable ' to (r.s 1) which corresponds to the R?. amplitude measured on channel %# of the oscilloscope 0. Chec> the bo, for (Anable ), set Input !ariable to (r.s0 which corresponds to the R?. amplitude measured on channel % .

:. In the Formula bo,, type (,0;,1). Close it.

<. Clic> on the blan> space and right clic> PP operation PP sweep. /. .ince we want to sweep the frequency, we (add) frequency (*+) to the .weep Configuration. .elect ' *+ for .tart Frequency (*+) and '> for .top Frequency. Ii!e ' points for number of points. Ii!e the "ype (E,&onential), and (add) (processed scalar) to .weep Butput, in the .weep Butput tab. Close it.

1. Grag (I!i.cope< (%8%7 )) and (I!i.cope< (%8%7#)) on the left to the top display window on the right, and drag (processed scalar) on the bottom display window. F. Clic> on (Run Bnce), and obser!e the beha!ior. E. Gisplay the magnitude frequency response on a log-log scale by right clic>ing on the bottom graph and changing the M and @ scales. #'. Crint the plot9 right clic> on one of the displayed windowQthen select -E,&ort0 to sa!e image on des>top or other folders.

E,tra &art (if ti.e allo/ed$9 8ow you can simulate your circuits in ?ultisim to compare with the beha!ior you measured. *ere are the instructions9 +i.ulate #our circuit in 7ultisi.. . Bpen ?ultisimF by Pro ra. << Electronics *or("ench << 7ultisi.= << 7ultisi.=. #. Right clic> on the !irtual circuit board and select (Place Co.&onent). .elect different components from the Iroup session. For this lab, select ('asic) in Iroup. %nd from Family, select resistor and its corresponding !alue, and clic> B5. 0. Repeat step # to get ground. Clace Co.&onent<<+ources<<8round. :. Clic> on one end of the resistor, and connect to the other end of the capacitor by clic>ing it again. %lso connect the other end of the capacitor to the Iround symbol.

<. Clic> on the (Function Ienerator) icon (second one on the right from the top) and drop it on the board. Connect the (R) to the free end of resistor and (-( to ground (create another I8G as in .tep0). /. Clic> on .imulate from the top toolbar. .imulatePP%nalysesPP%C %nalyses. 1. In (Frequency Carameters) tab, set the start and stop frequencies to be ' *+ and '5h+. .elect (%ecade) for the sweep type, (!o ) for the !ertical scale, and 10 for the number of points per decade. F. Clic> on (Butput) tab on the top. .elect the !alue in ($ariables in circuit) and clic> (add) to add to the right. E. Clic> on (simulate). Bn the plot, change the !ertical scale for the magnitude to be in decibels by right-clic>ing on the !ertical a,is for ?agnitude plot and select (a,is property), and selecting (decibels). '. Crint out the displays.