EE 439 Lab Report #2

Kaan Oktay, 2011401174

I. I NTRODUCTION
In this assignment, we deal with several types of active
filters. That means filters are constructed with Op-amps which
can amplify the input.
Firstly, a Second Order Butterworth Low Pass Filter is used.
This filter is designed for maximally flat response within the
passband. Also it has moderate phase distortion. Butterworth
LPF will have all the poles and they will be located on the
unit circle with equal angles.
Secondly, a Fourth Order Bessel Low Pass Filter is used
in our experiment. It has poorer amplitude attenuation beyond
the passband than Butterworth type. However, it has several
advantages compared to Butterworth type.
When non-sinusoidal waveform(such as square wave) is
applied as input to the Butterworth LPF it results into distortion. The resultant output waveform will have ringing and
overshoot. This is due to the fact that component frequencies
of square wave will shift in time with respect to each other.
This is because if the phase increases linearly with frequency,
it will result into delay in the output signal by certain constant
time period.
The Bessel filter avoids the situation mentioned above. This
filter will introduce linear phase shift with respect to frequency.
Hence it will act as a delay line having low pass characteristics.
In this type of filter output waveform will not have any ringing
and overshoot. We may imagine a square wave input applied
to a Bessel filter. It will round off the input square wave at the
places where high frequency harmonic components are present
in the input waveform.
Lastly, a notch filter is used in the experiment. It is a band
reject filter which means that it can reject frequencies in a
certain frequency interval. It has a very narrow bandwidth and
this feature is very useful especially when we want to reject
a certain single frequency.
Theory(hand calculations), laboratory measurements and
simulation results are included in next parts. After that,
pulse(square wave) response of low pass filters are compared.
Finally, answer of the design question is answered by using
SPICE.
II. T HEORY
In this section, active filter circuits given in Lab sheet are
inspected. Their magnitude and phase responses are calculated
by formulas. These calculations are useful for foresight of
experimental results. For all the calculations, Op-amps are
considered as ideal.

A. Second Order Butterworth Low Pass Filter

To examine this circuit we should look at its transfer
function. By using KCL, we can get the transfer function as
below equation (1).
1
Vout
=
Vin
1 + C2 (R1 + R2 )s + R1 R2 C1 C2 s2

(1)

By using s = 2f j, we can get the equation (2) below for

3 dB point which can also be considered as corner frequency.
f3dB =

1
= 5.12kHz
2 R1 R2 C1 C2

(2)

Also with a quick look, we can say that gain should be

unity within the passband.
B. Fourth Order Bessel Low Pass Filter
As in the previous filter inspection, transfer function of
Bessel LPF should be examined. Its transfer function can be
seen in the equation (3) below.
Vout
1
=
Vin
1 + C6 (R3 + R4 )s + R3 R4 C5 C6 s2
1

1 + C10 (R5 + R6 )s + R5 R6 C9 C10 s2

(3)

By using s = 2f j, we can get the equation (4) below for

3 dB point which can also be considered as corner frequency.
f3dB = 1.56kHz

(4)

C. Notch Filter
By using transfer function of the filter, we can easily find
the frequency of the point where minimum gain is achieved
as in the equation (5) below.
fcenter =

1
= 7.96kHz
2R7 C11

(5)

This frequency gives the global minimum point of notch

filter response.
III. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS
In this section, results found by laboratory equipment may
be seen. Experimental results are not the same as theoretical
results because component errors, measurement errors, and
environmental factors affect the operation of the filters. In spite
of these errors, experimental results are almost consistent with
theoretical results.

A. Second Order Butterworth Low Pass Filter

By using experimental data, frequency of 3 dB point is
found as 5.05kHz and phase at this point is 88.60 . Also
magnitude and phase response of the filter may be seen in
figure (III.1) and (III.2).

Fig. III.4. Phase Response of Fourth Order Bessel LPF

C. Notch Filter

Fig. III.1. Magnitude Response of Second Order Butterworth LPF

By using experimental data, center frequency of reject band

is found as 7.9kHz and phase at this point is 160 . Also
magnitude and phase response of the filter may be seen in
figure (III.5) and (III.6).

Fig. III.5. Magnitude Response of Notch Filter

Fig. III.2. Phase Response of Second Order Butterworth LPF

B. Fourth Order Bessel Low Pass Filter

By using experimental data, cut-off frequency is found as
1.4kHz and phase at this point is 1080 . Also magnitude and
phase response of the filter may be seen in figure (III.3) and
(III.4).

Fig. III.6. Phase Response of Notch Filter

Fig. III.3. Magnitude Response of Fourth Order Bessel LPF

As can be seen, graphical realizations of filter responses

show the characteristics of these filters properly. One can
easily recognize which filter must be chosen for his design
requirements.

IV. S IMULATION R ESULTS

For this section, Tina-TI is used as SPICE program. Simulation results are useful for checking whether our experimental
results are reliable.

A. Second Order Butterworth Low Pass Filter

By using simulation, frequency of 3 dB point is found as
5.11kHz and phase at this point is 89.990 . Also magnitude
and phase response of the filter may be seen in figure (IV.1).

Fig. IV.3. Magnitude and Phase Response of Notch Filter

V. R ESPONSE OF B UTTERWORTH AND B ESSEL LPF S TO A

S QUARE WAVE

In this section, we are supposed to apply a square wave

input signal with peak to peak amplitude 1V and one third
the cut-off frequency to low pass filters. We want to compare
pulse responses of low pass filters. Output of the Butterworth
LPF may be seen in figure (V.1).
Fig. IV.1. Magnitude and Phase Response of Second Order Butterworth LPF

B. Fourth Order Bessel Low Pass Filter

By using simulation, frequency of 3 dB point is found as
1.5kHz and phase at this point is 114.910 . Also magnitude
and phase response of the filter may be seen in figure (IV.2).

Fig. V.1. Square Wave Response of Second Order Butterworth LPF

Fig. IV.2. Magnitude and Phase Response of Fourth Order Bessel LPF

C. Notch Filter
By using simulation, center frequency of reject band is
found as 7.9kHz and phase at this point is 15.60 . Also
magnitude and phase response of the filter may be seen in
figure (IV.3).

In introduction, differences between Butterworth and Bessel

filters are discussed. In this section, we can prove these
theoretical expectations with experimental results. Figure (V.1)
above shows that there are ringing and overshoot at the
response of Butterworth LPF to a square wave. However when
we look at the figure (V.2) below, there are less ringing and
overshoot at the response of Bessel LPF compared to previous
one.

VII. C ONCLUSION
Briefly, we inspect various filters in this experiment. There
are negligible noise and environmental problems in this experiment. This is because our input signal can take high values
such as 1V and this makes noise negligible.
In spite of a few inconsistencies between measurements,
simulations, and theory, results are very close to each other in
every step and our expectations come true.
TABLE I
NMOS C HARACTERIZATION

Fig. V.2. Square Wave Response of Fourth Order Bessel LPF

VI. F REQUENCY AND M AGNITUDE S CALING TO

B UTTERWORTH LPF
In this section, we are supposed to push cut-off frequency
of Second Order Butterworth LPF to twice its original value.
Also we are given that resistors are one tenth of their original
values. We should calculate the whole components according
to given specifications. In order to solve this design problem,
we may use the formulas given in equations (6), (7), and (8)
below.
w0new = sf w0
(6)
Rnew = sm R
(7)
1
Cnew =
C
(8)
sf sm
In above equations, sm is magnitude scaling factor and sf
is frequency scaling factor. New values represent the values
after scaling. By using given specifications we can calculate
sm = 1/10 and sf = 2. By using these scaling factors, we
can calculate all the components for scaling. By using these
values, a new circuit is designed with SPICE. In the figure
(VI.1) below, we can see the response of scaled Second Order
Butterworth LPF. By using scaling, we expect that new cut-off
frequency should be 10.22kHz. With this new design, our cutoff frequency shifts to 10.22kHz. This new cut-off frequency
from simulation is consistent with our expectations.

Fig. VI.1. Response of Scaled Second Order Butterworth LPF

Vgs Vt

(vsat

nef f

Ec

Vdsat

1.3
1.1
0.9
0.7
0.5
0.3

1.05*105
1.05*105
1.05*105
1.05*105
1.05*105
1.05*105

2.90*102
3.15*102
3.43*102
3.72*102
4.02*102
4.32*102

7.24*106
6.66*106
6.13*106
5.65*106
5.23*106
4.86*106

6.51*101
5.74*101
4.96*101
4.15*101
3.26*101
2.23*101