28/03/2016

WhatisaFilter?:FiltersElectronicsTextbook

WhatisaFilter?
Chapter8Filters

Itissometimesdesirabletohavecircuitscapableofselectivelyfiltering
onefrequencyorrangeoffrequenciesoutofamixofdifferentfrequencies
inacircuit.Acircuitdesignedtoperformthisfrequencyselectioniscalled
afiltercircuit,orsimplyafilter.Acommonneedforfiltercircuitsisinhigh
performancestereosystems,wherecertainrangesofaudiofrequencies
needtobeamplifiedorsuppressedforbestsoundqualityandpower
efficiency.Youmaybefamiliarwithequalizers,whichallowtheamplitudes
ofseveralfrequencyrangestobeadjustedtosuitthelistenerstasteand
acousticpropertiesofthelisteningarea.Youmayalsobefamiliarwith
crossovernetworks,whichblockcertainrangesoffrequenciesfrom
reachingspeakers.Atweeter(highfrequencyspeaker)isinefficientat
reproducinglowfrequencysignalssuchasdrumbeats,soacrossover
circuitisconnectedbetweenthetweeterandthestereosoutputterminals
toblocklowfrequencysignals,onlypassinghighfrequencysignalstothe
speakersconnectionterminals.Thisgivesbetteraudiosystemefficiency
andthusbetterperformance.Bothequalizersandcrossovernetworksare
examplesoffilters,designedtoaccomplishfilteringofcertainfrequencies.
Anotherpracticalapplicationoffiltercircuitsisintheconditioningofnon
sinusoidalvoltagewaveformsinpowercircuits.Someelectronicdevices
aresensitivetothepresenceofharmonicsinthepowersupplyvoltage,
andsorequirepowerconditioningforproperoperation.Ifadistortedsine
wavevoltagebehaveslikeaseriesofharmonicwaveformsaddedtothe
fundamentalfrequency,thenitshouldbepossibletoconstructafilter
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WhatisaFilter?:FiltersElectronicsTextbook

fundamentalfrequency,thenitshouldbepossibletoconstructafilter
circuitthatonlyallowsthefundamentalwaveformfrequencytopass
through,blockingall(higherfrequency)harmonics.
Wewillbestudyingthedesignofseveralelementaryfiltercircuitsinthis
lesson.Toreducetheloadofmathonthereader,Iwillmakeextensive
useofSPICEasananalysistool,displayingBodeplots(amplitudeversus
frequency)forthevariouskindsoffilters.Bearinmind,though,thatthese
circuitscanbeanalyzedoverseveralpointsoffrequencybyrepeated
seriesparallelanalysis,muchlikethepreviousexamplewithtwosources
(60and90Hz),ifthestudentiswillingtoinvestalotoftimeworkingand
reworkingcircuitcalculationsforeachfrequency.
REVIEW:
AfilterisanACcircuitthatseparatessomefrequenciesfromothers
withinmixedfrequencysignals.
Audioequalizersandcrossovernetworksaretwowellknown
applicationsoffiltercircuits.
ABodeplotisagraphplottingwaveformamplitudeorphaseonone
axisandfrequencyontheother.

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WhatisaFilter?:FiltersElectronicsTextbook

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