Electronic lter

Hybrid lters are also possible, typically involving a com-

bination of analog ampliers with mechanical resonators
or delay lines. Other devices such as CCD delay lines
have also been used as discrete-time lters. With the
availability of digital signal processing, active digital l-
ters have become common.

2 Classication by technology

2.1 Passive lters

Television signal splitter consisting of a high-pass lter (left) and
a low-pass lter (right). The antenna is connected to the screw
Passive implementations of linear lters are based
terminals to the left of center.
on combinations of resistors (R), inductors (L) and
capacitors (C). These types are collectively known as pas-
Electronic lters are circuits which perform signal pro- sive lters, because they do not depend upon an external
cessing functions, specically to remove unwanted fre- power supply and/or they do not contain active compo-
quency components from the signal, to enhance wanted nents such as transistors.
ones, or both. Electronic lters can be:
Inductors block high-frequency signals and conduct low-
frequency signals, while capacitors do the reverse. A l-
passive or active
ter in which the signal passes through an inductor, or in
analog or digital which a capacitor provides a path to ground, presents less
attenuation to low-frequency signals than high-frequency
high-pass, low-pass, band-pass, band-stop (band- signals and is therefore a low-pass lter. If the sig-
rejection; notch), or all-pass. nal passes through a capacitor, or has a path to ground
through an inductor, then the lter presents less attenua-
discrete-time (sampled) or continuous-time
tion to high-frequency signals than low-frequency signals
linear or non-linear and therefore is a high-pass lter. Resistors on their own
have no frequency-selective properties, but are added to
innite impulse response (IIR type) or nite impulse inductors and capacitors to determine the time-constants
response (FIR type) of the circuit, and therefore the frequencies to which it
responds.
The most common types of electronic lters are linear The inductors and capacitors are the reactive elements of
lters, regardless of other aspects of their design. See the lter. The number of elements determines the order
the article on linear lters for details on their design and of the lter. In this context, an LC tuned circuit being
analysis. used in a band-pass or band-stop lter is considered a sin-
gle element even though it consists of two components.

1 History At high frequencies (above about 100 megahertz), some-

times the inductors consist of single loops or strips of
sheet metal, and the capacitors consist of adjacent strips
Main article: Passive analogue lter development of metal. These inductive or capacitive pieces of metal
are called stubs.
The oldest forms of electronic lters are passive ana-
log linear lters, constructed using only resistors and
capacitors or resistors and inductors. These are known 2.1.1 Single element types
as RC and RL single-pole lters respectively. More com-
plex multipole LC lters have also existed for many years, The simplest passive lters, RC and RL lters, include
and their operation is well understood. only one reactive element, except hybrid LC lter which

1
2 2 CLASSIFICATION BY TECHNOLOGY

R illustration, has a very low impedance at high frequen-

cies, and a very high impedance at low frequencies. That
means that it can be inserted in a transmission line, result-
ing in the high frequencies being passed and low frequen-
cies being reected. Likewise, for the illustrated low-
vin C vout pass lter, the circuit can be connected to a transmis-
sion line, transmitting low frequencies and reecting high
frequencies. Using m-derived lter sections with correct
termination impedances, the input impedance can be rea-
sonably constant in the pass band.[2]

A low-pass electronic lter realised by an RC circuit

2.1.4 Multiple element types

is characterized by inductance and capacitance integrated Multiple element lters are usually constructed as a ladder
in one element.[1] network. These can be seen as a continuation of the L,T
and designs of lters. More elements are needed when
it is desired to improve some parameter of the lter such
2.1.2 L lter
as stop-band rejection or slope of transition from pass-
band to stop-band.
An L lter consists of two reactive elements, one in series
and one in parallel.
2.2 Active lters
2.1.3 T and lters
Active lters are implemented using a combination of
Main article: Capacitor-input lter passive and active (amplifying) components, and require
Three-element lters can have a 'T' or '' topology and an outside power source. Operational ampliers are fre-
quently used in active lter designs. These can have high
Q factor, and can achieve resonance without the use of in-
L ductors. However, their upper frequency limit is limited
by the bandwidth of the ampliers.

2.3 Other lter technologies

C C
vin vout 2.3.1 Digital lters

Main article: digital lter

Digital signal processing allows the inexpensive construc-
Low-pass lter
IN

C C
d1 d2 d3 dn Delay

a1 a2 a3 an
vin L vout Amplication

Summation

High-pass T lter OUT

in either geometries, a low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, or A general nite impulse response lter with n stages, each with
band-stop characteristic is possible. The components can an independent delay, di and amplication gain, ai.
be chosen symmetric or not, depending on the required
frequency characteristics. The high-pass T lter in the tion of a wide variety of lters. The signal is sampled
2.3 Other lter technologies 3

and an analog-to-digital converter turns the signal into a

stream of numbers. A computer program running on a
CPU or a specialized DSP (or less often running on a
hardware implementation of the algorithm) calculates an
output number stream. This output can be converted to a
signal by passing it through a digital-to-analog converter.
There are problems with noise introduced by the conver-
sions, but these can be controlled and limited for many
useful lters. Due to the sampling involved, the input sig-
nal must be of limited frequency content or aliasing will
occur.

2.3.2 Quartz lters and piezoelectrics

Main article: Crystal lter

See also: Mechanical lter

In the late 1930s, engineers realized that small mechani-

cal systems made of rigid materials such as quartz would
acoustically resonate at radio frequencies, i.e. from audi-
ble frequencies (sound) up to several hundred megahertz.
Some early resonators were made of steel, but quartz
quickly became favored. The biggest advantage of quartz
is that it is piezoelectric. This means that quartz res-
onators can directly convert their own mechanical motion
into electrical signals. Quartz also has a very low coe-
cient of thermal expansion which means that quartz res-
onators can produce stable frequencies over a wide tem-
perature range. Quartz crystal lters have much higher
quality factors than LCR lters. When higher stabilities
are required, the crystals and their driving circuits may be
mounted in a "crystal oven" to control the temperature.
For very narrow band lters, sometimes several crystals
are operated in series.
Engineers realized that a large number of crystals could
be collapsed into a single component, by mounting comb-
shaped evaporations of metal on a quartz crystal. In this
scheme, a tapped delay line" reinforces the desired fre-
quencies as the sound waves ow across the surface of the
quartz crystal. The tapped delay line has become a gen-
eral scheme of making high-Q lters in many dierent
ways.
Crystal lter with a center frequency of 45 MHz and a bandwidth
B3dB of 12 kHz.
2.3.3 SAW lters

SAW (surface acoustic wave) lters are
electromechanical devices commonly used in radio
frequency applications. Electrical signals are converted
to a mechanical wave in a device constructed of a
piezoelectric crystal or ceramic; this wave is delayed as
it propagates across the device, before being converted
back to an electrical signal by further electrodes. The
delayed outputs are recombined to produce a direct
analog implementation of a nite impulse response lter.
This hybrid ltering technique is also found in an analog
sampled lter. SAW lters are limited to frequencies up
to 3 GHz. The lters were developed by Professor Ted
Paige and others.[3]
2.3.4 BAW lters
BAW (bulk acoustic wave) lters are electromechanical
devices. BAW lters can implement ladder or lattice l-
ters. BAW lters typically operate at frequencies from
around 2 to around 16 GHz, and may be smaller or thin-
ner than equivalent SAW lters. Two main variants of
4 5 CLASSIFICATION BY DESIGN METHODOLOGY

BAW lters are making their way into devices: thin-lm lter technology can be further classied by the particular
bulk acoustic resonator or FBAR and solid mounted bulk electronic lter topology used to implement them.
acoustic resonators. Any given lter transfer function may be implemented in
any electronic lter topology.
2.3.5 Garnet lters Some common circuit topologies are:

Main article: YIG sphere Cauer topology passive

SallenKey topology active
Another method of ltering, at microwave frequencies
from 800 MHz to about 5 GHz, is to use a synthetic single Multiple Feedback topology active
crystal yttrium iron garnet sphere made of a chemical
combination of yttrium and iron (YIGF, or yttrium iron State Variable Topology active
garnet lter). The garnet sits on a strip of metal driven Biquadratic topology biquad lter active
by a transistor, and a small loop antenna touches the top
of the sphere. An electromagnet changes the frequency
that the garnet will pass. The advantage of this method is
that the garnet can be tuned over a very wide frequency
5 Classication by design method-
by varying the strength of the magnetic eld. ology

2.3.6 Atomic lters Historically, linear analog lter design has evolved
through three major approaches. The oldest designs are
For even higher frequencies and greater precision, the simple circuits where the main design criterion was the
vibrations of atoms must be used. Atomic clocks use Q factor of the circuit. This reected the radio receiver
caesium masers as ultra-high Q lters to stabilize their application of ltering as Q was a measure of the fre-
primary oscillators. Another method, used at high, xed quency selectivity of a tuning circuit. From the 1920s l-
frequencies with very weak radio signals, is to use a ruby ters began to be designed from the image point of view,
maser tapped delay line. mostly being driven by the requirements of telecommu-
nications. After World War II the dominant methodol-
ogy was network synthesis. The higher mathematics used
originally required extensive tables of polynomial coef-
3 The transfer function cient values to be published but modern computer re-
sources have made that unnecessary.[4]
see also Filter (signal processing) for further
analysis
5.1 Direct circuit analysis
The transfer function H(s) of a lter is the ratio of the
Low order lters can be designed by directly applying
output signal Y (s) to that of the input signal X(s) as a
basic circuit laws such as Kirchhos laws to obtain the
function of the complex frequency s :
transfer function. This kind of analysis is usually only
carried out for simple lters of 1st or 2nd order.
Y (s)
H(s) =
X(s)

with s = + j .
The transfer function of all linear time-invariant lters,
when constructed of discrete components, will be the ra-
tio of two polynomials in s , i.e. a rational function of
s . The order of the transfer function will be the highest
power of s encountered in either the numerator or the
denominator.

4 Classication by topology
Electronic lters can be classied by the technology used RL lter frequency response
to implement them. Filters using passive lter and active

5.2 Image impedance analysis
Main article: Composite image lters
This approach analyses the lter sections from the point
of view of the lter being in an innite chain of identical
sections. It has the advantages of simplicity of approach
and the ability to easily extend to higher orders. It has the
disadvantage that accuracy of predicted responses relies
on lter terminations in the image impedance, which is
usually not the case.[5]
Constant k lter response with 5 elements
Zobel network (constant R) lter, 5 sections
5.3 Network synthesis
Main article: Network synthesis lters
The network synthesis approach starts with a required
transfer function and then expresses that as a polynomial
equation of the input impedance of the lter. The actual
element values of the lter are obtained by continued-
fraction or partial-fraction expansions of this polynomial.
5
m-derived lter response, m=0.5, 2 elements
m-derived lter response, m=0.5, 5 elements
Unlike the image method, there is no need for impedance
matching networks at the terminations as the eects of
the terminating resistors are included in the analysis from
the start.[5]
Here is an image comparing Butterworth, Chebyshev, and
elliptic lters. The lters in this illustration are all fth-
order low-pass lters. The particular implementation
analog or digital, passive or active makes no dierence;
their output would be the same.
As is clear from the image, elliptic lters are sharper than
all the others, but they show ripples on the whole band-
width.
6 See also
Active lter
ADSL broadband lter
Analog lter
Audio crossover
Audio lter
6 7 NOTES, REFERENCES AND EXTERNAL LINKS

Butterworth Chebyshev type 1

[3] Ash, Eric A; E. Peter Raynes (December 2009). Edward
1 1 George Sydney Paige. 18 July 1930 20 February 2004
0.8 0.8 (PDF). Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal So-
0.6 0.6 ciety. 55: 185200. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2009.0009.
0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2 [4] Bray, J, Innovation and the Communications Revolution,

0 0 Institute of Electrical Engineers
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Chebyshev type 2 Elliptic [5] Matthaei, Young, Jones Microwave Filters, Impedance-
1 1
Matching Networks, and Coupling Structures McGraw-Hill
0.8 0.8 1964
0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4
Zverev, Anatol, I (1969). Handbook of
0.2 0.2
Filter Synthesis. John Wiley & Sons.
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 ISBN 0-471-98680-1. Catalog of passive
lter types and component values. The
Bible for practical electronic lter design.
Broadband lter Williams, Arthur B; Taylor, Fred J
(1995). Electronic Filter Design Hand-
Cascaded integrator-comb lter book. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-
070441-4.
Comb lter
National Semiconductor AN-779 (TI
Image lters SNOA224a) application note describing
analog lter theory
Digital lter
Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering
Distributed element lter and Electronics Detailed explanation of
all types of lters
Filter (signal processing)
BAW lters (in French; PDF)
Linear lter Some Interesting Filter Design Congu-
rations & Transformations
Non-linear lter
Analog Filters for Data Conversion
Network synthesis lters

Nyquist lter

Passive lter

Q factor

Resonance

RF and microwave lter

Spurline

Switched-capacitor lter

Tone control circuits

Voltage-controlled lter

7 Notes, references and external

links
[1] Dzhankhotov V., Hybrid LC lter for power electronic
drives: Theory and Implementation, 2009

[2] The American Radio Relay League, Inc.: The ARRL

Handbook, 1968 page 50
 7

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text
Electronic lter Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_filter?oldid=765075255 Contributors: The Anome, Heron, Michael
Hardy, Egil, Julesd, Smack, Omegatron, Twang, Robbot, Hankwang, Wolfkeeper, AJim, Jorge Stol, FrozenUmbrella, ELApro, Ted-
Pavlic, ArnoldReinhold, Kanzure, Femto, Bobo192, Billymac00, Timl, Hooperbloob, Anthony Appleyard, Atlant, Keenan Pepper, PAR,
Gene Nygaard, BD2412, Rjwilmsi, Mintie, Ground Zero, Fresheneesz, YurikBot, Arado, Shaddack, Emersoni, Zwobot, Gadget850, Jeh,
Kkmurray, Light current, Deville, Maddog Battie, Ninly, Arthur Rubin, Reyk, Poulpy, That Guy, From That Show!, SmackBot, Evening-
mist, Steve carlson, Eskimbot, Katanzag, Lindosland, Oli Filth, Jlochoap, Dethme0w, Dicklyon, Kvng, DabMachine, Chetvorno, Zureks,
Myasuda, Flowerpotman, The real dan, Dancter, Quibik, Juansempere, Omicronpersei8, Sobreira, Sturm55, Escarbot, Salgueiro~enwiki,
Paulbalegend, JAnDbot, Elspec, Nicolaasuni, Balamw, Catslash, Bloublou, Baccyak4H, Jim.henderson, Victuallers, TXiKiBoT, Rei-bot,
Aymatth2, Lgrove, Inductiveload, Swagato Barman Roy, Spinningspark, AlleborgoBot, BotMultichill, Pkgx, Reinderien, Henry Delforn
(old), Stoneygirl45, ClueBot, Binksternet, Gggh, Addbot, Non-dropframe, LaaknorBot, Redheylin, Lightbot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Ptbot-
gourou, Amirobot, Mmxx, AnomieBOT, Sz-iwbot, Materialscientist, Citation bot, PsySquirrel, Xqbot, RibotBOT, Nedim Ardoa, Mn-
mngb, Maitchy, Chjoaygame, Jnthn0898, Knoppson, , Jerrypaulmorgan, Reidh21234, WillNess, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, EmausBot,
Dcirovic, SporkBot, ClueBot NG, Xsamim, ChrisGualtieri, Ajv39, JYBot, FoCuSandLeArN, CsDix, Monkbot, Kartoelsalat275, Kas-
parBot, Babymissfortune, Laeeq Yousaf and Anonymous: 117

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