Fundamentals of

Electric Circuits
Chapter 14

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 Overview
• This chapter will introduce the idea of the
transfer function: a means of describing the
relationship between the input and output of a
circuit.
• Bode plots and their utility in describing the
frequency response of a circuit will also be
introduced.
• The concept of resonance as applied to LRC
circuits will be covered as well
• Finally, frequency filters will be discussed.

2
 Frequency Response
• Frequency response is the variation in a
circuit’s behavior with change in signal
frequency.
• This is significant for applications involving
filters.
• Filters play critical roles in blocking or
passing specific frequencies or ranges of
frequencies.
• Without them, it would be impossible to have
multiple channels of data in radio
communications.
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 Transfer Function
• One useful way to analyze the
frequency response of a Y ( w)
H ( w) =
circuit is the concept of the X (w)
transfer function H(ω).
• It is the frequency dependent
ratio of a forced function Y(ω)
to the forcing function X(ω).

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 Transfer Function
• There are four possible input/output
combinations:
Vo ( w )
H ( w ) = Voltage gain =
Vi ( w )
Io ( w )
H ( w ) = Current gain =
Ii ( w )
Vo ( w )
H ( w ) = Transfer impedance =
Ii ( w )
Io ( w )
H ( w ) = Transfer admittance =
Vi ( w )

5
 Zeros and Poles
• To obtain H(ω), we first convert to frequency
domain equivalent components in the circuit.
• H(ω) can be expressed as the ratio of
numerator N(ω) and denominator D(ω)
polynomials. N ( w)
H ( w) =
D(w)

• Zeros are where the transfer function goes to

zero.
• Poles are where it goes to infinity.
• They can be related to the roots of N(ω) and
D(ω)
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 Decibel Scale
• We will soon discuss Bode plots.
• These plots are based on logarithmic scales.
• The transfer function can be seen as an
expression of gain.
• Gain expressed in log form is typically
expressed in bels, or more commonly
decibels (1/10 of a bel)
P2
GdB = 10 log10
P1

7
 Bode Plots
• One problem with the transfer function is that
it needs to cover a large range in frequency.
• Plotting the frequency response on a semilog
plot (where the x axis is plotted in log form)
makes the task easier.
• These plots are referred to as Bode plots.
• Bode plots either show magnitude (in
decibels) or phase (in degrees) as a function
of frequency.

8
 Standard Form
• The transfer function may be written in terms of
factors with real and imaginary parts. For example:
K ( jw ) ( 1 + jw / z1 ) �
1 + j 2 1w / wk + (
jw / wk ) �
�1 2
L
� �
• This standardH ( wform
)=
may include the following
( 1 + jw / p1 ) �
1 + j 2 2w / wn + ( jw / wn ) �
�
2
L
�
seven factors in various combinations:
– A gain K
– A pole (jω)-1 or a zero (jω)
– A simple pole 1/(1+jω/p1) or a simple zero (1+jω/z1)
– A quadratic pole 1/[1+j2 2ω/ ωn+ (jω/ ωn)2] or zero 1/
[1+j2 1ω/ ωn+ (jω/ ωk)2]

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 Bode Plots
• In a bode plot, each of these factors is plotted
separately and then added graphically.
• Gain, K: the magnitude is 20log10K and the
phase is 0°. Both are constant with frequency.
• Pole/zero at the origin: For the zero (jω), the
slope in magnitude is 20 dB/decade and the
phase is 90°. For the pole (jω)-1 the slope in
magnitude is -20 dB/decade and the phase is
-90°

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 Bode Plots
• Simple pole/zero: For the simple zero, the
magnitude is 20log10|1+jω/z1| and the phase is tan-
1 ω/z .
1

• Where:

jw w
H dB = 20 log10 1 + � 20 log10
z1 z1
as w ��

• This can be approximated as a flat line and

sloped line that intersect at ω=z1.
• This is called the corner or break frequency

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 Bode Plots
• The phase can be plotted as a series straight
lines
• From ω=0 to ω≤z1/10, we let  =0
• At ω=z1 we let  =45°
• For ω≥10z1, we let  = 90°
• The pole is similar, except the corner
frequency is at ω=p1, the magnitude has a
negative slope

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 Bode Plots
• Quadratic pole/zero: The magnitude of the
quadratic pole 1/[1+j2 2ω/ ωn+ (jω/ ωn)2] is
-20log10 [1+j2 2ω/ ωn+ (jω/ ωn)2]
• This can be approximated as:
w
H dB �0 � -40 log10
as w �0 wn
as w ��

• Thus the magnitude plot will be two lines, one

with slope zero for ω<ωn and the other with
slope -40dB/decade, with ωn as the corner
frequency

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 Bode Plots
• The phase can be expressed as:
� 0 w=0
2 2w / wn � o
 = - tan -1 = �-90 w = wn
1 - w / wn
2 2
�
�-180 o
w ��

• This will be a straight line with slope of

-90°/decade starting at ωn/10 and ending at
10 ωn.
• For the quadratic zero, the plots are inverted.

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Bode Plots

15
Bode Plots

16
 Resonance
• The most prominent feature of the frequency
response of a circuit may be the sharp peak in
the amplitude characteristics.
• Resonance occurs in any system that has a
complex conjugate pair of poles.
• It enables energy storage in the firm of
oscillations
• It allows frequency discrimination.
• It requires at least one capacitor and inductor.

17
 Series Resonance
• A series resonant circuit
consists of an inductor and
capacitor in series.
• Consider the circuit shown.
• Resonance occurs when the
imaginary part of Z is zero.
• The value of ω that satisfies
this is called the resonant
frequency
1
w0 = rad/s
LC

18
 Series Resonance
• At resonance:
– The impedance is purely resistive
– The voltage Vs and the current I are in phase
– The magnitude of the transfer function is minimum.
– The inductor and capacitor voltages can be much more than
the source.
• There are two frequencies above and below
resonance where the dissipated power is half the
max:
2 2
R �R � 1 R �R � 1
w1 = - + � �+ w2 = + � �+
2L �2 L � LC 2L �2 L � LC

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 Quality Factor
• The “sharpness” of the resonance is
measured quantitatively by the quality factor,
Q.
• It is a measure of the peak energy stored
divided by the energy dissipated in one
period at resonance.
w0 L 1
Q= =
R w0CR

• It is also a measure of the ratio of the

resonant frequency to its bandwidth, B
R w0
B= =
L Q
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 Parallel Resonance
• The parallel RLC circuit shown
here is the dual of the series
circuit shown previously.
• Resonance here occurs when
the imaginary part of the
admittance is zero.
• This results in the same
resonant frequency as in the
series circuit.

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 Series Resonance
• The relevant equations for the parallel
resonant circuit are:
2 2
1 �1 � 1 1 �1 � 1
w1 = - + � �+ w2 = + � �+
2 RC �2 RC � LC 2 RC �2 RC � LC

1 R
B= Q = w0 RC =
RC w0 L

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 Passive Filters
• A filter is a circuit that is designed to pass
signals with desired frequencies and reject
or attenuate others.
• A filter is passive if it consists only of
passive elements, R, L, and C.
• They are very important circuits in that many
technological advances would not have been
possible without the development of filters.

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 Passive Filters
• There are four types of filters:
– Lowpass passes only low
frequencies and blocks high
frequencies.
– Highpass does the opposite of
lowpass
– Bandpass only allows a range of
frequencies to pass through.
– Bandstop does the opposite of
bandpass

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 Lowpass Filter
• A typical lowpass filter is formed
when the output of a RC circuit
is taken off the capacitor.
• The half power frequency is:
1
wc =
RC
• This is also referred to as the
cutoff frequency.
• The filter is designed to pass
from DC up to ωc

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 Highpass Filter
• A highpass filter is also
made of a RC circuit, with
the output taken off the
resistor.
• The cutoff frequency will be
the same as the lowpass
filter.
• The difference being that the
frequencies passed go from
ωc to infinity.

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 Bandpass Filter
• The RLC series resonant circuit
provides a bandpass filter when
the output is taken off the
resistor.
• The center frequency is:
1
w0 =
LC
• The filter will pass frequencies
from ω1 to ω2.
• It can also be made by feeding
the output from a lowpass to a
highpass filter.
27
 Bandstop Filter
• A bandstop filter can be
created from a RLC circuit by
taking the output from the LC
series combination.
• The range of blocked
frequencies will be the same
as the range of passed
frequencies for the bandpass
filter.

28
 Active Filters
• Passive filters have a few drawbacks.
– They cannot create gain greater than 1.
– They do not work well for frequencies below the
audio range.
– They require inductors, which tend to be bulky
and more expensive than other components.
• It is possible, using op-amps, to create all the
common filters.
• Their ability to isolate input and output also
makes them very desirable.

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 First Order Lowpass
• If the input and feedback
elements in an inverting
amplifier are selectively
replaced with capacitors, the
amplifier can act as a filter.
• If the feedback resistor is
replaced with a parallel RL
element, the amplifier becomes
a lowpass filter.
1
• The corner frequency will be: wc =
RC
f f

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 First Order Highpass
• Placing a series RL
combination in place of the
input resistor yields a
highpass filter.
• The corner frequency of the
filter will be:

1
wc =
Ri Ci

31
 Bandpass
• To avoid the use of an inductor, it is possible
to use a cascaded series of lowpass active
filter into a highpass active filter.
• To prevent unwanted signals passing, their
gains are set to unity, with a final stage for
amplification.

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 Bandreject
• Creating a bandstop filter requires using a
lowpass and highpass filter in parallel.
• Both output are fed into a summing amplifier.
• It will function by amplifying the desired
signals compared to the signal to be
rejected.

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