FILTER

filter is a device that passes electric signals at certain frequencies or frequency ranges while preventing the passage of others. Electronic filters are electronic circuits which perform signal processing functions, specifically to remove unwanted frequency components from the signal, to enhance wanted ones, or both.

Passive

or active Analog or digital High pass, low pass, bandpass.

Combinations

of resistors (R), inductors (L) and capacitors (C) Do not depend upon an external power supply

RC

and RL filters, L-section, T-section and section

An active filter is a type of analog electronic filter. Combination of passive and active (amplifying) components, Require an outside power source. Op-amps are frequently used in active filter designs. These can have high Q factor and can achieve resonance without the use of inductors. However, their upper frequency limit is limited by the bandwidth of the amplifiers used.

Passive filter: 1. Using passive components such as resistors, capacitors , inductors etc 2. No power consumption. 3. low voltage gain. Active filter: 1. Using active components such as transistor, op amps etc 2. need power source 3. can have high voltage gain

PASSIVE FILTER

Speaker Power supply Filters in power distribution networks etc

ACTIVE FILTER

Instrumentation Communication Audio application Biomedical systems etc

 Inductors

block high-frequency signals and conduct low-frequency signals, Capacitors do the reverse. Resistors have no frequency-selective properties, but are added to inductors and capacitors to determine the time-constants of the circuit, and therefore the frequencies to which it responds.

 Passive

filter can be divided into three (3)

types: i. Low pass filter ii. High pass filter iii. Band pass filter

 Cut-off

frequency - a frequency level above or below which a device fails to respond or operate efficiently .the cutoff frequency reduces energy flow through the device and prevents it from working as designed. Frequency pass-band - The range of frequencies that can pass through the filter.

 Frequency

bandwidth - the frequency range between two specified frequency cut-off points (c), that are 3dB below the maximum centre or resonant peak while attenuating or weakening the others outside of these two points.

Consists of a resistor and capacitor . The capacitive reactance, (Xc) will be very large compared to the resistive value of the resistor, R

 As

a result the voltage across the capacitor, Vc will also be large while the voltage drop across the resistor, Vr will be much lower.
high frequencies the reverse is true with Vc being small and Vr being large.

At

filter in which the signal passes through an inductor, or in which a capacitor provides a path to ground, presents less attenuation to low-frequency signals than high-frequency signals

 = RC

Gain (dB) = 20 log Vout Vin

an input voltage across the series combination of a capacitor and a resistor and using the voltage across the resistor as an output.

 If

the signal passes through a capacitor, or has a path to ground through an inductor, then the filter presents less attenuation to high-frequency signals than low-frequency signals.

 The

circuit gain, Av which is given as Vout/Vin (magnitude) and is calculated as:

Gain (dB) = 20 log Vout Vin

By connecting or "cascading" together a single Low Pass Filter circuit with a High Pass Filter circuit, produces a Band Pass Filter. Band Pass Filters passes signals within a certain "band" or "spread" of frequencies without distorting the input signal or introducing extra noise.

This band of frequencies can be any width and is commonly known as the filters Bandwidth.
Bandwidth is defined as the frequency range between two specified frequency cut-off points (c), that are 3dB below the maximum centre or resonant peak while attenuating or weakening the others outside of these two points.

 BW

= H L The upper and lower cut-off frequency points for a band pass filter can be found using the same formula as that for both the low and high pass filters, For example.

High-pass filters attenuation of frequencies below their cut-off points. Low-pass filters attenuation of frequencies above their cut-off points. Band-pass filters attenuation of frequencies both above and below those they allow to pass.

1.

Explain the frequency response for the following filter below:i. Low pass filter ii. High pass filter iii. Bandpass filter

 The

Bode Plot shows the Frequency Response of the filter to be nearly flat for low frequencies and all of the input signal is passed directly to the output, resulting in a gain of nearly 1, called unity, until it reaches its Cut-off Frequency point ( c ).

 This

is because the reactance of the capacitor is high at low frequencies and blocks any current flow through the capacitor. After this cut-off frequency point the response of the circuit decreases giving a slope of -20dB/ Decade or (-6dB/Octave) "roll-off" as signals above this frequency become greatly attenuated, until at very high frequencies the reactance of the capacitor becomes so low that it gives the effect of a short circuit condition on the output terminals resulting in zero output.

 For

this type of Low Pass Filter circuit, all the frequencies below this cut-off, c point that are unaltered with little or no attenuation and are said to be in the filters Pass band zone. This pass band zone also represents the Bandwidth of the filter. Any signal frequencies above this point cut-off point are generally said to be in the filters Stop band zone and they will be greatly attenuated.