Adam / Ria / Arvin / Ivan / Eufrasia LS-2 Which is more reliable filters using active or passive components ?

Modern active lters are superior in ltering performance, smaller in ph sical si!e, and more "e#i$le in application, compared to traditional passive lters using capacitors, inductors and/or resistors% &o'ever, the active lters are slightl inferior in cost and operating loss, compared to the passive lters, even at present% Active lters intended for po'er conditioning are also referred to as (active po'er lters,) (active po'er line conditioners,) (active po'er *ualit conditioners,) (self-commutated S+,s -static var compensators.,) etc% /he term (po'er conditioning) used in this paper has much $roader meanings than the term (harmonic ltering%) In other 'ords, the po'er conditioning is not conned to harmonic ltering, $ut it contains harmonic damping, harmonic isolation, harmonic termination, reactivepo'er control for po'er factor correction and voltage regulation, load $alancing, voltage-"ic0er reduction, and/or their com$inations% Active filters have three main advantages over passive filters1 Inductors can $e avoided% 2assive filters 'ithout inductors cannot o$tain a high 3 -lo' damping., $ut 'ith them are often large and e#pensive -at lo' fre*uencies., ma have significant internal resistance, and ma pic0 up surrounding electromagnetic signals% /he shape of the response, the 3 -3ualit factor., and the tuned fre*uenc can often $e set easil $ var ing resistors, in some filters one parameter can $e ad4usted 'ithout affecting the others% +aria$le inductances for lo' fre*uenc filters are not practical%

/he amplifier po'ering the filter can $e used to $uffer the filter from the electronic components it drives or is fed from, variations in 'hich could other'ise significantl affect the shape of the fre*uenc response%

What are the advantage/ disadvantage if filters (either low, high and bandpass) use inductors or capacitor and active components.

Band Pass Filters /he cut-off fre*uenc or 5c point in a simple R, passive filter can $e accuratel controlled using 4ust a single resistor in series 'ith a non-polari!ed capacitor, and depending upon 'hich 'a around the are connected either a lo' pass or a high pass filter is o$tained% 6ne simple use for these t pes of filters is in audio amplifier applications or circuits such as in loudspea0er crossover filters or pre-amplifier tone controls% Sometimes it is necessar to onl pass a certain range of fre*uencies that do not $egin at 7&!, -8,. or end at some high fre*uenc point $ut are 'ithin a certain fre*uenc $and, either narro' or 'ide% 9 connecting or :cascading: together a single Low Pass Filter circuit 'ith a High Pass Filter circuit, 'e can produce another t pe of passive R, filter that passes a selected range or :$and: of fre*uencies that can $e either narro' or 'ide 'hile attenuating all those outside of this range% /his ne' t pe of passive filter arrangement produces a fre*uenc selective filter 0no'n commonl as a Band Pass Filter or BPFfor short% Band Pass Filter Circuit

;nli0e a low pass filter that onl pass signals of a lo' fre*uenc range or a high pass filter 'hich pass signals of a higher fre*uenc range, a Band Pass Filters passes signals 'ithin a certain :$and: or :spread: of fre*uencies 'ithout distorting the input signal or introducing e#tra noise% /his $and of fre*uencies can $e an 'idth and is commonl 0no'n as the filters Bandwidth% 9and'idth is defined as the fre*uenc range $et'een t'o specified fre*uenc cut-off points - 5c ., that are <d9 $elo' the ma#imum centre or resonant pea0 'hile attenuating or 'ea0ening the others outside of these t'o points%

/hen for 'idel spread fre*uencies, 'e can simpl define the term :$and'idth:, 9= as $eing the difference $et'een the lo'er cut-off fre*uenc - 5cL6=ER . and the higher cut-off fre*uenc - 5c&I>&ER . points% In other 'ords, 9= ? 5& - 5L% ,learl for a pass $and filter to function correctl , the cut-off fre*uenc of the lo' pass filter must $e higher than the cut-off fre*uenc for the high pass filter% /he :ideal: Band Pass Filter can also $e used to isolate or filter out certain fre*uencies that lie 'ithin a particular $and of fre*uencies, for e#ample, noise cancellation% 9and pass filters are 0no'n generall as second-order filters, -t'o-pole. $ecause the have :t'o: reactive component, the capacitors, 'ithin their circuit design% 6ne capacitor in the lo' pass circuit and another capacitor in the high pass circuit% Frequency Response of a 2nd Order Band Pass Filter.

/he Bode Plot or fre*uenc response curve a$ove sho's the characteristics of the $and pass filter% &ere the signal is attenuated at lo' fre*uencies 'ith the output increasing at a slope of @27d9/8ecade -Ad9/6ctave. until the fre*uenc reaches the :lo'er cut-off: point 5L% At this

fre*uenc the output voltage is again B/C2 ? D7%DE of the input signal value or !dB -27 log -+out/+in.. of the input% /he output continues at ma#imum gain until it reaches the :upper cut-off: point 5& 'here the output decreases at a rate of -27d9/8ecade -Ad9/6ctave. attenuating an high fre*uenc signals% /he point of ma#imum output gain is generall the geometric mean of the t'o -<d9 value $et'een the lo'er and upper cut-off points and is called the :,entre Fre*uenc : or :Resonant 2ea0: value 5r% /his geometric mean value is calculated as $eing 5r 2 ? 5-;22ER. # 5-L6=ER.% A $and pass filter is regarded as a second-order -t'o-pole. t pe filter $ecause it has :t'o: reactive components 'ithin its circuit structure, then the phase angle 'ill $e t'ice that of the previousl seen first-order filters, ie "#$o% /he phase angle of the output signal L%&'( that of the input $ )*$o up to the centre or resonant fre*uenc , 5r point 'ere it $ecomes :!ero: degrees -7o. or :in-phase: and then changes to L&+ the input $ *$o as the output fre*uenc increases% /he upper and lo'er cut-off fre*uenc points for a $and pass filter can $e found using the same formula as that for $oth the lo' and high pass filters, For e#ample%

/hen clearl , the 'idth of the pass $and of the filter can $e controlled $ the positioning of the t'o cut-off fre*uenc points of the t'o filters% %,a-ple .o". A second-order /and pass filter is to $e constructed using R, components that 'ill onl allo' a range of fre*uencies to pass a$ove B0&! -B,777&!. and $elo' <70&! -<7,777&!.% Assuming that $oth the resistors have values of B70GHs, calculate the values of the t'o capacitors re*uired% 0he High Pass Filter (tage. /he value of the capacitor ,B re*uired to give a cut-off fre*uenc 5L of B0&! 'ith a resistor value ofB70G is calculated as1

/hen, the values of RB and ,B re*uired for the high pass stage to give a cut-off fre*uenc of B%70&! are, RB ? B70GHs and ,B ? BInF% 0he Low Pass Filter (tage.

/he value of the capacitor ,2 re*uired to give a cut-off fre*uenc 5& of <70&! 'ith a resistor value ofB70G is calculated as1

/hen, the values of R2 and ,2 re*uired for the lo' pass stage to give a cut-off fre*uenc of <70&! are, R ? B70GHs and , ? IB7pF% &o'ever, the nearest preferred value of the calculated capacitor value of IB7pF is IA7pF so this is used instead% =ith the values of $oth the resistances RB and R2 given as B70G, and the t'o values of the capacitors,B and ,2 found for $oth the high pass and lo' pass filters as BInF and IA7pF respectivel , then the circuit for our simple passive Band Pass Filter is given as%

Co-pleted Band Pass Filter Circuit

Resonant Frequency. =e can also calculate the :Resonant: or :,entre Fre*uenc : -5r. point of the $and pass filter 'ere the output gain is at its ma#imum or pea0 value% /his pea0 value is not the arithmetic average of the upper and lo'er -<d9 cut-off points as ou might e#pect $ut is in fact the :geometric: or mean value% /his geometric mean value is calculated as $eing 5r 2 ? 5c-;22ER. # 5c-L6=ER. for e#ample1

Centre Frequency %quation

=here, 5r is the resonant or centre fre*uenc 5L is the lo'er -<d9 cut-off fre*uenc point

5& is the upper -<d$ cut-off fre*uenc point and in our simple e#ample a$ove, the calculated cut-off fre*uencies 'ere found to $e 5L ? B,7A7 &!and 5& ? 2J,K27 &! using the filter values% /hen $ su$stituting these values into the a$ove e*uation gives a central resonant fre*uenc of1

Band Pass Filter (u--ary A Band pass Filter can $e made $ cascading together a Low Pass Filter and a High Pass Filter 'ith the fre*uenc range $et'een the lo'er and upper -<d9 cut-off points $eing 0no' as the filters :9and'idth:% /he centre or resonant fre*uenc point is the geometric mean of the lo'er and upper cut-off points% At this centre fre*uenc the output signal is at its ma#imum and the phase shift of the output signal is the same as the input signal% /he amplitude of the output signal from a $and pass filter or an passive R, filter for that matter, 'ill al'a s $e less than that of the input signal% In other 'ords a passive filter is also an attenuator giving a voltage gain of less than B -;nit .% /o provide an output signal 'ith a voltage gain greater than unit , some form of amplification is re*uired 'ithin the design of the circuit% A Passive Band Pass Filter is classed as a second-order t pe filter $ecause it has t'o reactive components 'ithin its design, the capacitors% It is made up from t'o single R, filter circuits that are each first-order filters themselves% If more filters are cascaded together the resulting circuit 'ill $e 0no'n as an :n th-order: filter 'here the :n: stands for the num$er of individual reactive components and therefore poles 'ithin the filter circuit% For e#ample, filters can $e a 2 nd-order, Kth-order, B7th-order, etc% /he higher the filters order the steeper 'ill $e the slope at n times -27d9/decade% &o'ever, a single

capacitor value made $ com$ining together t'o or more individual capacitors is still one capacitor% 6ur e#ample a$ove sho's the output fre*uenc response curve for an :ideal: $and pass filter 'ith constant gain in the pass $and and !ero gain in the stop $ands% In practice the fre*uenc response of this 9and 2ass Filter circuit 'ould not $e the same as the input reactance of the high pass circuit 'ould affect the fre*uenc response of the lo' pass circuit -components connected in series or parallel. and vice versa% 6ne 'a of overcoming this 'ould $e to provide some form of electrical isolation $et'een the t'o filter circuits as sho'n $elo'%

Buffering 1ndividual Filter (tages

6ne 'a of com$ining amplification and filtering into the same circuit 'ould $e to use an 6perational Amplifier or 6p-amp, and e#amples of these are given in the Operational &-plifier section% In the ne#t tutorial 'e 'ill loo0 at filter circuits 'hich use an operational amplifier 'ithin their design to not onl to introduce gain $ut provide isolation $et'een stages% /hese t pes of filter arrangements are generall 0no'n as &ctive Filters%