Transfer Functions

• Transfer functions defined

• Examples
• System stability
• Pole-Zero Plots
• Sinusoidal steady-state analysis
• Linearity and time invariance defined
• Transfer function synthesis

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Transfer Functions Ver. 1.67 1
 Transfer Functions
Assume zero initial conditions.
N
 M

dk y(t) dk x(t)
ak = bk
dtk dtk
k=0 k=0
N
 M

ak sk Y (s) = bk sk X(s)
k=0 k=0
N
 M

Y (s) ak sk = X(s) bk sk
k=0 k=0
 
M k
k=0 bk s
Y (s) = N X(s) = H(s)X(s)
k
k=0 ak s

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 Initial Conditions
Assume zero initial conditions.
N
 M

dk y(t) dk x(t)
ak = bk
dtk dtk
k=0 k=0
N
 M

ak sk Y (s) = bk sk X(s)
k=0 k=0

• All voltages and currents are due to independent sources

(superposition)
• Energy stored in capacitors and inductors also act like independent
sources
• We will now focus a specific class of circuits
– Only one independent source (input)
– No energy stored in capacitors or inductors
• Greatly simplifies analysis

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 Transfer Functions Continued
 
M k
k=0 bk s
Y (s) = N X(s) = H(s)X(s)
k
k=0 ak s

• In the time domain, the relationship can be complicated

• In the s domain, the relationship of Y (s) to X(s) of LTI systems
simplifies to a rational function of s
• H(s) is usually a rational ratio of two polynomials
• H(s) is called the transfer function
• Specifically, the transfer function of an LTI system can be defined
as the ratio of Y (s) to X(s)
• Usually denoted by H(s), sometimes G(s)
• Without loss of generality, usually aN  1

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 Example 1: Transfer Function vs. Impulse Response
Fill in the missing parts to determine how the transfer function of an
LTI system G(s) is related to the impulse response h(t)
x(t) = δ(t) X(s) =
y(t) = Y (s) =
L {h(t)} = L−1 {G(s)} =

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 Transfer Functions and the Impulse Response

x(t) h(t) y(t) x(t) H(s) y(t)

• Because of their relationship, both H(s) and h(t) completely

characterize the LTI system
• If the LTI system is a circuit, once you know either H(s) or h(t),
you have sufficient information to calculate the output
• You now have three different approaches to solve for the output of
an LTI circuit
– y(t) = x(t) ∗ h(t)
– Solve for H(s), X(s), and then y(t) = L−1 {H(s) X(s)}
– Use Laplace transform circuit analysis to solve for the outputs
of interest
• All three have limitations, advantages, and disadvantages

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 Continous-Time Convolution Tradeoffs

x(t) h(t) y(t) x(t) H(s) y(t)

Continuous-time Convolution: y(t) = x(t) ∗ h(t)

• Advantages
– Can find solution for all t, not just t > 0
– Can be approximated using discrete-time convolution
• Disadvantages
– Cannot account for non-zero initial conditions, requires
complete x(t) and y(t)
– Can be difficult to write and solve integrals
– Can only be used for single-input single-output (SISO) systems
that have one independent source

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 Transfer Function Analysis Tradeoffs

x(t) h(t) y(t) x(t) H(s) y(t)

Transfer Function: y(t) = L−1 {H(s) X(s)}

• Advantages
– Reduces differential equation to an algebra problem
– Usually the easiest approach
– Easy to find the output for different input signals
• Disadvantages
– Can only solve for y(t) for t > 0
– Requires zero initial conditions
– Can only be used for SISO systems

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 Laplace Transform Circuit Analysis Tradeoffs

x(t) h(t) y(t) x(t) H(s) y(t)

Laplace Transform Circuit Analysis

• Advantages
– Elegant method of handling non-zero initial conditions
– Can handle multiple sources (multiple inputs) & can solve for
multiple outputs (any voltage or current) — MIMO systems
• Disadvantages
– Can only solve for y(t) for t > 0
– Cannot account for full history, x(t) for t < 0. Requires this
effect to be captured in the initial conditions
– Can be tedious
– Specific to application (circuits), we did not discuss
generalization to other types of systems

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 Example 6: Transfer Functions

vs(t) C vo(t)
-

Find the transfer function for the circuit above. The input is the
voltage source vs (t) and the output is labeled vo (t).

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 Example 7: Transfer Functions

+
vs(t)
vo(t)
-

Find the transfer function for the circuit above. Do you recognize this
function?

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 Example 8: Transfer Functions

+
vs(t)
vo(t)
-

Find the transfer function for the circuit above. Do you recognize this
function?

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 Example 9: Transfer Functions

CB

CA RB

RA

+
vs(t)
vo(t)
RL
-

Find the transfer function for the circuit above.

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 Example 9: Workspace

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 Example 10: Transfer Functions

+ vR(t) - + vL(t) -

R L
+

vs(t) C vC(t)
-

Find the transfer function from the input voltage to an output voltage
across each element of the three passive elements in a series RLC
circuit.

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 Example 10: Workspace

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 Poles and Stability
Assume all of the poles in a transfer function H(s) are unique. Then
H(s) can be written as follows using partial fraction expansion:
N
N (s)  k
H(s) = =
D(s) s − p
=1
N

L−1 {H(s)} = h(t) = k e+p t u(t)
=1

• Note the expansion is in terms of the poles, rather than −p

∞
• If −∞ |h(t)| dt < ∞, the LTI system is bounded-input
bounded-output (BIBO) stable
• That is |h(t)| < α < ∞ for all t
• h(t) is bounded if Re{p } < 0 for all 
• The system is BIBO stable if and only if all the poles are in the
left half of the complex plane

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 Pole-Zero Plots
N (s)
H(s) =
D(s)
• Zeros: roots of N (s)
• Poles: roots of D(s)
• Poles must be in the left half plane for the system to be stable
• As the poles get closer to the boundary, the system becomes less
stable
• Pole-Zero Plot: plot of the zeros and poles on the complex s
plane
• You will use these throughout the junior sequence (ECE 32x)

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 Example 11: Pole-Zero Plots
Use MATLAB to generate a Pole-Zero plot for a system with the
following transfer function
s2 − 1
H(s) = 3
s + 4s2 + 6s + 4
Using the MATLAB, we can quickly find the roots
(s + 1)(s − 1)
H(s) =
(s + 2)(s + 1 − j)(s + 1 + j)
Is the system stable? The pole-zero plot, impulse response, and step
response are shown on the following slides.

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 Example 11: Pole-Zero Plot
Pole−Zero Plot
1.5

0.5
Imaginary Axis

−0.5

−1

−1.5
−3 −2.5 −2 −1.5 −1 −0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Real Axis

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 Example 11: MATLAB Code for Pole-Zero Plot
sys = tf([1 0 -1],[1 4 6 4]);

figure;
[p,z] = pzmap(sys);
h = plot(real(p),imag(p),’bx’,real(z),imag(z),’ro’);
set(h,’LineWidth’,1.2);
set(h,’MarkerSize’,5);
hold on;
plot([0 0],[-2 2],’k:’,[-3 2],[0 0],’k:’);
hold off;
xlabel(’Real Axis’);
ylabel(’Imaginary Axis’);
title(’Pole-Zero Plot’);
axis([-3 2 -1.5 1.5]);

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 Example 11: Impulse Response
Impulse Response

0.8

0.6

0.4
h(t)

0.2

−0.2

−0.4

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time (seconds)

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 Example 11: MATLAB Code for Impulse Response
sys = tf([1 0 -1],[1 4 6 4]);

figure;
t = 0:0.01:7;
[h,t] = impulse(sys,t);
h = plot(t,h);
set(h,’LineWidth’,1.5);
hold on;
plot([0 0],[-2 2],’k:’,[0 max(t)],[0 0],’k:’);
hold off;
axis([0 max(t) -0.5 1.2]);
xlabel(’Time (seconds)’);
ylabel(’h(t)’);
title(’Impulse Response’);

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Transfer Functions Ver. 1.67 23
 Example 11: Step Response
Step Response

0.1

−0.1
y(t)

−0.2

−0.3

−0.4

−0.5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time (seconds)

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 Example 11: MATLAB Code for Step Response
sys = tf([1 0 -1],[1 4 6 4]);

figure;
t = 0:0.01:7;
[h,t] = step(sys,t);
h = plot(t,h);
set(h,’LineWidth’,1.5);
hold on;
plot([0 0],[-2 2],’k:’,[0 max(t)],[0 0],’k:’);
hold off;
axis([0 max(t) -0.5 0.2]);
xlabel(’Time (seconds)’);
ylabel(’y(t)’);
title(’Step Response’);

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Transfer Functions Ver. 1.67 25
 Steady-State Sinusoidal Analysis
Assume a system H(s) is BIBO stable. Consider a sinusoidal input
x(t) = A cos(ωt + φ)
= A cos(φ) cos(ωt) − A sin(φ) sin(ωt)
L s
cos(ωt) ⇐⇒
s2 + ω 2
L ω
sin(ωt) ⇐⇒
s2 + ω 2    
s ω
X(s) = A cos(φ) 2 − A sin(φ) 2
s + ω2 s + ω2
A [s cos(φ) − ω sin(φ)]
=
s2 + ω 2
Y (s) = H(s)X(s)
A [s cos(φ) − ω sin(φ)]
Y (s) = H(s)
s2 + ω 2

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 Steady-State Sinusoidal Analysis Continued

A [s cos(φ) − ω sin(φ)]
Y (s) = H(s)
s2 + ω 2
N
k k∗ k
= + +
s − jω s + jω s + p
=1
N

y(t) = 2|k| cos(ωt + ∠k)u(t) + k e−pt u(t)
=1
= yss (t) + ytr (t)
yss (t) = lim y(t)
t→∞
= 2|k| cos(ωt + ∠k)

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 Steady-State Sinusoidal Analysis Comments
If x(t) = A cos(ωt + φ),
yss (t) = lim y(t) = 2|k| cos(ωt + ∠k)
t→∞

• If the input to an LTI system is sinusoidal,

– The steady-state output is sinusoidal at the same frequency
– The amplitude and phase of y(t) differ from that of x(t)
• We applied this idea when we did phasor analysis
• But how is k related to H(s), A, and φ?

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 Solving for the Complex Residue

A (s cos φ − ω sin φ)
Y (s) = H(s)
s2 + ω 2
N
k k∗ k
= + +
s − jω s + jω s + p
=1

A [s cos(φ) − ω sin(φ)]
k = H(s)
s + jω s=+jω
A [jω cos(φ) − ω sin(φ)]
= H(jω)
2jω
A [cos(φ) + j sin(φ)]
= H(jω)
2
= 12 H(jω)A ejφ

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 Sinusoidal Steady-State Output
Since H(jω) is complex, we can write it in polar form as

H(jω) = |H(jω)| ej∠H(jω)

Then using the results of the previous slide, we have

k = 12 H(jω)A ejφ = 12 |H(jω)|A ej(φ+∠H(jω))

|k| = 12 |H(jω)|A ∠k = φ + ∠H(jω)

yss (t) = 2|k| cos(ωt + ∠k)

= |H(jω)|A cos (ωt + φ + ∠H(jω))

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 Sinusoidal Steady-State Output

x(t) H(s) y(t)

x(t) = A cos(ωt + φ)
yss (t) = |H(jω)|A cos (ωt + φ + ∠H(jω))
• The input is sinusoidal
• The steady-state signal yss (t) is also a sinusoid
– Same frequency as x(t): ω
– Amplitude is scaled by |H(jω)|
– The phase is shifted by ∠H(jω)
• If we know H(s), we can easily find the steady-state solution for
any sinusoidal input signal

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 Example 12: Steady-State Sinusoidal Analysis

vs(t) C vo(t)
-

Find the steady-state sinusoidal response to an input voltage of

vs (t) = cos(ωt).

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 Example 12: Workspace

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 Steady-State Sinusoidal Analysis Comments
• We will study this in depth shortly
• There is analytical significance to how the magnitude and phase of
H(s) vary with s = jω

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 LTI Systems

x(t) h(t) y(t) x(t) H(s) y(t)

• If we know the transfer function, we have sufficient information to

calculate the output for any input
• This enables us to treat the circuit more abstractly as H(s)
• The transfer function may be for another type of system:
mechanical, chemical, hydraulic, etc.
• Mathematically they are treated the same
• Field-specific analysis is used only to find H(s)

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 ; ; k
Example 13: Transfer Function Analysis

x(t)
m
b

y(t)

Find the transfer function for the linear system shown above. The
external force x(t) is the input to the system and the displacement
y(t) is the output. Find the transfer function.

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 Transfer Function Synthesis

x(t) h(t) y(t) x(t) H(s) y(t)

• Thus far we have talked only about circuit analysis

• We now know several ways to solve for the output of a given
system
• If there are zero initial conditions, then we can find the transfer
function H(s) of a given circuit
• Now we will discuss how to design a circuit that implements a
given H(s)
• This is called transfer function synthesis
• There are many circuits that have the same transfer function

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 Cascade Transfer Function Synthesis

x(t) H1(s) H2(s) HP(s) y(t)

N (s)
H(s) = = H1 (s) × H2 (s) × · · · × HP (s)
D(s)
• There are many approaches to transfer function synthesis
• Will discuss how to specify H(s) to meet the requirements for a
given application later this term
• The most common (and perhaps easiest) approach to synthesis is
to break H(s) up into 1st (real poles) or 2nd (complex poles)
order components
• Thus each component, Hi (s) has either a 1st or 2nd order
polynomial in the numerator and denominator

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 Cascade Transfer Function Synthesis Continued

x(t) H1(s) H2(s) HP(s) y(t)

• There are robust, standard circuits for implementing these

low-order components
• The output of each transfer function is generated by an
operational amplifier
• This is essential for the cascade synthesis to work (will explain
later)
• Some of these 1st and 2nd order components are discussed in the
text (Chapter 15)
• Others can be found in more advanced analog circuits texts
• You will use cascade synthesis in the first lab for ECE 203

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Transfer Functions Ver. 1.67 39
 Summary
• Circuits with a single input (independent source) and zero initial
conditions can be represented generically by their transfer
functions
• H(s) is the Laplace transform of the system impulse response
• The output of the system is y(t) = L−1 {H(s)X(s)} for any
causal input signal (x(t) = 0 for t < 0)
• For sinusoidal inputs, the output is also sinusoidal at the same
frequency but amplified by |H(jω)| and shifted in phase by
∠H(jω)
• Thus, transfer functions make sinusoidal steady-state analysis easy
• Generalization of phasors
• Transfer function analysis used for all types of LTI systems, not
just circuits
• Can synthesize a transfer function using a cascade of 1st and 2nd
order active circuits

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