ACTIVE FILTERS

Filters are electronic circuits that allow certain frequency components

and / or reject some other.

They are passive and are the electric circuits or networks that consist of
passive elements like resistor, capacitor, and (or) an inductor.

Types of Active Filters

Active filters are the electronic circuits, which consist of active element like op-
amp(s) along with passive elements like resistor(s) and capacitor(s).

Active filters are mainly classified into the following four types based on the band of
frequencies that they are allowing and / or rejecting −

 Active Low Pass Filter

 Active High Pass Filter

 Active Band Pass Filter

 Active Band Stop Filter

 Chebyshev filter – peaking/ripple in the passband before the corner;

Q>0.7071 for 2nd-order filters.
 Butterworth filter – maximally flat amplitude response; Q=0.7071 for 2nd-order
filters
 Legendre–Papoulis filter – trades off some flatness in the passband, though
still monotonic, for a steeper fall-off
 Linkwitz–Riley filter – desirable properties for audio crossover applications,
fastest rise time with no overshoot; Q = 0.5 (critically damped)
 Paynter or transitional Thompson-Butterworth or "compromise" filter – faster
fall-off than Bessel; Q=0.639 for 2nd-order filters
 Bessel filter – maximally flat group delay; Q=0.577 for 2nd-order filters. It
provides good linear phase.
 Elliptic filter or Cauer filter – add a notch (or "zero") just outside the passband,
to give a much greater slope in this region than the combination of order and
damping ratio without the notch. The output is similar to the ideal filter(i.e.,
good flat response of both pass band and the stop band).
Active Low Pass Filter

If an active filter allows (passes) only low frequency components and rejects
(blocks) all other high frequency components, then it is called as an active low
pass filter.

The circuit diagram of an active low pass filter is shown in the following figure –

The electric network, which is connected to the non-inverting terminal of an op-amp

is a passive low pass filter. So, the input of a non-inverting terminal of an op amp
is the output of a passive low pass filter.

Observe that the above circuit resembles a non-inverting amplifier. It is having the
output of a passive low pass filter as an input to the non-inverting terminal of op-
amp. Hence, it produces an output, which is (1+Rf / R1) times the input present at
the non-inverting terminal.
We can choose the values of Rf and R1 suitably in order to obtain the desired
gain at the output. Suppose, if we consider the resistance values of Rf and R1 as
zero ohms and infinity ohms, then the above circuit will produce a unity gain low
pass filter output.
Active High Pass Filter

If an active filter allows (passes) only high frequency components and rejects
(blocks) all other low frequency components, then it is called an active high pass
filter.

The circuit diagram of an active high pass filter is shown in the following figure −

That the electric network, which is connected to the non-inverting terminal of an op-
amp is a passive high pass filter. So, the input of a non-inverting terminal of op
amp is the output of passive high pass filter.

Now, the above circuit resembles a non-inverting amplifier. It is having the output
of a passive high pass filter as an input to non-inverting terminal of op-amp. Hence,
it produces an output, which is (1+Rf / R1) times the input present at its non-
inverting terminal.
We can choose the values of Rf and R1 suitably in order to obtain the desired
gain at the output. Suppose, if we consider the resistance values of Rf and R1 as
zero ohms and infinity ohms, then the above circuit will produce a unity gain high
pass filter output.
The basic operation of an Active High Pass Filter (HPF) is the same as
for its equivalent RC passive high pass filter circuit, except this time the
circuit has an operational amplifier or included within its design providing
amplification and gain control.

Like the previous active low pass filter circuit, the simplest form of an active
high pass filter is to connect a standard inverting or non-inverting
operational amplifier to the basic RC high pass passive filter circuit as
shown.

First Order High Pass Filter

Technically, there is no such thing as an active high pass filter. Unlike

Passive High Pass Filters which have an “infinite” frequency response, the
maximum pass band frequency response of an active high pass filter is
limited by the open-loop characteristics or bandwidth of the operational
amplifier being used, making them appear as if they are band pass filters
with a high frequency cut-off determined by the selection of op-amp and
gain.
In the Operational Amplifier tutorial we saw that the maximum frequency
response of an op-amp is limited to the Gain/Bandwidth product or open
loop voltage gain ( A V ) of the operational amplifier being used giving it a
bandwidth limitation, where the closed loop response of the op amp
intersects the open loop response.
A commonly available operational amplifier such as the uA741 has a typical
“open-loop” (without any feedback) DC voltage gain of about 100dB
maximum reducing at a roll off rate of -20dB/Decade (-6db/Octave) as the
input frequency increases. The gain of the uA741 reduces until it reaches
unity gain, (0dB) or its “transition frequency” ( ƒt ) which is about 1MHz.
This causes the op-amp to have a frequency response curve very similar to
that of a first-order low pass filter and this is shown below.

Frequency response curve of a typical Operational Amplifier

Then the performance of a “high pass filter” at high frequencies is limited by

this unity gain crossover frequency which determines the overall bandwidth
of the open-loop amplifier. The gain-bandwidth product of the op-amp starts
from around 100kHz for small signal amplifiers up to about 1GHz for high-
speed digital video amplifiers and op-amp based active filters can achieve
very good accuracy and performance provided that low tolerance resistors
and capacitors are used.
Under normal circumstances the maximum pass band required for a closed
loop active high pass or band pass filter is well below that of the maximum
open-loop transition frequency. However, when designing active filter
circuits it is important to choose the correct op-amp for the circuit as the
loss of high frequency signals may result in signal distortion.

Active High Pass Filter

A first-order (single-pole) Active High Pass Filter as its name implies,
attenuates low frequencies and passes high frequency signals. It consists
simply of a passive filter section followed by a non-inverting operational
amplifier. The frequency response of the circuit is the same as that of the
passive filter, except that the amplitude of the signal is increased by the
gain of the amplifier and for a non-inverting amplifier the value of the pass
band voltage gain is given as 1 + R2/R1, the same as for the low pass filter
circuit.
Active High Pass Filter with Amplification

This first-order high pass filter, consists simply of a passive filter followed
by a non-inverting amplifier. The frequency response of the circuit is the
same as that of the passive filter, except that the amplitude of the signal is
increased by the gain of the amplifier.
For a non-inverting amplifier circuit, the magnitude of the voltage gain for
the filter is given as a function of the feedback resistor ( R2 ) divided by its
corresponding input resistor ( R1 ) value and is given as:

Gain for an Active High Pass Filter

 Where:
 AF = the Pass band Gain of the filter, ( 1 + R2/R1 )
 ƒ = the Frequency of the Input Signal in Hertz, (Hz)
 ƒc = the Cut-off Frequency in Hertz, (Hz)
Just like the low pass filter, the operation of a high pass active filter can be
verified from the frequency gain equation above as:

 1. At very low frequencies, ƒ < ƒc

 2. At the cut-off frequency, ƒ = ƒc

 3. At very high frequencies, ƒ > ƒc

Then, the Active High Pass Filter has a gain AF that increases from 0Hz to
the low frequency cut-off point, ƒC at 20dB/decade as the frequency
increases. At ƒC the gain is 0.707*AF, and after ƒC all frequencies are pass
band frequencies so the filter has a constant gain AF with the highest
frequency being determined by the closed loop bandwidth of the op-amp.
When dealing with filter circuits the magnitude of the pass band gain of the
circuit is generally expressed in decibels or dB as a function of the voltage
gain, and this is defined as:

Magnitude of Voltage Gain in (dB)

For a first-order filter the frequency response curve of the filter increases by
20dB/decade or 6dB/octave up to the determined cut-off frequency point
which is always at -3dB below the maximum gain value. As with the
previous filter circuits, the lower cut-off or corner frequency ( ƒc ) can be
found by using the same formula:
Active Band Pass Filter

If an active filter allows (passes) only one band of frequencies, then it is called as
an active band pass filter. In general, this frequency band lies between low
frequency range and high frequency range. So, active band pass filter rejects
(blocks) both low and high frequency components.

The circuit diagram of an active band pass filter is shown in the following figure

Observe that there are two parts in the circuit diagram of active band pass filter:
The first part is an active high pass filter, while the second part is an active low pass
filter.
The output of the active high pass filter is applied as an input of the active low pass
filter. That means, both active high pass filter and active low pass filter
are cascaded in order to obtain the output in such a way that it contains only a
particular band of frequencies.

The active high pass filter, which is present at the first stage allows the
frequencies that are greater than the lower cut-off frequency of the active band

pass filter. So, we have to choose the values of RB and CB suitably, to obtain the
desired lower cut-off frequency of the active band pass filter.
Similarly, the active low pass filter, which is present at the second stage allows
the frequencies that are smaller than the higher cut-off frequency of the active band

pass filter. So, we have to choose the values of RA and CA suitably in order to
obtain the desired higher cut-off frequency of the active band pass filter.

Hence, the circuit in the diagram discussed above will produce an active band pass
filter output.

Active Band Stop Filter

If an active filter rejects (blocks) a particular band of frequencies, then it is called as

an active band stop filter. In general, this frequency band lies between low
frequency range and high frequency range. So, active band stop filter allows
(passes) both low and high frequency components.

The block diagram of an active band stop filter is shown in the following figure −

Observe that the block diagram of an active band stop filter consists of two blocks in
its first stage: an active low pass filter and an active high pass filter. The outputs of
these two blocks are applied as inputs to the block that is present in the second
stage. So, the summing amplifier produces an output, which is the amplified
version of sum of the outputs of the active low pass filter and the active high pass
filter.

Therefore, the output of the above block diagram will be the output of an active
band stop , when we choose the cut-off frequency of low pass filter to be smaller
than cut-off frequency of a high pass filter.

The circuit diagram of an active band stop filter is shown in the following figure −

We have already seen the circuit diagrams of an active low pass filter, an active
high pass filter and a summing amplifier. Observe that we got the above circuit
diagram of active band stop filter by replacing the blocks with the respective circuit
diagrams in the block diagram of an active band stop filter.