East Africa University

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

PULSE AND DIGITAL

CIRCUIT

Lecturer: Eng Abdulkadir Mohamed Daar

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 Filters Introduction
Filtering is the process of attenuating the unwanted signal or to
reproduce the selected portions of the frequency components of a
particular signal.
Filters are used extensively in communications applications to
either select a particular frequency of interest or to ignore (reject)
frequencies that may be interfering with your equipment.
• As the image of the antennas on the ship shows there are many
opportunities for interference to occur during the transmitting
and receiving of signals.
• This is where the filter comes in…

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 Filters
• Some Types:
• Passive filters(Linear Element) are those filters composed of series or parallel
combinations of R, L, and C elements.
• Low-Pass
• High-Pass
• Active filters(Non-Linear Element) are filters that employ active devices such
as transistors and operational amplifiers in combination with R, L, and C
elements.

• Some terms:
• Stop Band – are the frequencies that are
rejected.
• Pass Band – are the frequencies which are
accepted into the system.

Stop Band Pass Band

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 Filters
• Any frequency in the pass band will ‘pass’ through to the next
stage of the circuit with at least 70.7% of the maximum output
voltage.
• Recall the use of the 0.707 level to define the bandwidth of a
series or parallel resonant circuit (both with the general shape
of the pass-band filter).

Stop Band Pass Band

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 RC Low-Pass Filter
• Again, as the name would indicate, a low-pass filter (LPF)
will allow signals of some lower desired frequency to ‘pass’
into the circuit, but at the same time it rejects frequencies
above the cutoff frequency.
• The cutoff frequency is that point at which higher frequencies
are rejected.

Av is the normalized value of the ratio of Vo / Vi. The maximum value of Av is

1 and the cutoff frequency is defined at the 0.707 level.
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 RC Low-Pass Filter
• At very high frequencies the reactance (Xc) of the capacitor is very small
(and thus acts like a short) and can be it can be shown that Vo = 0V in this
case.
1
X C f HighH z   0
2 fC

• At very low frequencies the reactance (Xc) of the capacitor is very large
(thus acts like an open) and it can be shown that Vo = Vi in this case.
1
X C f 0 H z   
2 fC

• To summarize, the magnitude of the ratio of Vo to Vi can be found by:

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 High-Pass Filter
• A high-pass filter (HPF) allows signals of some higher desired
frequency to ‘pass’ into the circuit, but at the same time it
rejects frequencies below the cutoff frequency.
• The cutoff frequency is that point at which lower frequencies
are rejected.

RC High-Pass Filter

Av is the normalized value of the ratio of Vo / Vi. The maximum value of Av is

1 and the cutoff frequency is defined at the 0.707 level.
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 RC High-Pass Filter
• At very high frequencies the reactance (Xc) of the capacitor is very small
(and thus acts like a short) and can be it can be shown that Vo = Vi in this
case.
1
X C f HighH z   0
2 fC

• At very low frequencies the reactance (Xc) of the capacitor is very large
(thus acts like an open) and it can be shown that Vo = 0 in this case.
1
X C f 0 H z   
2 fC

• To summarize, the magnitude of the ratio of Vo to Vi can be found by:

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 Basic Low and High Pass
Filter Design
• For both a low pass and high pass filter response we can find
the inflection point called the cutoff frequency which is
simply: 1
fc 
2 *
• Where τ is the time constant we discussed in RC circuits:

 R * C
• Therefore, to find the cutoff frequency:

1
fc 
2 * RC

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 Comparison of HPF & LPF

High Pass Filter Low Pass Filter

Function Passes frequencies above cut-off frequency. Passes frequencies below the cut-off
frequency.

Circuit Design Capacitor in series with input, output Resistor in series with input, output
measured across resistor. measured across capacitor.

Usage Useful in removing low frequency noise Useful in removing aliasing effect.
from signal.

Operating Frequency Higher than the cut off frequency. Lower than the cut off frequency.

Applications Audio amplifiers, low noise amplifiers etc. Communications circuit as anti-aliasing
filter.

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11
QUESTIONS?

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 Low Pass Filter Example No1

• A Low Pass Filter circuit consisting of a resistor of 4k7Ω in series with a

capacitor of 47nF is connected across a 10v sinusoidal supply. Calculate
the output voltage ( VOUT ) at a frequency of 100Hz and again at frequency
of 10,000Hz or 10kHz.
• Voltage Output at a Frequency of 100Hz.

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 Low Pass Filter Example No1

• Voltage Output at a Frequency of 10,000Hz (10kHz).

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 High Pass Filter Example No1

• Calculate the cut-off or “breakpoint” frequency ( ƒc )

for a simple passive high pass filter consisting of
an 82pF capacitor connected in series with
a 240kΩ resistor.

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Capacitive Reactance Example
No1
Calculate the capacitive reactance value of a 220nF capacitor at a
frequency of 1kHz and again at a frequency of 20kHz.
At a frequency of 1kHz

Again at a frequency of 20kHz:

where: ƒ = frequency in Hertz and C = capacitance in Farads

At which frequency would a 2.2uF Capacitor have a

reactance value of 200Ωs?

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The value of the capacitor C1 required to give a cut-off
frequency ƒ of 1kHz with a resistor value of 10kΩ is calculated as :
L

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 Question 1

• A Low Pass Filter circuit consisting of a resistor

of 4.5Ω in series with a capacitor of 47nF is
connected across a 10v sinusoidal supply. Calculate
the output voltage ( VOUT ) at a frequency of 200Hz
and again at frequency of 20,000Hz or 20kHz.
• 1. Find The Voltage Output at a Frequency of 200Hz.
• 2. Find The Voltage Output at a Frequency of 20 KHz.

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 Question 2

• Calculate the cut-off or “breakpoint” frequency ( ƒc )

for a simple passive high pass filter consisting of
an 82pF capacitor connected in series with
a 300kΩ resistor.
• F=1/2*3.14*(3*10^5)80*10^-9= 6.6HZ

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 QUESTIONS: 1

Student presentations in the classroom

Topic:
Applications of
Linear wave shape filters

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 Low pass RC circuit acts as an integrator
• The time constant is very large in comparison with the time required for the
input signal to make an appreciable change, the circuit is called an
“Integrator”.
The circuit in which output voltage directly proportional to the integral of
input voltage is called integrated circuit
• As RC>>T the voltage drop across C will be very small in comparison to the
voltage drop across R and we may consider that the total input Vi appear and
across R, then
Vi =iR
For low pass RC circuit the output voltage Vo is given by
R
VO = 1 i dt
C
1 d VS C
Vout
VO =
Vi C  t
R
1
VO = RC Vi
dt

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 The RC Integrator

When a pulse generator is connected to the input of

an RC integrator, the capacitor will charge and
discharge in response to the pulses.
Switch closes
When the input R
pulse goes HIGH,
the pulse generator C
acts like a battery The output is an
in series with a exponentially
switch and the rising curve.
capacitor charges.

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Examples

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 Charging Table
Percentage of Maximum

Time
RC Value
Constant
Voltage

0.5 time constant 0.5T = 0.5RC 39.3%

0.7 time constant 0.7T = 0.7RC 50.3%

1.0 time constant 1T = 1RC 63.2%

2.0 time constants 2T = 2RC 86.5%

3.0 time constants 3T = 3RC 95.0%

4.0 time constants 4T = 4RC 98.2%

5.0 time constants 5T = 5RC 99.3%

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 Solution

1. Time constant   RC  (100K)(0.001F ) 

100s
2. Compute the Vout for one time constant
Vout  (0.63)10V  6.3V
3. Time to finish discharging 5  500s

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 The RC Integrator

Waveforms for the RC integrator depend on the time

constant () of the circuit. If the time constant is short
compared to the period of the input pulses, the capacitor
will fully charge and discharge. For an RC circuit,  = RC.
The output will reach 63% of the final value in 1.
R

The output will

reach steady state
What is  if R = 10 k and C = 0.022 F? 220 s
in about 5

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 High Pass RC circuit acts
as differentiator:-
• The time constant of high pass RC circuit in very small in comparison
within the time required for the input signal to make an appreciable
change, the circuit is called a “differentiator”. The circuit in which
output voltage directly proportional to the integral of input voltage is
called integrated circuit.Under this circumstances the voltage drop
across R will be very small in comparison with the drop across C.
Hence we may consider that the total input Vi appears across C, so that
the current is determined entirely by the capacitance.
• Then the current is i = C and the output signal across R
V0 = iR is
V0 = RC
• hence the output is proportional to the derivative of the
input.

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 The RC Differentiator

An RC differentiator is a circuit that approximates the

mathematical process of differentiation. Differentiation
is a process that finds the rate of change, and a basic
differentiator can produce an output that is the rate of
change of the input under certain conditions.
C
A basic RC differentiator circuit
is simply a resistor in series
with a capacitor and the source. VS R Vout
The output is taken across the
resistor.

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 The RC Differentiator

• When a pulse generator is connected to the input of an

RC differentiator, the capacitor appears as an
instantaneous short to the rising edge and passes it to
the resistor.
VC = 0
The capacitor looks
like a short to the
rising edge because
voltage across C 0
During this first
cannot change instant, the output
instantaneously. follows the
input.

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 The RC Differentiator

After the initial edge has passed, the capacitor charges

and the output voltage decreases exponentially.

The voltage across

C is the traditional
charging waveform.
The output
decreases as the
pulse levels
off.

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Example

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 Solution

1. Time constant   RC  (15K)(120F ) 

2. tw is bigger than 1.8 s constant 90 us
5 time

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Voltage Function Generator

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Passive Filters (Resistor-Capacitor)

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 RL Low-Pass Filter

• RL Low Pass Filter, again, is a filter circuit composed

of a resistor and inductor which passes through low-
frequency signals, while blocking high-frequency
signals.
• To create a low pass RL filter, the inductor is placed in
series with the input signal and the resistor is placed in
parallel to the input signal, such as shown in the circuit
below:

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 RL Low-Pass Filter

This circuit above is a low pass RL filter.

How it works is based on the principle of
inductive reactance

Inductive reactance is how the impedance, or resistance, of

the inductor changes based on the frequency of the signal
passing through the inductor. Unlike a resistor, which is a
nonreactive device, an inductor offers differing impedance
values to signals of differing frequencies, just as capacitors
do

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 RL Low-Pass Filter

Formula to find the frequency cutoff point of an RL circuit

is, frequency= R/2πL. Doing the math, with the values
shown above
Cut Off-Frequency= R/2πL =
(10KΩ)/(2(3.14)(470mH))=3,388Hz,
which is approximately 3.39KHz.

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 RL Low-Pass Filter

• This means that all frequencies above 3.39KHz are

attenuated. And as you get further (higher) from the
3.39KHz region, the attenuation becomes greater and
below 3.39KHz are passed through without
attenuation. So, again, you can check this on an
Simulator to see that very low-frequency signals are
passed through to output unattenuate, while high-
frequency signals undergo attenuation.

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 RCL Low-Pass Filter
After knowing about the RC and RL filters, one may have an idea that
it would be good to add these two circuits in order to have a better
response. The following figure shows how the RLC circuit looks like.

The signal at the input goes through the inductor which blocks AC and
allows DC. Now, that output is again passed through the capacitor in
shunt, which grounds the remaining AC component if any, present in
the signal, allowing DC at the output. Thus we have a pure DC at the
output. This is a better low pass circuit than both of them.

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 RCL Low-Pass Filter

• A Capacitor has the property to allow AC and to

block DC
• An Inductor has the property to allow DC but
blocks AC.

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 High Pass RL Filter

• A high pass RL filter is a filter composed of a resistor

and inductor which passes through high-frequency
signals.
• To build a high pass RL filter, the inductor is placed in
parallel to the power source signals entering the circuit,
as shown below in the following circuit:

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 High Pass RL Filter

• The below circuit is an RL high pass filter. It passes

through high frequency signals. An inductor, like a
capacitor, is a reactive device. Inductors offer different
resistances to signals input into them of different
frequencies.

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 High Pass RL Filter

• Inductors pass low-frequency signals with very little

resistance, while offering great resistance to signals
of high frequency. Thus, low-frequency signals pass
through very easily without any attenuation and high
frequency signals are either completely blocked or
greatly attenuated as output.

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 How to Build a High Pass RL Filter

• To build a high pass RL filter, again, just like with the

RC circuit, we use a function generator, a resistor, and
an inductor. We use an simulator to check the signal.
• For this circuit, we use a 470mH inductor and a 10KΩ
resistor, with the following circuit configuration:

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 How to Build a High Pass RL Filter

This circuit will form a high pass filter, passing through

high frequency signals through to output, while filtering
low-frequency signals through the inductor.

Since the formula for a high-pass RL filter

is f= R/2πL, doing the math we get, f=
R/2πL= 10KΩ/(2(3.14)(470mH))= 3,388
Hz, which is approximately 3.39KHz

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 Summary
Low pass circuits High pass circuits

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