Filters and Bode magnitude plots (corrected version)

ENGR 40M lecture notes — August 4, 2017

Chuan-Zheng Lee, Stanford University

The decibel
Recall that the gain of a circuit is the ratio VVout
in
. We often express (the magnitude of) gains on a logarithmic
scale, using a unit called decibels (dB). The gain in decibels is defined as
 
 Vout 
gain in dB = 20 log10  .
Vin 

Expressing gains in decibels allows us to see a much bigger range with reasonable numbers. For example,
it’s hard to distinguish between 0.0001 and 0.01 on a linear scale, but in decibels they differ by 40 dB.
 
 Vout 
10−4 104
 Vin :
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000

gain in dB: −80 dB −60 dB −40 dB −20 dB 0 dB 20 dB 40 dB 60 dB 80 dB

negative dB ⇒ attenuation positive dB ⇒ amplification
Vout Vout
Vin < 1
unity Vin > 1

The Bode magnitude plot

The Bode plot is named after Hendrik Wade Bode, an American engineer who proposed it in 1938 as a way
to simplify the analysis of systems in the frequency domain. It comprises two plots: one for magnitude and
one for phase. In ENGR 40M, we’ll only study the magnitude plot.
The Bode magnitude plot is a graph of the absolute value of the gain of a circuit, as a function of frequency.
The gain is plotted in decibels, while frequency is shown on a logarithmic scale. It is therefore a log–log plot.
Many systems have a form that makes them very easy to plot on a Bode plot. For example, it’s very common
for a circuit to have a gain of the form of a first-order low-pass filter,
Vout A
= . (1)
Vin 1 + jBf

A
 (dB)


gain,  VVout
in

A − 20 −20 dB/decade



A − 40
fc fc 1 10fc 100fc
100 10
fc = B

f (log scale)
Another form commonly encountered is the first-order high-pass filter,
Vout Af
= . (2)
Vin 1 + jBf

A
B
 (dB)


gain,  VVout
in

A
− 20 20 dB/decade



A
B − 40
fc fc 1 10fc 100fc
100 10
fc = B

f (log scale)

Asymptotes
Hendrik Wade Bode’s insight was that a log–log plot allows for an straight-line asymptotic approximation
that is easy to draw and understand. You can find the asymptotes by taking, respectively, f → 0 and
f → ∞, and then arguing that 1  Bf (in one case) or 1  Bf (in the other). When we say that 1  Bf ,
we mean that 1 is much greater than Bf , which implies that 1 + jBf ≈ 1; and the vice versa for 1  Bf .
The power of the Bode plot, however, is that you don’t need to derive these asymptotes. A handful of salient
features suffices to make the plot.

Important features
In a Bode plot of a first-order circuit, like the two forms above, there are three salient features that charac-
terize the circuit. Generally, to draw a Bode plot, it suffices to find these three features.
ˆ Horizontal asymptote. We find the horizontal asymptote as follows:
– In a low-pass filter, we take f → 0 to get VVout
in
≈ A. This represents the DC gain.
Vout A
– In a high-pass filter, we take f → ∞ to get Vin ≈ B . This represents the high-frequency gain.
ˆ Corner frequency (fc ). Arguably the most defining characteristic, the corner frequency fc is where
the two asymptotes intersect. It can be shown that this is equal to the frequency f at which the two
additive terms in the denominator are equal (in magnitude). If you write your gain in the form (1) or
(2), this frequency will be f = B1 .
The corner frequency indicates where a filter stops “allowing” frequencies to pass through, i.e., where
the gain starts to fall away from the maximum gain (horizontal asymptote).
ˆ Slope of sloped asymptote. A “decade” is a multiplying of frequency by 10.1 Note that each decade
is the same distance on the log-scaled frequency axis.
– In a first-order low-pass filter, this is always −20 dB/decade.
That is, each time you multiply frequency by 10, you divide gain by 10.
– In a first-order high-pass filter, this is always 20 dB/decade.
That is, each time you multiply frequency by 10, you multiply gain by 10.
Note that, because of how log–log plots work, this slope doesn’t depend on A or B.
1A doubling of frequency is called an “octave”, named after the musical interval between two notes so related. Then
20 dB/decade ≈ 6 dB/octave.

2
Filters
The low-pass filter described above in (1) is so named because it allows low frequencies to “pass through” with
a gain of A, while attenuating high frequencies. Similarly, the high-pass filter in (2) allows high frequencies
A
to pass through with a gain of B , while attenuating low frequencies.
There are two other types of filters: band-pass, which allows frequencies within a (finite) band and attenuates
all frequencies outside that band, and band-stop, which attenuates frequencies within a (finite) band and
allows all others.

Low-pass filter High-pass filter

gain (dB)

gain (dB)
f (log scale) f (log scale)

Band-pass filter Band-stop filter

gain (dB)

gain (dB)

f (log scale) f (log scale)

Exercise 1. What do you think the ideal versions of each of the above types of filters would be? (Note:
Ideal filters aren’t practically realizable.)

EveryCircuit
If you include an AC source in a circuit on EveryCircuit, you can get EveryCircuit to produce a Bode plot
for the circuit by clicking the “Run AC” button. You’ll need to probe the output, just as you do for the
time-based simulation.

3
Examples
Example 1. We return to the circuit in Example 1 from last lecture.

10 kΩ
+

vin (t) 100 nF vout (t)

Recall that the gain of this circuit was

Vout 1 1
= = .
Vin 1 + j2πf RC 1 + jf · 2π × 10−3

(a) What are the corner frequency fc and DC gain of this circuit?
Vout
(b) Draw a Bode plot for the gain Vin of this circuit.
(c) What type of filter is this?

Example 2. We return to the circuit in Example 2 from last lecture.

100 Ω
+

vin (t) 400 µH vout (t)

Recall that the gain of this circuit was

Vout j2πf L jf · 8π × 10−4

= = .
Vin R + j2πf L 100 + jf · 8π × 10−4

(a) What are the corner frequency fc and high-frequency gain of this circuit?
Hint: It might be helpful to rearrange the expression above to make it conform with (2).
Vout
(b) Draw a Bode plot for the gain Vin of this circuit.
(c) What type of filter is this?

4
Derivation of asymptotes
This is an supplement to the handout on filters and Bode magnitude plots.

Low-pass filter
Vout A
= .
Vin 1 + jBf

Low-frequency asymptote. As f → 0, we have 1  Bf , so 1 + jBf ≈ 1. Then we have

     
 Vout   A  A
20 log 
  = 20 log 
  ≈ 20 log   = 20 log |A|,
Vin  1 + jBf  1

that is, at low frequencies, the gain converges2 to the DC gain, whose magnitude is |A|.
High-frequency asymptote. As f → ∞, 1  Bf , so 1 + jBf ≈ jBf . Then we have
         
 Vout   A   A   A  A
20 log 
  = 20 log 
  ≈ 20 log 
  = 20 log 
  = 20 log   − 20 log f,
Vin  1 + jBf  jBf  Bf  B

that is, the high-frequency asymptote has a slope of −20 dB/decade (the coefficient of log f ).
Corner frequency. The asymptotes intersect where (assuming B is real and positive),
 
 A 
20 log |A| = 20 log   = 20 log |A| − 20 log Bfc ,
Bfc 
1
and solving this for fc yields fc = B.

High-pass filter
Vout Af
= .
Vin 1 + jBf

Low-frequency asymptote. As f → 0, we have 1  Bf , so 1 + jBf ≈ 1. Then we have

     
 Vout 
 = 20 log  Af  ≈ 20 log  Af  = 20 log |A| + 20 log f,
   
20 log 
Vin   1 + jBf   1 

that is, the low-frequency asymptote has a slope of 20 dB/decade (the coefficient of log f ).
High-frequency asymptote. As f → ∞, 1  Bf , so 1 + jBf ≈ jBf . Then we have
         
 Vout   Af   Af  A A
20 log 
  = 20 log 
  ≈ 20 log 
  = 20 log 
  = 20 log   ,
Vin  1 + jBf  jBf  jB  B
A
that is, at high frequencies, the gain converges to the high-frequency gain, whose magnitude is 20 log  B .

Corner frequency. The asymptotes intersect where (assuming B is real and positive),
 
A
20 log |Afc | = 20 log   ,
B
1
and solving this for fc yields fc = B.
2 Strictly speaking, our proof just shows that at lower frequencies, the gain is approximately the DC gain, not that it converges

to the DC gain. Nonetheless, the gain does in fact converge to the DC gain, and this isn’t too hard to prove (though we don’t
require you to do so). A similar comment applies for every other place where the gain is approximately a constant.

5
Band-pass filter
Vout Af
= .
Vin (1 + jBf )(1 + jCf )

Analyzing this transfer function uses very similar ideas, there are just more terms to deal with. Here’s a
guide. Filling in the gaps (in the same spirit as the low-pass and high-pass filters above) is left as an exercise.
Low-frequency asymptote. For the low-frequency asymptote, take f → 0 as usual, so that 1  Bf and
1  Cf .
High-frequency asymptote. For the high-frequency asymptote, take f → ∞ as usual, so that 1  Bf
and 1  Cf .
Horizontal line in the middle. For this function, though, there is a “middle line”, which isn’t really an
asymptote.3 This is nonetheless still part of the straight-line approximation. To find this middle approxima-
tion, assume that f is in such a range such 1 dominates in one of the denominator terms, and the f term
dominates in the other. For example, if B < C, assume that Bf  1  Cf . (This might not be a very
good approximation, but it’s still insightful.) Your analysis should then yield a line that is horizontal on the
Bode magnitude plot; that is, the passband of the filter.
Corner frequencies. It then follows that there are two corner frequencies: one for the intersection between
the low-frequency asymptote and the horizontal line, and one for the intersection between the horizontal line
and the high-frequency asymptote.

3 In order to qualify as an asymptote, the function has to get arbitrarily close to it.