E40M

Bode Plots, dB

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 1

 Reading

• Reader
– 7.1-7.2 – Bode Plots

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 2

 EKG Lab

• Concepts
– Amplifiers
– Impedance
– Noise
– Safety
– Filters

• Components
– Capacitors In this project we will build an
– Inductors electrocardiagram (ECG or EKG). This is a
– Instrumentation and noninvasive device that measures the
Operational Amplifiers electrical activity of the heart using
electrodes placed on the skin.
M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 3
 Analyzing RC Circuits Using Impedance – Review
(Low Pass Filter)
R=11KΩ
1
vin vout Vout 1
j * 2πFC
= =
C=0.1µF Vin R + 1 1 + j * 2πFRC
j * 2πFC
Gain vs. Freq
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Vout

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 4

 Analyzing RC Circuits Using Impedance – Review
(High Pass Filter)

C=0.1µF Vout R j * 2πFRC

= =
vin vout Vin R + 1 1 + j * 2πFRC
j * 2πFC
R=110KΩ
RC = 11ms; 2πRC is about 70ms
Gain vs. Freq
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 50 100 150 200
Vout

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 5

 Analyzing RC Circuits Using Impedance – Review
(Band Pass Filter)
C3=0.1µF
R1=11K
v1 vout
Vout j ∗ 2πFR 4C3
vin =
Vin 1+ j ∗ 2πF(R C + R C + R C ) + j ∗ 2πF 2 R C R C
4 3 1 2 1 3 (
1 2 4 3 )
C2=0.1µF R4=110K

1.2 Gain of Filters

0.8
• We’ll use a filter 0.6
that operates Vout/Vin
like this in the 0.4
ECG lab project. 0.2

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Low Pass High Pass Band Pass F (Hz)

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 6

 BODE PLOTS

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 7

 Our Plots Are Not Very Good

• Most of the plot is for the “high frequency”

– Your ear is very interested in each octave (2x) in freq
– If you plot the full audio spectrum (20-20kHz)
• 50% of the plot will be from 10-20kHz
– And that is only one octave of ten!
• You won’t be able to see the first five octaves!
Gain of Filters
1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000

Low Pass High Pass Band Pass

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 8

 More Plot Issues

• The plots usually are proportional to:

– Constant, or F or F-1 or F2 or F-2
– It would be great if these were easy to see on a plot

1.2 Gain of Filters

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Low Pass High Pass Band Pass

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 9

 There is an Easy Way to Fix Both Issues

• Use a log-log plot

– That is plot the log(Gain) vs log(F)
– Usually labeled with Gain and F
• But the spacing between numbers is their log
• Any power of F is a straight line log(Fn) = n* log(F)
So the slope of the line is the power of F
1
Gain

0.1

0.01
0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 Freq
M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 10
 Example – Low Pass Filter

R=11KΩ 1
vin vout Vout j * 2πFC 1 1
= = =
Vin 1 1+ j * 2πFRC 1+ jF / Fc
R+
C=0.1µF j * 2πFC
2πRC is about 7ms; Fc= 140Hz
1

1 0.1

0.5

0
0 1000 2000 0.01
0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 11

 Low Pass

R=11KΩ 1
vin vout Vout j * 2πFC 1 1
= = =
Vin 1 1+ j * 2πFRC 1+ jF / Fc
R+
C=0.1µF j * 2πFC
2πRC is about 7ms; Fc= 140Hz
1

1 0.1

0.5

0
0 1000 2000 0.01
0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 12

 High-Pass

C=0.1µF Vout R j * 2πFRC

= =
vin vout Vin R + 1 1 + j * 2πFRC
j * 2πFC
R=110KΩ
2πRC is about 70ms; F= 14Hz
1

1
0.8 0.1

0.6
0.4
0.2
0 0.01
0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
0 100 200
M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 13
 Band Pass – Combining the Low and High Pass

C3=0.1µF
R1=11K
v1 vout Band Pass
vin 1

C2=0.1µF R4=110K

0.1
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 500 1000 0.01
0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000
Band Pass

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 14

 One More Trick With Log-Log Plots

• Remember:
log(A*B) = log(A) + log(B), and log(A/B) = lob(A) – log(B)

Vout j * 2πFRC
• So: =
Vin 1 + j * 2πFRC

– Can add two lines

• One slope +1
• One flat and then slope -1

Log
Gain

Log F

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 15

 Log-Log Plot Tricks, cont’d

• Our bandpass filter earlier had a gain function of the form

Vout j ∗ 2πFR2C2
=
Vin 1+ j ∗ 2πF(R C + R C ) + j ∗ 2πF 2 R C R C
1 1 2 2 ( )
1 1 2 2
• If we can factor the polynomial, then we can add lines as on the
last slide
Vout j ∗ 2πFR2C2
=
Vin ( ) (
1+ j ∗ 2πFR1C1 ∗ 1+ j ∗ 2πFR2C2 )
Log
Gain

Log F

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 16

 dB

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 17

Use of Logarithmic Scales to Represent Wide Ranges

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 18

 dB

• In many places you will see the symbol dB

– This is decibel
– It is a logarithmic measure of power gain
• dB = 10 * log (Powerout/Powerin)

• It is logarithmic so
– 10dB is a 10x change in power
– 20dB is a 100x change in power
– 3dB is a 2x change in power

• Since power is proportional to V2

– A 10x change in voltage is a 100x change in power
• This is a 20dB change
– 6dB is a 2x change in voltage
M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 19
 Plotting Gain vs. Frequency

• Want to plot log(gain) vs. log(frequency)

• dB is already log of the gain

– So the plots look semilog
• Log of frequency in the x direction
• dB in the y direction
– But this is the log-log plot that we want

• Please remember that dB measures power

– 10x in voltage = 20dB

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 20

 Plotting dB vs. Frequency

• Consider the simple low pass filter we looked at earlier

R
Vout 1 1
vin vout Gain = = =
Vin 1+ j * 2πFRC 1+ jF / Fc

C ⎛ 1 ⎞
Gain
GaindB = 20log10 ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
dB
0 ⎝ 1+ jF / Fc ⎠
() (
= 20log10 1 − 20log10 1+ jF / Fc )
-20 (
≅ 0 − 20log10 F / Fc )
(assuming F is large and
-40 neglecting the phase)
Freq
10 100 102 103 104Hz

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 21

 FYI – Hendrik Bode

• Bode (1905 –1982) spent most of his career

at Bell Labs.

• He worked on control system theory and

electronic filters and during WW II he
worked on using radar information to direct
antiaircraft guns to try to intercept enemy
aircraft and missiles like the German V2
missile.

• But today he’s best remembered for

inventing Bode plots used to describe the
frequency behavior of linear systems.

(Wikipedia)

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 22

 Plotting the Output

• We use a Bode Plot to plot the transfer function of a circuit

– Remember that this is the log of gain vs. log of frequency

• Remember, on log-log plot

Freq
Gain – F, constant, 1/F, 1/F2 are all straight lines!
0
dB

-20

-40

-60

-80
Freq

1 10 100 103 104 105 106 Hz

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 23
 Circuit Bode Plots

• These are generally easy to draw

– Know the slopes at different frequency ranges
• Plot those straight lines
– These lines will intercept at the F where the terms are equal
i.e. F = 1/2πτ = 1/2πRC

dB

1
F= Log (F)
2πτ
• Actual curve will be close to the straight lines
M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 24
 Example

C1 Vout ZR1 || ZC2

vin vout =
10nF Vin ZC1 + ZR1 || ZC2
R1 C2
ZR1 ∗ ZC2 R1
ZR1 || ZC2 = =
4.7kΩ 15nF ZR1 + ZC2 1+ 2πFR1C2
Gain R1
dB Vout 1+ 2πFR1C2 2πFR1C1
0 = =
Vin 1 R 1 (
1+ 2πFR1 C1 + C2 )
+
2πFC1 1+ 2πFR1C2
-20
1
Fc = = 1.35kHz
( )
2πR1 C1 + C2
-40 ⎛ C ⎞
1 ⎟ = −7.96dB
Freq GaindB @HighF = 20log ⎜⎜
⎝ C1 + C2 ⎟⎠
10 100 102 103 10 Hz
4

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 25

 EveryCircuit – Frequency Resonse

• EveryCircuit can be used to calculate and plot Bode plots for

circuits. We’ll demo this in class.
• This is very useful for checking answers to HW problems or for
developing understanding about circuit frequency response.

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 26

 Bonus Section (Not on HW, Exams)
See Class Reader For Details

WHAT DOES (1 + j*x) REALLY

MEAN?

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 27

 An Example - High Pass RC Filter
Bonus Material – See Class Reader For Details

C
vin vout Vout
=
R
=
j * 2πFRC
Vin 1 1+ j * 2πFRC
R+
R j * 2πFC

1
2πFRC = 1 or F =
2πRC

(Electronic Tutorials)
M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 28
 3dB?
Bonus Material – See Class Reader For Details
• Notice that when the two terms are the same, F = 1/2πRC
– The overall gain is -3dB
– This might seem right since -3dB is ½, BUT
– This is the power ratio!
• The voltage ratio is only 1/ 2 !

• What is going on?

• To understand, we’ll need to think about what (1 + j*x) means

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 29

 Adding Sine and Cosine Waveforms
Bonus Material – See Class Reader For Details
• 1 + j*x means the waveform is the sum of
– A sinewave with amplitude 1
– With a cosine wave with amplitude “x”

• The good news is that this always results in a sinusoidal waveform

– With some phase shift between a sin and cos (+90˚)
– So we can write

( ) ( ) (
A sin 2πFt + φ = sin 2πFt + x ∗ cos 2πFt )
– And we want to find A and φ

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 30

 The Trick
Bonus Material – See Class Reader For Details

( ) (
C ∗ sin 2πFt + φ = A ∗ sin 2πFt + B ∗ cos 2πFt ) ( )
• This equation is always true so
– At t = 0, the sine term is zero

()
C ∗ sin φ = B C
B
– At t = 1/(4F), the cosine term is zero, so
A
C ∗ cos φ = A()
– So the amplitude of the resulting sine wave is

A 2 + B2

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 31

 Learning Objectives For Today

• Understand how to create Bode plots for RC circuits

– You plot two straight lines that intercept at F=1/2πRC

• (Bonus Section) Understand what an amplitude of (1+ j*2πRCF)

means
– The result is a sum of a sine and cosine wave

M. Horowitz, J. Plummer, R. Howe 32