EEE 2303

CIRCUIT AND NETWORK THEORY III

Bode plots

By

Prof. Hinga
1
 Introduction
 The general bilinear TF is expressed as

T ( j )  K
z1  j
K
 z
z1 1  j 
1

p 1  j  
p1  j
1 p 1
 T ( j )  ( ) ………………….. (1)
 Define
A = 20log|T(jω)| dB ……………….……… (2)
 A plot of the magnitude of the TF in dB (A on the
vertical axis on a linear scale) versus ω (on the
horizontal on a logarithmic scale) is known as a
Bode magnitude plot.
2
 The plot of θ(ω) as a function of ω on logarithmic
coordinates is known as a Bode phase plot.
• Let u1 = log ω1 and u2 = log ω2 .
• Any two points ω1 and ω2 on the frequency
coordinate (log scale) correspond to the points u1
and u2 respectively, on the linear scale so that
u2 - u1 = log (ω2 / ω1 )
ω1 ω2 ω (rad/s) – log scale
u1 u2 u – linear scale

3
• The distance between two frequencies that are
in the ratio 2:1 is known as an octave (in
musical notes, a distance of 8 notes corresponds
to a change in frequency by a factor of 2) e.g. if
ω2 = 2ω1, then the two frequencies are
separated by an octave.
• A change in frequency by a factor of 2 is
equivalent to a change in magnitude of TF by
6 dB.

4
• The number of octaves separating two frequencies
ω1 and ω2 is given by

n log 2  
2

log10   3.322log  
2
1 2
1 log 210
10  1

• The distance between two frequencies that are in

the ratio 10:1 is known as a decade e.g. if ω2 = 10ω1,
the two frequencies are said to be separated by a
decade.
• A change in frequency by a factor of 10 is
equivalent to a change in magnitude of TF by 20 dB.
5
• The number of decades separating two frequencies ω1
and ω2 is given by
m log10  
2
1
• If the distance u2 - u1 defines an octave (decade), then
this distance defines an octave (decade) along the entire
ω scale.
un - u1 = nlog 2(10)(ω2 / ω1 ) = n(u2 - u1)

6
 Bode plots of Linear Factors

1  j
From (1),
Kz1 z1
T ( j )  …………………… (3)
p1
1 j
p1
Substituting (3) for |T(jω)| in (2) gives
Kz1 j j
A( )  20log  20log 1   20log 1  dB
p1 z 1 p1 ….(4)
 The phase function is given by

    ……….(5)
 ( ) 0(180 )  tan  1  z  tan  1  p
1 1

• The complete Bode plot can be obtained by adding the

Bode plots of the three terms in equations (4) and (5).
7
 Bode magnitude plots
• Re-writing (4) as
A(ω) = A1 + A2(ω) + A3(ω)
• A1 is a constant which is either negative for |Kz1/p1| < 1
or positive for |Kz1/p1| > 1 .
A2 ( ) 20log 1  j
z1

   
2 2
 
=20log 1   dB 10log  1    dB
z1 z
 1 
• If ω<< z1, A2 (ω)  0 dB.
• At high frequencies,

 z  =20log   20log z dB ………...(6)

A2 ( ) 20log 
1
1
8
• Equation (6) represents a straight line in Bode
coordinates and has a positive slope.
• The slope of the line is 6 dB/octave or 20
dB/decade
• The line intercepts the horizontal axis at ω= z1
• The low- and high-frequency asymptotes
intersect at ω= z1 as shown in Fig. 1

9
Linear scale High frequency
asymptote
A2 (dB)

20
Slope =
6dB/octave =
6 20dB/decade
ω (rad/s)
z1 2z1 10z1 log scale
Low frequency
asymptote
Fig. 1 10
• Similarly for A3(ω) for low frequencies A3(ω) = 0
• For high frequencies, straight line with a slope
of -6 dB/octave or -20 dB/decade
• The line intercepts the horizontal axis at ω= p1
• The low- and high-frequency asymptotes
intersect at ω= p1
• The characteristic of the pole (A3(ω)) is as shown
in Fig. 2

11
 Low frequency
asymptote
p1 2p1 10p1
ω (rad/s)
log scale
-6
Slope =
-6dB/octave =
-20dB/decade
-20
Linear scale
A3 (dB)

High frequency
asymptote

Fig. 2 12
 The linear distance in the ω direction of the Bode
plot is measured in octaves or decades.
 From (6), if ω1 = z1 and ω2 = 2z1, A2 increases from
0 dB to approximately 6 dB.
 If ω2 = 10z1, A2 increases by 20 dB.
 Thus, the gradient of the straight line of equation
(6) can be described as either 6dB/octave or
20dB/decade.
NB
The point ω = 0 cannot be shown on a log scale
since log 0 = -∞. 13
• For z1 > p1 , the complete Bode plot is as shown in
Fig. 3 for |Kz1/p1| = 1 (i.e. A1(ω) = 0)
Linear scale
A (dB)

A2(ω)

ω (rad/s)
p1 z1
log scale
A(ω)

A3(ω)
Fig. 3 14
NB:
 For a pole or zero at the origin, A2(ω) = ±20log ω
 Plot of magnitude is a straight line with a slope of ±20 dB that
intercepts the x-axis at ω = 1 rad/s as shown in Fig. 4
Linear scale

20 zero
A (dB)

10
ω (rad/s)
0.1 1 log scale
-10
-20
pole
Fig. 4 15
Frequency Actual Approx. Error
(normalized) (dB) (dB) (dB)
0.25 (2 octaves below) ± 0.3 0 ± 0.3
0.5 (1 octave below) ±1 0 ±1
1 (break frequency) ±3 0 ±3
2 (1 octave above) ±7 ±6 ±1
4 (2 octaves above) ± 12.3 ± 12 ± 0.3

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• The actual response can be estimated as shown in Fig. 5.
Linear scale

Actual
A2 (dB)

response

1 dB
3 dB Asymptotic
1 dB response
ω (rad/s)
z1 z1 2z1 log scale
2
Fig. 5
17
 Bode phase plots
 Re-writing (5) as
θ(ω) = θ1 + θ2(ω) + θ3(ω)
 θ1(ω) is a constant i.e. 0º or 180º.

θ2(ω) = tan-1 ω/z1

 At low frequencies, θ2(ω) → 0º
 At ω = z1 , θ2(z1) → 45º
 At high frequencies, θ2(ω) → 90º
 Use three segment approximation: low, mid,
and high frequency 18
 1st segment (low frequency asymptote) intersects
with the 2nd segment (mid frequency asymptote)
at 0.1z1
 2nd segment intersects with 3rd segment (high
frequency asymptote) at 10z1 .
 The 2nd segment extends over 2 decades and has
a slope of 45º/decade.

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 Mid frequency High frequency
asymptote: Slope = asymptote
Linear scale

45º/decade
θ2 (deg)

90

45

ω (rad/s)
0.1z1 z1 10z1 log scale
Low frequency
asymptote Fig. 6
20
 Similarly for the pole

Low frequency asymptote

0.1p1 p1 10p1 ω (rad/s)
log scale
-45
Linear scale
θ3 (deg)

-90
Mid frequency High frequency
asymptote: Slope asymptote
= 45º/decade
Fig. 7 21
 90 θ2

45

p1
z1 ω (rad/s)
log scale
-45
θ
-90 θ3
Linear scale
θ (deg)

Fig. 8
22
Frequency Actual Approx. Error
(normalized) (deg) (deg) (deg)
0.01 (2 decades below) 0.6 0 0.6
0.1 (1 decade below) 6 0 6
1 (break frequency) 45 45 0
10 (1 decade above) 84 90 -6
100 (2 decades above) 89.4 90 -0.6

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 The actual response can be estimated as shown in Fig. 9.
Linear scale
θ2 (deg)

Asymptotic
6º response
90

Actual response
45

ω (rad/s)
0.1z1 z1 10z1 log scale
6º
Fig. 9 24
θ (deg)

90
θ2
45
ω (rad/s)
p1 z1
θ
-45

-90 θ3
25
Fig. 11
 Example 1

Draw the asymptotic response Bode plots for a

network whose TF is
6s  3
T ( s) 
s3
Solution
 Re-write the TF as
3(1  j 2 )
T ( j ) 
3(1  j / 3)

z1 = ½ and p1 = 3
26
 Bode magnitude plots of Quadratic Factors
 Consider the TF 1
T ( s)  2 ………….. (1)
s  as  b
1
Let s = j so that T ( j )  …….. (2)
b    j a
2

1
T ( j ) 
b     a 
2 2 2


A( )  10log b     a   dB ……….. (3)
2 2 2

For ω = 0; A(0) = 20log(1/b) dB (constant)

ω → ∞; A(∞) → -40log ω dB (straight line with a gradient
of -40 dB/decade)
27
 For the mid range of frequencies, A(ω) increases to a
maximum value and then decreases.
 A(ω) is max. at ωmax found by
d T ( j )
0
d
a2 a2 a2
max  b  b 1 for 1
2 2b 2b
a2
0 for 1
2b
If a2/2b << 1, then ωmax  b. This is called pole
frequency ωp .
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At ωp
    dB
2
A( p )  10log b  b   a b
2

 1 
20log   dB
 a b
The height of the peak relative to the low frequency
asymptote is
 b
20log   dB
 a 
The parameter b/a is the pole Q (Qp) and it
determines the height of the bump.

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 1
Eq. (1) can be written in the form T ( s) 
p
2
s  s   2p
Qp
1
20log
a b 3 dB

1
20log -40 dB/decade
b
A (dB)

ω (rad/s)
ωp
 1   1  log scale
p 1  p 1 
 2Q p   2Q p  30
31
 Bode phase plots for complex pole/zero
 It can be seen from (2) that
 a 
1
 ( )  tan  2 
…………..….. (4)
b  
For ω = 0; θ(0) = 0º
ω = ωp; θ(ωp) = -90º
ω → ∞; θ(∞) → -180º

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