Signal Conditioning for

Electronic
Instrumentation
Filters
MCT 3332 : Instrumentation and
Measurements

Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Filter : a circuit that is designed to pass signals with
desired frequencies and reject or attenuate others
Used to eliminate unwanted noise signals from measurement.
The process of removing a certain band of frequencies from a
signal and permitting others to be transmitted.
The range of frequencies passed by a filter is known as pass
band
The range not passed as the stop band
The boundary between stopping and passing as the cut-off
frequency.
Filters are classified according to the frequency range they
transmit or reject.

Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
4 types of filters:
1. Low-pass Filter: passes low frequencies and stops
high frequencies
2. High-pass Filter: passes high frequencies and
rejects low frequencies
3. Band-pass Filter: passes frequencies within a
frequency band and blocks or attenuates
frequencies outside the band
4. Band-reject Filter: passes frequencies outside a
frequency band and blocks or attenuates
frequencies within the band
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Characteristics of filters
Practical filters

Important terms

fc

fc

Pass band frequencies passed

Stop band frequencies eliminated / attenuated
Cutoff Frequency, fc (critical @ corner frequency) point in
the stop band where frequencies have been attenuated by 3
dB (or frequency at which gain = 0.707)

Important terms

Band width distance (in Hz) between 2 fc in

Band-pass and Band-reject (Band-stop) filters

Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters

(i)
Low
Filter

pass

has a pass band that allows

all frequencies from 0 up to
some
frequency
to
be
transmitted.
commonly used as a part of
signal conditioning.
the useful information being
transmitted is low frequency.
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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Low-pass RC filter

Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Low-pass RC filter

Critical frequency:

1
fc
2 RC
Output-to-input voltage ratio:

Vout
1

2
Vin
1 f / fc
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Low-pass RC filter

Phase

Magnitude

Vout
1

Vin
1 ( f / fc )2

1
( RCw) 2 1

Design low-pass filter

Design Methods:
1) Find the cutoff frequency that will satisfy the
design criteria
2) Select a standard value of C in F or pF
3) Calculate the value of R using equation of
cutoff frequency
*

Choose another value of capacitor if the resistance value is

below 1k or above 1M

Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Example

LPF

A measurement signal has a frequency less than 1

kHz, but there is unwanted noise at about 1 MHz.
Design a low-pass filter that attenuates the noise
to 1% if a capacitor 0.01 F has been used. What
is the effect on the measurement signal at its
maximum of 1 kHz?
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Analog Signal Conditioning

(ii) High Pass Filter
a high pass filter passes high frequencies
(no rejection) and blocks low frequencies.
the critical frequency of a high pass filter
is the same as the low pass filter.

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
High-pass RC filter

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
High-pass RC filter

Critical frequency:

1
fc
2 RC
Output-to-input voltage ratio:

Vout
f / fc

2
Vin
1 f / fc
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High-pass filter

Phase

Magnitude

Vout
f / fc

Vin
1 ( f / fc )2

RCw
( RCw) 2 1

Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Example

HPF

Pulses for a stepping motor are being

transmitted at 2000 Hz in which at this
frequency the output is attenuated by
3dB. Design a high-pass filter to reduce
60 Hz noise.

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Design Methods
1. Determine critical frequency, fc
2. Select standard capacitor (F pF)
3. Calculate required resistance (1 k - 1 M)
4. Use nearest resistance standard value to
calculated value
5. Consider tolerance in resistors and capacitors
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Analog Signal Conditioning

Loading Effects could cause the change in input and output
impedance in a RC Filter circuit
Guideline
If the circuits connected to a filter has a low input impedance, the
voltage follower has to be used in-between the filter and the next
stage.
To isolate the filters that has high output impedance a voltage
follower is needed.
A few RC filters (multiple stages) are serially connected to improve
the sharpness of the filters cut-off frequency.
The output impedance at the first stage must be less from the
input impedance of the next stage and so on to give less loading
effect.

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Practical considerations
1. Very small resistance -> lead to large currents and
loading effects -> avoid large capacitance
(recommend , R= k -M, C= F pF)
2. The exact fc is not important, choose R and C of
approximately to the fc
3. Isolation filter input/output with voltage follower
4. Cascade RC filters to improved fc sharpness

->

consider loading
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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
(iii) Band pass Filter
Is a filter that blocks frequencies below a low limit and above
high limit while passing frequencies between the limits.
Passive band pass filters can be designed with resistors and
capacitors.
fl defines the frequency below the ratio of output voltage to
input voltage is down by at least 3db or 0.707
fh , is the frequency above the ratio of output voltage to input
voltage is down by at least 3db or 0.707
The frequency between fl and fh is called the pass band.

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters

Band-pass
RC filter

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Band-pass RC filter

Critical frequency:
1
fH
2 RL C L

1
fL
2 RH C H

Output-to-input voltage ratio:

Vout

Vin
RH
r
RL

fH f

f H f L f L 1 r f H f 2
2

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Band-pass RC filter

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Example

BPF

A signal conditioning system uses a frequency

variation

from

kHz

to

60

kHz

to

carry

measurement information. There is considerable

noise at 120 Hz and at 1 MHz. Design a bandpass
filter to reduce the noise by 90%. Determine all
the resistors and capacitors.

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
(iv) Band Stop Filter
blocks specific range of frequencies
a particular frequency or a small range of
frequencies that are interfering with a data signal
a twin T filter is used
R1 R / 10
C1 fn10=C0.785fc
/
where fc = 1/(2RC)

Response of a band reject, or

notch, filter shows that a middle
band of frequencies are rejected.

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Twin T filter

Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Band-reject RC filter

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters

Twin-T notch
filter

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Twin-T notch filter
Critical frequency:

f n 0.785 f c

1
fC
2 RC

f L 0.187 f c

f H 4.57 f c

Grounding resistor and capacitor:

R
R1
10

10 C
C1

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Example

Twin-T Notch BSF

A single line is multiplexed to carry sensor

signal in a frequency range below 1kHz and
communication signals ranging from 10kHz to
50kHz. There is a large noise component at
4.5kHz from a turbine in the plant.
Design a twin-T notch filter to attenuate the
4.5kHz noise

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Active Filters
Filters are circuits able to allowing to pass
certain frequencies and stopping signals with
another circuits.
Active filters uses op-amps combined with
passive circuits RC, RL or RLC.
The active components provide a gain in
tension and the passive ones make the
frequency selection.
Some definitions :
Cutoff frequency: is the frequency at which the gain
has decreased a factor
or -3db.
Bandwidth: is the frequency range between the
inferior and superior cutoff frequencies of a circuit.

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Active Filters
Advantages of Active Filter over Passive Filter:
Gain and frequency adjustment flexibility

Since the OpAmp is capable of providing a gain, the input signal

is not attenuated, as in a passive filter. Active filter easy to tune.

No loading problem

Because of the high input resistance and low output resistant of

the OpAmp, the active filter does not cause loading of the source
or load.

Cost

Active filter more economical than passive filter because of the

variety of cheaper OpAmps available and the absence of
inductors.

The voltage can also be amplified.

Analog Signal Conditioning

Active Filters
Central frequency: In case that there are two cutoff
frequencies (fc1 and fc2), the central frequency can be
defined as the geometrical mean of these frequencies:

Quality factor: Also in case of two cutoff frequencies

the quality factor Q is defined as the ratio between the
central frequency(f0) and the bandwidth (BW)

The value of Q informs about the selectivity of the

filter, the bigger the Q value, the smaller is the
bandwidth and much more selective in the frequency f 0
(narrower frequency range).

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Active Filters
dB/decade: A change by a factor 10 in
frequency is called a decade.
this value shows the slope of the attenuation as a
function of the frequency before the inferior cutoff
frequency or after the superior cutoff frequency.
this value is usually -20 dB/decade.

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Active Filters
Basically we can found four kind of filters:
a) Low-Pass filters.

Allow pass frequencies from 0 Hz to the superior frequency.

b) High-Pass filters.

Allow pass frequencies from a inferior cutoff frequency to the

infinity.
c) Band-pass filter.
Allow pass frequencies between two cutoff frequencies.
d) Band-supress/stop filter.
Supress a band of frequencies between two cutoff frequencies.

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Active Filters continued

Low Pass Filters
(LPF)

V0

R fH

R1H 1 jR fH C fH

1
H
R fH C fH

H refers to
characteristic high
frequency

V1

Active Filters continued

High Pass Filters
(HPF)
V0

jR fLC1L

1 jR1L C1L
L

V1

1
R1L C1L

L refers to
characteristic low
frequency

Active Filters continued

Band Pass Filters
(BPF)
V0

f2

R2 R f 1 R1 jRLC L

R2 R1 1 jRL C L 1 jRH C H

V1

Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters
Example:

A non-inverting amplifier shown in the

Figure is to be constructed with a
A741C op-amp. It is to have a gain of
100. Specify values for the two resistors.
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Analog Signal Conditioning

Active Filters
Solution:
G 1

R2
R1

100 1
99

R2
R1

R2
R1

Since R1 and R2 typically range from 1k to 1M, we arbitrarily choose:

R2=99k
R1 = 1k

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Analog Signal Conditioning

Filters

END

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