Lab 1 Report

Kevin Bradshaw & Yuan Tian

ECEN 325-506
Instructor: Sebastian Hoyos
Due: September 16, 2015

Procedure
Part A:
The first circuit built was a first order low pass filter using a resistor and capacitor
that were calculated from the pre-lab and are recorded in Table 1. With a constant
generated voltage of 6 volts, the cutoff frequency was determined by using a
number of measurements with an oscilloscope. Then the time shift was determined
by measuring the difference between the two peaks of the signals. This was done at
10 different frequencies in order to calculate the range of phase shifts. These
measurements are recorded in Table 2.
Figure 1: First Order Low
Figure 2: First Order Low
Pass Filter, Peak to Peak
Pass Filter, Signal
Measurement
Comparison

Part B:
Using the same circuit from part A, a noise filtering example was observed by using
the Fourier transform method on the oscilloscope onto the input and output
voltages. The original input voltage to the low pass filter consisted of noise that
disrupted the signal. After the Fourier transform was applied, it can easily be
observed that the noise of the output signal was filtered and a much clearer signal
was obtained. These signals are shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4.
Figure 4: First Order Low
Figure 3: First Order Low
Pass
Filter, Output Voltage
Pass Filter, Input Voltage

Part C:
The second circuit built was a second order low pass filter using two different
resistors and two identical capacitors. These values were calculated previously in
the pre-lab and can be seen in Table 1. By using an input voltage of 6 volts, the
frequency was varied on the signal generator in order to find an output voltage that
matched the respective -3dB signal attenuation. This came out be 4.2 Volts. By
similar methods, the same signal attenuation voltage was found for -40 dB which
came to be 60 millivolts. These results are shown in Table 3.
Figure 5: Second Order
Low Pass Filter, -3dB Signal
Measurement

Data Tables

Figure 6: Second Order

Low Pass Filter, -40 dB
Signal Measurement

Table 1: Circuit Component Values

First Order
Second Order

Resistor 1 ()

Resistor 2 ()

1,020
2,000

X
96,000

Capacitor 1
(nF)
47
47

Capacitor 2
(nF)
X
47

Table 2: Part A Measurements

Frequency (Hz)

t (us)

Phase Shift (Radian)

f
0.1f

3.3K
0.33k

40
110

0.132
1.2 10

0.2f

0.66k

60

3.96 10

0.3f

0.99k

50

4.95* 10

0.5f

1.65k

40

6.6 10

0.8f
f
2f
5f
8f
10f

2.64k
3.3k
6.6k
16.5k
26.4k
33k

40
40
28
13
9
7.2

Phase Shift
(Degree)
47.520
0.0423

4
4

14.256

17.820
23.760

0.1056
0.132
0.1848
0.2145
0.2376
0.2376

38.016
47.520
66.528
77.220
85.530
85.530

Table 3: Second Order Low Pass Filter Results

Input Voltage
Output Voltage
Frequency

-3dB Signal Attenuation

6V
4.2 V
33 Hz

-40dB Signal Attenuation

6V
60 mV
2.326 kHz

Applicable Calculations:
1.

First Order LPF Transfer Function H a ( s )=

1
R 1 C 1 s+1

1
Second
Order
LPF
Transfer
Function
H
(
s
)
=
a
2.
(R1 C 1 s+1)(R2 C2 +1)
3.

Phase shift=

t
360 ( dergree )
T

4.

V
V
out

Gain=

5.

Decibel=20log 10 (

V out
)
V

Discussion
1. First and Second Order Low Pass Filter (LPF) Comparison:
The magnitude of the second order LPF had a steeper decline on the
response plot than the first order LPF. This is because there's two poles
calculated from the transfer function which equal to 1/R1C1 and
1/R2C2. Since the first order LPF only has one pole, the limit of the
phase shift is 45 degrees where as the second order LPF has a limit of
90 degrees.
2. Magnitude and Phase Response Comparison:
The main difference between the hand-calculated, Pspice simulated,
and measured results was that the calculated results used exact
component values while the measured results used approximate
values rounded to the nearest component values available in the lab.
Figure 1: First Order Low Pass Filter,

Figure 1: First Order Low Pass Filter,

3. With a signal that has a substantial amount of noise, a low pass filter should
only allow frequencies below the cutoff to be delivered to the output signal.
Any high frequency noise would be reduced through the circuit so that the
desirable signal would be obtained. On the other hand, a high pass filter,
would do the opposite by allowing only frequencies above a cutoff to pass.
Both methods reduce noise because of the desirable signal range of
frequencies allowed through the output.

Conclusion:

First and Second Order LPF systems are analyzed by their applicable transfer
functions. These transfer functions determine the poles and zeroes which
correspond to the resistor and capacitor values of the circuit. The combination of
these components can form different types of filters depending on the required
application. For example, a receiver can be designed for receiving a signal in any
kind of range. This range can include signals that vary from cellular to GPS. In order
to receive only one signal without any interference from any other signal, a filter
with a specific bandwidth can be used. Applications like these are widely used in
signal processing fields.