A control system is usually required to meet three time response specifications, namely, steady
state accuracy, damping factor and settling time. To get the desired design with minimum errors
and to adjust the parameters of the overall system to satisfy the design criterion an additional
subsystem called 'Compensator ‘ must be used.
This compensator may be used in series with the plant in the forward path or in the feedback
path shown in Fig. below. The compensation in the forward path is known as series or cascade
compensation and the later is known as feedback compensation. The compensator may be a
passive network or an active network.