Philip Richardson

Filter Design Report

Abstract:
This Report contains the design objectives for the circuit along with the design process,
the results from various forms of testing, a conclusion based on the results of circuit tests, and an
appendix that contains a rough design sketch, hand calculations and frequency response, and a
schematic of the circuit designed in LTspice.
Introduction:
A circuit was experiencing noise at 60Hz and below and at signals much larger than
1000Hz. The objective was to create a band pass filter that would accept frequencies between
100Hz and 1000Hz. At these frequencies the signal needed to be reduced by no more than 3
decibels. The filter would also need to drastically reduce the signal, by at least 10 decibels, at
60Hz and below and at frequencies much larger than 1000Hz to filter out the noise effectively.
Design:
The first step in designing the filter was to create a rough graph of the desired frequency
response by hand (Appendix A) on log paper. The next step was to research filter designs to
determine the most effective design to create the desired frequency response. From this research
a third order high-pass active filter cascaded into a first order low-pass active filter was found to
be the simplest design that could satisfy the design objectives.
Once the design was determined the next step was to find the value for the resistors and
capacitors that would produce the desired frequency response. The values for the capacitors were
chosen arbitrarily based on the available components. The rough values for the resistors were
then solved for using hand calculations (Appendix B). The circuit was then created in LTspice
and the frequency response was simulated. The simulated response from the calculated
components values did not satisfy the design statement. Due to this the value of the resistors had
to be tweaked so the frequency response would satisfy the design objectives. The design was
then recreated onto the EExplorer board and used to plot the frequency response of the actual
circuit.
Results:
Theoretical Results:
See appendix A and B. These represent the calculated ideal results and settings for the
filter and its components. They were used as a rough starting point for the filter design.

Simulated Results:

This is the frequency response from the refined filter design simulated using LTspice. The graph
(Appendix D) shows the frequency response for the filter under ideal conditions.

Experimental Results:

This is the frequency response from the filter constructed on the EExplorer board. The graph
shows the actual frequency response of the filter when built using available components.
Conclusions:
The simulated circuit reached a maximum frequency response of .012 decibels at
251.2Hz. At 100Hz the response was -2.86 decibels and at 1000Hz the response was -2.937. Both these
responses were within 4.33% of 3 decibels below the max response and as such meet the design
objectives. At values much larger than 1000Hz the response is reduce by over 10 decibels meeting the
design objectives. At 60Hz the frequency response is -9.965 decibels this is 9.977 decibels below the
max response. This value does not meet the design objective, however the percent error for this value
is .23% therefore it reasonably satisfies design objectives.
The experimental circuits response differed dramatically from the simulated response with the
frequency response at 100Hz and 1000Hz being -25.51 and -24.58 decibels respectively. The max
frequency response can be estimated to be -21.06 decibels. At 60Hz the response is -33.64 decibels.
When created using available components the circuit did not satisfy the design objectives. The
difference in the responses can be attributed to the components being non-ideal along with internal
resistance of the wave generator, the board, and the wires causing the frequency response to shift
unexpectedly. These errors can be solved by tweaking the component values to account for the shifted
response. Therefore, the component values of the filter can be changed to account for these variables
thus causing the actual frequency response to better match the simulated response.