68 IEEETRANSACTIONSON CIRCUITSAND SYSTEMS,VOL. ~~-23, NO.
2, FEBRUARY1976
A ctive Compensation for High-Frequency Effects
in Op-Amp Circuits with Applications to
Active RC Filters
PETER 0. BRACKETT
Abstruci-The use of active compensation in precision electronic
circuits employing modern IC op amps, whereby the op amps in a circuit
provide self-compensating effects to mitigate their finite bandwidth
limitations is discussed. In particular, several rather subtle applications
in the field of RC active filters are presented.A number of novel integrator
circuits having high performance are presented, and experimenta! results
which support the theoretical derivations are given. Using theseintegrators
considerably extends the useful frequency range of the leap-frog and
coupled-biquad active filters, at no extra cost.
I. INTRODUCTION
N MANY APPLICATIONS of operational amplifiers
I (op amps) to high quality and precision electronic
circuits, such as active-RC filters, the frequency response
characteristic of the op amp becomes the primary limiting
factor in circuit performance [I], [2]. There are several
well-known passive compensation techniques which make
use of additional passive components to introduce a con-
trolled amount of phase lead that cancels the excess phase
lag due to the amplifiers limited bandwidth [l], [3]. The
main difficulty with passive compensation is that the
additional compensating elements must be individually
tailored to the given op amp and adjusted at specific
ambient conditions of temperature and power supply
voltage. Consequently, under changing ambient conditions
the compensation will no longer be satisfactory.
With the introduction of low cost dual and quad
op amps having closely matched characteristics which
track with changes in temperature and voltage, it becomes
feasible to consider active compensation methods where-
by op amps in a circuit provide compensation for other
op amps in the same circuit. As will be shown, the
AcKerberg-Mossberg biquad [ 111, [ 121 employs, in effect,
this concept. In many cases, however, the techniques for
achieving this active compensation are quite subtle and it
is the object of this paper to describe a number of such
techniques as well as some of their applications.
In the following sections we make use of a single-pole
model of the op amp response, that is the op amp gain is
given by , -
A(s) = A,w, = ~ wt
s + cop s + cog
where o, is the unity-gain bandwidth. In the frequency
Manuscript received January 20, 1975; revised Octobei 1, 1975.
This work was supported in part by the National Research Council of
Canada under Grant A-7394.
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering,
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., Canada M5S lA4.
AND ADEL S. SEDRA
range of interest, o >> w,,, we have
II. OP AMP INTEGRATORS
We shall direct our attention to the active compensation
of op amp integrators which find wide use in many applica-
tions and in particular in certain types of active-RC filters
[l]-[5]. The concept of the integrator Q-factor introduced
in [l] will be extensively used. Specifically, if the op-amh
frequency response is taken into account the transfer
function of an integrator circuit may be expressed as
1
T(jo) =
R(w) + jX(o) .
Then the integrator Q-factor is defined as
Q = x(w)
I
R(o)
Fig. 1 is a compilation of seven different op-amp integrator
circuits (both inverting and noninverting), a number of
which are new. Also given on Fig. 1 are approximate expres-
sions for the Q-factor of each integrator. These expressions
are derived assuming operation at frequencies w,, << w << o,
and in case of multiple op amps matching has been assumed.
A number of observations follow.
1) Fig. l(a) shows the familiar Miller integrator (invert-
ing) whose Q-factor, derived in Cl], is negative and approx-
imately equal to the op amp gain, IAl.
2) Fig. l(b) presents the most obvious way of realizing a
noninverting integrator namely, by a Miller-inverter cascade.
Note that due to the additional phase shift contributed by
the inverter the Q-factor is considerably reduced in mag-
nitude to &41.
3) The Deboo integrator [6] shown in Fig. l(c) is a
single amplifier noninverting integrator with a grounded
capacitor. Although its Q-factor is higher than that of the
Miller-inverter integrator the Deboo integrator is quite
sensitive to resistor ratio matching [7] and therefore, has
limited practical use.
4) Fig. l(d) shows a novel noninverting integrator found
in the biquad circuits of Ackerberg and Mossberg [II],
[12] and which we shall call the phase-lead integrator.
BRACKElT AND SEDRA : COMPENSATION FOR HF EFFECTS IN OP-AMP CIRCUITS 69

(I TWO-INTEGRATOR LOOP
0 MILLER (INVERTING) e mti-12 (INVERTING)

b BIQUAD USING MILLER AND DEB00 INTEGRATORS

b MILLER-INVERTOR (NON- f MODIFIED MILLER-INVERTOR (NON-

vMo v$p$++-gv;

T 7
c EIPUAD USING MILLER AND MILLER- INVERTER INTEGRATORS

Z=RC
c DE 000 (NON-INVERTING)
r Q zp
k I-(40/1A1)

Y
d EIQUAD USING MILLER AND MODIFIED MILLER-INVERTER INTEGRATORS

r= RC
d PHASE-LEAD (NON-INVERTING) NOTES:
Qk -.-.A--
I42WlAl)

PIIAI e BIQUAD USING MILLER AND PHASE-LEAD INTEGRATORS

Fig. 1. Seven op-amp integrators and their Q-factors.

Z= RC

Ok a
In this circuit active compensation, through a matched
,R
amplifier in the feedback path, is used to obtain a Q-factor
VI
equal in magnitude but opposite in sign to that of the invert-
ing Miller integrator.
5) The feedback active compensation technique is
employed in the circuit of Fig. l(e) to realize an inverting f BIPUAD USING HIGH-Q AND MODIFIED HIGH-O INTEGRATORS
integrator having an ultra-high Q-factor, namely, Q N I R I

-JA13. This improvement of many orders of magnitude is ?-= RC

obtained assuming amplifier matching. We have termed this Ok 0

integrator circuit high-Q integrator.
6) Another form of active compensation is the feed-
forward compensation technique employed in the non-
inverting integrator of Fig. l(f). This is a modified Miller-
inverter integrator which achieves a three-fold increase in Fig. 2. Biquads using two-integrator loops and their nonideal Q-
the Q-factor magnitude by changing only one connection. factors, Qk.
Specifically, the summing junction potential of A, is fed
to the noninverting input of A, causing the inverter to have
a transfer function V,/V, given by III. APPLICATION TO THE DESIGN OF BIQUADRATIC
FILTER SECTIONS

As an example of the use of the tabulation of integrators

given in Fig. 1 we briefly consider the design of a biquad-
which for matched amplifiers, of arbitrary frequency ratic filter section as a two-integrator loop [3], [S]. Fig. 2
response, becomes V,/V, = - 1. Note that the inverting shows a block diagram of the loop consisting of two
input terminal of A2 becomes a true virtual ground. It integrators, one inverting and one noninverting. If the
should be obvious that this compensation scheme is integrators are not ideal but have finite Q-factors, Q, and
applicable, wherever a signal inversion is required, in- Q2, the realized pole-Q is given by
dependent of the function the first amplifier is performing
(integration in this case). 1
Qb = (1)
7) Both the feedforward and feedback compensation
techniques are combined to obtain the modified high-Q
integrator of Fig. l(g). This is a noninverting integrator
1+1+1
Q QI Q2 1
having an ultra-high Q-factor; Q, N JA13. where 0, and 0, are evaluated at u-,.
IO
To implement the two-integrator biquad, we select
different combinations of inverting and noninverting
integrators from those in Fig. 1 and use Fig. 1 to evaluate
the actual realized pole-Q. A number of such realizations
together with their Qk values are given in Fig. 2. Note that
the drastic Q-enhancement exhibited by the circuits b, c,
and d in Fig. 2 results from choosing integrator implemen-
tations whose Q-factors have the same sign. In circuit e,
which is the one proposed by Ackerberg and Mossberg
[ll], [IZ] the two integrators ideally have Q-factors of
equal magnitude and opposite sign leading to cancellation
of the error terms. Thus, theoretically the realized pole-Q is
equal to its nominal value. However, detailed analysis of
this biquad shows that both o,, and Q change to wok and
Qk where
and
Q .
Qk =
(1 + S) 1 - 4SQ t)
These deviations are quite small and of the same order as
those obtained with state-of-the-art biquad sections [8].
The final biquad circuit in Fig. 2 uses the high-Q circuit
(Q N - j,413) for the inverting integrator and the modified
high-Q circuit (Q N - IAl) for the noninverting integrator.
The result is a pole-Q that is closer to the design value than
that obtained in any other circuit. The present circuit,
however, is wasteful in its use of amplifiers and hence its
practicality is doubtful. It is included to illustrate a point
and for completeness.
IV. APPLICATION TO THE ACTIVE OPERATIONAL
SIMULATIONSOF LADDER FILTERS
The second application of the results of Fig. 1 is to the
realization of active operational simulations of ladder filters.
Basically there are two such methods: the leap-frog
technique [5] which is useful for low-pass filters and other
filters derived from low-pass prototypes via reactance trans-
formations, and the recently introduced [2], [14] direct
simulation technique which applies to any arbitrary LC
ladder structure. In both schemes a one-to-one corres-
pondence is maintained between the reactive elements in
the LC ladder and the integrators of the active operational
simulation. Consequently, the sensitivity formulas of LC
ladders [9], [IO], [13] can be applied directly to the active
analogs.
Specifically, for an LC ladder filter having a semi-uniform
dissipation with QL denoting the Q-factor for the inductors
and Q, that for the capacitors, the deviation AU in the
attenuation function CIis given by [9],
Aa = 4.34 ((& + &) we
+i(&-&)Im(pl +pl))dB(2)
1976
IEEETRANSACTIONSON CIRCUITSAND SYSTEMS,FEBRUARY
TABLE I
DEVIATION IN ATTENUATION FUNCTION OF FILTERS REALIZED As
OPERATIONAL SIMULATIONS OF LC LADDER FILTERS. DIFFERENT
COMBINATIONSOF INTEGRATORS(FROMFIG. 1) ARE USED TO SIMULATE
CAPACITANCEAND INDUCTANCEOF LC LADDER.
where z(w) is the filters group delay, Im denotes imaginary
part, and p1 and pZ are the front and back reflection co-
efficients. In an active operational simulation one needs
integrators of both signs and it has been common practice
to use inverting integrators to simulate capacitors and non-
inverting integrators for the inductors. Equation (2) can
thus be used, together with the integrator Q-factors given
in Fig. 1, to predict the expected deviaton in the filter
attenuation corresponding to different choices of integrator
circuit implementations. It should be noted that in most
classes of filter networks the first term on the right side of
(2) dominates in the passband and in the transition band
where z(o) is large and we can use the approximation
A& N 4.34(& + &) UK(O). (3)
On the other hand, the second term dominates in the stop-
band where the reflection coefficients Bre large.
Table I provides the results of evaluating the deviation
Aa for four different combinations of integrator circuits.
Case 1) is the usual implementation and the results agree
with those in [l]. We note the large deviation in the pass-
band attenuation. Case 2) which results by a simple modifi-
cation of the Miller-inverter integrator results in reducing
the passband distortion term by a factor of two while the
stopband distortion term is ideally reduced to almost zero.
A dramatic improvement in performance is obtained in
case 3) which uses the Ackerberg-Mossberg integrator.
Here the passband deviation is reduced to almost zero (for
perfect matching). Thus using the compensated integrator
of Fig. 1(d) in a leap-frog or more general simulation [ 141
of an LC ladder tremendously extends the useful operating
frequency range of this form of active-RC filter realization.
Therefore, active filter realizations using integrators to
simulate doubly terminated LC ladders do not have
inherent high-frequency limitations as has recently been
claimed [ 11.
Finally, case 4) makes use of the two high-Q integrators
of Fig. 1. The resulting improvement in performance is
1 In [l] the approximation (3) was used. However, as noted above,
the second term cannot be neglected in the stopband specially when
QL and Qc are of opposite signs.
BRACKETTAND SEDRA: COMPENSATION
FOR HF EFFECTSIN OP-AMPCIRCUITS 71

LOSS IN dB DELAY INJt S

evident from the extremely small value for Aa. This is,
however, obtained at the expense of an additional amplifier IS-
t
450

per integrator. Furthermore, the high-Q values are obtained 16 -

only if very close amplifier matching and tracking is
1.4 -
maintained. Thus the practicability of this realization
remains to be evaluated. 1.2 - 300

IO - 250
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
0.8 - 200
To verify some of the results of the previous sections we
0.6 - 150
present experimental data obtained for an active leap-frog
ladder network. The network chosen for the tests is a 0.4 100

Sth-order Chebyshev low-pass filter having a 1-dB passband 02 50

ripple. This is the same filter considered in [l]. Fig. 3
0.0 0
illustrates the ideal attenuation and group delay response
FREQUENCY IN kliz
for this filter. The element values of the passive prototype,
shown in Fig. 4(a), are C, = Cs = 2.135 F, C, = 3.001 F, Fig. 3. Sth-order Chebyshev low-pass filter characteristics.
and L, = L4 = 1.091 H, which correspond to a cutoff fre-
quency of 5.333 kHz.
The standard leap-frog simulation of Fig. 4(b) using
the Miller integrator of Fig. l(a) for capacitor simulation
and the Miller-inverter cascade of Fig: l(b) for inductor
simulation was constructed using 1458 op amps (which are
dual 741s). These devices have a nominal gain-bandwidth
product of f, = 1 MHz. No attempt at matching the
amplifier packages was made. Amplifiers A, and A,
simulating L, were from the same package, and amplifiers
A6 and A, simulating L, were also in the same package.
Amplifiers A, and A, simulating C, and C, were from the (b)
same package, but amplifier A, simulating C, was a single Fig. 4. (a) LC ladder implementing Sth-order Chebyshev and
amplifier from an additional dual package. All integrating (b) its leap-frog active realization.
capacitors are of polystyrene dielectric, and were assigned
a nominal value of 5.1 kpF, and subsequently measured to
0.1 percent accuracy on an impedance bridge. The corres-
ponding resistors were metal film types, and were selected -
to provide the appropriate RC products to 0.2 percent
accuracy. Thus the errors in the transfer function due to the
passive component tolerances are quite negligible.
At this point, the transfer function of the filter across the
passband was measured, and is shown in Fig. 5 as plot
number 1. We note the severe Q-enhancement as predicted,
and the resulting passband distortion is Act = 0.69 dB
which confirms the results of [l], and is very close to that
predicted from Table I.
Next, the noninverting inputs of A, and A, were un-
soldered from ground and connected to the inverting inputs
of A, and A,, respectively, to form the modified Miller
KILOHERTZ fc
inverters of Fig. l(f). As shown in Table I, this should
reduce the passband distortion by a factor of 2. The plot Fig. 5. Measured loss responses for Sth-order Chebyshev filter for
various integrator combinations.
labeled number 2 of Fig. 5 is the curve measured for this
case. Note that the worst case distortion is now only
Act = 0.32 dB, almost exactly one half that of the standard so small that it is completely masked by the effect of passive
leap-frog network. component tolerances!
Finally, amplifiers A, and A5 were wired in the feedback As a further practical example, we next present experi-
paths of A, and A,, respectively, and the inputs to A, and mental results obtained for a 12th-order 20-kHz SSB channel
A, were reversed, resulting in the phase-lead integrators of filter designed to pass the lower sideband (17 to 19.7 kHz)
Fig. l(d). This again does not involve any new components with a maximum passband ripple of 0.2 dB. This filter has
but is merely a wiring change. Plot number 3 of Fig. 5 is two loss poles at each of zero and infinite frequency with
the resulting measured transfer function. Here the distortion four finite nonzero loss peaks, three of which are in the
is very nearly zero as predicted by Table I, and is in fact upper stopband. Fig. 6 is a plot of the ideal attenuation and
72
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
KILOHERTZ
Fig. 6. Ideal response of 12th-order 20-kHz SSB channel filter.
Fig. 7. LC ladder realization of the channel filter. Note that in
active simulation three reciprocators [2] are required at locations
shown.
group delay characteristics of this filter, and Fig. 7 is the
schematic diagram for the prototype passive LC ladder
which was simulated using the techniques of [2]-[14].
For those interested in further details, three reciprocatorP2
were required in the design and placed in the locations
denoted by r in Fig. 7. The maximum natural mode
pole-Q is approximately 150 at a frequency of approximately
20 kHz. The op amps used throughout were 1458s (dual
741s) with no conscious attempt made at matching 0,s.
The complete filter was constructed using l-percent resistors
and 2-percent capacitors and was tuned by simply resonat-
ing the two integrator loops by trimming one resistor per
loop. The integrators used were those of Fig. l(a) and (d).
Fig. 8 illustrates the experimental results obtained across
the passband at an input (and output) level of approximately
0 dBm. As can be seen, the worst case loss deviation here
is about 0.25 dB illustrating the excellent performance that
can be obtained at high frequencies using these methods.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, we see that in precision applications of
op amps, such as in the field of active RC filters, active
compensation of op amps is not only possible but highly
desirable. We have demonstrated theoretically the advan-
tages of such techniques, and have confirmed the results by
actual measurements. These techniques allow the limited
bandwidth effects of the op amps to be self-compensating
and extend the useful operating frequency range of active
filters designed as operational simulations of doubly
terminated LC ladders.
Z For the definition and implementation of the reciprocator see
121,D41.
IEEETRANSACTIONSON CIRCUITSAND SYSTEMS,FEBRUARY
1976
06
04
02
-02
------7---
Fig. 8. Ideal and measured passband response of channel filter.
Dual 741-type op amps were used and each two-integrator loop
was resonant tuned by adjusting one resistor.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to acknowledge the work of K. Martin
at the University of Toronto in the design and construction
of the 20-kHz channel filter.
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P. 0. Brackett, for a photograph and biography please see page 67 of
this issue.
A. S. Sedra, for a photograph and biography please see page 67 of
this issue.