© CREATAS

Lead and Lag

Compensators with Complex
Poles and Zeros
DESIGN FORMULAS FOR MODELING AND LOOP SHAPING

WILLIAM C. MESSNER, MARK D. BEDILLION, LU XIA, and DUANE C. KARNS

√
n classical loop shaping, compensator structures are ωm = pz (2)

I typically cascaded to modify the gain and phase char-

acteristics of the open-loop frequency response. These
alterations are used to achieve closed-loop perfor-
mance specifications for disturbance rejection, refer-
ence following, noise rejection, and gain and phase
margins. Lead and lag compensators are standard tools
and p > ωm > z > 0. The gain of (1) is unity at ωm . The
maximum phase lead φm of the lead compensator is

φm =  C( jωm ) =  ( jωm + z) −  ( jωm + p)

ω 
m

ωm

employed in the loop-shaping process. = arctan − arctan . (3)
z p
A lead compensator has the transfer function

 
p s+ z
C(s) = , (1) Since 0 < arctan (ωm /p) < arctan (ωm /z) < 90 °, the maxi-
z s+ p
mum phase lead φm is less than 90°. Furthermore,
whose maximum phase φm occurs at the frequency φm , ωm , p, and z are related by (2) and

44 IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS MAGAZINE » FEBRUARY 2007 1066-033X/07/$25.00©2007IEEE

 z 1 − sin φm
= (4)
p 1 + sin φm .
Figure 1 shows the Bode plot for a lead compensator with
a maximum phase lead of 45° at ωm = 1 rad/s. The pole is
at −p = −2.41, and the zero is at −z = −0.41. The transfer
function of a lag compensator is the reciprocal of a lead
compensator.
Lead compensators are used to increase the phase mar-
gin for a given 0-dB crossover frequency. Lag compensators
are used to increase the low-frequency gain for improved
disturbance rejection or to decrease the high-frequency gain
for improved noise rejection or augmented gain margin.
Lead and lag compensators can also be used in modeling to
match gain and phase features of frequency-response data.
For phase lead greater than or equal to 90°, multiple lead
compensators must be cascaded together. In practice, cascad-
ed lead compensators are also used for phase lead less than
90° because the high-frequency gain of a single lead compen-
mum phase lead. The maximum phase lead is designated
as 2φm for notational simplicity in the following develop-
ment. The transfer function of a complex lag compensator
is the reciprocal of a complex lead compensator.
Figure 3 shows the Bode plot of a complex lead com-
pensator with damping ratio ζ = 0.7 and maximum phase
lead 90° at ωm = 1 rad/s. For comparison, Figure 3 also
shows the Bode plot of a double lead compensator with
maximum phase lead 90° at ωm = 1 rad/s.
The Bode plots in Figure 3 illustrate several notable dif-
ferences between the double lead compensator and the
complex lead compensator. First, the phase peak of the
complex lead compensator is sharper than the phase peak
of the double lead compensator. Next, the magnitude tran-
sition region of the complex lead compensator is narrower
than the magnitude transition region of the double lead
10

Magnitude (dB)
sator with maximum phase lead of more than 60° is signifi- 5
cantly larger than the high-frequency gain of n cascaded lead
compensators each contributing 1/n of the same total phase 0
lead. Figure 2 shows the high-frequency gain of a single lead −5
compensator as a function of the total phase lead.
−10
The simplest cascade is the square of a lead compen- 60
sator, called a double lead compensator. The transfer function
Phase (°)

of the double lead compensator, which has maximum

30
phase lead 2φm , is

Cdouble (s) = C2 (s) 0

 10−2 10−1 100 101 102
p s+ z 2 Frequency (rad/s)
=
z s+ p
  FIGURE 1 Bode plot of the lead compensator of (1). The maximum
ωd s2 + 2ζn ωn s + ωn2 phase lead is 45° at ωm = 1 rad/s. The pole is at − p = −2.41, and
= , (5)
ωn s2 + 2ζdωd s + ω2d the zero is at −z = −0.41.

where ωn = z, ωd = p, and ζn = ζd = 1. The poles and zeros

of the double lead compensator are real and have multi- 45
plicity of two. 40
High Frequency Gain (dB)

The last expression in (5) suggests a variation of the 35

double lead compensator in which the polynomials of the 30
second-order biproper transfer function have damping
25
ratios less than one. In particular, the complex lead com-
20
pensator introduced in [1] is a variation of the double lead
compensator in which the poles and zeros are complex 15
conjugates with the same damping ratio. This transfer 10
function has the form 5
  0
ωp s2 + 2ζ ωz s + ωz2 30 40 50 60 70 80
Ccomplex (s) = , (6) Maximum Phase Lead (°)
ωz s2 + 2ζ ωp s + ωp2
√
FIGURE 2 High-frequency gain p/z of the single lead compensator
where ωp is the undamped natural frequency of the poles,
(1) as a function of its maximum phase lead φm . The high-frequency
and ωz is the undamped natural frequency of the zeros. gain increases nonlinearly with increasing phase lead. Lead com-
The equal damping ratios ζ provide a symmetric phase pensators are often cascaded in practice to reduce the high-fre-
peak. The gain of (6) is unity at ωm , the frequency of maxi- quency gain for a desired maximum phase lead.

FEBRUARY 2007 « IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 45

compensator. Furthermore, the ratio of the high-frequency
gain asymptote to the low-frequency gain asymptote is
smaller for the complex lead compensator than for the
double lead compensator. Finally, the slope of the magni-
tude at the frequency ωm is steeper for the complex lead
compensator than for the double lead compensator.
The smaller ratio between the high-frequency and low-
frequency gain asymptotes of the complex lead compen-
sator is an advantage compared to the double lead
compensator when the complex lead compensator is used
to increase the phase margin for a given 0-dB crossover
frequency. However, the narrower phase peak of the com-
plex lead compensator implies that the phase of the com-
pensated open-loop attains −180° crossover at a lower
frequency when using a complex lead compensator than
when using a double lead compensator. Also, the rate at
which the open-loop magnitude drops above the 0-dB
crossover frequency is smaller for a complex lead compen-
sator than for a double lead compensator. These latter two
features might result in a smaller gain margin or lower
noise rejection near the 0-dB crossover frequency [2].
For a complex lag compensator, the steeper magnitude
slope and narrower phase notch are advantages compared to
the double lag compensator, while the smaller difference
between the high-frequency and low-frequency gain is a dis-
advantage. The smaller difference in the gain asymptotes of
the complex lag compensator tends to reduce the low-fre-
quency gain and decrease the low-frequency disturbance
20
Magnitude (dB)
10
0 z1
−10
−20
135
Double Lead
Complex Lead
Phase (°)
90
45
0 Real
10−2 10−1 100 101 102
Frequency (rad/s)
FIGURE 3 Bode plots of the double lead compensator (5) and the
complex lead compensator (6). The phase peak and magnitude
transition region of the complex lead compensator are narrower
than the phase peak and magnitude transition region of the dou-
ble lead compensator. The ratio of the high-frequency gain
asymptote to the low-frequency gain asymptote is smaller for the
complex lead compensator than for the double lead compen-
sator. The slope of the gain at the frequency of maximum phase
is steeper for the complex lead compensator than for the double
lead compensator.
46 IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS MAGAZINE » FEBRUARY 2007
rejection compared with the double lag compensator. How-
ever, the steeper magnitude slope and the narrower phase
notch mean that the complex lag can be applied to increase
the rate at which the open-loop magnitude drops above the 0-
dB crossover frequency, while changing the −180° crossover
frequency very little. When trading off gain margin for phase
margin, a complex lag compensator can provide a larger gain
margin compared with a double lag compensator. Another
application for which the complex lag has similar advantages
over the double lag compensator is to improve the perfor-
mance of single-input, single-output (SISO) systems that have
multiple 0-dB crossover frequencies [3].
Complex lead and complex lag compensators are also
useful for system modeling. The Bode plots of measured
frequency response data often exhibit narrow phase peaks
and notches with complicated magnitude behavior in the
vicinity of the peaks and notches. The complex lead and
complex lag compensators can be used to replicate these
Bode plot features in many cases.
We provide simple closed-form expressions for deter-
mining the transfer function parameters of complex lead
and lag compensators for a specified phase lead or lag at a
particular frequency of maximum phase lead or lag. For
each compensator, we characterize the relationship
between the damping ratio and the ratio of the asymptotic
gains, the slope of the magnitude plot at the frequency of
maximum phase lead or lag, the width of the phase peak,
and the width of the magnitude transition region.
1.5 P Z
p1
1 jwm
0.5
Imaginary
r r
0
−p cp −z O cz
−0.5
z2
−1 p2 −jwm
−1.5
−2 −1 0 1 2
FIGURE 4 The pole-zero plot for the complex lead compensator of
Figure 3. The maximum phase lead is 2φm = 90° at ωm = 1 rad/s.
The points − p and −z are the locations of the pole and zero of the
lead compensator having maximum phase lead of 45° at ωm . The
point cp = −1 is the center of the circle P, which passes through the
points j ωm , − j ωm , and − p = −2.41. The conjugate poles p1 and
p2 of the complex lead compensator lie at the intersection of P and
the lines corresponding to the damping ratio ζ = 0.7. Likewise, the
point cz = 1 is the center of the circle Z, which passes through the
points j ωm , − j ωm , and −z = −0.41. The conjugate zeros z1 and z2
of the complex lead compensator lie at the intersection of Z and the
lines corresponding to the damping ratio.
ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX
LEAD AND LAG COMPENSATORS Useful Trigonometric Identities

S
everal trigonometric identities involving the tangent function
Geometric Relationships are useful in the derivations. The derivations of the expres-
Figure 4 shows the pole-zero plot of the complex lead com- sions (10) and (11) for ω p and ωz employ
pensator of Figure 3. A close geometric relationship exists
sin2 (A) cos2 (A) 1
between the locations of the poles and zeros of a complex tan2 (A) + 1 = + = . (S1)
cos (A) cos2 (A)
2 cos2 (A)
lead compensator with maximum phase lead 2 φm at the
frequency ωm and a lead compensator having maximum The formula for the tangent of the difference of two angles is
lead phase lead φm at the same frequency. The points −p
tan(A) − tan(B)
and −z are the locations of the pole and the zero of the tan(A − B) = . (S2)
1 + tan(A) tan(B)
lead compensator. The point cp is the center of the circle P,
which passes through the points jωm , − jωm and −p. The Closely related to (S2) is the double angle formula for tangents
conjugate poles p1 and p2 of the complex lead compensator
2 tan(A)
lie at the intersection of P and the lines corresponding to tan(2A) = . (S3)
1 − tan2 (A)
the damping ratio ζ . Likewise, the point cz is the center of
the circle Z, which passes through the points jωm , − jωm , The derivation of the frequency of maximum phase lead uses an
and −z. The conjugate zeros z1 and z2 of the complex lead identity for the difference of two arctangents given by
compensator lie at the intersection of Z and the lines corre- arctan(u) − arctan(v ) = arctan(tan(arctan(u)
sponding to the damping ratio. − arctan(v )))
We begin by deriving properties of the single lead com-  
u−v
= arctan . (S4)
pensator. The expression 1 + uv

  
1 + sin φm 1 + sin φm 1 + sin φm   
p = ωm = ωm
1 − sin φm 1 − sin φm 1 + sin φm ωp = ωm ζ tan φm + ζ 2 tan2 φm + 1 . (10)
   
1 + sin φm 1
= ωm = ωm + tan φm (7)
cos φm cos φm Following the same procedure for the zeros yields
  
is a variation of equation (7.4) in [4]. The point cp is defined ωz = ωm −ζ tan φm + ζ 2 tan2 φm + 1 . (11)
as cp ≡ −ωm tan φm . The distance between the point −p and
the point cp is therefore r ≡ ωm / cos φm . It follows from the Multiplying, subtracting, adding, and summing the
Pythagorean theorem and the trigonometric identity (SI) squares of (10) and (11) leads to the relations
(see “Useful Trigonometric Identities”) that the distance 
between jωm and cp is r, while the distance between the ωm = ωp ω z , (12)
point − jωm and the point cp is also r. Thus, cp is center of ωp − ωz = 2ζ ωm tan φm , (13)

the circle P defined by the points jωm , − jωm and −p. The
ωp + ωz = ωm ζ 2 tan2 φm + 1, (14)
radius of P is r.  
The same procedure for the zeros yields ωp2 + ωz2 = ωm
2
4ζ 2 tan2 φm + 2 . (15)
 
1
z = ωm − tan φm . (8) Equation (12) shows that the frequency of maximum phase
cos φm
lead is the geometric mean of the natural frequencies of the
The point cz ≡ ωm tan φm is the center of the circle Z with poles and zeros, which is analogous to (2) for a lead com-
radius r defined by the points jωm , − jωm and −z. pensator with real poles and real zeros. The relations
The poles and zeros of the complex lead compensator (13)–(15) are useful in the proof below that ωm is the fre-
lie at the intersections of the two circles and the lines corre- quency of maximum phase lead.
sponding to the damping ratio ζ . The undamped natural
frequency of the poles is ωp, which is the distance from the Determining the Frequency of Maximum Phase Lead
poles to the origin O. The law of cosines for the triangle The complex lead compensator phase angle  C( jω) is
cpOp1 leads to the relation given by

 C( jω) = 
−ω 2 + 2ζ ω ωj + ω2
z z
r2 = c2p + ωp2 − 2|cp|ωp cos( cpOp1 ). (9)
−ω2 + 2ζ ωpωj + ωp2
  
Solving this quadratic equation for ωp, substituting for cp and 2ζ ωz ω 2ζ ωpω
= arctan − arctan , (16)
r, applying SI, and using the relation ζ = cos( cpOp1 ) implies ωz2 − ω2 ωp2 − ω2

FEBRUARY 2007 « IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 47

where the subscript complex is suppressed for notational  
x = 4ζ 2 ωm ωm
2
+ ω2 ω tan φm (19)
convenience. Applying the formula for the difference of
arctangents (S4) and the relations (12)–(15) to (16) and col- and
lecting terms leads to  2  
2
y = ωm − ω2 + 4ζ 2 ωm
2
1 − tan2 φm ω2 . (20)
   
2ζ ω ωz ωp + ωm 2 ωp − ω z Differentiating (17) with respect to ω leads to

C( jω) = arctan   
ωz2 ωp2 − ω2 ωz2 + ωp2 + ω4 + 4ζ 2 ωz ωpω2
  2   
4ζ 2 ωm tan φm ωm +ω2 ω d
C( jω) d x
= arctan 4   = arctan
dω dω y
ωm −ω2 ωm 2 4ζ 2 tan φ +2 +ω4 +4ζ 2 ω2 ω2
m m 
  2   1 dx dy
4ζ ωm tan φm ωm + ω ω
2 2 = 2 2 y −x ,
= arctan     . x +y dω dω
ωm 2 − ω2 2 + 4ζ 2 ω2 1 − tan2 φ
m ω
2
m (21)
(17) where

dx  
Setting ω = ωm in (17) and applying the double angle for- =4ζ 2 ωm tan φm ωm2 + 3ω2 , (22)
mula for tangents (S3) shows that
C( jωm ) = 2φm . dω
dy  
For convenience, we rewrite (17) as =4 ωm2 − ω2 ω + 8ζ 2 ωm2
dω  
x × 1 − tan2 φm ω. (23)

C( jω) = , (18)
y

where Evaluating (19)–(23) at ω = ωm shows that (d
C( jωm ))/

(dω) = 0. Since (d
C( jω))/
(dω) < 0 for all ω > ωm , and
(d
C( jω))/(dω) > 0 for all ω < ωm ,
15
the positive phase at ω = ωm must
10 Ratio of Asymptotic be the global maximum.
Magnitude (dB)

5 Gains (dB)
BODE PLOT FEATURES
0
Slope at Peak (dB/dec) AND DAMPING RATIO
−5 For modeling and design, it is use-
−10 Intersection of
ful to determine the relationship
Asymptotes to Peak (dec) between the parameters of the
−15
complex lead compensator and
135
4° to features of the compensator Bode
Peak (dec) plot. Figure 5 indicates the features
90
Phase (°)

examined in this section.

The ratio of the high-frequency
Width at Half magnitude asymptote to the low-
45 Max (dec)
frequency magnitude asymptote
of the complex lead compensator
0
10−2 10−1 100 101 102 determines the reduction in the
ωm low-frequency disturbance rejec-
Frequency (rad/s) tion, high-frequency noise rejec-
tion, and gain margin when the
FIGURE 5 Some features of the Bode plot of a complex lead compensator. The Bode plot fea- compensator is used for loop shap-
tures of the complex lead compensator are functions of both the maximum phase lead and the ing. For a complex lag compen-
damping ratio. Features of interest on the magnitude plot are the ratio of asymptotic gains, the sator, the same ratio determines
slope of the magnitude plot at the compensation frequency, and the width of the transition the increase in low-frequency dis-
region from the intersection of the asymptotes to ωm , the frequency of maximum phase lead.
The width of the phase peak is the frequency width from 4° phase lead to the phase-lead peak
turbance rejection, high-frequency
expressed in decades or, equivalently, as the full width at half maximum phase lead also noise rejection, and gain margin.
expressed in decades. The expression for this ratio is

48 IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS MAGAZINE » FEBRUARY 2007


 2
|C(∞)| ωp
2
ζ tan φm + ζ 2 tan2 φm + 1 The smaller ratio between the
= 2 = 
|C(0)| ωz −ζ tan φm + ζ 2 tan2 φm + 1

 2 high-frequency and low-frequency
ζ tan φm + ζ 2 tan2 φm + 1
= 
−ζ tan φm + ζ 2 tan2 φm + 1 gain asymptotes of the complex

 2
ζ tan φm + ζ 2 tan2 φm + 1 lead compensator is an advantage
× 
ζ tan φm + ζ 2 tan2 φm + 1
  4 compared to the double
= ζ tan φm + ζ 2 tan2 φm + 1 . (24)
lead compensator.

50
Phase Lead = 30°

Full Width at Half Max Peak (dec)

Phase Lead = 30° Phase Lead = 60°
45 Phase Lead = 60° 0.2
Phase Lead = 90°
Ratio of Asymptotic Gains (dB)

40 Phase Lead = 90° Phase Lead = 120°

Phase Lead = 120° Phase Lead = 135°
35 0.15
30
25 0.1
20
15 0.05
10
5 0
0 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Damping Ratio
Damping Ratio
FIGURE 8 Full width of the phase peak at half of the maximum
FIGURE 6 Ratios of asymptotic gains. This plot shows the ratio of the phase lead for damping ratios between 0.001 and 0.1. The plot
asymptotic gains as a function of the damping ratio for four phase- shows the full width at half maximum as a function of the damping
lead values. The ratio in dB is nearly a linear function of the damp- ratio for five maximum phase-lead values, which is useful for model-
ing ratio, especially for phase-lead values less than 90°. ing resonance/antiresonance pairs with low damping.

1.8
Phase Lead = 30° Phase Lead = 30°
Full Width at Half Max Peak (dec)

1.6 Phase Lead = 60° Phase Lead = 60°

Phase Lead = 90° 2
Four Degrees to Peak (dec)

Phase Lead = 90°

1.4 Phase Lead = 120° Phase Lead = 120°
Phase Lead = 135°
1.2
1.5
1
0.8 1
0.6
0.4 0.5
0.2
0 0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Damping Ratio Damping Ratio

FIGURE 7 Full width of the phase peak at half of the maximum FIGURE 9 Width of the phase peak. This plot shows the ratio of
phase lead for damping ratios between 0.1 and 1. The plot shows the 4° phase-lead frequency to the frequency of maximum phase
the full width at half maximum as a function of the damping ratio for lead in decades as a function of the damping ratio for several
five different maximum phase-lead values. phase-lead values.

FEBRUARY 2007 « IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 49

 quency span in decades (dec) between
Lead compensators are used to increase the phase the frequencies at which the phase is
one-half of its maximum. This measure
margin for a given 0-dB crossover frequency. of the peak width is useful for model-
ing since it is easily measured from
experimental data. Figure 7 shows the
numerically determined FWHM peak
Figure 6 shows the ratio of the asymptotic gains in dB as a width for several lead compensators as a function of damp-
function of the damping ratio. ing ratio. Figure 8 shows the peak width for damping ratios
The width of the phase peak can be quantified in several between 0.001–0.1, which is useful for modeling resonance
ways. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) is the fre- and antiresonance pairs with low damping ratio.

Magnitude Slope at Max Phase Lead (dB/dec)

0.7
Phase Lead = 30° 200
Phase Lead = 60° Phase Lead = 30°
0.6 180 Phase Lead = 60°
Phase Lead = 90°
Phase Lead = 120° Phase Lead = 90°
Transition Width (dec)

0.5 160 Phase Lead = 120°

140
0.4
120
0.3 100

0.2 80
60
0.1
40
0 20
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.1 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
Damping Ratio Damping Ratio

FIGURE 10 The magnitude transition region width. The width is mea-
sured by the frequency span between the intersection of the low-
frequency and mid-frequency asymptotes and ωm . Note the nearly
linear relationship with respect to the damping ratio.
Magnitude Slope at Max Phase Lead (dB/dec)
FIGURE 12 Magnitude slope at the frequency of maximum phase
lead for damping ratios between 0.1 and 0.5. The slope at the fre-
quency of maximum phase lead increases dramatically for low
damping ratios, even for low phase-lead values.

80
55 Phase Lead = 30°
Magnitude (dB)

Phase Lead = 60° 60

50 Phase Lead = 90° 40
Phase Lead = 120° 20
45
0
40
−20
35 −40
30 0
−45
25
Phase (°)

−90
20 −135 Experimental
Data
15 −180 Second-Order
Model
10 −225
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 100 101 102 103 104
Frequency (rad/s)
Damping Ratio

FIGURE 11 Magnitude slope at the frequency of maximum phase FIGURE 13 Frequency response of an actuated tape guide. A
lead for damping ratios between 0.5 and 1. The slope at the fre- second-order model captures the low-frequency response. The two
quency of maximum phase lead decreases by 10–15 dB/dec as the prominent peaks at approximately 1160 rad/s and 1940 rad/s arise
damping ratio increases from 0.5–1.0. from mechanical resonances in the actuator structure.

50 IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS MAGAZINE » FEBRUARY 2007

 For a complex lag compensator, the steeper magnitude slope and
narrower phase notch are advantages compared to the double lag compensator.

Another way to measure the width of the

phase peak is the frequency span from a
specified small phase lead to the maximum 15
phase lead. This quantity is often useful for 10

Magnitude (dB)
designing lag compensators when the goal is
5
to increase the gain margin with minimal
0
effect on the phase margin. Figure 9 shows
the numerically determined width from 4° to −5
the phase peak in decades as a function of −10
damping ratio. −15 Frequency: 1130 rad/s
The width of the magnitude transition −45
Phase: −45°
region is another important property of lead
−90
compensators because it determines the fre- Frequency: 1080 rad/s
Phase (°)

Frequency: 1260 rad/s

Phase: −113° ?
Phase: −113°
quency range over which the compensator −135
affects the slope of the open-loop magnitude
−180
response. The width of the magnitude transi-
tion region is quantified here by the frequency −225
span from the intersection of the asymptotes to 103
ωm . The intersection of the low-frequency and Frequency (rad/s)
mid-frequency asymptotes ωm is related to the
damping ratio and maximum phase lead by FIGURE 14 Closeup of the first phase peak of Figure 13. The phase peak is 135°
above the baseline phase of −180°. The 50% frequencies are the two frequen-

cies at which the phase is above the baseline by half of the difference between
ωm ωp the baseline and peak values.
= = ζ tan φm + ζ 2 tan2 φm + 1. (25)
ωz ωm

Figure 10 shows the width of the magnitude

15
transition region in decades as a function of
Magnitude (dB)

damping ratio. 10
The maximum slope of the complex lead 5
compensator magnitude determines how 0
much the slope of the open-loop magnitude −5
response changes when the compensator is
−10
applied. For lag compensators, a larger magni-
tude slope is desirable for increasing low-fre- −15
quency disturbance rejection or increasing 0
Experimental Data
high-frequency noise rejection near the fre- −45 Complex Lead
Phase (°)

quency of the maximum phase lag. Converse- −90

ly, a steeper magnitude slope for a lead −135
compensator limits the design by reducing the
−180
slope of the open-loop magnitude at the open-
loop 0-dB crossover frequency. The expression −225
103
for the magnitude slope at the compensation
Frequency (rad/s)
frequency in decibels per decade is

FIGURE 15 Measured and modeled frequency responses in the vicinity of the two

20 log |C( jω)|  20 ωm 1 phase peaks. The frequency response of the second-order model augmented by
= |C( jωm )|. (26)
d log |(ω)| ωm |C( jωm )| dω the two complex lead compensators is a good match to the experimental fre-
quency response.

FEBRUARY 2007 « IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 51

 For modeling and design, it is useful to determine the
relationship between the parameters of the complex lead compensator
and features of the compensator Bode plot.

Figures 11 and 12 show the maximum magnitude slope in MODELING EXAMPLE

decibels per decade obtained numerically for several lead We consider an actuated tape guide used to actively steer
compensators as a function of damping ratio. moving tape. The tape guide is used in a high-precision tape
transport system [5] for a prototype multiterabyte tape sys-
tem under construction at Carnegie Mellon. Figure 13 shows
the frequency response of the device as well as the frequency
response of a second-order transfer function manually fit to
20
the data. The system exhibits two resonance/antiresonance
Magnitude (dB)

10
pairs for which finding good transfer function models is often
0 difficult without the use of automated fitting techniques.
−10 Figure 14 shows a closeup of the experimental frequency
−20 response of the first resonance/antiresonance pair. The
−30 estimated phase lead is 2 φm = 135°. The FWHM is

0

+
  
−90 ω50% 1260
Phase (°)

−180 log10 − = log10

−270 ω50% 1080
−360
Experimental Data = 0.067 dec, (27)
−450 Transfer Function Model
−540 +
101 102 103
where ω50% is the higher of the two frequencies at which
−
Frequency (Hz) the phase peak is 50% of the maximum and ω50% is defined
analogously. The estimated damping ratio obtained from
Figure 8 is 0.03. The estimated value of ωm is at the geo-
FIGURE 16 Frequency response of the focus control plant. A model
metric mean of the 50% phase-peak frequencies
containing two resonances matches the experimental response up
to 1100 Hz. 
+ − rad
ωm = ω50% ω50% = 1167 . (28)
s

5 Figure 15 shows the frequency response in the vicinity

Magnitude (dB)

0 of both resonance/antiresonance pairs with the second-

−5 order system model augmented by two complex lead com-
−10
pensators obtained by the process described above. The
parameters of the second complex lead compensator are
−15
2 φm = 117°, ζ = 0.02, and ωm = 1940 rad/s. The complete
−20
transfer function model is
−45
−90  
2 
Phase (°)

−135 2.19e6 s + 65.06s + 1.176e6

P(s) = 2
−180 s + 21.14s + 5625 s2 + 75.21s + 1.555e6
−225 No Lag

−270 Complex Lag s2 + 75.14s + 3.527e6
Lag × 2 . (29)
−315 s + 80.17s + 4.017e6
102 103
Frequency (Hz)

FIGURE 17 Frequency responses of the compensated open loop.

DESIGN EXAMPLE
The large phase margin of the nominal controller allows the use of This design example applies the complex lag compen-
lag compensators for trading off phase margin for gain margin. sator to the focus control of a microscope objective lens.

52 IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS MAGAZINE » FEBRUARY 2007

The example is taken from a heat-assisted mag-
netic recording (HAMR) media tester at the
Seagate Research Center in Pittsburgh, Penn- The complex lag compensator enables
sylvania. A permanent magnet is used to apply
a magnetic field to a portion of the disc. Writ- a tradeoff between gain margin and
ing is achieved by focusing a laser spot on the
magnetized portion of the disc with a micro-
phase margin that improves
scope objective lens. The laser spot size defines
high-frequency robustness.
the dimensions of the written data bits. Effec-
tive writing requires that the position of the
microscope objective lens relative to the disc
surface is maintained to within the depth of focus
of the beam. A servo system is used to mitigate distur-
bances due to spindle wobble and disc vibration. 2
The servo system uses a piezo actuator to move the

Magnitude (dB)
0
objective lens and a four-quadrant detector with a knife
−2
edge to measure the spot size. Figure 16 shows the mea-
sured and modeled plant responses. Below the resonance −4
frequency near 1100 Hz, the measured transfer function −6
closely matches a fourth-order system with 100-µs delay. −8
Above the resonance frequency, the measurement of plant 0
dynamics is uncertain; hence, the controller must provide Phase (°)
−10
adequate robustness at high frequencies.
A proportional-integral (PI) compensator is used to −20
improve disturbance rejection below 100 Hz, while a Complex Lag
Lag
19.5-dB notch filter is used to remove the primary reso- −30
nance. A first-order lowpass filter with a 300-Hz cutoff 101 102 103 104 105 106
frequency suppresses the high-frequency response. The Frequency (Hz)
blue line in Figure 17 shows the loop shape with the PI
FIGURE 18 Bode plots for the lag and complex lag compensators.
compensator, the notch filter, and the low-pass filter
The complex lag compensator magnitude response shows a peak
applied. Figure 17 shows that the gain margin is 4.8 dB at and notch because the compensator damping ratio is below 0.7.
957 Hz, while the phase margin is 86° at 492 Hz. Experi- The complex lag compensator has a steeper magnitude slope and
mental results using this controller indicate that most of narrower phase peak than the lag compensator.
the error occurs in the frequency range of the sensitivity
peak. Use of the complex lag compensator is intended to
decrease sensitivity peaking while improving high-fre- 10
quency robustness.
The complex lag compensator enables a tradeoff 5
between gain margin and phase margin that improves 0
Magnitude (dB)

high-frequency robustness. Figure 18 shows the fre-

quency responses of a 25° standard lag compensator at −5
1,100 Hz and of a 25° complex lag compensator at 600 −10
Hz with damping ratio 0.3. Both compensators provide
19° of phase lag at 500 Hz. The complex lag compen- −15
sator exhibits a small peak and notch in its magnitude No Lag
−20
because its damping ratio is less than 0.7. The phase Complex Lag
Lag
notch of the complex lag compensator is much narrower −25
101 102 103
than that of the standard lag compensator, while its
Frequency (Hz)
magnitude slope is much steeper than the standard lag
compensator’s, between 500 and 700 Hz. However, the FIGURE 19 Experimental sensitivity function magnitudes for the three
standard lag compensator has the larger difference loop-shaping designs. The low-frequency disturbance rejection of the
between asymptotic gains. complex lag compensator design is similar to that of the nominal
design. However, the sensitivity peak of the complex lag compen-
Figure 17 also shows the compensated loop shapes
sator design is smaller than that of the nominal design. The standard
employing the standard lag and complex lag compen- lag compensator design has better low-frequency disturbance rejec-
sators. Both compensators result in a phase margin of tion than the nominal design but has more sensitivity peaking.

FEBRUARY 2007 « IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 53

54° at 500 Hz. However, use of the complex lag com-
pensator results in a gain margin of 7.9 dB at 900 Hz,
while the gain margin of the system using the standard
lag compensator is only 3.6 dB at 807 Hz. The perfor-
mance of the complex lag compensator design is similar
to the performance of the nominal controller alone at
low frequencies. However, the complex lag compen-
sator controller provides about 3.1 dB more gain mar-
gin and improved robustness to unmodeled
high-frequency dynamics compared to the nominal con-
troller because its magnitude drops faster between 500
and 700 Hz. The standard-lag compensator design has a
smaller gain margin than the complex lag compensator
design and larger phase loss over a wider frequency
range. However, the standard-lag design has larger
magnitude at low frequencies.
Figure 19 shows the magnitudes of the sensitivity
functions from experimental data. The complex lag com-
pensator design has a smaller peak (4.8 dB) relative to the
nominal design (7.2 dB) and the design employing the
standard lag compensator (7.9 dB). However, the stan-
dard lag compensator design has more disturbance rejec-
tion at low frequencies. The complex lag compensator
design is a better choice in this situation because the lag
compensator is needed only to reduce sensitivity peaking
and obtain high-frequency robustness, while its low-fre-
quency disturbance rejection is not significantly worse
than that of the nominal controller.
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
Complex lead and lag compensators are new additions to
the repertoire of compensator structures for loop shaping.
This article facilitates the use of these compensators by
providing explicit formulas that relate the parameters of
the compensators to features of their frequency responses.
Two examples illustrate the utility of these compensators
for system modeling and controller design. While the
examples involve low-order plants, the principles of
employing the complex lead and lag compensators remain
the same for higher-order systems.
We plan to use these compensators as weighting func-
tions with automated robust design tools. A weighting
function is a transfer function whose frequency response
magnitude is used to bound closed-loop response or mod-
eling uncertainty. The complex lead and lag compensators
provide new degree of freedom for selecting weighting
functions. In particular, the steep magnitude slope in the
transition region of these compensators more closely
approximates an ideal step function than weighting func-
tions appearing in the literature [6].
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
W. Messner and L. Xia thank Prof. J. Wickert and V. Kartik
for their assistance in designing the actuated tape guide.
54 IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS MAGAZINE » FEBRUARY 2007
AUTHOR INFORMATION
William C. Messner received a B.S. in mathematics
from M.I.T. in 1985 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in
mechanical engineering from the University of Califor-
nia at Berkeley in 1989 and 1992, respectively. He is a
professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mel-
lon University. He is the leader of the servo control
effort at Carnegie Mellon’s Data Storage Systems Cen-
ter. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechani-
cal Engineers and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science.
Mark D. Bedillion (mark.bedillion@seagate.com)
received the B.S.M.E. degree in 1998, the M.S.M.E. degree
in 2001, and the Ph.D. degree in 2005 from Carnegie Mel-
lon University. He joined Seagate Research in 2002,
where he works on the development of novel storage
devices. His research interests include control applica-
tions in data storage, distributed manipulation, and
hybrid systems. He can be contacted at Seagate Technolo-
gy, 1251 Waterfront Pl., Pittsburgh, PA 15222 USA.
Lu Xia received the B.S. degree in industrial automa-
tion from Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
in 1998 and the M.S.E.E. degree from the University of
Notre Dame, Indiana in 2002. She is currently pursuing
the Ph.D. degree with the department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.
Her research interests include control applications in
data storage systems, robust control, and signal identifi-
cation and processing.
Duane C. Karns served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Air-
borne Division from 1986 to 1990. He received a B.S. in
engineering science from Pennsylvania State University
in 1995. He received the M.S. in 1997 and a Ph.D. in 2000,
both in electrical and computer engineering from
Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently a research
staff member at Seagate Research in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl-
vania, specializing in the recording physics of magnetic
and optical systems.
REFERENCES
[1] W. Messner, “The development, properties, and application of the com-
plex phase lead compensator,” in Proc. 2000 American Control Conf., Chicago,
IL, July, 2000, pp. 2621–2626.
[2] W. Messner, “Some advances in loop shaping with applications to disk
drives,” IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 651-656, Mar 2001.
[3] W. Messner and R. Oboe, “Phase stabilized design of a hard disk drive
servo using the complex lag compensator, “ in Proc. 2004 American Controls
Conf., Boston, MA, 30 June–2 July, 2004, pp. 1165–1170.
[4] G.F. Franklin, J.D. Powell, and A. Emani-Naeini, Feedback Control of
Dynamic Systems, 3rd ed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1994.
[5] D. Richards, J. Anderson, and L. Erickson, “Dynamic Tape Path Adjust-
ment,” US Patent 6 690 531, Feb. 10, 2004.
[6] A. Packard, G. Balas, M. Safonov, R. Chiang, P. Gahinet, and A. Nemirovs-
ki, Robust Control Toolbox}, The Mathworks. [Online]. Available: http://www.
mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/toolbox/robust/