University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

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Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Electrical Engineering

Theses

12-2008

A study of switched-capacitor filters

Kacie Thomas
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

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Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/eleguht/11

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A Study of Switched-Capacitor Filters

By Kacie Thomas

Honors Thesis
Department of Electrical Engineering
Thesis Professor: Alan Mantooth

December 8, 2008
Table of Contents

Table of Figures ................................................................................................................................ i

I. Abstract.....................................................................................................................................ii

II. Switched-Capacitor Theory ..................................................................................................... 1

III. Filter Design ......................................................................................................................... 3

A. Example Problem ................................................................................................................. 3

B. 6th Order Butterworth Filter: ............................................................................................. 10

IV. Results ................................................................................................................................ 14

A. 5th Order Elliptic ................................................................................................................. 14

B. 6th Order Butterworth ........................................................................................................ 18

V. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 21

VI. Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 22

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Switched-Capacitor Circuit............................................................................................... 1

Figure 2: Series Switched-Capacitor Circuit .................................................................................... 2

Figure 3: Inverting Series Switched-Capacitor Circuit .................................................................... 2

Figure 4: 5th Order Elliptic Low Pass Passive Filter ......................................................................... 4

Figure 5: Modified 5th Order Elliptic Low Pass Passive Filter .......................................................... 4

Figure 6: Block Diagram for 5th Order Elliptic Filter ........................................................................ 6

Figure 7: 5th Order Elliptic Low Pass Active Filter ........................................................................... 7

Figure 8: 5th Order Elliptic Low Pass Switched-Capacitor Filter ...................................................... 8

Figure 9: 6th Order Butterworth Low Pass Passive Filter .............................................................. 10

Figure 10: Block Diagram for 6th Order Butterworth Filter........................................................... 11

Figure 11: 6th Order Butterworth Low Pass Active Filter .............................................................. 12

Figure 12: 6th Order Butterworth Low Pass Switched-Capacitor Filter ........................................ 13

Figure 13: Frequency Response of 5th Order Elliptic Passive Filter .............................................. 14

Figure 14: Ripple Bandwidth of 5th Order Elliptic Passive Filter ................................................... 15

Figure 15: Frequency Response of 5th Order Elliptic Active Filter ................................................ 16

Figure 16: Ripple Bandwidth of 5th Order Elliptic Active Filter ..................................................... 16

Figure 17: Frequency Response of 5th Order Elliptic Switched-Capacitor Filter........................... 18

Figure 18: Auburn Frequency Response ....................................................................................... 19

Figure 19: Frequency Response of 6th Order Butterworth Passive Filter ..................................... 19

Figure 20: Frequency Response of 6th Order Butterworth Active Filter ....................................... 20

Figure 21: Frequency Response of 6th Order Butterworth Switched-Capacitor Filter ................. 20

i
 I. Abstract

This paper presents the basic principles of the switched-capacitor circuit. In order to become

more acquainted with the workings and design of filters and switched-capacitor filters

specifically, an example filter was designed based on a set of parameters. It was constructed

starting in the passive stage, then the active stage and finally the switched-capacitor filter was

generated. All of these circuits were also simulated using SwitcherCAD and Saber. Then, a

switched-capacitor filter designed by Auburn University was redesigned using the same process

as the example circuit. It was also simulated in all three stages. The results from this design are

compared to the results from the original design.

ii
 II. Switched-Capacitor Theory

The area of switched-capacitors is a very mature part of the field of Electrical Engineering. A

switched-capacitor circuit consists of a capacitor and MOS switches where the switches

alternate opening and closing causing the circuit to resemble a resistor. One reason switched-

capacitor technology is so useful is because the switched-capacitor circuit takes up much less

space than the resistor that it replaces. Capacitors take up less room on a MOS IC due to the

inherent nature of MOS to store charge on a node over many milliseconds. The area of the

capacitor on the IC actually decreases as its equivalent resistance increases. See Figure 1 for a

basic idea of what a switched-capacitor circuit looks like.

s1 s2
V1 V2

Figure 1: Switched-Capacitor Circuit

Say the s1 switch is closed and the s2 switch is open. The capacitor is charged to V1. Then, s1 is

closed and V2 is opened so the charge in the capacitor is now V2. Because ΔQ = CΔV, in this

case ΔQ = C(V2-V1). Do this over a certain amount of time and you get ΔQ/(1/Δt) = C(V2-

V1)(N/Δt) which turns into i = C(V2-V1)fc where fc is the clock rate at which the switches are

thrown back and forth. After some manipulations the equation for the size of the equivalent

resistor is shown in equation 1. (Moschytz)

𝟏
𝑹𝒆𝒒 = 𝑪𝒇𝒄𝒍𝒌 (1)

1
The switched-capacitor circuit implemented in this paper is the series-connected version seen

in Figure 2 and the inverting version is in Figure 3. The inverting version is used in place if

negative resistances. The series circuit acts the same as the shunt circuit; however, the series-

connected switched-capacitor is less susceptible to parasitic because at least one end of the

capacitor is always connected to ground. (Mantooth)

Figure 2: Series Switched-Capacitor Circuit

Figure 3: Inverting Series Switched-Capacitor Circuit

2
III. Filter Design

A. Example Problem

In order to better understand how switched-capacitor filters, and filters in general, function and

how they are designed, an example problem of a low-pass filter was given with the following

parameters:

Apb = Amax = 1dB

AΩ = Amin = 60dB
Fc = 20 kHz
Fsp = 30 kHz
Ω = ωsb/ωpb = 30/20 = 1.5
ρ = sqrt(1-10^(Apb/-10)) = 45% ≈ 50%

An Elliptic filter was decided upon based on the characteristics given. A nomograph is a

graphical calculating device involving three or more scales. In the case of filters, these scales

are Apb, AΩ, Ω. A straightedge is used along with the nomograph to find the order of the Elliptic

filter. According to the nomograph, the example filter is a 5th order filter (Allen and Sanchez-

Sinencio). Once the order is found, the ρ is used to find the starting values for each of the

passive components. The following values were found according to the table for low pass

elements (Zverev).

C1 = 2.18278
C2 = .16034
L2 = .94707
C3 = 2.75449
C4 = .43589
L4 = .80314
C5 = 1.92627

3
The design method used for the circuits is the approximate design for ladder filters and it

involves the state variable analysis, and it is then turned into the signal flow graph and then the

switched-capacitor filter. (Moschytz) These numbers are used in the circuit in Figure 4. This

circuit is manipulated to give us the one in Figure 5 where some of the capacitances are

combined into C1’, C2’, and C3’. This circuit is more convenient to work with when writing the

KVL equations. After some mathematical manipulations, equations 2-6 are found.

L2 L4

7.592 6.438
Rs C2 C4
Vout
Vin 1Meg 1.285p 3.494p
C1 C3 C5
RL
17.75p 22.081p 15.682p 1Meg

Figure 4: 5th Order Elliptic Low Pass Passive Filter

C1’ = C1 + C2
C3’ = C2 + C3 + C4
C5’ = C4 + C5

Rs L2 L4
V1 I2 1 2 V3 I4 1 2 V5
+ +

sC4V5
Vin C1' sC2V3 C3' C5' RL Vout

sC2V1 sC4V3
- -

Figure 5: Modified 5th Order Elliptic Low Pass Passive Filter

1 (𝑉1−𝑉𝑖𝑛 )
−𝑉1 = − 𝑠(𝐶1+𝐶2) 𝑠𝐶2𝑉3 − − 𝐼2 (2)
𝑅

4
 1
−𝐼2 = 𝑉3 − 𝑉1 (3)
𝑠𝐿2

1
𝑉3 = − 𝑠(𝐶2+𝐶3+𝐶4) (−𝐼2 + 𝐼4 − 𝑠𝐶2𝑉1 − 𝑠𝐶4𝑉5) (4)

1
𝐼4 = 𝑉3 − 𝑉5 (5)
𝑠𝐿4

1 𝑉5
−𝑉5 = − 𝑠 𝐼4 + 𝑠𝐶4𝑉3 − 𝑅𝐿 (6)
𝐶4+𝐶5

These equations are used in order to find the block diagram shown in Figure 6. All coupling

branch impedances are multiplied by an arbitrary scale factor R and the feedback impedance by

R2 in order to assure the correct dimensions within the stage. This block diagram is useful for

finding the active circuit in Figure 7. The equations for the new capacitances that take the place

of the inductors are also given. Active filters have two main advantages over passive filters.

One advantage is the ability to get rid of inductors, which are large and tend to pick up

surrounding electromagnetic signals. The inductor would be used to shape the filter’s

response, but they are not needed in active filters. Another advantage of active filters is that

the op-amps can be used to buffer the filter from the electronic components it drives, also

known as isolation.

5
 1/Rs

1/Rs 1
Vin − -V1
𝑠(𝐶1 + 𝐶2)

sC2

-I2 1
𝑠𝐿2

sC2

1 V3
−
𝑠(𝐶2 + 𝐶3 + 𝐶4)
)

sC4
I4 1
𝑠𝐿4

sC4

1 -V5
− Vout
𝑠(𝐶4 + 𝐶5)

1/RL

Figure 6: Block Diagram for 5th Order Elliptic Filter

CA = C1+C2
CB = L2/R2
CC = C2 + C3 + C4
CD = L4/R2
CE = C4+C5

6
 Figure 7: 5th Order Elliptic Low Pass Active Filter

All of the resistors in the active circuit are replaced with switched capacitor circuits as shown in

Figure 8. The values for C, CL and CS are calculated using a manipulation of equation 1 as seen

below. Alternating, non-overlapping pulses are used to control the switches so that when one

switch is on the other is off and vice versa.

C = T/R
CL = T/RL
CS = T/Rs

7
 Figure 8: 5th Order Elliptic Low Pass Switched-Capacitor Filter

Because of frequency warping during the lossless digital integrator (LDI) transformation Ω must

be pre-warped using equation 7. Also, the capacitance and inductance values must be scaled

and de-normalized using equations 8 and 9.

2 𝜛𝑇
Ω= sin( ) (7)
𝑇 2

𝐶𝐼′ = 𝐶𝐼 /(2𝜋𝑓𝑟𝑐 𝑅) (8)

𝐿′𝐼 = 𝐿𝐼 𝑅/(2𝜋𝑓𝑟𝑐 ) (9)

Assume the clock frequency for the pulses on the switches to be 300 kHz. ω=2πf so

manipulation of equation 7 yields:

1
𝑓𝑟𝑐 = (𝜋𝑇 ) sin 𝜋𝑓𝑟 𝑇 (10)

8
In this equation T = 1/(300 kHz) and fr = 20 kHz (the desired cutoff frequency). Frc = 19.854 kHz.

Use equations 11a-11c to calculate the impedance scaled values.

R’ = ZR L’ = ZL C’ = C/Z (11a-11c)

C1’ = 17.75 pF
C2’ = 1.285 pF
L2’ = 7.592 pF
C3’ = 22.081 pF
C4’ = 3.494 pF
L4’ = 6.438 H
C5’ = 15.682 pF
Rs’ = 1 MΩ
RL’ = 1 MΩ

These values are used to find the final capacitance values for the switched-capacitor filter

circuit.

CA = 19.035 pF
CB = 7.592 pF
CC = 26.86 pF
CD = 6.438 pF
CE = 19.176 pF
C = 3.333 pF
CL = 3.333 pF
CS = 6.666 pF
CR = 3.333 pF

More scaling can be done based on the specifications of the components being used. This

design technique is very simple, and it has its flaws, but is sufficient for the circuits generated

for this report. Waveforms from the simulations can be found in the Results section of the

report.

9
 B. 6th Order Butterworth Filter:

The main purpose of this project was to design a 6th order low pass Butterworth filter and

compare it to the schematic that was designed by Auburn University. The same method used

for the example circuit was applied to this filter design. The low pass element values below

were found in a table (Zverev).

Rs = 1
C1 = .5176
L2 = 1.4142
C3 = 1.9319
L4 = 1.9319
C5 = 1.4142
L6 = .5176
RL = 1

Rs L1 L2 L3
Vout
112.6 153.8 41.2
Vin 1meg C1 C2 C3
RL
41.2p 153.8p 112.6p 1meg
AC 1

Figure 9: 6th Order Butterworth Low Pass Passive Filter

This circuit was used to find the KVL equations 12-17. These equations were used to make the

block diagram seen in Figure 10.

1 (𝑉𝑖𝑛 −𝑉1)
−𝑉1 = − 𝑠𝐶1 − 𝐼2 (12)
𝑅𝑠

1
−𝐼2 = 𝑉3 − 𝑉1 (13)
𝑠𝐿2

1
𝑉3 = − 𝑠𝐶3 (−𝐼2 + 𝐼4) (14)

10
 1
𝐼4 = 𝑉3 − 𝑉5 (15)
𝑠𝐿4

1
−𝑉5 = − 𝑠𝐶5 𝐼4 − 𝐼6 (16)

1
−𝐼6 = −𝑉5 − 𝑅𝐿 (−𝐼6) (17)
𝑠𝐿6

1/Rs

1/Rs 1
Vin − -V1
𝑠𝐶1

-I2 1
𝑠𝐿2

1 V3
−
𝑠𝐶3

I4 1
𝑠𝐿4

1 -V5
−
𝑠𝐶5

-I6 1
Vout
𝑠𝐿6

1/RL
Figure 10: Block Diagram for 6th Order Butterworth Filter

The new capacitance values are seen below, and the active filter is derived from the block

diagram in Figure 11.

CA = C1
CB = L2/R2

11
CC = C3
CD = L4/R2
CE = C5
CF = L6/R2

-R -R -R -R -R
Vout
-1Meg -1Meg -1Meg -1Meg -1m eg

RS CA CB CC CD CE CF
1Meg RL
41.2p 112.6p 153.8p 153.8p 112.6p 41.2p
1Meg

R R R R R

1Meg 1Meg 1Meg 1Meg 1m eg

RS
1Meg

Vin

AC 1

Figure 11: 6th Order Butterworth Low Pass Active Filter

The circuit designed by Auburn had a tunable cut-off frequency, but for this particular design

the clock frequency was chosen to be 200 kHz, and the cut-off frequency was 2 kHz. (There are

different ways to design a filter with tunable cut-off frequency, but that is beyond the scope of

this project). This filter was designed for fc = fclk/100 so the choice for clock frequency and cut-

off frequency are logical. This gives T = 1/(200 kHz) and fr = 2kHz. Therefore, Frc = 1.99967 kHz.

Equations 11a-11c were used to calculate the following values:

C1’ = 41.2 pF
L2’ = 112.6 H
C3’ = 153.8 pF
L4’ = 153.8 H
C5’ = 112.6 pF

12
L6’ = 41.2 H
Rs’ = 1 MΩ
RL’ = 1 MΩ

These values were then used to find the final capacitances for the switched-capacitor filter

circuit found in Figure 12.

CA = 41.2 pF
CB = 112.6 pF
CC = 153.8 pF
CD = 153.8 pF
CE = 112.6 pF
CF = 41.2 pF
C = 5 pF
CL = 5pF
Cs = 10 pF
CR = 5 pF

C C C C C1
S1 S2 S1 S2 S1 S2

5p 5p 5p 5p 5p
S2
41.2p S2 S1 S2 S1 Vout S1
Cr CA CB CC CD CE CF
C15

5p 112.6p 153.8p 153.8p 112.6p 41.2p -5p

C S2 C C S2 C S2 C2 S2
S2 S2

5p 5p 5p 5p 5p
S1

S1

S1

S1
S1 S1

C6
S1
V1
10p
SW

PULSE(-1 1 0 .01 .01 .000001 .000003333 12000000)

S2
V2
S1

S2
SW
PULSE(-1 1 .000001666 .01 .01 .000001 .000003333 1200000)
Vin

Figure 12: 6th Order Butterworth Low Pass Switched-Capacitor Filter

The schematics were simulated to generate a frequency response, and the waveforms are in

the results section.

13
IV. Results

A. 5th Order Elliptic

These circuits were designed in SwitcherCAD III, and they were also simulated. The frequency

responses and ripple bandwidths for the passive and active filters are shown below. In order to

simulate the switched-capacitor filter, the time-domain response was simulated and then an

FFT of the resulting waveform was used as the frequency response. Switched-capacitor filters

are non-linear so this method had to be used instead of going directly to the frequency

response from the circuit.

Figure 13: Frequency Response of 5th Order Elliptic Passive Filter

14
Notice how the passband is 20 kHz. At 20 kHz it falls 60 dB until 30 kHz just as it was designed

to do.

Figure 14: Ripple Bandwidth of 5th Order Elliptic Passive Filter

The attenuation is a little greater than 1 dB because of the approximation used with ρ. The

waveform starts at -6 dB instead of 0 because of insertion loss. This is common with most

filters. Insertion loss is calculated using equation 18. For most filters, the output voltage is half

as large as the input voltage so the insertion loss is 6 dB. In order to get rid of the insertion loss,

the source resistance can be cut in half. In the switched-capacitor circuit, this results in a

source capacitor that is twice as large as the load capacitor. This effectively doubles the course

current which in turn doubles the voltage across the op-amps. This way, there is really no

voltage drop.

𝑉1
𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝐵 = 20𝑙𝑜𝑔10 𝑉2 (18)

15
Figure 15: Frequency Response of 5th Order Elliptic Active Filter

Figure 16: Ripple Bandwidth of 5th Order Elliptic Active Filter

16
It can be seen that the waveforms from the passive filter and the active filter match very

closely. This means that the calculations and manipulations were done correctly. Any small

differences are most likely due to rounding and other approximations.

In order to obtain a frequency response for the switched-capacitor filters, and FFT must be

performed on a transient analysis. Switched-capacitor circuits are non-linear and therefore the

linear ac analysis will not be effective. Due to complications with the SwitcherCAD II software,

another program was used in order to perform the FFT’s. The tool, Saber® has the option of

using a fixed time step and x-sampling which are necessary for an accurate FFT response. A

frequency sweep was performed, and the FFT values for each frequency were plotted in

Microsoft Excel to get a simulated frequency response. The frequency response for the 5 th

order Elliptic filter is in Figure 17. The waveform looks very good except at one point the ripple

in the passband is increased greatly (about 3 dB instead of 1 dB). This could be due to the

nature of the method used or even the FFT function itself.

17
 Hz
0 10000 20000 30000 40000
0
-10
-20
-30

dB -40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Figure 17: Frequency Response of 5th Order Elliptic Switched-Capacitor Filter

B. 6th Order Butterworth

Figure 18 is the frequency response for the Auburn switched-capacitor filter. This is the

response for the 2 kHz cut-off frequency and 200 kHz clock frequency. Compare this waveform

to the ones found using the new schematic (figures 19-21).

18
 Figure 18: Auburn Frequency Response

Figure 19: Frequency Response of 6th Order Butterworth Passive Filter

19
 Figure 20: Frequency Response of 6th Order Butterworth Active Filter

Hz
1 10 100 1000 10000
0

-10

-20

-30

-40
dB
-50

-60

-70

-80

-90

Figure 21: Frequency Response of 6th Order Butterworth Switched-Capacitor Filter

The waveforms for the passive and active filters are exactly where they should be, meaning

numbers and calculations up until that point were correct. The Excel plot for the switched-

20
capacitor filter also looks good, but there is some deviation in the slope in the stopband. This

could be due to the design procedure or the FFT transform.

V. Conclusions

Overall, a lot was learned from this project, and the amount of practical knowledge and filters,

switched-capacitor filters specifically, has increased greatly. This design method worked well

for the example filter, but when it came to the 6th order Butterworth it was found to be

ineffective. Because the load capacitance is required to be negative for this particular design, a

better design method would be preferred. This could possibly be the goal for future work. It

would also be a good idea to become more familiar with the simulation tools so a more

effective method for finding frequency response of switched-capacitor circuits may be

implemented. Due to time constraints and unfamiliarity with the program, this just was not

possible at the time. The basic goal of the project, to gain a greater understanding of switched-

capacitor filters has been accomplished. There is still much to learn though in the future for an

even better insight into this area.

21
VI. Bibliography
Allen, Phillip E. and Edgar Sanchez-Sinencio. Switched Capacitor Circuits. New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold Company, 1984.

Mantooth, Homer Alan. "Practical Considerations For Switched-Capacitor Filter Design and Fabrication."
(M.S. Thesis. University of Arkansas, January 1987).

Moschytz, George S. MOS Switched-Capacitor Filters: Analysis and Design. New York: The Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., 1984.

Zverev, Anatol I. Handbook of Filter Synthesis. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1967.

22