Passive integrator circuit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Passive integrator circuit is a simple quadripole consisting of two passive elements. It is also the simplest (first-order) low-pass filter.
We'll analyze only the first circuit, the second is absolutely similar.
Contents |
[edit] Transfer function
A transfer ratio is a gain factor for the sinusoidal input signal with given frequency.
A transfer function shows the dependence of the transfer ratio from the signal frequency, given that the input signal is sinusoidal.
According to Ohm's law,

where X and Y are input and output signals' amplitudes respectively, and ZR and ZC are the resistor's and capacitor's impedances.
Therefore, the complex transfer function is

where

Amplitude transfer function

Phase transfer function

Transfer functions for the second circuit are the same (with ).
[edit] Impulse response
The circuit's Impulse response can be derived as an inverse Laplace transform of the complex transfer function:

where is a time constant.
[edit] Applications
A passive integrator circuit is often used in cheap digital audio systems (i.e. cheap soundcards) as a reconstruction filter.
It is also one of the basic electronic circuits, being widely used in circuit analysis based on the equivalent circuit method.