Diseño de circuitos de

RF y microondas
LaureanoTEMA
A. Bulus2Rossini
RF Circuit Design 2nd Ed.
Christopher Bowick, John Blyler and Cheryl Ajluni
Chapter 2 Resonant Circuits

High Frequency Techniques:

An Introduction to RF and Microwave Engineering
Joseph F. White
Chapter 3 LC Resonance and Matching Networks

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Resonant Circuits
SERIES LC RESONANCE

When the reactance magnitudes of L and C

are equal, the pair resonates. At resonance
the net reactance of a series-connected LC
circuit is zero (a short circuit).

resonance frequency

Resonance occurs because the collapsing magnetic field of the inductor generates
an electric current in its windings that charges the capacitor, and then the discharging
capacitor provides an electric current that builds the magnetic field in the inductor.
This process is repeated continually (analogy: mechanical pendulum).

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Resonant Circuits
SERIES LC RESONANCE
Quality Factor
average energy stored average energy stored
Q = 2π = ω0
energy dissipated per cycle power loss

Series Circuit Quality Factors

Q of Inductors and Capacitors


Q of Inductors and Capacitors
The unloaded Q (QU) relates the energy stored in the reactive elements at
resonance to the power loss in the resistive elements (measure of the quality of the
resonator, itself).

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Resonant Circuits
SERIES LC RESONANCE
Series Circuit Quality Factors
External Q
Even when a resonator is formed from an ideal, lossless
LC pair, there is power dissipation when it is connected
to external loads. This dissipation affects the sharpness
of the resonant response.
The external quality factor QE is the ratio of the amount of energy stored in the
capacitor or inductor at the resonant frequency, relative to the energy dissipated in
the external load or loads.

Loaded Q
The loaded quality factor QL is the ratio of the
amount of energy stored in the capacitor or inductor at
the resonant frequency, relative to the energy
dissipated in the external load or loads.

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Resonant Circuits
PARALLEL LC RESONANCE (LOSSLESS COMPONENTS)
Single reactive component behaviour

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Resonant Circuits
PARALLEL LC RESONANCE (LOSSLESS COMPONENTS)
Circuit with opposite reactive components behaviour
• Near the resonant frequency, the slope of the resonance curve increases to 12dB/octave (two
significant reactances, each one is changing at the rate of 6 dB/octave and sloping in opposite
directions).
• At resonance the net susceptance of a parallel-connected LC circuit is zero and the net
reactance is infinite (an open circuit).
• Away from resonance in either direction, the curve again settles to a 6dB/octave slope (only
one reactance becomes significant and the other presents a very high impedance to the circuit).

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Resonant Circuits
SOME DEFINITIONS
They are used in practically every transmitter, receiver, or piece of test equipment in
existence, to selectively pass a certain frequency or group of frequencies from a
source to a load while attenuating all other frequencies outside of this passband.

Perfect (unrealizable)
passband filter response Practical passband filter response
Bandwidth — commonly defined as the difference between the upper and lower
frequency (f2 − f1) of the circuit at which its amplitude response is 3 dB below the
passband response (half-power bandwidth).

Q (loaded) — also defined as the ratio of the center frequency of the

resonant circuit to its bandwidth and is a measure of the selectivity
of a resonant circuit. The higher its Q, the narrower its bandwidth
(higher selectivity). It should not be confused with component Q.  8
Resonant Circuits
LOADED Q
The Q of a resonant circuit (was defined earlier fe/(f2 −f1)) is often given the label
loaded Q because it describes the passband characteristics of the resonant circuit
under actual in-circuit or loaded conditions:
1. The source resistance (Rs).
2. The load resistance (RL).
3. The component Q as defined in Chapter 1.

Effect of Rs on the Loaded Q

• The loaded Q of a circuit consisting of a
50Ω source, a 0.05μH lossless inductor,
and a 25pF lossless capacitor is
approximately 1.1, as can be observed
from its resonance curve (dashed line).
• The Q, or selectivity of the resonant
circuit with a 1000 Ω source, has been
increased dramatically to about 22
Raising the source impedance →
increases the Q 9
Resonant Circuits
LOADED Q
Effect of Rs and RL on the Loaded Q
• If an external load of some sort were attached to the resonant circuit, the effect
would be to broaden the response curve (total external resistance is smaller than
either Rs or RL)
A decrease in Rp → decreases the Q
smaller than
either Rs or RL

Equivalent circuit
for Q calculations

Rp = equivalent parallel resistance of Rs and RL,

Xp = either the inductive or capacitive reactance.
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Resonant Circuits
LOADED Q
Effect of Rs and RL on the Loaded Q
• The same effect can be obtained by keeping Rp constant and varying Xp (for a
given Rs and RL, the maximum Q of a resonant circuit is obtained when the
inductor value is the smallest and the capacitor value is the largest
Decreasing L and increasing C → increases the Q

Enhancing the value of Q

1. Selecting an optimum value of source
and load impedance;
2. Selecting component values of L and C
that optimize Q.

EXAMPLE
Design a resonant circuit to operate with Rs = 150Ω and a RL = 1000 Ω and a loaded Q of 20 at a resonant
frequency of 50 MHz. Assume lossless components and no impedance matching.
Solution
Rp = 130 Ω → Xp = Rp/Q = 130/20 = 6.5 Ω and Xp = ωL = 1/ωC → L = 20.7nH, C = 489.7pF.
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Resonant Circuits
LOADED Q
The Effect of Component Q on Loaded Q
• In a lossless resonant circuit, the impedance seen across the circuit’s terminals at
resonance is infinite.
• In a practical circuit, however, due to component losses, there exists some finite
equivalent parallel resistance.

Rp = the equivalent parallel resistance,

Rs = the series resistance of the component,
Q = Qs which equals Qp which equals the Q of the
component.

Are valid at fr
If the Q of the component (component reactance is
is greater than 10 frequency dependent)

Note
In most loaded-Q calculations, we only need to involve the Q of the inductor. The Q of most capacitors is quite
high over their useful frequency range (their equivalent shunt resistance is quite high and can be neglected.
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Resonant Circuits
INSERTION LOSS
Is another direct effect of component Q. If inductors and capacitors were perfect and
contained no internal resistive losses, then insertion loss for LC resonant circuits and
filters would not exist.

at fr

(A) (B)

EXAMPLE
Design a simple parallel resonant circuit to provide a 3-dB bandwidth of 10MHz at a center frequency of
100MHz. Rs = RL = 1kΩ. The Q of the inductor is 85 and the capacitor is lossless. What is the insertion loss of
the network?
Solution
Q = fe/(f2 − f1) = 100MHz/10MHz = 10
Q = Rtotal/Xp = (Rp||Rs||RL)/Xp = 10 and Rp = 85*Xp → Xp = 44.1Ω → Rp = 3.75kΩ
L = Xp/ω = 70nH and C = 1/(ωXp) = 36pF

V1/Vin = (Rp||RL)/[(Rp||RL) + Rs] = 789.5Ω/(789.5 Ω + 1000 Ω) = 0.44

Insertion Loss = 20 log(0.44/0.5) = 1.1dB
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Resonant Circuits
IMPEDANCE TRANSFORMATION
• Low values of source and load impedance tend to decrease its loaded Q and
increase its bandwidth
• This makes it very difficult to design a simple LC high-Q resonant circuit for use
between two very low values of source and load resistance
→ use of impedance transforming circuits
• An impedance transformer could present an impedance (R´s ) of 500Ω to the
resonant circuit, when in reality there is an impedance (Rs) of 50Ω.
• Both, the Q of the resonant tank and its selectivity can be increased.
• In many cases, these methods can make a previously unworkable problem workable
again, with realistic values for the coils and capacitors involved.

Tapped-C circuit Tapped-C equivalent circuit Tapped-L circuit

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Resonant Circuits
IMPEDANCE TRANSFORMATION

EXAMPLE
Design a tapped-C resonant circuit with a loaded Q of 20 at a center frequency of 100MHz that will operate
with Rs = 50Ω and RL = 2kΩ. The inductor’s Q is 100 at 100MHz.

Solution
R´s = 2000Ω

C1/C2 = (R´s/Rs)1/2 − 1 = 5.3

Qp = Rp /Xp = 100

Q = Rtotal/Xp = (Rp||R´s||RL)/Xp = 20 and Rp = 100*Xp → Xp = 40Ω → Rp = 4kΩ

L = Xp/ω = 63.6nH and CT = 1/(ωXp) = 39.8pF

C2 = 47.3pF and C1 = 250.6pF

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Resonant Circuits
COUPLING OF RESONANT CIRCUITS
• In many applications where steep passband skirts and small shape factors are
needed, a single resonant circuit might not be sufficient.
• Coupling of individual resonant circuits produce more attenuation at certain
frequencies than would normally be available with a single resonator.
• The coupling mechanism is generally chosen specifically for each application
(each type of coupling has its own peculiar characteristics)
• The most common forms of coupling are:
-. capacitive,
-. inductive,
-. transformer (mutual),
-. active (transistor).

Capacitive Coupling
Is probably the most frequently used method of linking two or more resonant
circuits, due to the simplicity of the arrangement and because it is relatively
inexpensive.
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Resonant Circuits
COUPLING OF RESONANT CIRCUITS
Capacitive Coupling

• If capacitor C12 is too large, too much coupling occurs and the frequency response
broadens drastically with two response peaks in the filter’s passband.
• If capacitor C12 is too small, not enough signal energy is passed from one resonant
circuit to the other and the insertion loss can increase to an unacceptable level.
• The compromise solution to these two extremes is the point of critical coupling,
where we obtain a reasonable bandwidth and the lowest possible insertion loss (a
maximum transfer of signal power).
• There are instances in which overcoupling or undercoupling might serve a useful
purpose in a design, such as in tailoring a specific frequency response that a
critically coupled filter cannot provide. But these applications are generally left to the
multiple resonator filter.
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Resonant Circuits
COUPLING OF RESONANT CIRCUITS
Capacitive Coupling
• The loaded Q of a critically coupled two-resonator circuit is approximately equal to
0.707 times the loaded Q of one of its resonators (3-dB bandwidth of a two-
resonator circuit is wider than that of one).
• The main purpose of the two-resonator passively coupled filter is not to provide a
narrower 3-dB bandwidth, but to increase the steepness of the stopband skirts and,
thus, to reach an ultimate attenuation much faster than a single resonator could.

Intuitive interpretation the shape factor

has decreased
• Consider that each resonator is itself a
load for the other resonator, and each
decreases the loaded Q of the other.
• As we move away from the passband and
into the stopband, the response tends to fall
much more quickly due to the combined
response of each resonator.
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Resonant Circuits
COUPLING OF RESONANT CIRCUITS
Capacitive Coupling
Coupling of two identical resonant circuits
C12 = the coupling capacitance.
C = the resonant circuit capacitance.
Q = the loaded Q of a single resonator.

Response curve not symmetric

The lower frequency portion of the response plummets down at the rate of
18dB/octave while the upper slope decreases at only 6-dB/octave.

Equivalent circuits of capacitively

coupled resonant circuits
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Resonant Circuits
COUPLING OF RESONANT CIRCUITS
Capacitive Coupling

• Below resonance, the reactance of the two resonant-circuit capacitors has

increased, and the reactance of the two inductors has decreased to the point that
only the inductor is seen as a shunt element and the capacitors can be ignored.
This leaves three reactive components and each contributes 6-dB/octave to the
response.
• On the high side of resonance, the inductive reactance has increased above the
capacitive reactance to the point where the inductive reactance can be ignored as a
shunt element. We now have an arrangement of three capacitors that effectively
looks like a single shunt capacitor and yields a slope of 6-dB/octave.

Equivalent circuits of capacitively

coupled resonant circuits
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Resonant Circuits
COUPLING OF RESONANT CIRCUITS
Inductive Coupling
If we compare the frequency response curves with with the ones of the capacitively
coupled case, we see that the two are actually mirror images of each other (the
response of the inductively coupled resonator is skewed toward the higher end of the
frequency spectrum).

• Below resonance, the capacitors drop out of the

equivalent circuit very quickly because their
reactance becomes much greater than the shunt
inductive reactance. This leaves an arrangement
of three inductors which can be thought of as a
single tapped inductor and which produces a 6-
dB/octave rolloff.
• Above resonance, the shunt inductors can be
ignored for the same reasons. We now have three
effective elements in the equivalent circuit with
each contributing 6-dB/octave to the response for
a combined slope of 18-dB/octave. Equivalent circuits of inductively
coupled resonant circuits 21
Resonant Circuits
COUPLING OF RESONANT CIRCUITS
Inductive Coupling
Coupling of two identical resonant circuits
L12 = the inductance of the coupling inductor,
Q = the loaded Q of a single resonator,
L = the resonant circuit inductance.
Types of inductive coupling

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The End

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