Chebyshev filters are
analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analo ...
or
digital filters that have a steeper
roll-off
Roll-off is the steepness of a transfer function with frequency, particularly in electrical network analysis, and most especially in connection with filter circuits in the transition between a passband and a stopband. It is most typically ap ...
than
Butterworth filter
The Butterworth filter is a type of signal processing filter designed to have a frequency response that is as flat as possible in the passband. It is also referred to as a maximally flat magnitude filter. It was first described in 1930 by the B ...
s, and have either
passband
A passband is the range of frequencies or wavelengths that can pass through a filter. For example, a radio receiver contains a bandpass filter to select the frequency of the desired radio signal out of all the radio waves picked up by its anten ...
ripple (type I) or
stopband
A stopband is a band of frequencies, between specified limits, through which a circuit, such as a filter or telephone circuit, does not allow signals to pass, or the attenuation is above the required stopband attenuation level. Depending on applic ...
ripple (type II). Chebyshev filters have the property that they minimize the error between the idealized and the actual filter characteristic over the range of the filter (See references eg.
aniels utovac, but with ripples in the passband. This type of filter is named after
Pafnuty Chebyshev
Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev ( rus, Пафну́тий Льво́вич Чебышёв, p=pɐfˈnutʲɪj ˈlʲvovʲɪtɕ tɕɪbɨˈʂof) ( – ) was a Russian mathematician and considered to be the founding father of Russian mathematics.
Chebysh ...
because its mathematical characteristics are derived from
Chebyshev polynomials
The Chebyshev polynomials are two sequences of polynomials related to the cosine and sine functions, notated as T_n(x) and U_n(x). They can be defined in several equivalent ways, one of which starts with trigonometric functions:
The Chebys ...
. Type I Chebyshev filters are usually referred to as "Chebyshev filters", while type II filters are usually called "inverse Chebyshev filters".
Because of the passband ripple inherent in Chebyshev filters, filters with a smoother response in the passband but a more irregular response in the stopband are preferred for certain applications.
Type I Chebyshev filters (Chebyshev filters)

Type I Chebyshev filters are the most common types of Chebyshev filters. The gain (or
amplitude
The amplitude of a periodic variable is a measure of its change in a single period (such as time or spatial period). The amplitude of a non-periodic signal is its magnitude compared with a reference value. There are various definitions of a ...
) response,
, as a function of angular frequency
of the ''n''th-order low-pass filter is equal to the absolute value of the
transfer function
In engineering, a transfer function (also known as system function or network function) of a system, sub-system, or component is a mathematical function that theoretically models the system's output for each possible input. They are widely used ...
evaluated at
:
:
where
is the ripple factor,
is the
cutoff frequency
In physics and electrical engineering, a cutoff frequency, corner frequency, or break frequency is a boundary in a system's frequency response at which energy flowing through the system begins to be reduced ( attenuated or reflected) rather than ...
and
is a
Chebyshev polynomial
The Chebyshev polynomials are two sequences of polynomials related to the cosine and sine functions, notated as T_n(x) and U_n(x). They can be defined in several equivalent ways, one of which starts with trigonometric functions:
The Chebyshe ...
of the
th order.
The passband exhibits equiripple behavior, with the ripple determined by the ripple factor
. In the passband, the Chebyshev polynomial alternates between -1 and 1 so the filter gain alternate between maxima at ''G'' = 1 and minima at
.
The ripple factor ε is thus related to the passband ripple δ in
decibels by:
:
At the cutoff frequency
the gain again has the value
but continues to drop into the
stopband
A stopband is a band of frequencies, between specified limits, through which a circuit, such as a filter or telephone circuit, does not allow signals to pass, or the attenuation is above the required stopband attenuation level. Depending on applic ...
as the frequency increases. This behavior is shown in the diagram on the right. The common practice of defining the cutoff frequency at −3
dB is usually not applied to Chebyshev filters; instead the cutoff is taken as the point at which the gain falls to the value of the ripple for the final time.
The 3 dB frequency ''ω''
H is related to ''ω''
0 by:
:
The order of a Chebyshev filter is equal to the number of
reactive components (for example,
inductor
An inductor, also called a coil, choke, or reactor, is a passive two-terminal electrical component that stores energy in a magnetic field when electric current flows through it. An inductor typically consists of an insulated wire wound into a ...
s) needed to realize the filter using
analog electronics
Analogue electronics ( en-US, analog electronics) are electronic systems with a continuously variable signal, in contrast to digital electronics where signals usually take only two levels. The term "analogue" describes the proportional rela ...
.
An even steeper
roll-off
Roll-off is the steepness of a transfer function with frequency, particularly in electrical network analysis, and most especially in connection with filter circuits in the transition between a passband and a stopband. It is most typically ap ...
can be obtained if ripple is allowed in the stopband, by allowing zeros on the
-axis in the complex plane. While this produces near-infinite suppression at and near these zeros (limited by the quality factor of the components, parasitics, and related factors), overall suppression in the stopband is reduced. The result is called an
elliptic filter
An elliptic filter (also known as a Cauer filter, named after Wilhelm Cauer, or as a Zolotarev filter, after Yegor Zolotarev) is a signal processing filter with equalized ripple (equiripple) behavior in both the passband and the stopband. The ...
, also known as a Cauer filter.
Poles and zeroes

For simplicity, it is assumed that the cutoff frequency is equal to unity. The poles
of the gain function of the Chebyshev filter are the zeroes of the denominator of the gain function. Using the complex frequency ''s'', these occur when:
:
Defining
and using the trigonometric definition of the Chebyshev polynomials yields:
:
Solving for
:
where the multiple values of the arc cosine function are made explicit using the integer index ''m''. The poles of the Chebyshev gain function are then:
:
::::
Using the properties of the trigonometric and hyperbolic functions, this may be written in explicitly complex form:
:
::::
where ''m'' = 1, 2,..., ''n'' and
:
This may be viewed as an equation parametric in
and it demonstrates that the poles lie on an ellipse in
''s''-space centered at ''s'' = 0 with a real semi-axis of length
and an imaginary semi-axis of length of
The transfer function
The above expression yields the poles of the gain ''G''. For each complex pole, there is another which is the complex conjugate, and for each conjugate pair there are two more that are the negatives of the pair. The
transfer function
In engineering, a transfer function (also known as system function or network function) of a system, sub-system, or component is a mathematical function that theoretically models the system's output for each possible input. They are widely used ...
must be stable, so that its poles are those of the gain that have negative real parts and therefore lie in the left half plane of complex frequency space. The transfer function is then given by
:
where
are only those poles of the gain with a negative sign in front of the real term, obtained from the above equation.
The group delay
The
group delay
In signal processing, group delay and phase delay are delay times experienced by a signal's various frequency components when the signal passes through a system that is linear time-invariant (LTI), such as a microphone, coaxial cable, amplifier, ...
is defined as the derivative of the phase with respect to angular frequency and is a measure of the distortion in the signal introduced by phase differences for different frequencies.
:
The gain and the group delay for a fifth-order type I Chebyshev filter with ε=0.5 are plotted in the graph on the left. It can be seen that there are ripples in the gain and the group delay in the passband but not in the stopband.
Type II Chebyshev filters (inverse Chebyshev filters)
Also known as inverse Chebyshev filters, the Type II Chebyshev filter type is less common because it does not roll off as fast as Type I, and requires more components. It has no ripple in the passband, but does have equiripple in the stopband. The gain is:
:
In the stopband, the Chebyshev polynomial oscillates between -1 and 1 so that the gain will oscillate between zero and
:
and the smallest frequency at which this maximum is attained is the cutoff frequency
. The parameter ε is thus related to the
stopband
A stopband is a band of frequencies, between specified limits, through which a circuit, such as a filter or telephone circuit, does not allow signals to pass, or the attenuation is above the required stopband attenuation level. Depending on applic ...
attenuation
In physics, attenuation (in some contexts, extinction) is the gradual loss of flux intensity through a medium. For instance, dark glasses attenuate sunlight, lead attenuates X-rays, and water and air attenuate both light and sound at variable ...
γ in
decibels by:
:
For a stopband attenuation of 5 dB, ε = 0.6801; for an attenuation of 10 dB, ε = 0.3333. The frequency ''f''
0 = ''ω''
0/2''π'' is the cutoff frequency. The 3 dB frequency ''f''
H is related to ''f''
0 by:
:
Poles and zeroes

Assuming that the cutoff frequency is equal to unity, the poles
of the gain of the Chebyshev filter are the zeroes of the denominator of the gain:
:
The poles of gain of the type II Chebyshev filter are the inverse of the poles of the type I filter:
:
:
where ''m'' = 1, 2, ..., ''n'' . The zeroes
of the type II Chebyshev filter are the zeroes of the numerator of the gain:
:
The zeroes of the type II Chebyshev filter are therefore the inverse of the zeroes of the Chebyshev polynomial.
:
for ''m'' = 1, 2, ..., ''n''.
The transfer function
The transfer function is given by the poles in the left half plane of the gain function, and has the same zeroes but these zeroes are single rather than double zeroes.
The group delay
The gain and the group delay for a fifth-order type II Chebyshev filter with ε=0.1 are plotted in the graph on the left. It can be seen that there are ripples in the gain in the stopband but not in the pass band.
Implementation
Cauer topology
A passive LC Chebyshev
low-pass filter
A low-pass filter is a filter that passes signals with a frequency lower than a selected cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies higher than the cutoff frequency. The exact frequency response of the filter depends on the filt ...
may be realized using a
Cauer topology. The inductor or capacitor values of a nth-order Chebyshev
prototype filter
Prototype filters are electronic filter designs that are used as a template to produce a modified filter design for a particular application. They are an example of a nondimensionalised design from which the desired filter can be scaled or tra ...
may be calculated from the following equations:
[Matthaei et al. (1980), p.99]
:
:
:
:
G
1, G
k are the capacitor or inductor element values.
f
H, the 3 dB frequency is calculated with:
The coefficients ''A'', ''γ'', ''β'', ''A''
''k'', and ''B''
''k'' may be calculated from the following equations:
:
: