A Butterworth filter is a type of signal processing filter designed to have a maximally flat frequency response in the passband. This means that it does not exhibit ripples, providing a smooth output without distortion for frequencies within its passband. The filter is characterized by its order , which determines the steepness of the filter's roll-off; higher-order filters have a sharper transition between passband and stopband. The transfer function of an -th order Butterworth filter can be expressed as:
where is the complex frequency variable and is the cutoff frequency. Butterworth filters can be implemented in both analog and digital forms and are widely used in various applications such as audio processing, telecommunications, and control systems due to their desirable properties of smoothness and predictability in the frequency domain.
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