In telecommunications, the term cutoff frequency fc has the following meanings:
1. The frequency either above which or below which the output of a circuit, such as a line, amplifier, or filter, is reduced to the specified level of - 3 dB = 70.7 % of the reference voltage level of 0 dB = 100 %. See also time constant and center frequency. The calculation of the center frequency of such a frequency band is not the arithmetic mean but the geometric mean. See external link. [1]
A level drop of (-)3 dB means a voltage reduction to 70,7 % and also a power reduction to 50 %, because voltage V2 is proportional to power P.
2. The frequency below which a radio wave fails to penetrate a layer of the ionosphere at the incidence angle required for transmission between two specified points by reflection from the layer.
A bandpass has two cutoff frequencies and a center frequency.
See also: low-pass filter and high-pass filter.
External link