FINAL PROJECT OUTLINE

1. GENERAL INTRODUCCTION
2. FILTERS AND THEIR TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS
3. FILTER TYPE CHOOSEN FOR THE PROJECT
4. DIFFERENT FACTORS OF THE DESIGN
 The package
 The varactors
 The supply line
 The combline filter

5. THE COMBLINE FILTER DESIGN

6. THE EM SIMULATION
7. THE SUPPLY LINE DESIGN
8. THE PACKAGING
 I. INTRODUCTION

Nowadays,filters are used in a wide variety of fields and are among the most

frequentlly utilized electronic circuits. They are generally used in signal processing, satellite

communications, radar communication, medecine, communications systems etc...

The basic function of a filter is to block unwanted signals by blocking the range of their relative

center frequencies and/or pass a given range of frequencies in order to pass data of targetted

signals. The signals lying outside the pass-band are attenuated to weaken their strength. This

way, the interference from unnecessary signals is avoided and the signal’s quality at the receiver

is enhanced. There exist different types of filters, the use of which depends on the filter’s type

and the design criteria. Filters can be classified as following:

 Analog or digital;
 Discrete-time or continuous-time;
 Linear or Non-Linear;
 Infinite Impulse Response(IIR) or Finite Impulse Response(FIR).
 Passive or active;
 Low-pass, High-pass, Band-pass, Bandstop/Notch, all pass;

Linear filters are the kind of filters that the output is a linear function of the input. In other

words, the output changes linearly and relatively to the change in the input therefore holding

the linearity relationship. The Non-Linear filters are just the ones in which the linearity

relationship does not hold.

Digital filters operate on sampled, discrete-time signals. They are separated into two categories:

the Infinite Impulse Respone(IIR) and the Finite Impulse Response(FIR). Although in practice

digital filters are very utile, they introduce mainly two types of noise through the process. The
first one is introduced during analog to digital conversion and vice versa. The second one is the

quantization noise.

An analog filter can be thought of as a filter type that operates on continuous-time signals. The

remaining characteistics find their counterparts in digital filters as well.

Passive filters are independent of power source and do not make use of active electronic

components such as transistors and/or amplifiers. They are made of resistances, inductances and

capacitances, mounted in different ways to meet the design criteria. Active filters in the other

hands make use of a power supply and active electronic components such as op-amps and

transistors.

As already stated above, passive filters are composed of only passive electronic

components such as resistance, inductance and capacitance. The way those components are

mounted together, generally in series or parallel forming a resonator, defines the types of filters

as: Low-pass, High-pass, Band-pass or Bandstop filter.

Tunable filters are gaining an increasing interest in many fields from meteorology, radar

sytems to satellite communications. In this topology, the passband or the rejection band can be

varied by adjusting the passive components and applying different voltage levels. Tuning the

voltage changes the electrical length of the resonators ,which in its turn is related to the center

frequency, makes the circuit’s center frequency slide accordingly [6].

In this project, a packaged tunable filter based on a bandpass combline structure is aimed to be

designed. The circuit will be tuned to pass signals in two bands, 4.25-4.5 GHz and 6.25-6.5 GHz.

One of the main criteria is to maintain an absolute constant bandwidth. The performance of a

filter is shown by the return loss and insertion loss levels. For this design, an in band insertion
loss(IL) of better or equal to -4 dB and an out of band IL of less than or equal to -20 dB are

targetted.

In the first part of this paper, different types of filters according to their pass band or rejection

characteristics will be introduced to the reader. With them, parallely, are explained formulas and

design steps of each type.

In the second part, the packaged tunable notch filter’s design is explained. At a glance, all the

necessary subcircuits and electronic components such as the varactor used to tune the center

frequency, the package etc... will be delightfully explained. Then the circuit’s design parameters

and the layouts on the Microwave Office AWR will also be shown. Most importantly, the

Electromagnetic(EM) simulation of the circuit and the found results will be compared and

analyzed with the theory and the circuit response before the EM simulation.

II. IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF FILTERS

In general, a microwave concept of circuits sums up to an ensemble of subcircuits and electronic

passive and/or active components. Among those subcircuits filters are often existent. Filters are

very efficient in the matter of reducing the interference and other impairements. Engineering
those filters to meet some criteria may be very challenging. In the electronics point of view

filters’ types differ from the way the elements, capacitances and inductances, are connected to

produce the desired resonant frequency.

There are however various criteria that describes a filter’s performance. Among them, the

frequency band, the bandwidth, the insertion loss, the stopband attenuation and frequencies, the

input and output impedance, the group delay and the transient response.

Figure 1. Basic filter configuration

As shown above basically the filter processes all the signals coming from the generator and

sends the ones that work in the “Load”’ frequency band.

The frequency band is the range of frequencies at which the system is allowed to work; it is

limited by the upper, lower and center frequencies. The bandwidth is the difference between the

highest frequency and the lowest frequency of system’s frequency band. It does not however rely

on the location of the frequency range but only its width. The insertion loss, being one of the key

characteristics for th evaluation of a filter’s performance, describes the circuit’s response with
respect to discontinuities, mismatches and other impairments. The higher the insertion loss level,

the better. For instance, a -1 dB circuit is more prefered than a -8 dB circuit.

IL = -10 log(PL / Pin )

(1)

Where PL and Pin are respectively the load power and the inbput power.

The group delay shows how long time it takes for a signal to propagate through a filter [7], is

expressed as follow:

1 dfT
TD = -
2p df (2)

Where
fT = arg(S21 ) and S21 the scattering mattrix coefficient between the second and first

ports. The group delay ought to be kept constant in order to avoid a probable frequency

dispersion.

As mentionned above, different types of filters are built using passive elements such as

inductances, capacitances and resistances connected in such a way that it enables the rejection or

the acceptance of frequencies within a defined band. Each of those circuits has a specific time

constant formula,which is important in characterizing the frequency response, relative to its

topology.

t = RC (3)

L
t=
R (4)

t = LC (5)
(3), (4), (5) represent the time constant for an RC, RL, and LC circuits.

III. FILTERS TYPES

Although there are many ways to characterize filters, the most common classification technique

is based on the frequency characteristics. Such filters are called Lowpass, Highpass, Bandpass

and Bandstop or Notch filters. Each having different characteristics and topologies, they are

however related to each other in a certain way.As an illustration, a Bandpass or Bandstop filter

can be designed based on their lowpass prototype [8].

In the following lines, ideal Lowpass, Highpass, Bandpass and Bandstop filters will be explained

with more insight. It is worth noticing that in practice, the frequency responses deviate from their

ideally expected values. That is where, the designer intervene to optimize the results as close as

possible to the ideal values.

i. LOWPASS FILTER

As its name indicates, a lowpass filter is a filter that passes signals with low frequencies and

stops higher frequencies. The rejection is done gradually by attenuating the signal level as the

frequency increases, starting from the cut-off frequency. The basic topology of this circuit is a

simple RC circuit which angular cutoff frequency is found by taking the inverse of (3).

In figure 2. Below, a resistance connected in series and a capacitance connected in parallel to a

load can be seen. The mechanism of blocking high-frequency signals takes place in the capacitor.

Low frequency input signals are blocked and directed to the load. This takes place because of the
reactance the capacitor displays at low frequency. Here, it is worth recalling that the higher the

frequency the smaller time constant. The time constant is nothing else but the time needed for the

capacitor to charge. For that reason at high frequency the capacitor does not completely charge

and utilizes a part of the signal’s strength. The remaining is directed to the load, making it weak

enough compared to low frequency signal strength.

Figure 2. Simple RC circuit

Figure 3. First order Lowpass Filter

Figure 3 shows the “Bode plot” of a first order lowpass filter. Ideally signals above the cutoff

frequency are supposed to sink vertically to zero power level. Since there are no such filters in

the real world, the signals start decaying a little bit before the cutoff frequency. The signal level

at the cutoff frequency, compared to the ideal design, decreases its gain by 3 dB.

ii. HIGHPASS FILTER

Highpass filter as the name indicates, passes high frequency signals and attenuates low frequency

signals. Highpass filters are just the counterpart of Lowpass filters. The circuit topology of a
highpass filter, as shown in Figure 4, is a combination of a series connection of the capacitance

with the load and a parallel connection of a resistance with the load.

As it can be noticed, Lowpass and highpass filters have almost the same circuit topology with the

passive elements locations switch to make the filter operates the inverse functionalities of a

Lowpass filter. Beside, Highpass filter’s cutoff frequency is inversely propotional to its time

constant which is non other than (3) as the Lowpass counterpart.

Figure 4. Simple RC circuit for Highpass Filter

Figure 5. Highpass Filter

 iii. BANDPASS FILTER
A bandpass filter is a filter that passes only the signals with frequencies comprised within a given

frequency band and attenuates the signals with frequencies out of the band. The passband, the

band through which the signal is passed, is defined by its lower, upper and its cutoff frequencies.

A bandpass filter can be thought of as the combination of a lowpass and highpass filters. The

implementation of bandpass filter may be done analytically or using electronic components so

that only the signals with frequency within the band are passed or undergo only a small

attenuation. They find their application in communications systems and many other relative

fields where the need of reducing the noise and interferences in order to increase the signal to

interference noise ratio (SINR), is rather high.

As already mentionned above a bandpass filter may be implemented by using a Lowpass and a

Highpass filter. An illustratif example is shown below.

Figure 6. Simple bandpass filter circuit topology

Figure 6 is a parallely mounted series connected capacitances and inductances with parallely

connected capacitances and inductances which mechanism allows only the signals with

frequency within the band to pass.

Figure 7. Bandpass Filter Bode Plot

The above figure shows the behaviour of the frequency response of a bandpass filter. Here, f1 ,

f2 fc
and are respectively the lower, upper and center frequency- which is just the

f
mathematical mean of f1 and 2 .

The bandwith as shown on the graph is measured at the Half Power (The -3 dB point) by taking

f1 f2 fc
the difference between and . (6), shows how the center frequency is found.
Bandpass filters are mostly used in transmitters and receivers subsystems of wireless

communications system. In the transmitter their role is to ensure the minimum possible bandwith

of the output signal to carry the information to the receiver at the desired speed and form [11].

iv. BANDSTOP FILTER

Bandstop filters attenuate signals with frequencies within a given band and passes any signal

with frequency outside the band. It does exactly the opposite of what a Bandpass Filter does.

This type of signal is sometimes more prefered than its bandpass counterpart for it can be more

specific by the fact that it helps attenuating exactly the range of unwanted signals instead of

blocking the whole out-band spectrum.

Figure 8. A bandstop filter’s frequency respone

Figure 9. Bandpass-Bandstop filters comparison
Figure 8 shows with details all the critical points in analyzing the frequency response of a

bandstop filter and Figure 9 makes a comparison between the bandstop filter and its bandpass

counterpart.

IV. PARALLEL COUPLED-LINE MICROSTRIP FILTERS

Parallel coupled-line microstrip filters are often used in RF/microwave circuit designs such as

amplifiers, resonators and filters because of their simplicity and proportional wide bandwidth.

Compared to the Lumped filters, microstrip filters are prefered for the benefit they provide in

their size, cost and simplicity of the circuit.

Figure 10 shows coupled microstrip lines on top of a substrate having a dielectric constant
er ,

hight h. Care must be taken while choosing the substrate for the design for to it are related many
other critical parameters such as the electrical length ( l ), the width ( w ) and the spacing ( s ) of

the conductors.

An approximate value for the electrical length of the coupled lines is given below:

2p
q= l
l (6)

Here, l is the physical length of the lines and l , the wavelength obtained at the center

frequency.

Figure 10. Coupled Microstrip Line

a. INTERDIGITAL FILTERS

Interdigital filters are very popular because of the compactness and efficiency they provide in

using the space[7]. This type of filter is not as compact as the combline filter, yet, it presents

some attractive features that cannot be ignored.

Apart from the efficient use of the space, interdigital filters, large spacing between resonators

relaxes the tolerance required in their manifacture [2].

Figure 11 shows the structructural form of such filter, here an implementation an interdigital

filter is illustrated. The structure is composed of n stubs each and have an electrical length of 90

l1 , l2 , l3 ..., ln
degrees with respect to the center frequency. As shown in (6), the physical lengths of

the structure though related are not the same. Adjacent stubs experience coupling due to

electrical and magnetic fileds. The structure has an input and an otput line having same

impedance, which makes the structure symmetrical. When the input and output impedances are

not equal, the structure is said to be non-symmetrical. Here, the input admittance is characterized

Yt qt
by . is the electrical length away from the short-circuited end of the input or output

resonator.
Figure 11. Interdigital filter structure

The explicite design equation is given in [2], [10]:

p FBW
q= (1 - )
2 2 (7)

Y1
Y=
tan q (8)

Y 21,2
Yt = Y1 -
Y1 (9)
 � Y�
-1 sin 2 q �
sin � �
� Y0 �g0 � g1 �
qt = � �
FBW
1-
2 ( 10)

cos qt �
sin 3 qt
Ct =
�1 cos 2 qt � sin 2 qt �
w0 �
Yt �� 2 + �
�Y0 Yt 2 � (11)

Y1,2
Where FBW is the fractional bandwidth and is the admittance between adjacent resonators 1

and 2.

b. COMBLINE FILTERS

Combline filters are one of the most frequently used bandpass filters. Presenting a structure even

more compact than the interdigital filter, they are a more practical and more cost effective type of

filters. They are made up of two or more resonators which ends are short circuited and

capacitively loaded. The short circuited end is grounded and the capacitors at the other ends are

placed for tuning purposes since each resonator exhibits an inductance. It is worth recalling the

inversely proportional center frequency derivation from (5). As the capacitor is tuned, the center

frequency slides accordingly. A simple screw can be implemented as a capacitor and therefore

releasing and twisting the screw would vary the center frequency and a tuning can be realized. A

simple capacitor or a varactor can also be used for tuning purpose with this type of structure.
Figure 12. Combline filter structure

Figure 12, displays a simple combline filter structure consisting of n elements resonators short-

circuited at one end and capacitively loaded at the other end. The input and output coupled lines

YA
“0 and n+1” have the same admittance , therefore making the struture symmetrical. The

physical length is preferred to be less than a quater wavelength with respect to the center

frequency. When the physical length is taken exactly at

l0 / 4 , the filter’s responses excludes all

passband. This is because at this length all the electrical and magnetic fields cancel each other

[12, 13].
 Ya i cot q 0
CLi = YA ( )
YA w0 (12)

(
q 0 = 2 ���
p l e eff / c ) (13)

YA Ya i
Where is the input and output admittance, is the admittance between adjacent resonators,

w0
the center frequency and
q 0 the electrical length of the resonator line.

Figure 13. Lumped circuit equivalent for a three resonator combline bandpass filter [7]

V. THE PACKAGED TUNABLE FILTER DESIGN

Radio frequency circuits are composed of many subsystems amongst which filters occupy a

crucial position. The electromagnetic coupling between the resonators provides the circuit with
the required impedance inverting elements making it dependent to frequency [3]. Filters are

prefered to be frequency tunable for the reason that they allow the user to choose the operating

center frequency, thus making them practical and switchable. They will be placed into a package

and the performance will be evaluated for 4.25-4.4 and 6.25-6.4 GHz. There are several negative

factors that the package introduces to the filter’s performance. After design completion the filter

will be placed in the package, tested and reevaluated once more. The results before the

simulations, after the simulations and after the packaging will be compared and discussed.

Basically the packaged tunable filter is composed of a package and a variety of subsystems such

as combline structure, varactors, capacitors, and a feed line connected to a DC voltage source for

power supply and tuning of the resonators. In the following lines each subsystem or component

functions and structure will be explained.

1. FILTER’S TYPE AND STRUCTURE

The first steps in a design of a filter is to choose the filter’s type and the structure. The structure

specifies how an input signal will be processed according to mathematical manipulations of the

filter’s coefficient. Specially tunable bandpass filters can be realized using different methods. But

whatever the technique involved, they must conserve as much as possible their reflection and

transmission characteristics[1,14]. The tuning of the frequency band can take place in different

manners. It can be realized by changing the capacitive or inductive loads to the resonnators or by

changing the electrical or physical length of the resonators [6,14]. Therefore, a filter type can

result in a dozen ways of implementation. The choices should be based on the mission and goals

of the design. Whithin this project’s scope, a bandpass filter will be designed by implementing a

combline filter using parallel-coupled microstrip lines as shown in Figure 14. Here, a varactor is

used to tune the resonator.

 o Nomenclature of the structure in Figure 14
w, The width of the microstrip line;
lt , Length from the input transmission line;
l , Physical length of the resonator ;
s1 and s 2 , The spacings between resonators 1-2 and 2-3;
control voltage , Voltage used to vary capacitor’s value

Specific design techniques described by Hunter and Rhodes in [3, 4], gives the width, length

and spacings between the lines for parallel-coupled microstrip transmission lines .
Figure 14. Chosen structure for the project

The width and the spacings are highly dependent to the capacitance of the lines and the ones

beween them and the fringing capacitances. The physical length of the resonator is derived

from (13). From this formula, it can be clearly noticed that tuning the capacitor or inductor

affects directly the center frequency as inversely described in (5), therefore changing the

electrical length of the resonator.

The reason behind this choice is the fact that combline filters are very practical sizewise, hence

reducing the spenses during the circuit’s implementation.

2. THE VARACTOR
a. Basics

Varactors are widely used in RF and microwave circuits as tuning elements. As the combline

structure is capacitively loaded at one end of each resonator, a varactor is mostly implemented

instead of a screw or a simple capacitor for tuning purposes. Varactors are non-other than

semiconductor devices with the ability to vary the capacitor with respect to a change in the DC

voltage which makes them the best candidates for tunable structures. The key of varactors

usefulness is located in its PN junction functionalities. As main and integrated part of the

varactors, the PN junction acts like a capacitor. In the reverse bias, the depletion of the PN

junction changes, relaxes or contracts, each time a new voltage is applied. That feature makes

them suitable for application where a voltage control variable capacitance is required [15].

Varactors cannot work in the forward bias. In the forward bias the PN junction allows the flow of

current which is bad for capacitor.

Figure 15.a. shows the varactor’s equivalent circuit. It is made of a variable junction capacitor

Cj Rp
in parallel with a resistance , which are both in series with the varying resistance Rs and

an inductor. A capacitance Cc is mounted in parallel to the subsystem. Cc and Ls are the

capacitive capacitor and inductors. Figure 15.b. in the other hand displays the physical model of

the varactor. It can be clearly seen that the area between the P and N plates defines the
capacitance of the device. When voltage is applied, the width of the depletion region increases or

decreases, therefore, enhance or decreases the capacitors value.

thesis

Figure 15. The varactor

 b. Modelling the varactor

For this design, a varactor is decided to be utilized as a tunning element instead of a simple

screw or a simple capacitor. The reasons supporting this choice are their efficiency and

practicalness when implemented in RF and microwave circuits.

In this project specially the MA46H202-1056 varactors manufactured by MACOM company is

selected for application. From the MA46 series and MA46H202 familly of varactors,

MA46H202-1056 varactors are distinguished by their high capacitance ratio and high quality of

factor.

Figure 16. MA46H202-1056

Figure 16 shows the varactor element’s model as described by the MACOM company. Here,

Rs (V)
the series resistance is the device resistance in the physical diode and has a certain

dependance to the voltage. It is due to the part of the diode that is not depleted. The 1056

Cp
represents the physical case style of the varactor. is the package capacitance due to the

Ls
package and the ground. is the package inductance due to intereconnects such as lead
 Cp Ls
inductance, wirebond etc... The smaller the and values, the better quality diode has.

C j (V)
is the tuning capacitance and as it can be seen, it is highly dependent to the bias

voltage.

The varactor tuning model as described in the datasheet available in the by the manufacturing

company’s website is then modelled in Microwave office and the behaviour of the total

capacitance with respect to the voltage will be analyzed.

Figure 17. Circuit set of the varactor in microwave office

Figure 18 shows the Microwave office modelling of the varactor. Here, the capacitance

resulting from the parasitic elements is given as C=0.15 pF and the inductance L=0.45 nH. A

DC voltage is applied at one end of the varactor. This voltage is the one used to tune the

capacitor with. MA46H202-1056 varactors work for the voltage range of 0 to 20 volt. The

BIASTEE element in the circuit acts like an ideal capacitor which is implemented to separate

the DC and RF signals to and from the varactor.

The SDIODE element is the spice diode installed in the device to represent the variable

capacitor. Inside the same diode the series resistance is defined. The modelling of the sdiode
 being not in this project’s perspective, the available sdiode parameters given by the MACOM

company are used directly. The DC voltage element is set to vary between 0 and 20 V in

accordance with the basic criteria of the varactor type in question.

Table 1 shows the critical parameter values of the SDIODE.

Table 1. SDIODE parameters and their values

Rs (V) C j (V) ID Vj BV
0.8 ohm 10.8 pF 1e-4 mA 3.1 V 27 V

PORT BIASTEE CAP

P=1 ID=X1 ID=C1
Z=50 Ohm C=0.15 pF
2 RF 1
RF &
DC
DC
3

IND
DCVSS ID=L1
ID=V1 L=0.45 nH
VStart=0 V
VStop=20 V
VStep=.1 V
SDIODE
ID=SD1

Figure 18. Microwave office Varactor Model

Figure 19 shows the variable total capacitor’s behaviour with respect to the voltage preset from

0V to 20V. It can be seen that the varactor’s capacitor is sensitive in the range of 0V to 10V.
When the voltage value is decreased the depletion zone is narrower resulting in a high

capacitance and for increased DC voltage the depletion zone becomes wider resulting in the drop

of capacitance.

0V
Graph 1
15 13.51 pF
C_SRC(1)[1,X] (pF)
Varicap

0.5821 V
9.947 pF

10

2.535 V
4.931 pF
5 5.06 V
2.798 pF
10.04 V
1.416 pF 15 V 20 V
0.9261 pF 0.686 pF
p1

0
0 5 10 15 20
Voltage (V)
p1: Freq = 1000 MHz

Figure 19. MA46H202 model simulation in AWR

3. The substrate

RT/Duroid 6010.2LM 5*5 is choosen to be utilized in this project. This substrate material is 10.2

of dielectric constant and 0.635 mm of thickness. The dielectric constant of this substrate is
considerably high. This high value, affects the size of the circuit since the dielectric constant is

directly related to the electric length of the lines according to (13). In this precise case, the high

level of dielectric constant sensitively reduces the size of the filter circuit. The higher the

dielectric constant, the lower the length of the resonators and the smaller the thickness making

the circuit hyper practical and fittable in the package. For illustration of how a substrate is used

with a coupled microstrip line can be observed in Figure 10.

4. The Package

Before any father improvement an important big step to the begining of the combline filter

design is to choose the right packet for it. As combline filters are reputed for their practicalness

and reduced size, the package about to be choosen has to be as portable as possible. Stratedge

coorporation company disposes of such packages that would meet the requirements of the

project. The FP118118-1 will be used in this project [16]. The package is square shaped and has

at each side 27.94 mm of length. Taking into account the size of the small connectors used to

braze the circuit, the real length of the package comes down to 26.1 mm. The total thickness of

the package is equivalent to 3.302 mm. Subtracting the height of the substrate’s thickness from

the total thickness of the package, the remaining area filled with the air is 2.667 mm. The

thickness of the chosen RT/DUROID substrate being 0.635 mm will fit well in the package since

its thickness is 0.762 mm. The design and specifications during simulations in the Microwave

office will take into account all these length details.

Figure 20 shows the package that is about to be used in this design.

Figure 20. FP118118-1 package

VI. THE TUNABLE FILTER CIRCUIT

After acquiring necessary knowledge about filters in general, the varactor tunable filters and their

components, the design can be started. First the circuit is designed, analyzed and discussed using

the Microwave office software, ultimate material for circuit simulation and optimization. Then,

their electromagnetic simulations will be launched. The obtained results in hands will be

compared to the unsimulated results designed based on an ideal model.

 1. THE CIRCUIT DESIGN

As a startup, the combline circuit was designed based on an ideal model and the techniques

described by [1-5, 8, 18] . The resonators of the combline structure are composed of a quarter

wavelength line ended at one end by the varactor and the other short-circuited. The length of the

resonators was found using its relationship with the electrical length. The width and the spacings

are found using Rhodes the delicate design procedure described in [3,4,6,7]. To briefly

summarize the method, first of all knowing the center frequencies at which the filter passes

signals a Lowpass prototype is designed. Meanwhile the admittances of each resonator line and

the admittances between adjacent resonator lines are calculated based on a formula table

conceived for that purpose. The capacitance of the coupled lines and the ones between both lines

are in their turn derived. Ready graphs helped getting the spacings values and finally the widths

of the coupled lines are calculated.

The order of the combline filter is chosen to be 4 for easy manipulation and package

manageability and space availability. After a few test, it is come to notice that increasing the

number of resonators or the tunable filter’s order contributes only in increasing the return loss.

While the chosen order works just fine for the targetted criteria, it can also economize the space

and the cost from utilizing more devices such as varactors. Inspired by Microwave office’s iFilter

technology an ideal model version of the combline filter to be designed is built. The table below

shows the ideal model’s characteristics.

Table 2. Ideal combline filter parameters

Ripple Degree Fo BW Electrical Zo

Length
0.1 dB 4 6375 MHz 150 MHz 52 50
The complete circuit is a composition of the combline structure and the feeder line basically. The

length of the transmission lines are optimized using Microwave office’s optimizer tools. While

adjusting the circuit’s insertion and return loss to the desired values of respectively better than or

equal to 4 dB, and bigger than or equal to 20 dB, it was observed that the feeder line’s width

highly affects the notch of the circuit’s return loss. Increasing the length and the width

systematically changes the frequency response of the circuit. So, the feeder line’s length and

width have been adjusted continuously until the desired respond was obtained.

In the other hand, the center frequency of the second band, namely the 6.25-6.4 GHz center

frequency was choosen for the combline structure design. The reason supporting this choice is

that when the first band’s center frequency is choosen the spectrum at which the filter performs

the best gets slided leaving a response with a lot of deteriorations and ripple in the insertion loss.

However, when the second band’s center frequency is choosen, the insertion loss gets stabilized

whithin the wide range of 3-7 GHz.

Increasing the operation bandwidth of the combline structure affects the insertion loss by

enhancing its ripple. So to handle the design in a way described by the condititons of the design

implies handling all these parameters all together to reach the desired performance of the filter.

Another worthy parameter is the electrical length. For values of the electrical length
q 0 between

o
0 and 90 , it can be observed that there exists a turning point in the bandwidth [3, 6]. The point

at which the bandwidth is maximized after analysis is found to be q 0 = 52.885 . In this project,
o

q 0 = 52o is selected.
 ID=V4 ID=V6 ID=V8
ID=V2 D=D_v1 mm
D=D_v1 mm D=D_v1 mm D=D_v1 mm H=H_v1 mm
H=H_v1 mm H=H_v1 mm H=H_v1 mm T=T_v1 mm
T=T_v1 mm T=T_v1 mm T=T_v1 mm
W=W1_v1 W=W1_v1
mm mmW=W1_v1 mm
W=W1_v1 mm RHO=1
RHO=1 RHO=1 RHO=1

ID=C5 ID=C6 ID=C7 ID=C8

C=C_MURC=C_MUR
C=C_MUR pF pF pF
C=C_MUR pF

EXTRACT
ID=EX1 MLIN MLIN MLIN MLIN
EM_Doc="EM_Extract_Doc" ID=TL13 ID=TL14 ID=TL15 ID=TL16
Name="EM_Extract" W=W1_v1 mm W=W1_v1 mmW=W1_v1 mm W=W1_v1 mm
Simulator=AXIEM L=L_Varak mmL=L_Varak mmL=L_Varak mm L=L_Varak mm
X_Cell_Size=0.005 mm
Y_Cell_Size=0.005 mm
STACKUP="SUB1"
Override_Options=Yes
Hierarchy=Off ID=MT3
SweepVar_Names="" W1=W3 mm MTRACE2
W2=W5 mm ID=X1
L=L_v2 mm W=W5 mm
2
MCROSS 2 2
MCROSS Taper=Linear L=L_DC mm
MCROSS Method=Default BType=2
2 ID=TL18 ID=TL20
MTEE W1=W3 mm ID=TL19 W1=W3 mm M=1
ID=TL17 3 W1=W3 mm 3 3
1 W2=W2 mm 1 1 W2=W2 mm
W1=W2 mm 3
W3=W3 mm W2=W2 mm W3=W3 mm
W2=W2 mm W4=W2 mm W3=W3 mm W4=W2 mm
W3=W3 mm 1 MSUB=SUB1 W4=W2 mm MSUB=SUB1
MSUB=SUB1 DCVS
4 MSUB=SUB1
4 4 ID=V11
V=V V

Er=10.2 MLIN MLIN MLIN MLIN

H=0.635 mm ID=TL8 ID=TL9 ID=TL10 ID=TL11
T=0.035 mm W=W1_v1 mm W=W1_v1 mmW=W1_v1 mm W=W1_v1 mm
Rho=1 L=L_Varak mmL=L_Varak mmL=L_Varak mm L=L_Varak mm
Tand=0.0023
ErNom=10.2
Name=SUB1

M_v1=0.5
ID=V1
D=D_v1 mm
H=H_v1 mm ID=C1 ID=C2 ID=C3 ID=C4
T=T_v1 mm C=C_v1 pF
C=C_v1 pF C=C_v1 pF C=C_v1 pF
W=W1_v1 mm
RHO=1

ID=TL1 ID=TL3
Combline Bandpass Filter W1=W1_v1 mm ID=TL7 W=W1_v1 mm
Microstrip BPF W2=W1_v1 mm W=W1_v1 mm L=L_v1 mm
W3=W1_v1 mm L=L_v3 mm
Chebyshev (0.1dB ripple) W4=W1_v1 mm ID=TL4 ID=TL5 ID=TL6
W5=W1_v1 mm W=W1_v1W=W1_v1
mm W=W1_v1
mm mm
Degree= 4
W6=W1_v1 mm L=L_v3 mm
L=L_v3 mm
L=L_v3 mm
ID=MS2
Fo= 6375 MHz S1=S1_v1 mm M=M_v1 P=2
BW= 150 MHz S2=S2_v1 mm ID=MT2 Z=50 Ohm
S3=S3_v1 mm W1=W1_v1 mm
EL= 52 deg S4=S2_v1 mm W2=W1_v1 mm
Reson Zo= 50 S5=S1_v1 mm 7 8 9 10 11 12 L=L_v2 mm
L=LTOT mm Taper=Linear
Acc=1 Method=Default
W1

W3

W4

W5

W6
W2

ID=MT1
W1=W1_v1 mm
W2=W1_v1 mm
L=L_v2 mm 1 2 3 4 5 6
ID=TL2 Taper=Linear
P=1 W=W1_v1 mm Method=Default
Z=50 Ohm L=L_v1 mm

ID=MS1
M=M_v1

ID=V3 ID=V5 ID=V7 ID=V9 ID=V10

D=D_v1 mm D=D_v1 mm D=D_v1 mm D=D_v1 mm D=D_v1 mm
H=H_v1 mm H=H_v1 mm H=H_v1 mm H=H_v1 mm H=H_v1 mm
T=T_v1 mm T=T_v1 mm T=T_v1 mm T=T_v1 mm T=T_v1 mm
W=W1_v1 mmW=W1_v1 mm W=W1_v1 mm W=W1_v1 mm W=W1_v1 mm
RHO=1 RHO=1 RHO=1 RHO=1 RHO=1

Figure 21. Tunable Combline Bandpass Filter

The figure above displays the fourth order combline filter. As already mentioned, it is separated

in two parts. The part that is composed of strictly the combline structure and the feeder part

together with varactors and capacitors. It is certainly been noticed by now that instead of a

varactor a capacitor is placed. This was adopted just for easiness concern. The combline structure
is composed of 6 coupled lines from which two are the input and output transmission lines with

50 ohm impedances each. For wideband applications, the combline structure depends on the

electromagnetic couplings between the resonators to realize the necessary impedance inverting

circuit element [3].

The width, length and spacings of the lines and elements of the circuit are explicitly shown in the

table below.

Table 3. Tunable Bandpass Filter’s width and lengths in mm.

L_Varak 0.03 mm
L_DC 15 mm
LTOT 2.036 mm
L_v1 1.787 mm
L_v2 0.5956 mm
L_v3 0.2233 mm
W1_v1 1.048 mm
W2 2.75 mm
W3 0.738 mm
W5 0.264 mm
C_MUR 5 pF
C_v1 0.255 pF
S1_v1 0.2 mm
S2_v1 0.2 mm
S3_v1 2 mm
D_v1 0.4
H_v1 0.635
T_v1 0.1787

Each of those transmission lines plays a specific and critical role in design the tunable combline

filter. L_Varak stands for the line width that connects the combline structure to the feed line and

the feed line to the ground. Increasing it detoriates the insertion loss of the filter. L_DC stands

for the length of the feeder line that connects the DC voltage source with the rest of the filter

circuit for tuning. S1_v1, S2_v1, S3_v1 are the spacings between the coupled lines of the
combline structures. The combline circuit is divided symmetrically by the spacing S3_v1 and has

at each side S1_v1 and S2_v1 spaced microstrip coupled lines. C_v1 represents the varactor

here. It is set to work within the range of the varactor capacito modelled in the Microwave

Office. In the real circuit, the MA46H202-1056 varactors will be used. C_MUR are simple

capacitor utilized to adjust the bandwidth of the insertion loss as required. The higher C_MUR’s

value, the wider the passband and the more ripple exist. A simple capacitor is used to replace the

varactor but based on the characteristics of the Microwave Office model of the varactor. D_v1 is

the siameter of the via ground. The manufacturer’s prerequisite is to design a circuit with at least

0.2 mm radius via ground.

LTOT represents the combline structure’s couples line resonators length. Under normal

conditions, the electric length is supposed to be q 0 = 52 as mentioned earlier. However in this

o

design, both the dielectric constant and the frequency bands are specially high, the overwhole

structure’ size is also dramatically reduced. At the defined electric length, the physical length of

the circuit is supposed to be l =6.78 mm. In the other hand, the theory of [3] says that the

bandwidth is maximized at q 0 = 52.885 but a range of electric length from 0 to 90 degrees may
o

be choosen based on the design criteria. Remarkink that the given physical length drops

spectacularly the capacitance of the varactor, it was decided to redeuce the physical length of the

coupled lines to

l =LTOT=2.036 mm.

In the following lines, the frequency response of the tunable combline bandpass filter as shown

in figure figure 21 will be shown and analyzed. First, the return and insertion losses in the first
band, namely in the range of 4.25-4.4 GHz will be shown and analyzed and then the same will be

done with the second band.

4240 MHz 4400 MHz

-3.024 dB -3.54 dB
iFilter IL RL
0 0

-20 -10
Insertion Loss

Return Loss
-40 -20

-60 DB(|S(2,1)|) (L) -30

iFilter
DB(|S(1,1)|) (R)
iFilter
-80 -40
4000 5000 6000 7000
Frequency (MHz)

Figure 22. Tunable Combline Filter in the first band, 4.25-4.4 GHz.

In the above figure, the tunable is tuned to the first frequency band. At around -3 dB level, the

insertion loss exhibits a performance better than -4 dB. It attenuates all signals in the stop band,

less than 3.5 GHz and higher than 7 GHz.

 iFilter IL RL 6507 MHz
0 -3.487 dB
0
6250 MHz
-3.249 dB

-20 -10
Insertion Loss

Return Loss
-40 -20

-60 DB(|S(2,1)|) (L) -30

iFilter
DB(|S(1,1)|) (R)
iFilter
-80 -40
4000 5000 6000 7000
Frequency (MHz)

Figure 23. Tunable Combline Filter in the first band, 6.25-6.4 GHz.
The above graph displays the Tunable Bandpass filter in the second band. The tuning took place

by varying the capacitor C_v1 value downward. Decreasing it values slides the filter to the right.

At the passband, the filter displays a good performance with only -3.249 dB at 6.25 GHz and

-3.487 dB at 6.507 GHz. This way, the required bandwidth of 150 MHz is obtained.

 Discussion

By recalling the filter design criteria of this project, the performance of the tunable filter in the

bands of interest will be discussed.

To begin with, the return loss performance in both bands are quite not similar. As the filter is

tuned to the second band, the notch of the return loss gets sharper and deeper. When the filter’s

order is increased, for instance 5 or 6, the return loss’ notch becomes sharper. The filter exhibits

somehow a better performance in the second band than the first one with suppressed ripple and

detoriation of the bands. This phenemenon can be explained by the fact the center frequency

choosen for the design is rather the second one. At this stage, it can be said with ease that the

filter may work properly at the defined bands. To affirm with certainty the competence of the

filter, the Electromagnetic Simulations on the Microwave Office should be done and analyzed.

Below, the tables descibing the design criteria, the first band responses and the second band’s

responses are shown for better understanding of the project.

Table 4. Design criteria

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