Proceedings of the 48th European Microwave Conference

Very-compact Waveguide Bandpass Filter based on

Dual-Mode TM Cavities for Satellite Applications in
Ku-band
L. Pelliccia#1, C. Tomassoni*2, F. Cacciamani#3, P. Vallerotonda#4, R. Sorrentino#5, J. Galdeano§6, C. Ernst§7
#
RF Microtech Srl, via L. Maccheroni, Perugia, Italy
*
University of Perugia, via G. Duranti 93, Perugia, Italy
§
ESA-ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
{1pelliccia, 3cacciamani, 4vallerotonda, 5sorrentino}@rfmicrotech.com, 2cristiano.tomassoni@unipg.it,
{6jaione.galdeano, 7Christoph.Ernst}@esa.int

Abstract — The design of a Ku-band bandpass filter for
satellite applications centered at 14.25GHz with 500 MHz
bandwidth (FBW=3.5%) is presented in this paper. The filter is
based on TM dual-band resonator technology allowing for a
reduction of about 50% of the filter length with respect to
regular TE dual-mode filters resonators while maintaining a high
Q-factor (>4000). The filter is composed of a total of 4 dual-mode
TM cavities. Dimensions are 43x45x47mm3, mass is 110g and the
Insertion Loss is below 0.35dB in the passband. Measurements
show good correlation with the design.
Keywords — bandpass filter, compact filter, high-Q filters,
waveguide filters.
I. INTRODUCTION
Filters are key components in communication technology;
in a single transceiver, several filters at different stages are
present. Some of them require very low loss, especially when
are to be placed at the receiver front end. In that case,
waveguide technology is employed as it allows for high
unloaded Q-factors. Unfortunately, waveguides are bulky and
lead to heavy components. Considerable efforts have thus
been devoted to mitigate this problem. A classical way for
bulkiness reduction is the use of dual- or multi- mode
resonators: the presence of two or more resonances in the
same physical space allow one to reduce the number of
physical cavities [1]. The number of cavities can also be
reduced by increasing the selectivity of the filter by
introducing transmission zero, e.g. by coupling non-adjacent
resonators [2]. To this end, the proximity between non-
adjacent resonators is usually required, and this is obtained by
bending the filter [3]. In several applications, however, an in-
line configuration is desired. In such cases, transmission zeros
can be obtained by exploiting nonresonating modes [3][4][5].
An alternative filter concept able to minimize the filter
length is based on rectangular ridges arbitrarily located and
oriented within a rectangular waveguide [6]. The slant angle
and the offset between the ridge and the waveguide axis
provide additional degrees of freedom to generate both a
reflection and a transmission zero. A similar concept has been
also proposed in [7], where posts have been used instead of
ridges to realize quasi-elliptic responses with filters having
similar size. In all such cases the Q-factor of the resonators are
much smaller than using regular cavities.
A different approach consists in the use of cavities using
TMmn0 resonant mode since they can be shorter than
conventional ones based on TE0nk resonant modes. TMmn0
resonant frequencies, in fact, are independent of the cavity
length that can thus be chosen as desired. Since the Q-factor of
TM cavities decreases with increasing length, the latter must
result from a trade-off between small volume and high Q.
Single mode TM cavities have been used in [8] to
demonstrate the feasibility of filters with transmission zeros
based on that concept. In [9] a very compact filter with a wide
spurious-free range has also been developed using TM cavities
combined with comb-line technology, demonstrating the
feasibility of this technology for satellite applications [9].
Dual-mode cavities employing degenerate TM120 and
TM210 modes have been employed to further reduce the length
of the filter. The TM dual-mode concept was introduced for
the first time in [10] for filters with symmetric filtering
response. In [11] an alternative positioning of the cavity
(rotated cavities) has extended the capability of this
technology to asymmetric filtering functions where
transmission zeros can be asymmetrically located in the lower
and upper stop-bands. Finally, some strategies for the spurious
free band of such filters have been presented in [11].
In this contribution, a filter for satellite applications based
on four cascaded dual-mode TM resonators is presented. The
filter is based on a sort of combination between the TM
cavities proposed in [10] and those in [11] so as to satisfy at
the same time the demanding out-of-band rejection
requirements close to the filter band and the insertion loss
requirements used as reference (broadcast satellite input filters
at Ku-band). The filter designed is very compact and fulfils
the requirements in terms of spurious free range in the upper
stop-band up to 17.3 GHz.

978-2-87487-051-4 © 2018 EuMA 93 25–27 Sept 2018, Madrid, Spain

 II. FILTER DESIGN
In the TM dual mode resonator, the TM120 and TM210
resonant modes generate the filter poles, while the propagating
TM11 mode is exploited as a non-resonating mode for
generating a transmission zero via the source-to-load direct
coupling. The magnetic field distributions of these modes are
shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. Resonant modes and non-resonating mode in TM dual-band resonator.
Magnetic field distribution.
As shown in Fig. 2, two different types of doublets can be
obtained by using TM dual-mode resonators: in-line and
transverse doublets.
The two configurations in Fig. 2 show advantages and
disadvantages. The advantage of the in-line configuration is
that all cavities are aligned so as to facilitate the filter
assembly. Unfortunately, this limits the flexibility in the
transmission zero positioning. The two transmission zeros, in
fact, are symmetrically located across the pass-band, so they
cannot be located independently. The transversal
configuration, on the contrary, allows for more flexibility,
since the transmission zeros can be located either in the higher
or in the lower stop-band. For example, they can be located
one in the higher and the other in the lower stop-band either
symmetrically or asymmetrically with respect to the pass-
band. Such flexibility is paid in terms of ease of assembly as
slanting irises lead to filters with misaligned cavities.
In order to illustrate the differences between the two
configurations, two four-pole filters with in-line and
transverse topologies are compared in Fig. 3. As can be seen,
the transverse topology involves more complicated assembly.

Fig. 3. Four-pole dual-mode TM resonator filters. Comparison between in-

line topology configuration [10] (a) and transverse topology configuration [11]
(b).
Fig. 2. TM dual-mode resonators. Resonator implementing the in-line
topology doublet [10] (a) and resonator implementing the transverse topology
The demanding requirements used as reference (broadcast
doublet [11] (b). satellite input filters at Ku-band) are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Specification for the Ku filter of the ESA Artes 5.1 COMFIL project.
As shown in Fig. 2, the in-line doublet is obtained with
input and output irises positioned parallel to the resonator
sides. In this way, as deduced from the magnetic field
distribution in Fig. 2, the horizontal input iris excites the
TM120 mode only, whereas the vertical output iris excites the
TM210 mode only. In this configuration, two re-entrant corners
are used to couple the TM120 and TM210 modes. Furthermore,
both input and output irises excite the TM10 mode, so creating
the direct source-to-load coupling capable of generating two
transmission zeros symmetrically across the pass-band. All
couplings can be controlled by properly selecting the size and
the position of the input and output irises, as detailed in [10].
The transversal topology doublet (see Fig.2) is obtained by
using input and output irises slanting with respect to the cavity
sides. In contrast with the in-line configuration, in this case
both input and output irises are coupled to both TM 120 and
TM210 resonant modes, as can be seen from the magnetic field The out-of-band requirements can be fulfilled by an eight-
distribution of Fig. 1. Furthermore, both irises also excite the pole filter with two transmission zeros very close to both sides
TM11 propagating mode so creating the direct source-to-load of the passband and other two farther.
coupling. The full control of all doublet parameters is achieved In designing the eight-pole dual-mode with TM cavities
by the properly selecting size, position and slanting angle of (see Fig.4), a mixed configuration with both in-line [10] and
the irises [11]. transverse configurations [11] has been adopted. As can be

94
seen, the first and the second cavities are aligned, and so the
third and the fourth, while the second cavity is twisted with
respect to the third one. Such mixed configuration has been
selected because of the demanding stop-band requirements
close to the passband (see Table 1).

Fig. 5. Photograph of the manufactured prototype of the eight-order filter.

Fig. 4. Eight-pole dual-band TM filter with mixed in-line and transversal

configuration. 3D view (a) and side view (b).

Such requirements need a filter with a fine and Fig. 6. Mechanical 3D model of the eight-order filter. Assembled view (a)
independent control of both transmission zeros close to the and exploded view (b).
pass-band, whereas the fine control of the other zeros is less
important. For this reason, the filter assembly can be
simplified since a twist is necessary only between the second
and the fourth cavity.
In order to satisfy the requirements in terms of insertion
loss, a cavity with a Q-factor of 4000 is required. The Q-factor
of TM cavities depends on the cavity length. Cavity lengths of
7.5 mm have been selected to obtain the required Q-factor. As
shown in Fig. 4, several tuning screws have been considered
starting from the electromagnetic design stage. Tuning screws
allow for the control of both couplings and resonant
frequencies.

III. RESULTS
The filter designed has been manufactured and measured Fig. 7. Eight-pole dual-band TM filter. Comparison between simulations
(See Fig. 5). The final mechanical 3D model of the filter, (dotted lines) and measurements (continuous lines). Results are in dB.
carefully done to limit the number of mechanical parts to be
In Fig. 9, the simulated insertion loss is compared to the
assembled and to minimize the overall volume and the mass is
measured one. Good agreement is observed. The insertion loss
shown in Fig. 6.
in the pass-band is always lower than 0.35 dB. The markers in
In Fig. 7 the comparison between simulations (in Ansys
the figure are placed 20 MHz below the lower cutoff of the
HFSS) and measurements (after tuning) is shown. As can be
pass-band (12.98 GHz) and 20 MHz above the upper cutoff of
noted, all requirements in terms of return loss and out-of-band
the pass-band (14.52 GHz) in order to consider the margin for
rejection close to the pass-band are satisfied. For the out-of-
the frequency shifts of the pass-band due to the temperature
band rejection far from the filter pass-band, all requirements
variations.
are satisfied in the lower stop-band, while in the upper stop-
band spurious frequencies appear beyond 17.6GHz (Fig. 8). A
low-pass filter would be required to fulfil possible rejection
requirements beyond 17.6GHz. .

95

Fig. 8. Eight-pole dual-band TM filter. In-band IL response up to 18GHz.
Results are in dB.
Fig. 9. Eight-pole dual-band TM filter. In-band IL response. Comparison
between simulations (dotted lines) and measurements (continuous lines).
Results are in dB.
IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper the design of a Ku-band bandpass filter for
satellite applications centred at 14.25 GHz with 500 MHz
bandwidth (FBW=3.5%) has been presented. The designed
filter presents good performances in terms of in-band losses.
The filter is based on TM dual-band resonator technology and
is very compact: dimensions are 43x45x47mm3. The mass is
110g. The filter is composed of a total of 4 dual-band cavities.
TM resonators allowed for a reduction of about 50% of the
filter length and mass with respect to regular TE dual-mode
filters while maintaining an high Q-factor level (>4000).
The filter fulfils the reference challenging rejection
requirements in the region close to the stop-band. Spurious
frequencies appear at 17.6 GHz, thus leading to the use of a
low-pass filter to fulfil the rejection in the far from the pass-
band.
Measured results fulfil all requirements. An environmental
test sequence for space environment (including thermal
vacuum test and vibration test) is scheduled in spring 2018.
The results will be presented in the final version of the paper.
96
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work has been performed within the ESA ARTES 5.1
COMFIL (COMpact C-/Ku-Band Broadband Waveguide
FILters) project.
Staff from ESA ESTEC and from Pasquali Microwave
Systems are gratefully acknowledged for their contributions
and support.
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