Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications

ISSN: 0920-5071 (Print) 1569-3937 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tewa20

Compact tri-band bandpass filter with two closely

frequency spaced passbands

Yao Zhang & Xiao-Lan Zhao

To cite this article: Yao Zhang & Xiao-Lan Zhao (2017): Compact tri-band bandpass filter with
two closely frequency spaced passbands, Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications,
DOI: 10.1080/09205071.2016.1270231

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09205071.2016.1270231

Published online: 13 Jan 2017.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 2

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tewa20

Download by: [University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries] Date: 15 January 2017, At: 02:51
Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications, 2017
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09205071.2016.1270231

Compact tri-band bandpass filter with two closely frequency

spaced passbands
Yao Zhang and Xiao-Lan Zhao
School of Electronic and Information Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

A compact tri-band bandpass filter based on a novel six-mode Received 1 November 2015
resonator is proposed. The filter has three passbands centered at Accepted 20 November 2016
2.45, 5.2, and 5.8 GHz for WLAN applications. Among them, two
KEYWORDS
closely frequency-spaced passbands with a small center frequency Tri-band; closely frequency
ratio (1/1.11) are realized. The 3 dB bandwidth of the two passbands spaced; compact; high
are 5.8 and 5.2%, which means they have equal absolute bandwidth. selectivity
Source-load-coupling structure is adopted to enhance the high-
isolation performance. And the filter has six transmission zeros,
resulting in high-frequency selectivity. The passband frequencies and
bandwidths of the filter can be controlled. The measured results are
in good agreement with electromagnetic simulation. Its circuit only
occupies 0.14 λg × 0.09 λg (11.2 mm × 7.1 mm), where λg is the guided
wavelength at the lowest passband center frequency.

1. Introduction
In modern wireless communications, bandpass filters (BPFs) with closely frequency spaced
passbands have obtained much attention as the frequency spectrum becomes more and
more crowded. For instance, the band 5.15–5.35 GHz and 5.725–5.85 GHz are 5G Wi-Fi bands
that are very closely spaced in frequency. Between the two closely spaced bands, the fre-
quencies from 5.35 to 5.725 GHz have not been used. It is challenging to design a BPF that
has good depression on useless frequencies between two closely spaced passbands.
As we know, the stub-loaded-resonator [1,2], step-impedance resonator (SIR) [3–5] and
the multistub-loaded resonator with multimodes [6] were widely used to design BPFs.
Although these designs can generate bandpass responses with good performance, a
high-performance BPF with closely frequency spaced passbands is seldom investigated.
Recently, a dual-band BPF with a small ratio of dual-passband central frequencies (1/1.3) is
proposed by using a double-slot-loaded resonator [7]. However, it suffers from poor fre-
quency selectivity. In [8], unequal-length shunted-line SIR are applied to effectively realize
low center frequency ratios of 1/1.3, but the design procedure is complicated.
In this paper, a novel resonator with six resonance modes is utilized to realize tri-band
responses. One passband is centered at 2.45 GHz and the other two are centered at 5.2 and

CONTACT  Yao Zhang  gzxll@scut.edu.cn

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2   Y. ZHANG AND X.-L. ZHAO

5.8 GHz with a small center frequency ratio of 1/1.1. By introducing source-load coupling
configuration, high-isolation performance of three passbands are realized. The filter has six
transmission zeros that are utilized to realize high selectivity, especially high rejection levels
between the closely spaced passbands. The passband frequencies and bandwidths can be
controlled by tuning corresponding dimensions.

2.  Circuit design

Figure 1(a) shows the configuration of the proposed six-mode resonator with stub-to-stub
coupling, which is modified from the original six-mode resonator, as shown in Figure 1(b).
It consists of a main transmission line, a short-ended stub, two open-ended stubs and two
T-shaped stubs.
Since the resonator is symmetrical in structure, odd- and even-mode analysis can be
adopted to characterize it. Figure 2 presents its odd- and even-mode equivalent circuits. It’s

Coupling
section

Lm1 Lm1
Lm4 Lm5 Lm4 Lm5

Lm1 Lm2 Lm1 Lm2

Lm3 Lm3

(a) (b)

Figure 1. Configuration of the six-mode resonators (a) utilized one; (b) original one.

Yin-odd Lm1
Yin-odd Lm1 Lm4

Lm2 Lm3 Lm1 Lm4

Yin-even Lm2+Lm3

(a)
Yin-odd Lm1
Yin-even Lm4+Lm5
Lm1

Lm2 Lm3 Lm1 Lm4+Lm5

Yin-even Lm2+Lm3
(b)

Figure 2. (a) Odd-mode circuit of the six-mode resonator; (b) even-mode circuit of the six-mode resonator.
 JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND APPLICATIONS   3

seen that the six-mode resonator is equivalent to four resonators, two quarter-wavelength
short-ended resonators and two short-ended stub-loaded resonators. The short-ended stub-
loaded resonator consists of a main transmission line and a short-ended stub. Once Lm1 =
Lm2 + Lm3, the configuration of the short-ended stub-loaded resonator becomes symmetrical.
Thus, odd- and even-mode analysis can be adopted to characterize it [9]. Under resonance
condition, the input impedance of the proposed resonator is ∞ and the input admittance
(Yin-odd and Yin-even) is 0. Based on this condition, the resonance frequencies of the six-mode
resonator can be deduced as follows [9]:
c
fm1 = fm2 = √ (1)
4Lm1 𝜀eff

c c
fm3 = fm4 = √ = √ (2)
4Lm1 𝜀eff 4(Lm2 + Lm3 ) 𝜀eff

c c
fm5 = √ = √ (3)
4(Lm1 + Lm4 ) 𝜀eff 4(Lm2 + Lm3 + Lm4 ) 𝜀eff

c c
fm6 = √ = √ (4)
4(Lm1 + Lm4 + Lm5 ) 𝜀eff 4(Lm2 + Lm3 + Lm4 + Lm5 ) 𝜀eff

where c is the speed of light in free space, and εeff denotes the effective dielectric constant
of the substrate. Then, the six resonant modes can be controlled by tuning corresponding
dimensions of the resonator. Using the six-mode resonator, a tri-band BPF is proposed as
shown in Figure 3.
By introducing stub-to-stub coupling section shown in Figure 1(a), the four same reso-
nance modes fm1/fm2/fm3/fm4 are split to four different ones f1/f2/f3/f4, and thus, the overall
circuit exhibits six resonance modes with the frequencies f1/f2/f3/f4/fm5/fm6 [6]. The split four
resonance modes f1/f2/f3/f4 could be utilized to form the closely spaced 5.2 and 5.8 GHz
bands for 5G Wi-Fi applications. Meanwhile, 2.45 GHz band for WLAN applications can be
generated by the other two modes fm5 and fm6. Figure 4 illustrates the frequency control of

G1 Source-load
coupling structure
50 L1 L3 50

W1 Port1 Port2
W2 G5 L
L2 4
L5 W3
L10 L6 L9
G4
L8
L7 G2 L11

L12 G3 L13
L14
W4

Figure 3. Configuration of the proposed tri-band bandpass filter.

4   Y. ZHANG AND X.-L. ZHAO

-10 -10

-15 -15

-20 -20
S-parameter (dB)

S-parameter (dB)
S21
-25 -25

-30 -30
Tz6
-35 Tz4 -35
L13=5.5 mm Tz5
-40 -40 L10=0.9 mm,L11=7.8 mm
L13=6.5 mm Tz2 L10=1.3 mm,L11=8.2 mm
-45 Tz3 -45
L13=4.5 mm Tz1 L10=1.7 mm,L11=8.6 mm
-50 -50
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)
(a) (b)

-10

-15

-20
S-parameter (dB)

S21
-25

-30

-35

-40 L4=4.0 mm, L12= 8.5 mm

L4=3.6 mm, L12= 8.1 mm
-45
L4=3.2 mm, L12= 7.7mm
-50
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5
Frequency (GHz)
(c)

Figure 4. Frequency control of the proposed tri-band bandpass filter under weak feed coupling by IE3D
simulation tool (a) 2.4 GHz band; (b) 5.2 GHz band; (c) 5.8 GHz band.

the proposed filter. From Equations (3) and (4), it’s seen that once Lm1, Lm2 and Lm3 are deter-
mined, Lm4 and Lm5 can be used to form the 2.45 GHz band without affecting other bands,
as shown in Figure 4(a). Thus, the center frequency of the first passband can be tuned inde-
pendently. Then if Lm1 = Lm2 + Lm3, according to Equations (1) and (2), the four modes fm1, fm2,
fm3 and fm4 are determined and calculated by the length Lm1. In order to independently control
the second and third passbands, which are closely frequency spaced, the length of Lm2 + Lm3
should be a little larger than Lm1. Then the second passband (generated by the modes fm3
and fm4) can be tuned by Lm2 + Lm3 and the third passband (generated by the modes fm1 and
fm2) can be tuned by Lm1. However, it needs to stress that once Lm2 + Lm3 is unequal to Lm1,
the short-ended stubs of the two stub-loaded resonators with length of Lm4 and Lm4 + Lm5
illustrated in Figure 2 are no longer in the exact middle point of the main transmission line.
Thus, when the parameter Lm2 + Lm3 is varied, the center frequency of the first passband will
be slightly moved. It’s seen from Figure 5(b) that the tunable of the second passband has
little impact on the first passband but without influence on the third passband, which
demonstrates the analysis. The third passband frequency control is presented in Figure 4(c).
Based on Equation (1), the third passband center frequency can be controlled by tuning the
parameter Lm1. However, according to Equations (1)–(4), the operating frequencies of
the three bands are all related to the parameter Lm1. Thus, when tuning the third passband,
 JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND APPLICATIONS   5

0 0

-10 -10

-20 S21
S-parameter (dB)

S-parameter (dB)
-20

-30
-30
-40 S21
-40
L14=0.4 mm G2=0.2 mm
-50
L14=0.6 mm -50 G2=0.3 mm
-60 L14=0.8 mm G2=0.4 mm
-60
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)

(a) (b)

Figure 5. Bandwidths control of the proposed tri-band bandpass filter (a) 2.45 GHz WLAN band; (b) 5G
Wi-Fi band.

0.07 0.07

0.06
0.06
Coupling Coefficients
Coupling Coefficients

0.05 K2
0.05
K2 0.04
0.04
0.03
0.03
0.02 K1
K1
0.02 0.01

0.01 0.00
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
G2 (mm) L5 (mm)
(a) (b)

Figure 6. Coupling coefficients of 5.2 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands against (a) G2; (b) L5.

the first and second passband center frequencies are also slightly moved, as shown in
Figure 4(c).
Figure 5 illustrates the bandwidth control mechanism of the filter. From Equations (3) and
(4), the length Lm4 can be deduced by Equation (3) to determine the center frequency of the
third passband fm5 = 2.45 GHz. Then, by varying the length of Lm5 in a small scale, the band-
width of the first passband can be conveniently controlled by using the modes fm5 and fm6
without affecting other bands, as illustrated in Figure 5(a). The second and third passband
bandwidths are determined by the coupling coefficients between the stub-to-stub coupling
section shown in Figure 1(a). The required coupling coefficients can be obtained by synthesis
method in [10]. Considering the specifications of the second and third bands, we design the
two bands with equal absolute bandwidth. In this design, the 3-dB bandwidths of the two
bands are 5.8 and 5.2%. Then, the coupling coefficients of each band can be obtained as
K1 = 0.027, K2 = 0.051, where K1 and K2 denote the coupling coefficients between the stub-
to-stub coupling section, shown in Figure 1(a). They are controlled by G2 and L5. Figure 6
shows the extracted K1 and K2 against G2 and L5. By utilizing this curve, the required coupling
values can be obtained by choosing G2 with initial value of 0.3 mm and L5 with initial value
6   Y. ZHANG AND X.-L. ZHAO

90
140
80
120
Qe1 70
100 60
Qe2

Q-facters
Q-facters

Qe3
80
Qe3 50

60 40

40
30 Qe1
Qe2 20
20
10
1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
L1 (mm) L2 (mm)

(a) (b)

70

60
Qe1
50

40
Q-facters

30 Qe3

20

10 Qe2
0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35
G5 (mm)
(c)

Figure 7. Extracted Qe of the three passbands against (a) L2, (b) L1, (c) G5.

of 4.2 mm. Thus, the second and third passband bandwidths can be realized simultaneously.
Figure 5(b) shows the bandwidths control of the second and third passbands. It is seen that
with parameter G2 becomes smaller, the bandwidths of the two bandwidths turns larger,
which validates the analysis. Thus, the bandwidths of the filter can be controlled by tuning
the lengths and distances of corresponding parameters.
With reference to the external Q-factor of the three passbands, we extracted the Qe of
the three bands. According to [10], Qe can be defined as follows:

f0
Qe =
Δf±90◦

where f0 is resonant frequency, and Δf±90° is the bandwidth over which the phase shifts  90°
with respect to the absolute phase at f0. Figure 7 illustrates the variation of Qe against L1, L2
and G5. It can be observed when L1 changes, both Qe1 and Qe2 change, while Qe3 is nearly
unchanged. And Qe2 and Qe3 can be tuned by L2, while L2 makes little effect on Qe1. Large G5
results in large Qe at three bands. Therefore, we firstly tune G5 and L2 to obtain Qe2 and Qe3.
Then choose L1 to achieve Qe1. Though the Qe of the three bands cannot be independently
 JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND APPLICATIONS   7

0
-10

S-parameter (dB)
-20
-30
-40 Tz6
-50
Tz3
-60
with source-load coupling
-70 without source-load coupling
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5
Frequency (GHz)

Figure 8. S-parameters of the proposed antenna with and without source-load coupling under weak
coupling.

controlled, however, by refining each parameter, the parameters L1, L2 and G5 are optimized
to be 5.0, 4.6 and 0.15 mm and good impedance matching can be obtained.
Due to the configuration of the proposed filter, six transmission zeros denoted as Tz1,
Tz2, Tz3, Tz4, Tz5 and Tz6 are generated shown in Figure 4. Among them, the first, second,
fourth and fifth transmission zeros are exist inherently by the six-mode resonator. The posi-
tions of the first and second zeros can be tuned by the lengths L13 and L14. Meanwhile, the
fourth zero can be tuned by the lengths L10 and L11 and the fifth zero be tuned by the lengths
of L4 and L12. By using the fourth and fifth zeros, the proposed filter can obtain a very small
ratio (1/1.11) of dual-passband central frequencies with good depression on useless fre-
quencies between them. The third and sixth transmission zeros are introduced by the source-
load-coupling structure of the feed lines. The source-loading coupling structure is adopted
in filter designs because it provides an extra transmission path from the input port and
output port. Thus, at some specific frequencies, the signals from different transmission paths
are 180° out-of-phase and they are cancelled out at the output port, resulting in a transmis-
sion zero. Figure 8 illustrates the |S12| of the proposed filter with and without source-load
coupling under weak coupling. As observed, the third zero Tz3 and the sixth zero Tz6 are
disappeared without source-load coupling. Thus, by using these six zeros, high frequency
selectivity can be achieved.

3.  Experimental results

For demonstration, a tri-band filter is fabricated on the substrate Rogers 4003, which has a
relative dielectric constant of 3.38, a thickness of 0.81 mm and a loss tangent of 0.0027. It is
designed based on the proposed six-mode resonator. The lengths L12 and L4 + L5 + L6 + L7
are the same and equal to Lm1. Lengths L8 + L9 + L10 + G4 and L11 + G4 are the same and equal
to Lm2 + Lm3. Length L13 equals to Lm4 and L14 equals to Lm5. The operating frequencies can
be controlled as explained earlier. The dimensions are chosen as follows (all in mm): L1 = 5,
L2 = 4.6, L3 = 0.3, L4 = 3.95, L5 = 4.2, L6 = 0.55, L7 = 0.3, L8 = 3, L9 = 3.85, L10 = 1.3, L11 = 8.2,
L12 = 8.5, L13 = 5.75, L14 = 0.4, W1 = 1.86, W2 = W3 = 0.3, G1 = 0.4, G2 = G3 = G4 = 0.3, G5 = 0.15,
The overall size of the fabricated filter is 11.2 mm × 7.2 mm (0.14 λg × 0.09 λg), where λg is
8   Y. ZHANG AND X.-L. ZHAO

Figure 9. Photograph of the fabricated circuit.

0
S11
-10
S-parameter (dB)

-20

-30

-40
S21

-50
Simulated
Measured
-60
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Freq (GHz)

Figure 10. Simulated and measured results of the proposed tri-band BPF.

Table 1. Comparison with previous works.

Freq (GHz) Center frequency ratio Bandwidths (MHz) Insertion loss (dB)
This work 5.2/5.8 1:1.11 306/306 0.75/0.81
[7] 2.1/2.6 1:1.3 357/176 0.8/1.2
[8] 1.95/2.65 1:1.3 50/50 1.6/2.3

the guide-wavelength at the lowest operating frequency. The photograph of the fabricated
filter is shown in Figure 9.
The filter is simulated by IE3D and measured by Agilent E5071C. Good agreement between
them is observed, as shown in Figure 10. The measured center frequencies are 2.45/5.2/5.8
GHz with a 3-dB bandwidth of 6.7/5.8/5.2%, respectively. The measured insertion losses are
1.2/0.75/0.81 dB. The return losses are better than 15 dB. Six transmission zeros are generated
near the passbands, resulting in high skirt selectivity. The center frequency ratio of the third
and second passband is 1.11, indicating two closely frequency spaced passbands. Table 1
compares some prior filters with this work, it can be observed that this work exhibits small
center frequency ratio and low insertion loss.
 JOURNAL OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND APPLICATIONS   9

4. Conclusion
A novel six-mode resonator has been proposed and a compact tri-band bandpass filter with
two closely frequency spaced passbands has been implemented. This filter features high
degree of freedom for passband control. Six transmission zeros are generated due to the
multiple transmission paths. The total size is only 0.14 λg × 0.09 λg. The compact circuit size
and good performance make the proposed filter attractive for multiband applications.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding
This work is supported by Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province [grant number
2015A030310249], and by the open program from State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves [grant
number K201612], and by General Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant
number 61671210].

References
  [1] Zhang X-Y, Xue Q, Hu B-J. Planar tri-band bandpass filter with compact size. IEEE Microwave
Wireless Compon Lett. 2010;20:262–264.
  [2] Chen F-C, Chu Q-X, Tu Z-H. Tri-band bandpass filter using stub loaded resonators. Electronics
Lett. 2008;44:747–749.
  [3] Wei X-B, Wang P, Gao P, et al. Compact tri-band bandpass filter using open stub loaded tri-section
stepped impedance resonator. IEEE Microwave Wireless Compon Lett. 2014;24:512–514.
  [4] Zhang X-Y, Chan C-H, Xue Q, et al. Dual-band bandpass filter with controllable bandwidths using
two coupling paths. IEEE Microwave Wireless Compon Lett. 2010;20:616–618.
  [5] Liu H-W, Wang Y, Wang X-M, et al. Compact and high selectivity tri-band bandpass filter using
multimode stepped-impedance resonator. IEEE Microwave Wireless Compon Lett. 2013;23:536–
538.
  [6] Gao L, Zhang X-Y, Hu B-J, et al. Novel multi-stub loaded resonators and their applications to various
bandpass filters. IEEE Trans Microwave Theory Tech. 2014;62:1162–1172.
  [7] Chen D, Zhu L, Cheng C-H. A novel dual-band bandpass filter with closely spaced passbands. IEEE
Microwave Wireless Compon Lett. 2014;24:38–40.
  [8] Cheng Y-H, Chen C-Y, Chuang H-R. Microstrip dual-band bandpass filter design with closely spaced
passbands. IEEE Trans Microwave Theory Tech. 2013;61:98–106.
  [9] Zhang X-Y, Chen J-X, Xue Q, et al. Dual-band filters using stub-loaded resonators. IEEE Microwave
Wireless Compon Lett. 2013;17:583–585.
[10] Hong J-S, Lancaster MJ. Microstrip filters for RF/microwave applications. New York (NY): Wiley;
2011.