A Microstrip Dual-Band Bandpass Filter Based on a

Novel Admittance Inverter

Xuehui Guan1,2, Shan Jiang1, Li Shen1, Haiwen Liu1, Guohui Li2, and Deming Xu2
1
School of Information Engineering
East China Jiao Tong University
NanchangChina
E-mail: xuehuiguan@yahoo.com.cn
2
School of Communication And Information Engineering
Shanghai University
ShanghaiChina

Abstract—A two-pole microstrip dual-band bandpass filter based

on a novel dual-band admittance inverter is presented in this
paper. The filter consists of a dual-band resonator and a dual-
band admittance inverter. The dual-band resonator is realized by
shunt uniform impedance stub and stepped impedance stub.
Novel dual-band admittance inverter is proposed. The inverter is
realized by using three-section microstrip transmission line. All
the theoretical analysis and design procedures are discussed in
detail. A 2.4GHz/5.2GHz dual-band bandpass filter for wireless
local area network is designed. The design procedure is verified
by experimental results.
I. INTRODUCTION
Due to the need of wireless communications, dual-band and
multiple-band are essential in our modern wireless systems in
recent years. Dual-band filters become key components in the
front end of wireless systems and have been studied in many
literatures. In [1], a dual-band bandpass filter (BPF) was
implemented by the combination of two different bandpass
filters. Therefore, it was about twice the size of a single-band
filter. Stepped impedance resonators (SIRs) and slow-wave
structure [2]-[4] were used in dual-band BPF by
simultaneously using the fundamental and first harmonic
resonant frequency of the resonator. Dual-band BPF using
coupled resonators have some attractive characteristics such as
low profile and simple structure. However, it is difficult for
coupled resonators to satisfy the requirements of the dual
passbands concurrently. So the bandwidth of the filter can not
be controlled. To satisfy the requirements of external quality,
impedance matching networks are inserted between
input/output ports and the tap-position. Another method for
realization of dual-band BPF is using transmission line and
open or short stubs. Quendo et al. proposed a new dual-band
BPF using transmission line inverters and three open stubs. The
quarter wavelength resonance of stubs produce three
transmission zeros and separate one passband into two
passbands [5]. A J-inverter is designed at center frequency
between two passbands. In [6], Lee et al. used two parallel
open stubs and a dual-band J-inverter to realize dual-band BPF.
In [7], dual-band resonators consist of a one-section open stub
and a two-section open stub was proposed to implementing
dual-band BPF. Transmission line with stub loaded at both
Z B ,θ B
Z A ,θ A
Z c ,θc
Figure 1. Strctucre of dual-band resonator for dual-band BPF
ends is proposed to implement the dual-band J inverters. Stubs
are merged into the adjacent open stubs. However, combination
of the open-stubs disturbs the current distribution and many
parameters shall be modified to satisfy the requirements.
In this paper a novel dual-band admittance inverter for
dual-band BPF is proposed. The proposed dual-band
admittance inverter consists of tri-section transmission line that
has different characteristic impedance. A dual-band BPF for
Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) based on the proposed
the dual-band admittance inverter is designed. The design
procedure shows that the bandwidths of the filter can be
separately controlled. EM simulated results agree well with the
circuit simulated results.
II. DUAL-BAND RESONATOR
The traditional distributed parameter dual-band resonators
include mainly three kinds: shunted two open stub transmission
lines, shunted two short stub transmission lines, or combined
with one open stub and short loading stub. These resonators are
characterized by the resonant frequencies and their slope
parameters. Both the dual-band resonators mentioned above are
formed by uniform impedance transmission line. These stubs
have different characteristic impedances and electrical lengths.
They are all determined by the properties of dual-band BPF to
be designed. But the controllable parameters of these

978-1-4244-5708-3/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE 577 ICMMT 2010 Proceedings

resonators are seemed to be much less. A newly proposed dual-
band resonator is shown in Fig. 1 [7].
Since an additional section is added to the open stub, they Z1 , θ1 Z2 ,θ2 Z1 , θ1
have more parameters to be controlled at the designed
frequency. As shown in Fig. 1, θA, θB , θC and ZA, ZB, ZC
indicate the electrical length and characteristic impedance of
each section transmission line, respectively. Assume that Figure 2. A novel dual-band inverter
θA= θB =θ0, RZ is the ratio of ZB to ZA. The slope parameter at its
resonant frequency fr can then be obtained as
FBW βi β i +1
J i ,i +1 = |i =1ton −1 (7)
ΩC gi gi +1
f ∂B ( f )
β= r | f = fr
2 ∂f FBW β n Gn +1
J n , n +1 = (8)
θ0 f f Ωc g n g n +1
(1 + RZ ) sec 2 ( r θ 0 )( RZ + tan 2 ( r θ 0 ))
fr f1 f1 f1 1 fr f
= + θC sec 2 ( r θC )
2 fr Z f f1
2 Z A ( RZ − tan ( θ 0 )) 2 2 C 1 where gi is element value of the lowpass prototype filter. FBW1
f1 and FBW2 are the fractional bandwith of the first passband and
the second passband. The susceptance slope parameters of the
(1) resonators in the middle stages could be selected arbitrarily,
and the inverters are then designed based on these parameters.
Assume that f1 and f2 are the central frequencies of the first For simplicity, the inverter at each stage are selected the same.
and the second passband respectively, a is the ratio of f2 to f1DŽ
The needed slope parameters are β1ҏ andҏ β2. The resonant
( J i ,i +1 )1 = ( J i ,i +1 ) 2 = J i ,i +1 , i =0,1," n (9)
conditions and the susceptance slope parameters at the two
resonant frequencies are then written as the following four
equactions: β i ,1 β i +1,1 β i , 2 β i +1, 2
J i , i + 1 = FBW1 = FBW 2 (10)
g i g i +1 g i g i +1
(1 + RZ ) tan θ 0 tan θ C From (10), the susceptance slope parameters of the
+ =0 (2)
Z A ( RZ − tan 2 θ 0 ) ZC resonators can be changed according to bandwiths of the dual-
band BPF and values of admittance inverters. It means that
(1 + RZ )θ 0 sec 2 θ 0 ( RZ + tan 2 θ 0 ) θ C sec 2 θ C bandwiths of the dual-band BPF can be controlled separately.
2 β1 = + (3)
Z A ( RZ − tan 2 θ 0 ) 2 ZC A quarter-wavelength transmission line is usually used as
an inverter. However, it is only suitable for single band BPF. In
(1 + RZ ) tan(aθ 0 ) tan(aθ C ) order to obtain dual-band inverter for the transmission line, a
+ =0 (4) three-section impedance transmission lines was proposed to
Z A ( RZ − tan 2 (aθ 0 )) ZC
use as dual-band inverter, as show in Fig. 2. θ1, θ2 , and Z1, Z2
(1 + RZ )aθ 0 sec 2 (aθ 0 )( RZ + tan 2 (aθ 0 )) aθ C sec 2 (aθC ) indicate the electrical length and characteristic impedance of
2β2 = + the transmission line. The ABCD matrix of the whole circuit
Z A ( RZ − tan 2 (aθ 0 )) 2 ZC
can be deduced from ABCD matrixes of each section. To make
the inverter be a symmetric circuit, the characteristic
(5) impedance and electrical length of the first and third
For a dual-band BPF the ratio of f2 to f1 is given, the transmission line are chosen to be the same. Therefore, only the
susceptance slope parameters β1 andҏҏ β2 can be derived from the entry A and B of the ABCD matrix of the inverter are needed to
bandwiths of the filter. All parameters of the dual-band be defined. The parameters A and B can be obtained as
resonator can be obtained.
Z1 sin 2θ1 Z 2 sin 2θ1
III. DUAL-BAND INVERTER A = cos 2θ1 cos θ 2 − ( − ) sin θ 2 (11)
2Z 2 2 Z1
As to a bandpass filter realized by using shunt resonators
jZ12 sin 2 θ1
and admittance inverters, the values of inverter are determined B = jZ1 cos θ 2 sin 2θ1 − ( + jZ 2 cos 2 θ1 ) sin θ 2 (12)
by Z2

The ABCD matrix of an ideal J-inverter is expressed by

G0 FBW β1
J 01 = (6)
ΩC g 0 g1

578
 ª 1º
«0 j » 1.7
J (13)
« »
¬« jJ 0 ¼»
7.3
4.5 4.15
Four simultaneous equations for solving the parameters of
the dual-band inverter are then written as
1.25 1.15 1.45 0.2
5.6
2 cos θ 2 cos 2θ1 Z Z
=( 1 + 2) (14)
sin θ1 sin θ 2 cos θ1 Z 2 Z1
9.35
2 cos aθ 2 cos 2aθ1 Z Z 0.4
=( 1 + 2) (15)
sin 2aθ1 sin aθ 2 Z 2 Z1 Unit:mm

Z sin θ1
2 2
1
Z1 cos θ 2 sin 2θ1 − ( 1
+ Z 2 cos 2 θ1 ) sin θ 2 = (16) Figure 3. Circuit configuration of dual-band BPF
Z2 J
Z12 sin 2 aθ1 1
Z1 cos aθ 2 sin 2aθ1 − ( + Z 2 cos 2 aθ1 ) sin aθ 2 = (17) 0
Z2 J

where J is the value of the dual-band inverter. Those four -15

simultaneous equations can be calculated by using numerical

method.

|S11|,|S21|(dB)
-30

S11
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
-45
A dual-band BPF is designed for WLAN. The central
frequencies of the two passband are designed at 2.4GHz and S21
5.2GHz. The filter has equal ripple of 0.1dB in two passbands. -60
The fractional bandwidths of the first passband and second Circuit simulation
passband of the filter are FBW1=4.7% and FBW2=7.4% EM simulation
respectively. A substrate with dielectric constant of εr=9.8 and -75
a thickness of h=1.27mm is used in the design. In this design, 2 4 6

input and output admittance inverters shown in Fig. 1 are Frequency(GHz)

chosen to be J01=J23=0.02. J01 and J23 can be directly realized
by using a 50ohm input and output transmission line. From (10)
we can obtain J12=0.021. The derived parameters of the dual-
band resonator are θA=51.3º, θC=62º , ZA=72.6ȍ, ZB=68ȍ,
ZC=42.4ȍ. The circuit parameters for the inverter are θ1=14.8º ,
θ2=21.7º , Z1=45.3ȍ, Z2=51.4ȍ. The circuit configuration is
shown in Fig. 3.
A comparison between EM simulated and circuit simulated
results is shown in Fig. 4. Dashed lines and solid lines indicate
EM simulated and circuit simulated results respectively. The
circuit simulated results agree well with the EM simulated
results and validate the proposed design theory. The insertion
loss of this filter is -0.19dB at 2.4GHz and -0.88dB at 5.2GHz.
Three transmission zeros are clearly observed in the response
of the filter. The first and third transmission zero is produced
by quarter-wavelength and three quarter-wavelength resonating
of the two-section open stub; the second transmission zero is
generated by quarter-wavelength resonating of the one-section
open stub.
V. CONCLUSION
A dual-band BPF based on the novel admittance inverter is
proposed in this paper. The dual-band resonator is realized by a
shunted one-section open stub and a shunted two-section open
Figure 4. Comparison between circuit simulated and EM simulated results
stub. The new structure of dual-band inverter is realized by a
three-section transmission lines. Design equations for the
circuit parameters are also given. All the design procedures
have been discussed in detail. A dual-band filter for WLAN had
been designed to verify the proposed method. Both their circuit
simulation and EM simulation have good agreements with the
theoretical predictions.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work is supported in part by the Shanghai Key
Laboratory of Specialty Fiber Optics (No.SKLSFO200904), in
part by Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi,
China (Grant No. 2008QS001), in part by the global research
network program of national research foundation of Korea (No.
KRF-2009-220-D00074) and open research program of state
key laboratory of millimeter waves, China (No. K200918).
REFERENCES
[1] H. Miyake, S. Kitazawa, T. Ishizaki, T. Yamada, and Y.Nagatomi, “A
miniaturized monolithic dual band filter usingceramic lamination

579
 technique for dual mode portable telephones,” 1997 IEEE MTT-S
International Microwave Symposium Digest, vol.2, pp. 789–792.
[2] S. Avrillon, A. Chousseaud, and S. Toutain, “Dividing and filtering
function integration for the development of a band-pass filtering power
amplifier,” 2002 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium
Digest, vol. 2, pp. 1173–1176.
[3] J.-T. Kuo, C.-C. Yeh, and F.-C. Hsu, “Design of vertically stacked
stepped-impedance resonator(SIR) filters with a dual-passband
response,” International Journal of Microwave and Optical Technology,
vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 371–377, Aug. 2006.
[4] X. Guan, Z. Ma , P. Cai , T. Anada, and G. Hagiwara “Microstrip dual-
band bandpass filter using slow-wave resonators for WLAN
580
applications,” Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, vol. 49, pp.
14–16, Jan. 2007.
[5] C. Quendo, E. Rius, and C. Person, “An original topology of dual-band
filter with transmission zeros,” IEEE MTT-S International Microwave
Symposium.Digest., vol. 2, 2003, pp. 1093–1096.
[6] H. -M. Lee, C. -M. Tsai, and C.-C. Tsai, “Transmission-line filter design
with fully controllable second passband,” IEEE MTT-S International
Microwave Symposium., 2005, THPJ-6.
[7] X. Guan, Z. Ma, P. Cai, T. Anada, and G. Hagiwara, “Design of
microstrip dual-band bandpass filter with controllable bandwidth,”
Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, pp.740–742. Mar. 2007.