Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10470-018-1330-2(0123456789().,-volV)(0123456789().,-volV)

New low-loss tunable microstrip band-pass filter with two

transmission zeros
Ali Ebrahimi1 • Hossein Shamsi1 • Arash Ahmadi1 • Emad Ebrahimi2

Received: 25 February 2017 / Revised: 8 July 2018 / Accepted: 7 September 2018

Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018

Abstract
In this paper, a low-loss tunable microstrip band-pass filter with two transmission zeros (TZs) around the pass-band edge is
proposed. Making use of exactly same structure, three different fractional-bandwidth variations (i.e. constant fractional
bandwidth, decreasing fractional bandwidth and increasing fractional bandwidth) can be realize by adjusting the amount of
coupling between microstrip pairs. A prototype filter with constant fractional bandwidth is fabricated on a er = 3.38, 32 mil
Rogers substrate. The center frequency of the fabricated filter is tuned from 770 to 1300 MHz by two varactor diodes. The
constant relative bandwidth and insertion loss of the filter are 11 ± 0.2% and less than - 2.2 dB respectively. S-pa-
rameters and performance of the proposed filter are measured by Agilent VNA which show a good agreement with
simulation results.

Keywords Band-pass filter  Fractional bandwidth  Microstrip  Transmission zero  Tunable filter

1 Introduction consumption are the advantages of these filters. However,

Low-loss tunable filters are a key building block in wide-
band communication systems. Most researches on tunable
filters fall into three main categories: (1) yttrium–iron–
garnet (YIG) filters [1], (2) RF micro-electromechanical
systems (MEMS) filters [2–4], and (3) varactor diode filters
[5–8]. YIG filters utilize ferromagnetic resonators which
their resonance frequencies changed by a DC bias.
Although YIG filters have low insertion loss and high
quality factor (Q), but they suffer from large power con-
sumption (0.1–1 W) [1]. Another disadvantage of YIG
filters is their non-planar structure, which prevents their
wide application in modern communication systems. RF
MEMS filters are comprised of a capacitance network
based on MEMS technology. The center frequency of RF
MEMS filters is tuned with micrometer level displacement.
Low insertion loss, high linearity, and low power
& Ali Ebrahimi
alieb68@gmail.com
1
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of
Technology, Tehran, Iran
2
Faculty of Electrical and Robotic Engineering, Shahrood
University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran
the main drawback of these filters is high-voltage bias
requirement. Varactor based filters are tuned by changing
the capacitance of the depletion region of a reverse biased
diode. Although these filters have zero power consumption
and relatively fast tuning speed, they suffer from moderate
quality factor of the resonators [9].
In [10], a varactor-tuned filter with inter-digitated
topology is presented. This filter has a tuning range of
700–1330 MHz with insertion loss of 5–2 dB and frac-
tional bandwidth of 10–16%. The filter suffers from large
variation in fractional bandwidth. In [8], a new structure is
introduced for tuning of a filter with different predefined
fractional-bandwidths. The filter tuning range is
850–1400 MHz with insertion loss and fractional band-
width of 2.88–1.04 dB and 5.4 ± 0.3%, respectively.
In this paper, three tunable filters are proposed, which
have relative bandwidth as follows: constant fractional
bandwidth, increasing fractional bandwidth, and decreasing
fractional bandwidth (constant absolute bandwidth). All
above filters have identical structure and differ from each
other only in the amount of coupling between pairs of
microstrips. Moreover, using the source-load coupling
technique [10], additional transmission zero (TZ) is added
to the filter frequency response to improve the selectivity of

123
 Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing

the filter. In Sect. 2 the theory and synthesis approach of Y4 jY 5e tan U5e þjY4 tan U4
Y4 Y5e tan U5e tan U4 þ jY3 tan U3
the proposed filter are described. In Sect. 3 the measure- Yupe ¼ Y3 ð4Þ
5e tan U5e þjY4 tan U4
ment and simulation results of the filter are explained and Y3 þ jY4 jY
Y4 Y5e tan U5e tan U4 tan U3
finally the paper is concluded in Sect. 4. Y4 jY 5o tan U5o þjY4 tan U4
Y4 Y5o tan U5o tan U4 þ jY3 tan U3
Yupo ¼ Y3 ð5Þ
5o tan U5o þjY4 tan U4
Y3 þ jY4 jY
Y4 Y5o tan U5o tan U4 tan U3
2 Theory and synthesis approach The overall admittance matrix can be derived as follow
[8]:
2.1 Admittance matrix 2 3
Yie þ Yio Yie  Yio
6 2 2 7
As shown in Fig. 1, the proposed filter comprised of two Y ¼ 4Y  Yio Yie þ Yio 5 ð6Þ
ie
pairs of adjusted coupled resonators loaded with two var-
2 2
actor diodes. Besides, in order to establish external electric
coupling, two capacitors Cm are added to the filter.
Figure 1 can be simplified as a symmetrical two-port 2.2 Design procedure
network. The input admittance seen from Y0 for both even-
mode Yie and odd-mode Yio can be obtained as follows: In order to design a band-pass filter, we have [5, 8, 9]:
( ImðY11 ðx0 ÞÞ ¼ 0 ð7Þ
Yie ¼ Yupe þ Ydwone
ð1Þ
Yio ¼ Yupo þ Ydowno Y12 ðx0 Þ D
¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ¼ k12 ð8Þ
b g1 g2
where
x0 oImðY11ðx0 ÞÞ
jxCþjY1e tan U1e
Y1e Y þjY2 tan U2 b¼ ð9Þ
Y2 1e xC tan U1e
jxCþjY1e tan U1e þ jY3 tan U3 2 ox
Y2 þjY1e Y xC tan U1e tan U2
Ydowne ¼ Y3 1e
ð2Þ bY0
Y1e
jxCþjY1e tan U1e
Y1e xC tan U1e þjY2 tan U2
Qe ¼ 2 ð10Þ
Y3 þ jY2 jxCþjY1e tan U1e tan U3 J01
Y2 þjY1e Y xC tan U1e tan U2
1e

jxCþjY1o tan U1o in which D is the fractional bandwidth, b is the slope

Y1o Y1o xC tan U1o þjY2 tan U2
Y2 jxCþjY1o tan U1o þ jY3 tan U3 parameter, Qe is the external quality factor, k12 is the
Y2 þjY1o Y xC tan U1o tan U2
Ydowno ¼ Y3 1o
jxCþjY1o tan U1o ð3Þ coupling coefficient, and g1,2 are the normalized low-pass
Y1o Y1o xC tan U1o þjY2 tan U2
Y3 þ jY2 jxCþjY1o tan U1o tan U3 prototype element values. In order to design the filter,
Y2 þjY1o Y xC tan U2
1o tan U1o firstly, the fractional bandwidth and normalized parameters
g1,2 are chosen and then, the coupling coefficients are
determined by (8). Since there is enough degree of freedom
in the design procedure, arbitrary values which satisfy (7)
and (8) are chosen for Y1, A1, Y, A2, Y3, A3, Y4, A4, Y5,
A5. These values are chosen independently of design
parameters S1,2 (i.e. the gaps in Fig. 1). Actually, S1 and S2
play important role in realizing predefined bandwidth
characteristics in tunable filters and would be discussed in
detail in Sect. 2.3.
Moreover, the following equation is used for determin-
ing value of C [8]:
 
Yr ðx0 Þ
C ¼ Im ð11Þ
x0
in which Yr denotes the admittance seen from C. Then Cm
is obtained based on (10) where J01 = xCm [10]. To
determine -TZs from [5]:
Y0 ðYio  Yie Þ
S21 ¼ ð12Þ
ðY0 þ Yie ÞðY0 þ Yio Þ
Yio  Yie ¼ 0 ð13Þ
Fig. 1 Proposed tunable microstrip band-pass filter

123
Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing

Two zeros would be presented in S21 which one of them fm2  fe2
k¼ ð17Þ
can be obtained from (13). The other is given by Yie = ! fm2 þ fe2
and Yio = ! which decided by lengths L1, L2, L3 and
The coupling coefficient can be rewritten as:
capacitance C. It should be mentioned that the location of
1 1
zeros can be controlled by varying C. þ C1 C  CþC12 þCm  C1 þC
1
k ¼ CþC12 Cm 1
m1 m1
ð18Þ
In above analysis the effects of right-angle bends, CþC2 þCm þ C1 þC m1
þ CþC12 Cm þ C1 C
1
m1
fringing capacitance, and open-end effect are not taken into
account. Thus, EM simulation and optimization are nec- Now, based on the desired type of variation in fractional
essary for accurate design. bandwidth, the amount of coupling between adjacent
transmission line L1 and L2 should be chosen. For example,
2.3 Realizing predefined frequency dependence considering weak coupling between adjacent transmission
of the coupling coefficient lines L2 (i.e. Cm1  C1), the total coupling coefficient is:
Cm
k¼ ð19Þ
The equivalent circuit of the proposed filter can be sim- C1 þ C þ C2
plified by lumped components and electric coupling [8], as
Equation (19) shows that coupling coefficient k
depicted in Fig. 2. Exploiting this equivalent circuit clari-
decreases by increasing C2, which means that the fractional
fies how the coupling coefficient changes with frequency.
bandwidth increases with frequency. Respectively for Cm-
In Fig. 2, Cm and Cm1 denote the coupling between the
 C and Cm1 \0:5C1 ; Cm  C the coupling coefficient is
adjacent transmission lines L1 and L5. C2 is the capacitance
constant and decreased with frequency. Choosing the
of the varactor diode and, C and C1 can be calculated as
proper values for of S1 and S2, three different kind of
follows:
variations in the coupling coefficient can be achieved for
C ¼ KCm ; C1 ¼ K1 Cm1 ð14Þ the proposed filter. However, based on Eqs. (7) to (10) and
previous analysis the value of filter’s components for three
where K and K1 are the coupling coefficients. If the sym-
predefined fractional bandwidth characteristics are
metry plane in Fig. 2 is replaced by an electric wall (or a
calculated.
short circuit) the resonance frequency will be defined as
Figure 3 shows three different frequency-dependence
follow:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi characteristics of K12 in which each plot is created using
 
1 1 1 (8) for different sets of Y1, A1, Y2, A2, Y3, A3, Y4, A4, Y5,
fe ¼ þ ð15Þ A5. These parameters are summarized in Table 1.
L C þ C2 þ Cm C1 þ Cm1

Also, if the symmetry plane in Fig. 2 is replaced by a

magnetic wall (or an open circuit) the resonance frequency
will be:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 
1 1 1
fm ¼ þ ð16Þ
L C þ C2  Cm C1  Cm1

Replacing (15), (16) in (17),

Fig. 3 Realized K12 obtained by using Y-matrix method for three

Fig. 2 The equivalent lumped circuit of the proposed filter different variations with frequency

123
 Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing

Table 1 Dimensions for the constant FBW, decreasing FBW, and increasing FBW (dimensions are in millimeters and FBW stands for fractional
bandwidth)
FBW L1, Z1e, Z1o L5, Z5e, Z5o L2, L3, L4 Z2, Z3, Z4 Cm (pF)

Constant 18, 95.5, 74.1 15, 86, 73 5.8, 2.3, 5.5 98.6, 72, 98.6 2.2
Increasing 15, 120, 74 15, 84, 74 6.1, 3.1, 5.1 98.6, 72, 98.6 2.2
Decreasing 15, 97, 71 15, 89, 69 5.7, 3.1, 5.5 98.6, 72, 98.6 1.2

3 Measurements and Simulations

According to Eqs. (7)–(10), by selecting appropriate values

for the parameters of the proposed filter, three different
fractional bandwidths can be achieved. The dimensions of
the constant fractional bandwidth, increasing fractional
bandwidth and decreasing fractional bandwidth filters are
given in Table 1.
S-parameters of the proposed fractional bandwidth filter
is simulated by Advanced Design System (ADS) simulator.
As seen in Fig. 4, the center frequency of the increasing
FBW filter is changed from 800 to 1400 MHz. At
800 MHz the simulated insertion loss and fractional
bandwidth are 2 dB and 14.9%, and at 1400 MHz those are
1 dB and 16%, respectively. According to Fig. 4(b), the
proposed filter has a good matching over the whole tuning
range. Changing the bias voltages of the varactor diodes
from 1 V to 20 V, the insertion loss and fractional band-
width of the filter are plotted in Fig. 5 (it proves an
increasing fractional bandwidth behavior). Based on sim-
ulation results, up to 7 GHz, the spurs levels are \ 10 dB.
The simulation results for decreasing fractional band-
width filter are given in Fig. 6. The center frequency varies
from 915 to 1440 MHz when the bias voltage changes from
5 to 30 V. At 5 V bias voltage, the insertion loss and
fractional bandwidth are 3 dB and 6.8% and at 30 V bias,
the insertion loss and fractional bandwidth are 1.9 dB and
6.8%, respectively. As seen in Fig. 7, the fractional band-
width decreases with increasing the center frequency. Also
the return loss is \ 10 dB over the entire tuning range. In
decreasing fractional bandwidth filter the absolute band-
width is constant. The 1-dB bandwidth of the filter is
75 ± 7 MHz over the 915–1400-MHz frequency range.
In order to verify the performance of the proposed
technique, the constant fractional bandwidth filter is fab-
ricated on a er = 3.38, 32 mil Rogers substrate and its S- Fig. 4 Simulated S-parameters for increasing FBW filter. a S21 and
parameters are measured by Agilent network analyzer b S11
N5230. Figure 8 shows the fabricated constant fractional
parameters are plotted in Fig. 9. For 1-V bias voltage, the
bandwidth filter.
In this filter, capacitor C (Fig. 1) is realized by BB857 center frequency is 770 MHz and the insertion loss and
varactor diodes from Infineon Company. The capacitance 1-dB fractional bandwidth are - 2.8 dB and 11.2%,
respectively. Over the 800 MHz frequency, the insertion
of the varactor diode varies from 0.5 to 6.5 pF when the
bias voltage changes from 30 to 0.5 V. The measured S- loss is constant and its value is approximately - 2 dB. The

123
Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing
Fig. 5 Simulated insertion loss and 1-dB FBW for increasing FBW
filter
Fig. 6 Simulated S-parameters for decreasing FBW filter. a S21 and
b S11
Fig. 7 Simulated insertion loss and 1-dB FBW for decreasing FBW
filter
Fig. 8 Fabricated constant FBW filter
1-dB fractional bandwidth is 11 ± 0.2%. Also, measured
S11 in Fig. 9(b) shows an excellent matching over the
whole tuning range.
The measured and simulated insertion loss and 1-dB
fractional bandwidth of the fabricated filter are plotted in
Fig. 10. As seen in Fig. 10, in the case of insertion loss, the
measured performance agrees well with the simulation
results but for 1-dB fractional bandwidth the measured
result is 2% less than the simulation results. It should be
caused by the parasitic elements of the varactor diodes and
input capacitor Cm.
Figure 11 shows the measured and simulated S-param-
eters of the filter. As seen in Fig. 11, measured and simu-
lated parameters are in a good agreement.
The varactor diode has non-linear behavior, affecting
the linearity of the filter. So, the linearity of the filter
should also be investigated in the term of IIP3. The mea-
sured IIP3 of the filter is 10 dBm and 18 dBm at 3 V and
20 V bias voltage, respectively. Maximum harmonic level
of the filter is - 10 dB occurs at 2.8 GHz and other har-
monic levels are suppressed by more than 15 dB.
123
 Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing

Fig. 10 Measured and simulated insertion loss and 1-dB bandwidth of

the constant FBW

Fig. 9 Measured performance of the fabricated constant FBW filter.

a S21 and b S11

It is worth noting, the bias network in Fig. 8 consists of

a voltage regulator and a potentiometer to adjust the nee-
ded bias voltage. In order to eliminate the effect of the bias
network on the filter, a DC feed is added to the end of L5
resonator. The dc feed is comprised of two 10 kX series
resistors.
The performance of the proposed filter and those of
previously reported are presented in Table 2. As seen, the
proposed filter has a good performance in term of FBW and
Fig. 11 Measured and simulated S-parameters for constant FBW
IL (insertion loss) in comparison with previous works. The filter. a S21 and b S11
special future of each work is summarized in Table 2.

123
Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing

Table 2 Comparison of the presented tunable filter with related works

References Tuning element FBW (%) IL (dB) Rang (GHz) Relative tuning rang (%) Special features

[5] Varactor 9 \4 1.4–2 35 Independent TZz

[11] Varactor 4 8.5–3 1.25–2.1 50 Intrinsic transmission zero tuning
[12] MEMS 55 3 1.12 – Bandwidth control
[13] Varactor 5 2–2.5 2.15–2.75 25 Switched tunable diplexer technique
This work Varactor 11 \2 0.77–1.3 51 Constant FBW

4 Conclusion 10. Brown, A. R., & Rebeiz, G. M. (2000). A varactor-tuned RF

filter. IEEE Transaction on Microwave Theory and Techniques,
48(7), 1157–1160.
In this paper a new structure for microstrip filters with three 11. Yang, T., & Gabriel, M. R. (2015). Tunable 1.25–2.1-GHz 4-pole
different fractional bandwidths is presented. The proposed bandpass filter with intrinsic transmission zero tuning. IEEE
filters with increasing fractional bandwidth, decreasing Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 63(5),
1569–1578.
fractional bandwidth and constant fractional bandwidth are 12. Kumar, N., & Yatendra, K. S. (2017). RF-MEMS-based band-
designed and simulated by Agilent ADS simulator. To pass-to-bandstop switchable single-and dual-band filters with
verify the performance of the proposed structure, a proto- variable FBW and reconfigurable selectivity. IEEE Transactions
type with constant fractional bandwidth is fabricated on a on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 65(10), 3824–3837.
13. Yang, T., & Gabriel, M. R. (2017). Bandpass-to-bandstop
er = 3.38, 32 mil Rogers substrate and its parameters are reconfigurable tunable filters with frequency and bandwidth
measured. The measured fractional bandwidth and inser- controls. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Tech-
tion loss of the filter are 11 ± 0.2% and less than niques, 65(7), 2288–2297.
- 2.2 dB, respectively. Measurements also show the tun-
ing range of the filter is 530 MHz (770–1300 MHz). Ali Ebrahimi received the B.Sc.
degree from Shahrood Univer-
sity of Technology and M.Sc.
degrees in Electrical Engineer-
References ing from K. N. Toosi University
of Technology, Tehran, Iran in
2011 and 2014 respectively. His
1. Keane, W. (1978). Narrow-band YIG filters aid wide-open
current research interests
receivers. Micro Waves, 17, 50–54.
include the Integrated Circuits,
2. Lin, F., & Rais-Zadeh, M., (2015). Tunable RF MEMS filters: A
RFIC and passive RF
review. Encyclopedia of Nanotechnology, 1–12.
components.
3. Tianyu, J., Ye, J., & Liu, Z, (2014). A RF-MEMS based dual-
band tunable filter with independently controllable passbands. In
12th IEEE international conference on solid-state and integrated
circuit technology (ICSICT) (pp. 1–3).
4. Elfergani, I. T. E., et al (2015). Tunable RF MEMS bandpass
filter with coupled transmission lines. In Wireless internet (pp.
335–340). Springer International Publishing. Hossein Shamsi received the
5. Long, J., Li, C., Cui, W., Huangfu, J., & Ran, L. (2011). A B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees
tunable microstrip band pass filter with two independently in Electronics Engineering from
adjustable transmission zeros. IEEE Microwave Wireless Com- University of Tehran in 2000,
ponent Letter, 21(2), 74–76. 2002, and 2006 respectively. He
6. Wang, X.-G., Cho, Y.-H., & Yun, S.-W. (2012). A tunable has been working as assistant
combline bandpass filter loaded with series resonator. IEEE professor with the Department
Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 60(6), of Electrical Engineering, K.
1569–1576. N. Toosi University of Tech-
7. Zong, B., et al. (2015). Compact bandpass filter with two tunable nology since 2007. His current
transmission zeros using hybrid resonators. IEEE Microwave and research activities include Inte-
Wireless Components Letters, 25(2), 88–90. grated Circuits, Data Convert-
8. El-Tanani, A., & Rebeiz, G. M. (2009). A two-pole two-zero ers, RFIC, and RFID systems.
tunable filter with improved linearity. IEEE Transaction on
Microwave Theory and Techniques, 57(4), 830–839.
9. Byung-Wook, K., & Sang-Won, Y. (2004). Varactor-tuned
combline bandpass filter using step-impedance microstrip lines.
IEEE Transaction on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 52(4),
1279–1283.

123
 Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing
Arash Ahmadi received the
B.Sc. degree from K. N. Toosi
University of Technology, in
2000 and the M.Sc. and Ph.D.
degrees in Communication
Engineering from sharif
University of Technology in
2002 and 2008 respectively. He
has been working as assistant
professor with the Department
of Electrical Engineering, K.
N. Toosi University of Tech-
nology since 2010. His current
research activities include RF
and Microwave.
123
Emad Ebrahimi received M.Sc.
and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical
and Electronics Engineering
from Ferdowsi University of
Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran, in
2008 and 2013 respectively. He
is currently assistant professor
of Electrical Engineering at
Shahrood University of Tech-
nology. His current field of
research concerns analog inte-
grated circuits, especially RFIC
design.