Received: 1 November 2022 Revised: 23 February 2023 Accepted: 10 March 2023

DOI: 10.1002/cta.3602

ORIGINAL PAPER

A miniaturized highly selective MTM-inspired filter for

lowpass and triple-band bandpass performance with
configurable transmission zeros and bandwidth

Raghvenda Kumar Singh | Ashish Gupta

Department of Electronics and

Communication Engineering, Jaypee
Institute of Information Technology,
Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201304, India
Correspondence
Ashish Gupta, Department of Electronics
and Communication Engineering, Jaypee
Institute of Information Technology,
Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201304, India.
Email: ashish.gupta@jiit.ac.in
Summary
This paper presents a novel, compact, and highly selective metamaterial
inspired filter with low insertion loss, lowpass, and triple-band bandpass
characteristics. The presence of five transmission zeros and seven poles
facilitates highly selective filtering performance. The improved impedance
matching and transmission characteristics have been achieved by embedding
complementary split ring resonator as defected ground structure. The filter
circuit area excluding 50 Ω feed lines is merely 0.17λg
0.05λg at 3-dB cut-off
frequency of lowpass passband (1.11 GHz). The 3-dB fractional bandwidths of
the three bandpass regions are 39.50% (1.3–1.94 GHz), 21.20% (3.12–3.86 GHz),
and 21.06% (4.04–4.99 GHz) at the center frequencies of 1.62, 3.49, and
4.51 GHz, respectively. Intended filter also offers a wide stopband extending
from 2.15 to 2.96 GHz at close to 20 dB attenuation level. Further, position of
transmission zeros and 3-dB passband bandwidths can be adjusted by carefully
choosing structural design parameters. The metamaterial effect of the proposed
filter has been demonstrated by plotting refractive index followed by validating
the performance with the help of experimental measurements. No filter shows
lowpass characteristic along with three bandpass performances as found by the
authors exploring literature, which presents the novelty of the proposed work.

KEYWORDS
complementary split ring resonator, defected ground structure (DGS), high selectivity,
lowpass filter, metamaterial, transmission zero, triple-band bandpass response

1 | INTRODUCTION

Requirement of new filters capable of offering multi-services has increased tremendously with quick development in
wireless communication technologies in the last two decades. Hence, now-a-days research is focused on realizing a
microwave filter with compact size, low insertion loss (IL), multiple passband, good out-of-band attenuation, high
roll-off characteristics, and ease of integration with monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs).1 Metamaterials
(MTMs) as a mean of achieving compactness have been exploited by many researchers due to its effective homogeneity
condition.2 MTM features can be assimilated in the structures by employing composite right/left handed transmission
line (CRLH-TL), split ring resonator (SRR), and complementary split ring resonator (CSRR).3–5 A microstrip lowpass
filter based on square-shaped SRR is proposed in Nasiri et al.,3 which offers high attenuation in stopband and

Int J Circ Theor Appl. 2023;1–15. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cta © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1
2 SINGH and GUPTA

considerable return loss (RL) in passband, but the selectivity is not adequate. A wideband bandpass filter that exhibits
66% fractional bandwidth (FBW) is presented with the help of shorted meandered lines and CRLH-TL.4 A coplanar
waveguide-fed dual-band bandpass filter using modified CSRR featured with low IL, wide bandwidth, and compactness
is proposed in Choudhary et al.5 A compact dual-layer reconfigurable triple-band bandpass filter based on substrate
integrated waveguide (SIW) technology is studied in Mehrabi et al.6 In the mentioned filter,6 band selectivity has been
tuned by configuring the diameter of the metallic vias as perturbation. The disadvantage of this filter is that it provides
high IL (1.5–2.5/2–3/2.5–3.5) in passbands. Tantiviwat et al.7 present quad-band bandpass filter in which three bands
are produced due to sextuple-mode resonator and one band is generated due to dual-mode open stub-loaded resonator
although selectivity is very poor in fourth passband. It is perceived that it is easier to design a filter structure with
lowpass and multi-bandpass characteristics separately.
As stated above, plurality of filters is reported in literature that offers lowpass, single bandpass, dual-bandpass,
tri-bandpass, and quad-bandpass filtering behavior. But in literature, few filters are reported that can provide distinct
type of filtering responses simultaneously such as lowpass-bandpass and lowpass-dual bandpass and so on. It is
important to note that in mixer systems, lowpass-bandpass combination is imperative to split direct current, local
oscillator frequency, and intermediate frequency.8 Radio systems with hybrid optical fiber-coaxial link also require
lowpass-bandpass filters due to the transmission of microwave and baseband signals over the same channel.9 In Awida
et al.,10 two filters are suggested, which unite stepped impedance lowpass filter design and microstrip dual-mode
bandpass resonator structure to provide lowpass-bandpass filtering responses. A microstrip lowpass-bandpass diplexer
utilizing simple matching circuit is designed in letter,11 but it provides relatively high IL of 2.42 dB in bandpass
response. Chen and Shao12 suggest another filter exhibiting a lowpass and a bandpass response realized using stepped
impedance microstrip lines. Subsequently, four shunt stubs are introduced into the design to improve stopband attenua-
tion. Another compact and low IL microstrip lowpass-bandpass diplexer for Wi-MAX application is discussed in Rezaei
et al.13 A quasi-lumped element resonator design is intended in Xu et al.14 to obtain lowpass response. Further, lowpass
filter is transformed into a lowpass and a bandpass filter by integrating a pair of capacitors and an inductor into the
design. The drawback of this structure is that the group delay (GD) is somewhat high (3.5 ns) in lowpass passband.
Later in 2020, Issa et al.15 miniaturized the physical area of the filter, suggested by Xu et al.14 by 70% after employing
multiple miniaturization techniques, namely, defected ground structure (DGS), meandering and inter digital capacitors
(IDCs). It also offers lowpass and a bandpass feature, but again, the IL is very high (2.6 dB) in bandpass passband.
Xu16 presents a tri-band lowpass-bandpass filter based on multiple folded thin microstrip lines and three radial
stubs. High band-to-band isolation, wide upper stopband, and good passband selectivity are achieved due to presence of
seven transmission zeros (TZs), but IL is comparably high (1.9 dB) in second bandpass passband. In Chen et al.,17 a
lowpass and dual bandpass triplexer with sharp selectivity and high isolation is developed using DGS and input signal
splitting structure. High isolation (>40 dB) has been obtained among three passbands by carefully selecting length
ratios of the stub-loaded microstrip lines. It suffers from high IL (2.1 and 2.5 dB) and comparatively high GD (4.2 and
2.9 ns) in bandpass passbands. In Xu et al.,18 one more lowpass and dual bandpass filter using square patches, shorting
via, microstrip lines, IDCs, and lumped elements is explored. Lowpass and one bandpass were obtained by dividing a
lowpass filtering response by introducing TZs.18 Another bandpass is originated by integrating lumped elements in the
structure. It is observed that the selectivity of second bandpass passband is not adequate and IL is also on slightly higher
side (1.38 dB) in this band.
To the best of author's knowledge, no filter has been reported in literature yet which is capable of solely providing a
lowpass response along with triple-band bandpass responses. In this work, a novel, miniaturized, and highly selective
MTM inspired filter with a lowpass and triple-band bandpass performance is proposed. It is featured with low IL, low
GD, wide bandwidth, wide stopband, good selectivity due to presence of five TZs, seven poles, simple, and via-free
planar geometry. The position of TZs and 3-dB passband bandwidths can be configured by meticulously selecting the
structural design parameters. The proposed filter is validated by fabricating a prototype and subsequent measurements.
The measured results are in good correlation with the simulated ones.

2 | G E O M E T R I C A L C O N F I G U R A T IO N OF TH E F I L T E R A N D TH E O R Y

2.1 | Filter geometry

The designed filter consists of two sets of meandered closed rings coupled through a microstrip line, a pair of inverted
T-shaped stubs connected with an open circular ring, and a couple of CSRRs etched as DGS in partial ground plane.
SINGH and GUPTA 3

F I G U R E 1 Geometrical configuration of the proposed quad-band filter: (A) top view and (B) bottom view (all dimensions are in mm:
L = 16.5, W = 21, Lf = 2.05, Wf = 3.5, L1 = 2.95, W1 = 1.5, Wc = 15, Wm = Ws = 0.25, g0 = g1 = g2 = 0.5, g3 = 0.25, R = 2.2, L2 = W2 = 2,
Wp = 6.75, L3 = 2.25, W3 = 10, W0 = 5.5). [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Meandered closed ring can also be considered as two inverted U-shaped resonators united together. Rogers RT/Duroid
6010 with dielectric constant εr = 10.2, loss tangent tan δ = 0.0023, and thickness hsub = 1.27 mm has been employed
as substrate to realize the filter. The proposed filter has been characterized using high frequency structure simulator
ANSYS Electronic Desktop 2022. The layout of the designed quad-band filter mentioning different elements and
optimized design dimensions is given in Figure 1.

2.2 | Theoretical investigation and design methodology

To analyze the performance, an intuitive equivalent LC circuit model of the proposed filter is formulated and is shown
in Figure 2A. Figure 2A also incorporates elements as they interact with each other in proposed filter to know how dif-
ferent lumped parameters induced in the filter. Here, LP and LP1 are inductances originated because of magnetic flux
on the feed lines associated with the area Lf
Wf and L1
W1, respectively. The parallel combination of inductance LR
and capacitance CL in series arm is generated due to meandered closed ring. The microstrip line that connects two
meandered closed rings offers mutual inductance Lm. In shunt, the CSRR is represented by parallel tank circuit formed
by inductance L1 and capacitance C1. CR is the parasitic capacitance associated with the voltage gradient existing
between top and bottom layers of copper. Further series combination of inductance L2 and capacitance C2 in shunt arm
is attributed to the inverted T-shaped stub. The open circular ring connecting two inverted T-shaped stubs induces
another inductance L3 and capacitance C3. Lumped elements introduced due to two inverted T-shaped stubs along with
open circular ring form a pi-type topology. The coupling topology of the intended filter is illustrated in Figure 2B, where
S and L stand for source and load, respectively. M represents the magnetic coupling indicated by solid line between
meandered closed ring resonators (R1 and R2), while electric coupling (E) is symbolized by dotted line.
TZs can be introduced by adding series LC components in shunt and parallel LC components in series arms,
respectively. The transmission parameters of the simplified equivalent circuit formulated in Figure 2A can be obtained
from ABCD matrix given in Equations (1)–(2)19:
2 3
Z5 þ Z6 þ Z7





 Z6 þ Z7




A B 1 Z1 1 Z2 1 0 1 0 6 Z5 7 1 0 1 0 1 Z2 1 Z1
¼ 6 7 ð1Þ
C D 0 1 0 1 Y3 1 Y 4 1 4 2Z 5 þ Z 6 þ Z 7 Z 5 þ Z 6 þ Z 7 5 Y 4 1 Y 3 1 0 1 0 1
Z 25 Z5
4 SINGH and GUPTA

F I G U R E 2 (A) Equivalent circuit model and (B) coupling topology of the proposed quad-band filter [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]

2 3
Z5 þ Z6 þ Z7



 Z6 þ Z7


A B 1 Z1 þ Z2 1 0 6 Z5 7 1 0 1 Z1 þ Z2
¼ 6 7 ð2Þ
C D 0 1 Y3 þY4 1 4 2Z 5 þ Z 6 þ Z 7 Z 5 þ Z 6 þ Z 7 5 Y 3 þ Y 4 1 0 1
Z 25 Z5

2 2
where, Z 1 ¼ jωLP þ jωLP1 , Z 2 ¼ 1ωjωL
2L C , Y 3 ¼
R
R L
1ω C 1 L1 1ω L2 C 2 jωL3
jωL1 , Y 4 ¼ jωC R , Z 5 ¼ jωC 2 , Z 6 ¼ jωLm , and Z 7 ¼ 1ω2 L3 C 3 .
Using Bloch-Floquet theorem, the dispersion relation of the designed filter can be obtained from Equation (3).20

βðωÞd ¼ cos 1 ð1 þ ZY Þ ¼ cos 1 ðAÞ ð3Þ

where β is phase constant of Bloch wave, d represents physical length of unit cell, Z and Y are series impedance and
shunt admittance, respectively. The cut-off frequencies can be calculated by satisfying the condition given in
Equation (4):

βðωÞd ¼ nπ, ðn ¼ 0, 1, 2, ………, ðN  1ÞÞ, ð4Þ

where n = resonant mode number and N = periodicity of the unit cell.

On the other hand, the TZs are introduced into the filter response by adjusting transmission coefficient (S21) equal
to zero as per the relationship expressed in Equation (5).

2 
S21 ¼  ¼0 ð5Þ
A þ D þ B=Z0 þ CZ 0 f ¼1:21GHz, 2:17GHz, 2:89GHz, 3:93GHz, 5:02GHz
SINGH and GUPTA 5

where Z0 is source/load impedance of the suggested filter. Equation (5) illustrates that the transmission coefficients
(S21) can be adjusted by varying A, B, C, and D parameters with the aid of explicitly altering lumped elements.
Therefore, it is evident that the TZs can be configured by the variation in values of lumped elements.
Finally, equivalent circuit shown in Figure 2A is validated with the help of Keysight Advanced Design System
(ADS) circuit simulator, and the retrieved lumped parameter values are as follows: LP = 7.26 nH, LP1 = 15.51 nH,
LR = 10.24 nH, L1 = 9.34 nH, L2 = 3.4 nH, L3 = 4.33 nH, Lm = 5.04 nH, CL = 1.353 pF, CR = 1.82 pF, C1 = 0.18 pF,
C2 = 1.05 pF, and C3 = 0.87 pF. The physical dimensions of the structural elements of the proposed design have been
calculated from well-known empirical formulas for distributed elements as follows21:

   
l0 Wm þt
LR ðnH Þ ¼ 2
104 l0 ln þ 1:193 þ :K g ð6aÞ
Wm þt 3l0

l0 ¼ 4W c þ 2W m þ 6W s  2g0 ð6bÞ

   
Wm Wm
K g ¼ 0:57  0:145 ln , > 0:05 ð6cÞ
hsub hsub

 
Wc
Wm
C L ðpF Þ ¼ εo εr ð7Þ
Ws


L
ðW  W o Þ
C R ðpF Þ ¼ εo εr ð8Þ
hsub

  
0:98
L1 ðnH Þ ¼ 1:6π ðl1  g3  W m Þ ln þ 1:84ρ ð9aÞ
ρ

W m þ g3
l1 ¼ 4W 3 þ 4L3  16W m  8W s  2g3 and ρ ¼ ð9bÞ
l1  g 3  W m

0 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1
K 1  x2
C1 ðpF Þ ¼ εo εr ½l1  1:5ðW m þ g3 Þ@ A ð10aÞ
K ðx Þ

g3
x¼ ð10bÞ
2W m þ g3

Z 0t
L2 ðnH Þ ¼ cotðβlt Þ ð11aÞ
2πf

lt ¼ W c þ 3W m þ 5W s  g0  g1 ð11bÞ

Z 0t
C2 ðpF Þ ¼ tanðβlt Þ ð12Þ
2πf

  
a
L3 ðnH Þ ¼ 1:257
103 a ln þ 0:078 :K g ð13Þ
Wm þ t

pffiffiffiffi
C 3 ðpF Þ ¼ 33:33
104 πa εr =Z 0c ð14Þ

   
4 L2 W2 þ t
Lm ðnH Þ ¼ 2
10 L2 ln þ 1:193 þ :K g ð15Þ
W2 þ t 3L2
6 SINGH and GUPTA

where lo = total length of meandered closed ring, t = thickness of printed copper (35 μm), ε0 = permittivity of
free-space (8.854
1012 F/m), l1 = total length of CSRR, ρ = fill ratio, lt = total length of inverted T-shaped stub,
K(x) = elliptic integral of first kind, Zot = characteristics impedance of inverted T-shaped stub, Zoc = characteristics
impedance of open circular ring, f = center frequency of second bandpass band, and a ¼ R  W m =2 = mean radius of
the open circular ring. The existence of the ground plane is taken into account by the term Kg.

3 | S I MULATION RESULTS A ND ANALYSIS

3.1 | Progression of the designed filter structure

This section manifests complete design process of the suggested filter with the help of some sub-structures with their
corresponding transmission and reflection performance. Different forms of the proposed structure of the quad-band
filter are expounded with the help of Figure 3 and demonstrated with the help of following steps:

Step I. Initially, a lowpass filter with 3-dB cut-off frequency (fc) equals to 2.01 GHz is design based on shunt LC tank
circuit in series arm (LR and CL) as depicted in Figure 3A. This structure is called Design A, which consists of
two meandered closed rings connected through a microstrip line on top and copper on bottom layer of the sub-
strate. It also exhibits two bandpass passbands but with very poor transmission characteristics due to inductive
coupling (Lm due to strip) of another pair of tank circuit.
Step II. Further two inverted T-shaped stubs (provide series combination of C2 and L2 in shunt arm) are inserted
between meandered closed rings with the goal of improving the transmission performance of the two bandpass
bands. It can be seen that these T-shaped stubs are coupled capacitively with closed rings. As a consequence,
lowpass response is still intact, and two bandpass regions got merged together, which results into wide ban-
dpass band from 3.15–4.21 GHz as demonstrated in Figure 3B.
Step III. In order to increase the number of bands, wide lowpass response is divided into a lowpass and a bandpass
response by means of connecting two inverted T-shaped stubs via an open circular ring. To do this, first, the
substrate width is increased, keeping the ground plane size fixed, and then, open circular ring is introduced
into the design. This filter structure is designated as Design C. It exhibits a lowpass with fc = 1.12 GHz and
tri-band bandpass (1.35–2.05/3.16–3.87/3.96–4.34 GHz) characteristics with center frequencies at 1.7, 3.51,
and 4.15 GHz, respectively as displayed in Figure 3C. The bandpass response is originated due to formation of
additional shunt LC tank circuit (L3 and C3) in shunt arm. However, it is noticed that the impedance
matching is not up to the mark in the second and third bandpass bands.
Step IV. It is well known that the partial ground plane facilitates impedance matching. Hence, ground plane width is
optimized (reduced by 1.5 mm) to improve the matching, and this filter is named as Design D. It also offers
one lowpass (fc = 1.10 GHz) and significantly improved triple bandpass (1.32–2.04/3.15–3.92/4.06–4.99 GHz)
responses centered at 1.68, 3.53, and 4.52 GHz as depicted in Figure 3D. Nonetheless, the transmission and
RL characteristics are found to be poor in the first and second bandpass bands.
Step V. Finally, two CSRRs are embedded (just below two meandered closed rings) into the partial ground plane, and
resultant structure is renamed as Design E (proposed). It offers another parallel LC tank circuit (L1 and C1) in
shunt arm. When we integrate them into the structure, equivalent shunt inductance and capacitance get
increased, which results into improved impedance matching. It is noticed from Figure 3E that an extra pole is
generated into second bandpass band. Eventually, the proposed filter gives a lowpass (fc = 1.11 GHz) and
triple-band bandpass (center frequencies: 1.62/3.49/4.51 GHz) passbands with five TZs and seven poles. The
average IL |S21| is found to be 0.37 dB, and RL |S11| is better than 17.26 dB within the lowpass band (DC to
1.11 GHz). The 3-dB FBWs of the bandpass regions are 39.50% (1.3–1.94 GHz), 21.20% (3.12–3.86 GHz), and
21.06% (4.04–4.99 GHz) at their respective center frequencies. The low IL of 0.52, 0.39, and 0.65 dB is noted at
1.62, 3.49, and 4.51 GHz, respectively. The RL is found to be superior to 13.83, 21.31, and 12.84 dB within
bandpass passbands. The TZ frequencies are TZ1 = 1.21 GHz, TZ2 = 2.17 GHz, TZ3 = 2.89 GHz,
TZ4 = 3.93 GHz, and TZ5 = 5.02 GHz. The poles are located at fp1 = 0.77 GHz, fp2 = 1.85 GHz,
fp3 = 3.24 GHz, fp4 = 3.51 GHz, fp5 = 3.71 GHz, fp6 = 4.29 GHz, and fp7 = 4.81 GHz. Moreover, it also offers a
wide stopband extending from 2.15 to 2.96 GHz at 19.25 dB rejection level. The maximum attenuation of
40.48 dB is achieved at 2.89 GHz. The RL is lower than 1.78 dB within the stopband.
SINGH and GUPTA 7

F I G U R E 3 Distinct developing steps of the proposed quad-band filter: (A) Design A, (B) Design B, (C) Design C, (D) Design D, and
(E) Design E (proposed) [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

3.2 | TZs and bandwidth configurability Analysis

In this section, the dependency of filter characteristics, namely, TZs position and bandwidth, is analyzed with the help
of tuning structural parameters (Wm, Ws, and L2) and is displayed in Figures 4 and 5, respectively.
The inductance LR decreases by increasing the width of the meandered closed ring (Wm) due to low current concen-
tration on the ring. As a result of this, the first, second, and fourth TZs shift onto lower side, whereas the third and fifth
TZs remain unchanged while varying Wm from 0.2 to 0.4 mm as shown in Figure 4A. Figure 5A illustrates that the
bandwidth of lowpass filter also decreases slightly and then becomes constant after 0.35 mm. On the contrary, for the
third bandpass band, it increases notably at first and then becomes constant after 0.35 mm. However, the bandwidth of
the first and second bandpass responses decreases significantly. Hence, there is a trade-off among TZs and bandwidth,
which need to be carefully chosen for a particular dimension.
8 SINGH and GUPTA

F I G U R E 4 Transmission zeros position variation with respect to different structural parameters: (A) Wm, (B) Ws, and (C) L2 [Colour
figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

F I G U R E 5 Three-decibel bandwidth variation with respect to different structural parameters: (A) Wm, (B) Ws, and (C) L2 [Colour figure
can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

The design parameter Ws (gap between meandered closed ring) also plays crucial role, as it gives rise to capacitance
CL in the equivalent circuit. On increasing Ws, the capacitance CL decreases; consequently, it can be seen from
Figure 4B that the first TZ moves towards the upper frequency, the second and fourth TZs shift considerably to the
lower frequency, and the third and fifth TZs almost stand unaffected. In regard to bandwidth of each band for the same
variation, it increases considerably for the lowpass and third bandpass, decreases substantially for the first bandpass,
and fluctuates randomly for the second bandpass bands as depicted in Figure 5B.
Further, the variation in mutual inductance Lm originated due to the length L2 of the microstrip line and its effect
on TZs position and passband bandwidth is investigated. As we increase the length L2 from 1 to 3 mm, the inductance
Lm increases correspondingly. Therefore, as demonstrated in Figure 4C, the first and fifth TZs slightly shift towards
lower frequency; the second TZ stays constant, while the third and fourth TZs decrease notably. Furthermore,
Figure 5C describes that the bandwidth of the lowpass and second bandpass decreases prominently; it increases reason-
ably for the first bandpass band, while it increases significantly at first then decreases slightly after 2.5 mm for the third
bandpass band.
The above study shows that the structure has design freedom to choose the position of TZ frequencies and passband
bandwidth of the filter structure proposed in previous section.

3.3 | Study of electric field distribution

Figure 6 shows the electric field distribution of the designed filter plotted in ANSYS Electronic Desktop 2022 at center
frequencies of each band. Incarceration of electric field over the meandered closed ring at 0.6 GHz in Figure 6A reveals
that the lowpass band is originated mainly due to meandered closed ring. Further, it can be seen from Figure 6B that
SINGH and GUPTA 9

F I G U R E 6 Electric field distribution of the proposed quad-band filter at (A) 0.6 GHz, (B) 1.62 GHz, (C) 3.49 GHz, and (D) 4.51 GHz
[Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

open circular ring and the coupling among meandered closed rings and inverted T-shaped stubs are responsible for the
first bandpass band. Moreover, it is self-evident from Figure 6C,D that the whole structure is responsible for generation
of the second and third bandpass bands.
In Step V of filter structure evolution, two CSRRs were embedded into ground plane to improve the RL and trans-
mission characteristics in the first and second bandpass bands of the filter. The high electric field confined on both the
CSRRs at 1.62 and 3.49 GHz confirms the effects of adding CSRRs into the design. The above investigation validates the
overall findings amid different developing stages of the proposed filter pertaining to the role of each structural element.

3.4 | Investigation on MTM characteristics

In order to confirm the MTM property (left handed propagation, effective homogeneity condition, anti-parallel group,
and phase velocity), the real value of refractive index (n) is extracted from the simulated transmission and reflection
coefficients of the proposed quad-band filter. Using mathematical relationship given in Singh and Gupta,22 refractive
index is plotted with the help of MATLAB script as per Equations (16) and (17).
0 1
j @ S21 A
n ¼ ln  ð16Þ
kp 1  S11 Z1 Zþ1

where impedance
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ð1 þ S11 Þ2  S221
Z¼ ð17Þ
ð1  S11 Þ2  S221

Here, k represents the wave number (rad/m), and p is the smallest dimension of the designed filter. It is evident that
the permittivity and permeability will be negative simultaneously, if refractive index is negative. Figure 7 demonstrates
10 SINGH and GUPTA

FIGURE 7 Extracted refractive index of the proposed quad-band filter [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

that the real value of refractive index is negative in every passband, which confirms the MTM aspect of the designed
filter.

4 | EXPERIMENTAL RES ULTS A ND DIS CUS SION

The snapshot of the top and bottom layer of the fabricated prototype of the designed quad-band lowpass-bandpass filter
is displayed in Figure 8. The electrical circuit size of the designed filter excluding signal feed lines is only 0.17λg
0.05λg
(19.9 mm
6.5 mm), where λg represents the guided wavelength at 3-dB cut-off frequency of the lowpass band. Next,
scattering parameters and GD are measured using Anritsu hand-held vector network analyzer S820E.
The measured transmission and reflection coefficients are compared with that of simulated ones in Figure 9A,B,
respectively. It can be monitored that the experimental results resemble with the simulated results except minor shift
(narrowing/widening) in bandpass responses; hence, lowpass-bandpass filtering characteristics of the proposed filter
are intact. The shift in the frequency can be ascribed to the non-uniformity of the substrate, fabrication tolerance,
imperfection in soldering, and connector losses. The measured 3-dB cut-off frequency (fc) of lowpass passband is noted
as 1.13 GHz. Within the lowpass response (<1.13 GHz), the average IL is found to be 0.24 dB, and RL is greater than
19.30 dB. In addition, measured results exhibit triple-band bandpass filtering response with low IL of 0.49/0.21/0.71 dB
at center frequencies of 1.59/3.41/4.44 GHz, respectively. The value of measured RL is better than 13.19, 11.46, and
10.56 dB, respectively, in complete working bandpass bands. The measured 3-dB FBWs of three bandpass responses are
34.59% (1.31–1.86 GHz), 24.92% (2.98–3.83 GHz), and 23.20% (3.93–4.96 GHz), respectively. This filter also offers a wide
stopband from 2.01 to 2.85 GHz at 16.75 dB rejection level followed by first bandpass band. The maximum attenuation
of 29.44 dB is achieved at 2.75 GHz. The RL is lower than 2.1 dB within the stopband. The total five TZs are measured
at 1.22, 2.33, 2.75, 3.85, and 5.05 GHz. Similarly, the seven poles are detected at 0.76, 1.79, 3.07, 3.38, 3.78, 4.25, and
4.73 GHz. Moreover, it is mentioned in Section 2.2 that the equivalent circuit model formed in Figure 2A is validated
using Keysight ADS. Figure 9 demonstrates that the results obtained from circuit simulation are in correlation with
those from the HFSS and measurements. To highlight the real-time performance of the proposed filter, comparison
among simulated and measured results is arranged in Table 1.
Figure 10 illustrates the simulated and measured GD performances of the designed filter. GD denotes the rate of
change of phase response of transmission coefficient with respect to frequency. The maximum oscillation in the
simulated and measured GDs is from 0.42–1.18 ns and 0.42–1.34 ns, respectively, within lowpass; 0.85–2.16 ns and
0.79–2.78 ns, respectively, in the first bandpass; 0.51–1.87 ns and 0.20–2.18 ns, respectively, in the second bandpass;
and 0.62–1.83 ns and 0.07–1.98 ns, respectively, in the third bandpass responses. It means that the deviation between
simulated and measured GD responses within passbands is quite small, which may be arose due to fabrication and
measurement inaccuracies. Figure 10 shows that glitches appear within the stopband of the filter response; therefore,
GD response can be considered as flat for the suggested filter. This facilitates smooth transmission of the signal.
SINGH and GUPTA 11

F I G U R E 8 Snapshot of the fabricated prototype of the proposed quad-band filter: (A) top view and (B) bottom view [Colour figure can
be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

F I G U R E 9 Simulated and measured responses of the proposed quad-band filter: (A) transmission coefficient and (B) reflection
coefficient [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

TABLE 1 Simulated and measured characteristics of the proposed quad-band filter

Characteristics HFSS simulated ADS simulated Measured

fc (GHz) 1.11 1.13 1.13
fc1 (GHz)/BW (GHz)/FBW 1.62/1.3–1.94/39.50% 1.62/1.33–1.91/35.80% 1.59/1.31–1.86/34.59%
fc2 (GHz)/BW (GHz)/FBW 3.49/3.12–3.86/21.20% 3.48/3.07–3.89/23.56% 3.41/2.98–3.83/24.92%
fc3 (GHz)/BW (GHz)/FBW 4.51/4.04–4.94/21.06% 4.53/4.05–5.02/21.41% 4.44/3.93–4.96/23.20%
a a
Insertion loss (dB) 0.37 /0.52/0.39/0.65 0.33 /0.54/0.39/0.52 0.24a /0.49/0.21/0.71
Return loss >(dB) 17.26/13.83/21.31/12.84 15.24/15.00/11.88/15.37 19.30/13.19/11.46/10.56
Stopband (GHz) 2.15–2.96 at 19.25 dB 2.08–2.90 at 21.18 dB 2.01–2.85 at 16.75 dB
rejection level rejection level rejection level
Transmission zeros (GHz) 1.21/2.17/2.89/3.93/5.02 1.23/2.1/2.82/3.97/5.05 1.22/2.33/2.75/3.85/5.05
Pole frequencies (GHz) 0.77/1.85/3.24/3.51/3.71/ 0.79/1.74/3.22/3.36/3.81/ 0.76/1.79/3.07/3.38/3.78/
4.29/4.81 4.25/4.75 4.25/4.73

Note: fc, 3-dB cut-off frequency of lowpass passband; fc1, fc2, and fc3, center frequencies of first, second, and third bandpass passbands, respectively.
a
Average insertion loss within lowpass passband.
12 SINGH and GUPTA

FIGURE 10 Simulated and measured group delay of the proposed quad-band filter [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.
com]

FIGURE 11 Simulated roll-off characteristics of the proposed quad-band filter [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

5 | S E LEC T I V ITY AN A L Y S I S AN D C O M P A R I S O N O F T H E P R O P O S E D
WORK

One of the important parameters of any filter is its roll-off rate (ROR) or selectivity, and it is defined as rate of change
of transmission coefficient (S21) from passband to stopband.23 High selectivity is crucial in filters, as it shows the ability
of the filter to quickly accept specific frequency regime and reject others. The simulated roll-off factor of the proposed
quad-band filter is depicted in Figure 11. The lowpass response has very sharp attenuation slop, as S21 drops from 3 to
22.68 dB within frequency range of 1.11–1.21 GHz; i.e., drop of 19.68 dB is attained merely in the frequency span of
100 MHz, which corresponds to ROR = 196.80 dB/GHz. The left skirt selection characteristics are 218.66, 162.95, and
171.45 dB/GHz, and right skirt selection characteristics are 105.08, 269.43, and 383.67 dB/GHz for the first, second, and
third bandpass passbands, respectively. The high values of ROR convey that the proposed filter provide highly selective
filtering performance.
TABLE 2 Comparison of the proposed quad-band filter performance with earlier reported similar works

Earlier published similar works

Ref. Deng and Tsai11 Chen and Shao12 Rezaei et al.13 Xu et al.14 Issa et al.15
SINGH and GUPTA

fc (GHz) 1.5 1.0 2.4 0.89 0.7

fc1 (GHz)/FBW (%) 2.4/7.6 5.2/38.4 4.2/15.2 2.43/19.3 2.3/NA
fc2 (GHz)/FBW (%) / / / / /
fc3 (GHz)/FBW (%) / / / / /
IL (dB) 0.25/2.42// 0.5/0.8// 0.15/0.18// 0.3/0.8// 0.35/2.6//
RL > (dB) 20/15// 15/15// 18.2/41.4// 20.7/20.2// 40/8//
GD (ns) NA NA 3.5/1.1// NA NA
No. of TZs 3 4 5 4 3
Physical Size (mm
mm) NA 31
36 14.8
18.7 NA 24
32
Electrical Size (λg
λg) NA 0.15
0.175 0.15
0.19 0.05
0.079 0.092
0.122
εr, tan δ, hsub (mm) 3.55, 0.006, 1.524 2.55, 0.0029, 0.8 2.2, 0.0009, 0.787 2.2, 0.0009, 0.508 4.4, 0.027, 1.59
Via process No No No Yes No

Abbreviations: NA, not available; Ref., references.

TABLE 2 (Continued)

Earlier published similar works

Choudhary and
Ref. Xu16 Chen et al.17 Xu et al.18 Chaudhary24 This work
fc (GHz) 0.67 1.0 1.0 1.05 1.11
fc1 (GHz)/FBW (%) 1.55/35 2.4/7.9 2.42/23.4 1.9/12.63 1.62/39.50
fc2 (GHz)/FBW (%) 2.50/8.9 5.8/6.6 5.37/21.3 3.0/44 3.49/21.20
fc3 (GHz)/FBW (%) / / / / 4.51/21.06
IL (dB) 0.25/0.38/1.9/ 0.8/2.1/2.5/ 0.8/0.69/1.38/ 0.3/0.9/0.8/ 0.17/0.52/0.39/0.65
RL > (dB) 15/20/15/ 14.5/12/12.9/ 30/26.3/16.7/ 20/25/15/ 17.26/13.83/21.31/12.84
GD (ns) NA 1/4.5/2.9/ NA 0.8/1.05/0.85/ 0.46/0.9/0.77/0.66
No. of TZs 7 5 5 4 5
Physical Size (mm
mm) NA 70
42 NA 15.5
7.2 19.9
6.5
Electrical Size (λg
λg) 0.065
0.085 0.31
0.18 0.055
0.063 0.13
0.06 0.17
0.05
εr, tan δ, hsub (mm) 2.2, 0.0009, 0.508 2.55, 0.0029, 0.8 NA 10.2, 0.0023, 1.27 10.2, 0.0023, 1.27
Via process No Yes Yes No No
13

Abbreviations: NA, not available; Ref., references.

14 SINGH and GUPTA

Finally, the proposed filter is justified by comparing its performance with previously reported filters offering lowpass
and bandpass responses in Table 2. Attractive features of the proposed filter compared to state-of-art filters are wider
3-dB FBW, low IL, good RL, minimum GD, multiple TZs, via-free structure, and miniaturized size.

6 | C ON C L U S I ON

A novel and compact MTM-based quad-band lowpass-bandpass filter with configurable TZs and 3-dB passband
bandwidth is investigated in this work. Low IL, small GD, wide bandwidth, wide stopband, excellent selectivity
(>105 dB/GHz attenuation slope for all passbands) due to presence of five TZs, seven poles, simple, and via-free planar
geometry are the key features of the presented filter. The suggested filter offers miniaturized electrical size of
0.17λg
0.05λg at 3-dB cut-off frequency (1.11 GHz) of lowpass passband. Owing to its attractive electromagnetic
characteristics, the filter is believed to have promising applications in GSM (850/900/1,800/1,900 MHz), ISM/WLAN
(902–928 MHz), Global Navigational Satellite Systems (1,559–1,610 MHz), GPS L1 Band (1,575.42 MHz), Personal
Communication Systems (1,670–1,675/1,910–1,915 MHz), Wi-MAX (3.4–3.69 GHz), 5G NR bands (3.3–3.8/4.4–5 GHz)
to enable the transmission and to limit the transmission in navigation radar and air traffic control (2.7–2.9 GHz), LTE
(2.305–2.4/2.5–2.69 GHz), Wi-MAX (2.5–2.69 GHz), Bluetooth/WLAN/Wi-Fi (2.4–2.484 GHz), and 5G (2.55–2.65 GHz)
bands.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

ORCID
Ashish Gupta https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4429-4111

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How to cite this article: Singh RK, Gupta A. A miniaturized highly selective MTM-inspired filter for lowpass
and triple-band bandpass performance with configurable transmission zeros and bandwidth. Int J Circ Theor
Appl. 2023;1‐15. doi:10.1002/cta.3602