EKT 441

MICROWAVE COMMUNICATIONS

CHAPTER 4:
MICROWAVE FILTERS

1
INTRODUCTION

What is a Microwave filter ?

 linear 2-port network
 controls the frequency response at a certain point in
a microwave system
 provides perfect transmission of signal for
frequencies in a certain passband region
 infinite attenuation for frequencies in the stopband
region
 a linear
f2 phase response in the passband (to reduce
signal distortion).

2
INTRODUCTION

 The goal of filter design is to approximate the ideal

requirements within acceptable tolerance with
circuits or systems consisting of real components.

f1
f2

f3
Commonly used block Diagram of a Filter

3
INTRODUCTION
Why Use Filters?
 RF signals consist of:
1. Desired signals – at desired frequencies
2. Unwanted Signals (Noise) – at unwanted
frequencies
 That is why filters have two very important
bands/regions:
1. Pass Band – frequency range of filter where it
passes all signals
2. Stop Band – frequency range of filter where it
rejects all signals

4
INTRODUCTION
Categorization of Filters
 Low-pass filter (LPF), High-pass filter (HPF), Bandpass filter
(BPF), Bandstop filter (BSF), arbitrary type etc.
 In each category, the filter can be further divided into active
and passive types.
 In active filter, there can be amplification of the of the signal
power in the passband region, passive filter do not provide
power amplification in the passband.
 Filter used in electronics can be constructed from resistors,
inductors, capacitors, transmission line sections and
resonating structures (e.g. piezoelectric crystal, Surface
Acoustic Wave (SAW) devices, and also mechanical
resonators etc.).
 Active filter may contain transistor, FET and Op-amp.
Filter

LPF HPF BPF

Active Passive Active Passive

5
INTRODUCTION

Types of Filters
1. Low-pass Filter 2. High-pass Filter
f1 f1
f1 f2

f2 f2

Passes low freq Passes high freq

Rejects high freq Rejects low freq

6
INTRODUCTION

3. Band-pass Filter 4.Band-stop Filter

f1 f1 f1
f2
f2 f2

f3 f3 f3

Rejects a small range of

Passes a small range of
freq
freq
Passes all other freq
Rejects all other freq

7
INTRODUCTION

Filter Parameters
 Pass bandwidth; BW(3dB) = fu(3dB) – fl(3dB)
 Stop band attenuation and frequencies,
 Ripple difference between max and min of
amplitude response in passband
 Input and output impedances
 Return loss
 Insertion loss
 Group Delay, quality factor

8
INTRODUCTION
|H()|
 Low-pass filter (passive).
V2  
Transfer
1
H   
function
(1.1a)
V1() A Filter V2()
V1  
H() ZL


c
Arg(H())

A()/dB

50
40 

30
20  V2   
Attenuation A  20 Log10   (1.1b)
 V1   
10 
3
0 
c

9
 INTRODUCTION

 For impedance matched system, using s21 to observe the filter

response is more convenient, as this can be easily measured using
Vector Network Analyzer (VNA).
a1 b2
Vs Zc

Zc Zc
Filter
Zc
20log|s21()| Arg(s21())
Transmission line
0dB is optional
b b
s11  1 s21  2
a1 a 0 a1 a 0
2 2
 
c
Complex value

10
INTRODUCTION

Low pass filter response (cont)

A()/dB
Transition band
Passband
50
40
30
20
10
3 Stopband
0 
c

Cut-off frequency (3dB)

V1() A Filter V2()

H() ZL

11
INTRODUCTION

High Pass filter

A()/dB
Transfer
|H()| function
50 Passband
1 40

30
20
10
3
 
0
c c

Stopband

12
INTRODUCTION
Band-pass filter (passive). Band-stop filter.
A()/dB A()/dB

40 40

30 30
20 20
10 10
3 3

0 1 o 2 0 
1 o 2

|H()| |H()|
Transfer
function
1 Transfer 1
function

 
1 o 2 1 o 2

13
INTRODUCTION
Insertion Loss
Pass BW (3dB)
Filter Response
0

12.124 GHz
Q factor
-10 7.9024 GHz -3.0038 dB
-3.0057 dB

-20

-30

Input Return Loss

-40
Insertion Loss

-50
6 8 10 12 14
Frequency (GHz)

Figure 4.1: A 10 GHz Parallel Coupled Filter Response

Stop band frequencies and attenuation 14
FILTER DESIGN METHODS

Filter Design Methods

Two types of commonly used design methods:

- Image Parameter Method
- Insertion Loss Method

•Image parameter method yields a usable filter

•However, no clear-cut way to improve the design i.e to control the
filter response

15
FILTER DESIGN METHODS

Filter Design Methods

•The insertion loss method (ILM) allows a systematic way to design
and synthesize a filter with various frequency response.

•ILM method also allows filter performance to be improved in a

straightforward manner, at the expense of a ‘higher order’ filter.

•A rational polynomial function is used to approximate the ideal |H()|,

A() or |s21()|.

•Phase information is totally ignored.Ignoring phase simplified the

actual synthesis method. An LC network is then derived that will
produce this approximated response.

•Here we will use A() following [2]. The attenuation A() can be cast
into power attenuation ratio, called the Power Loss Ratio, PLR, which 16
is related to A() .
FILTER DESIGN METHODS
Zs

Lossless
Vs 2-port network ZL
PA PL
Pin PLR large, high attenuation
PLR close to 1, low attenuation
1
For example, a low-pass
filter response is shown
PLR  Power available from source network below:
Power delivered to Load
P PA PLR(f)
 inc   1
PLoad 2
PA 1 1    1 1  
2 (2.1a) High
  attenuation

Low
1 attenuation
Low-Pass filter PLR
0 f
fc
17
PLR and s21
In terms of incident and reflected waves, assuming ZL=Zs = ZC.
b1
a1 b2

Zc
Lossless
Vs 2-port network Zc
PA PL
Pin

1a 2 2
PA 2 1 a1
PLR   
PL 1b 2 b2
2 2

PLR  1 (2.1b)
2
s21

18
FILTER RESPONSES

Filter Responses

Several types filter responses:

- Maximally flat (Butterworth)
- Equal Ripple (Chebyshev)
- Elliptic Function
- Linear Phase

19
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Practical filter response:

Maximally flat:
- also called the binomial or Butterworth response,
- is optimum in the sense that it provides the flattest possible
passband response for a given filter complexity.
- no ripple is permitted in its attenuation profile
N

PLR  1  k  
2

 c 
[8.10]

 – frequency of filter
c – cutoff frequency of filter
N – order of filter
20
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Equal ripple
- also known as Chebyshev.
- sharper cutoff
- the passband response will have ripples of amplitude 1 +k2


PLR  1  k T  2 2
N [8.11]

 c 
 – frequency of filter
c – cutoff frequency of filter
N – order of filter
21
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Figure 5.3: Maximally flat and equal-ripple low pass filter response.
22
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Elliptic function:
- have equal ripple responses in the passband and
stopband.
- maximum attenuation in the passband.
- minimum attenuation in the stopband.

Linear phase:
- linear phase characteristic in the passband
- to avoid signal distortion
- maximally flat function for the group delay.

23
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Figure 5.4: Elliptic function low-pass filter response

24
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Filter Low-pass
Specification Prototype Design

Scaling &
Conversion
Normally done using
simulators

Optimization &
Tuning Filter Implementation

Figure 5.5: The process of the filter design by the insertion

loss method.
25
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Low Pass Filter Prototype

Figure 5.6: Low pass filter prototype, N = 2

26
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Low Pass Filter Prototype – Ladder Circuit

Figure 5.7: Ladder circuit for low pass filter prototypes and their
element definitions. (a) begin with shunt element. (b) begin with 27
series element.
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

g0 = generator resistance, generator conductance.

gk = inductance for series inductors, capacitance for shunt
capacitors.
(k=1 to N)

gN+1 = load resistance if gN is a shunt capacitor, load

conductance if gN is a series inductor.
As a matter of practical design procedure, it will be
necessary to determine the size, or order of the filter. This is
usually dictated by a specification on the insertion loss at
some frequency in the stopband of the filter.

28
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD
Low Pass Filter Prototype – Maximally Flat

Figure 4.8: Attenuation versus normalized frequency for maximally flat

filter prototypes. 29
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Figure 4.9: Element values for maximally flat LPF prototypes

30
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD
Low Pass Filter Prototype – Equal Ripple
For an equal ripple low pass filter with a cutoff frequency ωc =
1, The power loss ratio is:
PLR  1  k T  
2 2
N
[5.12]

Where 1 + k2 is the ripple level in the passband. Since the

Chebyshev polynomials have the property that
0
TN    
1
[5.12] shows that the filter will have a unity power loss ratio at ω
= 0 for N odd, but the power loss ratio of 1 + k2 at ω = 0 for N
even.
31
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Figure 4.10: Attenuation versus normalized frequency for equal-ripple filter

prototypes. (0.5 dB ripple level)
32
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Figure 4.11: Element values for equal ripple LPF prototypes (0.5 dB ripple
level)
33
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Figure 4.12: Attenuation versus normalized frequency for equal-ripple filter

prototypes (3.0 dB ripple level)
34
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Figure 4.13: Element values for equal ripple LPF prototypes (3.0 dB ripple
level).
35
FILTER TRANSFORMATIONS

Low Pass Filter Prototype – Impedance Scaling

'
L  R0 L [8.13a]

C '
C  [8.13b]
R0
'
R  R0s
[8.13c]

RL'  R0 RL [8.13d]

36
FILTER TRANSFORMATIONS

Frequency scaling for the low pass filter:


 [8.14]
c
The new element values of the prototype filter:


jX k  j Lk  jL'k [8.15a]
c

jBk  j Ck  jCk' [8.15b]
c

37
FILTER TRANSFORMATIONS

The new element values are given by:

' Lk R0 Lk
L 
k  [8.16a]

 c
'Ck Ck
C k  [8.16b]
 R0c

38
FILTER TRANSFORMATIONS

Low pass to high pass transformation

The frequency substitution: c

 [8.17]

The new component values are given by:

' 1
C k [8.18a]
R0c Lk
' R0 [8.18b]
L 
k
c C k

39
BANDPASS & BANDSTOP
TRANSFORMATIONS
Low pass to Bandpass transformation
0   0  1   0 
        [8.19]
2  1  0     0  
2  1
Where,  [8.20]
0
The center frequency is:

0  12 [8.21]

40
BANDPASS & BANDSTOP
TRANSFORMATIONS
The series inductor, Lk, is transformed to a series LC circuit with
element values: ' Lk
Lk  [8.22a]
0
' 
C k [8.22b]
0 Lk
The shunt capacitor, Ck, is transformed to a shunt LC circuit with
element values: ' 
Lk  [8.23a]
0Ck
Ck'
C  k [8.23b]
0

41
BANDPASS & BANDSTOP
TRANSFORMATIONS
Low pass to Bandstop transformation
1
  0 
     [8.24]
 0  
2  1
Where, 
0
The center frequency is:

0  12
42
BANDPASS & BANDSTOP
TRANSFORMATIONS
The series inductor, Lk, is transformed to a parallel LC circuit with
element values: ' Lk
Lk  [8.25a]
0
' 1
Ck  [8.25b]
0 Lk

The shunt capacitor, Ck, is transformed to a series LC circuit with

element values: ' 1
Lk  [8.26a]
0 Ck
' Ck
Ck  [8.26b]
0

43
BANDPASS & BANDSTOP
TRANSFORMATIONS

44
EXAMPLE 5.1

Design a maximally flat low pass filter with a cutoff

freq of 2 GHz, impedance of 50 Ω, and at least 15 dB
insertion loss at 3 GHz. Compute and compare with
an equal-ripple (3.0 dB ripple) having the same order.

45
EXAMPLE 5.1 (Cont)

Solution:
First find the order of the maximally flat filter to satisfy the
insertion loss specification at 3 GHz.
 3
We can find the normalized freq by using:  1   1  0.5
c 2
g1  0.618
g 2  1.618
g 3  2.0
g 4  1.618
g 5  0.618

46
EXAMPLE 5.1 (Cont)

The ladder diagram of the LPF prototype to be used is as follow:

L2 L4

C1 C3 C5

L'  R0 L g1 R0 g 2
C1  L2 
C R0c c
'
C  g3
R0 C3  L4 
R0 g 4
R0c c
Rs'  R0 g5
C5 
RL'  R0 RL R0c
47
EXAMPLE 5.1 (Cont)

LPF prototype for maximally flat filter

g1 0.618
C1    0.984 pF
R0c 502  2 10 9

R0 g 2 50 1.618
L2    6.438 nH
c 2  2 10 9

g3 2.00
C3    3.183pF
R0  c 502  2  10 
9

R0 g 4 50 1.618
L4    6.438 nH
c 2  2 10 
9

g5 0.618
C5    0.984 pF
R0c 502  2 10 9

48
EXAMPLE 5.1 (Cont)

LPF prototype for equal ripple filter:

g1 3.4817
C1    5.541 pF
g1  3.4817 R0c 
50 2  2 10 
9

R0 g 2 50  0.7618
g 2  0.7618 L2    3.031 nH
c 
2  2  109

g 3  4.5381 g3 4.5381
C3    7. 223 pF
g 4  0.7618 R0c 
50 2  2 109
R0 g 4 50  0.7618
g 5  3.4817 L4    3.031 nH
c 
2  2 10 
9

g5 3.4817
C5    5.541 pF
R0c 
50 2  2 10 9

49
THE INSERTION LOSS METHOD

Filter Low-pass
Specification Prototype Design

Scaling &
Conversion
Normally done using
simulators

Optimization &
Tuning Filter Implementation

50
SUMMARY OF STEPS IN FILTER
DESIGN

A. Filter Specification
1. Max Flat/Equal Ripple,
2. If equal ripple, how much pass band ripple allowed? If max
flat filter is to be designed, cont to next step
3. Low Pass/High Pass/Band Pass/Band Stop
4. Desired freq of operation
5. Pass band & stop band range
6. Max allowed attenuation (for Equal Ripple)

51
SUMMARY OF STEPS IN FILTER
DESIGN (cont)

B. Low Pass Prototype Design

1. Min Insertion Loss level, No of Filter
Order/Elements by using IL values
2. Determine whether shunt cap model or series
inductance model to use
3. Draw the low-pass prototype ladder diagram
4. Determine elements’ values from Prototype Table

52
SUMMARY OF STEPS IN FILTER
DESIGN (cont)

C. Scaling and Conversion

1. Determine whether if any modification to the
prototype table is required (for high pass, band
pass and band stop)
2. Scale elements to obtain the real element values

53
SUMMARY OF STEPS IN FILTER
DESIGN (cont)

D. Filter Implementation
1. Put in the elements and values calculated from
the previous step
2. Implement the lumped element filter onto a
simulator to get the attenuation vs frequency
response

54
EXAMPLE 5.2

Design a band pass filter having a 0.5 dB

equal-ripple response, with N = 3. The center
frequency is 1 GHz, the bandwidth is 10%,
and the impedance is 50 Ω.

55
EXAMPLE 5.2 (Cont)
ACCS
ID=I1
Mag=1 mA
Ang=0 Deg
Solution: The low pass filter (LPF) prototype ladder diagram is
Offset=0 mA
DCVal=0 mA
shown as follow:RES IND
ID=R1 CAP IND RES
ID=L2 ID=C1 ID=L1
R=1 Ohm ID=R2
L=4.918 nH C=5.15 pF L=15.91 nH R=1 Ohm
 = 0.1 N=3  = 1 GHz

RS L1 L3

C2 RL

56
EXAMPLE 5.2 (Cont)

From the equal ripple filter table (with 0.5 dB ripple), the filter
elements are as follow;

g1  1.5963  L1
g 2  1.0967  C 2
g 3  1.5963  L3
g 4  1.000  RL

57
EXAMPLE 5.2 (Cont)

Transforming the LPF prototype to the BPF prototype

RS L1 C1 L3 C3

L2 C2
RL

58
EXAMPLE 5.2 (Cont)

L1Z 0 1.5963  50
L1    127.0nH
0  2 110  0.1
9

 0.1
C1    0.199 pF
Z 00 L1 502  2 10 1.5963
9

Z 0 0.1 50
L2    0.726nH
 9
0C 2 2  1 10 1.0967 
C2 1.0967
C2    34.91 pF
0 Z 0 2  110 (0.1)50 
9

59
EXAMPLE 5.2 (Cont)

L3Z 0 1.5963  50
L3    127.0nH
0  2  110  0.1
9

 0.1
C3    0.199 pF
Z 00 L3 502  2 10 1.5963
9

60
EXAMPLE 5.3

Design a five-section high pass lumped

element filter with 3 dB equal-ripple
response, a cutoff frequency of 1 GHz, and
an impedance of 50 Ω. What is the resulting
attenuation at 0.6 GHz?

61
EXAMPLE 5.3 (Cont)

Solution: The high pass filter (HPF) prototype ladder diagram is

shown as follow:
N=5  = 1 GHz
ACCSN
ID=I1
 1 CAP
At  = 0.6 RES
Mag=10 mA
Ang=0 Deg c GHz,
ID=R1 
IND1  CAP 1  0 . 667
ID=C2 ; referring
IND
ID=L2
INDback to Fig 4.12
RES
F=1 GHz
Tone=2
R=1 Ohm c ID=L1
L=1 nH 0. 6
ID=C1
C=1 pF
C=1 pF
L=1 nH
ID=L3
L=1 nH ID=R2
R=1 Ohm
Offset=0 mA

The attenuation for N = 5, is about 41 dB

DCVal=0 mA

RS C2 C3

L1 L3 L5 RL

62
EXAMPLE 5.3 (Cont)

From the equal ripple filter table (with 3.0 dB ripple), the filter
elements are as follow;

g1  3.4817  L1
g 2  0.7618  C 2
g 3  4.5381  L3
g 4  0.7618  C 4
g 5  3.4817  L5
g 6  1.000  RL

63
EXAMPLE 5.3 (Cont)

Impedance and frequency scaling:

Z0 50
L'1    2.28nH
 9
c L1 2 110  3.4817 
1 1
C '2    4.18 pF
 
Z 0c C 2 50 2 110  0.7618
9

Z0 50
L'3    1.754nH
 9
c L3 2  110  4.5381 

64
EXAMPLE 5.3 (Cont)

1 1
C '4    4.18 pF
Z 0c C 4 502 110  0.7618
9

Z0 50
L'5    1.754nH
 9
c L5 2 110  4.5381 

65
 EXAMPLE 5.4
 Design a 4th order Butterworth Low-Pass Filter. Rs = RL= 50Ohm, fc =
1.5GHz.
 c  2 1.5GHz   9.4248  109 rad/s
L1=0.7654H L2=1.8478H
Step 1&2: LPP Zo  50

g 0= 1 RL= 1
C1=1.8478F C2=0.7654F
R  Z o Rn
L
Step 3: Frequency scaling L  Zo n
and impedance denormalization L =4.061nH
c
1 L2=9.803nH Cn
C
Z o c

g0=1/50 RL= 50
C1=3.921pF C2=1.624pF

66
 EXAMPLE 5.5
 Design a 4th order Chebyshev Low-Pass Filter, 0.5dB ripple factor. Rs
= 50Ohm, fc = 1.5GHz.
 c  2 1.5GHz   9.4248  109 rad/s
L1=1.6703H L2=2.3661H
Step 1&2: LPP Zo  50

g 0= 1 RL=
C1=1.1926F C2=0.8419F
1.9841 R  Z o Rn
L
Step 3: Frequency scaling L  Zo n
and impedance denormalization L =8.861nH c
L2=12.55nH
1
Cn
C
Z o c

g0=1/50 RL=
C1=2.531pF C2=1.787pF
99.2

67
EXAMPLE 5.6
 Design a bandpass filter with Butterworth (maximally flat)
response.
 N = 3.
 Center frequency fo = 1.5GHz.
 3dB Bandwidth = 200MHz or f1=1.4GHz, f2=1.6GHz.

68
EXAMPLE 5.6 (cont)
 From table, design the Low-Pass prototype (LPP) for 3rd order
Butterworth response, c=1.

g2
Zo=1 2.000H
Step 1&2: LPP

g1 g4
2<0o g3
1.000F 1
1.000F

 c  2f c  1
 f c  21  0.1592 Hz

69
EXAMPLE 5.6 (cont)
 LPP to bandpass transformation. 1  2 1.4GHz 
Impedance denormalization.
 2  2 1.6GHz 


Step 3: Frequency scaling

and impedance denormalization fo  f1 f 2  1.497GHz
 1
LZ o   2  0.133
o o
C Z o
  o Z o  oC
 o LZ o

50 79.58nH 0.1414pF

RL
Vs 50
15.916pF 15.916pF
0.7072nH 0.7072nH

70