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PIERS Proceedings, Hangzhou, China, March 24-28, 2008

Design and Optimization of Microstrip Interdigital Bandpass Filters with Impedance Matching
Homayoon Oraizi, Nima Azadi-Tinat, and Shahrokh Saeedi Iran University of Science and Technology, Narmak, Tehran 16846-13114, Iran

Abstract A least square based method is developed for the design and optimization of microstrip interdigital bandpass lters. The N coupled transmission line theory is employed to take into account the couplings among adjacent and nonadjacent conducting strips. The algorithm also incorporates the load and source impedance matching. The minimization of error function determines the length, width and spacing of strips. The performance of the optimized lter design perfectly agrees with the microwave simulation softwares. 1. INTRODUCTION

Interdigital lters were fabricated by inserting metallic round rods in rectangular cavities [1, 2], and were fabricated to obtain better than 10 percent bandwidth [3, 4]. Since that time, dierent types of interdigital lters have been devised and used in microwave circuits. Microstrip interdigital lters have also been developed, but their design procedures have usually ignored the signicant nonadjacent resonant strip couplings. As reference [5] indicated that the coupling among consecutive strips on nonhomogeneous microstrip structures decreases gradually rather than abruptly, the nonadjacent strip couplings need to be considered in the design. Furthermore, the N dierent phase velocities on the N coupled strips need to be included in the design procedure. Accordingly, in this paper a numerical procedure based on the method of least squares is proposed for the design of the interdigital bandpass lters, which utilizes the theory of N coupled transmission lines. The adjacent and nonadjacent couplings among strip lines, their distinct phase velocities, and dispersion relations are readily incorporated in the design method. Furthermore, impedance matching of load and source impedances over a frequency bandwidth is also incorporated into the design algorithm. In this paper two interdigital lter congurations with coupled feeds for narrow and wide band applications are considered as illustrations for the optimum design algorithm. The same general development has been applied for the optimum design of microstrip combline lters [68].
2. NUMERICAL PROCEDURE

Consider the general circuit conguration of the narrow and wide band microstrip interdigital bandpass lters, as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, respectively. The common length of strips are L, the width of the ith strip is wi , the gap spacings between adjacent strips is si , the source admittance is YS and the load admittance is Y1 , as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The transmission line equations of the N coupled lines are [9]: d [V ] = (j [L] + [R])[I ] dz d [I ] = (j [C ] + [G])[V ] dz

(1)

where [C ], [L], [R] and [G] are the capacitance, inductance, resistance and conductance matrices, respectively [1012]. The dispersion eects may be incorporated into the models, by considering C , L, R and G to be functions of frequency [13]. Now equations may be combined to obtain [14, 15] (jk [L] + [R])(jk [C ] + [G]) 2 [U ] = 0 2 (jk [L] + [R])(jk [C ] + [G])[Mv ]i,k = i,k [Mv ]i,k (2) (3)

where [Mv ] and [ ] are the matrix of eigenvectors and the vector of eigenvalues of (j [L] + [R])(j [C ] + [G]). We may then calculate the N propagation constants due to the N conducting strips in the nonhomogeneous medium like microstrips. Consequently, we may determine the

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voltages and currents on the N strips as functions of z [Vi ]k = Mvij

k

aj ej,k z + aj ej,k z
k

(4)
j,k z

[Ii ]k = ([Ya ]k Mvij

) aj e

j,k z

aj e

(5)

where [aj ] and [aj ] are the amplitudes of forward and backward traveling waves on the lines, k is the subscript indicating the frequency in the band, and [Ya ] is the characteristic admittance of the lines corresponding to the propagation constants. Here Yij as the entry of [Ya ] is the characteristic admittance of the ith line for the j th propagation constant.

Figure 1: Circuit model of the wide band microstrip interdigital lter.

Figure 2: Circuit model of the narrow band microstrip interdigital lter.

1.2 0 -10 -20

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

(dB)

-30 -40 -50 -60 -70

(GHz)

Figure 3: Frequency response of a bandpass lter showing stop.

Figure 4: Frequency response of a narrowband interdigital lter before and after optimization.

Now the voltages and currents of the two terminals of the strips (at z = 0 and z = L) may be obtained from Eqs. (4) and (5), in terms of the unknown amplitudes aj and aj . By eliminating these amplitudes among the equations, we may obtain the terminal currents of strips as a function of their voltages. Then the boundary conditions at the strip terminals are invoked. They are the short circuits to ground and open circuits at the end of strips. However, the open end of lines may be modeled as a capacitor and the shorting vias may be modeled as an inductor [16]. Then, inclusion of the boundary conditions at the strip terminals may lead to the admittance matrix of

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PIERS Proceedings, Hangzhou, China, March 24-28, 2008

the input/output two port network relating the source and load terminals. I1 Y Y12 = 11 Is Y21 Y22 V1 Vs (6)

where I1 and Is are the load and source currents and V1 and Vs are the load and source voltages, respectively. We may then obtain the scattering matrix from the admittance matrix. The scattering parameter s21 as the transfer function is s21 = 2Ys Y21 (Ys + Y11 )(Y1 + Y22 ) Y12 Y21 (7)

1.5 0 -10 -20

1.6

1.7

1.8

1.9

2.0

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

0 -10 -20 -30

2.5

3.5

4.5

5.5

(dB)

(dB)

-30 -40

-40 -50

-50 -60 -70

-60 -70 -80

(GHz)

(GHz)

Figure 5: Comparison of the performance of MLS lter design with that of Microwave Oce for Fig. 4.

Figure 6: Frequency response of a wideband interdigital lter before and after optimization.

2 0 -10 -20 -30

2.5

3.5

4.5

5.5

(dB)

-40 -50 -60 -70 -80

GHz

(GHz)

Figure 7: Comparison of the performance of MLS lter design with that of Microwave Oce for Fig. 6.

Figure 8: Comparison of the performance of interdigital lter designed by MLS with those obtained by Microwave-Oce and fabrication and measurement.

The insertion loss is ILk = 20 log |s21 |k (8)

Finally, an error function is constructed for the specied insertion and return losses in the lower

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and upper stopbands, transition bands and the passband, as shown in Fig. 3.
KSL

e = +

(ILk ILSBk )2 + (RLk RLSBk )2

k=1 KP U

(ILk ILP Bk )2 + (RLk RLP Bk )2

k=KP L K

+
k=KSU

(ILk ILSBk )2 + (RLk RLSBk )2

(9)

where ILk and RLk are the insertion and return losses calculated at the k th frequency and ILSB and RLSB are their specied values in the stopband and ILP B and RLP B are their values in the passband. The frequency band is divided into K discrete frequencies. wti are the weighting functions which may emphasize any of the terms in the error function, by adjusting their values. The error function is minimized with respect to the values of wi , si and L. However, some initial values are required for them to start the minimization of the error function. On the other hand, input values of the lter structure including the frequency band and the load and source admittances should be provided for the incorporated impedance matching.
3. NUMERICAL RESULTS

The design and optimization of the interdigital lter shown in Figs. 1 and 2 are performed as an illustration for the proposed MLS algorithm. The initial values are selected as follows: L = /4 (center frequency), wi = h (thickness of substrate), si = 2h (or as a function of strip width), s1 = sn = h/4 (the gap between the rst two strips and the last two strips). Then the minimization of the error function is performed with respect to L, wi and si to obtain the optimum design of the interdigital lter. Two examples of lter designs are given for the narrow band and wide band versions. Their performances are also obtained by commercial softwares, namely Microwave-Oce.
Table 1: Data for the narrow band lter design. r = 3.38, Loss tangent = 0.0027, h = 20 mil, Zs = 50, Zl = 50, f0 = 2 GHz, BW = 6%, degree of f ilter = 3 Initial values After Design and Optimization w1 = 0.508 (mm), s1 = 0.152 (mm) w1 = 1.038 (mm), s1 = 0.219 (mm) w2 = 0.508 (mm), s2 = 1.016 (mm) w2 = 1.032 (mm), s2 = 1.342 (mm) w3 = 0.508 (mm), s3 = 1.016 (mm) w3 = 0.621 (mm), s3 = 1.381 (mm) w4 = 0.508 (mm), s4 = 0.152 (mm) w4 = 0.993 (mm), s4 = 0.254 (mm) w5 = 0.508(mm) w5 = 1.583(mm) L = 21(mm) L = 23.23(mm)

In Table 1, the input voltages for the narrow band also the initial values of L, w and s are given for the lter degree N = 3. Their values for the optimum design of the lter are also given. In Fig. 3, the frequency response of the lter is given for its optimum design. In Fig. 4, its performance obtained by the proposed method and that obtained by the Microwave Oce are compared which indicate an excellent agreement. The optimum design of the microstrip interdigital band pass lter for the wideband version is given in Table 2, Figs. 5 and 6.
4. IMPLEMENTATION

A sample lter is designed and optimized by the proposed method. The lter is fabricated and its performance is measured by HP 8563E and compared with that of Microwave Oce simulation software and that computed by the proposed method in Fig. 8. The characteristics of the interdigital bandpass lter are:

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PIERS Proceedings, Hangzhou, China, March 24-28, 2008 Table 2: Data for the wide band lter design. r = 4.2, Loss tangent = 0.0027, h = 20 mil, Zs = 50, Zl = 50, f0 = 4 GHz, BW = 17.5%, degree of f ilter = 4 Initial values After Design and Optimization w1 = 0.508 (mm), s1 = 0.152 (mm) w1 = 0.287 (mm), s1 = 0.152 (mm) w2 = 0.508 (mm), s2 = 1.016 (mm) w2 = 1.151 (mm), s2 = 0.484 (mm) w3 = 0.508 (mm), s3 = 1.016 (mm) w3 = 1.598 (mm), s3 = 0.557 (mm) w4 = 0.508 (mm), s4 = 1.016 (mm) w4 = 1.505 (mm), s4 = 0.496 (mm) w5 = 0.508 (mm), s5 = 0.152 (mm) w5 = 0.967 (mm), s5 = 0.146 (mm) w6 = 0.508 (mm) w6 = 0.282 (mm) L = 10.78 (mm) L = 10.01 (mm)

Filter degree is three or ve microstrip lines, center frequency 2 GHz in the range 1 to 3 GHz, K = 300 for 300 discrete frequencies for the error function, frequency bandwidth in the passband is 120 MHz (or 6%), wk = 1, input and output impedances equal to 50 .
5. CONCLUSION

In this paper a design and optimization procedure for the inhomogeneous microstrip interdigital bandpass lter is developed based on the method of least squares which employs the N coupled transmission line theory. The proposed method incorporates impedance matching of the load and source impedances, which leads to shorter and simpler circuit congurations. The performance of the proposed lter design method agrees very well with that of the commercial softwares for microwave circuits.
REFERENCES

1. Matthaei, G., L. Young, and E. M. T. Jones, Microwave Filters, Impedance-Matching Networks, and Coupling Structures., Artech House, Boston, 614647, Nov. 1985. 2. Pozar, D., Microwave Engineering, Third Edition, John Wiley and Sons, 416438, 2005. 3. Dishal, M., A simple design procedure for small percentage bandwidth round rod interdigital lters, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 13, No. 5, 696698, Sept. 1965. 4. Martin, P., Design equations for tapped round rod combline and interdigital bandpass lters, Available: http://www.rfshop.com.au/C&IDES.DOC. Nov. 2002. 5. Milligan, T. A., Dimensions of microstrip coupled lines and interdigital structure, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 25, No. 5, 405410, May 1977. 6. Oraizi, H. and N. Azadi, A novel method for the design and optimization of microstrip combline lters with tapped-line input, Mediterranean Microwave Symposium, Genova, Italy, Sept. 2006. 7. Oraizi, H. and N. Azadi, A novel method for the design and optimization of microstrip multisection bandpass Combline lters, 36th European Microwave Conference, Manchester, UK, 12171220, Sept. 2006. 8. Oraizi, H. and N. Azadi, Realization of transmission zeros for the improvement of the transition bands of combline lters by lumped capacitors, Mediterranean Microwave Symposium, Genova, Italy, Sept. 2006. 9. Gentili, G. and M. Salazar-Palma, The denition and computation of modal characteristic impedance in quasi-TEM coupled transmission lines, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 43, No. 2, 338343, Feb. 1995. 10. Amirhossenini, M. K., Determination of capacitances and conductonce matrices of lossy shilded coupled microstrip transmission lines, Progress in Electromagnethics Research, PIER 50, 267278, 2005. 11. Harrington, R. F. and C. Wei, Losses on multiconductor transmission lines in multilayered dielectric media, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 32, No. 7, 705710, July 1984. 12. Wei, C., R. F. Harrington, J. R. Mautz, and T. K. Sarkar, Multiconductor transmission lines in multilayered dielectric media, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 32, No. 2, 439450, Feb. 1995.

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13. Tripathi, V. K., A dispersion model for coupled microstrips, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 34, No. 1, 6671, Jan. 1986. 14. Tripathi, V. K., Asymmetric coupled transmission lines in an inhomogeneous medium, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 23, No. 9, Sept. 1975. 15. Tripathi, V. K., On the analysis of symmetrical three-line microstrip circuits, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 23, No. 9, Sept. 1975. 16. Edwards, T. C. and M. B. Steer, Foundations for Microstrip Circuits, 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2000.