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Advanced Computational Techniques in Electromagnetics COMPUTATIONAL
Volume 2012, Year 2012, Article ID acte-00114, 4 Pages TECHNIQUESIN
doi: 10.5899/2012/acte-00114 ELECTROMAGNETICS
Research Article

Development and Analysis of Compact Lowpass Filter for UWB

Systems

K. Thirumalaivasan , R. Nakkeeran
Department of ECE, Pondicherry Engineering College, Puducherry 605 014, India

c 2012 K. Thirumalaivasan and R. Nakkeeran. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
Copyright
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT
This paper presents a developed compact lowpass filter which is devised by concatenating T and inverted T open stubs on a microstrip line.
They are combined to enhance the bandwidth and also to improve the outband performance. Insertion loss of the developed filter is less than
-0.15 dB and the return loss is -30 dB at 2.85 GHz. Stopband performance of the filter is less than -20 dB from 5.4 GHz to 7.8 GHz and provides
-3 dB cut-off frequency at 4.5 GHz. The final dimension of the fabricated filter with the above features is only 16.17 mm (length) 15.76 mm
(width). The response of the developed filter has a good agreement with simulation response.
Keywords: Lowpass filter; Microstrip; Ultra-wideband; Elliptic function.

1. Introduction (DGS) with different specifications and reported as best in terms

ilter is one of the primary and vital components in ultra-
F wideband (UWB) systems like in conventional wireless
communication systems. However, owing to the large band-
width of the UWB system, there are more challenges and dif-
ficulties involved in designing UWB filters than its narrow-
band counterpart [1, 2]. For portable UWB device applications,
smaller systems are required and hence filters must be small
enough to be compatible to the UWB unit. Reducing the UWB
filter size with enhanced performance is a challenging research
area and deserves attraction. A suitable UWB filter should be
capable of operating over a large bandwidth while providing
high selectivity and lower scattering losses within the specified
UWB indoor mask between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz [3]. Fur-
thermore, the filter must have a linear phase and constant group
delay throughout the entire operating band.
A lowpass filter (LPF) is required in wireless communication
systems in order to suppress harmonics and spurious of power
amplifiers and oscillators and to eliminate the outband noise [4].
Developing such LPFs using microstrip line is much desirable
due to its advantages of low cost, compact-size, light weight,
planar structure, and easy integration with other components on
a single circuit board. In the literature, various LPFs have been
studied based on different techniques and methods [5].
In [69], LPFs were studied using defect ground structure
Correspondingauthor
E-mail addresses: thirumalaivasankb@gmail.com (K. Thirumalaivasan), rna-
keeran@pec.edu (R. Nakkeeran)
of performance and compactness, but require relatively larger
number of design parameters. In addition, DGS introduces un-
desired radiation in the passband, and take very long time to un-
derstand the details of the physical structure. Elliptical function
LPFs with different resonators such as semi-hairpin [10], circu-
lar hairpin [11], and modified hairpin [12] were developed with
enhanced bandwidth and miniaturized size. Compact lowpass
filters using double spiral resonant cells [13] or microstrip res-
onant cell [14] were reported with wider stopband. Also, LPFs
with ultra-wide stopband using stepped impedance resonators
(SIRs) [15] and interdigital capacitors [16] were demonstrated
while fulfilling all the characteristics of UWB filter.
Though the above discussed filters from the literature have
shown good performance with compact size, it is further possi-
ble to reduce the size of the filter with improved performance
using microstrip technology. In this paper, a compact LPF is
developed by cascading two T open stubs back to back em-
bedded on a microstrip line, which results in wide rejection
band with improved scattering parameters and sharp cut-off fre-
quency. The structure of this paper is organized as follows.
Section 2 explains UWB LPF design. Simulation results and
analysis are presented in Section 3. In Section 4, the experi-
mental verification of the proposed filter is discussed. Section 5
concludes the paper.
2 K. Thirumalaivasan and R. Nakkeeran / Development and Analysis of Compact Lowpass Filter.
(a)
(b)
Figure 1: Proposed UWB LPF; (a) orthographic view, (b) geometry.
2. UWB LPF geometry
Orthographic view and respective geometry of the proposed
LPF are shown in Figs. 1(a) and 1(b). It consists of two lowpass
sections formed by cascading inverted T and T open stubs
that provides wider bandwidth and high outband performance.
Each section of the filter is composed of high and low
impedance transmission lines. The high impedance line acts
as series inductor and the low impedance line acts as shunt ca-
pacitor. Quarter wavelength open circuited stubs are used in this
filter and they behave as shunt series LC circuit.
3. Simulation results and analysis
The proposed LPF is simulated through the fullwave electro-
magnetic solver, IE3D and analysed for different geometry pa-
rameters such as strip width T and open stub width G. It is
observed from the simulation that the frequency responses of
both T shaped open stubs have identical lowpass profile. As
single LPF section could not provide the required performance
to be LPF in terms of its scattering parameter performance, by
cascading them, performance of the filter is enhanced in terms
(a)
(b)
Figure 2: Simulated S parameters of the proposed LPF; (a) for different values
of narrow strip line thickness T, (b) for different values of open stub width G.
of all functional parameters. For example, steep roll-off, bet-
terment in scattering parameters, improvement in -3 dB cut-off
frequency, and wide stopband performance are achieved. It is
also observed in the simulation, if further increase in the low-
pass sections, return loss in the passband reduces and overall
behavior of the filter is being poor. So, the proposed filter is
limited with only two LPF sections.
Figs. 2(a) and 2(b) show how strip width T and open stub
width G determine the cut-off frequency of the filter while other
parameters are kept constant. Frequency response for the dif-
ferent values for T from 0.18 mm to 0.90 mm with the step
size of 0.18 mm is shown in Fig. 2(a). It is clear from the re-
sponse that, cut-off frequency and return loss in the passband
are shifted when increasing G. For every increase in the step
size of G, there is 0.1 GHz right shift in the response, but there
is a degradation in the return loss and stopband responses.
Advanced Computational Techniques in Electromagnetics,Volume 2012, Year 2012, 4 Pages.
Figure 3: Simulated phase of S 21 of the proposed LPF.
Fig. 2(b) shows the frequency response with open stub width
G from 0.52 mm to 0.96 mm. In this parameter analysis, when
increasing in stub width G, the filter performance parameters
such as cut-off frequency, stop-band attenuation, and return loss
are decreased. Finally, the filter is optimized for the following
values: W = 5.01 mm, G = 0.52 mm, T = 0.18 mm, H = 7.79
mm, L = 16.17 mm, and B = 15.76 mm. The optimized LPF has
-3 dB cut-off frequency at 4.5 GHz. From 5.4 GHz to 7 GHz,
outband suppression for the developed filter is greater than -31
dB and from 7 GHz to 7.8 GHz it is below -20 dB. Insertion loss
of the developed filter is about less than -0.15 dB and the return
loss is -30 dB at 2.85 GHz. The overall dimension of the filter
with the above feature is only 16.17 mm (length)15.76 mm
(width), which is smaller than the reported LPFs available in
the literature and suitable for UWB applications. Fig. 3 shows
the simulation result of phase of S 21 for UWB LPF. The fig-
ure shows that the phase of S 21 throughout the passband of the
presented filter is acceptably linear for UWB applications.
4. Experimental verification
The proposed LPF is fabricated on low cost FR4 substrate with
dielectric constant of 4.4 and thickness of 1.6 mm for easy in-
tegration with printed circuit board (PCB). A snapshot of the
fabricated LPF is shown in Fig. 4. The two 50 transmission
lines are provided with filter to accommodate the SMA connec-
tors which enable connection to the scalar network analyzer for
measurement. Using Hewlett Packard network analyzer, the in-
sertion loss and return loss of the fabricated filter is measured.
The measured results of LPF are shown in Fig. 5. The mea-
sured results are in good agreement with the simulated results.
The small discrepancy between them might be due to fabrica-
tion tolerance, loss tangent of the substrate, or parasitic effect of
the SMA connectors.
The proposed filter is more compact than the filters available
in the literature. To illustrate the dimension contraction of the
developed filter, it is compared with the filter discussed in [6,14]
and it can be understood that the proposed filter consumes only
3
Figure 4: Snapshot of the fabricated LPF.
Figure 5: Simulated and measured S parameters of the developed UWB LPF.
about 25.48% of the substrate of that filter which is equal to the
size reduction of 74.54%.
Table 1 shows the comparison of performance of the pro-
posed filter with recently published work on LPF design. As
indicated, the proposed filter features low scattering losses, high
outband performance, and compact size than previous cited LPF
designs. It is also noticed that the filter has size reduction of
49.04% against the filter presented in [8] and, here, the pro-
posed filter only takes 50.96% of its substrate area.
5. Conclusion
A compact elliptic function LPF on microstrip line is presented
in this paper. The developed filter have -20 dB stopband from
5.4 to 7.8 GHz and demonstrated -3 dB cut-off frequency at
4.5 GHz. The filter also have optimal performance in terms
of measured insertion and return loss. The overall dimension
of the filter is only 16.17 mm (length) by 15.76 mm (width)
and it is more compact than the filters available in the literature
for this purpose. The developed filter is suitable to suppress
the spurious from the oscillators and amplifiers as well as to
eliminate outband noise in the UWB systems.
References
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4 K. Thirumalaivasan and R. Nakkeeran / Development and Analysis of Compact Lowpass Filter.
Table 1: Comparison of the proposed UWB LPF with existing filters.
Parameter \ Reference [6] [7]
Topology Elliptic SIHR
Size (mm2 ) 25 40 20 25
3 dB fc (GHz) 4.5 2.5
|S 21 | (dB) 0.5 0.4
|S 11 | (dB) 17
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H and DB Semi-HR UDSRC T
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11 30
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K. Thirumalaivasan was born in 1982
in Union Territory of Puducherry, In-
dia. He received his B.Tech. degree
in Electronics and Communication En-
gineering from Pondicherry Engineering
College (PEC), Pondicherry University,
Puducherry, India, and the M.E. degree
with the specialization of Communica-
tion Systems from College of Engineer-
ing Guindy (CEG), Anna University, Chennai, India, in 2004
and 2007, respectively. He has published more than 10 papers in
international journals and presented more than 15 papers in in-
ternational and national conferences in India and foreign coun-
tries. His current research interest is in the area of development
of UWB filters, antennas, splitter/combiner, directional coupler
and narrowband interference issues with UWB systems.
R. Nakkeeran was born in Tamilnadu,
India, in 1967. He received B.Sc. de-
gree in Science and B.E degree in Elec-
tronics and Communication Engineering
from Madras University in 1987 and 1991
respectively, and M.E degree in Elec-
tronics and Communication Engineering
(with diversification in Optical Commu-
nication) from Anna University in 1995.
He received Ph.D. degree from Pondicherry University in
2004. Since 1991, he has been working in teaching profes-
sion. Presently, he is Associate Professor in the Department
of Electronics Engineering, School of Engineering and Tech-
nology, Pondicherry Central University. He is life member of
IETE, ISTE, OSI, and IE (I). Also, he is member of IEEE,
OSA, IEICE, and SPIE. He has published around 150 papers
in National and International Conference Proceedings and Jour-
nals. He has co-authored a book, published by PHI. His areas of
interest are Optical Communication, Networks, Antennas, Elec-
tromagnetic Fields, and Wireless Communication.