IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 53, NO.
1, JANUARY 2005
Tunable Combline Filter With Continuous Control
of Center Frequency and Bandwidth
Manuel Sánchez-Renedo, Roberto Gómez-García, Student Member, IEEE, José I. Alonso, Member, IEEE, and
César Briso-Rodríguez
Abstract—A new combline filter structure with a continuous
tunability for both the center frequency and bandwidth is pre-
sented in this paper. The passband-width tunability is achieved
by placing variable coupling reducers between the filter res-
onators. The coupling reducers, operating as bandwidth control
subnetworks, are designed as detuned resonators made up of a
line segment ending in a variable capacitor. The proposed filter
structure is experimentally validated with the design, construc-
tion in suspended stripline technology, and characterization of a
low-cost filter prototype for terrestrial digital video broadcasting
receivers operating in the UHF band (470–862 MHz). Other
relevant factors, such as the intermodulation distortion produced
by the varactors used to control the bandwidth electronically or
the power-handling performance of the constructed filter, are also
discussed. The reconfigurable filter module described in this paper
is very suitable for the design of flexible multifunction receiver
subsystems simultaneously supporting signals with a different
bandwidth.
Index Terms—Bandwidth tunability, combline filters, suspended
stripline, terrestrial digital video broadcasting (DVB-T) system,
tunable filters, UHF band, varactors.
I. INTRODUCTION
R ECENT advances in modern ultrawide-band radar and
wireless communication applications demand high-per-
formance and reconfigurable RF subsystems [1], [2]. These
trends impose stringent requirements on the passive and active
filters directed at these applications [3], [4]. Specifically, the
development of efficient methods for tuning both the center
frequency and bandwidth of the filter response should be one
of the main goals.
Tunable-bandwidth microwave electronics are especially
useful for the design of high-frequency multifunction re-
ceivers supporting multiple information signals with different
frequency-band and power-level characteristics at the same
time. Here, the availability of reconfigurable bandpass filters
capable of adapting the passband width is essential to eliminate
Manuscript received April 21, 2004; revised June 18, 2004. This work was
supported in part by the National Board of Scientific and Technology Research
under Project TIC2002-04569-C02-01 and Project TIC2002-02657, by the
Spanish company IKUSI-Ángel Islesias, S.A. under Project P020935549, and
by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture under a doctoral scholarship.
M. Sánchez-Renedo, R. Gómez-García, and J. I. Alonso are with the
Grupo de Microondas y Radar, Departamento de Señales, Sistemas y
Radiocomunicaciones, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid,
Spain (e-mail: msrenedo@gmr.ssr.upm.es; roberto@gmr.ssr.upm.es;
ignacio@gmr.ssr.upm.es).
C. Briso-Rodríguez is with the Departamento de Ingeniería Audiovisual y
Comunicaciones, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
(e-mail: cbriso@diac.upm.es).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TMTT.2004.839309
0018-9480/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE
191
out-of-band noise and jamming spectral components and pre-
serve the dynamic range under any signal-receiving conditions,
also offering significant size and flexibility advantages over
traditional filter-bank alternatives.
In the consumer electronics field, tunable-bandwidth filters
have a potential application in the reception of terrestrial televi-
sion signals. A transition period has been established in Europe
mainly motivated by the political issues of each country, during
which both analog and digital television (TV) signals located
in the UHF–VHF bands have to share the same part of the
broadcasting spectrum (terrestrial digital video broadcasting
(DVB-T) [5]). As a consequence, the development of advanced
and low-cost receiver subsystems offering a dual operation for
analog and digital terrestrial TV channels is in great demand.
The design of bandpass filters with a tunable center fre-
quency has been a challenge widely approached over the
last two decades [6], [7]. The center-frequency tunability
preserving the general shape of the filter response is easily
accomplished by modifying the effective electrical lengths of
the filter resonators. Thus, several filter structures have been
proposed using variable reactance elements to tune the center
frequency. The use of semiconductor varactors as variable ca-
pacitors has been the most popular choice to control the center
frequency in a continuous fashion [8]–[11]. On the other hand,
the center-frequency tuning in discrete steps has mainly been
carried out by using p-i-n diodes. Recently, microelectrome-
chanical systems (MEMS) capacitors have become important
in handling high-power signal levels [12], [13].
In contrast to the center-frequency tunability, a small effort
has been made in the design of filter structures exhibiting a tun-
able passband width. The reason is the lack of adequate methods
to vary the inter-resonator couplings as desired, a necessary goal
toward the bandwidth control. Thus, the solutions proposed in
the past have mainly concentrated on providing a discrete band-
width tuning over a fixed center frequency [14], [15].
A new combline-filter configuration with continuous tun-
ability for both the center frequency and bandwidth is presented
in this paper. The bandwidth tuning is accomplished through
a method for controlling the couplings of the filter, based on
inserting variable coupling reducers between the combline
resonators. In order to demonstrate the practical viability
of the proposed filter structure, an experimental prototype
is designed, constructed, and characterized. This is a very
cost-effective reconfigurable filter module directed to the mass
production of DVB-T receivers simultaneously handling analog
and digital terrestrial TV channels located in the UHF band
(470–862 MHz).
192 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 53, NO. 1, JANUARY 2005

The center frequency of the synthesized bandpass response in

this filter structure is basically defined by the characteristics of
the filter resonators, although slightly influenced by the existing
couplings. In contrast, the bandwidth of the filter passband is
mainly determined by the distributed inductors modeling the
inter-resonator couplings so that wider bandwidths are produced
when stronger couplings are generated.
The combline filter has been extensively analyzed in the
past. Thus, different theoretical formulas for both the center
frequency and relative bandwidth of the synthesized response
as a function of the filter parameters have been proposed [6].
Furthermore, systematic methods to design combline filters
with a center-frequency tunability by using variable reactance
elements in the filter resonators have been developed [7].
The most used approach was given by Hunter and Rhodes
[6]. Here, the following expression about the electrical length to
be selected in the resonator lines for obtaining a desired center
frequency is given:

(1)

Fig. 1. Classic second-order combline filter. (a) Topology.

(b) Equivalent-circuit network. where is the center frequency, is the electrical length of
the resonator lines at , is the characteristic admittance of
the lines, is the capacitance value of the lumped capaci-
This paper is organized as follows. The foundations of the tors, and is the characteristic admittance of the distributed
proposed bandwidth tuning method are explained in Section II. inductor modeling the coupling between resonators (Fig. 1). Si-
Realization aspects of the bandwidth control in combline filters multaneously, the following equation is proposed for the relative
are also described. In Section III, a specific third-order filter pro- bandwidth:
totype is designed and constructed in suspended stripline tech-
nology. The filter, exhibiting a center-frequency and bandwidth
tunability within the 470–862-MHz range, is made up of three (2)
resonators and two variable coupling reducers. Simulation and
measurement results of the constructed filter are provided in where is a constant factor depending on the geometry of the
Section IV. This includes the characterization of the power-han- resonator and the type of the filter response to be synthesized
dling capabilities of the filter and the intermodulation distor- (e.g., Butterworth or Chebyshev with a specific ripple). As can
tion produced by the varactor semiconductors used to control be proven, the bandwidth is maximized for (
the bandwidth electronically. Finally, the most relevant conclu- ).
sions of this work are set out in Section V. Here, a method for tuning the bandwidth in a combline filter
configuration is presented [16]. The main idea is generating
II. BANDWIDTH TUNING METHOD IN COMBLINE FILTERS variable equivalent couplings between the filter resonators by
means of bandwidth control subnetworks.
A. Foundations of the Bandwidth Tuning Method The proposed bandwidth control subnetwork connecting the
The topology of a classic second-order combline filter is resonators of a second-order bandpass filter is represented in
given in Fig. 1. The equivalent-circuit network of the filter is Fig. 2. As observed, the bandwidth control subnetwork is made
also provided. As shown, the filter is made up of two identical up of distributed inductors with characteristic admittances
transmission-line segments shortened to ground in one extreme and , and by a variable admittance , the key element
and terminated in a lumped capacitor at the opposite end. The toward the bandwidth tunability.
line-capacitor set corresponds to the filter resonator, modeled The operating principle involved in the proposed bandwidth
as the parallel connection of the corresponding capacitor and tuning technique is analyzed by considering the two following
the equivalent distributed inductor of the transmission-line states for the variable admittance .
segment. The coupling between the resonator lines is merely • State .
inductive, and is approximated as a series distributed inductor In this case, the variable admittance corresponds
connecting the resonators. A distributed inductor refers to to an open circuit, resulting in the bandwidth control sub-
a transmission line shortened at one extreme, exhibiting an network in the equivalent distributed inductor
equivalent admittance , where is the , as shown in Fig. 3(a).
characteristic admittance and is the elec- The overall filter then corresponds to the conventional
trical length of the line. second-order bandpass network provided in Fig. 1(b).
SÁNCHEZ-RENEDO et al.: TUNABLE COMBLINE FILTER WITH CONTINUOUS CONTROL OF CENTER FREQUENCY AND BANDWIDTH 193

center frequency is also expected due to the modification

of the resonator inductors.
To obtain a desired center frequency in the state
, the electrical length of the resonator lines is
selected so that

(4)

When the state is tuned, the new center fre-

quency is derived from solving the following im-
plicit equation:
Fig. 2. Second-order bandpass filter structure with the bandwidth control
subnetwork. (5)

Taking into account that , the

above equation can be rewritten as

(6)

where is the center-frequency devia-

tion. In general, the condition is satisfied. By
using the trigonometric expansion of and ne-
glecting the second-order terms in , (6) then gives
rise to

(7)

Thus, as the solution

! !1
Fig. 3. Equivalent circuits of the proposed bandwidth control subnetwork.
(a) State Y 0 (open circuit). (b) State Y (short circuit).
(8)

Therefore, the center frequency and bandwidth perfor-

mance of the resulting filter response is obtained from (1)
and (2) by particularizing . The last expression represents the approximated
• State . center-frequency deviation produced from tuning the
For this state, the variable admittance is a short admittance between the open- and short-circuit
circuit, corresponding the bandwidth control subnetwork states. In fact, this is an unavoidable phenomenon since
to the inductance -network shown in Fig. 3(b). the modification of the inter-resonator coupling neces-
By absorbing the distributed inductors into the filter sarily implies the variation of the center-frequency value
resonators, the whole circuit becomes the typical second- for which (1) is satisfied, i.e., a shifting of the natural
order filter scheme again. The characteristic admittance frequencies of the resonators making up the equivalent
of the resulting inter-resonator inductor is . filter network. Nevertheless, the aforementioned effect
Since the following is then satisfied: can be corrected by using variable capacitors in the filter
resonators to retune the center frequency. Specifically, if
the filter capacitors are varied from to between
(3) both states so that

a reduction of the passband width with regard to the pre- (9)

vious state is produced. Furthermore, a variation in the
194 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 53, NO. 1, JANUARY 2005
Fig. 4. Second-order combline filter with continuos tunability in center
frequency and bandwidth. (a) Circuital diagram. (b) Resonating and
nonresonating node diagram. : node resonating at the tuned center frequency
(filter resonator). : node not resonating at the tuned center frequency (coupling
reducer). The continuous lines represent interactions between nodes.
then, from the previous equations, is obtained. In
addition, using (2), the following equation to be satisfied
between the relative bandwidth values corresponding to
the states and is obtained:
(10)
Through the developed analysis, the tunability of the filter
passband width by means of the proposed bandwidth control
subnetwork has been demonstrated. Furthermore, if the control
admittance is selected to be varied in a continuous way,
then a continuous bandwidth tunability limited by the above dis-
crete states is produced.
B. Implementation of the Bandwidth Control in
Combline Filters
The detail of the second-order combline filter exhibiting the
continuous bandwidth tunability is shown in Fig. 4. As shown,
the bandwidth control subnetwork is implemented by adding a
variable coupling reducer between the filter resonators. Variable
capacitors are also included in the combline resonators for ad-
justing the center-frequency deviation produced by the band-
width tuning.
As deduced, the proposed bandwidth tuning subnetwork is
conceptually equivalent to that shown in Fig. 2. The couplings
between the filter resonators and the variable coupling reducer
correspond to the distributed inductors , and the direct cou-
pling between the combline resonators to . The variable ad-
mittance is modeled by means of the coupling reducer
made up of the transmission-line segment and the variable ca-
pacitor, i.e.,
(11)
The ability to control the bandwidth is determined by the
reactance variation range of the coupling reducer capacitor.
The largest capacitance is, the highest admittance is
obtained and, thus, the minimum bandwidth state is reached
by producing the smallest effective coupling between the filter
resonators.
In fact, a key issue in the design of the bandwidth control
subnetwork is implementing the variable coupling reducer as a
detuned resonator not resonating at the tuned center frequency
(Fig. 4). Thus, a bandwidth control without distorting the filter
response is obtained. The requirement is achieved by satisfying
the following equation:
(12)
where is the resonance frequency of the coupling reducer
for the minimum value of the variable capacitor and is
the tuned center frequency. This condition is fulfilled by using a
coupling reducer transmission line with lower and higher values,
respectively, for the characteristic admittance and the elec-
trical length than those selected for the combline resonator
lines.
III. CONSTRUCTION OF A TUNABLE FILTER PROTOTYPE
In order to validate the previously established theoretical re-
sults experimentally, a specific filter prototype exhibiting a con-
tinuous tunability in both the center frequency and bandwidth
has been designed and constructed. The obtained results will be
presented here.
The fixed initial specifications to be satisfied for the center-
frequency and the bandwidth tuning performances are described
as follows.
• Center-frequency tunable range ( ): (470
862) MHz (UHF band).
• 3-dB bandwidth tunable range ( : (5
15) MHz.
Other important requirements to be met by the designed filter
prototype in all the tunable range are return losses better than
10 dB within the passband and a high out-of-band selectivity.
The tunable filter has been designed by the following steps.
Step 1) Application of the technique described in [7] to de-
sign an initial ideal filter exhibiting only the center-
frequency tunability.
Step 2) Introduction of the variable coupling reducers to
achieve the bandwidth tunability.
Step 3) Selection of the technology to be used.
Step 4) Consideration of the parasitic effects such as the
quality factor of the variable reactant elements or
the resistive behavior of the resonator connection-
to-ground.
Step 5) Optimization making use of commercial
simulators.
SÁNCHEZ-RENEDO et al.: TUNABLE COMBLINE FILTER WITH CONTINUOUS CONTROL OF CENTER FREQUENCY AND BANDWIDTH
Fig. 5. Layout of the constructed tunable filter prototype.
TABLE I
FILTER PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS
The suspended stripline technology has been chosen for the
design and construction of the tunable filter prototype [17], [18].
Specifically, a Teflon suspended stripline substrate with a very
low dielectric constant is used to reduce the transmission losses
of the filter as a consequence of the resulting low-loss line seg-
ments making up the filter resonators. The main parameters of
the selected stripline substrate supporting the conductor are a
relative dielectric constant , dielectric thickness
m, and metal thickness m. The ground-plane
spacing of the stripline is 25 mm.
The layout of the constructed tunable filter prototype is
shown in Fig. 5. The dimensions are provided in Table I. In fact,
in order to prevent a reduction effect of the resulting tuning
range as a consequence of small variations of the substrate
dielectric constant from the simulated value, the filter has been
designed to cover a center-frequency tunable band slightly
higher than the specified one. As observed, the filter structure
basically consists of a third-order combline configuration mod-
ified by two variable coupling reducers positioned between the
adjacent filter resonators and operating as bandwidth control
subnetworks. Thus, the passband width of the filter response is
controlled in a continuous fashion by changing the capacitance
value of the variable capacitors in both the coupling reducers.
Simultaneously, the center-frequency tunability is achieved
by means of the corresponding variable reactance elements
connected to the end of the three resonator lines. The lengths
of these lines have been selected to be sufficiently lower than
a quarter-wavelength long within the center-frequency tuning
range for both increasing the width of the stopbands and
195
Fig. 6. Constructed tunable filter prototype.
reducing the physical dimensions of the filter prototype. A cou-
pled-line scheme operating as an impedance inverter network
for both the input and output of the filter has been chosen.
A photograph of the constructed tunable filter prototype is
presented in Fig. 6. As shown, the overall filter circuit has
been embedded in a brass box. The dimensions of the box
are 50 65 25 mm. High- mechanical variable capacitors
offering a 1–20-pF capacitance variation range (model 5502,
5500 series, Johanson Manufacturing Corporation, Boonton,
NJ) have been used in the filter resonators for tuning the
center frequency. Moderate- varactor elements providing
a 7–40-pF capacitance variation for a 20–0-V bias voltage
(model ZC833B, 830 series, Zetex Semiconductors) are used in
the coupling reducers to control the bandwidth electronically.
In addition, 10-pF fixed capacitors are connected in series to
the varactor elements to accomplish a bandwidth tuning within
the specified range.
IV. CHARACTERIZATION OF THE TUNABLE FILTER PROTOTYPE
The constructed tunable filter prototype in suspended
stripline technology is fully characterized here. This in-
volves the measurement of not only the center-frequency and
bandwidth tuning performance, but also the intermodulation
distortion and power-handling capabilities of the filter. The
measurements have been obtained making use of an HP-8510C
network analyzer.
A. Instantaneous Bandwidth Tunability
The bandwidth tunability of the constructed filter prototype
is shown in Fig. 7 for the lower part of the intended center-fre-
quency tunable range. The simulated and measured transmis-
sion and return losses of the tunable filter for different values of
the voltage biasing the coupling reducer varactors are provided.
The variable capacitors of the filter resonators, initially adjusted
to tune a 470-MHz center frequency in the maximum bandwidth
state, are unchanged.
As expected from the results given in Section II, a small vari-
ation in the center frequency is produced when a lower band-
width state is tuned. Additionally, the transmission losses within
196 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 53, NO. 1, JANUARY 2005
Fig. 7. Instantaneous bandwidth tuning performance of the filter prototype for
different values of the varactor bias voltage (V = 0; 4; and 8 V). Passband
detail. (a) Measured and simulated filter transmission losses. (b) Measured and
simulated filter return losses.
the passband become more significant with the reduction in the
bandwidth, and the return losses become higher. These effects
are a result of the increase in the mismatching, and could be
counteracted by introducing two additional input/output vari-
able coupling reducers to rematch the filter. This is done at the
expense of making the dimensions of the final circuit higher, and
complicating the tuning process of the filter. On the other hand,
the small deviation exhibited by the center frequency when the
bandwidth is decreased is easily overcome by readjusting the
variable capacitors of the filter resonators to retune the circuit.
The bandwidth tuning performance is drawn for a wider fre-
quency range in Fig. 8. The main thing to be pointed out is
the presence of two resonance peaks out of the filter passband.
These peaks are just caused by the bandwidth control subnet-
works of the tunable filter, and thereby are located at the res-
onance frequencies of the variable coupling reducers. As ob-
served, the resonance peaks appear nearer to the filter passband
when a lower bandwidth is tuned. In fact, the spectral sepa-
ration between the filter passband and resonance peaks is in-
creased when transmission-line segments with a narrower phys-
ical width are used in the variable coupling reducers. This is a
direct consequence of (12), where it is shown that the resonance
frequency of the detuned resonator corresponding to the band-
width control subnetwork is decreased when a lower value for
the characteristic admittance of the coupling reducer line is se-
Fig. 8. Instantaneous bandwidth tuning performance of the filter prototype for
different values of the varactor bias voltage (V = 0; 4; and 8 V). Wide-band
response.
Fig. 9. Influence of the quality factor of the coupling reducer varactors on the
filter response. Simulation. (a) Resonance peaks. (b) Filter passband.
lected. From a practical perspective, the only disadvantage of
using high-impedance line segments to implement the coupling
reducers lies in the size of the final circuit: the spacing between
the filter resonators and the coupling reducers must be increased
slightly to achieve a given tunable-bandwidth range using a spe-
cific varactor element. The effect on the filter response of the
quality factor of the varactor elements included in the coupling
reducers is also analyzed in Fig. 9. As proven, when a lower
value is selected, then resonance peaks with smaller power
levels are produced without distorting the filter passband. Thus,
the use of high- varactor elements is not very appropriate. This
is a discrepancy with regard to the variable reactance elements
of the filter resonators, where high- capacitors are required for
minimizing the transmission losses within the filter passband.
The measured and simulated variation curves representing
the minimum and maximum 3-dB bandwidth of the filter pro-
totype as a function of the tuned center frequency are detailed
in Fig. 10. The measured curves have been obtained by interpo-
lating in 20-MHz center-frequency steps. The maximum band-
SÁNCHEZ-RENEDO et al.: TUNABLE COMBLINE FILTER WITH CONTINUOUS CONTROL OF CENTER FREQUENCY AND BANDWIDTH 197

Fig. 10. Measured and simulated variation curves representing the minimum
and maximum 3-dB bandwidth as a function of the tuned center frequency.

width state corresponds to a 0-V varactor bias voltage, and the

minimum to 20 V. As proven, higher values for both the band-
width states are obtained as the tuned center frequency is in-
creased, even though the ability to tune the passband width is
decreased.
The strong robustness of the proposed bandwidth tuning
method to undesired deviations produced in the electronic
control of the varactors semiconductors in relation to the ideal
capacitance values must be highlighted. Note that this differs Fig. 11. Instantaneous center-frequency tuning performance of the filter
from conventional center-frequency varactor-tuned combline prototype (f = 450; 550; 650; 750; and 850 MHz). (a) Measured and
filters, in which the varactor elements are directly included in simulated filter transmission losses. (b) Measured and simulated filter return
losses.
the filter resonators and, therefore, small variations in their ca-
pacitance values can result in nonnegligible frequency shiftings
of the filter passband.

B. Center-Frequency Tunability
The measured center-frequency tunability of the constructed
filter prototype is shown in Fig. 11. The simulation results are
also detailed. The depicted curves have been obtained by acting
on the mechanical variable capacitors of the filter resonators,
while the variable coupling reducers remain in a steady state.
The measured filter response has exhibited a 70% center-fre-
quency tunable range from approximately 420 to 870 MHz. As
shown, when a lower center frequency is tuned, the passband
transmission losses increase and the bandwidth is slightly re-
duced. The first is due to the decreasing effect experimented by
the quality factor of the filter resonators as the electrical length
of the lines is made shorter. The second is influenced by the lim-
ited operating range of the input and output coupled-line sec-
tions working as matching networks. Logically, the resonance
peaks produced by the coupling reducers are invariable since Fig. 12. Measured and simulated transmission losses’ variation curves as a
the bandwidth control varactors are unmodified. function of the tuned center frequency.
The transmission losses’ variation curves as a function of the
tuned center frequency are detailed in Fig. 12. The maximum
C. Intermodulation Distortion and
and minimum bandwidth states provided in Fig. 10 have been
Power-Handling Performance
considered. As observed, the transmission losses increase when
lower values for both the center frequency and bandwidth are The influence of the varactors used to control the bandwidth
tuned. electronically on the intermodulation distortion and the power-
198 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 53, NO. 1, JANUARY 2005
Fig. 13. Fundamental frequency output signal to third-order mixing product
power ratio as a function of the varactor bias voltage (f = 650 MHz).
Intermodulation distortion.
Fig. 14. Influence of the input signal power level on the filter response.
Self-biasing effect of the coupling reducer varactors. (a) Resonance peaks.
(b) Passband detail.
handling capabilities of the constructed tunable filter is consid-
ered below.
The measured and simulated curves representing the funda-
mental frequency output signal to the two-tone third-order in-
termodulation product power ratio ( ) as a function of
the varactor bias voltage are shown in Fig. 13 for different input
signal levels. The third-order mixing product has been gener-
ated making use of two tones 500 kHz apart within the pass-
band. The power levels of the tones are controlled to make them
equal, and their frequencies are selected so that the third-order
intermodulation product is located at the tuned center frequency
(650 MHz). As demonstrated, for a constant input signal power,
a smaller value for the ratio is obtained when a higher
voltage biases the varactors. As a consequence, the worst case
for the intermodulation-distortion performance results from the
minimum bandwidth state ( V). In this situation,
the measured third-order intermodulation point at the input is
32.8 dBm.
The power-handling performance of the filter prototype is an-
alyzed in Fig. 14. The measured filter response for different
values of the input signal power level is represented. The se-
lected center frequency is 650 MHz, and a bandwidth state fixed
to the minimum has been tuned. As observed, slight reductions
in the bandwidth are produced as a higher input signal power
is inserted to the filter. This is due to the self-biasing effect of
the varactor semiconductors by which the bandwidth state is
changed through the incremental voltage generated across the
varactors by the high-power input signal.
Finally, the noise performance of the filter was also measured
for several bias conditions of the varactor elements. The ob-
tained value for the noise figure was practically equal to the
corresponding transmission losses in all the cases. Thus, from
a noise perspective, the filter behaves as a passive device. Nev-
ertheless, this is a logical result since the varactor elements are
embodied in variable coupling reducers resonating at frequen-
cies allocated far away from the filter passband.
V. CONCLUSIONS
An advanced reconfigurable combline filter has been pre-
sented in this paper exhibiting a continuous tunability in the
center frequency and bandwidth simultaneously. The bandwidth
tunability has been accomplished by placing variable coupling
reducers between the adjacent filter resonators. The coupling
reducers have been implemented as detuned resonators using
a high-impedance line segment terminated in a variable ca-
pacitance. Thus, the passband-width tuning ratio is basically
defined by the reactance variation range of the coupling reducer
capacitors. Finally, to demonstrate the viability of the proposed
tunable filter, an experimental third-order filter prototype has
been constructed in suspended stripline technology in the
UHF band (470–862 MHz), and then fully characterized. The
designed filter is especially useful in the development of flex-
ible DVB-T receiver subsystems offering a dual operation for
both analog and digital TV channels. Varactor semiconductors
have been used in the coupling reducers to control the filter
bandwidth electronically. The resulting agreement between the
measurements and the simulations has been very close.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank J. Mellado and J. M. Montero, both of
the Grupo de Microondas y Radar, Departamento de Señales,
Sistemas y Radiocomunicaciones, Universidad Politécnica de
Madrid, Madrid, Spain, for helping in the fabrication process of
the filter prototype.
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Manuel Sánchez-Renedo was born in Madrid,
Spain, in 1980. He is currently working toward
the Ingeniero de Telecomunicación degree at the
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Madrid,
Spain.
Since October 2003, he has been with the Grupo de
Microondas y Radar, Departamento de Señales, Sis-
temas y Radiocomunicaciones (SSR), UPM. His re-
search activities are in the area of high-frequency cir-
cuit design for mobile and satellite communications
and radar systems.
199
Roberto Gómez-García (S’02) was born in Madrid,
Spain, in 1977. He received the Ingeniero de Tele-
comunicación degree from the Universidad Politéc-
nica de Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain, in 2001, and
is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree at UPM.
His Ingeniero de Telecomunicación thesis concerned
the design of microwave channelized active filters.
His doctoral dissertation concerns the analysis and
design of novel tunable and active microwave filter
configurations.
Since October 2000, he has been with the Grupo
de Microondas y Radar, Departamento de Señales, Sistemas y Radiocomuni-
caciones (SSR), UPM. His research activities are in the area of high-frequency
circuit design for communication and radar systems.
José I. Alonso (M’90) was born in Villacañas
(Toledo), Spain. He received the Ingeniero de
Telecomunicación and Ph.D. degrees from the
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain,
in 1982 and 1989, respectively.
From 1982 to 1985, he was a Microwave Design
Engineer with Telettra España S.A. (now Alcatel
Standard S.A.). In 1985, he joined the Departamento
de Señales, Sistemas y Radiocomunicaciones,
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Tele-
comunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid,
where he is currently a Full Professor. He has taught courses in microwave
circuits design, electrical networks and filter theory, test and measurements of
microwave circuits and laboratories related to analog and digital communica-
tion systems. He has developed his research with the Grupo de Microondas y
Radar in the areas of the analysis and simulation of high-speed/high-frequency
integrated circuits and their interconnections, the computer-aided design and
measurements of hybrid and GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuits
(MMICs) and their applications in the development and implementation of
mobile, satellite, optical-fiber communication, and adaptive antenna systems.
He is also involved in the development of circuits and subsystems for the
local multipoint distribution system (LMDS) and wireless local-area networks
(WLANs).
César Briso-Rodríguez was born in Valladolid,
Spain, in 1968. He received the Telecommunication
Engineer degree and Ph.D. degree in telecommuni-
cation from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid,
Madrid, Spain, in 1995 and 1995, respectively.
Since 1990, he has been with the Departamento de
Ingeniería Audiovisual y Comunicaciones, Univer-
sidad Politécnica de Madrid, where he is currently an
Assistant l Professor. His research areas are mainly
related to high-frequency radio communications cir-
cuits and systems principally applied to mobile and
satellite communications. He holds one patent. He has also been involved with
several research projects and development applications in cooperation with both
private and public companies.