A semi-lumped microstrip UWB bandpass filter

In this paper, a miniaturized bandpass filter for ultra-wide-band applications is proposed. It is based on the embedding of high-pass structures in a low-pass filter. A semi-lumped technology combining surface-mounted capacitors and transmission lines has been used. The filter design rules have been carried out. Furthermore, two filters having a 3-dB fractional bandwidth of 142 and 150%, centered at 0.77 and 1 GHz, respectively, have been realized for a proof of concept. Measured characteristics, in good agreement with simulations, show attractive properties of return loss (|S11| <−18 dB), insertion loss (<0.3 dB), and a maximum group delay and group delay variation of 2 and 1.3 ns, respectively. A distributed filter based on the same low-pass/high-pass approach has been also realized and measured for comparison. The size reduction reaches 85% for the semi-lumped filter, and its selectivity is improved with a shape factor of 1.3:1 instead of 1.5:1. The semi-lumped filter's drawback is related to a smaller rejection bandwidth compared to the distributed one. To improve the high-frequency stopband, an original technique for spurious responses suppression based on capacitively loaded stubs has been proposed. Even if the performances do not reach that obtained for the distributed approach, with this technique spurious responses are pushed until eight times the center frequency. A sensitivity study vs. critical parameters has also been carried out, showing the robustness of the design.