Design of microstrip wide stopband quad-band bandpass filters for multi-service communication systems

This paper presents two planar high performance quad-channel bandpass filters, which are designed based on a novel circular multi-mode resonator. In this paper and for the first time, the proposed resonator is utilized to achieve quad passbands. It consists of diverged feeding lines that are coupled to etched circular cells. The first filter has quite close channels at 2.62, 2.88, 4.34 and 4.67 GHz, which make it appropriate for frequency division duplex (FDD) scheme. Meanwhile, the second filter is designed for WCDMA and WiMAX applications. Both filters are able to attenuate the harmonics up to 19 GHz with a maximum harmonic level of −20 dB. The insertion losses and return losses of both filters at all channels are better than 1.2 dB and 17.5 dB, respectively. The harmonic attenuation method is presented employing a LC equivalent circuit of the proposed resonator. In order to verify the designing methodology, the proposed filters are fabricated and measured where there are good agreements between the simulation and measurement results.     

Broadband bandpass filters using slotted resonators fed by interdigital coupled lines for improved upper stopband performances

This paper proposes new broadband microstrip bandpass filters based on slotted linear tapered-line resonator (SLTR) and slotted step impedance resonator (SSIR) structures for size reduction and improved stopband performances. A comprehensive treatment of slotted resonators and both ends of the resonator with interdigital coupled lines is described. The design concept is demonstrated by two filter examples including one with an SLTR and another one with an SSIR. These filters have not only compact size but also a wider upper stopband resulting from resonator bandstop characteristics. The simulated and experimental results of stopband performances are better than 15 dB for a frequency range up to 25 GHz.     

Compact circular-patch-based bandpass filter for ultra-wideband wireless communication systems

Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a radio technology that enables low-power-level, short-range, and wide-bandwidth communication, and it has been widely applied in personal area networks, precision geolocation, medical, surveillance, and vehicular radar systems. Since Federal Communications Commission released the unlicensed use of the UWB range (3.1–10.6 GHz), a significant attention has been paid to the development of UWB devices, particularly UWB bandpass filters. In this paper, we propose a novel UWB bandpass filter based on circular patch resonator that is grounded by via and perturbed by slits and defected ground structures. The resonator’s behaviour is analysed in detail and it is shown that its specific configuration allows a flexible control of the three lowest resonant modes, which are used to form UWB passband. To demonstrate the potential of the resonator, a UWB filter has been designed, fabricated, and measured. The filter is characterized by the insertion loss lower than 1 dB and return loss higher than 17 dB within the passband, as well as by very small group delay variation of only 0.07 ns. Also, the filter exhibits suppression higher than 19 dB up to 30 GHz, and very small overall dimensions of only 0.31λ_g × 0.31λ_g, and thus it outperforms other published UWB filters.     

Microwave properties and applications of Y–Ba–Cu–O thin films grown on various substrates

Microwave properties of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (YBCO) films grown on (100) LaAlO₃ (LAO), (110) NdGaO₃ (NGO) and (001) SrLaAlO₄ (SLAO) substrates were studied in the form of a microstrip ring resonator at temperatures above 20 K. The YBCO resonator on a SLAO substrate showed microwave properties better than or comparable to other YBCO resonators on LAO substrates. For the YBCO resonators on LAO and SLAO substrates, both Q_U and f₀ appeared to decrease as the temperature was raised. Meanwhile the resonator on a NGO substrate showed different behaviors with Q_U showing a peak at ∼70 K, which are attributed to the unique temperature dependence of the loss tangent of the NGO substrate. An X-band oscillator with a YBCO ring resonator coupled to the circuit was prepared and its properties were investigated at low temperatures. The frequency of the oscillator signal appeared to change from 7.925 GHz at 30 K to 7.878 GHz at 77 K, which was mostly attributed to the change in f₀ of the YBCO ring resonator. The signal power appeared to be more than 4.5 mW at 30 K and 2.1 mW at 77 K, respectively. At 55 K, the frequency of the oscillator signal was 7.917 GHz with the 3 dB-linewidth of 450 Hz.     

Experimental investigation of temperature and relative humidity effects on resonance frequency and quality factor of CMOS-MEMS paddle resonator

This paper reports an experimental approach to analyse the performance of an externally actuated CMOS-MEMS paddle resonator with proof mass. The surface morphology test of the device is performed with the help of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), before and after the reliability tests. The effects of temperature variation on the resonance frequency response of the fabricated CMOS-MEMS resonator is analysed under the variation of temperature from 25 °C to 80 °C inside a custom made environmental chamber at a constant relative humidity (32%RH). In the next step, the variation in the quality factor of the MEMS resonator is studied under the effect of varying temperature. Finally, the resonance frequency behavior is analysed under the variation of relative humidity from 32%RH to 90%RH at a constant temperature of 25 °C. The device is found to be eroded and there are some wastes of humidity on it. A total change of 6.9 Hz in resonance frequency is recorded from 25 °C to 80 °C. The drop in the resonance frequency of the MEMS device is found to be 137 MHz/°C with the rise in temperature. Under the temperature variation from 25 °C to 80 °C, the quality factor is found to be nonlinear. A total change of 1.3 Hz in the resonance frequency is observed from 32%RH to 90%RH. The resonance frequency is found to be − 21.8 MHz/RH% with an increasing humidity level.     

Microelectromechanical resonator manufactured using CMOS-MEMS technique

The fabrication of a microelectromechanical resonator using the commercial 0.35 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process and a post-process has been implemented. The resonator requires only one wet etching post-process. The suspended structures in the resonator consist of a membrane and four beams. The post-process utilizes an etchant to etch the sacrificial layer, and to release the suspended structures. Easy execution and low cost are the advantages of the post-process. The resonator comprises a driving part and a sensing part. The sensing part produces a change in capacitance when applying a driving voltage to the driving part in the resonator. A circuitry is used to convert the capacitance variation of the sensing part into the voltage output. Experimental results show that the resonant frequency of the resonator is about 39.5 MHz and the quality factor is 806.     

Temperature dependent Young's modulus and quality factor of CMOS-MEMS resonator: Modelling and experimental approach

CMOS-MEMS resonators are the key parts of modern integrated systems. Most of these resonators are fabricated through CMOS composite layers that are sensitive to temperature. In this article, the effects of temperature on the collective Young's moduli and quality factor of CMOS composite layers based MEMS resonator are theoretically modelled and experimentally validated. A custom made environmental chamber is used to control the environmental effects and an external vibration shaker is used to actuate the fabricated CMOS-MEMS resonator at its resonance frequency in the presence of a permanent magnet. Variations with increasing temperature in the collective Young's moduli of the CMOS composite layers are determined through the measurement of change in resonance frequency of the resonator and found to be linear. A nonlinear behaviour of the quality factor is noticed in the temperature range of 25 °C to 80 °C, the quality factor is found to be increasing whereas from 60 ^∘ C to 80 ^∘ C, the quality factor is decreasing.     

Log-domain high-order low-pass and band-pass filters

Continuous time current-mode high-order low-pass and band-pass filters based on the log-domain concept are presented in this paper. The passive RLC ladder networks are used as the prototype to achieve the proposed filter by simulating the RLC network synthesis method. The achieved filters have inherited the good sensitivity performance from the RLC passive prototype. Fifth-order RLC ladder low-pass filter and sixth-order RLC ladder band-pass filter are used as prototypes and the signal flow graph (SFG) technique is used for the synthesis. The SFG can identify group of integrators and several signal paths. Log-domain lossy and lossless integrators based on BJT technology are deployed to achieve the integrators for realization of proposed filters. The simulations were carried out and the results exhibited several features which are in agreement with the RLC prototype. The frequency response of filters along 100 kHz to 10 MHz can be electronically tuned through 5–500 µA of bias currents. The THD lower than 1% of LP and BP filters were measured at 10 MHz input. The multi-tone tested was included in the paper for verifying the performance of proposed LP and BP filters. The intermodulation distortions around −50 dB and −60 dB were also investigated for the proposed LP and BP filters.     

A wideband high gain dielectric resonator antenna for RF energy harvesting application

A novel high gain and broadband hybrid dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is designed and experimentally validated. To obtain the wide impedance bandwidth, the proposed antenna geometry combines the dielectric resonator antenna and an underlying slot with a narrow rectangular notch, which effectively broadens the impedance bandwidth by merging the resonances of the slot and DRA. An inverted T-shaped feed line is used to excite both antennas, simultaneously. It supports amalgamation of different resonant modes of the both, DRA and slot antenna. The measured results show that the proposed antenna offers an impedance bandwidth of 120% from 1.67 to 6.7 GHz. The antenna gain is next enhanced by a reflector placed below the antenna at an optimum distance. On engineering the height and dimension of this reflector the antenna gain is improved from 2.2 dBi to 8.7 dBi at 1.7 GHz. Finally, antenna operation is attested experimentally with a rectifier circuit in the frequency range of 1.8–3.6 GHz, where various strong radio signals are freely available for RF energy harvesting. The measured maximum efficiency of the rectifier and rectenna circuit were found to be 74.4% and 61.4%, respectively.     

Design of selective CIC filter functions

The aim of this letter is to provide graphs which can be used to design a novel class of selective CIC (Cascaded-Integrator–Comb) filters given insertion loss specification. The goal is to choose the free integer filter parameters such that the filter function yields a desired frequency response. To determine the filter parameters needed to satisfy the desired specifications, one can use the graphs of normalized passband and stopband cut-off frequencies versus filter order N. Two graphs, one for maximum attenuation in the passband and one for minimum attenuation in the stopband, are given here. Achieved improvement of performances of the novel class of CIC filter functions over the classical CIC filters is also given. In case of N = 7, the novel class of CIC filter functions gives improvements of 27.68 dB, 47.29 dB and 66.53 dB for different values 1, 2 and 3 of free parameter L, respectively.     

On design of a novel class of selective CIC FIR filter functions with improved response

The Cascaded-Integrator-Comb (CIC) filter is a non-recursive (FIR) filter which is multiplier free, consisting only of two building blocks (simple integrator stage and simple comb filter stage) and has a linear phase. This paper summarizes some key points of classical CIC filters and proposes a novel class of CIC FIR filter functions. A novel class of CIC filter functions maintains simplicity of FIR filters by avoiding the multipliers, but shows excellent performances in term of insertion loss in stopband and selectivity with respect to conventional CIC filters. A set of simulations along with illustrative examples is conducted in order to compare the attenuation characteristics of the classical CIC filter functions and the proposed novel class of selective CIC FIR filter functions. For the same level of a constant group delay τ = 45.5 s, a classical CIC filter function has insertion loss of 166.3 dB, and designed novel filter function has a higher level of insertion loss 206.55 dB.     

Improved performance step impedance lowpass filter

Performances of the conventional Butterworth step impedance lowpass filters (LPF) are significantly improved by placing transmission zero either closer to the cut-off frequency (f_c) or away from it. It is achieved by using transverse resonance width of the capacitive line sections. We report method of designing transverse resonance type LPF (TR-LPF) for 5 to 11-pole filters. At f_c = 2.5 GHz, we obtained selectivity in the range 113.3–56.66 dB/GHz and 20–60 dB rejection BW in the range 9.61–7.29 GHz. The TR-LPF can suppress the stopband signal by 60 dB up to 5f_c. Insertion loss in passband is within 0.72 dB. Improved performance of TR-LPF can be designed for f_c up to 7.5 GHz.     

A novel 5.8 GHz quasi-lumped element resonator antenna

In this paper, a novel quasi-lumped element resonator antenna is presented. The proposed antenna consists of the interdigital capacitor in parallel with a straight line inductor and is fabricated on Duroid RC4003C circuit board. The entire arrangement was fed by a coaxial feed at a frequency of 5.8 GHz. The size, bandwidth and radiation patterns were studied. The proposed antenna exhibits better impedance bandwidth and significant size reduction in comparison with similar results obtained from the conventional microstrip patch antenna with similar feeding technique and resonant frequency. The size of the proposed antenna structure is 5.8 × 5.6 mm² and experimental results are shown to be in good agreement with the design simulation.     

Temperature stability of a piezoresistive MEMS resonator including self-heating

Temperature stability of a piezoresistive 1.5 μm thin SOI resonator at 74 MHz is presented. As compared to capacitive resonators the self-heating due to the bias current causes a further decrease of the resonator frequency, in addition to the well-known dependency on ambient temperature. The interpretation of the resonance frequency as a device temperature is not obvious anymore under self-heating due to the inhomogeneous temperature distribution.     

Ultra wideband bandpass filter with dual-notched bands using stub-loaded rectangular ring multi-mode resonator

This paper presents a new ultra wideband (UWB) bandpass filter (BPF) with dual-notched bands (at 5.2/5.7 GHz) using the stub-loaded rectangular ring multi-mode resonator (MMR). The proposed resonator consists of the dual embedded open-circuited stubs for introducing the dual notch bands and connected with a stub-loaded rectangular ring structure for controlling the two transmission zeros (at 3/11 GHz) at both sides of the UWB passband edge. This study mainly provides a simple method to design a UWB bandpass filter with high passband selectivity and dual-notched bands for satisfying the Federal Communications Commission (FCC-defined) indoor UWB specification. Experimental verification is provided and good agreement has been found between simulation and measurement.     

Dual-resonance concurrent oscillator

This paper studies a new dual-band CMOS class-C voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The oscillator consists of a dual-resonance LC resonator in shunt with two pairs of capacitive cross-coupled nMOSFETs. The proposed oscillator has been implemented with the TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS technology, and it shows a frequency tuning range with two frequency bands and a small tuning hysteresis is measured. The oscillator can generate differential signals at 2.4 GHz and 6.9 GHz and it also can generate concurrent frequency oscillation while the circuit is biased around the bias with frequency tuning hysteresis. With the supply voltage of V_DD = 1.1 V, the VCO-core current and power consumption of the oscillator are 2.90 mA and 3.19 mW, respectively. The die area of the class-C oscillator is 0.9 × 0.97 mm². Overvoltage stress is applied to the oscillator, measurement indicates the concurrent oscillation is sensitive to overvoltage stress.     

Silicon based on-chip antenna using an LC resonator for near-field RF systems

This paper presents the silicon based on-chip antenna using a LC resonator. The proposed antenna consists of a stacked capacitor and a spiral inductor on silicon substrate. The spiral inductor structure without underpass was proposed for improvement the performance of the silicon based-antenna. The resonant frequency of the fabricated antenna was measured as 465 MHz. Its return loss was 23.4 dB at resonant frequency. The antenna has a gain of ?35.75 dBi due to small size and silicon substrate. However, the fabricated antenna has good performance in the near-field.     

Repeated Bidirectional Transmission Using Two 4-Port Optical Circulators and a Bidirectional EDFA without Isolators

By using a newly designed bidirectional erbium-doped fiber amplifier, we demonstrated a 2 × 2.5 Gb/s repeated bidirectional transmission over a 100-km single-mode fiber. Two tunable optical bandpass filters were used to suppress the Rayleigh backscattering and amplified spontaneous emission in the bidirectional transmission system. The bit error rate performances were measured for both directions. A negligible power penalty of 0.2 dB for the 2 × 2.5 Gb/s transmission due to backreflections was observed when comparing the bidirectional transmission with single-channel, unidirectional transmission.     

A RF front-end for DVB-SH based on current conveyors

Inductors are used extensively in Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits to design matching networks, load circuits of voltage controlled oscillators, filters, mixers and many other RF circuits. However, on-chip inductors are large and cannot be ported easily from one process to the next. Due to modern CMOS scaling, inductorless RF design is rapidly becoming possible. In this paper a new methodology for designing the RF frontend necessary for the DVB-SH in a 90 nm CMOS technology based on the use current conveyors (CC) is presented. The RF frontend scheme is composed of a second generation CC (CCII) LNA with asymmetric input and output, an asymmetric to differential converter, and a passive differential mixer followed by two CCII transimpedance amplifiers to obtain a high gain conversion. Measurements show a conversion gain of 20.8 dB, a 14.5 dB noise figure, an input return loss (S11) of −14.3 dB and an output compression point of −3.9 dBm. This combination draws 28.4 mW from a ±1.2 V supply.     

Miniaturized microstrip bandpass filter designed using rectangular dual spiral resonator

A miniaturized microstrip bandpass filter based on a rectangular dual spiral resonator (DSR) is proposed in this paper. The rectangular DSR bandpass filter is centered at 3.65 GHz to suit for Wireless LAN (IEEE802.11y) application. The proposed filter offers transmission zero at the high side of out-of-band response. Across the bandwidth, the measured minimum insertion loss is about 1.7 dB, while the measured return loss is better than 19 dB. Measurement results are good agreement and closed to the simulated ones. The total circuit size of the miniaturized bandpass filter is about 0.145λ_g by 0.135λ_g, where λ_g is the guided wavelength at 3.65 GHz.