1214
8, 2009
Size Reduction and Bandwidth Enhancement
of a Waveguide Bandpass Filter
Using Fractal-Shaped Irises
D. Oloumi, A. Kordzadeh, and A. A. Lotfi Neyestanak
Abstract—In this letter, a novel waveguide bandpass filter with
fractal-shaped irises is presented. By applying first iteration Koch
fractal-shaped irises, the bandwidth is increased to more than
3.15 and the overall size is reduced to about 2.8 in comparison
to a waveguide filter with rectangular-shaped irises. The proposed
filter is simulated using Ansoft HFSS and fabricated, which is
verified by good agreement between simulated and measured
results. Measurement results show less than 0.8 dB insertion loss
and return loss better than 10 dB.
Index Terms—Bandwidth enhancement, iris, fractal Koch, size
reduction, waveguide bandpass filter.
I. INTRODUCTION
M ICROWAVE filters are the key elements that are widely
used in many communication systems nowadays. Many
different filtering structures employ direct-coupled microwave
resonators of various shapes such as irises and posts. Gener-
ally, direct-coupled waveguide resonator filters are designed by
starting from a prototype with inverter-coupled lumped-element
resonators. The resonators are then replaced by the distributed
equivalent elements by equating the susceptance slops of the ac-
tual resonators to those of the lumped-element resonators at the
passband center frequency. Inverters are then replaced by their
practical equivalents that involve a shunt reactance surrounded
by waveguide pieces with negative lengths [1], [2]. One induc-
tive obstacle that is conventionally used is iris, which is placed
across the waveguide parallel to the electric field of the domi-
nant mode. The separation among the irises is determined in ac-
cordance with the value of the obstacle susceptance. Normally,
the gap between center irises is largest, and other gaps are re-
duced toward both ends of the filter [3]. In recent years, as the
demands for portable systems have been increasing, low-profile
systems have drawn much interest from researchers. Therefore,
many kinds of filter miniaturization techniques have been in-
troduced. In [4], a waveguide bandpass filter with compact size
was introduced. The proposed structure consists of induc-
tive diaphragms in a rectangular waveguide, and their spacing
Manuscript received June 09, 2009; revised August 18, 2009 and September
22, 2009. First published October 30, 2009; current version published November
24, 2009.
D. Oloumi and A. A. Lotfi Neyestanak are with Islamic Azad University,
Shahre Rey Branch, Tehran 33191-18651, Iran (e-mail: daniel.oloumi@gmail.
com; alotfi@iust.ac.ir).
A. Kordzadeh is with Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran
16846-13114, Iran (e-mail: atefeh.kordzadeh@gmail.com).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LAWP.2009.2035648
1536-1225/$26.00 © 2009 IEEE
IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL.
is filled by dielectrics. In [5], a rectangular complementary split
ring resonator (CSRR) element for waveguide bandpass filter
design is introduced, and its miniaturization effect is investi-
gated. A transmission line with half-mode substrate integrated
waveguide on the circuit board has the characteristics of high
pass, while a periodic uniform photo band structure (PBG) array
has the characteristics of bandstop. Combining these two struc-
tures, a novel compact broadband bandpass filter is constructed
[6].
Some fractals are self-similar objects as multiple-scale
lengths organized in a deterministic or stochastic way. The
creation of fractals is based on set theory and can be produced
by a simple feedback process. The fractal generation procedure
begins with a generator shape, and it is input to a mapping
function, and its output becomes the input for the next iteration
[7], [8]. The application of fractal geometry to a filter structure
with rectangular-shaped irises optimizes the shape of the filter
in iteration to increase its electrical size, which thus reduces its
overall size. Most fractal geometries have two main features
in common, space-filling and self similarity. Fractal-shaped
antenna elements present various advantages: wide bandwidth
[9], multiband [10], miniaturization [11], and high directivity
[12]. In [13], a universal review on fractal-shaped antennas
and their properties are fulfilled. By applying the Koch fractal
shape to microstrip antennas, the overall electrical length of
the antennas increases, and the resonance frequency becomes
lower than that of simple rectangular patch antennas [14].
Considering the previous works, in this letter, a novel wave-
guide filter with Koch geometry as a periodic structure is de-
signed and fabricated. The advantages of the proposed structure
are its greater bandwidth and also its considerable compact size.
II. CONVENTIONAL DESIGN PROCEDURE
A. Design Procedure
In this section, we outline the design procedure for a band-
pass waveguide filter based on Chebyshev approximation. The
approximate center frequency is located at 10 GHz, and the filter
bandwidth is about 260 MHz, which is about 2.6% bandwidth.
Six section irises are used within the waveguide to realize the
filter.
The design procedure is summarized as follows. A WR-90
waveguide (0.9 in 0.4 in) is selected as the primary frame for
the waveguide filter. The guide wavelength in inches can be cal-
culated by using the following formula:
OLOUMI et al.: SIZE REDUCTION AND BANDWIDTH ENHANCEMENT OF WAVEGUIDE BANDPASS FILTER 1215

(1)

where is the waveguide width in inches and is the frequency

in gigahertz.
Then, the lumped-elements prototype for an equivalent low-
pass filter is calculated. The element values to Chebyshev filters
for and 0.5 dB ripple by considering
and are extracted from [3]. For , we have

(2)

where
Fig. 1. A Koch first-iteration fractal-shaped iris.
(3)

and

(4)

By considering the ratio , we can gain the gap

between each pair of irises. Therefore, we have

and the separation between irises in inches is found by using the

following formula [3]:

(5)

and then these angles in radians are converted to lengths in

inches by using the rule that

(6)
Fig. 2. (a) Geometry of the constructed waveguide filter with first-itera-
tion fractal-shaped irises. (b) Horizontally intersected view. d1 = d6 =
so that we have 0:337; d2 = d5 = 0:193; d3 = d4 = 0:175; la = lb = 0:778; l1 =
l5 = 0:702; l2 = l4 = 0:748; l3 = 0:752; L = 5:264, and a = 0:9 (all
dimensions are in inches).

B. Defected Irises by Using Koch Fractal length increases by a factor of per each iteration. The final
In this letter, Koch fractal irises are used instead of rectan- schematic of the filter with relating design values is shown in
gular ones. Koch fractal geometry is constructed by forming a Fig. 2.
polygon with Koch curves on each side. The Koch curve, named
after the mathematician Helg von Koch, is a simple example of III. ANALYSIS OF DEFECTED IRISES
fractal structures [15].
Fig. 3 shows the equivalent circuit of an obstacle in a wave-
As can be seen from Fig. 1, the generator length is divided
guide. Each obstacle has both parallel and series susceptance,
by 3, and the middle part is replaced with a rectangle with the
and , which are identified by using the scattering matrix
height equal to one quarter of the generator length. In the fol-
parameters as demonstrated in the following relations:
lowing sequences, each new part is considered to be a generator.
Design values for the first three irises are listed in Table I, and it (7)
must be considered that there is a symmetric plane intersecting
half-waveguide length. The number of iterations determines the
(8)
iteration of the fractal, and as this iteration increases, the overall
1216
Fig. 3. Equivalent circuit for irises as obstacle.
TABLE I
DESIGN VALUES FOR FRACTAL IRISES IN INCHES
TABLE II
A COMPARISON OF ACHIEVED BANDWIDTH AND SIZE REDUCTION
where and are the scattering parameters of dominate
TE10 mode. For the -impedance inverter, and are re-
lated to and as follows [3]:
(9)
Both and , and consequently and , are dependent
on the width of the irises, . Since these functions are not ex-
plicit, one needs to run the EM simulator for a range of iris width
to calculate parameter and corresponding , , , and .
This will allow the construction of a lookup table or a curve for
versus . Therefore, to identify the effect of fractal defects,
and for each pair of irises is calculated by using the EM
simulator (HFSS).
Table II demonstrates a comparison between different orders
of Koch fractal irises. In the table, a conventional rectangular
iris filter is shown by the acronym CRIF, and fractal iris filter by
FIF, and and are related to the 3-dB cut-off frequency.
As can be seen in Table II, by increasing the iteration of frac-
tals, the filter bandwidth will increase too. It must be mentioned
that, in all cases, insertion loss is less than 0.8 dB. In all itera-
tions of the FIF, insertion loss remained constant.
In addition, Table III shows the comparison between band-
width of CRIF and FIF, where both have the same volume. These
results demonstrate that a significant increase in bandwidth can
be achieved over a standard rectangular iris.
IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 8, 2009
Fig. 4. Simulated and measured frequency response of the Koch fractal filter.
TABLE III
COMPARISON OF BANDWIDTH OF CONVENTIONAL AND KOCH FILTERS
TABLE IV
COMPARISON IN SIZE OF CONVENTIONAL AND KOCH FILTERS
TABLE V
COMPARISON IN SIZE REDUCTION AND BANDWIDTH ENLARGEMENT
BETWEEN SOME FILTERS
A good comparison in size of a CRIF and FIF is done in
Table IV. Using fractal defected irises reduces the size of the
filter to about 2.8 . It must be noted the second iteration does
not change the perimeter significantly; this was expected be-
cause there is not much difference between the lengths made
in these iterations.
From Table IV, we can recognize that the CRIF with
820 MHz bandwidth has 14.8 in (375.928 mm) length, which
is 2.8 bigger than the length of the FIF.
Fig. 4 shows the frequency response of the simulated filter. As
can be seen, bandwidth enlargements are achieved by using first-
and second-iteration Koch fractals on the irises. First-iteration
fractal-shaped irises result in a 3.15 increase in the bandwidth
in comparison to a CRIF, and the second iteration enlarges the
bandwidth to more than 4 .
Table V comprises two filters proposed in [5] and [16] with
the proposed FIF both in size reduction and bandwidth enhance-
ment.
OLOUMI et al.: SIZE REDUCTION AND BANDWIDTH ENHANCEMENT OF WAVEGUIDE BANDPASS FILTER 1217

fabricated. The comparison of the simulation and measurement

results confirms the validity of design and simulation. The main
advantages of using fractal-shaped irises are increasing the
bandwidth and reducing the overall size of the filter structure. It
is found that as the iteration number of the fractal increases, the
center frequency becomes lower than those of zero iteration,
which represent a waveguide filter with rectangular-shaped
irises. This innovation can be widely used in satellite applica-
tions where having low-profile components is very crucial.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
A. A. Lotfi Neyestanak (corresponding author) would like
to thank Islamic Azad University, Shahre Rey Branch, for its
valuable support.

Fig. 5. Fabricated filter with WR90 (a = 0:9 in, b = 0:4 in, L = 5:264 in).
IV. FABRICATION AND MEASUREMENT
The measured and simulated results (Fig. 4) of the fabricated
filter with fractal Koch-shaped irises (Fig. 5) are in excellent
agreement. The measured insertion loss in the passband re-
mains less than 0.8 dB, and the return loss is better than 10 dB
throughout the passband. The increased electrical length of
the iris’ fractal-shaped perimeters facilitates a lower center
frequency when compared to the CRIF, and the proposed filter
translates these properties into an overall size reduction of
about 2.8 . Additionally, the Koch fractal iris design in this
work shows a 3.15 increase in bandwidth when compared
to the CRIF. Overall, the size and volume of the proposed
filter is decreased significantly when compared to a rectangular
waveguide filter with rectangular irises.
Each fractal structure is formed from a collection of scaled
versions of the primary generator. Therefore, different resonant
frequencies that are dependent on the scaling factor of the fractal
will be created. If these resonant frequencies are sufficiently
close to each other, they will overlap, and consequently, overall
bandwidth will increase.
On the other hand, the overall size of the proposed filter is ex-
tremely decreased. This means that this new structure operates
in the center frequency equal to a waveguide filter with rect-
angular irises, but with a considerable lower volume. Fractals
are shapes whose perimeter increases by increasing the number
of iterations. Therefore, by shaping the irises into fractals, the
overall electrical perimeter of the irises is increased and the
center frequency of the filter is shifted to lower values. This
means that in comparison to a CRIF, the proposed filter achieves
an overall size reduction of about 2.8 . It must be mentioned
that this behavior is not uniquely related to the geometric details
of the self-similar fractal geometry [17].
V. CONCLUSION
In this letter, a novel six-section fractal iris waveguide filter
at the center frequency of 10 GHz has been simulated and
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