Compact Microstrip Lowpass Filter Based on Defected Ground Structure and Compensated Microstrip Line

JiaLin Li, JianXin Chen, Quan Xue , JianPeng Wang Wei Shao, and LiangJin Xue ,

Institute of Applied Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, ChengDu 610054, P. R. China

Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee 83, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Z Z0 0 P Zc c Z P Zc c Z Z0 0

Abstract An improved defected ground structure (DGS) with compensated microstrip line is investigated for lowpass filter (LPF) applications. With this structure, the basic resonant element exhibits the elliptic-function lowpass responses. The use of introduced resonant elements allows sharp cutoff frequency response and high harmonic suppressions together with small size to be obtained with less number of periodic structures. An equivalent lumped L-C circuit model is presented and its corresponding L-C parameters are also extracted by using parametric relationships. Based on the equivalent circuit model, a 3-pole LPF, using 3 DGS units cascaded, is optimally designed and implemented; measurements show good consistency with calculations. Index Terms Low-pass filters, microstrip, microwave filters, resonators.

L L0 C0 L0 C0

(a)

I. INTRODUCTION In modern wireless communication systems, compact size and high performance filters are commonly required to reduce the cost and enhance system performances. Recently, the defected ground structure (DGS) for microstrip lines [1]-[4] or coplanar waveguide (CPW) [5]-[6], such as various photonic bandgap (PBG) structures [7]-[8], has become one of the most interesting areas of reseach owing to their extensive applicability in microwave circuits. DGS, which is realized by etching off a defected pattern from the backside metallic ground plane and has periodic structures, has been known as providing rejection of certain frequency band, namely, bandgap effects. Therefore, a direct application of such frequency selective characteristics is in microwave filters [1][9]; many passive and active microwave circuits have been developed by using DGS or PBG patterns to suppress harmonics and/or realize the compact size [1]-[10]. In this paper, we report a recent investigation into microstrip periodic structures with resonant elements in the ground plane for lowpass filter (LPF) applications. The introduced etched defect pattern is an improved configuration from [1]-[3] and can effectively disturb the shield current distribution in the ground plane of microstrip line. This disturbance greatly changes the characteristics of the microstrip line such as line inductance L and capacitance C. With this structure, the basic resonant element exhibits the elliptic-function lowpass responses; moreover, owing to the

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Fig. 1. (a) Circuit model for a transmission line with periodically loaded lumped elements. (b) Typical frequency responses with one elliptic-function model unit.

increased equivalent inductance, capacitance and slow-wave effects, the required area for the investigated DGS is much smaller than that of the dumbbell-shaped DGS [1]-[3] for the same resonant frequency. An equivalent lumped L-C network has been proposed to model the introduced DGS unit; and its corresponding L-C parameters have also been extracted. Comparison between EM-simulations on the DGS circuits and circuit simulations on its equivalent networks has been shown the validity of the proposed equivalent circuit model. The use of proposed resonant elements allows larger attenuation in the stopband and higher harmonic suppressions to be obtained with less number of periodic structures as compared to the conventional DGS. Also, by using the proposed equivalent circuit model, a harmonic rejection LPF has been optimally

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designed and implemented. Simulated and experimental results for the fabricated filter at 3GHz cutoff frequency are presented to demonstrate the idea. II. CIRCUIT MODEL AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION In our study, a circuit model for a transmission line with periodically loaded lumped elements is adopted as shown in Fig. 1(a), where Z is the impedance of lumped elements, Zc and c are the characteristic impedance and propagation constant of transmission line with the period P; and Zo and o are the feed line`s characteristic impedance and propagation constant, respectively. The series impedance Z can result from different type of reactive element; a single inductor or a parallel LC resonator may be the simplest topology. However, a filter with its attenuation poles at finite frequencies, namely high selectivity, would be preferable owing to the ever-increasing demand for currently expanding communication systems within finite spectrum resources. And the criterion can be fulfilled by employing filters with elliptic-function responses. Thus, here we consider this type of filters and it is contrived by using microstrip DGS patterns. Fig. 1(b) illustrates the typical frequency responses of the elliptic-function filters; the transmission zero close to the passband and sharp cutoff frequency characteristics have effectively improved the frequency selectivity. By changing the inductance L, L0 or capacitance C0, the frequency responses can be changed easily. Here we optimize the values of L, L0 and C0 being 3nH, 1.5nH and 1pF, respetively; a LPF with its cutoff frequency at 3GHz and transmission zero adjacent to 4GHz is implemented, seen Fig. 1(b). To realize the above structures in microstrip DGS patterns, we investigate a square open-loop with a slot in middle section. Fig. 2(a) shows the square open-loop etched off on the backside metallic ground plane. The DGS shape with its dimensions is illustrated in Fig. 2(b). And Fig. 3 shows the presented equivalent circuit model; where L0 and C0 denote the inductance and capacitance on the narrow slot DGS region with its width d, whereas L1 and C1 describe the influence resulting from the fringing field around the open-loop. For more accurately modeling the DGS section, a capacitance C2 should be considered as a part of the equivalent circuit models, which is due to the relatively large fringing field distribution at the discontinuity area with its separation g. In our study, considering the transmission line and the dielectric substrate are lossless; and actually, the losses are so small as to may be ignored. The equivalent network of the DGS unit may be described as ZDGS, as shown in Fig. 3. In order to derive the equivalent network parameters, the Sparameters of a DGS unit at the reference plane should be calculated using EM-simulation. And then, by using the relationship between the S-parameter and ABCD-matrix, the equivalent network parameters can be extracted [1].

Microstrip Line

DGS Section in the Ground Plane Dielectric Substrate Ground Plane

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a g

a b1 d

b2
(b) Fig. 2. (a) 3-Dimensional view of the investigated DGS unit section. (b) The DGS shape with its dimensions.
C0

Z0 0

L0 L1 C1 C2 L1 C1

Z0 0

ZDGS

Fig. 3.

The presented equivalent circuit model of a DGS unit.

To confirm the validity of the presented equivalent model, a DGS unit, shown in Fig. 4(a), has been simulated using Ensemble, a full-wave EM-simulator based on the Method of Moment (MoM). The substrate for simulation has a relative dielectric constant r of 9.6 and a thickness H of 0.8mm; the dimensions of the DGS section, shown in Fig. 2(b), are as follows: a=7.0mm, b 1 =3.2mm, b 2 =5.8mm, d=0.2mm, and g=0.2mm. The corresponding equivalent network is illustrated in Fig. 4(b); where ZDGS is depicted in Fig. 3. By extracting the values of lumped L-C elements, the equivalent network

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1.2mm 10mm r: 9.6 H: 0.8mm (a) 10mm 17mm

proposed DGS - - - traditional DGS

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w: 1.2mm p: 10mm

ZDGS
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w: 1.2mm p: 10mm

(b) Fig. 5. A comparison between the conventional DGS and investigated DGS. (a) Conventional DGS with dumbbell shape. (b) Simulated frequency responses.

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EM results - - - circuit results

both frequency responses are plotted in Fig. 5(b). As shown in Fig. 5(b), with the same resonant frequency, the investigated DGS can provide better frequency responses in the passband and steeper cutoff frequency responses in the stopband than that of the traditional DGS; meanwhile, the size for proposed DGS unit is only 7mm by 7mm, whereas it is 7.7mm by 16.6mm for traditional DGS unit. Thus the introduced DGS has not only high selectivity but also compact size. III. OPTIMIZATION AND DESIGN DGS LPFS Based on the equivalent circuit model mentioned above, a 3-pole lowpass filter, using 3 DGS units cascaded, has been optimally designed, shown in Fig. 6(a); where the feed lines are set to the 50 characteristic impedance micrstrip line with its width W=0.76mm and length P=10mm for input/output matching. Hence, in this case the values of equivalent lumped L-C elements should be optimally varied since the L-C parameters in Fig. 4(b) are extracted on the basis of 40microstrip feed lines (1.2mm for this type of substrate).
ZDGS w: 0.76mm p: 10mm ZDGS w: 1.2mm p: 3.0mm
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Fig. 4. (a) A DGS unit for modeling. (b) Extracted equivalent network. (c) Comparison between EM-simulations with one DGS unit and circuit simulations on its equivalent model.

parameters are: L0=2.6283nH, C0=0.115pF, L1=4.6012nH, C1=0.4452pF, and C2=31.2453pF. As shown in Fig. 4(c), the simulation results, using EM and extracted equivalent network method respectively, are illustrated a good consistency between them. For comparison, Fig. 5(a) shows a conventional dumbbell DGS unit [1]-[3]; where the feed lines with its width 1.2mm and length 10mm are the same as the investigated DGS unit;

ZDGS w: 1.2mm p: 3.0mm

w: 0.76mm p: 10mm

7.7mm 10mm

47mm
7.7mm 1.2mm

0.6mm 27mm 27.7mm (a)

17mm
(b) Fig. 6. (a) Schematic of the optimized LPF using 3 DGS units cascaded equivalent circuits. (b) Layout of the optimized LPF with 3 DGS units.

After optimally designing, an equivalent lumped L-C elliptic-function LPF has been realized; the filter has its cutoff frequency at 3GHz and the first transmission zero at about 4GHz. The optimized parameters for ZDGS, referred to Fig. 3, are as follows: L0=4.06441nH, C0=1.14937pF, L1=1.85713nH, C1=0.34196pF, and C2=35.3635pF; the separation between two adjacent resonators is 3.0mm, and the width of compensated microstrip line is 1.2mm. Using the unit DGS pattern seen in Fig. 2(b), we have implemented and optimized the 3-pole DGS LPF. Fig. 6(b) shows the layout of the optimized LPF with 3 DGS units cascaded; the overall length including the 50-microstrip feed lines is 47mm. Simulations on the optimized LPF are plotted in Fig. 7. As shown in Fig. 7, both circuit and EM simulations on the DGS LPF are demonstrated the optimum performances in the passband and the stopband.

V. CONCLUSION In this paper, we have investigated a square open-loop DGS pattern for microstrip lowpass filter applications. And an equivalent lumped L-C network has been presented to model the introduced DGS unit; by using parametric relationships, the values of lumped L-C elements for the DGS unit have also been extracted. Based on the equivalent circuit model, a 3pole LPF has been optimally designed and then implemented on the microstrip line. For demonstration, the filter has been fabricated and the measurements show good consistency with the simulations. The compact size, sharp cutoff frequency response and high harmonic suppressions would make the introduced DGS pattern to meet the requirements of modern wireless communication systems. REFERENCES

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Fig. 7.

Circuit and EM simulations on the optimized LPF.

IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS The optimized DGS LPF was fabricated on a substrate with a relative dielectric constant r of 9.6 and a thickness H of 0.8mm. Measurements were carried out on an HP8722D network analyzer. Fig. 8 illustrates the measurements on the fabricated DGS LPF. One can see from Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, the experimental results show good consistency with simulated ones. The fabricated LPF has a 3dB cutoff frequency at 3.12GHz and suppression levels are 37dB approximately from 3.85 to 6.9GHz; the insertion loss in the passband is about 0.85dB. The conductor loss and non-ideal microstrip/coaxial line transitions contribute to the higher insertion loss in the measurement than that in the simulation.

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Fig. 8.

Measured performances on the fabricated LPF.

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