Cascaded Network Analysis of a Wideband RF

Self-Interference Cancellation (RF-SIC) Filter for

STAR Systems
Stephen J. Watt, Elias A. Alwan, and John L. Volakis
ElectroScience Laboratory, The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio, USA
watt.70@osu.edu, alwan.2@osu.edu, volakis.1@osu.edu

AbstractIn simultaneous transmit and receive (STAR) systems, multi-tap RF self-interference cancellation (RF-SIC) filters
are employed to prevent receiver saturation and achieve STAR
communication. Specifically, RF-SIC filters aim to reproduce
the frequency response of the interference channel between the
transmit and receive antennas. In this paper, we apply ABCDparameters, Y-parameters, and S-parameters to analyze the
performance of a wideband RF-SIC filter design incorporating
variable delays and coefficients. Numerical MATLAB calculations
demonstrate strong agreement (< 2% error) with Advanced
Design System (ADS) circuit simulations for a three-tap filter
from 2 GHz - 8 GHz.

I.

I NTRODUCTION

Simultaneous transmit and receive (STAR) configurations

have the potential to double spectral efficiency and data
capacity [1][2]. However, there is an inherent self-interference
from the transmitter that couples to the receiver and impacts
the dynamic range of the analog-to-digital converter (ADC). To
reduce self-interference, antenna isolation and RF-SIC filtering
must be applied before the signal reaches the ADC. In this
paper we focus on the RF-SIC filtering section of the receiver.
A common technique for implementing RF-SIC filters is to
tap the transmitted signal just after the power amplifier (PA).
Subsequently, gain and delay adjustments are applied using an
analog filter prior to injecting the filtered signal into the lownoise amplifier (LNA) of the receiver (see Fig. 1). The goal is
to replicate the transmitted signal coupled into the receiver and
use it to cancel the interference. By tapping the signal at the PA
we also replicate the transmitter non-idealities (distortion and
phase noise). Prior work on RF-SIC filters achieves 20 MHz 100 MHz bandwidths. These are suitable for cellular and WiFi communications [1]-[3], but not sufficient for heavily coded
signals requiring up to 1 GHz bandwidth.
In this paper, an RF-SIC filter design is demonstrated
with improved bandwidth and design flexibility by leveraging
tunable attenuators and tunable microstrip lines. We analyze
the insertion loss of the tunable filter design using the analysis
in [4] by considering each filter tap as a series of cascaded
two port networks. In doing so, we employ the well-known
properties of the ABCD-parameters, Y-parameters, and Sparameters to calculate the RF-SIC filter insertion loss. Numerical calculations are then used to present the performance

978-1-5090-2886-3/16/$31.00 2016 IEEE

2117

Fig. 1. Depiction of the analog self-interference cancellation using a filter to

approximate the coupling channel frequency response. This filtered Tx signal
is then combined at the Rx chain for cancellation.

of a three-tap cancellation filter with comparison to Advanced

Design System (ADS) circuit simulation.
II.

C ASCADED N ETWORK A NALYSIS OF F ILTER AND

C IRCUIT S IMULATION

The wideband RF-SIC filter frequency response, HF (j),

can be expressed as
HF (j) =

N
X

bn ejn

(1)

n=1

Here, N is the number of filter taps, bn are the corresponding

tap coefficient values, n are the delays between taps, and
is the angular frequency of interest. The tap coefficient
values, bn , are digitally controlled using variable attenuators.
The tap delays, n , are also digitally controlled using variable
microstrip delay lines between taps.
To perform cancellation prior to the LNA, the RF-SIC filter
response in (1) must approximate the antenna interference
channel, HA (j), as closely as possible. The filter must also

AP-S 2016

Fig. 3. Calculated S21 of the RF-SIC filter using cascaded network analysis
(comparisons to ADS circuit simulation are also provided).

Fig. 2. Using the ABCD and Y-parameters, the 3-tap filter is iteratively simplified (first iteration shown here) until only a two-port network remains. The
filter S21 performance is then evaluated and compared to ADS simulations.

introduce a 180 phase shift relative to HA (j) for destructive

interference (cancellation) at the receiver front end.
To determine how well HF (j) mimics HA (j), and consequently, the interference cancellation achieved by the RF-SIC
filter, we must calculate the filter insertion loss (S21F,calc ).
To do so, each attenuator and microstrip line contained in the
filter are represented as individual two-port networks (see top
of Fig. 2). Next, we proceed with the network simplification of
the RF-SIC shown in Fig. 2. This process leverages two well
known properties of the ABCD-parameters and Y-parameters
as described in Pozar [5]:
[ABCD]strip,n [ABCD]atten,n = [ABCD]tap,n
[Y ]tap,n + [Y ]atten,n1 = [Y ]n1,new .

(2)
(3)

In the above, the transmission parameters of the n-th tap,

[ABCD]tap,n are calculated by multiplying the ABCD matrix of the n-th microstrip line, [ABCD]strip,n , with the
ABCD matrix of the n-th attenuator, [ABCD]atten,n . The tap
transmission matrix is then converted to the equivalent admittance matrix, [Y ]tap,n , and summed with the n-1 attenuator
admittance matrix, [Y ]atten,n1 . This process represents the
first iteration of the RF-SIC filter network simplification (see
Fig. 2). The process is then repeated iteratively until the entire
filter circuit is a single two-port network.
To validate this cascaded network analysis of the RF-SIC
filter, a 3-tap filter is designed in Advanced Design System
(ADS). Using HFSS full-wave simulations, the interference
channel response, S21A,sim , between the Tx/Rx antennas are
imported to ADS. The tunable attenuators and microstrip lines
of the 3-tap design are then optimized to achieve the simulated
filter insertion loss, S21F,sim , using the expressions:
|S21F,sim | = |S21A,sim | mag

(5)

where mag and phase are the maximum allowed magnitude

and phase errors, respectively. The optimized filter schematic
is pictured at the top of Fig. 3.
The optimized microstrip line lengths and attenuator losses
are input into a MATLAB code that completes the network
simplification process, previously described. The calculated
filter insertion loss, S21F,calc , is then compared to the ADS
circuit simulations, S21F,sim . As shown in Fig. 3, our network
analysis yields a RF-SIC filter S21 that is within 2% of ADS
simulations from 2 GHz to 8 GHz.
III. R EMARKS
We presented a network analysis and verification of a
multi-tap wideband filter with variable components for selfinterference cancellation in a simultaneous transmit and receive
(STAR) system. A cascaded two-port network calculation
yielded S21 data within 2% of ADS circuit simulations. This
filter achieved a cancellation bandwidth of 1 GHz, which is a
10 times improvement over earlier designs. Future work will
aim to incorporate this network analysis in a filter optimization
code. Particular attention of the optimization will focus on
including various interference processes, such as reflections.
R EFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]

[4]

(4)
[5]

2118

S21F,sim = 6 S21A,sim 180 phase

D. Bharadia and S. Katti, Full Duplex MIMO Radios, Self, vol. 1,

no. A2, p. A3, 2014.
M. Duarte, Full-duplex Wireless: Design, Implementation and Characterization, Ph.D. dissertation, Rice University, 2012.
J. Zhou, T.-H. Chuang, T. Dinc, and H. Krishnaswamy, Integrated
Wideband Self-Interference Cancellation in the RF Domain for FDD
and Full-Duplex Wireless, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 50,
no. 12, pp. 30153031, Dec 2015.
S. J. Watt, E. A. Alwan, W. Khalil, and J. L. Volakis, Wideband Selfinterference Cancellation Filter for Simultaneous Transmit and Receive
Systems, in 2015 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and
Propagation USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting, July 2015,
pp. 129130.
D. Pozar, Microwave Engineering. John Wiley and Sons, 2012.