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Performance Comparison of Microstrip Band-Pass Filters for Different

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Article · February 2017

DOI: 10.21742/ajaeee.2017.1.1.04

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 Asia-Pacific Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017), pp. 39-46
http://dx.doi.org/10.21742/ajaeee.2017.1.1.04

Performance Comparison of Microstrip Band-Pass Filters for

Different Dielectric Materials

Vivek Singh Kushwah1, G.S. Tomar2, Sarita Singh Bhadauria3

1
Dept. of Electronics, Amity School of Engineering & Technology, Gwalior, India
2
THDC IHET, Tehri and MIR Labs Gwalior, Gwalior, India
3
Dept. of Electronics, Madhav Institute of Technology & Science, Gwalior, India
vivek_kushwah@rediffmail.com, gstomar@ieee.org, saritamits61@yahoo.co.in

Abstract
In this paper performance has been compared for various designs of Microstrip band-
pass filters with different dielectric materials for GSM Guardband applications. The
results are investigated using standard performance parameters in the range of
frequency. IE3D 14.1 simulation tool has been used for obtaining the Insertion loss and
return loss values of microstrip filters of the subject designs. The fabricated design has
been subjected to the comparison and results are in accordance to the expected lines.

Keywords- Microstrip Filters, Return Loss, IE3D EM Simulation, Scattering

parameters, Insertion Loss

1. Introduction
The present communication systems are going wireless at fast pace and need to have
better quality of components, which are being used in wireless communication systems.
Filters are one of the primary components used for selection of wanted signals to have
communication with better performance. Microwave filters are commonly used for
passing the desired band of frequencies and rejecting other frequencies for various
modern microwave applications such as satellite-communication, Radar and mobile
communication etc [1]. The work is focused on filter design, mathematical modeling of
the filter designs along with the determining performance parameters like scattering
parameters and losses. Almost every wireless communication systems have been brought
in the microwave frequency range. In this range of frequency various active and passive
components need to be fabricated with greater care and efficiency to obtain expected
performance for better and efficient communication. The filters need much care and
consideration as it is vital component in the communication systems to select the actual
band of frequencies needed or need to be rejected, depending on the position of the filter
in the communication system. Filters are an integral component of any microwave
communication system. Filters are essential to perform task of separating, sorting of
signals and impedance matching in communication systems [2]. Filters are also applicable
in Radio Frequency front-ends as pre-select filters where pre-select filters select the
desired frequency band. It is also highly recommended to have good quality of band reject
filters with high insertion loss at its center frequency to reject selected pass band, which
may be communicated in common media along with required base band [3]. There is also
need for having high quality low/high pass filters at this range of frequency as to give
better options of selection for various required or not required band of frequencies. Most
of the communication systems require an RF front end LNA and filters processing
elements for analog signal at the input [4]. This stage is an important stage in any
communication system and needs high quality of filtering devices. The microstrip filters
are generally used in transmitters and receivers at frequency ranges beyond 800 MHz.

AJAEEE
Copyright ⓒ 2017 GV School Publication
Asia-Pacific Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017)

There have been many designs, which are proposed by researchers for various types of
filters [5-12]. The basic design structure of the filters has been investigated by revisiting
primary characteristics of the material and their applications according to the required
applications and requirements. The design is considered with standard patch and
modifications thereon for achieving parameters as desired. Various types of dielectric
materials are proposed for the design of microstrip filters in GSM band of frequencies on
microstrip patch which have reduced filter size drastically and have given better option
for various design considerations and options to have sharp cutoff, improved bandwidth
and high performance filter design. In this work performance comparison of Microstrip
band pass filter is presented for various dielectric materials.

2. Fundamental Design of Microstrip Band- Pass Filters

Microstrip Band-pass filters may also be designed with a large number of stubs as
illustrated in Figure 1. In this type of filter all the branches i.e. connecting lines and all
stubs have different dimensions and it is quarter guided wavelength (λg0/4) long where λg0
is the guided wavelength for the design. The filter characteristics based on the
characteristic admittances of the stub lines represented as Yi and the characteristic
admittances of the linking lines represented as Yi,i+1. A microstrip line has become popular
planar component for design of microstrip filter which has a single ground plane and thin
strip conductor on a low loss dielectric substrate above the ground plane and input-output
are drawn using one of the popular coupling techniques by mounting on the surface of the
component. The various shapes and dimensions are key component of filter type and
operational range. The performance of filters is measured on the basis of Scattering
Parameters.

Figure. 1 Basic design of microstrip filter with the stubs

Dimensions of filter are calculated with the help of Characteristic admittance and
Characteristic admittances can be derived by using design equations (1-8).

𝝅 𝑭𝑩𝑾
𝜽= �𝟏 − � (𝟏)
𝟐 𝟐
h=2
𝑱𝟏,𝟐 𝒉𝒈𝟏 𝑱𝒏−𝟏,𝒏 𝒉𝒈𝟏 𝒈𝒏+𝟏
= 𝒈𝟎 � , = 𝒈𝟎 � (𝟐)
𝒀𝟎 𝒈𝟐 𝒀𝟎 𝒈𝟎 𝒈𝒏−𝟏

𝑱𝒊,𝒊+𝟏 𝒉𝒈𝟎 𝒈𝟏
= � 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊 = 𝟐 𝒕𝒐 𝒏 − 𝟐 (𝟑)
𝒀𝟎 𝒈𝒊 𝒈𝒊+𝟏

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 Asia-Pacific Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017)

𝑱𝒊,𝒊+𝟏 𝟐 𝒉𝒈𝟎 𝒈𝟏 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝜽 𝟐

𝑵𝒊,𝒊+𝟏 = �� � +� � (𝟒)
𝒀𝟎 𝟐
𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊 = 𝟏 𝒕𝒐 𝒏 − 𝟏
𝒉 𝑱𝟏,𝟐
𝒀𝟏 = 𝒈𝟎 𝒀𝟎 �𝟏 − � 𝒈𝟏 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝜽 + 𝒀𝟎 �𝑵𝟏,𝟐 − � (𝟓)
𝟐 𝒀𝟎

𝒉 𝑱𝒏−𝟏,𝒏
𝒀𝒏 = 𝒀𝟎 �𝒈𝒏 𝒈𝒏+𝟏 − 𝒈𝟎 𝒈𝟏 � 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝜽 + 𝒀𝟎 �𝑵𝒏−𝟏,𝒏 − � (𝟔)
𝟐 𝒀𝟎

𝑱𝒊−𝟏,𝒊 𝑱𝒊,𝒊+𝟏
𝒀𝒊 = 𝒀𝟎 �𝑵𝒊−𝟏,𝒊 + 𝑵𝒊,𝒊+𝟏 − − � (𝟕)
𝒀𝟎 𝒀𝟎
𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊 = 𝟐 𝒕𝒐 𝒏 − 𝟏

𝑱𝒊,𝒊+𝟏
𝒀𝒊,𝒊+𝟏 = 𝒀𝟎 � � 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊 = 𝟏 𝒕𝒐 𝒏 − 𝟏 (𝟖)
𝒀𝟎
Here Y0 is the Characteristic admittances of the line. Characteristic admittances of
inverters are denoted as Ji,i+1
,h is the constant which is unitless, the element values of prototype filter are g0, g1 and
gn such as a Chebyshev, given for a normalized cutoff Ωc = 1.0.FBW is the fractional
bandwidth of the filter which is used to decide the bandwidth of filter.
For five short circuited stubs, The prototype parameters of bandpass filter are in
standard and fixed format.
g0 =1, g1 = 1.1468 , g2 =1.3712, g3 = 1.9750, g4= 1.3712, g5 = 1.1468 , g6 = 1.0
The various design parameters of microstrip filter is calculated for 1.8 GHz frequency
using standard design equations. The characteristic admittance of all the stubs and
connecting microstrip line is listed in Table 1.

Table 1. Characteristic admittance of microstrip line

i admittance of stubs in mhos 𝑌𝑖 admittance of connecting line in mhos mhos (𝑌𝑖,𝑖+1 )

1 0.03514 0.02586
2 0.06931 0.02786
3 0.06823 0.02786
4 0.06935 0.02586
5 0.03524

3. Performance Comparison Of Microstrip Band- Pass Filters

Three Dielectric materials are mostly used as a substrate for fabrication of Microstrip
filters.
(1) RT/Duroid 6010 LM which has Dielectric Constant (εr) of 10.2 ,
Thickness(h)=0.635 mm, Loss tangent (δ) =0.0023
(2) Dielectric Material FR4 Substrate which has the following properties : Dielectric
Constant (εr) =4.4 , Thickness(h)=1.6 mm, Loss tangent (δ) =0.02
(3) RT/Duroid 6006: Dielectric Constant (εr) = 6.15 , Thickness(h)=1.27 mm, Loss
tangent (δ) =0.0027

(1) For Dielectric Material RT/Duroid 6010 LM: It has Dielectric Constant (εr) = 10.2,
Thickness (h)=0.635 mm, Loss tangent (δ) =0.0023

Copyright ⓒ 2017 GV School Publication 41

 Asia-Pacific Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017)

The widths and guided wavelengths linked with the characteristic admittances of microstrip
line can be derived with the help of designed equations and are summarized in Table 2.
Table 2. Basic Design Parameters of first Microstrip Filter

Stubs Width of Quarter Width of Length of

Microstrip Guided Connecting Connecting
stubs in Wavelength lines lines
mm in mm
1 1.6 15 0.97 15.6
2 4 14.47 1.10 15.5
3 3.9 14.48 1.10 15.5
4 4 14.47 0.97 15.6
5 1.6 15

The basic design of microstrip filter is shown in Figure 2 which is obtained by using
some mathematical calculations with the help of design equations for microstrip filter and
plotted by using IE3D electromagnetic simulation software. It consists of five stubs of
quarter guided wavelength long linked with each other with the help of connecting
microstrip lines. The 50 ohm terminating microstrip line is used for connecting the 50
ohm load/port so that input is provided to the microstrip filter through input port and
output characteristics response is measured from the output port. The total area of the
proposed design of microstrip filter is 1152 mm2 which is more compact as compared to
existing designs [2-8]. Length of the proposed filter is 72mm and width of the proposed
filter is 16mm.Fabricated design of proposed microstrip filter is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 2. Fundamental Design of first Microstrip Filter for RT/Duroid 6010 LM

Figure 3. Fabricated Design of Microstrip Filter with stubs

42 Copyright ⓒ 2017 GV School Publication

 Asia-Pacific Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017)

(2) For Dielectric Material FR4 Substrate: This material has the following properties:
Dielectric Constant (εr =4.4), Thickness h=1.6 mm, Loss tangent (δ) = 0.02

Table 3. Basic Design Parameters of second Microstrip Filter

Stubs Width of Quarter Guided Width of Length of

Microstrip stubs Wavelength in Connecting Connecting
in mm mm lines lines
1 6.94 21.97 4.498 22.457
2 16.17 21.04 5.01367 22.3378
3 15.86 21.06 5.01367 22.3378
4 16.17 21.04 4.498 22.457
5 6.94 21.97

Figure 4. Fundamental Design of second Microstrip Filter with stubs

(3)For RT/Duroid 6006: Dielectric Constant (εr) = 6.15, Thickness (h)=1.27 mm, Loss
tangent (δ) =0.0027

Figure 5. Fundamental Design of third Microstrip Filter with stubs

Table 4. Basic Design Parameters of third Microstrip Filter

Stubs Width of Quarter Guided Width of Length of

Microstrip Wavelength in Connecting Connecting
stubs in mm mm lines lines

1 4.48 19 2.84 19.5

2 10.6 18 3.18 19.37
3 10.4 18.1 3.18 19.37
4 10.6 18 2.84 19.5
5 4.48 19

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Asia-Pacific Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017)

4. Implementation and Results

Figure 6 illustrates the frequency response of microstrip band pass filter for the
dielectric material RT/Duroid 6010 LM which shows the bandwidth of the filter ranges
from 1.24 to 2.26 GHz for GSM guard-band applications.

Figure 6. IE3D EM simulated performance of the first microstrip bandpass filter

for RT/Duroid 6010 LM dielectric substrate

Performance of the filter is measured in terms of return- loss and insertion-loss which
is measured in the form of S- parameters (S11, S21). Figure 7 shows the frequency response
of microstrip band pass filter for the dielectric material FR4 Substrate which shows the
bandwidth of the filter ranges from 1.2 to 1.8 GHz for mobile communication. It has very
low return loss and high insertion loss as compared to previous design.

Figure 7. IE3D EM simulated performance of the second microstrip bandpass filter

for Glass Epoxy FR4 dielectric substrate

44 Copyright ⓒ 2017 GV School Publication

 Asia-Pacific Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017)

Figure 8 illustrates the frequency versus return/ insertion loss response of microstrip
band pass filter for the dielectric material RT/Duroid 6006 Substrate which shows the
bandwidth of the filter ranges from 1.5 to 1.8 GHz for narrowband application. It also has
very low return loss and high insertion loss as compared to previous design.

Figure 8. IE3D EM simulated performance of the second microstrip bandpass filter

for RT/Duroid 6006dielectric substrate

Table 3 represents the performance comparison of microstrip filter in terms of return

and insertion loss for various dielectric substrates.

Table 5. Performance Comparison of Microstrip Filter for different substrate

Material/Substrate Return loss Insertion Loss Bandwidth

in dB in dB
RT/Duroid 6010 LM -37.1 dB -0.52 dB 1.24 to 2.26
GHz
Glass EpoxyFR4 -11.9 dB -2 dB 1.2 to 1.8 GHz
RT/Duroid 6006 -5.3 dB -2.2 dB 1.5 to 1.8 GHz

It is obvious from table 5 that most suitable substrate for the designing of microstrip
band-pass filter is RT/Duroid 6010 LM which provides wide bandwidth and improved
insertion and return loss with compact structure as compared to other substrates.

5. Conclusion
In this paper three types of dielectric substrates are used for the performance and
design comparison of Microstrip band-pass filters which is used for GSM guard-band
applications. Scattering parameters are calculated from the simulated performance of the
filter in terms of insertion and return loss. It is concluded that RT/Duroid 6010 LM is the
best dielectric substrate for obtaining good bandwidth, better performance and compact
size as compared to other two substrates.

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Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017)

References
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