Proceedings of Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference 2006

Novel Microstrip Dual-Band Bandstop Filter with

Controllable Dual-Stopband Response
Zhewang Ma1, Katsunori Kikuchi1, Yoshio Kobayashi1, Tetuo Anada2, and Gen Hagiwara3
1
Department of Electrical and Electronic Systems, Saitama University, 255 Shimo-Ohkubo,     
Sakura-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama 338-8570, Japan, E-mail: ma@ees.saitama-u.ac.jp
2
High-Tech Research Center, Kanagawa University, 3Link Circuit Inc., Japan

Abstract — In this paper, a novel dual-band with the theoretical prediction, and validates well the
bandstop filter (DBBSF) is proposed by using proposed design theory and filter structure.
composite shunt resonators, and an approximate design
method is developed based on the lumped-element
circuit of the filter. Both the midband frequencies and II. DESIGN METHOD OF DBBSF
the stopband widths of the dual bands of the filter can
be controlled separately. A dual-band BSF with center In this Section, the equivalent circuit and design
frequencies of 1.7 and 2.3GHz is designed and formulas of a bandstop filter (BSF) are introduced
fabricated using microstrip lines. The measured briefly. Then, the characteristic of a composite shunt
frequency response agrees excellently with theoretical
predictions, validating well the proposed design theory resonator is provided. Finally, the circuit and design
and filter structure. method of DBBSF using composite shunt resonators
Index Terms — Bandstop filter, dual-band, are described.
composite shunt resonator, microstrip line
A. Formulas for a Conventional Bandpstop Filter
I. INTRODUCTION Fig.1 shows a general equivalent circuit of an n-
degree BSF using conventional series LC resonators
RF and microwave filters capable of operating at
and admittance inverters. The parameters, including
multi-bands are of wide interest in recent years as
the inductor Lri, capacitor Cri, and admittance-
more and more wireless communication systems and
inverter Ji,i+1 are related by the following well-known
technologies are highlighted and used around us. A
formulas [9].
conventional approach in developing multi-band
filter was using multiple filters to handle signals of
Lr ,i =
1 (i=1 to n), Ωc=1 (rad/sec), (1)
different frequency bands. However, most papers in
ω02Cr,i
recent years have reported methods that use one
single filter to treat multi-band signals in order to ω0G0Cr1 ω0Cr , nGn +1
save space and cost of the filter. Most of these J 01 = , J n, n +1 = (2)
FBW ⋅ Ωc g0 g1 FBW ⋅ Ωc g n g n +1
reports are concern about multi-band, particularly
dual-band bandpass filters (BPFs) [1]-[6]. On the ω0 C r , i C r , i +1
other hand, a recent paper studied dual-band J i , i +1 = (i=1 to n-1) (3)
FBW ⋅ Ω c g i g i +1
bandstop filters (DBBSFs) by performing frequency
transformations two times [7]. This method assumed
that the center frequencies of the dual-stopbands are where ω0 is the midband angular frequency of the
very close to each other, and that the dual stopband BSF, FBW is the fractional bandwidth, and gi (i=0,1,
widths are equal. These conditions limit seriously …, n+1) is the element values of a Butterworth or
the effectiveness and applications of this method. Chebyshev prototype lowpass filter.
In this paper, a novel circuit of DBBSF is
proposed first by using lumped-element composite
shunt resonators [8], and an approximate design
Lr1 Lr2 Lr, n
method is developed. Both the midband frequencies G0 J01 J12 J23 Jn, n+1 Gn+1
and the stopband widths of the dual bands of the Cr1 Cr2 Cr, n
filter can be controlled separately. Next, a 2-degree
DBBSF with center frequencies of 1.7 and 2.3GHz
is designed and fabricated by using microstrip lines. Fig. 1 Bandstop filter using series LC resonators and 
The measured frequency response agrees excellently J-inverters.

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Proceedings of Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference 2006

B. Characteristics of a Composite Shunt Resonator C. BSF Using Composite Resonators

Fig. 2(a) shows a composite shunt resonator. It As stated above, a composite shunt resonator
has two series LC resonators connected in parallel. It exhibits dual stopbands around its two anti-
exhibits two anti-resonances at ωa and ωb, resonance frequencies. This property of a composite
respectively, and a resonance at ω0. Assume ωa<ωb, shunt resonator is utilized to build a novel dual-band
then at frequencies between ωa and ωb, i.e., when bandstop filter circuitry. First, we replace all the
ωa<ω <ωb, the composite resonator in Fig. 2(a) can series LC resonators in Fig. 1 with composite shunt
be approximated by a shunt LC resonator shown in resonators shown in Fig. 2(a). As a consequence, a
Fig. 2(b), which resonates at ω0. The equivalence new filter shown in Fig. 4(a) is obtained. Let all the
equations between these two types of resonators are LaiCai (i=1,2,…,n) series resonators in Fig. 4(a)
given below [8]: resonate at ω1. Then a stopband (namely stopband
1) around ω1 is formed by these resonators. Similarly,
2La ̉Lb ̉ 㧝 (4) let all the LbiCbi (i=1,2…,n) series resonators
Lr = , ‫ޓ‬C r = 2
‫ޓޓ‬
+ Lb ̉
La ̉ ω 0 Lr resonate at ω2, then stopband 2 around ω2 is formed.
2 2 Therefore, the circuit in Figure 4(a) is a filter
⎛ ⎛ ωa ⎞ 2 ⎞ ⎛ ⎛ ωb ⎞ 2 ⎞
⎜⎜1 − ⎜ ⎟ ⎟ ⎜⎜1 − ⎜ ⎟ possessing dual stopbands.
⎝ ω0 ⎠ ⎟⎠ ω0 ⎟⎠ ⎟ (5)
=⎝
Lả La ‫ޓ‬ =
, Lb̉ ⎝ ⎝ ⎠ L Next, we describe design considerations of this
2 2 b

1 + ⎛⎜ ωa ⎞⎟ 1+ ⎜ ⎛ ω b ⎞
⎟ DBBPF. Assume ω1<ω2. Since all the LaiCai series
⎝ ω0 ⎠ ⎝ ω0 ⎠ resonators (i.e., the left-handed series resonators of
(6) the composite resonators) in Fig. 4(a) resonate at ω1,
1 1 1
ωa = , ωb = , ω0 = their impedances are close to zero at frequencies
La Ca LbCb Ca Cb
( La + Lb ) near ω1. Therefore, at frequencies close to ω1, all the
Ca + Cb
right-handed LbiCbi series resonators can be
approximately ignored as their impedances are much
larger then those of the LaiCai series resonators. As a
result, at frequencies in stopband 1 (i.e., frequencies
around ω1), the circuit in Fig. 4(a) can be
approximated as the circuit shown in Fig. 4(b). It is
seen that the circuit in Figure 4(b) is the same as that
of the conventional BSF shown in Fig. 1. Therefore,
all the element values in Fig. 4(b) can be determined
(a)   (b)
by substituting the midband angular frequency ω1
Fig. 2 (a) A composite shunt resonator having two series and fractional bandwidth FBW1 of stopband 1 into
LC resonators, and (b) its equivalent shunt LC resonator. (1) - (3).
Similarly, at frequencies in stopband 2 (i.e.,
0 frequencies around ω2), the circuit in Fig. 4(a) can
be approximated as the circuit shown in Fig. 4(c),
|S11|, |S21| (dB)

and all the element values in Fig. 4(c) can be

|S11|
|S21|
ωa ω0 ωb
Freqency (GHz)
Fig. 3 Frequency response of a composite shunt resonator.
Fig. 3 shows a typical frequency response of the
composite shunt resonator shown in Fig. 2(a). Two
stopbands around ωa and ωb are observed, and they
are caused by the resonances of the two LC series
resonators. Meanwhile a passband is formed around
ω0.
determined by the specifications (ω2, FBW2, etc) of
stopband 2, using equations (1) - (3).
Therefore, the circuit in Figure 4(a) operates as a
dual-band bandstop filter, and all of its element
values can be decided by using (1) - (3). As we
know, in the conventional BSF, the value of the J-
inverters are assumed unvaried with frequency. In
our design of the DBBSF, we also assume that the J-
inverters are unvaried over the dual stopbands. To
end this purpose, we can determine Cb,i (i=1,2…,n)
in Fig. 4(a) using the following relation:
ω1 FBW2
C b ,i = ⋅ C a ,i (i=1,2…,n) (7)
FBW1 ω2

Copyright 2006 IEICE

Proceedings of Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference 2006

where Ca,i may take arbitrary values. wa

La
La1 Lb1 La2 Lb2 La, n Lb, n la Za
G0 J01 J12 J23 Jn, n+1 Gn+1 Xa
Ca1 Cb1 Ca2 Cb2 Ca, n Cb, n
Ca

(a) Zin=jXin
  
(a)  (b)
La1 La2 La, n
G0 J01 J12 J23 Jn, n+1 Gn+1 Fig.5 (a) A quarter-wavelength microstrip open stub, and
Ca1 Ca2 Ca, n (b) its equivalent series LC resonator.
(b) In the 2-degree Chebyshev DBBSF, we use four
microstrip open stubs to realize the series resonators
Lb1 Lb2 Lb, n having LaiCai, and LbiCbi (i=1, 2). The J-inverters
G0 J01 J12 J23 Jn, n+1 Gn+1
Cb1 Cb2 Cb, n between the resonators as shown in Figure 4(a) are
also realized by using microstrip quarter-wavelength
(c) lines whose characteristics admittances are
Fig. 4 (a) A novel dual-band bandstop filter (DBBSF), calculated by using (2) and (3).
(b) Approximate circuit of the DBBSF near ω1, and (c) Fig. 6 shows the configuration and dimensions of
Approximate circuit of the DBBSF near ω2. the 2-degree microstrip DBBSF. A substrate with a
dielectric constant of 9.8, a thickness of 1.27mm,
III. A DESIGN EXAMPLE and a loss tangent of 0.003 is used. The dimensions
of the filter are obtained by using an electromagnetic
A 2-degree Chebyshev DBBSF is designed by simulator, Sonnet em [10].
using microstrip lines to validate the design method
proposed above. The central frequencies of the two
0.5 0.5
stopbands are 1.7 and 2.3GHz, respectively. The
equal-ripple fractional-bandwidths of both stop-
bands are 40%. The admittance inverters in Figure
17.0

4(a) are realized by using microstrip quarter- 17.0

wavelength lines, while the LC series resonators are
realized by using microstrip quarter-wavelength 4.8
2.4 2.4
Input Output
open stubs.
Figure 6(a) and 6(b) show a microtsrip quarter-
wavelength open stub and its equivalent LC series
13.0

13.0

resonator, respectively. The microstrip open stub has

a length la, a width wa, a characteristic impedance Za,
and is quarter-wavelength at ωa.
0.2 0.2
πc 1
la = , ωa = La Ca
(8) Unit (mm)
2 ω a ε eff
Fig. 6 Configuration and dimensions of the 2-degree
where c is the speed of light in free space, εeff is the microstrip DBBSF.
effective dielectric constant of the stub.
 Assume Xin is the input reactance of the open stub, Fig. 7 shows a comparison of the frequency
and and Xa of the LC resonator. Then by equating responses of the 2-degree Chebyshev DBBSF. The
the reactance slope parameter of Xin and Xa at ωa, we solid lines are simulated results of the microstrip
get filter shown in Fig. 6 by using Sonnet em. Lossless
substrate and conductors are assumed in the
4ωa La simulation. On the other hand, the broken lines are
Za = (9)
π computed from the equivalent circuit shown in
Figure 4(a). The agreement between the solid and
By using (8) and (9), the lengths and widths of the
broken lines is good at frequencies around the
quarter-wavelength lines and open stubs are
stopbands, and at frequencies in the passband
determined easily.
between the dual stopbands.

Copyright 2006 IEICE

Proceedings of Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference 2006

0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
|S21|
This paper is supported in part by the Grant-in-
-10 Aids for Scientific Research (KAKENHI 17560303)
|S11|, |S21| (dB)

|S11| from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science,

in part by the High-Tech Research Center Project
-20 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology, Japan, and in part by the
CASIO Science Promoting Foundation.
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Measured
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A novel circuit of DBBSF using composite
resonators is proposed, and its design method is
described. A 2-degree microstrip DBBSF with
center frequencies of 1.7 and 2.3GHz is designed,
fabricated, and tested. The measured frequency
response agrees excellently with the theoretical
prediction, and this validates well our proposed
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