Figure 1 Simulated response combining XHF-292M+ with XLF-73+ (a), devices in the test fixture (b) and measured results (c).
Reflectionless filters provide a novel approach to filter design and offer several practical advantages over conventional microstrip designs for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications. In addition to delivering superior electrical performance, they are smaller, lower cost and more repeatable making them suitable candidates for use in commercial applications where volume manufacturability may be a requirement. Design examples are provided.
Ultra-wideband (UWB) is defined as any RF radio technology utilizing a bandwidth of greater than 25 percent of the center frequency or a bandwidth greater than 500 MHz.1-2 While UWB has been around since the end of the 19th century, restrictions on transmission to prevent interference with narrowband continuous wave signals have limited its applications to defense and relatively few specially licensed operators.1 In 2002, the FCC opened the 3.1 to 10.6 GHz band for commercial applications of UWB technology; since then, it has been a focus of academic study and industry research for a promising variety of emerging applications. To prevent interference with neighboring spectrum allocations, such as GPS at 1.6 GHz, the FCC has imposed specific rules for indoor and outdoor transmission, limiting transmissions in the permitted frequency range to power levels of ‐41 dBm/MHz or less.
Research has explored many potentially valuable applications. For example, the wide bandwidth provides high channel capacity, allowing high speed data transfer at very low power. While the FCC power mask limits the range of UWB transmission to within roughly 10 m, its high speed, low-power characteristics make it an attractive technology for certain short-range machine-to-machine (M2M) communication applications like wireless personal area networking and low power sensor networks.1
UWB has proven viable for new applications in detection, positioning and imaging. Modulation of UWB signals using ultra-short pulses, on the order of nanoseconds, enables precise location and ranging to the cm level.1,3 This has potential for use in military surveillance systems and other high-accuracy location and detection applications. Its high resolution, high penetration properties have also attracted research in the medical field. For example, UWB systems have been used for noninvasive, precise detection of heart movements and for high fidelity imaging using safe, nonionizing radiation, as an alternative to more harmful X-ray imaging.4
UWB technology has shown much potential, but design challenges remain in bringing it to a stage of wider industry adoption and commercialization. One of those challenges is the development of RF filters with wide enough passbands, flat response and sufficient selectivity to meet FCC spectral masking specifications. Several approaches have been studied utilizing microstrip technology. 2,5-6 While achieving varying degrees of success, each have drawbacks. In general, microstrip UWB filters are large, typically occupying greater than 1 in.2 of board space, and tend to be too costly for volume production.
REFLECTIONLESS FILTERS FOR UWB RF FRONT ENDS
Reflectionless filters provide an attractive alternative to existing approaches. Because reflectionless filters absorb and terminate stopband signals, rather than reflecting them back to the source, they can be cascaded in multiple sections without generating standing waves and causing distortion of the passband shape. This facilitates the combination of low and highpass filters to create a bandpass response, a technique that is useful in designing UWB filters. Reflectionless highpass filters have broad enough passbands to achieve the desired bandwidths for UWB, while most other filter technologies do not; reflectionless lowpass filters offer cut-offs that extend high enough in frequency to achieve 3 dB bandwidths well above 100 percent.
Figure 2 Simulated response combining XHF-581M+ and XLF-312H+ (a), devices in the test fixture (b) and measured results (c).
While competing approaches employ transmission lines, reflectionless filter topologies are based on lumped elements using MMIC technology. Smaller size, lower cost and greater repeatability make them more suitable candidates for volume production. Filter models are available in package sizes as small as 2 mm × 2 mm and as bare die for chip-and-wire integration.
CASE STUDIES
The remainder of this article describes the use of reflectionless filters in UWB filter design, with examples using filters available from Mini-Circuits to demonstrate their advantages. Simulated performance is compared with measured results, and a final design is shown that meets UWB bandwidth requirements and the specifications of the FCC spectral mask.
Case 1: General Proof of Concept
Two reflectionless filters, Mini-Circuits highpass (2.9 to 8.7 GHz) and lowpass (DC to 7 GHz) models, are combined to create a bandpass response. The simulation shown in Figure 1a exhibits a 3 dB passband from 2.3 to 9.7 GHz (4.2:1 or 123 percent bandwidth). To validate these results, the filters are mounted in the test fixture shown in Figure 1b. Insertion loss is swept from 0.1 to 40 GHz and again from 45 MHz to 2 GHz, the latter with fine resolution to capture the low frequency details. After correcting for fixture loss by subtracting the measured loss of a straight thru-line, the measured data for the combined filter is plotted in Figure 1c. The response exhibits a 3 dB passband from about 2.4 to 9.7 GHz (4:1 or 121 percent bandwidth). Cascading has no effect on the passband flatness. The higher rejection on the low frequency end is due to the two-section design of the highpass filter.
Case 2: Maximizing Bandwidth
Case 1 establishes the viability of combining highpass and lowpass reflectionless filters to create UWB bandpass response. The same technique can be used with different filter models to shape the response. In this case, two-section highpass and three-section lowpass models (0.58 to 3 GHz and DC to 3.53 GHz, respectively) are combined to create the widest possible passband. In addition to a wide bandwidth, because this combined filter incorporates two- and three-section designs, it also exhibits high rejection in both the upper and lower frequency stopbands.
A simulation combining these two models in series is shown in Figure 2a, exhibiting a 3 dB passband from 450 MHz to 5.7 GHz (12.7:1 or 171 percent bandwidth). A logarithmic frequency scale is used to better show the shape of the response. Note the lower frequency stopband rejection greater than 30 dB and upper frequency stopband rejection of 50 to 60 dB.
The filters are shown mounted in their test fixture in Figure 2b. Insertion loss is measured as in Case 1 and shown in Figure 2c. The filter achieves a 3 dB bandwidth from about 500 MHz to 5.2 GHz (10:1 or 165 percent bandwidth). The measured data exhibits a slightly narrower passband than the simulation, yet still achieves greater than a full decade of bandwidth. The lower stopband rejection is between 30 and 40 dB, and the upper stopband rejection ranges from 40 to greater than 60 dB, corresponding to the simulation. The passband shows excellent flatness with no distortion from adverse interactions between the filter stages.
