Parametric Effect of Defected Ground Structure

(DGS) on Frequency of a Bandpass Filter

*M. T. Khan, M. A. Zakariya, M. N. M. Saad, Z. Baharudin, M. Z. Ur Rehman
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
*mazman_zakariya@petronas.com.my



Abstract- A stepped impedance resonator bandpass filter
(SIR BPF) is proposed and designed by placing defected
ground structure (DGS) in the ground plane. DGS is used for
its property of miniaturizing the size of microwave filter and
also improving the mutual coupling between the resonators.
The proposed dumbbell shaped DGS is used to tune the
bandpass filter to 2.4 GHz with dimension of 28 mm 30 mm.
A wide tuning range of 0.64 GHz is achieved by tuning the
height, length and width dimension of DGS unit cell. This filter
gives an insertion loss of -0.23 dB, a return loss of -38.03 dB
and -3 dB bandwidth of 0.56 GHz. The tuning of SIR bandpass
filter, using DGS structure parameters is discussed here.
Moreover, the effect of different parameters of DGS on center
frequency is shown and discussed with results.

Keywords-DGS, SIR, Bandpass Filter, Frequency Tuning
I. INTRODUCTION
In mobile and wireless communications, the essential
components that are used at the front ends of transmitters and
receivers are RF and microwave bandpass filters (BPF). To
meet the demands of modern wireless communications,
many efforts have been made since the start of 1980s to build
up a variety of compact bandpass filters having deep and
sharp rejection outside the passband by the generation of
transmission zeros and attenuation poles [1].
In the development of various wireless systems operating
at frequency range of 300 MHz and above, frequency
selectivity is achieved by microwave filters. Filters
effectively transmit the desired signals for passband region
whereas; it attenuates all undesirable signals in leftover
bandstop regions [2]. The optimal filter performance is
ensured if it has the properties of minimum insertion loss,
high selectivity and compactness [3].
In the design of microwave filters, the major emphasis is
on reducing the overall size of the device. The current
distribution in a wave guiding structure is disturbed by
etching DGS in ground plane of a Planer transmission line.
The disturbance crafts a change in characteristics of a
transmission line and thus this methodology is used for
reducing the overall area of planar circuits [4]. This
disturbance will modify characteristics of a transmission line
for instance line capacitance and inductance. In a word, any
defect carved in the ground plane of the microstrip can
introduce increment to the effective capacitance and
inductance [5].
The defected ground structures demonstrate advantages
that include compactness, wide-band operation and
competent and flexible usage of the ground plane structure
for changing characteristics of microwave devices [6]. A
variety of slot geometries etched in the microstrip line
ground plane have been reported in the literature. Some
examples include spiral head, arrowhead-slot and H shape
slots [7, 8]. To improve the circuit performance, more
complex DGS have been proposed such as: a square open-
loop with a slot in middle section, open-loop dumbbell and
interdigital DGS [9, 10].
Two main challenges for DGS implementation are its
design and analysis. The main resources to design and
analyze DGS are commercially available EM
(Electromagnetic) solvers. The extraction of equivalent
circuit parameters is necessary to apply the proposed DGS
section to a practical circuit design example. A parallel LC
resonant circuit with a parallel conductance is a way to
model an equivalent circuit model of an etched defect in
ground plane. In actual this parallel LC resonant circuit is not
sufficient to explain the effect of discontinuities on the
performance of the DGS [11]. Furthermore, equivalent
circuit modeling enables the development of lowpass and
bandpass filters, couplers, power dividers, antennas,
amplifiers, and other such devices [12].
In this paper, the design of bandpass filter is developed for
2.4 GHz ISM band applications. The DGS unit cell is etched
in the ground plane for tuning of bandpass filter to the
required frequency response. An SIR is placed on the top of
the structure and dumbbell DGS is positioned on the bottom.
The I-shaped DGS has been modified from its original
design to tune to the center frequency of 2.4 GHz. Tuning of
the center frequency is achieved by varying the height,
length, width and gap of DGS which will be discussed in the
paper. The effect of each parameter of DGS unit to the 2.4
GHz filter is discussed and explained. Simulation results of
the proposed bandpass filter is carried out using CST
Microwave Studio 2009.
II. DUMBELL DGS UNIT AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS
An SIR DGS unit is implemented in the design. Fig. 1(a)
and 1(b) shows the front and back view of the design. It has a
pair of stepped impedance resonator microstrip lines with
equal-length on the top and an I-shaped slot symmetrically
etched in the ground plane. The etched pattern consists of
two identical rectangular-loops having open-loop edge length
l together with open-ends g and a slot-line h which
forms connection between them. In this configuration, the
dumbbell-arm is aligned with the microstrip line on the top.
Fig. 1(a) and 1(b) shows the configuration of the design [13]
made on Rogers RT 5880 substrate possessing a dielectric
constant of 2.2 and a thickness of 0.787 mm.
Detail specification of center frequency of bandpass filter,
which operate at 2.4 GHz is depicted in Table 1.
2013 IEEE International RF and Microwave Conference (RFM2013), December 09-11, 2013 - Penang, Malaysia
978-1-4799-2214-7/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE 184

TABLE 1
BANDPSS FILTER SPECIFICATIONS
Parameter Specification
Frequency Range 2.127 GHz 2.687 GHz
Center Frequency, f0 2.4 GHz
Bandwidth (Bw), f 500 MHz
Bandpass Ripple 1.0 dB max
Insertion Loss (Max) 1.0 dB max (passband)
Return Loss (Min) 10 dB min (passband)
Impedance, Z 50 Ohm nominal

The proposed SIR-DGS bandpass filter is capable to be
tuned between 2.127 GHz to 2.687 GHz. In this work, the
center frequency is aimed to operate at 2.4 GHz with
minimum bandwidth of 500 MHz. The maximum bandpass
ripple is required to be kept under 1.0 dB, where the
maximum insertion loss must be kept below 1.0 dB.


Fig. 1(a). Front view of the design


Fig. 1(b). Back view of the design

The designed Stepped Impedance Resonator- Bandpass
filter (SIR-BPF) using single I-shaped DGS element is
simulated using CST Studio Suite software. The dimensions
of the stepped impedance line is w
1
= 9 mm and l
1
= 2 mm,
whereas the microstrip line width is a = 1.5 mm and length is
12.8 mm, with dimensions of DGS with slot head h = 3.5
mm, slot width w = 4.7 mm, slot length l = 8.2 mm and slot
gap g = 0.4 mm.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results that can be deduced from the simulation are
that the center frequency has been tuned to 2.407 GHz by
changing the DGS parameters as depicted in Fig. 2. The
location of transmission zeros are a zero at DC and the
passband is further bounded by a finite transmission-zero at
frequency f
1
= 3.402 GHz. According to the simulation result,
this filter gives an insertion loss of -0.23 dB, a return loss of -
38.03 dB and -3 dB bandwidth of 0.56 GHz.

Fig. 2. Simulated results for the design on RT 5880 substrate

Fig. 2 also illustrates the measured result of the proposed
filter. The filter offers an insertion loss of -0.905 dB, a return
loss of -31.20 dB and -3 dB bandwidth of 500 MHz. The
location of finite transmission-zeros is at frequency
f
1
= 3.8 GHz. The measurement is carried out by using
E8363C PNA vector network analyzer. It is being used to
measure the S-parameters namely S
11
and S
21
. The
degradation between the simulated and measured result
could be attributed to the mis-alignment and PCB fabrication
of the top resonators and DGS cell on the ground plane [14].
The measured result shows a close agreement with the
simulated result. There is small difference in insertion loss
and bandwidth due to fabrication tolerance [15].
IV. TUNING PARAMETERS AND EFFECT ON LUMPED
COMPONENTS
A. Center Frequency Tuning

The center frequency of the bandpass filter is upshifted or
downshifted by changing DGS unit, the open-loop size is
adjusted by the tuning dimensions of l, h, w and g
as shown in Fig. 3. In general, when a larger square open-
loop is used, both zeros and its centre frequency will be
downshifted to lower frequencies. To investigate this open-
loop size effect, the rectangular open-loop edge-length h of
the above example bandpass DGS unit is varied from 3.5
mm to 5.0 mm with increment of 0.25 mm. The other
parameters are kept constant at w = 4.7 mm, slot length l =
8.2 mm and slot gap g = 0.4 mm. The minimum return loss
level is kept under -10 dB to ensure sufficient signal strength
is derived from input to output port. The characteristics
impedance of the design is kept at 50 .
185

Fig. 3. Tuning parameters for DGS Unit

Fig. 4(a) shows the effect on attenuation poles, when
parameter h is increased from 3.5 mm to 5.0 mm. It is
depicted that the location of attenuation poles is shifted from
2.48 GHz to 1.86 GHz.

dFig. 4(a). Changes in S11 by changing h from 3.5 to 5.0 mm


Fig. 4(b). Changes in S21 by changing h from 3.5 to 5.0 mm.

Moreover, Fig. 4(b) shows that the transmission zero is
down shifted from 3.52 GHz to 2.76 GHz. Meanwhile, the
center frequency is gradually changed from 2.48 GHz to 1.86
GHz. The tuning parameters provide wide frequency tuning
of 0.64 GHz.
B. Effect of Changing Slot Head h on Frequency

In order to investigate the influence of the square head
dimension h, the etched slot width w and length l are
kept constant to 4.7 mm and 8.2 mm respectively for all five
cases and the etched square head h is varied. As the etched
area of the square head h is increased, the effective series
inductance increases, and increasing the series inductance
gives a lower cutoff frequency [5], as seen in Fig. 5. It is
found out that by employing the etched square head area h
increases the series inductance to the microstrip line. This
effective series inductance introduces the cutoff
characteristic at certain frequency [16].

Fig. 5. Graph of h slot (mm) vs frequency (GHz)

The effect of changing the slot head h on center
frequency is depicted in TABLE II. It is clear that as the slot
head h is increased, the center frequency is down shifted to
a lower value.
TABLE II
CENTER FREQUENCY FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF h

h (mm) fc (GHz)
3.50 2.410
3.75 2.345
4.00 2.277
4.25 2.205
4.50 2.131

C. Effect of Changing Slot Length l on Frequency

The study is further extended to the influence of the slot
length l. The square head dimension h and the slot
width w were kept constant to 3.5 mm and 4.7 mm
respectively for all the cases and the slot etched length l
is varied. From Fig. 6, it is clear that the slot-head length l
has identical effect on the cutoff frequency as well as
attenuation pole frequency.

Fig. 6. Graph of l slot (mm) vs frequency (GHz)
Frequency [GHz]
0 1 2 3 4 5
S
1
1

[
d
B
]
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
h = 3.500 mm
h = 3.875 mm
h = 4.250 mm
h = 4.625 mm
h = 5.000 mm
Frequency [GHz]
0 1 2 3 4 5
S
2
1

[
d
B
]
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
h = 3.500 mm
h = 3.875 mm
h = 4.250 mm
h = 4.625 mm
h = 5.000 mm
h slot value [mm]
3.6 3.8 4.0 4.2 4.4
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

[
G
H
z
]
2.10
2.15
2.20
2.25
2.30
2.35
2.40
2.45
h slot vs Frequency
l slot value [mm]
7.2 7.4 7.6 7.8 8.0 8.2
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

[
G
H
z
]
2.40
2.45
2.50
2.55
2.60
2.65
l slot vs Frequency
186

The effect of changing the slot length l on center
frequency is depicted in TABLE III. It is a liner response as
the slot head l is increased; the center frequency is down
shifted to a lower value.
TABLE III
CENTER FREQUENCY FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF l

l (mm) fc (GHz)
7.20 2.620
7.45 2.570
7.70 2.520
7.95 2.460
8.20 2.414

D. Effect of Changing Slot Width w on Frequency

An investigation on the influence of the etched slot width
is employed. The square head dimension h and slot
length l are kept constant to 3.5 mm and 8.2 mm
respectively for all the cases and the etched slot width s
was varied. Unlike the influence of the head dimension h,
there is no significant change in the cutoff frequency despite
the variation of the slot width w as shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 7. Graph of w slot (mm) vs frequency (GHz)
The effect of changing the slot width w on center
frequency is depicted in TABLE IV. It is seen that the center
frequency more or less remain same for different values of
w
TABLE IV
CENTER FREQUENCY FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF w

w (mm) fc (GHz)
2.7 2.450
3.2 2.580
3.7 2.520
4.2 2.460
4.7 2.414



Fig. 8(a). Fabricated bandpass filter, front view


Fig. 8(b). Fabricated bandpass filter, back view

V. CONCLUSION
A stepped impedance resonator (SIR) filter with
dumbbell DGS has been presented in this section. It has
been found advantageous in designing microstrip bandpass
filters with good stopband performance. One of the key
features of an SIR is that its resonant frequencies can be
tuned by adjusting its structural parameters. The DGS unit
had shown the capabilities to tuning the stepped impedance
BPF. There are 3 main dimension entities that work to tune
the center resonance frequency and the desirable bandwidth.
The filter is tuned to 2.4 GHz using 3 parameters of
dumbbell DGS, namely length l, width w and height h
of slot. The front and back side of the fabricated design for
2.4 GHz is shown in Fig. 8(a) and (b) respectively, with the
size of 28 30 mm
2
. Moreover, this filter has the capability
to give wide range of tuning (0.64 GHz).
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank Universiti Teknologi
PETRONAS in particularly Research and Innovation Office
(RIO) in providing short term internal research fund for this
study.

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w slot value [mm]
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F
r
e
q
u
e
n
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[
G
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z
]
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