New Dual-/Tri-Band Bandpass Filters and Diplexer With Large Frequency Ratio

To satisfy the simultaneous requirements of future wireless communication systems on short-range high-speed data transmission and long-distance basic coverage, the coexistence of the millimeter-wave and microwave technologies becomes the inexorable trend. However, it is difficult for the existing dual-/ tri-band filter configurations to achieve a frequency ratio larger than three. In this paper, the new use of aperture coupling mechanism is proposed to combine two bandpass elements for dual-/tri-band operation with large frequency ratio but comparable sizes. For this purpose, a microwave BPF with wide stopband up to millimeter-waveband is implemented based on the complementary frequency response characteristics of the stepped-impedance resonator bandpass filter and low-pass filter. The millimeter-wave BPF can be simply designed using the air-filled substrate-integrated waveguide circular cavities, which exhibit the natural low-frequency cutoff characteristics. Based on the proposed design concept and two BPF elements, the dual-/ tri-band bandpass filters with frequency ratio up to 12.59 and 12.7 were designed, fabricated, and measured. Owing to the independence of the two elements, a diplexer with large frequency ratio can be simply implemented based on the previous dual-band filter. All the simulation and measured results are in good agreement, validating the proposed structures.