Parallel-Coupled-Line Bandpass Filter with Notch for Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Applications

A compact parallel-coupled-line microstrip bandpass filter with a very wideband passband and a narrow notched band is demonstrated in this paper. The presented bandpass filter was constructed from one section of three parallel-coupled-lines which has a length of a quarter wavelength at a midband frequency of 6.9 GHz. For the purpose of increasing the filter selectivity, the middle line is extended by a length of a quarter-wavelength and connected at one end to the ground plane. Therefore, a transmission zero was generated at each side of the passband which effectively improved the filter performance. In addition, a narrow notched band at a precise frequency inside the proposed passband was exhibited by placing a stepped-impedance resonator near the parallel-coupled-line for blocking the unwanted radio signal. The proposed filter was designed, simulated, fabricated, and measured. The fabricated filter has a very compact circuit size and its measured response shows an excellent agreement with the simulated results.