ZTE Communications ›› 2011, Vol. 9 ›› Issue (2): 27-35.

• Special Topic • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Advanced Synthesis Techniques for Microwave Filters

Richard J Cameron   

  1. Canopus Consultancy
  • Online:2011-06-25 Published:2011-06-25
  • About author:Richard J. Cameron CEng. FIET, FIEEE received the B.Sc. degree in telecommunications and electronic engineering from Loughborough University, U.K., in 1969. Later that year, he joined Marconi Space and Defence Systems Company in the U.K., where his activities included small earth-station design, telecommunication satellite system analysis, and computer-aided RF circuit and component design. In 1975, he joined the European Space Agency’s technical establishment (ESTEC, The Netherlands), where he was involved in the research and development of advanced microwave active and passive components and circuits, with applications in telecommunications, scientific and earth observation spacecraft. Since joining Com Dev Ltd. in 1984, he has been involved in the software and methods for the design of high-performance components and sub-systems for both space and terrestrial application.
    Richard Cameron is now retired, but still performs duties as a Visiting Professor at Leeds University (UK), and is active in writing technical articles, presenting lectures, examining PhD candidates and providing consultancy services on an ad hoc basis.

Abstract: With the advent of the‘digital revolution’that has made possible services such as the world wide web, satellite broadcasting and mobile and trunk telephony, the finite RF spectrum allocated for terrestrial and satellite telecommunication systems is becoming increasingly crowded. This has impacted significantly upon the performance required from the microwave equipment that comprises these systems. In the case of microwave filters, greater in-band linearity to avoid signal distortion and out-of-band isolation to suppress interference are routinely specified, which can only be satisfied by advanced filtering characteristics. This article presents the coupling matrix approach to the synthesis of prototype filter networks, enabling the realization of the hardware embodying the enhanced performance needed by today’s high capacity systems.

Key words: filter network synthesis, coupling matrix, microwave filters