Design of In-Line Filters With Strongly Coupled Resonator Triplet

This paper presents a complete design procedure for in-line evanescent mode filters using an innovative pseudoelliptic structure, namely, the strongly coupled resonator triplet (SCRT). The SCRT can be seen as the combination of a strongly coupled resonator pair (SCRP) and a third resonator next to the pair. Compared to the SCRP, which at the passband frequencies generates a pole and a transmission zero, the new SCRT is capable of generating an additional passband pole, thus leading to the design of more compact in-line filters. Similar to the SCRP, the basic structure for filter design purposes is obtained by embedding the SCRT between two outer resonators. The coupling mechanisms and functional properties of this basic structure are explained. A suitable circuit model for the SCRT is introduced, thus allowing the synthesis of a low-pass prototype as well as the evaluation of the coupling coefficients and resonating frequencies to assign to the physical filtering structure. The proposed design procedure is validated by means of several examples, one of which including the detailed dimensions and experimental results of a manufactured prototype.