This paper presents the characteristics of a miniaturized microstrip filter, which has two separate coupling paths: electric coupling path and magnetic coupling path between two resonators. Either magnetic coupling or electric coupling in two paths can be dominant in the total coupling coefficient of the inter-stage resonators with the similar configuration, but different positions of transmission zero points (ZPs). Based on the proposed filter topology, second- and fourth-order filters have been designed and fabricated for the first time. Advantages of using this type of filter are not only its low insertion loss and much more compact size, but also its controllable transmission ZPs.

This letter reports a novel back-to-back E-shaped defected ground structure (DGS) and two-side loading scheme for miniaturized dual-band substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) bandpass filter (BPF) designs. The SIW loaded by novel DGS supports evanescent-mode wave propagation below the cut-off frequency of SIW, while achieves two transmission poles at the passband and two controllable transmission zero points. Furthermore, the novel loading scheme by loading different-sized DGS resonators on two sides of SIW is proposed for dual-band BPF designs. To validate the design and analysis, a 2.4/5.2 GHz filter prototype was designed. In good agreement with theoretical results, the measured results of the dual-band filter achieve insertion losses of 3.6 and 3.1 dB, and fractional bandwidths of 5.8% and 6.45% at 2.4 and 5.2 GHz, respectively. The filter size is only 408 mil × 420 mil.

A new type of low-pass filter (LPF) with ultra-wide band rejection and compact size by using a proposed transformed radial stubs (TRSs) is introduced and investigated. The operating mechanism of the filter is investigated based on proposed equivalent-circuit model. The implemented LPF with 1-dB cutoff frequency fc of 3 GHz demonstrates stopband rejection up to 8 fc i.e., 24 GHz. The skirt selectivity is achieved up to -144 dB per octave through multiple-zero generation using TRSs. The measured passband insertion loss is less than 1.5 dB. I/O loading cells are used to further extend the deep stopband to more than 13 fc i.e., above 40 GHz. The size of the four-cell LPF is only 0.31 λg × 0.24 λg, (λg is the guide wavelength at center cutoff frequency) without using any lumped elements.

With the rapid development of modern communication and radar technology, there is a need for the miniaturization, planarization, and modularization of microwave and millimeter-wave (mm-wave) systems, without losing excellent performance and reliability. The transmission line is the most basic component of microwave and mm-wave circuits and systems, and its characteristics-including loss, size, integration, cost, and weight-directly or indirectly affect the performance of the entire circuit and system. Commonly used transmission lines [1] include nonplanar transmission lines, such as a metal waveguide and coaxial line, and planar transmission lines, such as a microstrip, strip line, coplanar waveguide, and slot line.

Significance: Different from most existing multistable structures whose multiple stable states are achieved through the combinational effect of bistable units, we invent a generic tristable kirigami cuboid. The three stable states have fundamentally distinct geometric configurations and chirality, and the transformation among them can be realized by tension/compression or clockwise/counterclockwise twist. Tessellating the units in series, a family of multistable metamaterials can be constructed, the mechanical behaviors of which are programmable by the unit geometry, the material of the elastic joints, the number of units, and the loading conditions. As a demonstration of the potential applications, a frequency reconfigurable antenna for 5G triple-band communication is developed based on a tristable unit, and the frequency tunability is verified by experiments.

A dual-mode compressed dipole resonating at high-order modes is proposed to enhance bandwidth and directivity by loading the two dipole arms with two stubs. Characteristic mode analysis shows that with by introducing the loading stubs, the fifth-order mode of the proposed dipole shifts close to its third-order mode for achieving a wideband operation with enhanced gain. A prototype is designed to validate the principle and design approach experimentally. The measurements show that the gain of the proposed compressed dipole is 4 dBi, higher than that of a conventional dipole over the desired operating band of 3.3-3.6 GHz for the coming 5G applications.