Frequency-tunable Bandpass Filters with Constant Absolute Bandwidth and Improved Linearity

This paper presents a frequency-tunable bandpass filter with constant absolute bandwidth and improved linearity. The proposed resonator is composed of an open-ended transmission line with back-to-back varactor diodes loaded at one end. The back-to-back varactor diodes are used to enhance the linearity of the filter, which is better than that of the single varactor counterparts. A mixed electric and magnetic coupling scheme is utilized to control the overall coupling coefficients so that the absolute bandwidth can be kept constant when the frequency is tuned. For validation, two frequency-tuning filters with 30-MHz and 44-MHz absolute bandwidth are implemented. The experimental and simulated results are presented to verify the proposed design.