Electromagnetic Optimization Using Taguchi’s Method: A Case Study of Band Pass Filter Design

This study presents a global electromagnetic optimization technique using Taguchi’s method [1] and its applications in microstrip filter designs. Microwave filters are widely used in telecommunication equipments. Although filters built with lumped elements can realize the desired frequency response, it is difficult to control the lumped elements’ properties in the microwave band. Therefore passive planar printed types of filters are usually used for microwave applications. These planar filters need to be accurately modeled due to the high frequency effects such as dispersion and dielectric/conduct loss. Therefore, a global optimization technique and a full wave EM simulator are necessary tools for an optimum design of such filters. In this study, a full wave commercial simulator IE3D [2] along with our external Taguchi’s based optimizer [3] are used to optimize a microstrip band pass filter (BPF) presented in [4] and shown in Fig. 1. The desired frequency responses of the band pass filters are successfully achieved with only few numbers of iterations.