Development of Compact SRR-based Microstrip BPF

for Weather Radar Applications

Muhammad Ammar Wibisono

Achmad Munir

Radio Telecommunication and Microwave Laboratory

Institut Teknologi Bandung
Indonesia
ammarwibisono@students.itb.ac.id

Radio Telecommunication and Microwave Laboratory

Institut Teknologi Bandung
Indonesia
munir@ieee.org

Abstract A development of compact narrowband microstrip

band-pass filter (BPF) based on split ring resonator (SRR) is
presented. The proposed BPF is intended to be used for weather
radar applications with intermediate frequency (IF) of 800MHz.
The filter is designed on a grounded 1.9mm thick Roger
RT/Duroid 6010 dielectric substrate with substrate dimensions
of 30mm x 25mm. Some parametrical studies to obtain the
optimum design of filter are carried out by varying the radius of
the inner ring, radius of the outer rings and the gap width of the
rings. The simulation result shows that the center frequency of
the SRR BPF is 800MHz with -3dB bandwidth response of
51MHz ranges from 771MHz to 822MHz.
Keywordsband-pass filter; split ring resonator; microstrip;
weather radar.

I. INTRODUCTION
In many RF and microwave applications, including radar,
the signal frequency needs to be maintained to comply with
certain criteria by using a filter. Without adequate filtering
system, the signal frequency will be deviated and degrades the
performance of the system. To fulfill these requirements, a
bandpass filter (BPF) becomes essential part in microwave
systems. In weather radar applications, a BPF is needed for
optimizing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the radar signal
by filtering radar signal with certain bandwidth and rejecting
interference signal at neighboring bands to improve the radar
detection [1]. Therefore, narrowband BPF with highselectivity and quality factor is preferred. A cavity or
waveguide filter with air dielectric can be employed for this
case. However, it has large dimension and weight, and also
has complex fabrication process [2]. Alternative solution for
this issue can be implemented using microstrip technology
with split ring resonator (SRR) structure.
The SRR which sometimes referred as a type of
metamaterial is commonly implemented as an additional
structure for planar technology implementation in several
microwave devices [3] [5]. The structure of SRR is mainly
made of nonmagnetic metal and composed of a pair of
concentric enclosed-loops with splits at opposite ends. The
shape of loop usually takes a shape of circle or square. Since
the SRR structure has unique features such as capability to
produce large value of capacitance, it is frequently applied to

improve the performance of wireless communication devices

including filter and antenna [6] [7]. It is also often applied to
improve the performance of BPF without changing its
characteristics [8]. One type of existing SRR structures which
is frequently implemented for manufacturing a compact
microstrip bandpass filter (BPF) is open split ring resonator
(OSRR). This is due to the advantage of OSRR which has
strong coupling connection between the loops while working
as lumped LC series [9].
Regarding to the attempt for obtaining a BPF in compact
size, in this paper, some method to construct a compact
microstrip BPF is proposed by implementing an SRR structure
[10]. The proposed microstrip BPF which is design on a
grounded 1.9mm thick Roger RT/Duroid 6010 dielectric
substrate is intended to have center frequency of 800MHz. In
the design process, the performance of microstrip BPF is
investigated intensively to achieve the optimum design of
overall structure. Some parametrical studies upon the SRR
structure are carried out to obtain the geometry of SRR with
the desired frequency response by varying the physical
parameters of SRR structure including radius of the inner ring,
radius of the outer rings and the gap width of the rings. The
filter parameters such as return loss, insertion loss, and
bandwidth response will be used as performance indicators in
the evaluation of microstrip BPF characteristic.
II. DESIGN OF SRR-BASED MICROSTRIP BPF
The structure of the SRR consists of 2 truncated rings of
non-magnetic metal conductor printable in a dielectric
substrate as illustrated in Fig. 1 below [10].

Fig. 1. Structure of an SRR and its current flow (left); equivalent circuit
of SRR (right)

0 =

(1)

Some parametrical studies are carried out by varying the

physical parameters of the SRR structure, i.e. the radius of the
inner ring, the radius of the outer rings and the gap width of the
rings are carried through simulation. These attempts are
conducted based on the characteristic of SRR structure that
produces larger capacitance in connection with the ratio
between the gap of rings and the width of rings. The results of
parametrical studies are plotted in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 for variation
of the radius of the inner ring, the radius of the outer rings and
the gap width of the rings, respectively.
0
-5
-10
-15

-20

return loss (6.8mm)

insertion loss (6.8mm)
return loss (6.7mm)
insertion loss (6.7mm)
return loss (6.6mm)
insertion loss (6.6mm)

-25

-30
700

750

800
850
900
Frequency (MHz)

950

1000

Fig. 3. Simulated results of frequency response for SRR-based microstrip

BPF with varied radius of inner ring

0
-5

Return and insertion loss (dB)

The SRR structure is designed on a Roger RT/Duroid

6010 dielectric substrate with relative permittivity of 10.2 as
shown in Fig. 2. The dimension of the filter is 30mm x 25mm
with thickness of 1.9mm. The radiuses of the inner and outer
rings are 8.2mm and 6.8mm, respectively with gap between
rings of 1.4mm. The width of each ring and the separation
between the rings are 1.2mm and 0.2mm, respectively. The
rings, feeding lines and the ground plane are made from
copper with thickness of 0.035mm from the surface of the
dielectric substrate.

III. SIMULATIONS AND RESULTS

Return and insertion loss (dB)

When the SRR structure is exposed to electromagnetic

waves, charge at surface of each ring are excited and the
electric current is flowing on the surface of each ring as well
as from one ring to the another. The narrow gap between the
rings behaves as capacitors which makes the wavelength
larger than the diameter of the ring at its resonant frequency.
The resonant frequency of the SRR becomes lower as the gap
is narrower because the capacitance of the gap becomes larger.
The equivalent circuit of the SRR structure is shown in Fig. 1
(right) where L is the inductance of the SRR, C is the
capacitance between the rings, and R is the resistance of SRR
[11].
The inductance of the SRR is determined by the length of
rings. The inductance of the rings becomes larger for the
longer rings. Whilst, the capacitance is defined by the gap
between rings which depends on the outer diameter of the
inner ring and the inner diameter of outer ring. The narrower
the space of the gap, the capacitance becomes larger.
Furthermore, the resistance of the SRR represents the losses
caused by metal conductor rings as well as the losses from the
dielectric substrate. Based from the equivalent circuit, the
resonant frequency of the SRR structure is given in (1).

-10
-15
return loss (9.6mm)
insertion loss (9.6mm)
return loss (9.7mm)
insertion loss (9.7mm)
return loss (9.8mm)
insertion loss (9.8mm)

-20
-25

-30
700 725

750

775 800 825 850 875 900

Frequency (MHz)
Fig. 4. Simulated results of frequency response for SRR-based microstrip
BPF with varied radius of the outer rings

Fig. 2. Final design of SRR-based microstrip BPF; top view (top); bottom
view (bottom)

Return and insertion loss (dB)

IV. CONCLUSION

-5
-10
-15
return loss (1.4mm)
insertion loss (1.4mm)
return loss (1.8mm)
insertion loss (1.8mm)
return loss (2.2mm)
insertion loss (2.2mm)

-20
-25
-30
700 725 750

775 800 825 850 875 900

Frequency (MHz)

Fig. 5. Simulated results of frequency response for SRR-based microstrip BPF

with varied gap width of the rings

From these results, the effects of the radius of the rings and
the gap width of the rings to frequency response can be
determined precisely. Wider ring produces lower center
frequency, whilst wider gap produces higher center frequency
as stated in [10]. Based on the result of parametrical studies,
the strip width of the rings of 1.2mm and the gap width of
1.4mm are implemented in the final design.
Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 2, feeding networks made of
microstrip line with the width of 1.2mm are used to connect the
SRR structure. Since the input and output signals for microstrip
BPF are obtained from SMA connectors, therefore the width of
feeding line can be calculated theoretically to have the line
impedance of 50. Fig. 6 depicts the characterization result of
final design of proposed SRR-based microstrip BPF. It shows
that the microstrip BPF has center frequency of 800MHz with
values of return loss and insertion loss of 27.049dB and
0.864dB, respectively.

Return and insertion loss (dB)

0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25

return loss
insertion loss

-30

700 725 750 775 800 825 850 875 900

Frequency (MHz)
Fig. 6. Simulated result of final design of SRR-based microstrip BPF

The development of compact microstrip BPF based on

SRR structure has been investigated. Physical parameters of
SRR structure, i.e. radius of the inner ring, radius of outer
rings and the gap width of the rings have also been explored in
obtaining the optimum design. From the characterization, it
has been shown that the wider rings produce lower center
frequency of SRR-based microstrip BPF. In the other hand,
wider gap produce higher center frequency. It has been shown
that the simulation result of SRR-based microstrip has the 3dB bandwidth response of 51MHz ranges from 771MHz to
822MHz. In addition, fabrication of the SRR-based microstrip
BPF is still in progress, where the results of the measurement
will be reported later.
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