Low cost LTCC filters for a 30GHz satellite system

This paper deals with the improvement on low cost LTCC technology to achieve the specifications of planar filters for a 30GHz satellite system transmitter. Test structures were fabricated on low cost LTCC technology, presently available for lower frequencies, to characterise its performances up to 40GHz. From this study, guidelines for the design of 30GHz circuits were obtained. Based on these results and their constraints, several solutions for a 30GHz transmitter filter were designed. A comparison between the LTCC filters with active and passive alternative solutions implemented on GaAs monolithic technology is also presented. The feasibility of millimeter wave filters on LTCC with a reasonable yield for mass production is demonstrated.