The Beauty of Symmetry: Common-Mode Rejection Filters for High-Speed Interconnects and Band Microwave Circuits

Common-mode rejection filters operating at microwave frequencies have been the subject of intensive research activity over the last decade. These filters are of interest for the suppression of common-mode noise in high-speed digital circuits, where differential signals are widely employed due to the high immunity to noise, electromagnetic (EM) interference, and crosstalk of differential-mode interconnects. These filters can also be used to improve common-mode rejection in microwave filters and circuits dealing with differential signals. Ideally, common-mode stopband filters should be transparent for the differential mode from dc up to very high frequencies (all pass), preserve the signal integrity for such mode, and exhibit the widest and deepest possible rejection band for the common mode in the region of interest. Moreover, these characteristics should be achieved by means of structures with the smallest possible size.