Design Methodology of a Tunable Waveguide Filter With a Constant Absolute Bandwidth Using a Single Tuning Element

This paper presents a novel configuration for a high-Q tunable waveguide (WG) filter with a constant absolute bandwidth (BW). The key feature of this filter is that it is tuned by a single tuning element. This paper investigates the theory of coupling behavior of single septum and double septa to achieve constant absolute BW. The theory is presented for both the coupling matrix-based and inverter-based filter topologies. The filter design methodology is lucidly presented covering the design strategy adopted for interresonator coupling, input-output coupling and tuning element. The tuning mechanism of the proposed filter is explained with measurement results presented for a Ku-band tunable WG filter designed at 15 GHz with a 2% BW to achieve 15% tuning range. The filter promises to be useful in emerging 5G millimeter-wave applications, where the filter size is very small to accommodate many mechanical tuning elements. Furthermore, the proposed design methodology is scalable, i.e., the tuning mechanism is independent of the filter order.