Mesaplexx Pty Ltd.

Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy

Mesaplex Pty Ltd.

Steven John Cooper

David R Hendry

Peter Kenington

Chris Boyle

Brian Hurley

Kimmo Kalervo Karhu

Kimmo Siponen

Mostafa Shabani

David Robert Hendry

A method for tuning a filter component using size adjustment includes measuring a first frequency of a first resonant mode of a dielectric resonator component of an RF filter, said dielectric resonator component being a block of dielectric material having a cuboid shape with three pairs of opposite faces. The first resonant mode has an electric-field component oriented in a direction perpendicular to one of the pairs of opposite faces and parallel to the other two pairs of opposite faces. When a measured value of the first frequency of the first resonant mode is less than a desired value, dielectric material is removed uniformly from at least one face of the two pairs of opposite faces parallel to the electric-field component of the first resonant mode to maintain the cuboid shape of the block of dielectric material. The removal of the dielectric material may be by at least one of lapping, grinding, and milling. The first frequency of the first resonant mode is remeasured to check whether a remeasured value therefor is closer or equal to the desired value without exceeding the desired value. The method is also applicable for tuning multiple modes of dielectric resonator component in the form of a block of dielectric material having a cuboid shape, as well as for tuning multiple modes in dielectric resonator components in the form of blocks of dielectric material having cylindrical and spherical shapes.

Filter component tuning using size adjustment

An apparatus includes a measurement structure for performing measurements of an RF device. The measurement structure includes an aperture in a conductive surface of the RF device and a conductive projecting region projecting into the aperture from a conductive perimeter of the aperture and electrically connected to that conductive perimeter. The aperture has a similar width in all dimensions. A combined shape of the aperture and the conductive projecting region does not possess even rotational symmetry about a point where a signal conductor will be placed on the conductive projecting region in order to conduct RF energy between the measurement structure and an external measurement instrument for performing the measurements. The measurement structure may be used for performing measurements of a multimode resonator, the measurements comprising one or more of resonant frequencies and quality factors of resonant modes of the resonator.

Measurement structures for measurements such as frequency and quality factors of resonators and other devices, and apparatus comprising the same

A first dielectric resonator component is joined to a second dielectric resonator component by bonding a first face of the first dielectric resonator component to a second face of the second dielectric resonator component. The first face has a first coupling aperture formed by removing a portion of a coating of first conductive material from the first dielectric resonator component, and the second face has a second coupling aperture formed by removing a portion of a coating of second conductive material from the second dielectric resonator component. The first coupling aperture and said second coupling aperture are aligned with one another when said first face is bonded to the second face. The first dielectric resonator component, which is slab-shaped, and the second dielectric resonator component, which is generally cubed-shaped, form a linear stack having two end faces and four side faces. A first hole is provided at a point along a center line of a side face of the first dielectric resonator component in the direction of orientation of the linear stack, and a second hole is provided substantially in the center of a side face of the second dielectric resonator component to tune a resonant frequency of the pair of joined dielectric resonator components.

Tuning triple-mode filter from exterior faces

A pair of joined dielectric resonator components of an RF filter includes a first dielectric resonator component and a second dielectric resonator component. The first dielectric resonator component includes a first block of dielectric material, which has a coating of a first conductive material and at least one planar face. The at least one planar face includes a first aperture formed by removing the coating of first conductive material from a portion of the planar face of the first block. The second dielectric resonator component includes a second block of dielectric material, which has a coating of a second conductive material and at least one planar face. The at least one planar face includes a second aperture formed by removing the coating of second conductive material from a portion of the planar face of the second block. The first and second dielectric resonator components are joined to one another with the coating of first conductive material on the planar face of the first block in contact with the coating of second conductive material on the planar face of the second block, and with the first aperture aligned with the second aperture. The second dielectric resonator component has a hole through the coating of second conductive material and into the second block of dielectric material. The hole is outside of the second aperture, and controls electric-field coupling between the first and second dielectric resonator components.

Drill tuning of aperture coupling

A multi-mode cavity filter, including two dielectric resonator bodies, the first incorporating a piece of dielectric material having a shape to support a first resonant mode and a second substantially degenerate resonant mode; the second also including a piece of dielectric material; the piece of dielectric material having a shape to support a first resonant mode; a layer of conductive material in contact with and covering both of the dielectric resonator bodies; an aperture in the layer at the interface of the first and second dielectric resonator bodies, for transferring signals from the second dielectric resonator body to the first, transferring signals from the first dielectric resonator body to the second and/or outputting signals from the first dielectric resonator body, the aperture being arranged for coupling signals to the first and second resonant modes in parallel, and/or coupling signals from the first and second resonant modes in parallel.

Multi-mode cavity filter

A multi-mode cavity filter, including at least one dielectric resonator body incorporating a piece of dielectric material having a shape to support first resonant mode and a second substantially degenerate resonant mode; excitation device(s) for at least one of: establishing an electromagnetic field external to, but immediately adjacent to, a face of the dielectric resonator body or for extracting energy from an electromagnetic field located external to, but immediately adjacent to, a face of the dielectric resonator body, a layer of conductive material in contact with and covering the dielectric resonator body on the face of the dielectric resonator body: at least one aperture in the layer of conductive material for inputting signals to the dielectric resonator body and/or outputting signals from the dielectric resonator body, wherein the excitation device is located, in at least two dimensions, at an electrical center of the face of the dielectric resonator body.

Multi-mode cavity filter and excitation device therefor

A cavity filter, including first and second dielectric resonator bodies, each incorporating a piece of dielectric material, each piece of dielectric material shaped to support at least a first resonant mode, at least one excitation device for establishing an electromagnetic field within at least a first dielectric resonator body or extracting energy from an electromagnetic field located within the first dielectric resonator body, a layer of electrically conductive material in contact with and covering a surface of the first and a surface of the second dielectric resonator bodies, an aperture in the layer of electrically conductive material for inputting signals to the second dielectric resonator body and/or outputting signals from the second dielectric resonator body wherein the at least one excitation device is arranged to directly excite the first resonant mode or directly extract energy from the first resonant mode in the second dielectric resonator via the aperture.

Filter

Target mode frequencies are calculated for a defined filter component used as a reference for filter components to be tuned. The defined filter component has resonant mode(s), each having a mode frequency which can be tuned to a corresponding target mode frequency via physical adjustment of parameter(s) of the filter component. A tuning equation is formed by linearly relating, via a slope matrix, changes in the mode frequencies to corresponding physical adjustment in the parameter(s), and by using an inverse of the slope matrix as part of the tuning equation. A tuning procedure is performed for a filter component to be tuned, comprising: determining, using the tuning equation, adjustment information for parameter(s) of the filter component to adjust measured mode frequency(ies) of the filter component toward meeting corresponding target mode frequency(ies) for the resonant mode(s) within corresponding tolerance(s); and outputting the determined adjustment information for physical adjustment of the parameter(s).

Filter component tuning method

The present invention relates to a multi-mode filter comprising a carrier on which is mounted a dielectric resonator having a covering of an electrically conductive material in which there is provided an aperture and a coupling structure for coupling input signals to the dielectric resonator or for extracting filtered output signals from the dielectric resonator. The carrier is provided with an enclosing formation of electrically conductive material, which enclosing formation is electrically coupled to the electrically conductive covering of the dielectric resonator, such that the covering and the enclosing formation together form an electrically conductive enclosure for the dielectric resonator. The enclosure formed from the covering of the dielectric resonator and the enclosing formation increases the isolation of the filter and reduces leakage. The filter of the present invention is particularly suitable for use in cascaded resonator filter arrangements, and in duplex/diplex filters.

Multi-mode filter having a dielectric resonator mounted on a carrier and surrounded by a trench

A multi-mode cavity filter includes a dielectric resonator body incorporating a piece of dielectric material, the piece of dielectric material having a shape such that it can support at least two substantially degenerate resonant modes; and a phased array of coupling elements for coupling signals to the piece of dielectric material.

Multi-mode filter having at least one feed line and a phase array of coupling elements

The present invention provides multi-resonator cavity filters in which one or more patch elements are introduced into the coupling apertures between resonators, reducing the strength of the electric field in the aperture gap while maintaining the coupling strength from resonator to resonator. This reduced field strength reduces the sensitivity of the resonators to gap-thickness variations, and allows use of the filter in high-power applications.

A multi-mode cavity filter comprises: a dielectric resonator; a coupling structure for at least one of coupling input signals to the dielectric resonator and extracting filtered output signals from the dielectric resonator; a covering of conductive material around the dielectric resonator and comprising an aperture; and a printed circuit board structure having at least one ground plane layer arranged over said aperture and electrically coupled to the covering of conductive material.

Multi-mode filter

A multi-mode cavity filter having a dielectric resonator body incorporating a piece of dielectric material, the piece of dielectric material having a shape such that it can support at least two substantially degenerate resonant modes; and a coupling structure comprising a plurality of independent coupling elements for coupling signals to the piece of dielectric material.

A dielectric resonator body for a multi-mode cavity filter, the resonator body including: a piece of first dielectric material, with at least one substantially flat face for mounting on a substrate, the piece of first dielectric material having a shape such that it can support at least a first resonant mode and at least one spurious response; and a layer of conductive material at least partially coating the resonator body; wherein the piece of first dielectric material includes at least one region having a different dielectric constant to the first dielectric material, whereby the presence of the region of different dielectric constant alters the frequency separation of the resonant mode and the spurious response.

A cavity filter, including a dielectric resonator structure comprising a piece of dielectric material having a shape such that it can support a first resonant mode and a second resonant mode which is substantially degenerate with the first resonant mode; and a coupling structure for exciting a resonant mode within the piece of dielectric material or extracting energy from a resonant mode within the piece of dielectric material; wherein the coupling structure consists of a single patch element in contact with a surface of the piece of dielectric material, the patch element being arranged to couple directly to said first and second resonant modes simultaneously.

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Brisbane, Australia

Steven John Cooper