Tunable Bandstop Filters for Suppression of Co-site Interference and Jamming Sources

This proposal seeks to develop novel, widely tunable bandstop filters for the suppression of co-site interference in next generation phased array radar and electronic warfare systems. The filters are based upon highly loaded evanescent mode cavity resonators that are integrated into standard printed circuit board substrates. This integration and design strategy yields high resonator Q performance in a compact form factor with the additional benefit of low cost manufacturing. The resonator technology will be applied to produce a novel bandstop filter design capable of tunable bandstop performance from 1 to 20 GHz. Preliminary simulations shown rejection levels as high as 60dB in the stopband can be achieved with as little as four series connected resonators. Additionally, by intelligent tuning of the filter resonators, a variable stopband bandwidth can be achieved that is capable of adjusting the bandwidth from 10"s of MHz to 100"s of MHz. The project will also integrate feedback and control sensors for automatic filter tuning and control via an external microcontroller.