Practical aspects of microwave filter development

Design of practical microwave filters involves consideration of a large variety of factors including electrical, physical, and economic properties of resonant and coupled elements, the materials and processes used for fabrication, and the labor cost associated with assembly and adjustments. Generic design considerations include customer-driven requirements involving electrical and mechanical specifications, operating environment, and cost, physical-driven restriction such as circuit topology and physical layout, manufacturing technology that are available, assembly methods, tuning requirements, and also seal and finish requirements. Modeling can be an effective tool in design process, which requires accurate incorporation of real properties of filter into the modeling process. Development of accurate and complete simulation models of parts, enclosures, and interconnects, with good computational capabilities, can enable rapid and accurate design of filters with producible results.