Design of Microstrip Parallel-Coupled Lines with High Directivity using Symmetric-Centered Inductors

A technique for directivity improvement of the microstrip parallel-coupled lines using symmetric-centered inductors is presented in this paper. The design procedure of the symmetric-centered inductors using the closed-form equations is given. The proposed technique was performed with a design at the operating frequency of 0.9 GHz on an FR4 substrate. Validity of the proposed technique is verified by simulations and measurements in comparisons with conventional parallel-coupled lines. The measured results exhibit the isolation of -30.10 dB and directivity of 19.28 dB at the operating frequency of 0.9 GHz. The directivity from the measured results is improved by more than 4 dB at 0.9 GHz and more than 6 dB at 1.05 GHz compared with the conventional parallel-coupled lines. In addition, the proposed technique for the microstrip parallel-coupled line can achieve a high directivity with the compact size (21.0 mm x 4.70 mm). The novelty of this paper is by introducing the proposed and closed-form design equations for the compact symmetric-centered inductors with high directivity.