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IEEE MTT-S Technical Committees MTT-12 (Interconnects, Packaging, and Manufacturing) and MTT-8 (Microwave Filters, Multiplexers, and Passive Components) are co-sponsoring a Student Packaged Triplexer Design Competition at the IEEE International Microwave Symposium IMS2011 to be held at Baltimore, Maryland.

This competition is open to all IEEE MTT-S members who are enrolled as students at a university. The objective of the competition is to demonstrate effective filter design techniques where the constraints of a package impact the design. In this case the design is a a triplexer (or channelizing filter*). Proposals are due by March 1, 2011. After this date, all teams that have submitted acceptable proposals will be provided a pre-defined package provided by Stratedge. Teams of up to four (4) student members are allowed, provided each team member has a direct contribution to the solution.

Contestants are required to demonstrate their design at the IMS2011. Characterization of the triplexer will be performed by an Agilent team. The designs will be judged by members of MTT- 12 and MTT-8 using pre-defined criteria (given below) that include filter performance, and robustness. Winners (or teams) will be selected with a first prize of US$600, second prize of US$300, and a third prize of US$100. The prizes shall be equally divided between all members of a winning team. In addition, the first prize winner is given the opportunity to submit an article to the IEEE Microwave magazine.

How to participate:

• Email a proposal describing the intended solution to studentpapers@ims2011.org, along with documents verifying IEEE MTT student membership and enrollment at a university as a student or PhD student. Deadline is March 1, 2011. If all requirements are met, you will receive a confirmation of participation and the package will be shipped to you.
• Bring your hardware to the International Microwave Symposium in Baltimore for characterization (including a photo of the circuit inside the package and a schematic of the filter structure). Exact date and location of this evaluation event will be announced later.

Specifications and Requirements

The triplexer may consist of planar and lumped surface mount components. Two pieces of hardware will be measured. (i) The unpackaged triplexer and (ii) the packaged triplexer. The unpackaged circuit will demonstrate the design without the package effects. The packaged circuit will maintain the first design's basic topology, but component values may be adjusted to compensate for the package's effect on return loss and isolation. Both triplexers must be mounted securely on a printed circuit board that is connectorized with SMA connectors. The triplexers will be evaluated based on the performance measured between the connector interface planes.

Triplexer Specifications

The triplexer will divide the CP input spectrum into three channels: 3.3-3.8 GHz, 3.8-4.35 GHz and 4.35-5.0GHz which will be output to ports 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The cross-over points between channels (3.80 and 4.35 GHz) occur at the -3dB points of each channel. Additional specifications are as follows:

1.	Insertion Loss (IL) between CP and an in-band port:	≤ 3 dB
2.	IL between CP and any port at frequencies 15% or more separated from the port’s center frequency:	> 20 dB
3.	Return Loss (RL) for each port in-band:	> 15 dB
4.	RL for CP port 3.3-5.0 GHz:	> 15 dB
5.	Isolation between ports 1, 2, 3:	> 20 dB

The triplexer shall use a Stratedge package provided to all contestants. Datasheets for the package will be provided upon email request to jackson@ecs.umass.edu. Contestants must also layout and fabricate evaluation boards. Evaluation boards will be an unenclosed printed circuit boards with 50 ohm traces and standard 50 ohm SMA connectors. One board will be for evaluation of the unpackaged triplexer. The other board will have the packaged triplexer mounted on it. Filter performance will be measured at the SMA interfaces. If one or more of the specifications are not met, the judges at their sole discretion may award partial credit for the specification(s) that is not met. The Stratedge package shall be securely sealed with a copper tape lid in good electrical contact with the package when the measurements are made. The lid should be removable so the filter can be inspected after measurement.

The total score will be the average of the scores for the packaged and unpackaged filters. Testing will be performed over the band 2-8.5 GHz. The criteria for the best submission are as follows:

1.	Maximum in-band IL between CP and any port:	22%
2.	Minimum out-of-band IL between CP and any port:	23%
3.	Minimum RL for ports 1, 2, 3 in their respective bands:	15%
4.	Minimum RL for CP port in the 3.3-5 GHz:	15%
5.	Isolation between ports 1,2,3:	15%
6.	Robustness of the assembly:	10%

The judges reserve the right to award only one or two prizes if in their judgment the measurements so dictate.

Additional requirements are listed on the main Student Design Competition page.

* See, for example, C. Galbraith, Higher Order Cochlea-Like Channelizing Filters, T-MTT, pp 1675-1683, July 2008.