Design of Microstrip Low-Pass Filter Based on Six-Slit-Ring DGS
A novel six-slit-ring defected ground structure (DGS) is presented in this paper. The location of the slit can shift the resonant frequency without changing the overall size of the DGS and its adjustment range can reach 8.81 GHz. By cascading three identical six-slit-ring DGS unit cells, a microstrip low-pass filter (LPF) can be realized. Its 3dB cutoff frequency is 7.27 GHz. The in-band insertion loss is below 0.35 dB and the stop-band width with 20 dB attenuation is over 8.12 GHz. To improve the out-of-band rejection of the filter, shunt branches were added on both sides of the microstrip line. Its 3 dB cutoff frequency is 8.285 GHz. The insertion loss is less than 0.81dB in the pass-band. The stop-band rejection is better than -40 dB at 11.36-20 GHz and the size of the filter is only 28 mm by 11 mm. The simulation results show that the proposed novel six-slit-ring DGS microstrip LPF has the characteristics of compact size, flexible adjustment, flat pass-band, wide stop-band and high selectivity.
Novel DGS microstrip low-pass filter
A conventional microstrip low-pass filter has a large area and a narrow stop-band.To solve this problem,a new microstrip low-pass filter is presented in this paper,which is composed of semicircle defected ground structures and semicircle stepped-impedance shunt stubs.The effect of parameter variation of S-DGS and S-SISS on band-stop characteristic is studied.An equivalent circuit model of the proposed LPF is also described.The proposed filter is compact and the 3 dB cutoff frequency is 2.7 GHz.The stop-band is 4~16 GHz,which is wider by 20% than that of the conventional DGS filter.Simulation results are in good agreement with the measured results,which verifies the reliability of the designed filter.
Project management education: The human skills imperative
Abstract This paper is intended to provide an insight into the importance of human skills in project management success and the apparent lack of emphasis placed on this within the context of university education. The discussion will call upon the viewpoints of many notable authors in respect to the human or ‘soft’ skills that are necessary in the management of projects. Against this background a review will be conducted into how well project management literature and university education equips potential project managers in the area of human skills. As the PMBOK ® Guide is one of the major recommended texts in Australian universities offering project management education, the paper will identify that it predominantly emphasises the required ‘hard (technical) skills’ at the expense of the ‘soft (human) skills’. Subsequent discussion will highlight the need for a balance between hard and soft skills within project management education in universities. It will conclude that educators within this discipline should recognise the importance of incorporating greater human skills aspects into their educational programs.