Computer-aided design of substrate integrated waveguide filters for microwave and millimeter-wave applications

In this paper, a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tool of Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) filters for high frequency applications is described. Some synthesis techniques are successfully combined with a fast and accurate full-wave analysis method, thus designing several practical examples of in-line and cross-coupled SIW filters. Prototypes have been manufactured and measured showing good results for different filter topologies. A novel zigzag coupling scheme is proposed for SIW compact filters in order to achieve very restrictive specifications of ultra-wideband (UWB) systems.

Efficient CAD of Optimal Multi-Port Junctions Loaded with Partial-Height Cylindrical Posts using the 3D BI-RME Method

A rigorous full-wave technique based on the 3D BI-RME (Boundary Integral-Resonant Mode Expansion) method for the analysis and design of compensated waveguide junctions is presented. This method is used to investigate the electrical performance of right-angled bends and rectangular waveguide T-junctions loaded with partial-height cylindrical posts, with the aim of extending the typical usable bandwidths of such components. It is found that the electrical performance of a two-way power divider can be significantly improved by considering a post displaced along the symmetry plane of the structure. Therefore, this contribution reveals a new crucial design parameter not considered in previous wo…

Two-dimensional photonic-crystal microwave waveguide

This paper reports on the use of 2D photonic crystals to design microwave waveguides. The waveguide consists of a periodic arrangement of holes, with a square or rectangular cross section, that extends along the waveguide with a central defect defined by the absence of a hole. The theoretical analysis of such a structure is based on a biorthogonal-basis method and provides a full-vector description of the modes guided by the defect. Our results show that such a waveguide can be designed to support only one mode at any operating frequency. This mode is a polarization doublet whose dispersion is controlled by the geometrical parameters, thus permitting the design of a novel polarization-maint…

Design of compensated multiport waveguide junctions considering mechanization effects

Abstract A new tool for the rigorous and efficient design of compensated multiport waveguide junctions, considering the mechanization effects due to low-cost manufacture techniques, is presented. Several new designs for a great variety of key components, present in modern microwave and millimetre-wave equipment, are proposed taking into account the introduction of rounded corners in the rectangular waveguide access ports. The new implemented tool permits to control and compensate for the potential degradation of the wide-band performance of such components prior to their fabrication, thus achieving an optimal design. All the presented results have been successfully validated by comparing th…

Wideband modeling of cascaded H-plane waveguide junctions using the generalised impedance matrix representation

A strong interest in H-plane waveguide components composed of a large number of cascaded planar junctions is recently renewed. Therefore, the more efficient development of full-wave analysis tools of such devices is again receiving consideration, specially for its potential use within modern design tools. A novel technique for providing the wideband generalised impedance matrix representation of the inductive devices in the form of pole expansions, thus extracting the most expensive computations from the frequency loop is proposed. For such purpose, the whole device is first decomposed into simpler building blocks, i.e. planar junctions and uniform waveguides, which are modelled in terms of…

Fast and accurate analysis and design of substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) filters

This paper describes the application of the boundary integral-resonant mode expansion (BI-RME) method to the accurate modelling of substrate integrated waveguides (SIW). The new formulation fully exploits the particular geometry of this class of structures, thus providing a very efficient analysis method to be used within CAD tools of SIW filters. The advantages of this method have been proved with the successful design of two filters operating in the microwave and millimeter-wave bands.

Efficient CAD of Generalized Coaxial Probes in Rectangular Waveguide using the 3D BI-RME Method

An efficient full-wave method based on the 3D BI-RME (boundary integral-resonant mode expansion) technique for the accurate design of generalized probe-excited rectangular waveguides is presented. The flexibility of the developed CAD tool allows to analyze two common configurations frequently used in modern coaxial-fed microwave devices: conventional and disc-ended coaxial probe excitation. This last configuration is used to drastically improve the electrical response of the classical coaxial probe excitation. Moreover, the influence of the distance from the probe to the waveguide shortcircuit is also discussed, and it is shown that it plays a very important role in the design of probe-exci…

Corrigendum to “Design of compensated multiport waveguide junctions considering mechanization effects” [AEUE – Int J Electron Commun, 69 (1) (2015), 328–331]

Analysis of the multipactor effect by means of the 3D BI-RME method

Multipactor effect is a well-known phenomenon of RF breakdown in satellite pay-loads which degrades components, generates undesirable harmonics, contributes to power dissipation and increases noise in communications. Traditionally, multipactor has been investigated with the aim of obtaining the so-called multipactor threshold voltage, or to present different multipaction detection methods. Little effort has been devoted, in contrast, to study the problem from a full-wave point of view, thus allowing for the analysis of more complex structures. The main goal of this work is to analyze the interaction between a multipactor current and a realistic microwave cavity by means of a rigorous and ac…

Wideband impedance matrix representation of passive waveguide components based on cascaded planar junctions

[1] A very efficient technique for the full-wave analysis of passive waveguide components, composed of the cascade connection of planar junctions, is presented. This novel technique provides the wideband generalized impedance matrix representation of the whole structure in the form of pole expansions, thus extracting the most expensive computations from the frequency loop. For this purpose, the structure is segmented into planar junctions and uniform waveguide sections, which are characterized in terms of wideband impedance matrices. Then, an efficient iterative algorithm for combining such matrices, and finally providing the wideband generalized impedance matrix of the complete structure, …