Wideband 3‐dB broadside‐coupled CPW coupler with ACPW and DGS for directivity enhancement

Phase velocity compensation technologies using asymmetric coplanar waveguides (ACPW) with or without defected ground structures (DGS) are proposed to enhance the directivity of wideband 3‐dB broadside‐coupled coplanar waveguide (BC CPW) couplers. First, even‐ and odd‐mode analyses of BC CPW couplers with four shunt capacitors are performed to obtain closed‐form design formulas. Then, ACPW instead of the shunt capacitors are inserted to the input and output ports of the coupler to improve the directivity. Lastly, DGS combining with ACPW are applied to further improve the directivity and broaden the bandwidth. The measured results show that only using ACPW, the bandwidth for the directivity of better than 20 dB is 44.2% with a maximum directivity of 42.6 dB. When both ACPW and DGS are used, the bandwidth for the directivity of better than 20 dB is 63.3%, and that for the directivity of better than 30 dB is enhanced to 21.3% with a maximum directivity of 55.9 dB, which is more than 10 dB over the existing BC CPW couplers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 24:59–67, 2014.     

Mode‐matching analysis of H‐plane ferrite‐loaded rectangular waveguide discontinuities

The full set of eigenmodes existing in a ferrite‐slab‐loaded rectangular waveguide is first obtained and then used to compute the scattering matrix of a junction between an air‐filled rectangular waveguide and an H‐plane ferrite‐slab‐loaded rectangular waveguide by using the mode‐matching method. Numerical results for the scattering parameters of the H‐plane waveguide discontinuity are compared to experimental data and those obtained by Ansoft's HFSS. Good agreement is observed. To demonstrate the usefulness of this structure, a computer‐optimized 90° nonreciprocal phase shifter is designed using an H‐plane ferrite‐slab‐loaded waveguide. With only one‐step impedance matching sections at both ends of the ferrite slab, a compact design is achieved to have 2° phase error and less than ?30 dB return loss over about 5% bandwidth. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 13: 259–268, 2003.     

Wideband and low‐loss waveguides of nonuniform cross‐section

Waveguides of nonuniform cross‐section are introduced, analyzed and then their cross‐section is optimized to reach wideband and low‐loss waveguides. The waveguide cross‐section is defined as a Fourier series whose unknown coefficients are optimized using genetic algorithm to reach a proper cross‐section for waveguide. A verified finite difference method is used in analysis stage of optimization. The results show that optimum designed nonuniform cross‐section waveguides have lower conductor attenuation constant in comparison with double ridged waveguides of the same bandwidth. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:115–121, 2015.     

Full‐wave analysis of H‐plane waveguide junction loaded with metallic posts

A hybrid method that combines moment method and mode matching technique is presented to study H‐Plane waveguide discontinuity loaded with metallic posts at the junction of two waveguides. By expanding Eigen modes in waveguides, applying continuity of tangential fields at the discontinuity and finally nulling the tangential electric field on the post surface, a system of algebraic equations is solved to obtain current distribution on the posts and consequently scattering parameters of the structure. Then, as an application, an in‐line dual‐mode rectangular waveguide bandpass filter is analyzed using the proposed method along with generalized scattering matrix method. The numerical results are in good agreement with existing full wave finite element method in high frequency structure simulator (HFSS) results and measurements. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE , 2011.     

Design of X‐band Moreno cross‐guide coupler based on superformula curves

This article deals with the design of Moreno cross‐guide couplers based on supershapes for X‐band applications. Crossed‐waveguide couplers are mainly used due to their compact structures. In these couplers, cross‐aperture structures are usually employed to offer flat coupling and high isolation. In the present article, the possible shapes for apertures and metal inserts that can be derived by the superfomula curves are explored and the effects of variations of superformula parameters are investigated on the performance of Moreno coupler. Finally, the proposed Moreno coupler is validated through fabrication and measurement. The experimental validation shows an excellent agreement with the simulated results. In the frequency range from 8 to 12.5 GHz, the measured coupling value changes from 18.8 to 20.8 dB and the directivity is better than 38 dB and 29 dB from 8 to 11 GHz and 11 to 12.5 GHz, respectively. The results are valuable for the design and evaluation of broadband high directive waveguide couplers.     

Radiation pattern of modified box‐horn antenna

The expression for radiation field of modified box‐horn antenna is derived using plane wave spectra for three‐dimensional fields. Modified box‐horn is a modified version of conventional box‐horn, in which the horn exciting the box is flared in both E‐ and H‐planes to increase its aperture size. It supports TE₁₀‐ and TE₃₀‐modes at its aperture. The radiation patterns of modified box‐horn antenna in E‐ and H‐planes are computed at 10 GHz and corresponding radiation parameters are extracted from the plots and compared for different flare angles in E‐plane of pyramidal horn exciting the box. The results for half power beam‐widths in E‐plane demonstrate that the radiation pattern of modified box‐horn in E‐plane can be made narrower by increasing the flare angle in E‐plane of pyramidal horn exciting the box. The radiation patterns of modified box‐horn are also compared with those for TE₁₀‐mode open ended waveguide of same aperture size and it is found that the former is narrower beam in H‐plane than the latter. The analysis has been validated against the experimental results available in the literature. The antenna presented here may find potential application as an element in a phased array for microwave wireless communication/radar beam steering, a feed for reflectors in point‐to‐point microwave communication/satellite communication. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2008.     

Dual‐band ridge waveguide filters for high‐selectivity wireless base station applications

Dual‐band filters simplify the system architecture considerably by replacing doubly multiplexed filters. This is especially important in base stations for wireless communications, where high‐selective filtering functions are required, with very stringent requirements in size and insertion losses. For this goal, compact dual‐band filters realized in air‐filled metallic ridge waveguides are proposed. The dual‐band approach shown in this article allows fulfilling the stringent insertion loss specifications of very selective filtering functions. The ridge waveguide resonators are placed in a canonical folded top‐bottom structure layout. Coupling sections that provide cross‐couplings are realized by irises opened in the intermediate wall. Given the high‐order of the dual‐band filter required for actual wireless applications, an efficient modeling by the mode‐matching method is used. A complete challenging filter prototype with 16 poles and 10 transmission zeros with specifications of typical wireless transceivers is built and tested for verification. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:703–712, 2016.     

Effect of finite and different ground‐plane widths on quasistatic parameters of asymmetrical coplanar waveguides

Fast, accurate, and simple closed‐form expressions are presented for calculating the quasistatic TEM parameters of asymmetrical coplanar waveguides (ACPWs) with finite and different ground planes. The effect of the ground‐plane width and the asymmetry in the ground‐plane widths and in the spacings of ACPWs on the line parameters is investigated by using the formulas derived by conformal mapping techniques. Comparisons are also made between the present results and the results available in the literature for both the conventional coplanar waveguide (CPW) and the ACPW. The results in this article are in very good agreement with the results derived by the conformal mapping technique, by the variational formulation, and by the spectral‐domain method. It has been shown that the asymmetry of both ground planes and spacings leads to a significant change of the quasi‐TEM parameters with respect to cases of the finite and infinite ground planes. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 10: 383–389, 2000.     

Propagation characteristic analysis of ridged circular waveguide using 2D finite‐difference frequency‐domain method

The propagation characteristics of ridged circular waveguides are analyzed by using 2D finite‐difference frequency‐domain (2D FDFD). Based on the 2D FDFD method in a cylindrical coordinate system, general difference formulas for the ridged circular waveguide are deduced, and modified difference formulas are built at some special points of the ridged circular waveguides. To verify the proposed method, three ridged circular waveguide structures are investigated and the numerical results are compared with available ones obtained by other research methods. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 15, 2005.     

High luminance and high see‐through head‐mounted displays with beam‐splitter‐array waveguides

We have developed head‐mounted displays with high transmittance and luminance, which could be utilized outside safely without dimming glasses. We first specified required optical performance specifications by considering user's safety and usability. In order to ensure that the user is able to recognize both surrounding environment and the image of the head‐mounted display, we set the target specification that the transmittance is higher than or equal to 85%, and the luminance contrast ratio is larger than or equal to 1.15 with display image of white solid pattern. We then developed the beam‐splitter‐array waveguide to achieve the requirements. It has advantages in high efficiency and high see‐through property. In order to determine configuration of the waveguide, we have performed optical ray trace simulation. We also established versatile waveguide measurement method applicable to different‐type waveguides. By utilizing the waveguide we have developed, we made a prototype of a head‐mounted display (HMD) with high transmittance 94% and high luminance 4.8 × 10³ cd/m² and thus luminance contrast ratio 1.25 under the sun. With these advantages, our HMD is suitable for usage outside including applications of work support systems where dimming effect is not preferred, and the HMD is used under the sun.     

Efficient analysis and experimental verification of substrate‐integrated slab waveguides for wideband microwave applications

This article presents a substrate integrated waveguide, named the substrate‐integrated slab waveguide (SISW), which exhibits a wide operation bandwidth. It consists of an integrated rectangular waveguide filled with a periodically perforated dielectric medium. An efficient procedure has been developed for the calculation of the dispersion diagram of SISWs, based on the Floquet theorem, in conjunction with the segmentation technique and the boundary‐integral–resonant‐mode‐expansion (BI‐RME) method. Numerical and experimental results confirm the performance of these waveguides and the efficiency of the analysis method. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2005.     

Miniaturized wide‐band rat‐race coupler

New designs of wide‐band rat‐race couplers are proposed. The wide‐band operation is achieved with the use of the microstrip nonuniform transmission line sections for the branches of the conventional rat‐race coupler. The design formulas are developed using ABCD matrix and the even‐ and odd‐mode analysis. The theoretical analysis has been verified by measurements of the two manufactured wideband rat‐race couplers, one operate within 0.85–1.92 GHz and other within 1.55–3.55 GHz frequency range with the equal normalized characteristic impedance functions. For both fabricated couplers, the isolation parameter is better than 15 dB over a 77% relative bandwidth. Also, it is shown that the designed wide‐band rat‐race coupler can be realized in higher frequency bands with the fixed fractional bandwidth. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 23: 675–681, 2013.     

Multilayered substrate integrated waveguide 4 × 4 butler matrix

In this article, a multilayered substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) Butler matrix beam‐forming network is proposed, designed, and demonstrated at 24 GHz for automotive radar system applications. The proposed low‐cost SIW structure can be used to develop a highly integrated multibeam antenna platform in automotive radar systems and other applications. In this structure, an SIW H‐plane coupler is optimized with an H‐plane slit to provide the required phase shift. A class of SIW E‐plane 3‐dB couplers in doubled layer substrate are studied and designed as the fundamental building blocks to avoid crossovers usually required in the construction of a Butler matrix. A 4 × 4 matrix is investigated and designed, which shows excellent performance over 22–26 GHz frequency band. Two types of antenna are tested with the proposed matrix scheme. First, an antipodal linearly tapered slot antenna (ALTSA) is incorporated into the Butler matrix to verify the broadband performances. Second, a longitudinal slotted waveguide antenna array is examined to generate radiation patterns in the broadside direction. Measured results agree well with simulated counterparts, thus validating the proposed multilayer SIW design concepts. In the next sections, the use as feeding networks for providing the reconfigurability operation of an antenna will be illustrated. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE , 2012.     

Both transversal negative permeability and backward‐wave propagation in X‐Band waveguide with double‐side SRR metamaterials

In this article X‐band rectangular waveguides partially filled with the double‐side single ring resonator (DSRR) array are investigated for miniaturization, stop‐band, and multi‐band filters applications. Several rectangular waveguides loaded with the DSRR array in 2–10 GHz frequency band have been studied and optimized. We observe both the transversal negative permeability presented above the cutoff frequency and the backward‐wave located below the cutoff frequency with the DSRR array in X‐band waveguide. Both simulation and measurement results of DSRR array are with good agreement. The DSRR array provides better performance of the transversal negative permeability and the backward‐wave than the split‐ring resonator array. The physical explanation of backward‐wave is presented. The power loss distributions are clearly presented for the negative permeability attenuation and the backward‐wave propagation. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:240–246, 2016.     

High‐efficiency switchable optical elements for advanced head‐up displays

The Pancharatnam‐Berry optical elements (PBOEs) are utilized to enhance the performance of head‐up displays (HUDs). The Pancharatnam‐Berry lenses (PBLs) provide varifocal functionality and compensate chromatic aberrations, while the Pancharatnam‐Berry deflectors (PBDs) can function as optical combiners and waveguide couplers. Moreover, the Rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA) based on the scattering matrix is developed and applied in the structure optimization of PBOEs for HUD applications.     

Accurate and efficient design technique for wideband substrate integrated waveguide directional couplers

In this article, we present an efficient technique for the accurate design of wideband substrate integrate waveguide directional couplers. By tapering the coupling section, the bandwidth of substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) directional couplers can be enlarged. Two design aspects are involved in this approach. First, the even‐mode propagation constant in the tapered coupling section is accurately extracted with the help of a numerical thru‐reflect‐line calibration technique. Then, it is fitted into the model of a uniform dielectric‐filled rectangular waveguide and thereafter extrapolated to the operation range of the odd mode. Second, equivalent circuit models of the waveguide bifurcation effects are also presented together with parametric values. Based on the results of extraction, a 90° 3‐dB directional coupler is developed to validate the proposed design approach. To achieve the reverse phasing at two output ports, the prototyped 90° 3‐dB directional coupler is subsequently integrated with a novel broadband fixed phase shifter developed with the SIW technology, of which a systematic synthesis procedure has been proposed in this article. Measured performance of both 90° and 180° 3‐dB couplers confirms the accuracy of our proposed design approach. This kind of wide‐band directional coupler can find applications in wideband power dividing/combining circuits within a single‐layer platform. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2012.     

Dual‐band balanced coupler with wideband common‐mode suppression

A novel compact dual‐band balanced coupler with differential‐mode power division, broadband common‐mode, and common‐to‐differential‐mode conversion suppression is proposed. In these double‐functionality balanced‐coupler architectures, double‐sided parallel‐strip line 180° phase inverters are used to realize the broadband common‐mode rejection. Moreover, the frequency is tunable by changing the characteristic impedance of the transmission line. For practical verification, a balanced couplers (ε_r = 2.65, h = 0.5 mm, tan(δ_D) = 0.003) operation at 0.9/1.8 GHz is constructed in microstrip technology and tested.     

High‐isolation multiway power dividing/combining network implemented by broadside‐coupling SIW directional couplers

One kind of novel microwave planar power dividing/combining network based on substrate‐integrated waveguide (SIW) directional couplers is proposed and investigated. The design strategies of the broadside‐coupling SIW directional coupler are introduced, the series connection of several directional couplers with different coupling ratio then result in a multiway power dividing/combining network. One three‐way power dividing/combining network is designed and fabricated to demonstrate the validity of the proposed work, high isolation among the ports is observed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009.     

Design method for quasi‐optimal multiband branch‐line couplers

In this article, the design approach, the implementation, and experimental results of multiband branch‐line couplers operating at arbitrary frequencies are presented. The conventional branch‐line coupler structure is adapted to multiband operation by shunting its four ports with multiband reactive networks. The performance of the proposed multiband couplers is theoretically analyzed and optimized through the even‐odd mode circuit analysis. Dual‐band (2.4–3.5 GHz), triple‐band (1.5–2.4–4.2 GHz), and quad‐band (1.5–2.4–3.5 GHz) microstrip branch‐line couplers have been realized and tested to verify the design method. The good experimental results (input return loss greater than 15 dB and amplitude imbalance lower than 0.7 dB) show excellent agreement with theoretical and simulated ones, thus validating the proposed approach. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 24:117–129, 2014.     

Compact substrate integrated waveguide rat‐race filtering couplers with arbitrary angular interval between ports

A new type of compact filtering rat‐race couplers with arbitrary port direction based on different shape substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity are first proposed in this paper. Different shaped SIW resonators can be combined together to achieve better performance and flexible topology. Resonant frequencies of fan‐shaped SIW cavity with various central angles have been derived to construct the resonant cells and obtain different topological structures. Moreover, interdigital capacitor SIW unit loaded on the common wall between cavities is used to achieve negative coupling structure. The detailed analysis and the design method have been introduced to realize a filtering rat‐race coupler based on substrate integrated fan‐shaped cavity (SIFC) and rectangular cavity. In particular, the combination of different shaped resonators can be selected according to the requirement of port angle interval. In order to further verify the method, the other filtering rat‐race coupler is fabricated using four SIFCs to achieve more available port angle intervals. Compared with other filtering couplers, the proposed designs exhibit good filtering responses, high Q factor, amplitude balance, as well as 0° and 180° phase differences. Furthermore, various angular intervals for input/output ports are convenience to meet the requirement of system topology and interconnect.