AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course aims at providing the basic competences about distributed-element circuits operating at radio and microwave frequencies.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures and laboratory experiences.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Introduction and course organization

Guided electromagnetic waves

Maxwell’s equations for cylindrical structures.

Field behavior in the axial direction and in the transverse plane.

Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions.

Classification of modes and their computation.

Effects of losses: perturbation method, conductor losses, dielectric losses.

Wave properties: phase velocity and wavelength, group velocity, cutoff phenomena.

Guiding systems

Parallel plate waveguide, rectangular and circular waveguide, coaxial line.

Planar transmission lines: strip and microstrip lines, coplanar waveguide, slot line, substrate integrated waveguide.

Theory of distributed-elements circuits

Modes as transmission lines: general form of telegrapher’s equations

Field representation in guiding systems and power transfer.

Transmission lines and distributed-elements circuits.

Passive components in radio-frequency and microwave circuits

General description of components, their representations and scattering parameters.

One-port components: loads, short and open circuits.

Two-port components: discontinuities and junctions, transitions and adapters, attenuators, phase shifters, isolators, gyrators.

Three-port components: T junctions, power dividers, circulators.

Four-port components: directional couplers, hybrid junctions.

Microwave resonators: quality factor and resonant cavities.

Laboratory experiences

• Field computation and visualization with MATLAB.
• Rectangular waveguides and their classification.
• Measurements with slotted lines and waveguides.
• Simulation of radio-frequency/microwave components.
• Experimental characterization of radio-frequency/microwave devices.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lecture notes and slides of laboratory sessions.

Basic textbooks:

R. E. Collin, Foundations for Microwave Engineering, New York: IEEE Press/John Wiley & Sons, 2001.

D. M. Pozar, Microwave Engineering. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2011

R. Sorrentino, G. Bianchi, Microwave and RF Engineering. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.

Textbooks on advanced topics:

R. Garg, I. Bahl, and M. Bozzi, Microstrip lines and slotlines, 3rd edition. Norwood, MA: Artech House, 2013.

G. Pelosi, R. Coccioli, and S. Selleri, Quick finite elements for electromagnetic waves, 2nd edition. Norwood, MA: Artech House, 2009.