ECE424 F - Microwaves

Purpose: Learn the principles of designing modern microwave and RF circuits.

Syllabus

1.	EM THEORY REVIEW Wave equation, plane-wave solutions, good dielectrics, good conductors, skin-depth.
2.	IDEAL TRANSMISSION LINE (TL) THEORY Circuit model for a TL, TL-equations, time-harmonic solutions, lossless line, low-loss line, terminated lines, impedance-transformation, transients on a TL, Smith chart.
3.	MATCHING NETWORKS L-matching networks, single-stub tuning, double-stub tuning, multisection transformers.
4.	PLANAR TRANSMISSION LINE SYSTEMS Stripline, microstrip, coplanar-waveguide CPW, microstrip-discontinuities, introduction to Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMIC's).
5.	DESIGNING WITH SCATTERING PARAMETERS Equivalent voltages & currents, impedance & admittance matrices, scattering matrix, ABCD matrix, 2-port networks.
6.	PRACTICAL 3-PORT & 4-PORT DEVICES Properties of 3-ports & 4-ports, even-odd mode analysis, Wilkinson power divider/combiner, branch-line and ring couplers, coupled-lines, Lange coupler.
7.	ACTIVE RF/MICROWAVE CIRCUITS Transistor amplifier design, stability, noise in cascaded systems, diode-mixers, oscillators.
8.	MICROWAVE FILTERS Insertion loss method for filter-design, Binomial filters, Chebyshev filters, filter transformations, filter implementation, Richard's transformation, Kuroda's identities, stepped-impedance filters.

Laboratory

Experiment #1: Construction and Characterization of a Microstrip Filter.

Experiment #2: Construction and Characterization of a Microstrip Power-Divider.

Experiment #3: A 1GHz Microstrip Solid-State Amplifier.

New! Lab Demonstration:

Assembly and characterization of a complete 900 MHz PCS receiver chain.

Procedure :

1. Design of the circuits using CAD tools.

2. Construction of the circuits using modern photolithographic techniques.

3. Testing of the circuits using state-of-the-art microwave equipment such as Network and Spectrum Analyzers.

Textbook

Required:

Microwave Engineering, by David Pozar, 2nd Edition, Wiley.

Recommended:

RF Microwave Wireless Systems, by K. Chang, Wiley (emphasis on systems).

RF Circuit Design, by R. Ludwig and P. Bretchko, Prentice Hall (emphasis on active circuits).

Schedule

Two Lectures per week.
One Tutorial every other week.
One Lab every other week.