Microwave-Millimeter Wave Communications & Antennas

The project-based version of the course will cover many of the following subjects:
Review of electromagnetic theory. Electric, magnetic, electromagnetic fields. Description of electromagnetic phenomena. Maxwell’s equations. Wave equations. Boundary conditions. Electromagnetic field power and energy. Poynting vector. Scalar and vector potentials. Fields of sinusoidal time change. Planar electromagnetic waves [polarization, wave propagation in conductive and non-conductive media, phase and group velocities, reciprocity]. Reflection and refraction of planar waves [Snell’s law, Fresnel equations, reflection and transmission coefficients, normal and oblique incidence on perfect dielectric and lossy media, standing waves, incidence on dielectric plates, scattering]. Propagation and attenuation of electromagnetic waves. Polarization. Electromagnetic waves in free space.
Transmission line theory. Transverse and sinusoidal time-varying waves in transmission lines. Characteristic impedance and complex resistance in transmission lines. Smith chart. Standing waves in transmission lines without losses. Propagation constant and speed in transmission lines. Load matching in transmission lines using λ/4 transformers, one or two short-circuited stubs, or non-uniform transmission lines. Non-periodic phenomena in transmission lines. Coupled transmission line analysis.
Wired transmission line types (two-wire or coaxial lines). Phase and amplitude distortion. Balanced and unbalanced lines. Phone network. Phase instability, cross-talk, impact noise, structured cabling.
Waveguiding. Guided waves and waveguide modes. Parallel-plate waveguide. Description of waves. Separation of variables method. TE, TM, TEM modes. Radial description of wave propagation. Propagation and waveguide losses.
Waveguides of rectangular cross section. Wave equation solution. Cutoff conditions. Boundary conditions. Field components in Cartesian coordinates. TM and TE modes. Excitation, characteristic resistance and attenuation of rectangular waveguide modes. Rectangular waveguide resonator.
Waveguides of circular cross section. Wave equation solution. Cutoff conditions. Boundary conditions. Field components in cylindrical coordinates. TM and TE modes. Excitation, characteristic resistance and attenuation of circular waveguide modes. Polarization. Circular waveguide resonator.
Coaxial waveguide. TEM, TM and TE modes.
Microstrip and stripline. Radial and field description of a dielectric layer waveguide. Dielectric layer and dielectric strip. Graded-index strips.
Uniform and non-uniform circular optical fiber.
Special types of waveguides. Propagation in lines of parallel conductors. Mode excitation.
Dielectric and magnetic materials. Electron motion in ferrites. Magnetization equation. Magnetic susceptibility tensor. Wave propagation in ferrites. Faraday rotation. Ferritic microwave elements. Gyrotron. Isolator. Circulator. YIG filter. Mixing materials with different ε, μ. Waveguiding in rectangular waveguides containing strips of material (ε, μ).
Non-linear waveguides and waveguides with discontinuities [propagation in a circular section of a rectangular waveguide, propagation in a rectangular waveguide with helical twist, cylindrical small poles with inductive or capacitive behavior in rectangular waveguides, probes]. Waveguide technical characteristics [metal waveguides, optical fibers, flanges, additional elements of waveguide structures, excitation, resonators, filters].
Analysis of microwave circuits [S-parameters, power, efficiency]. Description of signals in microwave circuits. Microwave multiport networks. Scattering matrices. Bidirectional and symmetrical multiport networks. Magic T coupler. Multiport networks without losses. Directional couplers. Power dividers. Other couplers. Methods of microwave network analysis.
Microwave resonant circuits. Microwave filters. Integrated microwave circuits [striplines, microstrips, slotlines, coplanar lines, hybrid MICs]. Passive microwave components [design of lumped resistors-capacitors-inductors, circuits with lumped loads]. Waveguide matching [waveguide resistance, measurement of line resistance at any point, load resistance computation].
Electron beam interaction with electromagnetic waves. High-power microwave sources [vacuum tubes, operating limits, klystron, magnetron, traveling-wave tube (TWT), gyrotron].
Low-power microwave sources. Semiconductor and solid-state devices [bipolar transistors, microwave transistors, field-effect transistors (FETs), semiconductor oscillators, oscillator modes with electron transfer effects]. Microwave mixing diodes. Tunnel diodes. Gunn diodes. IMPATT diodes. Masers.
Microwave communications [microwave circuits, terminal equipment, filters, terminal transceivers and repeaters].
Microwave applications [diagnostic and therapeutic medicine, industrial measurements, speed measurements, ovens and thermal devices].
Biological effects of microwaves [radiation limits, biological phenomena, dielectric properties of the human body, electromagnetic environment].
Millimeter wave communications and applications.
Review on telecommunications. Electrical signals. Telecommunication systems. Wired and wireless communications. Frequency spectrum (HF, VHF, UHF, microwaves). Introduction to antenna theory. Antenna and transmission line matching.
Radiation mechanisms. Antenna characteristics, radiation diagrams, gain, bandwidth, quality factor. Theory of simple linear antennas. Analysis of antennas with assumed current distributions. Hertz dipole. Applications of electrically small antennas.
Linear dipole antennas. Field and radiation pattern, directivity, gain, radiation resistance, active antenna height. Dipole λ/2.
Traveling wave antennas.
Loop antennas.
Antennas above perfect ground. Mirroring and image theory.
General analysis of the radiation field of any antenna. Applications.
Antenna arrays. Rhombic antenna. Principles of antenna design. Applications.
Linear arrays. Uniform linear arrays with small and large number of elements. Polynomial theory of linear arrays. Applications.
Superdirective antennas. Phase detection. Methods of radiation pattern synthesis. Dolph-Chebyshev linear arrays. Composition of linear arrays with Fourier sums.
Applications and examples of antenna analysis and synthesis. Antenna applications and measurements.
Aperture antennas. Radiation from flat surfaces. Radiation from rectangular surfaces. Horn antennas. Parabolic reflector antennas. Horn-reflector antennas. Lens antennas. Passive reflectors.
Input antenna resistance. Equivalent sources. Magnetic charges and currents. Voltage and current sources. Reciprocity theorem. Self-impedance of conductive antennas. Voltage induced on open-ended antenna by an incident field. Induced electromotive force method. Transmission and reception equivalent circuits. Dipole near field. Bandwidth. Receiving antennas. Antenna polarization. Noise in telecommunication systems and antenna noise temperature.
Dipole self-impedance. Antenna as terminal impedance. Asymmetric excitation of dipoles. Matching conditions and maximum transmitted power. Matching using stubs. Folded dipole. Mutual complex resistance between dipoles. Antenna array excitation impedance. Impedance of dipoles above perfect ground. Antenna feeding with appropriate currents. Yagi-Uda antennas. The antenna as a receiver. Equality of mutual complex resistances. Equality of transmission and reception radiation patterns. Equality of transmission and reception self-impedances. Equality of transmission and reception antenna active heights. Active antenna surface. Received to transmitted power ratio.
Transmission of waves in free space. Friis equation. Losses and maximum transmission distance. Radar equation. Propagation of electromagnetic waves in the earth environment. Ground reflection of obliquely incident plane waves with vertical or parallel polarization. Brewster angles. Ground wave. Space wave. Surface wave. Antennas elevated above ground level. Approximate relationship for propagation at very high frequencies. Near ground surface wave tilt and polarization.
Spherical earth. Effects of the earth’s curvature. Line-of-sight condition. Barrier effects in wave propagation. Diffraction links. Tropospheric refractive index. Tropospheric propagation, refraction, waveguiding, scattering. Radio horizon. Multiple routes. Intervals. Differential reception systems. Atmosphere attenuation. Critical frequency and ionosphere changes. Ionospheric propagation, refraction, reflection, scattering. Applications.
Calculation of radio links. Over sharp obstacle links. Line-of-sight links. Above perfect ground links. Technical characteristics and practical applications of wireless links.