In this paper, a novel SIW microwave sensor is designed to accurately determine the broadband complex permittivity of medium loss and dispersive liquids using a number of higher order modes in 11–20 GHz. To achieve a higher accuracy in characterization, the sensor is equipped with some methods such as Photonic Band Gap method, slow-wave via, and a new feedline, which enhances the quality factor for the higher order TE1,0,n modes. The operating principle of this sensor is based on the cavity perturbation technique, in which the resonant properties of the cavity are utilized to extract the dielectric properties of liquid under test. To provide a method to decrease the LUT consumption, a winding microfluidic channel is designed and embedded in the cavity. The channel increases the interaction between the induced electric field and the LUT. The accuracy of different perturbation technique for determination of permittivity is compared with each other.

In this paper, an effective procedure to emplace standard and enhanced mode-S multilateration stations for airport surveillance is studied and developed. This procedure is based on meta-heuristic optimization techniques, such as genetic algorithm (GA), and is intended to obtain useful parameters for an optimal system configuration that provides acceptable performance levels. Furthermore, the procedure developed here is able to evaluate and improve previous system designs, as well as possible system enhancements. Additionally, the design strategies to be used along with the procedure proposed here are fully described. Parameters such as the number of stations, the system geometry, the kind of measurements to be used, and the system accuracy are obtained taking into account the basic requirements such as the Line of Sight, the probability of detection, and the accuracy levels.

A new split frequency envelope modulator for envelope tracking radio-frequency power amplifiers is proposed based on a lead-lag network. By mathematically deriving the transfer functions of the lead-lag modulator and the conventional split frequency type, the lead-lag is shown to have a significantly flatter phase response. The frequency response of the two modulators is verified by simulation, where the phase transient of the lead-lag is significantly less than the 360° of the conventional type. They are further simulated with a 3 MHz bandwidth 3GPP long-term evolution (LTE) signal and the lead-lag shown to reduce the modulator's normalized root-mean-square error (NRMSE) from −27.3 to −39.2 dB. A practical demonstrator was developed around an existing high-efficiency modulator architecture. To maintain system efficiency synthetic impedance was incorporated in the low-frequency switched mode power supply (SMPS) path. This was achieved with voltage and current feedback around the SMPS. The dynamic wideband signal response was investigated by applying a 3 MHz LTE envelope signal to the modulator and comparing the input and output signals. The measured NRMSE was improved from −27.5 to −30.0 dB by adopting the lead-lag structure and the dynamic frequency response verifies correct operation.

A SPICE model of an antenna for transmitting is proposed. This model allows for the calculation of the frequency-domain radiation fields for a range of frequencies in which the model is valid, it also allows for the direct calculation of the time-domain (TD) radiation fields for an arbitrary TD excitation signal, the spectrum of which should be within the modeling range. The model is then verified by two examples, both of them demonstrate its validity. This model can be a part of a complete system-level model for electromagnetic compatibility simulation.

Phase shifters are indispensable microwave components. In this paper, a dual-frequency, passive, analog, and reciprocal phase shifter is proposed, deploying the phase-delay characteristics of complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR). A transmission line is loaded with a pair of CSRR in the ground plane and the phase variations are compared with an ideal transmission line. The proposed phase shifter operates in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) and wireless local area network (WLAN) bands, providing a phase of 180° at 2.4 GHz and 90° at 5.4 GHz for beam steering applications.

Advanced telecommunication systems are moving toward a high data transfer rate and wider bandwidth. The 5G communication network has recently been implemented for such aims. However, 5G networks operating with high operating frequency (typically above 20 GHz) could lead to impairments because of the atmospheric phenomena mainly precipitation and especially heavy rain. To address this, an optimum rain fade margin for the 5G network in Peninsular Malaysia is proposed using 77 sites of the rain-gauge network, which convert 1-h rain data to 1-min rain data by means of the international telecommunication union recommendation (ITU-R) P.837-7 model. Long-term rain attenuation statistics are obtained from ITU-R P.530-17 and the synthetic storm technique. The predicted rain attenuation is also presented in monthly statistics and in rain attenuation contour maps. The analysis showed that at 99.99% of link availability, the optimum rain fade margin operating at 26 GHz link should be in the range of 6.50 to 10 dB and 7 to 11 dB at 28 GHz link for a 5G network. Such information is useful for network operators and system engineers for the operation of 5G terrestrial microwave links in heavy rain regions.

The radiofrequency (RF) system of the 88-Inch Cyclotron at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is a resonant system based on the quarter-wave cantilever-type resonating structure. Power is fed to the Dee from the anode of the 500 kW RCA 4648 tetrode tube operating in grounded cathode configuration, which is coupled to the side of the Dee stem. The tube is obsolete and makes its continued use impractical. A new final power amplifier was designed and built using the commercially available tube Eimac 4W150,000E. The new amplifier was successfully commissioned and has been reliable and easy to operate.

The microwave waveguide and resonator methods are compared as applied to the experimental determination of the dielectric properties of high loss liquids. A differential microwave waveguide cavity for measuring high loss liquids complex permittivity in a small volume has been designed and studied. This cavity consists of two circular waveguide cells with central rods made of quartz and surrounded by high loss liquid tested. The cells have different lengths to eliminate complex propagation coefficient measurement errors due to the diffraction effect on the ends of the layered waveguide cells. We have measured the wave amplitude and phase coefficients for the waveguide cavity to estimate physical properties of a high loss liquid under test. The resonant frequencies and the Q-factor of a semi-disk dielectric resonator with high loss liquid filling a capillary have been measured. We have selected water-ethanol solutions as a high loss liquid under test for both techniques. We have determined the measurement sensitivity for these two techniques. The measuring results are discussed. Both the waveguide and resonator methods provide comparable sensitivity and can be successfully used for the complex permittivity characterization of high loss liquids in small volumes.

Several types of multiplexers based on isolation circuits have been introduced and investigated. Combining method of two filtering circuits (CMTC) is one way to make multiplexers based on isolation circuits. This method fits well for designing contiguous channel triplexers. A triplexer based on CMTC consists of a conventional transmission line (TL) connected to a diplexer and a composite right/left-handed (CRLH) TL connected to a filter. The triplexer based on CMTC has two significant advantages. One is that it is not necessary to modify the design of a stand-alone filter and diplexer and there is freedom in the choice of filtering circuits. In addition, a designer does not need to perform three-dimensional full-wave optimization, because of a simple and straightforward design concept. In this paper, a triplexer prototype having 1, 1.125, and 1.25 GHz center frequencies, is designed and fabricated. The measured results show good agreement with the simulation results.

This study introduces an alternative approach to the numerical solution of two-dimensional (2D) electromagnetic scattering problems by a numerical method of moments (MoM). The real source position vector is replaced by a complex quantity, then Green's function generates a complex source point beam, therefore the interactions between the far zone elements in the impedance matrix are neglected, except the basis functions near to the edges, strongly localizing the impedance matrix. The memory storage increases with the number of edges, but for a fixed number of the edges, it is linearly proportional with N, i.e. O(N). Consequently, the overall running time can be drastically reduced and the far zone scattering pattern and the near field can be found. The proposed procedure is first explained for the single perfectly electrically conducting (PEC) strip geometry, then extended to the scattering by 2D PEC objects with closed polygonal cross-sections. Numerical results are presented for a strip and a square cylinder in both polarizations. The relative errors are also compared with the standard MoM.

A new single-feed aperture-coupled, X-band microstrip patch antenna array with circular polarization (CP) is designed. CP is achieved using indented microstrip patches fed through the slots on a substrate integrated waveguide. The antenna has the high radiation efficiency more than 90% over the operating frequency. Impedance bandwidth (VSWR < 2) and axial ratio bandwidth (AR < 3 dB) of 11.8, and 10.9% is attained, respectively. Good agreement is achieved between simulated and measured results.

We discuss the impact of orbital fluctuations on the noise spectrum of a free-running oscillator, exploiting a rigorous nonlinear perturbative analysis based on the Floquet theory, and providing evidence of its relevance for high-Q oscillators.

A novel tri-beam slot antenna array based on substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology is proposed in this paper. The beam forming network is a 3 × 3 Butler matrix consisted of three couplers and four phase shifters. A 1.76 dB coupler is located between two 3 dB couplers, with this arrangement; the input signal can be divided into three parts with the same amplitude and certain phase differences. Two parallel slots are cut off broadside of SIW transmission line, which constitutes the basic unit of the antenna array. A 3 × 2 slot antenna array is connected with this circuit. Three beams with the directions of −30, 0 and 30° are produced when different ports are excited, respectively. The S parameters, radiation patterns, and gains are simulated and measured, which show that it can be a candidate for multi-beam wireless communication systems.

This paper presents an investigation of a concurrent low-cost dual-band power amplifier (PA) fabricated in SiGe technology, able to simultaneously operate at two frequencies of 2.45 and 3.5-GHz, including an evaluation of its system level performance potentiality. Taking into account the technology novelty and the lack of device characterization and modeling, a hybrid (MIC) approach has been adopted both for a fast prototyping of the PA and for the evaluation of the device potentiality based on an extensive linear and nonlinear characterization. The comparison of PA performance in single-band or concurrent mode operation will be presented. In particular, the measured PA prototype shows an output power of 17.2 and 17-dBm at a 1-dB compression point, at 2.45 and 3.5-GHz, respectively, for CW single-mode operation, with a power added efficiency around 20%. System-level analysis predicts that, when the PA is operated under the 20-MHz Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) concurrent signals, the maximum output power levels to maintain the Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) within 5% are 11 and 3.5-dBm at 2.45 and 3.5-GHz, respectively. Moreover, new concepts and possible new system architectures for the development of the next generation of the multi-band transceiver front-end will be provided with an extensive system-level evaluation of the amplifier.

In this work, the possibility of achieving GaN-on-Si devices for millimeter wave applications operating at high bias is demonstrated. It is shown that highly scaled AlN/GaN-on-Si double heterostructure enables us to significantly improve electron confinement under high electric field as compared to single heterostructure while delivering high carrier density (>2 × 1013 cm−2). Subsequently, trapping effects can be minimized resulting in the highest GaN-on-Si output power density up to 40 GHz and at a drain bias of 15 V together with a record fmax close to 200 GHz. At higher bias, infrared camera analysis clearly shows that these devices are mainly limited by self-heating effects. Furthermore, low noise figure has been assessed on this heterostructure, promising integration of cost effective low noise and high power millimeter wave amplifiers.

A bidirectional dielectric resonator (DR) antenna array using back-to-back quasi-Yagi antenna configuration is proposed and implemented for the first time. The DR operating at higher-order TE3δ1 mode is used as a magnetic dipole, applying for the driver of quasi-Yagi antenna. Due to the high-order mode employment, the antenna gain can be enhanced. By partially loading the metallic strip on the side wall of the DR, the gain can be further enhanced. In addition, a simple dual Marchand balun is constructed for feeding the two quasi-Yagi antennas directly for bidirectional radiation. To verify the design concept, a prototype operating at the X-band is fabricated and measured. Good agreement between the simulated and measured results can be observed.

In this study, we design a differential CMOS power amplifier using a 180-nm SOI RFCMOS process for 802.11n (64-QAM, 20 MHz bandwidth, 9.6 dB peak to average power ratio (PAPR)) applications. To minimize the chip area and mismatch in differential signals, we propose a layout method with an inter-stage matching network using a split inductor. By virtue of the symmetrical layout of the proposed split inductor, the mismatch in the differential signals is minimized, while the interconnection lines between the driver and power stages are shortened to minimize the overall chip area and the loss induced by the resistive parasitic components. The designed power amplifier is measured using a wireless local area network (WLAN) 802.11n signal to verify the feasibility of the proposed layout technique. The power amplifier achieved 20.34 dBm output power, while the measured EVM for the 802.11n applications is satisfied. From the measured results, we successfully prove the feasibility of the proposed power amplifier.

LInear amplification using Non-linear Components (LINC) is an architecture that achieves linear power amplification for radio-frequency (RF) transmitters. This paper describes the impact of RF power amplifiers (PAs) class on the overall system performances. The linearity and efficiency of the LINC transmitter with different PA classes (AB, B, C, D, E, F, F−1, and J) are evaluated and compared, in terms of error vector magnitude (EVM), adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR), and power added efficiency (PAE), for a 16QAM modulation having 5.6 dB peak to average power ratio. Simulations are performed using a gallium-nitride high electron mobility transistor (GaN HEMT) for a power amplifier with an output power of 10 W at 900 MHz.

A novel topology of high-gain millimeter-wave antenna compatible with substrate integration is presented. The antenna is composed of a planar discrete lens laid on top of a core dielectric, while the planar focal source is assembled on the bottom side. The antenna can be fabricated as a single, robust and compact module using standard low-cost PCB technologies, and is compatible with IC integration such as a transceiver circuit for fully integrated millimeter-wave front-end modules. The proposed architecture is studied with two compact V-band antennas (32 mm × 32 mm × 13.2 mm). The main design rules are demonstrated for unit cells, focal source, and planar lens at V-band. Promising performances in terms of gain (17.6 and 20.4 dBi), aperture efficiency (14 and 26%), and fractional 3-dB gain bandwidth (17 and 18%) are obtained experimentally for the two considered compact antennas.

Multi-satellite missions, such as the next generation of METEOSAT geostationary satellites, require a ground station able to support an arbitrary number of satellites that can fly wherever within a pre-determined sky region, called control box. The use of high frequencies, around 26 GHz, imposes on the ground station high antenna gains to compensate for the noise temperature collected at those frequencies to obtain the specified G/T. Regardless of the narrow beamwidths that emerged from the adoption of high antenna gains, it is also required to operate with fixed (i.e. without any kind of tracking) antennas. This paper shows how all these specifications drive a new type of ground station with respect to current solutions. The proposed architecture is based on a multi-reflector system able to provide a set of interleaved beams, which generates an almost uniform coverage of the control box. The architecture is analyzed and designed, optimizing all the main antenna parameters, and presenting the analytical results.