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ECE 432
The antenna is connected to a tuned circuit, which could be a cavity resonator or microstrip
or stripline tuned circuit.
The signal is then applied to a special RF amplifier known as a low-noise amplifier (LNA).
Another tuned circuit connects the amplified input signal to the mixer.
The local oscillator signal is applied to the mixer.
The mixer output is usually in the UHF or VHF range.
The remainder of the receiver is typical of other superheterodynes.
Figure 16-6: Microstrip transmission line used for reactive circuits. (a) Perspective
view. (b) Edge or end view. (c) Side view (open line). (d) Side view (shorted line).
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Microwave Lines and Devices
Microwave Transistors
The primary differences between standard lower-
frequency transistors and microwave types are internal
geometry and packaging.
To reduce internal inductances and capacitances of
transistor elements, special chip configurations known
as geometries are used.
Geometries permit the transistor to operate at higher
power levels and at the same time minimize distributed
and stray inductances and capacitances.
Figure 16-14: Microwave transistors. (a) and (b) Low-power small signal. (c) FET
power. (d) NPN bipolar power.
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
16-2: Microwave Lines and
Devices
Small-Signal Amplifiers
A small-signal microwave amplifier can be made up of a
single transistor or multiple transistors combined with a
biasing circuit and any microstrip circuits or components
as required.
Most microwave amplifiers are of the tuned variety.
Another type of small-signal microwave amplifier is a
multistage integrated circuit, a variety of MMIC.
Figure 16-19: Injecting a sine wave into a waveguide and extracting a signal.
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
16-3: Waveguides
and Cavity Resonators
Waveguides: Signal Injection and Extraction
Probes and loops can be used to extract a signal from a
waveguide.
When the signal strikes a probe or a loop, a signal is
induced which can then be fed to other circuitry through
a short coaxial cable.
Figure 16-20: The dimensions of a waveguide determine its operating frequency range.
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
16-3: Waveguides
and Cavity Resonators
Waveguides: Signal Propagation
In a waveguide, when the electric field is at a right angle
to the direction of wave propagation, it is called a
transverse electric (TE) field.
When the magnetic field is transverse to the direction of
propagation, it is called a transverse magnetic (TM)
field.
Figure 16-31: Cavity resonator made with waveguide. (b) Side view of cavity
resonator showing coupling of energy by a probe.
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
16-3: Waveguides
and Cavity Resonators
Circulators
A circulator is a three-port microwave device used for
coupling energy in only one direction around a closed
loop.
Microwave energy is applied to one port and passed to
another with minor attenuation, however the signal will
be greatly attenuated on its way to a third port.
The primary application of a circulator is a diplexer,
which allows a single antenna to be shared by a
transmitter and receiver.
Figure 16-31 Cavity resonator made with waveguide. (a) A section of rectangular
waveguide used as a cavity resonator. (b) Side view of cavity resonator showing
coupling of energy by a probe.
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
16-3: Waveguides
and Cavity Resonators
Isolators
Isolators are variations of circulators, but they have one
input and one output.
They are configured like a circulator, but only ports 1
and 2 are used.
Isolators are often used in situations where a mismatch,
or the lack of a proper load, could cause reflection so
large as to damage the source.
Figure 16-54: Slot antennas on a waveguide. (a) Radiating slots. (b) Nonradiating
slots.
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
SLOT ANTENNA
Figure 16-57: Lens antenna operations. (a) Dielectric lens. (b) Zoned lens.
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
16-6: Microwave Antennas
Patch Antennas
Patch antennas are made with microstrip on PCBs.
The antenna is a circular or rectangular area of copper
separated from the ground plane on the bottom of the
board by the PCB’s insulating material.
Patch antennas are small, inexpensive, and easy to
construct.
Their bandwidth is directly related to the thickness of
the PCB material.
Their radiation pattern is circular in the direction
opposite to that of the ground plane.
Figure 16-59: An 8 × 8 phase array using patch antennas. (Feed lines are not shown.)