Many kinds of microstrip array antennas have been developed in the millimeter-wave band. In order to avoid feeding loss and the decrease of antenna gain by beam shift due to frequency changes, center-fed array antennas are advantageous. In this case, the element spacing around the feeding circuit of the transition from the waveguide to two microstrip lines is larger than one wavelength. Therefore, the sidelobe level grows significantly. In order to suppress the sidelobe level, we propose transitions with slot radiators. Moreover, any polarization angles can be achieved by changing the slot angle. A wide variety from 1.5% to 70% of slot radiator coupling powers can be achieved. To investigate the performance of the proposed transition, 10, 22 and 30-element center-fed microstrip comb-line antennas with the proposed transition were developed at 76.5 GHz, and measured performance was evaluated in the millimeter-wave band.

A one-input four-way power divider is developed for feeding circuit of a microstrip comb-line antenna. The four-way power divider is composed of two-stage tournament-configuration of three Y-junctions. To control the sidelobe level and beam width in radiation pattern of the array, the power dividing ratio is assigned for the four-way power divider. Required dividing ratio is designed by changing the line width to control the impedance. To take impedance matching at the connection parts of the Y-junctions, 1/4-wavelength impedance-transformers are applied to the divider and taper structure is supplied at discontinuities. Four-comb-line antennas are designed and fabricated at 76.5 GHz. We evaluated sidelobe level and beam width by experiment to confirm the performance of the power divider.

This paper describes a beam scanning antenna that consists of a movable dielectric plate loaded onto a microstrip comb-line antenna. This type of antenna uses a mechanical system and so offers a simple structure and low cost. The main beam direction of the proposed antenna is changed by moving the dielectric plate. The guide wavelength of the microstrip line was measured at the quasi-millimeter wave band (20 GHz) when moving the dielectric plate to investigate the possibility of beam scanning. The proposed antenna was fabricated to experimentally demonstrate its principle operation. A possible beam scanning angle of 20 degrees was confirmed.

The sharpness of the roll-off response of bandpass filters is a major concern for wireless communication systems. Bandpass filters with attenuation poles provide sharp roll-off. This paper investigates the performance of a ceramic comb-line filter with attenuation pole resonators (APRs), and studies the effects of the attenuation pole resonators on the filter response. The presented APRs are improved versions of previous ones and they are modeled here. The obtained results show that the length of APRs can be miniaturized via the loading capacitance. The resultant volume is about 400 mm3, which is very small comparing to coaxial type filters with the same attenuation rate in the stopband. With attenuation pole resonators added, skirt attenuation is greatly improved. Narrow bandwidth bandpass filters with attenuation poles in the stopband are designed and tested. Two designed examples demonstrate the flexibility of the attenuation pole resonator in the filter configuration. Experiments show good agreement with simulation results.

An extended configuration of a stepped impedance comb-line filter is presented. The parallel stripline sections of stepped impedance resonators are coupled electromagnetically and a coupling capacitor is introduced. The creation of an attenuation pole near the passband was detailed. A design procedure for the two-pole extended filter is derived from an analysis using even-and odd-mode impedances. Experimental filters were constructed by ceramic lamination technique. They exhibited excellent performances suitable for portable telephones.