We propose waveguide to microstrip line transitions for automotive millimeter wave radar modules. The transitions perpendicularly connect one waveguide and one or two microstrip lines. The configuration is simple because it consists of a waveguide and a dielectric substrate with copper foils. Additionally the transitions do not need via holes on the substrate. It leads to lower costs and improved reliability. We have already proposed a via-less transition by using multi-stage impedance transformers. The impedance transformers are used for suppressing undesirable radiation from the transition as well as impedance matching. In this paper, we propose a new transition with the microstrip lines on the long axis of the waveguide while most transitions place the microstrip lines on the minor axis (electric field direction) of the waveguide. Though our transition uses bend structures of microstrip lines, which basically cause radiation, our optimized configuration can keep small radiation. We also design a transition with a single microstrip line. The proposed transition with 2 microstrip lines can be modified to the 1 microstrip line version with minimum radiation loss. Electromagnetic simulations confirm the small radiation levels expected. Additionally we fabricate the transitions with back to back structure and determine the transmission and radiation performance. We also fabricates the transition for a patch array antenna. We confirm that the undesirable radiation from the proposed transition is small and the radiation pattern of the array antenna is not worsen by the transition.

The authors have proposed a new type of flexible and printable 12GHz-band phase shifter using polymer actuator for the first time. Polymer bending actuator was used as a termination device of a reflection-type 3-dB, 90° hybrid coupler as the phase-shift control unit which controls the electrical length of the waveguide for microwave signals by the applied bias voltage. The microstrip line circuit of the device has been fabricated using low-cost screen printing method. Polymer bending actuator having three-layer stacking structure, in which an ionic liquid electrolyte layer is sandwiched with two conductive network composite layers, was formed by wet processes. The authors have confirmed that the phase shift could be controlled in analog by low driving voltages of 2-7 V for the actuator with a insertion loss of 2.73 dB. This phase shifter can be integrated with flexible patch antenna and the current flexible polymer electronics devices such as transistors.

We present a design approach and analysis of a multimode stripline resonator (MSR). Furthermore, a bandpass filter (BPF) using a single MSR is presented. MSR has three fundamental modes, incorporating two transmission resonance modes and one quasi-lumped component (LC) resonance mode. The resonant frequencies and unloaded Q factors of those modes are theoretically derived by transmission modes and LC modes. By our equations, it is also explained that the resonant frequencies can be shown to be easily handled by an increase and decrease in the number of via holes. These frequencies calculated by our equations are in good agreement with those of 3-D simulations and measurements. Finally, design approach of a narrow bandpass filter using our resonator is introduced. Good agreement between measured and computed result is obtained.

Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) started test satellite broadcasting of ultra-high-definition television (UHDTV) on August 1st, 2016. The test broadcasting is being provided in the 12-GHz (11.7 to 12.75GHz) band with right-hand circular polarization. In 2018, left-hand circular polarization in the same frequency band will be used for satellite broadcasting of UHDTV. Because UHDTV satellite broadcasting uses the 16APSK modulation scheme, which requires a higher carrier-to-noise ratio than that used for HDTV in Japan, it is important to mitigate the cross-polarization interference. Therefore, we fabricated and tested a dual-circularly polarized offset parabolic reflector antenna that has a feed antenna composed of a 2×2 microstrip antenna array, which is sequentially rotated to enhance the polarization purity. Measured results showed that the fabricated antenna complied with our requirements, a voltage standing wave ratio of less than 1.4, antenna gain of 34.5dBi (i.e., the aperture efficiency was 69%), and cross-polarization discrimination of 28.7dB.

The problem of E-polarized plane wave diffraction by a thin material strip is analyzed using the Wiener-Hopf technique together with approximate boundary conditions. Exact and high-frequency asymptotic solutions are obtained. Our final solution is valid for the case where the strip thickness is small and the strip width is large in comparison to the wavelength. The scattered field is evaluated asymptotically based on the saddle point method and a far field expression is derived. Numerical examples on the radar cross section (RCS) are presented for various physical parameters and the scattering characteristics of the strip are discussed in detail.

Novel design approaches for microwave active circuits using composite right-/left-handed (CRLH) transmission line (TL) stubs are presented. We show that, by modifying the dispersion diagram of the CRLH TL stub, the frequency band or the harmonic tuning capability can be enhanced in such a way that it would have been difficult or impractical if done using conventional micro-strip line stubs. The frequency response of the CRLH TL stub can be controlled almost arbitrarily while at the same time reducing the stub length significantly, because the dispersion curve in the left-handed region and in the right-handed region is controlled independently. As a proof of concept, a triple-band rectifier, single-band and dual-band harmonic tuning circuits for class-F amplifiers are demonstrated.

The diffraction by a thin material strip is analyzed for the H-polarized plane wave incidence using the Wiener-Hopf technique together with approximate boundary conditions. An asymptotic solution is obtained for the case where the thickness and the width of the strip are small and large compared with the wavelength, respectively. The scattered field is evaluated asymptotically based on the saddle point method and a far field expression is derived. Scattering characteristics are discussed in detail via numerical results of the radar cross section.

In this paper, a novel slow-wave half mode substrate integrated waveguide (SW-HMSIW) structure is presented and experimentally demonstrated, and some interesting slow-wave propagation effects are obtained. The SW-HMSIW enables the cutoff frequency reduction and phase velocity to decrease without sacrificing its performance at the same lateral dimension, which equivalently reduces the lateral dimension and longitudinal size at the same frequency. Specifically, with the different loading microstrip width, a cutoff frequency reduction of 16%, 25%, 30% is achieved compared to the conventional HMSIW at the same lateral dimension. Both lateral and longitudinal size reductions significantly extend the operating range of SIW structures to low frequency region.

We present a design method for miniaturizing double stub resonators that are potentially very useful for wide range of applications but have limited usage for MMICs due to their large footprint. The analytical design model, which we introduce in this paper, allows for determining the capacitances needed to achieve the targeted shrinking ratio while maintaining the original loaded-Q before miniaturization. To verify the model, 18-GHz stub resonators that are around 40% of the original sizes were designed and fabricated in GaAs MMIC technology. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is also demonstrated by a 9-GHz low phase-noise oscillator using the miniaturized resonator.

A striped inductor and its utilization of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) are studied with the aim of suppressing phase noise degradation in K- and Ka-bands. The proposed striped inductor exhibits reduced series resistance in the high frequency region by increasing the cross-sectional peripheral length, as with the Litz wire, and the VCO of the striped inductor simultaneously exhibits a lower phase noise than that of the conventional inductor. Striped and conventional inductors and VCOs are designed and fabricated, and their use of K- and Ka-bands is measured. Results show that the Q factor and corner frequency of the striped inductor are approximately 1.3 and 1.6 times higher, respectively, than that of the conventional inductor. Moreover, the 1-MHz-offset phase noise of the striped inductor's VCO in the K- and Ka-bands was approximately 3.5 dB lower than that of the conventional inductor. In this study, a 65-nm standard CMOS process was used.

Layout strategies including source edge to substrate space (SESS) and inserted substrate-pick stripes of gate-grounded NMOS(ggNMOS) are optimized in this work for on-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection. In order to fully investigate influences of substrate resistors on triggering and conduction behaviors of ggNMOS, various devices are designed and fabricated in a 65-nm CMOS process. Direct current (DC), transmission-line-pulsing (TLP), human body model (HBM) and very-fast TLP (VF-TLP) tests are executed to fully characterize performance of fabricated ggNMOS. Test results reveal that an enlarged SESS parameter results in an earlier triggering behavior of ggNMOS, which presents a layout option for subtle adjustable triggering behaviors. Besides, inserted substrate-pick stripes are proved to have a bell-shape influence on the ESD robustness of ggNMOS and this bell-shape influence is valid in TLP, HBM and VF-TLP tests. Moreover, the most ESD-robust ggNMOS optimized under different inserted substrate-pick stripes always achieves a higher HBM level over the traditional ggNMOS at each concerned total device-width. Physical mechanisms of test results will be deeply discussed in this work.

This paper presents a pattern reconfigurable Yagi-Uda antenna on an FR-4 printed circuit board (PCB) for 2.435-2.465GHz-frequency short-range radiocommunication devices. To realize the antenna, pin diodes are attached onto the antenna's driven elements and parasitic elements. The direction of the beam is shifted by alternating the pin diodes status between ON and OFF to induce a quad-directional operation so that E-plane maximum beams are formed in the directions of 135°, 45°, 310° and 225° (i.e. regions 1, 2, 3, 4), respectively. A series of simulations are performed on four parameters: microstrip-to-CPS (coplanar stripline), inter-parasitic spacing, parasitic length, and modes of parasitic elements (i.e. director/reflector) to determine the optimal antenna design. A prototype is fabricated based on the optimal simulation results. The experiments showed very good agreement between the simulation and measured results with regard to the reflection coefficients, radiation patterns and gains for all four beams.

This paper presents the design and radiation properties of a linearly polarized radial line microstrip antenna array (RL-MSAA) with U-slot circular microstrip antennas. A circular microstrip antenna (C-MSA) with U-shaped slot is used as a radiation element of the RL-MSAA. Radiation phase of the U-slot C-MSA is controlled by tuning the radius of the C-MSA and dimensions of the U-slot on the C-MSA; therefore, the desired phase distribution of the RL-MSAA can be realized. In this paper, a linearly polarized RL-MSAA with three concentric rows of C-MSAs at a spacing of 0.65 wavelengths is designed for 12GHz operation. In order to realize uniform phase distribution, the U-slot C-MSAs are arranged for inner two rows and normal C-MSAs are arranged for the termination row. Validity of the linearly polarized RL-MSAA with the U-slot C-MSAs for radiation phase control is demonstrated by simulation and measurement.

This paper presents a simple-structured tunable resonator employing semiconductor switches that can change its resonant frequency discretely but precisely. The tunable resonator comprises a transmission line with a comb-shaped pattern and multiple single-pole single-throw (SPST) switches placed between the teeth of the comb-shaped pattern. The resonator changes its resonant frequency according to the switch states, by controlling the path length carrying a high frequency current. The characteristics of the proposed resonator are evaluated through both method of moment electromagnetic simulation and fabrication, using GaAs FET SPST switches. The fabricated resonator changes its resonant frequency from 1.63,GHz to 1.85,GHz. This paper also introduces two circuit designs based on the proposed resonator that expands the tuning range of the resonant frequency or the number of resonant frequencies to be obtained.

This paper presents design and radiation properties of a radial line microstrip antenna array (RL-MSAA) for linear polarization. A stacked circular microstrip antenna (C-MSA) is used as a radiation element for the RL-MSAA. Radiation phase of the stacked C-MSA is controlled by tuning radii of the lower and upper patches, therefore, the desired phase distribution of the RL-MSAA can be designed. In this paper, a linearly polarized RL-MSAA with three concentric rows of the stacked C-MSAs at a spacing of 0.65 wavelengths for uniform aperture distribution is designed and tested in 12GHz. The experimental results reveal that validity of the linearly polarized RL-MSAA with the stacked C-MSAs for radiation phase control is demonstrated.

In this letter, we propose a partial impedance-matching method using a two-strip resonator for noncontact Passive Intermodulation (PIM) measurements using a coaxial tube. It is shown that the strip closer to the inner tube of the coaxial tube is dominant in the observed PIM characteristics while both strips are excited equally. The ideal efficiency of power to each strip is 50%, which is a significant improvement in comparison with conventional methods.

This paper presents a new simple method for reducing mutual coupling between dual-element microstrip antennas (MSAs) for bistatic radar using a wave absorber. The two elements are closely placed on a substrate by the distance of λ0/4 through the wall-shaped absorber. The height and width of the absorber were optimized for minimum mutual coupling with the electromagnetic simulator. It was found that less than -60 dB minimum mutual coupling can be achieved by the impedance matching of the absorber in a near field. The influence for the reflection characteristics from the absorber is small enough, and the reduction of the antenna gain is only 1.1 dB. The rate of the lost power characteristics showed that the absorption improves the mutual couplings. Then the proposed structure for a practical configuration was investigated. The measurement results of the optimized structure tallied well with the simulation results.

The electrostatic characteristics of broadside-coupled striplines in a shield are investigated with the mode-matching method. The Fourier series is employed to describe electrostatic potential distributions. Numerical results are shown for coupled transmission line cell applications.

We propose a new analytical method for a composite dielectric grating embedded with conducting strips using scattering factors in the shadow theory. The scattering factor in the shadow theory plays an important role instead of the conventional diffraction amplitude. By specifying the relation between scattering factors and spectral-domain Green's functions, we derive expressions of the Green's functions directly for unit surface electric and magnetic current densities, and apply the spectral Galerkin method to our formulation. From some numerical results, we show that the expressions of the Green's functions are valid, and analyze scattering characteristics by composite gratings.

To better understand antenna properties in a narrow space such as in a densely-packed device, a circular microstrip antenna in a narrow parallel-plate waveguide is theoretically studied. An analytical expression is derived for the input impedance in a parallel-plate waveguide by using the cavity model with surface admittance on the side wall. The surface admittance is defined by the external magnetic field due to the equivalent magnetic current at the aperture and takes into account the contribution of the parallel plates to the antenna. The magnetic field external to the antenna, that is in the parallel-plate region, is determined by using a dyadic Green's function. The input impedance is then calculated by a basic definition based on the conservation of the complex power. An analytical expression which couples the resonant frequency and the surface susceptance is also formulated. Presented expressions are validated by comparison with experimental results.