ECE 121 Advanced Communication

Systems and Design

Notes on Microwave Communications
1. Microwaves are radio signals in the frequency range from 1 to 300 GHz.
2. The RF spectrum below UHF is mostly already fully occupied leaving little or no room for the
growth of new radio services.
3. At microwave frequencies, tremendous bandwidth is available for new radio services as well
as for wide-bandwidth signals such as TV, multiplexed signals, or computer data.
4. The microwave frequencies are used primarily for telephone communications, radar, and
satellite communications.
5. Other microwave applications include cable TV, space communications, radio astronomy, and
heating.

6. The primary benefit of microwaves is wide bandwidth availability.

7. The main disadvantages of microwaves are that they are limited to line-of-sight transmission
distances, conventional components are not usable, and circuits are more difficult to analyze
and design.
8. The allocation of the RF spectrum is handled by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) in the United States.

9. Balanced transmission line is not used for microwaves because of radiation losses. Coaxial
cable is not used because of its high attenuation.

10. The preferred transmission line for microwaves is waveguides.

11. Because of the short physical length of transmission lines at microwave frequencies,
quarter- and half-wave lines are commonly used for tuned circuits and filters.
12. Two printed circuit board implementations of transmission lines, called stripline and
microstrip, are widely used to create resonant circuits and filters.
13. A waveguide is a hollow metal pipe with a circular or rectangular cross section used for
carrying microwave signals from one place to another.
14. A waveguide acts like a high-pass filter, passing all frequencies above its cut-of frequency
and rejecting those below it.
15. The cutoff frequency fco of a waveguide depends upon its physical size. For a rectangular
waveguide, it is 300/2a. where a is the wide dimension of the waveguide in meters.
16. The microwave signal carried by a waveguide is made up of electric (E) and magnetic (H)
fields that bounce off the walls of the waveguide as they propagate along its length.
17. The modes of a waveguide describe the various patterns of electric and magnetic fields that
are possible.
18. A transverse electric (TE) mode is one where the electric field is transverse or perpendicular
to the direction of propagation.
19. A transverse magnetic (TM) mode is one where the magnetic field is perpendicular to the
direction of propagation.
20. Waveguides are available in standard lengths and sizes, and special pieces are used for
right-angle bends and 90° twists.
21. Half-wavelength sections of waveguides with shorted or closed ends are known as resonant
cavities since they “ring” or oscillate at the frequency determined by their dimensions.
22. Cavity resonators are metallic chambers of various shapes and sizes that are used as
parallel-tuned circuits and filters. They have a Q of up to 30,000.
23. Point-contact and Schottky or hot-carrier diodes are widely uses as mixers in microwave
equipment as they have low capacitance and inductance.
24. Varactor diodes are widely used as microwave frequency multipliers. Multiplication factors
of 2 and 3 are common with power levels up to 20 Wand efficiencies up to 80 percent.
25. Step-recovery or snap-off diodes are also widely used as frequency multipliers with
multiplication factors up to 10, power ratings up to 50 W. and efficiencies approaching 80
percent.
26. A Gunn diode is a microwave semiconductor device used to generate microwave energy.
When combined with a microstrip, stripline or resonant cavity, simple low power oscillators
with frequencies up to 50 GHz are easily implemented.
27. Both I MPATT and TRAPATT diodes are GaAs devices operated with high reverse bias to
produce avalanche breakdown. Both are used in microwave oscillators.
28. A klystron is a vacuum tube used for microwave amplification and oscillation.
29. Klystrons use a cavity resonant or to velocity modulate an electron beam which imparts
energy to another cavity, producing power amplification. Klystrons are available which produce
from a few to many thousands of watts.
30. A single-cavity reflex klystron is used as a microwave oscillator.
31. Klystrons are being gradually replaced by Gunn diodes and traveling-wave tubes.
32. A magnetron is a diode vacuum tube used as a microwave oscillator in radar and
microwave ovens to produce powers up to the megawatt range.
33. In a magnetron, a strong magnetic field creates circular paths of electron flow to excite
cavities into oscillation.

34. A traveling-wave tube (TWT) is a microwave power amplifier with very wide bandwidth.
35. A microwave signal applied to a helix around the TWT produces velocity and density
modulation of the electron beam over a long distance which induces a higher-power signal in
the helix.
36. The most commonly used microwave antenna is the horn, which is essentially a
rectangular waveguide with a flared end.
37. A pyramidal horn flares in both waveguide dimensions. A sectoral horn flares in only one
dimension.
38. Horn antennas are directional and produce a beam width in the 10° to 60° range with a gain
in the 10- to 20-dB range, depending upon dimensions.
39. A parabolic or dish-shaped reflector is used with most microwave antennas to focus the RF
energy into a narrow beam and increase gain.
40. The parabolic reflector usually has a diameter that is no less than 10 wavelengths at the
operating frequency.
41. The gain and directivity of a parabolic reflector antenna is directly proportional to its
diameter.
42. Parabolic reflector antennas are fed by placing a horn antenna at the focal point or by
placing the horn at the center of the reflector and placing a small reflector at the focal point.
The latter is known as Cassegrain feed.
43. A helical antenna is made up of six to eight turns of heavy wire or tubing to form a coil or
helix. It is fed with coax and is backed up with a reflector.
44. Helical antennas are used at UHF and microwave frequencies and have a gain in the 12- to
20-dB range and a beam width in the 12° to 45° range.
45. Helical antennas produce circular polarization where the electric and magnetic fields rotate.
The polarization may be right-hand or left-hand depending upon the direction in which the
helix is wound.
46. Helical antennas can receive either vertically or horizontally polarized signals but can only
receive a circularly polarized signal of the same direction.
47. A popular omnidirectional microwave antenna is the bicone.