This article presents the modeling and realization of a compact substrate integrated coaxial line (SICL) based butler matrix operating at 5 GHz for beam-forming applications. The proposed 4 × 4 butler matrix is developed using SICL-based hybrid coupler, crossover, and phase shifter. A compact 90∘ coupler comprising of center tapped unequal stubs is designed to enhance the size reduction as well as to extend the out of band rejection. Wideband SICL-based crossover operating from DC to 10 GHz is conceived for the proposed butler matrix using a plated through hole as transition. The SICL crossover features very high measured isolation of 65 dB owing to the reduction in coupling between the two signal paths within a lateral footprint of only 0.034 $\lambda_g^2$. A meandered SICL-based line is used in order to provide the necessary 45∘ and 0∘ phase shift to realize the butler matrix. The fully shielded and self-packaged compact 4 × 4 SICL-based butler matrix is fabricated and experimentally validated to operate at 5 GHz.

In this paper, a new method based on a genetic algorithm and Minkowski Island fractal is proposed for multiband antennas. Three-antenna configurations are chosen to validate the proposed optimization procedure. The first configuration is a wide-band antenna, operating in the WLAN (wireless local area network) UNII-2C band. The second configuration is a dual-band antenna, operating in the WLAN UNII-2 and UNII-2C bands. In contrast, the third is a tri-band antenna operating in the UNII-2, UNII-2C, and UNII-3 bands. The optimization process is accelerated by using the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) Application Programming Interface which allows all genetic operators to be performed in MATLAB while the numerical calculations are running in the internal CST Finite-Difference Time-Domain -solver using parallel computing with GPU acceleration. All three designed configurations are manufactured using a $\textstyle0.8\;\text{mm}$ thick FR4 epoxy substrate with a relative dielectric constant of $4.8$. The return loss and the radiation pattern’s measurements agree well with the simulation results. Further, the methodology presented can be very effective in terms of size reduction; the designed antennas are $24 \times 24 \times 0.8\;{\textrm{m}}{{\textrm{m}}^3}$ ($460\;{\textrm{m}}{{\textrm{m}}^3}$).

This contribution presents miniaturization techniques for folded circular substrate integrated waveguide (FCSIW) cavity filters. The cavities support dual-mode operation. Two of these cavities are combined to form a fourth-order filter. Two filter designs are implemented. The first one serves as a reference and exhibits good manufacturability. For the second one, the cavity is modified, which leads to $50\%$ more compactness. The designs are experimentally verified with 10 GHz bandpass filters. Even though the achieved level of compactness requires higher technological effort, the measurements validate the miniaturization concept. The out-of-band rejection exceeds 40 dB between 11.2 and 30 GHz for the reference filter and between 11.3 and 33 GHz for the miniaturized one. The implemented components are compared with state-of-the-art filters.

This work proposes a novel, extremely miniaturized wideband linear–circular and linear–cross metasurface-enabled reflective polarizer. This design comprises a Meander-line structure with horizontal dipoles as the top frequency selective surface, printed on a 1 mm thin-grounded FR-4 substrate. The x/y-polarized incident electromagnetic wave is converted as circularly polarized from 10.60 to 10.92 GHz (LHCP/RHCP), 12.12 to 17.32 GHz (RHCP/LHCP), and 22.72 to 37.76 GHz (LHCP/RHCP) during reflection with 2.97, 35.33, and 49.74% Fractional Bandwidth (FBW). In addition, this design shows linear–cross conversion with a minimum 90% polarization conversion ratio from 11.41 to 12, 19.01 to 22.34, and 40.74 to 46.82 GHz with an FBW of 5.04, 16.11, and 13.89%. The device performance is considerably stable under different oblique incidences, and the polarizer's unitcell is compact with a structural periodicity of 0.089 × 0.064 $\lambda _L^2$, and ultra-thin low-profile substrate thickness of 0.035λL. The proposed prototype is fabricated, and the measured results are in good agreement with the simulated one. This article also mentions how this polarizer could be tuned for dual-band K- and Ka-band satellite applications. The authors believe that the design's novelty lies in the multiband conversion with circular-polarization orthogonality, a highly miniaturized unitcell's volume of 0.199 $\lambda _L^3$/1000, and better angular stability made this design a potential candidate for real-time satellite applications.

This paper furnishes a compact modified hourglass-shaped aperture-coupled antenna for radar applications. The effect of slots of various shapes and various slot lengths on the input impedance, radiation pattern, and gain of the antenna are analyzed. The proposed antenna, designed using a modified hourglass-shaped aperture, offers a gain of 8.214 dBi for an compact antenna with a dimension of 20.4 × 20.4 × 1.041 mm3 and an aperture area of 2.495 mm2. Implementation of this proposed modified hourglass-shaped aperture offers a high gain per unit radiating patch area of 40.26 dB/$\lambda _g ^2$ and a high gain per unit aperture area of 1324.84 dB/$\lambda _g ^2$. The proposed aperture feeds a circular patch which radiates at its resonant frequency of 10.5 GHz. The proposed design is fabricated and the simulated results are verified experimentally. Equivalent circuit analysis is also done. A measured gain of 7.2 dBi is observed at 10.5 GHz. The physical area of the antenna is reduced without compromising the gain by judiciously choosing the shape of slot with more degree of freedom for impedance matching. The proposed antenna is well suited for the unit cell of phased array antennas for X-band missile radar applications.

In this paper, a broadband, low insertion loss, and compact folded substrate integrated waveguide (FSIW) phase shifter is proposed for the first time. By loading the complementary split-ring resonators (CSRRs) on the middle metal layer of the FSIW, a closed-type slow-wave transmission line (TL) is obtained, which can provide a wideband phase shift (39%) compared with the equal-length fast-wave one. The enclosed structure of the CSRR-loaded FSIW prevents the CSRRs from radiation as suffered in the previous reported CSRR-loaded TLs, resulting in a low insertion loss. This feature greatly reduces the amplitude imbalance between the main line and the reference line of the phase shifter. In addition, no transition structure is required between the FSIWs with and without CSRRs for broadband impedance matching, which makes the phase shifter more compact and easier to integrate with other FSIW devices. To validate the performance of the proposed phase shifter and to illustrate its ease integration, a novel FSIW 180° directional coupler that consists of an FSIW 90° coupler and an FSIW 90° phase shifter is designed, fabricated, and measured. The measured results agree well with the simulated data.

A compact ultrawideband (UWB) antenna with reconfigurable triple band notch characteristics is proposed in this paper. The antenna consists of a coplanar waveguide-fed top-cut circular-shaped radiator with two etched C-shaped slots, a pair of split-ring resonators (SRRs) on the backside and four p-type intrinsic n-type (PIN) diodes integrated in the slots and SRRs. By controlling the current distribution in the slots and SRRs, the antenna can realize eight band notch states with independent switch ability, which allows UWB to coexist with 5G (3.3–4.4 GHz)/WiMAX (3.3–3.6 GHz), WLAN (5.15–5.825 GHz), and X-band (7.9–8.4 GHz) bands without interference. By utilizing a nested structure of C-shaped slots and SRRs on the backside, a compact size of 18 × 19.5 mm2 is achieved along with multimode triple band notch reconfigurability. The antenna covers a bandwidth of 3.1–10.6 GHz. A prototype is fabricated and tested. The simulated and experimental results are in good agreement.

A compact antenna module with a single band notch at wireless local area network (WLAN) (5.725–5.825 GHz) for ultra-wideband (UWB) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) applications is proposed. Proposed antenna which acquires size of 0.299 λ × 0.413 λ × 0.005 λ mm3 at 3.1 GHz consists of two symmetrical radiators placed side by side on global merchandise link (GML) 1000 substrate (εr = 3.2, tan δ = 0.004). Isolation between the antenna elements is >18 dB in the whole UWB band, which is achieved by introducing the vertical stub and H-slot between the monopole radiators in the ground plane. The simulated and measured results of the antenna system are in good agreement. The proposed antenna covers entire UWB with impedance bandwidth (|S11| < −15 dB) from 3.1 to 11 GHz except at WLAN notched band. The designed antenna module bears low envelope correlation coefficient and minimal multiplexing efficiency hence fulfilling criteria suitable for various wireless MIMO applications.

A four-way suspended-stripline power divider is presented in this letter. The power dividing network is designed by using the suspended stripline, while the isolation network is designed by using the microstrip line. The vias are used to connect the power dividing network and the isolation network. The even- and odd-mode analysis method is applied to design the presented power divider. The simulated and measured results of the presented power divider show reasonable agreement with each other. The measured input return loss in the band is greater than 28 dB (7.92 to 9.53 GHz), while the measured insertion loss is less than 0.37 dB. The measured output return loss is greater than 20 dB from 7.82 to 9.86 GHz. Besides, the measured output isolation is greater than 20 dB.

A three-section pulse forming network (PFN) based on Guillemin type-C circuit was developed to meet the challenge of a compact design, high withstand voltage, and high-quality output waveform with fast rise time, flat-top duration, and 100-ns pulse width. A simplified pulse forming circuit was proposed and studied that includes only three LC-sections connected in parallel, with each section containing an inductor and a capacitor connected in series. The effect of the capacitance deviation on the output waveform was investigated. The simulation results show that when the capacitance deviation exceeds +3%, both the flat top and fall time of the output waveform of single PFN module deteriorate greatly. Fortunately, in a multi-stage PFN-Marx circuit, even if the capacitance deviation exceeds +10%, when the average capacitance of the same LC sections is close to the theoretical value, the output waveform maintains a good quality and is in good agreement with the theoretical prediction. The compact three-section PFN developed during this project has a size of only 360 mm × 342 mm × 65 mm, and a maximum withstand voltage of 120 kV. Sixteen PFN stages were assembled to form a Marx generator with design parameters to provide of an output peak power of 12 GW and a maximum peak current of 15 kA. The tested output waveform agrees well with the theoretical results, having a rise time of 31 ns, a flat-top of 104 ns, and a pulse with of 164 ns.

A new design method of an ultra-wideband circularly-polarized planar multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is presented in this paper. The proposed MIMO antenna consists of four unit cell antennas, being comprised of a microstrip feed line and a square slotted ground plane. In the proposed unit cell design, a circular stub is protruded from the ground plane strip for achieving circular polarization. The unit cell of the MIMO antenna is optimized by adjusting design parameters. The compact four-port MIMO antenna prototype is designed on the FR4 substrate with the overall dimensions of 45 × 45 × 1.6 mm3. The proposed four-port MIMO antenna design provides an impedance bandwidth (S11 < −10 dB) of 112% (3.1–11 GHz) and a 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth of 36% (4.8–6.9 GHz). The performance of the fabricated MIMO antenna shows good agreement between the EM simulation and measurement results.