Advanced Substrate Integrated Waveguide Components

该研究计划的主要目标是将衬底集成波导(SIW)技术提升到为当前和未来的无线毫米波系统和网络提供完整的、技术上可行的低成本解决方案的状态。这包括低损耗滤波器、双工器和天线组件的能力，以及有源、非线性和表面贴装设备的集成。 新兴的和未来的无处不在的宽带网络，以及医疗、汽车、超宽带和射电天文应用，都将需要大幅增加无线设备的数量。随着数据速率需求的增加，对带宽的要求越来越高，工作频率也越来越高，进入毫米波范围。对于这样的应用，开发能够提供包括天线在内的直接和高度集成的系统方法的平面技术至关重要。 SIW技术符合这一特点。它在微带电路和金属波导电路之间实现了合理的折衷，并已被证明适用于180 GHz以下的宽带无源元件。然而，SIW技术仍然面临着两个根本性的瓶颈：第一，对于滤波器和复用器应用，其Q因子与金属波导的Q因子不兼容；第二，有源元件的集成可以认为还处于起步阶段。 测量的SIW滤波器的Q因子约为500。这样的值对于宽带毫米波组件是可接受的，但对于窄带滤波器和多路复用器是不可接受的。与全金属波导相比，损耗增加(Q系数为几千)归因于衬底的介质损耗和通孔的金属化。为了减少损耗，我们提出了引入表面安装波导(SMW)技术，该技术由安装在SIW印制电路板顶部的小型充气腔组成。特殊的从SIW到SMW的转换将允许整个过滤器组件使用充气配置，或通过提取极点过滤器技术将单个谐振器连接到SIW。我们的初步研究表明，SMW电路可以将Q因子提高三到四倍，从而使SiW-SMW技术比全金属波导更具竞争力，更适合于印刷电路板制造。 将SIW技术与非线性器件相结合的做法进展缓慢。直到最近，变容二极管和PIN二极管才被用于开关和调谐SiW滤波器或肖特基二极管，以开发SiW混频器。放大器主要用于物理上与SIW天线和/或滤波器组件分离的电路中。因此，本项目旨在集成SIW技术中的非线性器件，用于开发SIW组件，如放大器、混频器、衰减器、可变移相器、限幅器和自动增益控制电路。预计将与基于SIW的印刷电路天线、耦合器和限幅器集成。最近，我们的团队开发了许多从SiW到平面传输线的互连技术，如共面波导(CPW)、共面带状线(CPS)和缝隙线。它们特别适合于表面贴装元件集成和致密封装，从而为成功完成非线性器件集成提供了必要的先决条件。 SIW印制电路板的原型制造将由我们的一家加拿大制造商提供便利；表面贴装元件集成将在维多利亚大学进行。

The principal objective of this research program is to elevate Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) technology to a state in which it provides a complete, technically feasible and low-cost solution to current and future wireless millimetre-wave systems and networks. That includes the capability of low-loss filter, diplexer and antenna components as well as the integration of active, nonlinear and surface-mount devices. Emerging and future ubiquitous broadband networks, as well as medical, automotive, ultra-wideband and radio astronomy applications, will require a significant increase in the number of wireless devices. As data rate demand increases bandwidth requirements, the frequency of operation is increasing into the millimeter-wave range. For such applications, it is of paramount importance to develop planar technologies that can provide straightforward and highly integrated system approaches including antennas. SIW technology fits this profile. It features a reasonable compromise between microstrip and metal waveguide circuitry, and has been demonstrated to be applicable for broadband passive components up to 180 GHz. However, SIW technology is still experiencing two fundamental bottlenecks: first, for filter and multiplexer applications, its Q factor is not compatible with that of metal waveguide; secondly, the integration of active components can be considered to be still in its infancy. Measured SIW filters demonstrate Q factors of about 500. Such values are acceptable for broadband millimeter-wave components but not for narrowband filters and multiplexers. The increased loss compared to all-metal waveguide (Q factors of several thousands) is attributed to the dielectric loss of the substrate and the metallization of via holes. In order to reduce losses, we propose the introduction of Surface Mounted Waveguide (SMW) technology which consists of small air-filled cavities mounted on top of the SIW printed-circuit board. Special SIW-to-SMW transitions will allow entire filter components to use air-filled configurations or individual resonators to be connected to SIW via extracted-pole filter techniques. Our initial investigations have shown that SMW circuits can increase the Q factor by a factor of three to four and thus will make SIW-SMW technology more competitive to all-metal waveguide and more amenable to printed-circuit board fabrication. Integration of SIW technology with nonlinear devices has caught on slowly. Only recently have varactor and PIN diodes been used to switch and tune SIW filters or Schottky diodes to develop SIW mixers. Amplifiers have mostly been used in circuits that are physically separated from the SIW antenna and/or filter components. Therefore, this projects aims at integration of nonlinear devices in SIW technology for the development of SIW components such as amplifiers, mixers, attenuators, variable phase shifters, limiters and automatic gain control circuits. Integration with SIW-based printed-circuit antennas, couplers and limiters is anticipated. Recently, our team developed a number of interconnects form SIW to planar transmission-line technologies such as coplanar waveguide (CPW), coplanar stripline (CPS) and slotline. They are specifically amenable to surface-mount component integration and dense packaging, thus providing the necessary prerequisites for a successful completion of nonlinear device integrations. Prototype fabrication of the SIW printed-circuit boards will be facilitated by one of our Canadian manufactures; surface-mount component integration will be carried out at the University of Victoria.