Loss characteristics of high-/spl epsiv//sub r/ microstrip lines fabricated by an etchable thick-film on ceramic MCM technology

Etchable thick-film multi-chip-module (MCM) technology has led to the possibility of fabricating microwave integrated circuits (MICs) with performance similar to MICs produced using more expensive conventional thin-film MCM-D techniques. However, little data is available on the loss characteristics of the technology at microwave frequencies. This paper describes an experimental investigation into the loss properties of high-definition etchable thick-film MCM microstrip lines formed on a variety of high dielectric constant (high-/spl epsiv//sub r/) ceramic substrates. Substrates investigated comprise 96% alumina (/spl epsiv//sub r/=9.5), (Zr,Sn)TiO/sub 4/(/spl epsiv//sub r/=36.6) and BaO-PbO-Nd/sub 2/O/sub 3/-TiO/sub 2/ (/spl epsiv//sub r/=90.9). Microstrip loss properties are determined by fabricating a series of loosely coupled half-wave resonators on each substrate, with a range of characteristic impedance values. Measurements to 6 GHz are compared to those for similar lines fabricated using conventional thin-film MCM-D technology. The results demonstrate that etchable thick-film MCM technology provides many of the advantages of thin-film MCM-D technology, such as low-loss and high-definition conductors, and is suitable for the cost-effective fabrication of miniaturised high-performance microstrip MICs in high volume.     

Guided Waves in Inhomogeneous Focusing Media Part III: Wall Effects, Losses, and the Transition from Fast to Slow Waves

This paper is concerned with the determination of field patterns, propagation constants, and losses for axially propagating modes guided by an enclosed circular cylindrical, radially inhomogeneous dielectric of the type discussed in Parts I and II. The homogeneous outer medium (/spl gamma/ /spl ges/ /a) is assumed to have a large relative permittivity /spl epsiv//sub 2/, and the analysis includes the perfect conductor case /spl epsiv//sub 2/ /spl rarr/ /spl infin/. The transition to trapped waves as the binding effect increases is demonstrated. Propagation constants in the case with loss are determined using a perturbation technique.     

Performance of reduced size substrate lens antennas for Millimeter-wave communications

This paper presents the theoretical performance (input impedance, -10 dB return-loss bandwidth, radiation patterns and surface efficiencies) of reduced size substrate lenses fed by aperture-coupled microstrip patch antennas. The diameter of the extended hemispherical homogeneous dielectric (/spl epsiv//sub r,lens/) lenses varies between one and five wavelengths in free-space, in order to obtain radiating structures whose directivity is comprised between 10 and 25 dB. A lot of configurations of lenses are investigated using the finite-difference time-domain methods technique and compared in the 47-50 GHz band as a function of their diameter, extension length and dielectric constant. In particular, the analysis of internal reflections-in time and frequency domains-shows that the latter have potentially a strong influence on the input impedance of small lens antennas, even for low values of /spl epsiv//sub r,lens/(2.2), whereas the usual limit (beyond which anti-reflection coatings are required) is /spl epsiv//sub r,lens/=4. We also demonstrate that the diffraction limit of reduced size lenses is reached for extension lengths varying between 50% and 175% of the extension of synthesized ellipses, depending on the lens material and diameter. Finally, we show that superdirective structures with surface efficiencies reaching 250% can be obtained with small lens diameters, justifying the interest in reduced size lens antennas.     

Asymptotic properties on codeword lengths of an optimal FV code for general sources

This correspondence is concerned with asymptotic properties on the codeword length of a fixed-to-variable length code (FV code) for a general source {X/sup n/}/sub n=1//sup /spl infin// with a finite or countably infinite alphabet. Suppose that for each n /spl ges/ 1 X/sup n/ is encoded to a binary codeword /spl phi//sub n/(X/sup n/) of length l(/spl phi//sub n/(X/sup n/)). Letting /spl epsiv//sub n/ denote the decoding error probability, we consider the following two criteria on FV codes: i) /spl epsiv//sub n/ = 0 for all n /spl ges/ 1 and ii) lim sup/sub n/spl rarr//spl infin///spl epsiv//sub n/ /spl les/ /spl epsiv/ for an arbitrarily given /spl epsiv/ /spl isin/ [0,1). Under criterion i), we show that, if X/sup n/ is encoded by an arbitrary prefix-free FV code asymptotically achieving the entropy, 1/nl(/spl phi//sub n/(X/sup n/)) - 1/nlog/sub 2/ 1/PX/sup n/(X/sup n/) /spl rarr/ 0 in probability as n /spl rarr/ /spl infin/ under a certain condition, where P/sub X//sup n/ denotes the probability distribution of X/sup n/. Under criterion ii), we first determine the minimum rate achieved by FV codes. Next, we show that 1/nl(/spl phi//sub n/(X/sup n/)) of an arbitrary FV code achieving the minimum rate in a certain sense has a property similar to the lossless case.     

Microwave Bandpass Filters Containing High-Q Dielectric Resonators

This paper is concerned with dielectric disks used as resonators in microwave bandpass filters. For many years it has been known that modes of resonance occur in isolated dielectric bodies having air boundaries, and that very compact high-Q resonators can be achieved when /spl epsiv/ /sub r/, is high and tan /spl delta/ is low. High-purity TiO/sub 2/ ceramic material, for example, has an /spl epsiv/ /sub r/ about 100, tan /spl delta/ about 0.0001, and Q/sub u/ about 10 000. Practical applications of dielectric resonators have previously been limited by insufficient design information. Formulas are derived for the coupling coefficient between adjacent dielectric-disk resonators within a metal waveguide below cutoff. This metal enclosure is necessary for shielding and to prevent radiation loss. Comparisons between theoretical and experimental coupling coefficient values show very good agreement in each of the three bandpass configurations treated in this paper. Techniques of loop and probe coupling to the end resonators of a multiresonator bandpass filter are discussed and methods of supporting the resonators are suggested. The conclusion is made that microwave dielectric resonators offer important size reductions compared to conventional resonators of similar high Q, but that the center-frequency change of the dielectric resonators as a function of temperature is excessive for many applications. Temperature stabilization is one solution, but preferably a material should be developed having electrical characteristics similar to TiO/sub 2/ ceramic, but with at least an order of magnitude improvement in temperature sensitivity.     

Asymptotic smoothing errors for hidden Markov models

In this paper, the asymptotic smoothing error for hidden Markov models (HMMs) is investigated using hypothesis testing ideas. A family of HMMs is studied parametrised by a positive constant /spl epsiv/, which is a measure of the frequency of change. Thus, when /spl epsiv//spl rarr/0, the HMM becomes increasingly slower moving. We show that the smoothing error is O(/spl epsiv/). These theoretical predictions are confirmed by a series of simulations.     

Measuring Dielectric Constant of Substrates for Microstrip Applications (Letters)

A new technique for measuring the dielectric constant of unmetallized ceramic substrates for microstrip applications is fast, accurate, and nondestructive. Measurement is made at the actual microwave frequency at which the ceramic will be used. Results are repeatable to within /spl plusmn/ 0.1 percent of the dielectric constant relative to a known standard substrate. A measurement rate of 100/h can easily be achieved. A circuit is described which is used at 1.4 GHz and measures an area of approximately 1/2-in diameter on 25-mil-thick alumina substrates.     

Analysis and Evaluation of a Method of Measuring the Complex Permittivity and Permeability Microwave Insulators

Theory and experimental results are presented to show the possibility of using a resonant post technique for characterizing dielectric and magnetic materials at microwave frequencies. Results of the temperature dependence of the relative dielectric constant of nonmagnetic materials with /spl epsilon//sub r/, varying from 4 to 60 are presented and also loss tangent measurements at room temperature. The complex permittivity and permeability of a number of garnet materials has also been measured with 4/spl pi//spl gamma/M/sub s/ / /spl omega/ varying from 0.25 to 0.8. The measured real part of the permeability is in good agreement with the theoretical predictions of Schlomann and the imaginary part of the permeability agrees with measurements by Green et al. on similar materials.     

Physical-layer secrecy in AWGN via a class of chaotic DS/SS systems: analysis and design

We study a class of pseudo-chaotic spread spectrum systems for secure communication over additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels, whereby a symbol stream is linearly modulated on a spreading sequence generated by iterating an initial condition through a suitably chosen chaotic map. We compare the uncoded probability of error (Pr(/spl epsiv/)) attainable by intended receivers that know the initial condition to the associated Pr(/spl epsiv/) of unintended receivers that know the modulation scheme but not the initial condition. The sensitive dependence of chaotic sequences on initial conditions, together with the presence of channel noise, can be exploited to provide substantially lower Pr(/spl epsiv/) to intended than to unintended receivers. We develop computationally efficient methods for obtaining tight bounds on the best P r(/spl epsiv/) performance of intended and unintended receivers. In the process, we identify chaotic map attributes that affect the relative Pr(/spl epsiv/) advantages provided to intended receivers and develop methods for designing maps that achieve a target gap between the intended and unintended receiver Pr(/spl epsiv/).     

Two-dimensional FDTD inverse-scattering scheme for determination of near-surface material properties at microwave frequencies

This paper reports a two-dimensional time-domain inverse-scattering algorithm based upon the finite-difference time-domain method for determining near-surface material properties at microwave frequencies. The time-domain nature of this technique allows for limiting the region of inversion using causality. The algorithm traces a search trajectory in the (/spl epsiv//sub r/, /spl sigma/) parameter space. The minimal parameter estimation error along this trajectory yields a set of approximate parameter values. It is shown that the algorithm's convergence and robustness with respect to broadband Gaussian noise depends on the shape and the duration of the illuminating electromagnetic wave pulse chosen for the electrical parameter reconstruction. It is possible to achieve an unambiguous indication of algorithm convergence despite the noisy background.     

Design and performance of an ultrawide-band ceramic-loaded slot spiral

The miniaturization of a broadband square slot spiral antenna is proposed using high-contrast (/spl epsiv//sub r/>30) dielectric materials. A previously developed circular slot spiral antenna is the starting point of the design. This spiral is first modified in terms of its feed and termination to facilitate the dielectric loading of the antenna by means of a superstrate. The subsequently placed superstrate is also modified by tapering its thickness to improve impedance matching. Several measurements were carried out using square spiral apertures having diameters of 2' and 6', respectively. It is demonstrated that the ceramic loading of a 2' spiral with an /spl epsiv//sub r/=90 shifts the initial operating frequency by nearly 320 MHz down to 564 MHz representing a size reduction of 36%. Additionally, a 6' aperture loaded with a superstrate having /spl epsiv//sub r/=30 is shown to operate down to 270 MHz corresponding to a size reduction of 18%.     

Complex Permittivity of GaAs and CdTe at Microwave Frequencies

The microwave dielectric constant and loss tangent of Cr-doped semi-insulatiug GaAs have been measured in the frequency range 2.5-36.0 GHz and the temperature range 300-400 K. The room temperature dielectric constant is 12.95 and the temperature coefficient alpha ( /spl equiv/ epsilon(0)/sup -1/ d epsilon/dT) is 1.6 x 10/sup -4/ /K. The dielectric constant and loss tangent of CdTe have been measured as functions of temperature at 15.95 GHz. The room temperature dielectric constant is 10.39 /spl plusmn/ 0.04 and the temperature coefficient alpha is 2.5 x 10/sup -4/ /K.     

A Sensitive Method for Measuring Complex Permittivity with a Microwave Resonator

The proposed method was carried out to make easier dielectric studies em powders under controlled pressure when the frequency varies. A TE/sub 01n/-mode resonator is needed. The substance under test is contained in a tube of quartz, placed along the axis of a cylindrical cavity. The mathematical formulation for the complex permittivity is given in rigorously accounting for the presence of the tube. Typical ditticulties are discussed, and experimental results given. The absolute precision of the measurement can be compared with that of the classicrd method (/spl plusmn/2 percent for /spl epsi/' and /spl plusmn/ 10 percent for /spl epsi/'). The greatest error arises from an insufficiently precise determination of the geometrical and electrical characteristics of the quartz tube. This error is systematic, and thus it is possible to demonstrate the very small permittivity variations (/spl plusmn/ 0.3 percent for /spl epsi/' and /spl plusmn/ 5 percent for /spl epsi/').     

Almost security of cryptographic Boolean functions

The propagation criterion, PC(/spl lscr/) of order k, is one of the most general cryptographic criteria of secure Boolean functions f. In this paper, we formalize its /spl epsiv/-almost version. The new definition requires that f(X)+f(X+/spl Delta/) is almost uniformly distributed while in the original definition, it must be strictly uniformly distributed. Better parameters are then obtained than the strict PC(/spl lscr/) of order k functions. To construct /spl epsiv/-almost PC(/spl lscr/) of order k functions, we introduce a notion of domain distance.     

Simple Stabilizing Method for Solid-State Microwave Oscillators (Short Papers)

In the microwave solid-state oscillators using bulk effect and avalanche diodes, high dielectric constant ceramics have been used as a temperature compensator and excellent temperature stability is obtained. An X-band avalanche diode oscillator is tested over a wide temperature range. The frequency drift is improved to be less than +30 kHz//spl deg/C. Additional advantages of this technique are compact size and low cost.     

Effect of dielectric properties on the peak 1-and 10-g SAR for 802.11 a/b/g frequencies 2.45 and 5.15 to 5.85 GHz

Compliance with 1- or 10-g specific absorption rate (SAR) safety guidelines is required in various countries for all newly-introduced personal wireless devices such as Wi-Fi PCs. Even though the dielectric properties of the human tissues are known to be nonuniform and highly variable, relatively rigid adherence to prescribed dielectric properties (/spl epsiv//sub r/,/spl sigma/) is required for compliance testing of such devices. Using some typical near-field radiators, we have examined the effect of dielectric properties for SAR measurement fluids with conductivities varying by 2:1 to show that both 1- and 10-g SARs vary by less than /spl plusmn/2%-4% for the 802.11a band 5.15 to 5.825 GHz and only slightly more at the lower 802.11 b/g frequency of 2.45 GHz. This is due to higher surface SAR but shallower depth of penetration of EM fields for the higher conductivity media resulting in nearly identical SARs for cubical volumes associated with 1- or 10-g of tissue, respectively. Also studied, is the effect of lower /spl epsiv//sub r/ fluids recommended in some standards which results in slightly higher and, thus, a conservative assessment of SAR.     

Miniature and tunable filters using MEMS capacitors

Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) bridge capacitors have been used to design miniature and tunable bandpass filters at 18-22 GHz. Using coplanar waveguide transmission lines on a quartz substrate (/spl epsiv//sub r/ = 3.8, tan/spl delta/ = 0.0002), a miniature three-pole filter was developed with 8.6% bandwidth based on high-Q MEMS bridge capacitors. The miniature filter is approximately 3.5 times smaller than the standard filter with a midband insertion loss of 2.9 dB at 21.1 GHz. The MEMS bridges in this design can also be used as varactors to tune the passband. Such a tunable filter was made on a glass substrate (/spl epsiv//sub r/ = 4.6, tan/spl delta/ = 0.006). Over a tuning range of 14% from 18.6 to 21.4 GHz, the miniature tunable filter has a fractional bandwidth of 7.5 /spl plusmn/ 0.2% and a midband insertion loss of 3.85-4.15 dB. The IIP/sub 3/ of the miniature-tunable filter is measured at 32 dBm for the difference frequency of 50 kHz. The IIP/sub 3/ increases to >50 dBm for difference frequencies greater than 150 kHz. Simple mechanical simulation with a maximum dc and ac (ramp) tuning voltages of 50 V indicates that the filter can tune at a conservative rate of 150-300 MHz//spl mu/s.     

Techniques for the Measurement of Complex Microwave Conductivity and the Associated Errors

Complex microwave conductivity of 9 /spl Omega/ /spl dot/ cm p-type silicon samples has been measured using conventional reflection and transmission bridges to examine their relative advantages and disadvantages. An attempt has been made to improve the reflection results from an analysis of the parameters of a circle diagram for reflection coefficient obtained on using a variable reactive termination after the semiconductor-filled waveguide section. In conformity with the calculated accuracy attainable from different types of measurement under the actual experimental condition, using commercial standards, the dielectric constant for the sample was found to be scattered over a region of /spl plusmn/0.4. It has been concluded that because of lack of accuracy in commercial standards for attenuation and phase shift, the potential accuracy of the conventional microwave methods falls too short of its mark to make any detinite conclusion about the effective mass of carriers in semiconductors at room temperatures.     

A Method for Determining the Dielectric Constant of Microwave PCB Substrates

This paper presents a simple method for determining the dielectric constant of microwave PCB substrates. In the presented method, a bandpass microstrip filter designed on the PCB substrate with a user-predicted dielectric constant value is implemented for a given center frequency. The simulation results of the designed bandpass filter are obtained by the help of microwave design software; XFDTD®. Experimental results regarding the filter frequency characteristic are accomplished by means of a vector network analyzer. The simulation results of the designed filter are modified to overlap with the experimental ones by varying the dielectric constant value. When the simulation and experimental results are overlapped, the value of dielectric constant is accurately selected. In order to illustrate the validity of proposed method, the dielectric constant values of flame resistant-4 (FR4) substrates are acquired at IEEE 802.11b/g and IEEE 802.11a wireless local area network (WLAN) application frequencies. The results obtained by using the presented method agree with the previous studies in the literature.     

An Approximate Analysis of Dielectric-Ridge Loaded Waveguide (Short Papers)

The dielectric-ridge loaded waveguide is analyzed approximately in terms of coupled empty waveguide modes. Using this technique the propagation constant can be easily computed, thus allowing the prediction of the properties of a type of dielectric phase shifter. Experimental evidence is presented which indicates that a two-mode approximation yields reasonable accuracy if the dielectric ridge is on center, is relatively thin compared to the width of the waveguide, and has a low dielectric constant relative to that of free space /spl epsiv//sub 0/.