ECE 556 -- Microwave Engineering I

Spring 2009

Course Overview

The goal of this course if for you to learn how to analyze and design electrical circuits where the circuit components are comparable in size to a wavelength. The range of frequencies over which these techniques are typically applied is from 300 MHz to 300 GHz known as the microwave (and millimeter-wave) frequency range. The corresponding wavelengths in air are 1 meter to 1 mm. These frequencies are used extensively in all modern communication systems as well as radar and remote sensing systems.

Instructor

N. Scott Barker
Office: Thornton E226
Phone: 924-6783
email: barker@virginia.edu
Class: TR 1400-1515 in Rm. THN E316
Office Hours: M 1400-1600 (and if possible until 1700)

Textbook

Required:

Microwave Engineering (3rd ed.), by David Pozar, John Wiley and Sons, 2005.

This updated version of Pozar's book gives a good modern overview of microwave theory and design. The text covers most of the material we will talk about in class and includes a fair amount of material on electromagnetic field theory and waveguides.

Other Useful References:

Foundations for Microwave Engineering, 2nd ed., by R. E. Collin; McGraw-Hill, 1992.

Collin's original text on microwave engineering is a classic. In this second edition, he gives a more modern account of microwave theory. his book is quite rigorous and complete.

Microwave Transistor Amplifiers, 2nd ed., by G. Gonzalez; Prentice-Hall, 1997.

Gonzalez's book concentrates on active circuits such as amplifiers and oscillators. It also has a good overview of transmission lines, Smith Charts, and impedance matching networks

Lectures

The lectures will cover material in the text as well as some material which is not in the book. Although microwave engineering is based on electromagnetic field theory, it is more and more being used as an extension of traditional circuit theory. The emphasis in this class will be on the extension of circuit theory with some references back to field theory when necessary.

Grading Policy

Your grade in the class will be determined from a weighted average of homeworks, labs, exams, and the final, as shown below. The exams will be take-home and time limited. Homework must be turned in at the beginning of class on the day it is due. Because I intend to post the solutions on the web, late homework will not be accepted! However, I will drop your lowest homework score from the final average.

Topics to be covered

Below is an outline of the subjects I plan to cover in class. Also included are the tentative dates and corresponding chapters in Pozar.