Substrate Integrated E-Plane Waveguide

With the increase of wireless systems and devices in use today, waveguides have been used in many different communication applications to increase efficiency and power capability. Substrate-integrated waveguide technology provides a solution to problems that arise with previous waveguide technology by constructing the waveguide into a printed circuit board. The compact size and possibility for low cost fabrication processes provide solutions to many of the problems with traditional waveguides, and allow for the integration into many of today’s devices. Previous substrate-integrated waveguides have provided much flexibility in relation to the H-plane requirements and components, however, E-plane designs have largely been constrained by the fid thickness of the printed circuit board. In this project, the orientation of the waveguide provides flexibility in the E-plane to provide for the design of integrated E-plane components into the printed circuit board. The initial design tests the feasibility and performance of an end-launch substrate-integrated E-plane waveguide (SIEW) with a three layer design connected by copper vias. The initial design was created through ANSYS HFSS software by developing the model and optimizing various component specifications throughout the design. The waveguide was optimized to function in the 12-13 GHz range with a return loss