EC6701 RF and Microwave Engineering VII Semester

EC6701 - RF And Microwave Engineering

UNIT I
TWO PORT NETWORK THEORY
Low frequency parameters
1. State the limitations in measuring Z, Y and ABCD parameters at microwave frequencies.
[N/D – 11]
The limitations in measuring Z, Y and ABCD parameters at microwave frequencies are,
i. Equipment is not readily available to measure total voltage and current at the ports of the
network.
ii. Short circuit and open circuit are difficult to achieve over a wide range of frequencies.
iii. Presence of active devices such as power transistors and tunnel diodes makes the circuit
unstable.
2. Specify the X-band frequency range and wavelength. [N/D – 07]
The X-band frequency range : 8 – 12.5 GHz
The X-band wavelength : 3.75 cm – 2.4 cm
3. Specify the ABCD relationship of a lossless transmission line. [N/D – 05]
The ABCD relationship of a lossless transmission line is,
V1= AV2 - BI2
I1 = CV2 - DI2
Where,
V1 – voltage at port 1
I1 – current at port 1
V2 – voltage at port 2
I2 – current at port 2
4. Specify the K-band frequency range and wavelength. [M/J – 07]
The K-band frequency range : 18 – 26.5 GHz
The K-band wavelength : 1.67 – 1.13 cm
Formulation of S parameters
5. A 5dB attenuator is specified as having voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of 1.2.
Assuming the device is reciprocal, find the S parameters. [N/D – 11]
|S21| = |S12|= 0

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|S11| or |S22|= (VSWR-1) / (VSWR+1)

|S11| or |S22|= (1.2-1)/ (1.2+1)
|S11| or |S22|= 0.09
6. What is meant by symmetry of scattering matrix? [M/J – 08]
|S| is a symmetric matrix when the microwave device has the same transmission
characteristics in either direction of a pair of ports.
Sij = Sji
7. Define − Scattering Matrix
Scattering matrix is a square matrix which gives all the combinations of the power
relationships between the various input and output ports of a microwave junction.
8. Why are S parameters used in microwaves?
The S parameters are used in microwaves because of the following characteristics,
i. Increased stability at higher frequencies
ii. Mismatch loss is less
iii. Attenuation loss is less
9. What is insertion loss?
Insertion loss is a measure of the loss of the energy in transmission through a line or
device compared to direct delivery of energy without the line or device.
Properties of S parameters
10. State the properties of S parameter. [N/D – 12]
The properties of S parameter are,
i. |S| is always a square matrix of order (n*n)
ii. |S| is a symmetric matrix
iii. |S| is a unitary matrix
iv. Under perfect matched conditions, the diagonal elements of |S| are zero
Reciprocal and lossless networks
11. State reciprocity theorem.
The theorem states that when some amount of electromotive force (or voltage) is applied
at one point (e.g., in branch k, vk) in a passive linear network, that will produce a current at any
other point (e.g., in branch m, im). The same amount of current (in branch k, vk) is produced
when the same electromotive force (or voltage) is applied in the new location (in branch m, im).
vk/i m = i m/vk

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12. Define − Lossless Network

In lossless passive network, the power entering the circuit is always equal to power
leaving network which leads to the conservation of power.
Introduction to component basics
13. Draw the equivalent circuit of a practical capacitor. [N/D – 12]

14. State the different types of high frequency capacitors.

The different types of high frequency capacitors are,
i. Parallel plate capacitor
ii. Leaded capacitor
iii. Perfect capacitor
15. State the different types of high frequency resistors.
The different types of high frequency resistors are,
i. Carbon composite resistors
ii. Metal film resistors
iii. Thin-film chip resistors
16. State the different types of high frequency inductors.
The different types of high frequency inductors are,
i. Simple wire inductor
ii. Coiled wire inductor
17. Define − Straight Wire Inductance
When alternating current is applied in a wire medium, the magnetic field is alternately
expanding and contracting. This produces an induced voltage in the wire that opposes any change
in the current flow. This opposition to change is called ‘Straight Wire Inductance’.

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18. Define − Skin Effect

As frequency increases, the electrical signals propagate less inside the conductor.
Because of the current density increases to the perimeter of the wire and causes higher impedance
for the signal. This effect is known as skin effect.
19. Define − Q Factor
It is the measure of ability of an element to store energy and is equal to 2π times the
average energy stored to that of the energy dissipated per cycle.

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EC6701 RF and Microwave Engineering VII Semester

UNIT II
RF AMPLIFIERS AND MATCHING NETWORKS
Amplifier power relations
1. What is meant by power gain of an amplifier? [N/D – 12]
Transducer power gain is defined as the ratio of power delivered to the load to that of the
power from the source.
Stability considerations
2. Define − Unconditional Stability
Unconditional stability refers to the situation where the amplifier remains stable for any
passive source and load at the selected frequencies and bias conditions.
Gain considerations
3. Define − Unilateral Power Gain
When feedback effect of the amplifier is neglected (i.e. S12 = 0), the amplifier power gain
is known as unilateral power gain.
4. Define − Operating Power Gain
Operating power gain is defined as the power delivered to the load to that of the power
supplied to the amplifier.
5. Define − Available Power Gain
Available power gain is defined as the power available from the microwave network to
that of the power from the source.
Noise figure
6. Write the expression for noise figure of a two port amplifier. [N/D – 11]
The expression for noise figure of a two port amplifier is F = Fmin + (Gn/Rs) |Zs – Zopt|2
Where,
F – Noise figure
Fmin – Minimum noise figure
Gn – Source conductance
Rs – Source resistance
Zs – Source impedance
Zopt – Optimum impedance
7. Define − Noise Figure
Noise figure is defined as the ratio of input SNR to the output SNR.

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EC6701 RF and Microwave Engineering VII Semester

F = (SNR) O / (SNR) I
Impedance matching networks
8. What is the need for impedance matching network? [N/D – 11]
The need for impedance matching network is,
i. To stabilize the amplifier by keeping the source and load impedances in the appropriate range
ii. To reduce undesired reflections
iii. To improve the power flow capabilities
9. What are the considerations in selecting a matching network? [N/D – 12]
The considerations in selecting a matching network are,
i. Gain and gain flatness
ii. Operating frequency and bandwidth
iii. Output power
iv. Power supply requirements
v. Input and output reflection coefficients
vi. Noise figure
Microstripline matching networks
10. State the various types of waveguide stub.
The various types of waveguide stub are,
i. E stub
ii. H stub
iii. E-H tuner
11. Define – Positive RF Feedback.
Positive feedback is defined as the instability caused due to the increase in the magnitude
of the return voltage in a passive radio frequency waveguide.

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EC6701 RF and Microwave Engineering VII Semester

UNIT III
PASSIVE AND ACTIVE MICROWAVE DEVICES
Microwave E − plane tee junction
1. Find the resonant frequency of TE 101 mode of an air filled rectangular cavity of
dimensions 5 cm * 4 cm * 2.5cm. [N/D – 11]
Given :
a= 5 cm
b= 4 cm
d= 2.5 cm
m= 1
n= 0
p= 1
fr = ½(µ€)1/2 [(m/a)2 + (n/b)2 + (p/d)2 ]1/2
fr = 6.71 GHz
2. What are scattering coefficients?
The elements representing various ports of a n*n matrix are known as scattering
coefficients or scattering parameters.
Microwave H − plane tee junction
3. Draw the diagram of H-plane Tee junction. [N/D – 12]

Microwave hybrid Tee junction

4. Why is magic tee referred as E-H tee?
Magic tee is constructed by E plane tee and H plane tee perpendicular to each other.
Therefore magic tee is referred as E-H tee.

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Microwave directional coupler

5. Draw the structure of two hole directional coupler. [N/D – 11]

6. What is meant by directivity of directional coupler? [M/J – 08]

The directivity of directional coupler is defined as the ratio of forward power Pr to f the
back power Pb and expressed in dB.
7. What are the basic parameters to measure the performance of a directional coupler?
[N/D – 08]
The basic parameters to measure the performance of a directional coupler are,
i. Coupling co-efficient
ii. Directivity
iii. Insertion loss
iv. Isolation
8. What are the basic types of directional coupler? [N/D – 09]
The basic types of directional coupler are,
i. Two hole directional coupler
ii. Four hole directional coupler
iii. Reverse coupling directional coupler
iv. Bethe hole directional coupler
Microwave Rat-race
9. What is meant by hybrid junction?
A hybrid junction is a four-port network in which a signal incident on any one of the port
divides between two output ports with the remaining port being isolated.
10. What is hybrid ring?
Hybrid ring consists of an annular line of proper electrical length to sustain standing
waves, to which four arms are connected at proper intervals by means of series or parallel
junctions.

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Microwave Twists
11. What is the need for waveguide twist?
Waveguide twists are used to change the plane of polarization of a propagating wave.
Microwave Ferrite Devices
12. How a Faraday rotation isolator can be constructed by using ferrite rod? (Nov/Dec 2008)
Isolators can be made by inserting ferrite rod along the axis of a rectangular waveguide.
13. Define − Coupling Factor
Coupling factor is a measure of how much of the incident power is being sampled.
14. Define – Isolator
An isolator is a two port non-reciprocal device which produces a minimum attenuation in
the wave in one direction and very high attenuation in the opposite direction.
15. State the need for circulator in microwave applications?
The need for circulator in microwave applications is,
i. Circulator is used as duplexer in radar antenna system
ii. Three port circulator is used in tunnel diode and parametric amplifiers
iii. Circulators are also used in low power applications
16. Define – Non Reciprocal Devices
Non reciprocal devices defined as devices having different forward and reverse
propagating characteristics are known as non-reciprocal devices.
17. State the properties of ferrites.
The properties of ferrites are,
i. Ferrites exhibits strong magnetic ability
ii. Ferrites exhibits high resistivity compared with copper in microwave
iii. Ferrites exhibits non-reciprocal property

Microwave semiconductor devices

18. What are M-type tubes? [M/J – 08]
M type tubes are crossed field devices where the static magnetic field is perpendicular to
the electric field. Here the electrons travel in curved path.
19. State the advantages for microwave IC’s. [M/J – 08]
The advantages for microwave IC’s are,

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i. Low package density

ii. Small size and less weight
iii. High reliability
iv. Different transmission structures (micro strip lines, lumped circuit elements, thin film circuits)
are possible
20. What is the other name of O-type tube? [N/D – 07]
The other name for O – tube is linear tube or rectilinear beam tube.
Transferred electron devices
21. State transferred electron effect. [N/D – 12]
When GaAs is biased above a threshold value of the electric field, it exhibits a negative
differential mobility. The electrons in the lower energy band will be transferred into the higher
energy band. This behavior is called transferred electron effect.
22. State Gunn Effect. [M/J – 08]
When the electric field is varied from zero to threshold value, the carrier drift velocity is
increased from zero to maximum. When the electric field is beyond the threshold value of
3000V/cm, the drift velocity is decreased and the diode exhibits negative resistance.
23. What are the materials that exhibit Gunn Effect?
The materials exhibiting Gunn Effect are,
i. Gallium arsenide
ii. Indium phosphide
iii. Cadmium telluride
iv. Indium arsenide
24. What are the modes available in negative resistance devices?
The modes available in negative resistance devices are,
i. Voltage controlled mode
ii. Current controlled mode
Avalanche transit time devices
25. What are the major disadvantages of IMPATT diodes? [N/D – 08]
The major disadvantages of IMPATT diodes are,
i. Avalanche process makes the IMPATT diode noisy
ii. Poor noise figure of 30dB
iii. Low efficiency due to induced electron current

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EC6701 RF and Microwave Engineering VII Semester

Microwave monolithic integrated circuit

26. State the basic materials required for microwave integrated circuit. [N/D – 07]
The basic materials required for microwave integrated circuit are,
i. Substrate materials
ii. Conductor materials
iii. Dielectric materials
iv. Resistive materials
27. State the different types of lithography. [M/J – 08]
The different types of lithography are,
i. Electron-beam lithography
ii. Ion-beam lithography
iii. Optical lithography
iv. X-ray lithography
28. State the various MMIC fabrication techniques.
The various MMIC fabrication techniques are,
i. Diffusion and ion implementation
ii. Oxidation and film deposition
iii. Epitaxial growth
iv. Lithography
v. Etching and photo resist
vi. deposition

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EC6701 RF and Microwave Engineering VII Semester

UNIT IV
MICROWAVE GENERATION
High frequency limitations
1. State any four limitations of conventional tubes at high frequencies. [N/D – 11]
The limitations of conventional tubes at high frequencies are,
i. Lead inductance effects
ii. Interelectrode capacitance effects
iii. Transmit angle effects
iv. Gain bandwidth product limitation
Helix travelling wave tube
2. A helix travelling wave tube operates at 4 GHz, under a beam voltage of 10 KV and beams
current of 500mA. If the helix is 25Ω and interaction length is 20cm, find the gain
parameter. [N/D – 11]
Given :
V0 = 10 kV
I0 = 500 mA
Z0 = 25 ohm
F = 4 GHz
L = 20 cm
Gain parameter C = [I0Z0/4V0]1/3
= 0.068
3. What are the high frequency effects in conventional tubes?
The high frequency effects in conventional tubes are
i) Circuit reactance
a)Inter electrode capacitance
b) Lead inductance
ii) Transit time effect
iii) Cathode emission
iv) Plate heat dissipation area
v) Power loss due to skin effect, radiation and dielectric loss.

4. What are the assumptions for calculation of RF power in Reflex Klystron?

i) Cavity grids and repeller are plane parallel and very large in extent.
ii) No RF field is excited in repeller space
iii) Electrons are not intercepted by the cavity anode grid.

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iv) No debunching takes place in repeller space.

v) The cavity RF gap voltage amplitude V, is small compared to the dc beam
voltage VO

5. Give the drawbacks of klystron amplifiers.

i) As the oscillator frequency changes then resonator frequency also changes and the
feedback path phase shift must be readjusted for a positive feedback.
ii) The multicavity klystron amplifiers suffer from the noise caused because bunching is
never complete and electrons arrive at random at catcher cavity. Hence it is not used in
receivers.

6. What is the effect of transit time?

There are two effects.
i) At low frequencies, the grid and anode signals are no longer 180O out of phase, thus
causing design problems with feedback in oscillators.
ii) The grid begins to take power from the driving source and the power is absorbed even
when the grid is negatively biased.

7. What are the applications of reflex klystron ?

i) Signal source in MW generator
ii) Local oscillators in receivers
iii) It is used in FM oscillator in low power MW links.
iv) In parametric amplifier as pump source.

8. What is the purpose of slow wave structures used in TWT amplifiers?

i) Slow wave structures are special circuits that are used in microwave tubes to
ii) reduce wave velocity in a certain direction so that the electron beam and the signal
wave
iii) can interact. In TWT, since the beam can be accelerated only to velocities that are
about
iv) a fraction of the velocity of light, slow wave structures are used.

9. How are spurious oscillations generated in TWT amplifier? State the method to suppress it.
i) In a TWT, adjacent turns of the helix are so close to each other and hence
ii) oscillations are likely to occur. To prevent these spurious signals some form of
iii) attenuator is placed near the input end of the tube which absorb the oscillations.

10. State the applications of TWT.

i) Low power, low noise TWT’s used in radar and microwave receivers
ii) Laboratory instruments
iii) Drivers for more powerful tubes
iv) Medium and high power CWTWT’S are used for communication and radar.

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11. What do you mean by O-type tubes? Name some O-type tubes.
In O – type tube a magnetic field whose axis coincides with that electron beam is used to hold the
beam together as it travels the length of the tube. It is also called as linear beam tube.

i) Helix Traveling wave tube

ii) Coupled cavity TWT
iii) Forward wave amplifier
iv) Backward wave amplifier
v) Backward wave oscillator

UNIT V
MICROWAVE MEASUREMENTS
Microwave power measurement
1. What is the principle by which high power measurements could be done by calorimetric
method? [M/J – 08]
Principle by calorimetric method are,
i. Direct heating method
ii. Indirect heating method

2. State the demerits of single bridge power meter. [N/D – 08]

The demerits of single bridge power meter are,
i. The change of resistance due to a mismatch at the microwave input ports results in incorrect
reading
ii. The themistor is sensitive to changes in the ambient temperature resulting in false reading
3. State any two sensors used to measure the power. [N/D – 09]
Two sensors used to measure the power are,
i. Barretter
ii. Thermistor
4. What is bolometer? [M/J – 07]
Bolometer is a power sensor whose resistance changes with temperature as it absorbs
microwave power. Examples: Barretter, Thermistor.
Microwave impedance measurement
5. What are the possible errors occur in measurement of standing wave ratio?
[N/D – 12]

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EC6701 RF and Microwave Engineering VII Semester

The possible errors occur in measurement of standing wave ratio are,

i. Vmax and Vmin may not be measured in the square law region of the crystal detector
ii. Probe thickness and depth may produce reflections in the line
iii. Residual VSWR arises due to mismatch impedance
iv. Harmonics and spurious signals from source cause measurement errors
Microwave SWR measurement
6. Define − Return Loss [N/D – 07]
The return loss is a measure of the power reflected by a line or network or device. Return
loss (dB) = 10 log [input energy to the device / reflected energy at the input of the device]
Return loss (dB) = 10 log [Pi/Pr]
7. Define − Reflection Loss
Reflection loss is a measure of power loss during transmission due to the reflection of the
signal as a result of impedance mismatch.
8. Define − Insertion Loss
Insertion loss is a measure of loss of energy in transmission through a line or device
compared to direct delivery of energy without the line or device.
9. What is a VSWR meter?
VSWR meter is a highly sensitive, high gain, low noise voltage amplifier tuned normally
at fixed frequency of 1 kHz at which microwave signals are modulated. This meter indicates
calibrated VSWR reading for any loads.
10. What is calorimeter?
Calorimeter is a convenient device for measuring the high power at microwave
frequencies which involves conversion of microwave energy in to heat, absorbing the heat in a
fluid and determine the temperature.
11. What are tunable detectors?
The tunable detectors are used to demodulate the signal and couple the required output to
high frequency scope analyzer. The low frequency demodulated output is detected using non
reciprocal detector diode mounted in the microwave transmission line.
12. What is calorimetric direct heating method?
In calorimetric direct heating method, the rate of production of heat can be measured by
observing the rise in temperature of the dissipating medium.
13. What is calorimetric indirect heating method?
In calorimetric indirect heating method, heat is transferred to another medium before
measurement.
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