Step Substrate Integrated Waveguide Equalizer Based on Microwave Discrete Resistors for Feeding Network

In this paper, a novel design of step substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) equalizer, which can be applied in broadband feeding network, is proposed. Different from the previous SIW equalizers fabricated on ceramic using Tantalum Nitride (TaN) in [1], the microwave discrete resistors are introduced into SIW equalizer for the first time. The equalizing values of SIW equalizer are approximately proportional to the number of the microwave resistors, which can be considered as step equalizer. The measurement results show that: over the entire Ku-band, in the case of 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 resistors, the corresponding equalizing values are 1.16 dB, 1.75 dB, 2.74 dB, 3.67 dB, 4.28 dB and 4.95 dB, respectively, which is close to a 1dB step. Meanwhile, the return losses are all better than −11.95 dB. In addition, the microwave equalizer is a planar structure implemented on traditional PCB, which has lower cost and is easier to be realized and integrated.