Full-wave, finite element analysis of irregular microstrip discontinuities

Finite-element expansion currents are used to formulate a full-wave analysis of microstrip discontinuities. With this approach, a rigorous analysis of fairly irregular structures is possible, including radiation and surface wave effects as well as coupling between closely spaced junctions. The step, stub, and bent-stub discontinuities are analyzed using this technique. Measurements are made of three stub structures. Measured resonant frequencies agree with full-wave calculations to within 2% when the nominal measured dielectric constant and structure dimensions are used as input. Using the absolute worst case dielectric constants and dimensions as input gives an error of 3% for the low-frequency stub and less than that for the other stubs.<
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