System-level microwave design projects

The teaching laboratory can be an invaluable component of an undergraduate electromagnetics curriculum. This goal of this article is to illustrate several simple but effective microwave-design laboratory projects, involving both system- and component-level design experiences, based upon radar and wireless communications applications. The projects highlighted include a Doppler radar, a simple synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and wireless links using amplitude and frequency-modulation schemes. Students use modern computer-aided design (CAD) tools, coupled with planar technology.