TLM modelling of multilayer coupling structures for microwave PCS antennas

This paper presents a multilayer architecture applicable to integrated planar active array antennas in personal communication systems (PCSs). The configuration uses a combination of microstrip and stripline transmission lines on stacked substrates to integrate printed patch antennas, microwave active circuits, signal-distribution networks, etc., into a compact multilayer system. A general-purpose EM simulator based on the transmission-line matrix (TLM) has been developed to model some vertical interconnections in a multilayer construction. Good agreement is obtained between measurements and numerical results of a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) via hole, a novel broadband stripline coupler, and an aperture-coupled dielectric resonator antenna.