Packaged Cost-Effective Millimeterwave Air-Filled SIW Components for Array Feed Networks

In this contribution, we investigate the implementation of air-filled substrate-integrated-waveguide (AFSIW) components based on the assembly of multiple standard manufactured single printed circuit boards (PCBs) as a cost-effective, low loss routing alternative for millimeterwave antenna arrays. To this end, a transition from grounded co-planar waveguide (GCPW) to AFSIW is designed, fabricated and measured for integration purposes with active electronics in the n257 5G band. The measured minimal insertion loss equals 0.7 dB around 27 GHz. To further validate our approach, a compact, fully shielded AFSIW filter, including the aforementioned transition, is designed and prototyped. It is shown that the component radiates less than 5% of its power, eliminating most of the spurious radiation from feed networks.