Course syllabus
Course-PM
EME102 Active microwave circuits lp3 VT26 (7.5 hp)
The course is offered by the department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, MC2.
A pdf-version of this information is available here: EME 102-AMC course description 2026.pdf
Contact details
- Examiner and Lecturer: Christian Fager, christian.fager@chalmers.se, tel: +46 31 772 50 47
- Lecturer: Vincent Desmaris, vincent.desmaris@chalmers.se , +46 31 772 18 46
- Teaching assistant: Lucian Petrisor, petrisor@chalmers.se
- Teaching assistant: Max Behrens, Max.Behrens@chalmers.se
Course purpose
The aim of this course is to learn how to design active microwave circuits; such as amplifiers, oscillators, multipliers, and mixers.
Schedule
Course literature
David M Pozar, Microwave engineering, 4th edition, Wiley,
2011, (ISBN: 978-0-470-63155-3).
Lecture notes
Scientific and technical papers
Optional: Guillermo Gonzalez, Microwave Transistor Amplifiers: Analysis and Design
E-books available from Chalmers’ library
Steve Cripps, RF Power Amplifiers for Wireless Communications, Second Edition, 2006
(E-book ISBN 9781596930193)
Course design
The course treats analysis and design of microwave circuits, particularly amplifiers but also oscillators and nonlinear circuits like mixers and multipliers.
Topics: Two-port theory, impedance matching, stability, noise/gain optimisation, amplifier design, oscillation conditions, wideband amplifiers, the Bode-Fano criteria, high power amplifiers, microwave oscillators, mixers, multipliers, and nonlinear simulation techniques.
The course contains two lab exercises
- Design of a microwave-transistor amplifier using modern commercial soft-ware
- Assembly of the designed amplifier and measurement to verify the simulated performance
The course contains two home assignments
- Design of a noise optimized small-signal amplifier
- Exercise in large-signal modeling and nonlinear simulations, carried out in groups of 2
Organisation
Lectures 28 hours (Christian Fager and Vincent Desmaris)
Tutorials 28 hours (Lucian Petrasor)
Laboratory work 8 hours (TBD)
Home assignments X hours (Max Behrens & Vincent Desmaris)
|
Lecture |
Date |
Topic |
Literature/note |
Room |
|
1 |
20/1 |
Course information, introduction, Transistors, transistor modeling at a glance |
11.2-11.4 |
Fasrummet |
|
2 |
22/1 |
Twoport parameters, Smith chart, Impedance matching |
4.1-4.4, 4.5, 5 |
Fasrummet |
|
3 |
23/1 |
Small-signal amplifier design, unilateral, stability, Signal flow graphs |
12.1-12.3 |
Fasrummet |
|
4 |
27/1 |
Small-signal amplifier design, bilateral design, constant-gain circles, |
12.1-12.3 |
Fasrummet |
|
5 |
30/1 |
Noise in twoport networks |
10.1-10.2, hand outs |
Fasrummet |
|
6 |
3/2 |
Low noise amplifier design |
12.3, Hand outs |
Fasrummet |
|
7 |
5/2 |
Modeling of semiconductor devices |
11.2-11.3, hand-outs |
Fasrummet |
|
8 |
6/2 |
Power amplifiers |
12.5, Cripps 2.1-2.4 & 3.1-3.4 |
Fasrummet |
|
9 |
12/2 |
Study visit |
Details to come later |
TBD |
|
10 |
24/2 |
Nonlinear simulation techniques |
10.3-10.4, |
Fasrummet |
|
11 |
26/2 |
Mixers and frequency multipliers |
13.4-13.5 (Maas 6-7, 10-11) |
Fasrummet |
|
12 |
3/3 |
Oscillators |
13.1-13.3, Gonzales Oscillators 2.1-2.5 |
Fasrummet |
|
13 |
5/3 |
Challenges in amplifier design: Bandwidth, Multiple-stage amplifiers, |
12.4, |
Fasrummet |
|
14 |
6/3 |
Resource time |
May be used for lab |
|
Course summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|