Topic outline

  • General info

    Position of the course

    This course is mainly meant for the first-year Master's students in the Master's Programme of Electronics and Nanotechnology, especially in the major of microwave engineering. Other students, including third-year Bachelor's, who are interested in the topic and master the pre-knowledge (see below) are warmly welcome, too! This MWE I course is the first part of the microwave engineering course series, followed by Microwave engineering II (taught right after MWE I) and Microwave engineering workshop (in the autumn of 2019). Parallel courses are Electromagnetic and circuit simulations (taught in Periord 3), Antennas (taught in Periods 4-5) and Antennas workshop (continuation of Antennas, in the autumn of 2019) which are especially meant for the major students, but also recommeded for anyone interested in supplementing their microwave engineering know-how.


    Preliminary knowledge of the course

    Basic knowledge of engineering mathematics, circuit theory, electronics, field theory, mathematical softwares (e.g., Matlab).


    Substitute

    This course replaces the old course S-26.2100 Fundamentals of radio engineering - i.e., if you have done S-26.2100 you do not need to take this course.


    Contact sessions in the winter of 2019

    On Mondays at 10 - 12 and Thursdays at 9 - 12 in the seminar hall of Open Innovation House (OIH, address: Maarintie 6). 


    Teacher team in the spring of 2019
    Univ. Lect. Jari Holopainen, Assoc. Prof. Katsuyuki Haneda and Doctoral Student Pasi Koivumäki.

    Learning outcomes
    • After successful completion of the course the student is able to identify the types of radio waves and discuss the usage of radio-frequency spectrum and typical applications in microwave engineering.
    • The student can discuss the biological effects and safety issues of radio waves.
    • The student is able to explain the behaviour of a radio signal in typical transmission lines (such as signal propagation, attenuation, reflection), calculate and simulate related circuit parameters, and design transmission lines.
    • The student can design impedance matching circuits using Smith chart and simulator tool (AWR) and explain the design principles and bandwith issues.
    • The student is able to model basic microwave circuits and resonators with suitable circuit parameters and analyse their operation based on calculations and simulations.
    • The student can explain the operational principles of basic microwave systems (such as mixing phenomenon and superheterodyne tranceivers) and calculate relevant system parameters (such as signal-to-noise ratio, noise figure, link budget).
    • The student is able to explain the basic principles of radio wave propagation. He/she can calculate the basic characteristics (such Fresnell ellipsoide) of radio links based on basic propagation models.
    The learning outcomes are ranked on the Comprehension (2/6) and Applycation (3/6) levels of Bloom's taxonomy.


    Course literature
    • The main book is Pozar: Microwave Engineering (all editions ok, but the book chapters and formulas are given according to the 4th edition).
    • For some parts (such as radio wave propagation) we use the book Räisänen-Lehto: Radio engineering for wireless communication and sensor application.
    • Both books are available in the library. (The book Räisänen-Lehto also as an e-book.)
    • Also other relevant literature can be used and might be needed.

    Course content
    1. Transmission line theory (standing wave and reflection, Pozar Chapter 2) and typical waveguides (coaxial cables, rectangular waveguides and microstrip line Pozar Chapters 2 and 3)
    2. Smith chart and impedance matching (Pozar Chapters 2 and 5)
    3. Analysis of microwave circuits (Pozar chapter 6)
    4. Radio systems and applications (Pozar chapter 13)
    5. (Teaser of) Radiowave propagation (Pozar Chapter 14)

    Workload
    • 5 ECTS \( \Leftrightarrow \) 5 x 27 hours = 135 hours of working
    • 10 x (2+3) hours = 50 hours of contact teaching \( \Leftrightarrow \) 5 hours per week
    • 85 hours of independent working \( \Leftrightarrow \) average 8.5 hours per week
    • The number of hours for independent work is only indicative. It is affected by the pre knowledge, skills, working "efficiency" and grade target of the student.
    • The students with the grade target higher than "good" 3 and/or the preknowledge lower than the average are assumed to work more than the nominal working hours (135).
    Grading
    • Mastering the learning outcomes of the course are shown by answering the weekly clicker lecture questions and returning the weekly preliminary tasks in MyCourses and the exercise problems in contact sessions.
    • The preliminary tasks affect about 21% (27/129 = 0,209).
    • The clicker lectures affect about 14% (18/129 = 0,140).
    • The exercise problems affect about 65% (84/129 = 0,651).
    • It is not possible to retake the clicker lectures and the preliminary tasks, but the exercise problems can be re-returned under certain conditions (read the instructions of the return).
    • Tentative grading plan: 50% of the total points → course passed with satisfactory (1) level, 60% → very satisfactory (2), 70% → good (3), 80% → very good (4) and 90% → excellent (5).
    Communication and news

    • The main forums for the communication and information are the contact sessions and the "News forum" in MyCourses. The registered students will get the News also as an email. All the important information will be published in the News forum. 

      The students' questions should be addressed during the lessons or in the corresponding discussion forums in MyCourses. This is because the same question is very likely interesting for the other students, too.

      If you have a private question and cannot ask it during lessons, you can send email to Jari (jari.holopainen@aalto.fi) and/or Katsu (katsuyuki.haneda@aalto.fi). But never send any attached files because they block the inbox and might also go automatically to the trash box.


    Principles of studying

    • We use partial ”flipped classroom” principle: the theories are partly studied at home and the exercise problems are worked and returned in the class.

    • The preliminary tasks (to be returned on Thursdays), clicker lectures (on Thursdays) and exercise problems (to be returned in contact sessions) cover all the essential course topics.

    • The course consists of five successive topics (Topics 1-5).

    • Study the topics one by one and solve problems starting from Problem 1.

    • Progress with your individual speed but notice that two of the problems must be returned latest on a given date.

    • The optimal speed would be to return three problems per week.

    • Each topic 1-5 must be covered latest at 12 noon on Thursday, March 14, 2019.

    • The teachers can provide mini lectures and examples on selected topics on demand. Please do not hesitate to ask any help!

    Other miscellaneous notes
    • The successful completion of the course requires active participation in the contact sessions during the teaching period (see WebOodi!). Occasional absence is not a problem, but earlier experience of the course teachers indicate that unregular participants are oftentimes not very succesfull in this course.

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