Computer Aided Analysis of Microwave Systems

Although the application of computer methods to the design of microwave systems is well known, in the existing art, it is perhaps also correct to say that the primary focus has been on the numerical processing of the appropriate design equations. It is the purpose of this paper to review and describe certain additions to a program [1], [2], which was developed some years ago at the Technical University of Denmark, and in which the focus is on providing an algebraic rather than numerical analysis. (Note that numerical terms may be included, however.) Although a major component of the initial motivation for the development of this program was that of providing an error analysis for some fairly complicated measuring systems, it now appears that there is a much wider scope of potential applicability. In any case, this program has now been adapted to the personal computer (PC) environment, and distribution plans are pending. The program includes two major components. In simple terms, the first of these may be considered as a computer implementation of the signal flow graph technique for microwave circuit analysis, but with the important distinction that the output is privided in the form of a Taylor series polynomial expansion. This feature greatly simplifies the interpretation and application in all but the most simple problems.