Miniature active conversion between microstrip and coplanar wave guide

Claim 2

An electrical circuit apparatus for converting transmission of signals between a microstrip transmission line and a coplanar wave guide transmission line comprising: substrate means having opposite faces; a microstrip transmission line having a signal conductor mounted on one face of the substrate and a ground plane mounted to the other face of the substrate; a coplanar wave guide having a center conductor and two coplanar ground strips mounted on the one face of the substrate means; means coupling the ground plane to the two ground strips; and an active device having a control terminal, an output terminal, and a common terminal, the active device being mounted adjacent to the substrate with the control terminal and the output terminal each coupled to a different respective one of the signal conductor and the center conductor, and with the at least one common terminal coupled to one of the ground strips, so that the active device couples a signal between the signal conductor and the center conductor.

Claim 3

An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the active device is a field effect transistor.

Claim 4

An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the active device is a MMIC.

Claim 5

An apparatus according to claim 3 in which the coplanar waveguide is formed on the MMIC.

Claim 6

An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the active device is flip-mounted to the coplanar wave guide.

Claim 7

An apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the active device iS also flip-mounted to the signal conductor.

Claim 8

An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the substrate means comprises first and second coplanar substrates, with the microstrip transmission line mounted on the first substrate and the coplanar wave guide mounted on the second substrate.

Claim 9

An apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the microstrip transmission line includes a signal conductor extension mounted on the second.substrate and connected to the signal conductor mounted on the first substrate.

Claim 10

An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the substrate means comprises first and second substrates, with the microstrip transmission line mounted on the first substrate and the coplanar wave guide mounted on the second substrate.

Claim 11

An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the first and second substrates have adjacent edges and the coupling means comprises conductor means extending between the adjacent edges.

Claim 12

An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the substrate means comprises a unitary substrate.

Claim 13

An apparatus according to claim 11 wherein substrate has opposing lateral edges and the coupling means comprises a conductive strip extending around each lateral edge.

Claim 14

An electrical circuit apparatus for processing signals comprising: substrate means having opposite faces; an input microstrip transmission line having an input signal conductor mounted on one face of the substrate and an input ground plane mounted to the other face of the substrate; an input coplanar wave guide having an input center conductor and two coplanar input ground strips mounted on the one face of the substrate means; means coupling the input ground plane to the two input ground strips; an input active device having a control terminal, an output terminal, and two common terminals, the active device being mounted adjacent to the substrate with the control terminal coupled to the input signal conductor and the output terminal coupled to the input center conductor, and the two common terminals coupled to respective ones of the input ground strips; an output coplanar wave guide having an output center conductor and two coplanar output ground strips mounted on the one face of the substrate means; an intermediate circuit mounted to the input coplanar wave guide and the output coplanar wave guide for processing a signal received on the input coplanar wave guide and outputting the processed signal on the output coplanar wave guide; an output microstrip transmission line having an output signal conductor mounted on one face of the substrate and an output ground plane mounted to the other face of the substrate; an output active device having a control terminal, an output terminal, and two common terminals, the output active device being mounted adjacent to the substrate with the control terminal coupled to the output center conductor and the output terminal coupled to the output signal conductor, and the two common terminals coupled to respective ones of the output ground strips; means coupling the two output ground strips to the output ground plane; whereby a signal input on the input microstrip transmission line is transmitted to and from the intermediate circuit via coplanar wave guides, and output on the output microstrip transmission line.

Claim 15

An electrical circuit apparatus for processing signals comprising: substrate means having opposite faces; an input microstrip transmission line having an input signal conductor mounted on one face of the substrate and an input ground plane mounted to the other face of the substrate; an input coplanar wave guide having an input center conductor and two coplanar input ground strips mounted on the one face of the substrate means; means coupling the input ground plane to the two input ground strips; an input active device having a control terminal, an output terminal, and two common terminals, the active device being mounted adjacent to the substrate with the control terminal coupled to the input signal conductor and the output terminal coupled to the input center conductor, and the two common terminals coupled to respective ones of the input ground strips; an output coplanar wave guide having an output center conductor and two coplanar output ground strips mounted on the one face of the substrate means; an intermediate circuit mounted to the input coplanar wave guide and the output coplanar wave guide for processing a signal received on the input coplanar wave guide and outputting the processed signal on the output coplanar wave guide; an output microstrip transmission line having an output signal conductor mounted on one face of the substrate and an output ground plane mounted to the other face of the substrate; an output active device having a control terminal, an output terminal, and two common terminals, the output active device being mounted adjacent to the substrate with the control terminal coupled to the output center conductor and the output terminal coupled to the output signal conductor, and the two common terminals coupled to respective ones of the output ground strips; means coupling the two output ground strips to the output ground plane; whereby a signal input on the input microstrip transmission line is transmitted to and from the intermediate circuit via coplanar wave guides, and output on the output microstrip transmission line.

Claim 16

An apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the intermediate circuit is on a chip flip mounted to the input and output coplanar wave guides.

Claim 17

An apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the input device and the output device are on a single MMIC.

Claim 18

An apparatus according to claim 15 wherein the input and output coplanar waveguides are also on the MMIC.

Claim 19

An apparatus according to claim 16 wherein the MMIC is flip mounted to the input and output microstrip transmission lines.

Claim 20

An apparatus according to claim 16 wherein the intermediate circuit is also on the MMIC.

Claim 21

An apparatus according to claim 15 wherein the intermediate circuit is also on the MMIC.