Resources

In 1995, two Ph.D.’s were inspired to commercialize high Q, low loss dielectric materials, the fruits of research at the College of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University on Long Island. They formed MCV Microwave, with MCV an acronym for the pillars of the new company: materials, customer centric and vertically integrated.

For demanding aerospace and defense applications, MCV Microwave offers an extensive line of LC filters in surface-mount, drop-in and “connectorized” packages that withstand rugged environments. LC filter configurations comprise lowpass, highpass, bandpass, band reject, duplexers, multiplexers and tunable filters, with center frequencies from 100 kHz to 10 GHz.

MCV Microwave has developed three new filter families for wireless infrastructure. The first is a line of ultra-low passive intermodulation (PIM) cavity filters and multiplexers covering the TETRA and all LTE frequency bands from 300 to 3600 MHz. The typical production PIM performance is −163 dBc, measured with two CW tones, each at 43 dBm. An even lower PIM filter line with a guaranteed −173 dBc is available for PIM test bench and more demanding testing applications.

High performance frequency selective surface (FSS) filters have a myriad of applications in the field of 5G wireless communication and antenna/radome systems. The most common FSS is a two-dimensional (2D) periodic array of thin conducting or aperture (also termed slot) elements etched on a flat or curved dielectric structure. This type of structure usually exhibits frequency filtering characteristics similar to the frequency filters in traditional RF circuits.

MCV Microwave has developed a line of ultra-low passive intermodulation (PIM) cavity filters and multiplexers covering frequency bands from 250 MHz to 6 GHz. The typical PIM performance in production is -163 dBc measured with two CW tones, each at 43 dBm. An even lower PIM filter with a maximum of -168 dBc is available, if requested.

This article addresses the practical issues using high Q dielectric resonator (DR) cavity designs for RF/microwave oscillators. DR materials and basic cavity structures are described, along with the characterization and measurement of cavity Q. The complex resonant modes and coupling structures are detailed, with special emphasis on the impact of coupling and tuning structures on various resonant modes.

MCV Microwave offers high performance ultra-narrowband cavity filters and duplexers covering frequencies up to 13 GHz. Typically, cavity filters are known for low insertion loss, tight frequency selectivity and broad spectrum rejection. MCV Microwave’s dielectric loaded, cavity bandpass filters and duplexers — BCCD and DCCD series, respectively — bring these desirable performance characteristics to a new height for the microwave engineering community.

Typically, an internal antenna may be custom designed and integrated into a radio’s printed wiring board (PWB) or case and implemented as a separate component. Matching elements are then attached to the PWB or remotely connected to the radio with a cable and connectors. These alternatives suffer from inflexibility and poor economy. A new hexaband cellular antenna that is partly integrated into the PWB and compatible with mass production has been designed and tested. The new design offers the benefits of customization and high volume production without requiring a separate matching network.

MCV Microwave was founded based on expertise in the area of high Q / low loss dielectric ceramic and microelectronic material and manufacturing technology. Over the past twenty years, we have accumulated RF/Microwave and EM design experience led by industry gurus in various filter topologies including ceramic, lumped element, combline cavity and waveguide. Focusing on patent pending broadband antennas for IoT and high performance filter products, we are positioned to bring connectivity to serve the 5G next generation of wireless.

The widespread use of ceramic dielectric resonators in place of metallic resonant cavities in RF and microwave circuits started in the 1970s, with the first low loss, temperature stable barium tetratitanate ceramic materials.1 Further development of high dielectric constant ceramics with adjustable temperature coefficients enabled microwave engineers to use these materials in oscillator and narrowband filter designs for radar detectors, cellular phone and public safety base stations, satellite receivers and satellite broadcasting (TVRO/DBS) applications.