Waveguide filter

Waveguide filter

A waveguide filter is an electronic filter constructed with waveguide technology. Waveguides are hollow metal conduits inside which an electromagnetic wave may be transmitted. They are most useful in the microwave band of frequencies, where they are a convenient size and have low loss. Examples of microwave filter use are found in satellite communications, telephone networks, and television broadcasting.

About Waveguide filter in brief

Summary Waveguide filterA waveguide filter is an electronic filter constructed with waveguide technology. Waveguides are hollow metal conduits inside which an electromagnetic wave may be transmitted. They are most useful in the microwave band of frequencies, where they are a convenient size and have low loss. Examples of microwave filter use are found in satellite communications, telephone networks, and television broadcasting. Waveguide filters were developed during World War II to meet the needs of radar and electronic countermeasures, but afterwards soon found civilian applications such as use in microwave links. The chief advantages of waveguide filters over other technologies are their ability to handle high power and their low loss, but the chief disadvantages are their bulk and cost when compared with technologies such as microstrip filters. It is possible to construct waveguides out of dielectric rods, the most well known example being optical fibres. The technology used for constructing filters is chosen to a large extent by the principle of operation, although there is still a large amount of overlap with other waveguide designs. At higher frequencies, the design of the filter switches to the waveguide design. Somewhere in the very high frequency band, designers switch to making filter components made of discrete capacitors and inductors. These kinds of designs are sometimes called lumped element filters or distributed element filters. These designs are distributed to distinguish them from discrete components such as audio filters or radio waveguide switches. It has much the same range of applications as other filter technologies in electronics and radio engineering, but it is very different mechanically and in operation by a large principle.

It can be used to distinguish discrete components from discrete element filters, or to distinguish between discrete element and discrete element designs. The scope of this article is limited to the metal-conduit type. The post-wall waveguide structure is something of a variant, but is related enough to include in this article—the wave is mostly surrounded by conducting material. These devices frequently take on the form of a filter, at least in part. These include duplexers, diplexers, and multiplexers; selectivity and noise limitation in receivers; and harmonic distortion suppression in transmitters. The common meaning of wave guide, when the term is used unqualified, is the hollow metal kind, but other wave guide technologies are possible. The most common type consists of a chain of coupled resonators of some kind that can be modelled as a ladder network of LC circuits. Other wave guide filter types include dielectic resonator filters, insert filters, finline filters, corrugated-waveguide filters, and stub filters. Such devices include impedance matching components, directional couplers,  diplexer, and dipleXers. These are all different types of filter, but are not commonly called such and are also outside the scope of the article. The main purpose of a waveguide is to confine and direct radio signals, but other applications are possible, such as in audio and radio broadcasting and satellite communications.