RF and Microwave Circuit and Component Design for Wireless Systems

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

1.1 OBJECTIVES AND BRIEF HISTORY

The major objective of this book is to present modern RF and microwave technology for wireless applications. Wireless personal and data communication is expected to be one of the fastest-growing technologies in the next two decades. Since the cellular mobile phone system was introduced in the early 1980s, the industry has undergone several generations of revolutionary changes. Figure 1.1 shows that the number of cellular phone subscribers in the United States has increased from 200,000 in 1985 to 76.3 million in 1999 [1]. The increase rates in the last few years are more than 25% a year. The easy access to a reliable and migratory means of communication has drastically changed our daily lives. Several satellite systems are under development to provide voice and data communication systems. Although wireless communication is a major application of RF and microwave technology, the technology also has extensive applications in radar, sensors, navigation, radio frequency identification (RFID), remote sensing, surveillance, broadcast, smart automobiles and highways, and so on.

The wireless era was started by two European scientists, James Clerk Maxwell and Heinrich Rudolf Hertz. In 1864, Maxwell presented the Maxwell's equations by combining the works of Lorentz, Faraday, Ampere, and Gauss. He predicted the propagation of electromagnetic waves in free space at the speed of light. His theory was not well accepted until 20 years ...