A
microwave diplexer intended for miniature satellites incorporates an antenna port (1), a transmitting port (2), a receiving port (3), and a transmitting filter (4) in between the transmitting port (2) and the antenna port (1), as well as a receiving filter (5) in between the receiving port (3) and the antenna port (1). All ports (1, 2, 3) and both filters (4, 5) of the
diplexer are shaped on a single common
printed circuit board (10) featuring a
dielectric substrate (11) with the first and second metallization layer (12, 13) on its both sides, and
metal delimiting structures (14) on the side walls of the
printed circuit board (10). The transmitting filter (4) and the receiving filter (5) are bandpass filters of the substrate-integrated
waveguide structure, and each of the filters is formed of hexagonal cavities (20) delimited with metallization
layers (12, 13) of the
printed circuit board (10) and the side walls in the form of metallized via-holes (15) between the metallization
layers (12, 13). The hexagonal cavities (20) are connected to one another with windows (31) in the lines of metallized via-holes (15) and non-conducting slots (32) in the metallization
layers (12, 13), where the slots are formed on the selected neighbouring side walls of the hexagonal cavities (20). The antenna port (1), transmitting port (2), and receiving port (3) take the form of
coplanar lines formed on the printed circuit board (10) between its edges and the side walls of the hexagonal cavities (20), where the walls serve as the inlets and outlets for both filters (4, 5). The
coplanar lines are connected with these hexagonal cavities (20) via the inlet slots (33) in the form of non-conducting lines in the metallization layer, where the transmitting filter (4) and the receiving filter (5) are separated from each other with an electromagnetic barrier in the form of complementary lines of metallized via-holes (15).