Advanced Topics
This page teaches some advanced RF topics, but is not tied specifically to learning how to use Circuit Mason. If you would like to learn how to use Circuit Mason, check out the tutorials.
Advanced Topics for Engineers
Since S-Parameters are at the heart of Mason, it's worthwhile to extend our understanding of S-Parameters. Starts with a bit of review but leads into some advanced tricks and concepts.
Some advanced tricks and thoughts about Smith Charts and broadband matching.
When summing the signals of an antenna array, it can be useful to use some flavor of a cosine taper. Rather than using attenuators, some clever arrangements of Wilkinson combiners can be used to produce a "lossless taper". This can be helpful in improving the overall noise figure of the system.
Concepts: combiner schemes, using Mason for microstrip circuits, optimization with sets
Wilkinson combiners work, in part, as a matching network. As such, broader bandwidths can be achieved by adding more elements. Some design techniques for efficiently creating a broadband combiner are presented.
Concepts: combiner schemes, optimization tricks