In this article, a corrugated substrate integrated waveguide (CSIW) with no metallic vias is proposed, and its propagation characteristics are theoretically investigated via our numerical short-open calibration (SOC) de-embedding method. In our analysis, dominant operating modes in this CSIW at different frequencies are extensively discussed. Its complex propagation constant is derived to demonstrate its frequency-dispersive transmission and attenuation performance. Then, the design rules are described to analyze and design CSIW line. In final, the fabricated CSIW with the microstrip-line feeders are measured to validate the numerically de-embedded attenuation constant over a wide frequency range. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:2456–2460, 2016.