This paper investigates the absorbing boundary conditions for the frequency domain transmission line matrix method. Two approaches are presented, namely the perfectly matched layer (PML) technique and the one-way wave equation. Concerning the PML technique, two-dimensional and three-dimensional transmission line matrix (TLM) nodes, already used in time domain, are exploited in frequency domain where a rigorous formulation of these PML-TLM nodes is presented. In addition, two types of one-way wave operators are also transposed from time to frequency domain TLM approach: Taylor expansion and Higdon's boundary conditions. The simulation of a wideband matched load WR-28 rectangular waveguide is presented for validation. Excellent results are obtained with a very thin PML layer. Results concerning one-way operator techniques also show very good return loss performances. For instance, Higdon's boundary condition was extended beyond third-order approximation, and a return loss better than 160 dB was obtained. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.