A wideband circularly polarized antenna array with sequential rotation feed

A novel wideband circularly polarized (CP) antenna array is designed, which consists of a horizontally placed wideband phase shifting feed network and four vertically placed linearly polarized dipole antenna elements, and the circular polarization is realized based on sequential rotation feeding technology. By placing two parasitic strips and two grounding strips on the top and side of each T‐shaped dipole antenna element, the impedance bandwidth and circular polarization performance of the antenna can be further improved. The simulation results show that the 10‐dB impedance bandwidth of the antenna is 93% (1.56‐4.27 GHz) and the 3‐dB AR bandwidth is 80.7% (1.7‐4.0 GHz). The measured results are in good agreement with the simulation results. Due to the use of orthogonally placed wideband feed network and wideband array elements, the proposed antenna array has a wider circular polarization bandwidth than the similar antenna arrays reported.     

Reconfigurable wide band circularly polarized antenna array for WiMAX,C‐Band,a and ITU‐R applications with enhanced sequentially rotated feed network

In this article, a wide‐band circularly polarized slot antenna array with reconfigurable feed‐network for WiMAX, C‐Band, and ITU‐R applications is proposed. Different novel methods are used in proposed array to improve antenna features such as impedance matching, 3 dB axial‐ratio bandwidth (ARBW), gain, and destructive coupling effects. Miniaturized dual‐feed square slot antenna, with one attached L‐shaped strip and a pair of T‐shaped strip at ground surface for improving impedance matching and circular polarization (CP) purity, is presented. For further enhancement of CP attributes, reconfigurable sequentially rotated feed network is utilized to obtain wider 3 dB ARBW. Furthermore reconfigurable property of network gives controlling Right and Left handed CPs, respectively. Finally, a special form of Electromagnetic Band gap structure is employed on top layer of substrate that provides high isolation between radiating elements and array feed network to enhance overall performance of antenna. The measured results depict 3 dB ARBW from 4.6 to 7.2 GHz, impedance bandwidth from 3.3 to 8.8 GHz for VWSR<2, and peak gain of 10 dBi at 6 GHz. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:825–833, 2015.     

A low‐profile antenna with circularly polarized reconfigurable and omnidirectional radiation patterns

A low profile circularly polarized (CP) antenna with reconfigurable polarization is designed and presented, which can radiate omnidirectional patterns that can be switched between left‐hand circularly polarized (LHCP) and right‐hand circularly polarized (RHCP). A pair of arc‐shaped complementary dipoles is acted as reconfigurable elements by bridging four pin diodes at the dipole arced arms. A meander phase shift line is employed to connected the arc dipole arms and plate cavity to adjust the phase relationship of two sources. The proposed antenna exhibits the omnidirectional radiation pattern by combining six identical elements placed in a circular array configuration. 24 p‐i‐n diodes are exploited to six elements, by manipulating the dc bias voltage across the diodes, the polarization state of the antenna can be switched. The patterns of the antenna are similar to that of a dipole, but its size is only about Φ0.87 × 0.029λ₀ at 5.8 GHz. The overlapped bandwidth of measured 3‐dB axial ratio (AR) and 10‐dB return loss is 5.724‐5.87 and 5.738‐5.91 GHz for two polarization states, which are right on the target of ISM band. It can be well adapted to medical diagnosis systems.     

A high‐gain compact circularly polarized microstrip array antenna with simplified feed network

A broadband high‐gain circularly polarized (CP) microstrip antenna operating in X band is proposed. The circular polarization property is achieved by rotating four narrow band linearly polarized (LP) microstrip patch elements in sequence. Since the conventional series‐parallel feed network is not conducive to the miniaturization of the array, a corresponding simplified feed network is designed to realize the four‐way equal power division and sequential 90° phase shift. With this feed network, the impedance bandwidth (IBW) of the CP array is greatly improved compared with that of the LP element, while maintaining a miniaturized size. Then, parasitic patches are introduced to enhance the axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW). A prototype of this antenna is fabricated and tested. The size of proposed antenna is 0.93λ₀ × 0.93λ₀ × 0.017λ₀ (λ₀ denotes the space wavelength corresponding to the center frequency 10.4 GHz). The measured 10‐dB IBW and 3‐dB ARBW are 13.6% (9.8‐11.23 GHz), 11.2% (9.9‐11.07 GHz) respectively, and peak gain in the overlapping band is 9.8 dBi.     

Double triangular monopole‐like antenna with reconfigurable single/dual‐wideband circular polarization

A polarization and frequency reconfigurable circularly polarized (CP) antenna is proposed based on a novel bilateral switching mechanism. Two triangular monopole antennas are connected to each other in an L‐shaped form by a narrow link to produce a CP operation. In the proposed technique, 4 PIN‐diode‐based switches are designed with desired insertion loss and isolation, and only 2 DC‐voltage controllers. These switches are located on the links and the feed lines to realize a polarization reconfigurable feature including both right‐hand CP (RHCP) and left‐hand CP (LHCP) modes. Moreover, 2 CP states, a single wideband operation and a dual‐band operation, can be supported by this mechanism. In a special performance of the switches, CP reconfigurability can be obtained in a narrow‐band mode around 2.45 GHz. Two general simulations are performed based on the simple microstrip links and a diode‐circuit model. The measured results exhibit a wide overlapped bandwidth (AR < 3 dB and VSWR < 2) of 44.4% (1.63–2.56 GHz) with a peak gain of 2.88 dBi in the first state and 5.5% (1.22～1.29GHz) and 20.6% (2.12–2.61 GHz) with the peak gains of 0.52 and 3.0 dBi in the second state, respectively. A wide beamwidth is obtained more than 75°. This work is appropriate for L‐ and S‐band CP diversity applications.     

Circularly polarized 1 × 4 square slot array antenna by utilizing compacted modified butler matrix and branch line coupler

Circularly polarized (CP), beam steering antennas are preferred to reduce the disruptive effects such as multi‐path fading and co‐channel interference in wireless communications systems. Nowadays, intensive studies have been carried out not only on the specific antenna array design but also their feeding networks to achieve circular polarization and beam steering characteristics. A compact broadband CP antenna array with a low loss feed network design is aimed in this work. To improve impedance and CP bandwidth, a feed network with modified Butler matrix and a compact ultra‐wideband square slot antenna element are designed. With this novel design, more than 3 GHz axial ratio BW is achieved. In this study, a broadband meander line compact double box coupler with impedance bandwidth over 4.8‐7 GHz frequency and the phase error less than 3° is used. Also the measured impedance bandwidth of the proposed beam steering array antenna is 60% (from 4.2 to 7.8 GHz). The minimum 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth between ports, support 4.6–6.8 GHz frequency range. The measured peak gain of the proposed array antenna is 8.9 dBic that could scan solid angle about ～91 degree. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:146–153, 2016.     

A two‐layer beam‐steering array antenna with 4 × 4 modified Butler matrix fed network for switched beam application

This paper presents a novel two layers beam‐steering array antenna fed by a 4 × 4 modified Butler matrix. Each of the radiation elements have been replaced by a collection of 2 × 2 circularly polarized (CP) square patches, which joined together by a modified sequentially rotated feed network. The antenna array consists of 2 × 5 CP square patches, which connected to four ring sequential rotation and fed by butler matrix. The proposed Butler matrix which plays a role as beam‐steering feed network consists of four novel 90° circular patch couplers and two 45° half circular patch phase shifter. Altogether, using of a 2 × 5 phased array antenna and a modified Butler matrix cause to empower array antenna for covering frequency range between 4.67 to 6.09GHz, the maximum gain of 14.98 dB and 3‐dB axial ratio bandwidth of 1.2GHz (4.9~6.1GHz) is attained.     

Design of a compact wideband CP metasurface antenna

In this article, a new compact metasurface circularly polarized (CP) antenna is presented, where the rotating 45° periodic ellipse patch is used to achieve polarization conversion from linearly polarized to CP. The meta‐surface is composed of 4 × 4 ellipse patches with 45° rotation, which are etched on the top layer of upper substrate. A slot ground plane and a coplanar waveguide structure are printed on both sides of bottom substrate, and the bottom substrate is directly connected to the upper substrate, which can make the antenna profile lower. As demonstrated in this article, the presented antennas have good characteristics of excellent 3‐dB axial ratio bandwidth of 17.4% (5.25‐6.25 GHz), and wide 10‐dB impedance bandwidth of 20.6% (5.0‐6.15 GHz).     

A novel circularly polarized cavity backed SIW antenna with capability to change polarization diversity by a reconfigurable polarizer structure

This article examines a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity‐backed circularly polarized diversity antenna. In the proposed novel antenna, parasitic patch and reconfigurable diodes are used to change polarization diversity from left hand to right hand and vice versa, respectively. In addition to, what makes distinctive proposed antenna in compared with similar works, is ability to change linear polarization from a SIW slot to circularly polarization by a parasitic patch. Chopping off two diagonally opposite corners makes the resonance frequency of the mode along this diagonal to be higher than that for the mode along the unchopped diagonal. By exciting parasitic patch with a slot along axes of it the orthogonal modes are generated which causes to CP. The comparison between simulation and measurement results validate antenna design. The measured impedance BW (VSWR < 2) for state 1 and 2 are 22.18% (11.86‐14.82 GHz) and 21.68% (11.88‐14.77 GHz), and The measured 3‐dB AR BW for states 1 and 2 are about 11.46% (11.43‐12.82 GHz) and 11.23% (11.43‐12.79 GHz), respectively. Finally, the measured maximum gain is 9.81 dBic.     

Mutual coupling reduction by SIW ZOR elements on broadside high gain CP beam steering array

In this article, a new circularly polarized (CP) beam steering array antenna based on substrate‐integrated‐waveguide (SIW) is proposed for mm‐wave applications. To generate a wider half power beamwidth (HPBW) and reduce mutual coupling effect a radiation element relying on zeroth order resonance (ZOR) technique has been used which has a treatment such as electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure to have a specific structure. The antenna element can operate in a bandwidth from 33.82 to 36.37 GHz and AR bandwidth from 34.32 to 35.94 GHz. Besides, the propose element has a HPBW wider than 103°, and a maximum gain of antenna is of 9.2 dBic. A 4 × 4 Butler matrix feed network based on SIW feeding technique is then designed. This feed network includes novel techniques in designing cross‐over and broadband phase shifter. The synthesis of proposed Butler matrix and ZOR elements lead to a four‐beam array antenna with circular polarization can cover a beam switching angles range more than 44° with a gain of 17.6 dBic.     

A compact double‐layer wideband circularly polarized microstrip antenna with parasitic elements

In this article, a new broadband circularly polarized (CP) microstrip patch antenna (MPA) with a sequential phase (SP) square‐loop feeding structure is proposed. The presented antenna is composed of a square‐loop feeding structure, four L‐shaped parasitic patches with L‐shaped slots, four parasitic square patches, and a corner‐truncated square patch. At first, a SP square‐loop is designed as a feeding structure. Then, four L‐shaped parasitic patches with L‐shaped slots are utilized to generate one CP mode by a capacitive coupled way. At last, four parasitic square patches and a corner‐truncated square patch are together placed above the SP feeding structure to broaden the circularly polarized bandwidth (CPBW). The presented antenna has a wide 3‐dB axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW) of 16.7% (5.4 GHz, 4.95‐5.85 GHz), and a wide 10‐dB return loss bandwidth of 25.5% (5.5 GHz, 4.8‐6.2 GHz). The proposed antenna features compact structure and broad 3‐AR bandwidth which could completely cover the WLAN (5.725‐5.85GHz) band. Therefore, the proposed antenna is suitable for circular polarization applications in C band.     

Gain and bandwidth enhancements of sequential‐fed circularly polarized patch antenna array using multiple parasitic elements

This paper presents a circularly polarized (CP) antenna array with wideband operation and high gain characteristics. The single array element is composed of a slotted CP patch and parasitic elements. It has been found that besides improving the operating bandwidth (BW), properly choosing a number of parasitic elements can also contribute to a significant increase in the antenna gain over the entire operating band. For further boost in the performance, multiple array elements are arranged in 2 × 2 configuration and fed by a sequential‐phase feeding network. In comparison with the related works in the literature, the proposed design shows approximately 3‐dB higher gain. The design concept has been validated by experiments. The fabricated array has a measured operating BW of 28% (4.6‐6.1 GHz) and a peak broadside gain of 15.8 dBic.     

A wideband polarization reconfigurable isosceles trapezoidal monopole antenna

In this article, a polarization reconfigurable isosceles trapezoidal monopole antenna for the circular polarization (CP) is presented. A trapezoidal monopole and the ground plane are on the same side of the dielectric substrate. The monopole is excited by a reconfigurable T‐shaped 50 Ω microstrip feed line and reconfigurable vertical slots are incorporated in the ground plane to realize switchable wideband CP. For the different switching states of the p‐i‐n diodes, linear polarization, left‐handed and right handed CP can be achieved in the boresight direction (+z direction). The antenna prototype is fabricated and tested. The measured reflection coefficient bandwidth (|S11| < ?10 dB) is 31.2% (2.13 ‐ 2.91 GHz) and axial ratio bandwidth (axial ratio < 3 dB) is 22% (2.18 ‐ 2.72 GHz) for the CP. The measured reflection coefficient bandwidth is 18.56% (2.15 ‐ 2.59 GHz) for linear polarization.     

Novel wide‐beam cross‐dipole CP antenna for GNSS applications

A wide‐beam circularly polarized (CP) cross‐dipole antenna for GNSS applications is proposed in this article. This cross‐dipole antenna is fed by a coaxial cable, on which the slots is added to optimize the impedance matching. These two pairs of dipole arms are designed with different lengths to obtain the circularly polarized radiation. Enhanced wide‐beam CP radiation characteristics can be achieved by curving the dipole arms and adjusting the distance between the arms and the metallic ground plane. The study of proposed antenna performance with different geometric parameters has been conducted. The final antenna exhibits a good impedance bandwidth (IBW) of ～13.1% (1.50‐1.71 GHz), and the 3‐dB axial‐ratio bandwidth is over 7% (1.52‐1.64 GHz). Broad pattern coverage of more than 140°, pure CP radiation at all designed bands and a wide 3 dB axial‐ratio beamwidth (ARBW) of nearly 150° makes this antenna an excellent candidate for satellite communications and navigation systems.     

Low‐profile omnidirectional circularly polarized antenna based on substrate integrated waveguide technology

A substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) circularly polarized (CP) antenna with omnidirectional radiation in the azimuthal plane is proposed. The antenna consists of five identical end‐fire CP antenna elements in a pentagonal array configuration, which is loaded on a circular substrate. Each element contains an H‐plane horn antenna in SIW structure and a printed dipole antenna. Five parasitic curve elements are introduced to improve the omnidirectional property of the antenna. Combined with complementary dipoles theory and SIW technology, prototype antenna is designed, fabricated and measured. With a low profile of 0.024λ₀, the antenna has a 10‐dB return‐loss impedance bandwidth of 4.08% (2.4～2.5 GHz) and a 3‐dB axial‐ratio (AR) bandwidth of 5.76% (2.36～2.50 GHz). The antenna works well in the 2.45 GHz ISM band, with good cross‐polarization and excellent omnidirectional property.     

Gain enhancement of circularly polarized antenna with dual‐polarization conversion transmitarray

A dual‐polarization conversion transmitarray is proposed for a circularly polarized (CP) transmitarray antenna. The designed transmitarray realizes the polarization conversion and gain enhancement for the circular polarization incident wave. The transmitarray can transform the left‐hand circularly polarization (LHCP) wave and the right hand circularly polarization (RHCP) wave into RHCP and LHCP waves, respectively. Two CP patch antennas are designed as source antennas to illuminate the transmitarray and form the transmitarray antenna. The experimental and simulation results show that the designed transmitarray realizes the polarization conversation and the gain enhancement for two CP antennas indeed.     

Broadband printed quadrifilar helix antenna using parasitic strip technique

A circularly polarized (CP) printed quadrifilar helix antenna (QHA) with enhanced bandwidth is proposed in this communication. This QHA is fed by a feeding structure with superior performance, which uses wide‐band 90° and 180° planar bulun. The feeding network can simply realize the 90° phase shift and four equal power divisions within a wide band range. Enhanced impedance matching and CP radiation characteristics can be achieved with the parasitic strips between helix arms. The study of proposed antenna performance with different geometric parameters has been conducted. The final antenna exhibits a good impedance bandwidth (IBW) of approximately 37.4% (1.65‐2.41 GHz), and the 3‐dB axial‐ratio bandwidth (ARBW) is over 43.9% (1.6‐2.5 GHz). Broad pattern coverage, pure CP radiation at all designed bands and a wide 3 dB axial‐ratio beam width of 150° makes this antenna an excellent candidate for satellite communications and navigation systems.     

High frequency integrated feed for front end circuitry and antenna arrays

Low‐cost printed circuit board waveguide (PCBWG) technology is employed to develop new waveguide‐fed microstrip antenna arrays with low profile and light weight while maintaining high efficiency and gain at 12.5 GHz. The proposed corporate feed network has two parts: on the antenna layer, microstrip lines are used to form a 2 × 4 sequentially rotated sub‐array of circularly polarized microstrip patches and on the feed layer PCB‐WG is utilized to combine any number of these sub‐arrays to form a larger array. Because PCB‐WGs transmit the power over a large portion of the feed network, losses are substantially reduced and spurious radiations from feed circuit are eliminated. Several microstrip arrays with PCBWG feed were designed and fabricated using standard PCB process. Comparing the results with those of a hybrid array with conventional waveguide feed shows that there is only a negligible degradation in gain and efficiency when bulky and expensive aluminum waveguides are replaced by PCB‐WGs. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009.     

A compact wideband circularly polarized antenna with two pairs of driven patch arrays

In this article, a new wideband circularly polarized (CP) antenna is presented. The antenna is composed of a circular‐loop feeding structure which provides sequential phase (SP), four primary‐parasitic crown patches and four secondary‐parasitic crown patches. The circular‐loop SP structure is used to feed the two pairs of crown patches by a capacitively coupled way. The presented antenna features a wide 10‐dB impedance bandwidth (IBW) of 23% (6 GHz, 5.31‐6.69 GHz), and a wide 3‐dB axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW) of 11.1% (5.875 GHz, 5.55‐6.2 GHz). The proposed antenna features compact structure and broad 3 dB‐ARBW, which could include the WLAN (5.725‐5.85 GHz), ITS (5.8 GHz), and WIFI (5.85‐5.925 GHz) band.     

Wideband circularly polarized dielectric resonator antenna coupled with meandered‐line inductor for ISM/WLAN applications

A new meandered‐line inductor fed wideband circularly polarized rectangular dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) with partial ground plane has been developed in this work. Meandered‐line inductor feed and partial ground plane are used for generation of orthogonal modes, hence circular polarization (CP) in DRA. By controlling the length of meandered‐line inductor, three different CP DRA have been designed for different wireless applications such as Wi‐MAX and WLAN/ISM 2400 band. Distribution of electric field inside rectangular DRA shows that all three antenna having TE_11δ mode. Finally, a lower frequency band application at 2.4 GHz (ISM) called here as Proposed Antenna, has been considered for fabrication. This designed antenna shows measured ?10 dB input impedance bandwidth of 20.67% and 3‐dB axial ratio bandwidth of 27.95% in broadside direction. All these three CP antennas (Antenna‐1 to Proposed Antenna) are showing stable gain and right hand circular polarization in broadside direction.