Scanned directivity of linear arrays

Expressions for directivity as a function of spacing, scan angle, and current distribution are presented for uniformly spaced linear arrays subject to the assumption that the element radiation intensity function of each radiator can be expressed in either of the following forms:(1 - sin^{2} theta cos^{2} Phi)^{P}orsin^{2P} theta sin^{2Q} PhiwherePandQare zero or positive integers. By proper choice ofPandQ, these expressions can be used to approximate the element radiation intensity function associated with a linear array of isotropic radiators, parallel short dipoles, collinear short dipoles, and planar equiangular spiral antennas. Analytical results are given for a number of cases, and graphical results are presented for directivity in the direction of scan angle for a linear array of radiators with a uniform current distribution and an element radiation intensity given by the expressionsin^{2} theta sin^{2} Phiin the regiony geq 0and zero in the regiony < 0.     

Loaded horizontal antenna over an imperfect ground

The Fresnel reflection coefficient technique is employed to establish anE-field integral equation for the antenna current. A resistive loading of the formLambda(x) = Lambda_{0}/(1 - |x|/L)is used to load the antenna. An optimization technique is discussed for determining the value of critical loadingLambda_{0}^{c}, which enforces a traveling wave current on the antenna. Results are given for the critical loading parameters, antenna currents, input impedances and radiation patterns versus different antenna dimensions and ground permittivities and conductivities. Some representative time-domain results for such loaded antennas are also included.     

Null synthesis by phase control for antenna arrays

The author presents a method for forming nulls in prescribed directions in the radiation pattern P₀ of an antenna array by phase-only control. The method modifies the excitation phases of P₀ , allowing the construction of a sequence of patterns {P_n } having increasingly deeper nulls. A solution is provided by terminating the sequence at a suitable step     

A Beam-Steering Antenna Array Using Injection Locked Coupled Oscillators With Self-Tuning of Oscillator Free-Running Frequencies

The analysis and experimental results of an antenna array using injection locked coupled oscillators with self-tuning of oscillator free-running frequencies are presented. With the use of coupled type-II phase locked loops for tuning oscillator free-running frequencies and an external injection signal for stabilizing the array operating frequency, this antenna array can steer its beam through a single control voltage and hold its output frequency at the injection signal frequency in operation. In addition, its beam-pointing error arising from phase errors in coupled oscillators can be reduced and the array works well over a certain frequency band. Phase dynamics and stability are studied and experimentally verified. Experimental results of a three-element injection locked coupled oscillator array show that its uniform phase progression ranges between $-$16 $^{circ}$ and 52$^{circ}$ , and the phase errors are less than 5 $^{circ}$ at 2.7 GHz. The operation bandwidth is shown from 2.68–2.72 GHz. By loading the injection locked coupled oscillator array with rectangular patch antennas, the beam-steering radiation characteristics are measured at various control voltages.      

Analyses of Static and Dynamic Random Offset Voltages in Dynamic Comparators

When mismatches are present in a dynamic comparator, due to internal positive feedback and transient response, it is always challenging to analytically predict the input-referred random offset voltages since the operating points of transistors are time varying. In this paper, a novel balanced method is proposed to facilitate the evaluation of operating points of transistors in a dynamic comparator. Thus, it becomes possible to obtain an explicit expression for offset voltage in dynamic comparators. We include two types of mismatches in the model: 1) static offset voltages from the mismatch in $muhbox{C}_{rm ox}$ and threshold voltage ${rm V}_{rm th}$ and 2) dynamic offset voltage due to the mismatch in the parasitic capacitances. From the analytical models, designers can obtain an intuition about the main contributors to offset and also fully explore the tradeoffs in dynamic comparator design, such as offset voltage, area and speed. To validate the balanced method, two topologies of dynamic comparator implemented in 0.25- $mu{hbox {m}}$ and 40-nm CMOS technology are applied as examples. Input-referred offset voltages are first derived analytically based on SPICE Level 1 model, whose values are compared with more accurate Monte Carlo transient simulations using a sophisticated BSIM3 model. A good agreement between those two verifies the effectiveness of the balanced method. To illustrate its potential, the explicit expressions of offset voltage were applied to guide the optimization of “Lewis-Gray” structure. Compared to the original design, the input offset voltage was easily reduced by 41% after the optimization while maintaining the same silicon area.      

Suboptimal approximation/identification of transient waveforms from electromagnetic systems by pencil-of-function method

A noniterative method for approximating signals by a linear combination of exponentials is presented. Although the technique results in a suboptimal approximation, the continuous dependence of the suboptimal exponentssim{s}_{i}on the integral square errorepsilonis such that lim(epsilon = 0) sim{s}_{i} rightarrow {s}_{i}, the best least squares exponents. The method is also useful for system identification, where the system is modeled by a black box and one has access only to the input and output terminals. A technique is demonstrated for finding the multiple poles of a system along with the residues at the poles when the system output to a known input is given. Advantages of the method are natural insensitivity to noise in the data and a capability for approximately determining signal order. Representative computations are made of the poles from the transient response of a conducting pipe tested at the ATHAMAS-I EMP simulator.     

Dipole antenna in space-time periodic media

The problem of dipole radiation in sinusoidally spacetime periodic media is studied and solved. The space-time periodicity can be considered as due to a strong pump wave and is expressed as a traveling-wave type change in the dielectric constant or the plasma density (i.e.,epsilon(z,t) = epsilon_{0}epsilon_{r}[1 + epsilon_{1} cos (Kz - Omega t)]andN(z,t) = N_{0}[1 + N_{1} cos (Kz - Omega t)]). The solution also covers the limit case of a sinusoidally stratified medium (Omega = 0). The solution is formulated in a matrix form, such that the basic results and diagrams apply, with minor changes, to the different cases studied: electric and magnetic dipole in a dielectric, plasma, and uniaxial plasma. The wave-vector diagram is used extensively in studying and presenting the different properties of the solution: caustics, effect of the disturbance (pump wave) motion, harmonics, radiation outside the allowed cone in a uniaxial plasma. Many dipole radiation patterns are given and their features explained physically. Finally, our solution and results are extended to the generally space-time periodic media whereepsilon(z,t)andN(z,t)behave aseta(z,t) = eta_{0}[1 + eta_{1}f(Kz - Omega t)]wheref(xi)is any periodic function.     

The small bare loop antenna immersed in a dissipative medium

The input admittance of a small thin-wire circular loop antenna, driven by a slice generator, immersed in a dissipative medium, is considered. It is found that the solution given by Storer for the loop antenna in a lossless medium can be carded over readily by replacingzeta_{0}byzeta, andk_{0}byk. The numerical values of the normalized input conductance and input susceptance of a small loop antenna, namelybeta b leq 0.3,Omega = 10, are calculated. It is to be noted that the input susceptance is practically independent ofkwhile the input conductance changes as much as seventeen times in this special case.     

Broad-band gain in optically pumped S2

TheB^{3} Sigma-_{u} rightarrow X^{3}Sigma-_{g}system of S2has many of the characteristics required of a tunable laser: a broad fluorescence spectrum and a Franck-Condon shift between theBandXstates. In this paper, theupsilon' = 4level of theB^{3} Sigma-_{u} rightarrow X^{3}Sigma-_{g}system of S2is pumped by the absorption of the 308 nm XeCl excimer radiation. Rare gas-S2collisions redistribute the population among theupsilon'levels, and the subsequent emission contains intense bands throughout much of the neat UV and visible region of the spectrum. Broad-band gain is reported on two blue-green bands (2,17) and (3,18) populated by rare gas relaxation. Absorption is reported on the near UV bandsupsilon' = 0 rightarrow upsilon" rightarrow 6,7,8where the lower levels are filled by the transient population cascading down theXstate manifold. A fluorescence study is presented which examines the potential advantages and limitations of this system.     

A theorem on the entropy of certain binary sequences and applications--I

In this, the first part of a two-part paper, we establish a theorem concerning the entropy of a certain sequence of binary random variables. In the sequel we will apply this result to the solution of three problems in multi-user communication, two of which have been open for some time. Specifically we show the following. LetXandYbe binary randomn-vectors, which are the input and output, respectively, of a binary symmetric channel with "crossover" probabilityp_0. LetH{X}andH{ Y}be the entropies ofXandY, respectively. Then begin{equation} begin{split} frac{1}{n} H{X} geq h(alpha_0), qquad 0 leq alpha_0 &leq 1, Rightarrow \ qquad qquad &qquad frac{1}{n}H{Y} geq h(alpha_0(1 - p_0) + (1 - alpha_0)p_0) end{split} end{equation} whereh(lambda) = -lambda log lambda - (1 - lambda) log(l - lambda), 0 leq lambda leq 1.     

A technique to estimate the relative gains, tuning phases, and RE phase shifts of the elements of a phased-array radar

An in-situ technique to estimate the following parameters of a phased-array antenna is described: 1) the relative array-element excitation voltages, 2) the array-element tuning phases, and 3) the RF phase shifts at the array elements. This technique has several significant features. First, it involves the use of two auxiliary antennas. One is a remote continuous wave (CW) source directed at the phased-array antenna. The other is a passive antenna mounted close to the phased-array antenna. Its output is used to produce a reference phase for phase measurements. Second, it contains a technique to reduce the errors in phase estimates. Third, it takes note that beam steering uses phase sums of the form (phi_{k} + beta_{kl}), wherephi_{k}is the tuning phase for thekth array elemenet andbeta_{kl}, is an RF phase shift of the array element, and pays special attention to reduce the errors associated with the estimates of these sums. Fourth, it assumes the use of a reasonably stable and strong CW source of commerically available quality. No other assumptions are made. Experimental results obtained with a 295-elementS-band space-fed phased-array antenna are given.     

Novel Composite Phase-Shifting Transmission-Line and Its Application in the Design of Antenna Array

A novel composite phase-shifting transmission line (TL) with designable characteristics is presented, which can be used to achieve arbitrary phase of the transmission coefficient at any required frequency with a certain length of the TL. An empirical formula is given of the relationship between the phase and physical length of the composite TL at a required frequency. A sample of 0$^{circ}$ phase-shifting TL is designed in details, and is verified by the full-wave simulation. At the required frequency of 5 GHz, the amplitude of ${rm S}_{21}$ is equal to $-0.23~{rm dB}$ with a phase of $-0.467^{circ}$. The electric length is only $0.212lambda_{0}$ , which has been decreased by 68.5% compared to the conventional microstrip line. Using the proposed composite TL, an antenna array is designed with two radiation patches excited by the novel series feed-line. The detailed procedure of such design is presented. The lowest reflection coefficient is exactly achieved at the required frequency of 5 GHz. The maximum radiation is obtained at $theta_{0}=0^{circ}$ , which indicates that the 0$^{circ}$ phase-shifting TL works very well. The sample is also fabricated and good agreements between simulation and measurement results are obtained.      

Enhanced Plasma Wave Detection of Terahertz Radiation Using Multiple High Electron-Mobility Transistors Connected in Series

We report on enhanced room-temperature detection of terahertz radiation by several connected field-effect transistors. For this enhanced nonresonant detection, we have designed, fabricated, and tested plasmonic structures consisting of multiple InGaAs/GaAs pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistors connected in series. Results show a 1.63-THz response that is directly proportional to the number of detecting transistors biased by a direct drain current at the same gate-to-source bias voltages. The responsivity in the saturation regime was found to be 170 V/W with the noise equivalent power in the range of ${hbox{10}}^{-7}~{hbox{W/Hz}}^{0.5}$ . The experimental data are in agreement with the detection mechanism based on the rectification of overdamped plasma waves excited by terahertz radiation in the transistor channel.      

Robust Quantization of Discrete-Time Signals with Independent Samples

TheN-level uniform quantizer on[-c,c]plus the assignment ofy_{0}deg = -(a _{s}+ c)/2andy_{N+1}deg = (a_{s}+ c)/2to signal values falling in the saturation regions[-a_{s},- c) and (c,a_{s}], respectively, is shown to be the minimax(N + 2)-level quantizer with a nonsaturating input range[-c,c]. The performance criterion considered is the mean weighted quantization error and the input signals are only required to be amplitude bounded bypm a_{s}wherea_{s} > c > 0. The worst case input signal marginal probability distributions are shown to be discrete. From the derivation of this result, the minimax error can be computed. An example is given which illustrates the performance of the minimax quantizer for several input ranges against different input signal probability distributions.     

Thermal noise measurements in GaAs MESFET's

The absolute magnitude of the thermal drain current fluctuations and the associated effective thermal noise coefficient of 1-µm gate-length MESFET's have been measured under various bias conditions. At low drain-source voltages the magnitude of current fluctuations are in good agreement with the thermal noise theory which is based on the gradual channel approximation. However, under normal operating conditions (V_{ds} geq 1.5V,V_{gs} approx 0), we find for the thermal drain noise currentimin{d}max{2} approx 1 - 2 times 10^{-22}A²/Hz with a noise coefficientP approx 0.1in disagreement with the commonly used, theoretically predicted value P = 1.1. Our results are qualitatively consistent with a more comprehensive FET noise theory which properly takes into account high-field effects.     

Theory on small radiating apertures in the outer sheath of a coaxial cable

An analytical expression for the aperture field is obtained from an integral equation formulation and a subsequent use of a quasistatic approach in which the dominant part of the solution can be extracted from canonical problems. Unlike the conventional approach of replacing the aperture field by equivalent dipoles, our method retains the basic features of the propagating mode in the coaxial region, and the radiation characteristic of the coaxial cylinder. An equivalent network representation of a small aperture is then derived. The network equivalence of a symmetrical aperture with its axes oriented in the direction of the incident field is shown to consist of a lumped shunt capacitanceC_{b}and a series impedanceZcomposed of an inductive elementL_{b}, a capacitive elementC_{T}and the input admittanceY_{binfty}of the external antenna, all in parallel.     

DC and Transient Performance of 4H-SiC Double-Implant MOSFETs

SiC vertical MOSFETs were fabricated and characterized, achieving blocking voltages around 1 kV and specific on-resistances as low as $R_{{rm SP}, {rm ON}} = hbox{8.3} hbox{m}Omega cdot hbox{cm}^{2}$. DC and transient characteristics are shown. Room and elevated temperature (up to 200 $^{circ}hbox{C}$) 600V/5A inductive switching performance of the SiC MOSFETs are shown with turn-on and turn-off transients of approximately 20–40 ns.      

Current distribution and input admittance of an infinite cylindrical antenna in anisotropic plasma

The current distribution and input admittance of an infinitely long cylindrical antenna driven by a slice generator and immersed in an anisotropic plasma are investigated. The applied dc magnetic field is along the axis of the antenna. By superimposing the characteristic waves guided along the antenna, the current solution is obtained in the form of a one-dimensional integral, which is examined both analytically and numerically. WhenK_{perp} > 0, the magnitude of the current decays slowly with the distance from the source, and its phase is nearly linear with a "propagation constant" equal tosqrt{K_{perp}}k_{0}for an antenna with very small radius. WhenK_{perp} < 0, the magnitude of the current decreases rapidly away from the source, and its phase is no longer linear. The input admittance decreases with the radius of the antenna.     

Planar multimode detector arrays for infrared and millimeter-wave applications

A new type of detector array is described. By means of a suitably designed metallic network, many detector elements (each individually small compared to wavelength) are assembled into an impedance-matched termination for radiation incident normally on the plane of the device. Residual reactance is tuned out by means of a movable backshort. An array of 400 bismuth-film microbolometers with a total area of 1 cm²has been tested at 215 GHz. A coupling efficiency of approximately 60 percent was observed. The detector has aD*of4 times 10^{8}cm . Hz^1/2/W at room temperature with response time on the order of2 times 10^{-7}s. Similar arrays of Schottky and SIS diodes can probably be constructed.     

Experimental VSWR's and radiation patterns of an axial rectangular slot on conducting cylinders of varying curvature

Xband measurements of the VSWR's and radiation patterns of an axial rectangular slot on six conducting cylinders of different curvature are reported. The cylinders hadk_{0}a(k_{0}is the free-space wavenumber andais the cylinder radius) varying frominftyto 1.5. Measurements were performed both with the slot bare and with the slot covered by space cloth. Fork_{0}aas low as 3, the effect of curvature was relatively small. Belowk_{0}a simeq 3, changes in the VSWR and radiation pattern were more pronounced, the pattern being relatively more sensitive to changes ink_{0}athan the VSWR.