High-impedance surfaces having stable resonance with respect to polarization and incidence angle

The work presented in this paper concerns a theoretical study on frequency selective surfaces (FSS) with application to artificial magnetic conductors or high-impedance surfaces (HIS). Current realizations of HIS are based on a planar FSS at the interface of a metal-backed dielectric slab either including vertical vias or not. A stable resonance was found for the case of series-resonance grids without vias in the slab. The resonance turns out to be unique in theory for all angles of incidence and both polarizations of plane waves illuminating the HIS. It was shown that vias destroy the stabilization effect and introduce a frequency shift. The analytical model was validated by HFSS simulations.     

Broad-band cavity-backed and capacitively probe-fed microstrippatch arrays

A hybrid full wave method for the analysis of probe-fed infinite phased arrays of single and stacked microstrip patches, backed by metallic cavities, is applied to investigate the combined utilization of the capacitive probe-feeding technique and the cavity enclosure of microstrip patches. The goal is to obtain broad-band microstrip antennas on thick substrates without the limitations due to the generation of surface waves of the conventional microstrip antennas on infinite substrates. A design procedure for the capacitive coupling is investigated and theoretical results for the active input impedance and radiation characteristics of different wide-band antenna designs are presented     

FDTD modeling of arrays and grids of lossy conductors based on impedance sheet conditions

Fast finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modeling techniques for arrays of parallel wires and wire meshes are developed. The analytical basis of the models lies in the use of impedance sheet conditions (Kontorovich conditions) for dense wire arrays and grids, connecting the tangential electric fields and the averaged currents in the plane of a wire array or grid. The proposed methods allow us to avoid the direct discretization of the fields inside the wires, greatly simplifying the modeling task. The conductor losses in the wires are accounted for assuming a strong or weak skin effect. The impedance sheet conditions are formulated in the time-domain using the convolution integral, which is evaluated recursively in FDTD. Numerical examples and comparisons with analytical results are provided to verify the proposed techniques.     

An Efficient and Simple Analytical Model for Analysis of Propagation Properties in Impedance Waveguides

In this paper, propagation properties of a parallel-plate waveguide with tunable artificial impedance surfaces as sidewalls are studied both analytically and numerically. The impedance surfaces comprise an array of patches over a dielectric slab with embedded metallic vias. The tunability of surfaces is achieved with varactors. Simple design equations for tunable artificial impedance surfaces, as well as dispersion equations for the TE and TM modes are presented. The propagation properties are studied in three different regimes: multimode waveguide, single-mode waveguide, and below-cutoff waveguide. The analytical results are verified with numerical simulations.      

Theoretical and experimental SAR distributions for interstitialdipole antenna arrays used in hyperthermia

Theoretical predictions and experimental measurements of power deposition in muscle tissue phantoms are compared for various arrays of microwave dipole antennas used for hyperthermia cancer therapy. The antennas are linear coaxial dipoles which are inserted into small nylon catheters implanted in the tumor volume. The specific absorption rate (SAR) patterns for a 2-cm square array of four 915-MHz antennas are presented for both resonant and nonresonant dipoles. Arrays of dipoles with lengths much shorter than the resonant half-wavelength have a far more reactive input impedance and a much smaller absolute SAR magnitude in the array center than is seen for arrays of resonant dipoles, and the maximum SAR shifts from the array center to the antenna surfaces. The absolute length of the volume heated by the small-diameter antennas with the longer half-wavelength was longer than that of the larger-diameter antennas. SAR distributions for 4-cm square arrays of eight and nine antennas fed with equal amplitude and phase are also compared. It is shown that much of the array volume has a power deposition less than 25% of the maximum SAR and that the distribution is nonuniform for both the eight- and nine-antenna configurations     

Higher order impedance boundary conditions for sparse wire grids

Higher order impedance boundary conditions designed for modeling wire grids of thin conducting wires are established. The derivation is based on the exact analytical summation of the individual wire fields. This allows one to write an approximate boundary condition on the grid surface, which connects the averaged electric field and the averaged current (or the electric field and the averaged magnetic fields on the two sides of the grid surface). The condition depends on the tangential derivatives of the averaged current (up to the sixth order). This approach provides an extension of the averaged boundary conditions method (well established for dense grids) to sparse grids. Numerical examples demonstrate very good accuracy of the solutions for the field reflected from grids with the wire separation as large as half of the wavelength     

The reflectarray antenna

A class of antennas that utilizes arrays of elementary antennas as reflecting surfaces has been investigated. An antenna of this type is here called a Reflectarray. It has been found that the Reflectarray combines much of the simplicity of the reflector-type antenna with the performance versatility of the array type. The reflecting surfaces employed in these antennas are characterized by a surface impedance that can be synthesized to produce a variety of radiation patterns. The equations of the surface impedance as a function of the desired reflected phase front is derived for the lossless case and methods of realizing this surface impedance are presented. Experimental results of a waveguide array type Reflectarray are given including pencil beam, broad beam and scanning modes. Data on the effects of specific phase errors are presented.     

Modeling and Analysis of Composite Antenna Superstrates Consisting on Grids of Loaded Wires

We study the characteristics and radiation mechanism of antenna superstrates based on closely located periodical grids of loaded wires. An explicit analytical method based on the local field approach is used to study the reflection and transmission properties of such superstrates. It is shown that as a result of proper impedance loading there exists a rather wide frequency band over which currents induced to the grids cancel each other, leading to a wide transmission maximum. In this regime radiation is produced by the magnetic dipole moments created by circulating out-of-phase currents flowing in the grids. An impedance matrix representation is derived for the superstrates, and the analytical results are validated using full-wave simulations. As a practical application example we study numerically the radiation characteristics of dipole antennas illuminating finite-size superstrates.     

Periodic Arrays of Magnetoelectrically Excited Double and Single Split-Ring Resonators as Artificial Magnetic Conductors

The amplitude and phase of the reflection coefficient of periodic arrays of electrically conducting elements in the form of double and single split rings are determined for two orientations of these rings, corresponding to magnetic (H) and magnetoelectric (HE) excitation. It is shown that, in the case of the HE-excitation of the rings, the arrays possess the properties of an artificial magnetic conductor or a high-impedance surface. The electric and magnetic fields near the arrays are calculated, and the dependence of the impedance on the distance between the array and the plane in which the impedance is determined is obtained. It is shown that the maximum of the impedance is in close vicinity of the array and can amount to tens of thousands of ohms. The feasibility of implementing a modified Salisbury radio absorber of small thickness by means of such arrays is shown theoretically and experimentally. It is also shown that, under illumination of an array of limited dimensions by a closely placed dipole, the screening effect reaches –30 dB with good matching of the dipole to the feed line (the reflection coefficient in the line is less than –20 dB).     

Antenna miniaturization and bandwidth enhancement using a reactive impedance substrate

The concept of a novel reactive impedance surface (RIS) as a substrate for planar antennas, that can miniaturize the size and significantly enhance both the bandwidth and the radiation characteristics of an antenna is introduced. Using the exact image formulation for the fields of elementary sources above impedance surfaces, it is shown that a purely reactive impedance plane with a specific surface reactance can minimize the interaction between the elementary source and its image in the RIS substrate. An RIS can be tuned anywhere between perfectly electric and magnetic conductor (PEC and PMC) surfaces offering a property to achieve the optimal bandwidth and miniaturization factor. It is demonstrated that RIS can provide performance superior to PMC when used as substrate for antennas. The RIS substrate is designed utilizing two-dimensional periodic printed metallic patches on a metal-backed high dielectric material. A simplified circuit model describing the physical phenomenon of the periodic surface is developed for simple analysis and design of the RIS substrate. Also a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) full-wave analysis in conjunction with periodic boundary conditions and perfectly matched layer walls is applied to provide comprehensive study and analysis of complex antennas on such substrates. Examples of different planar antennas including dipole and patch antennas on RIS are considered, and their characteristics are compared with those obtained from the same antennas over PEC and PMC. The simulations compare very well with measured results obtained from a prototype /spl lambda//10 miniaturized patch antenna fabricated on an RIS substrate. This antenna shows measured relative bandwidth, gain, and radiation efficiency of BW=6.7, G=4.5 dBi, and e/sub r/=90, respectively, which constitutes the highest bandwidth, gain, and efficiency for such a small size thin planar antenna.     

Moment method analysis of infinite stripline-fed tapered slotantenna arrays with a ground plane

A full-wave method of moments solution for infinite arrays of stripline-fed tapered slot antennas is described. The formulation of the problem is sufficiently general to permit performance evaluation of most of the geometries that have been proposed for stripline-fed antennas as well as of several other types of array antennas. Computed results for some well-known antenna arrays are presented to demonstrate the validity and accuracy of the method. Excellent agreement with published results has been obtained for scattering from corrugated surfaces and grounded dielectric slabs and for the input impedance of dipole and monopole arrays. Catastrophic effects such as scan blindness are accurately predicted. A sample result showing the measured and computed input impedance of a stripline-fed tapered slot antenna array is also presented     

Research on planar antennas and arrays: `structures Rayonnantes'

The basic research on radiowave systems dealing with electromagnetism, electronics, and signal processing at the University of Rennes is discussed. The fusion of these different domains occurs for studies concerning systems where radiating structures, active devices and interfaces, and signal processing play a fundamental role and cannot be separated. Different geometries and methods developed for various types of patches, dipoles, and slot antennas, including patch antennas with coaxial or microstrip feeds, printed slot antennas, slot-fed patches, slot-loaded patches, and electromagnetic coupled dipoles and patches, are described. Different kinds of arrays have been designed with active or passive feed networks. The analysis includes mutual-coupling effects, especially when beam steering is considered with small element spacing. Arrays considered include planar phased arrays, planar passive arrays, dual-beam printed antennas, and arrays of microstrip dipoles     

A numerical technique for calculating mutual impedance and element patterns of antenna arrays based on the characteristics of an isolated element

A numerical technique for calculating mutual impedance and element patterns of antenna arrays based on the characteristics of an isolated element is presented. The basis for this technique is the theory of minimum-scattering (MS) antennas and, in particular, the interpretation of the mutual impedance between two canonical minimum-scattering (CMS) antennas as the first term in a perturbation series of the mutual impedance of arbitrary antennas. For the computation of the mutual impedance via the CMS approximation this pattern must be continued analytically into the complex domain. However, numerical codes provide radiation patterns only for real observation angles. To overcome this problem, the numerically calculated patterns are expanded in terms of spherical modes and the computation over complex angles is carried out analytically. Numerical results for collinear and linear arrays of parallel electric dipole antennas and rectangular probe-fed patch antennas are presented and a comparison is made with direct calculations using the WIPL-D code. Results presented show the good agreement between the CMS approximation and the WIPL-D code.     

Analysis of finite-phased arrays of aperture-coupled stackedmicrostrip antennas

Analytical results for finite-phased arrays of aperture-coupled stacked microstrip antennas are presented. In order to evaluate the characteristics of aperture-coupled microstrip antennas in a finite array and derive the moment-method solutions for the unknown current distributions on the patches and slots, the reciprocity theorem and the spectral domain Green's functions for a dielectric slab are used. Various sized arrays are considered and compared with solutions for an infinite array. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the input impedance, mutual coupling, active reflection coefficient versus scan angle, radiation efficiency, and active-element gain patterns     

无源超高频抗金属标签天线设计方法综述

射频识别( RFID)技术的不断发展,对标签天线提出了更高的要求。普通标签天线直接应用于金属表面时,由于受到金属边界的影响,其性能会出现一定程度的下降。详细介绍了4种无源超高频抗金属标签天线的设计方法,包括调整天线与金属面的间距、采用吸波材料、引入高阻抗表面基板、采用平面倒F天线( PIFA)或微带天线结构,并分析了每种方法的优缺点及其对标签天线的阻抗匹配、带宽、尺寸、识别距离以及成本等方面的影响。微带贴片天线不仅具有低剖面、高方向性等优点,而且含有金属接地板,常用作抗金属标签天线的设计原型。在抗金属标签天线的设计与实际应用中,研究者可针对具体要求灵活运用这些设计方法。     

Phase shift bandwidth and scan range in microstrip arrays by the element frequency tuning

In this paper, the far-field phase shift properties of microstrip patch antennas are investigated. It is shown that, similar to reflectarrays, the resonant nature of microstrip patches can be used to change the phase of the radiated field. This phase change can be caused by the dimensional change of the microstrip patch, or by a reactive loading of its cavity such as an aperture on its ground plane. However, the available phase shift is limited by the antenna impedance bandwidth. The problem is initially investigated for conventional patch antennas, determining the available phase shift range. It is then studied for a wideband E-slot microstrip antenna, showing a considerably larger phase shift range. Then, a micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) based ground plane membrane, activated by an electrode from below, is proposed to adaptively generate and control the required phase shifts. It provides a low loss, continuously variable phase shifter that can be used at high frequencies for beam scanning in small arrays.     

Lens-coupled imaging arrays for the millimeter- andsubmillimeter-wave regions

The authors have been developing four kinds of lens-coupled antenna imaging arrays for operation at millimeter- and submillimeter-wave frequencies. Dipole antennas, Yagi-Uda trap-loaded antennas, and microstrip patches are compared from the viewpoint of matching with detectors and optical systems. The radiation patterns and input impedance of each antenna have been calculated and measured to attain the optimum matching using model experiments. The trap-loaded antenna arrays have been successfully applied to plasma diagnostics at the Tsukuba GAMMA 10 tandem mirror     

Corner-fed microstrip antenna element and arrays for dual-polarization operation

A systematic study on the dual-polarized corner-fed microstrip antenna element and arrays with thin single-layer structure is presented. The impedance matrices and S-parameters of the element and arrays are investigated by the proposed extended multiport network method (EMNM). The co- and cross-polarization patterns are also analyzed. It is shown that this kind of antenna element has an isolation about 10 dB higher than that of a conventional edge-fed square patch. A series of new dual-polarized arrays of corner-fed patches have been designed and analyzed based on the EMNM. The experimental results of five arrays indicate that these arrays achieve an isolation of 27/spl sim/38 dB with a maximum of higher than 28/spl sim/58 dB and cross-polarization level of lower than -23/spl sim/ -30 at boresight, which are substantially better than those of similar dual-polarized arrays of edge-fed patches. All theoretical results are in good agreement with experimental ones.     

Objects tracking in a dense reader environment utilising grids of RFID antenna positioning

One of the fundamental constraints in radio frequency identification (RFID) large scale deployment, such as in warehouse RFID deployment, is the positioning of RFID reader antennas to efficiently locate all the tagged objects distributed in a dense RFID reader environment. For tracking the tagged objects in a dense RFID deployment, the required number of reader antennas must be optimised in order to reduce the overall cost. This study proposes highly accurate square and hexagonal grid-based positioning and tracking techniques mainly for use indoors and includes performance comparison of both of these grids. The study involves the design of the square and hexagonal grid reader antenna networks and position calculation using a diffusion algorithm. Both of these grids of RFID antenna positioning present a solution for the problem of the placement pattern of RFID reader antennas in a dense reader environment, hence an optimal number of required reader antennas and guaranteed coverage can be achieved. This study also presents a path loss model that can be applied to predict the radio signal strength information at a certain distance. The proposed diffusion algorithm estimates RFID tag position by using distance information between the reader and the tag. The obtained results show that a square grid can yield higher positioning accuracy compared to the hexagonal grid. The obtained results further show that the proposed tracking techniques can achieve an average positioning error below 1 m, which is 85% better in some cases than the results obtained by other known methods.     

有限导体地面上的圆锥单极子天线

本文利用矩量法分析任意形状导体地面上的线栅型圆锥单极子天线.文中对面结构选用三角形面元矢量基函数,对细线结构选用三角基函数,对线面结合处采用一种特殊的基函数,将导体地面和天线作为整体进行分析,大大提高了分析计算的精度.最后,以圆形和方形地面为例,分析了一副400MHz~2100MHz的圆锥单极子天线,其数值计算结果与实验结果吻合良好,表明了有限地面对天线阻抗匹配的重要性和本文方法的有效性.