Wideband microstrip array antenna with sidelobe cancellationchannels

An antenna array for wideband operation (up to 70%) is presented. The structure has low windloading area and consists of parallel printed circuit boards (PCB) with microstrip dipoles, feed network and metal fences placed between the PCBs. The low profile, low weight antenna array forms the main beam and three difference patterns for sidelobe cancellation. Experimental results are compared with calculations for both microstrip dipole and array     

一种超宽带双极化阵列天线的设计

为满足超宽带无线通信应用需求,研究了一种超宽带双极化强耦合阵列天线. 阵元由两对相连印刷偶极子正交构成,结合Marchand巴伦与Wilkinson功分器构建的馈电网络,实现了平衡馈电、阻抗变换和带内共模谐振抑制等技术. 实验与仿真结果表明,该阵列天线可实现阻抗带宽1.5～4.0 GHz,E面波束扫描范围±60°,H面波束扫描范围±50°,并且天线结构简单,适合双极化宽角扫描相控阵天线系统的应用.     

Beam reconfiguration of linear arrays using parasitic elements

An innovative method for linear arrays beam reconfiguration is presented. This pattern reconfigurability is achieved by a mechanical displacement of a parasitic array located in front of an active one. Two worked examples that use parallel dipoles are presented.     

E-plane scan performance of infinite arrays of dipolesprinted on protruding dielectric substrates: coplanar feed line andE-plane metallic wall effects

The effects of coplanar feed lines and of E-plane cavity walls on the performance of infinite arrays of dipoles printed on protruding dielectric substrates are investigated. In order to do so, two unit cell configurations are studied: (1) the dipole element fed by coplanar transmission lines and (2) the dipole element fed by coplanar transmission lines with finite-height metallic walls added parallel to the H-plane of the array. The element active impedances are calculated for these configurations, and they are compared with those obtained from arrays of dipoles without coplanar feed lines. Effects of the dielectric substrate permittivity and of its thickness on the array element active impedance are included. The results show that the arrays of dipoles with the coplanar feed lines exhibit feed-line-induced blindnesses which reduce considerably the scan volume of the array. It is also shown that these feed line effects are reduced for thicker or higher permittivity substrates, and that the insertion of electric walls is one possible avenue for eliminating these anomalies     

Beam reconfiguration of linear array of parallel dipole antennas through switching with real excitation voltage distribution

In this paper, authors propose a method based on the modified particle swarm optimization (PSO) for beam reconfiguration of linear array of mutually coupled parallel half-wavelength dipole antennas with real excitation voltage amplitude distribution. Two different beam pairs are generated, one pencil/pencil beam pair and another pencil/flat-top beam pair in the horizontal plane. One beam is changed to another through switching while sharing a common amplitude distribution. Two examples are presented, one without ground plane and another in presence of ground plane. Dipoles are connected to its feed network through a switch, so that it can be turned on or off, depending on the switch position. Beam reconfiguration is achieved by suitably turning the array elements on or off using same voltage excitation distribution. Modified PSO is used to compute the excitation voltages as well as the switching configuration for each pattern having a prefixed side lobe level. The current in the driven and parasitic elements is determined via induced EMF method considering the current distribution on each dipole to be sinusoidal. Proposed method efficiently synthesizes dual-beam switching the power pattern from pencil to pencil and pencil to flat-top having same or different side lobe levels using common excitation voltages. It calculates the maximum variation of the active impedance of driven elements and the power losses when the radiation patterns switch from one beam to another. The paper calculates the array directivity as the distances between antenna array and the ground pane varies. Three other state-of-the-art metaheuristics like differential evolution, gravitational search algorithm, artificial bee colony algorithm are also employed for achieving a comparative evaluation.     

Pattern synthesis using reactive loads and transmission linesections for a singly fed array

A feed network design is presented for an array antenna fed by a single source. A specified radiation pattern from the array, with a set of known terminal voltages, can be synthesized by choosing the appropriate characteristic impedance and length of feed transmission-line sections and reactive loads at the terminals of each element. Two configurations, a series feed and a parallel feed, are described. As an example, this method is applied to the feed network design of a singly fed linear dipole array, but the method is general enough to be applied to any type of array which can be characterized by a multiport terminal admittance matrix. Some results are shown for the bandwidth of the radiation pattern and input impedance     

一种应用于卫星通信地面站的新型单臂螺旋天线及其阵列的研究

研究了一种应用于卫星通信地面站的新型单臂平面螺旋天线,该天线采用圆柱螺旋激励同轴线馈电,可以形成倾斜的波束,通过改变圆柱螺旋的参数可以调整其输入阻抗以达到阻抗匹配的目的.用矩量法求解了天线的电流分布和三维辐射方向图以及增益轴比等参数,计算结果与参考文献很吻合.为了增强天线的方向性系数和增益,以四元天线阵为例,研究了这种天线组成的天线阵的辐射特性,给出了天线阵的三维辐射方向图.计算结果表明,该天线组成的天线阵同样具有倾斜的波束指向,各天线单元的输入阻抗为接近50 Ω的纯电阻,增益比单个天线单元提高6.3 dB.     

Analysis of infinite arrays of microstrip-fed dipoles printed onprotruding dielectric substrates and covered with a dielectric radome

A method for analyzing infinite arrays of antennas printed on both sides of substrates protruding from a ground plane and covered with a dielectric radome is described. Using the equivalence principle, the array unit cell is decomposed into homogeneous regions where the fields are expressed as Floquet summations, and an inhomogeneous cavity region where the fields can be found by a combination of the method of moments and modal analysis. The approach is rigorous in the sense that the combined effects of the radiating element and feed geometry printed on opposite sides of a protruding substrate are taken into account. The method is quite general, capable of modeling any antenna elements with substrate currents that are perpendicular and/or parallel to the ground plane. In addition, both the radiating and scattering/receiving modes of operation are treated in the analysis. The method is used to calculate the active element impedance of an infinite array of dipoles transmission line-coupled to microstrip feeds. Examples of numerical results are presented for various scan conditions and the effects of a near-field dielectric radome are demonstrated     

Scan performance of infinite arrays of microstrip-fed dipoles withbent arms printed on protruding substrates

E-plane scan results are presented for infinite arrays of microstrip-fed dipoles printed on protruding dielectric substrates. Active impedance values are calculated for dipoles with bent arms and for the array with a near-field dielectric radome cover. It is found that bending the dipole's arms produces a small improvement in the scan range, as compared to the element with the arms straight, and that a dielectric radome with a low permittivity causes a small shift in the impedance curves. The scan limitation of the array is dictated, however, by the presence of the coplanar feedlines with improvement achievable by varying the substrate's thickness and permittivity as well as the dipole/feed geometry. A dipole element with a modified coplanar feed design is introduced for wider scan coverage     

Impedance matching a phased-array antenna over wide scan angles by connecting circuits

In a phased-array steerable-beam antenna, the active impedance of the radiating elements exhibits considerable change with scan angle. Because of this change, it is ordinarily possible to match the active impedance at only one angle. However, by the addition of lossless circuits which interconnect the element lines, good impedance match over a wide range of scan angles may be obtained. The effects of connecting circuits are easily analyzed in terms of simple equivalent circuits when the array is infinite. For this reason, and because no change is required in the radiating element, the connecting-circuit method is well suited for application to phased arrays containing a large number of regularly-spaced elements. As an example of the use of connecting circuits for wide-angle matching of an array, calculations are made for an infinite planar array of dipoles. Scanning the beam of this array within a120degcone is assumed to cause a mismatch as great as 14-db SWR at some angles when no connecting circuits are used. With the addition of a set of connecting circuits in theEplane of the array and another set in theHplane, this limit is reduced to 4.5-db SWR. The improvement in this impedance match corresponds to a 2.3-db increase of gain realized by the antenna.     

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     

On the size requirement for finite phased-array models

The question considered is how large an array model must be in order to capture approximately the characteristics of both the interior and the edge elements of a large multi-octave phased array. Arrays with tapered slot elements and with top-loaded dipoles are analyzed at element spacings as small as 0.1λ and it is concluded that at any frequency, a finite array model with this type of element should be at least 5λ×5λ in size. This suggests the generalization of the 10×10 element model often used as an engineering "rule of thumb" in the normal narrow-band case with 0.5λ element spacing. An array model with a 5:1 bandwidth thus needs about 25 times more elements than a narrow-band model. The array feed impedance is considered and it is found that the array active reflection coefficient in finite arrays but not in infinite arrays is dependent on the matching condition at the feed. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique is used to analyze arrays up to 49×49 elements, demonstrating that computer power now makes feasible the full wave solution for large phased arrays with complex geometry     

A new design of horizontally polarizedand dual-polarized uniplanar conical beam antennas for HIPERLAN

It is shown that a conical beam 5.2-GHz antenna suitable for HIPERLAN application, but working in horizontal polarization, can be realized as a group of microstrip patch radiators in a ring formation. Layouts with three and four patches are described, and radiation patterns are found to agree well with predictions from a simple array model. The three-patch form is smaller and gives a closer approximation to an azimuth-independent pattern. Patterns are very similar to those achieved in vertical polarization with previously reported disk antenna realizations, giving peak radiation at about 50/spl deg/ elevation. Two methods of impedance matching are found to give satisfactory results. A dual-polarized conical-beam microstrip antenna, with a strictly uniplanar conductor pattern, is also presented and realized as an array of three square patches whose corners meet a central feed point. For the second polarization, the antenna functions as a series fed array. Fairly good conical beam patterns have been obtained, though only moderate polarization purity appears to be obtainable from three-element arrays.     

Radiation from an open-ended waveguide with beam equalizer--A spectral domain analysis

A septum and an impedance matching post are used as a beam equalizer in an open-ended waveguide feed for reflectors used in satellite communications systems. The performance of this design over a frequency band is evaluated using a spectral domain approach. The computed radiation patterns in theE- andH-planes, as well as the results for the impedance match are presented.     

Optimization of thinned aperiodic linear phased arrays using genetic algorithms to reduce grating lobes during scanning

The scan volume of a thinned periodic linear phased array is proportional to the spacing between array elements. As the spacing between elements increases beyond a half wavelength, the scan range of the array will be significantly reduced due to the appearance of grating lobes. This paper investigates a method of creating thinned aperiodic linear phased arrays through the application of genetic algorithms that will suppress the grating lobes with increased steering angles. In addition, the genetic algorithm will place restrictions on the driving-point impedance of each element so that they are well behaved during scanning. A genetic algorithm approach is also introduced for the purpose of evolving an optimal set of matching networks. Finally, an efficient technique for evaluating the directivity of an aperiodic array of half-wave dipoles is developed for use in conjunction with genetic algorithms.     

A study on wideband gap-coupled microstrip antenna arrays

A method for increasing the bandwidth of microstrip antenna arrays by using gap-coupled patches is described. The input impedance properties of gap-coupled patches are analyzed by the use of the spectral dyadic Green's function for a grounded dielectric slab and the moment method. The dependence of different parameters such as s, L and ϵr on the impedance characteristics is investigated. In considering the effect of feed network, the impedance bandwidth for a VSWR<2 of two-element gap-coupled patch array is as large as 2.5 times that of an ordinary array. The radiation patterns over this bandwidth are measured and discussed. All the microstrip antenna arrays are fabricated on a substrate with ϵr=2.86, h=1.5 mm. A comparison of theoretical and experimental results for both input impedance and radiation patterns are given     

Mutual coupling and element efficiency for infinite linear arrays

A formulation is presented of the interrelationship among mutual coupling element efficiency, active impedance, and element radiation patterns for infinite linear (uniformly spaced) arrays. Numerical results are obtained for element efficiency and mutual coupling when the array elements are elementary dipoles. A new lower upper bonnd is obtained on element efficiency. This upper bound is expressed directly in terms of the element patterns in the open-circuit array environment.     

Multifrequency operation of microstrip antennas usingaperture-coupled parallel resonators

A microstrip antenna composed of parallel dipole resonators of different lengths fed by a rectangular slot cut in the ground plane of a microstrip line is analyzed using an integral equation technique solved in the spectral domain using the Galerkin method of moments. Multifrequency operation of this antenna is demonstrated using two different configurations. Experimental data are shown to be in good agreement with predicted results. The fundamental parameters influencing the realization of multifrequency operation, as well as impedance matching of the different resonances, are studied. Lastly, the radiation patterns of the antenna at different frequencies and the relative contribution of the dipoles to the radiation are investigated     

一种基于电调移相器的可重构天线

设计并实现了一种基于反射式移相器的极化可重构天线。该天线使用一对交叉摆放的领结型振子作为辐射单元,并在馈电网络中通过两路移相器调整双馈端口间的相位差实现线极化、左旋圆极化和右旋圆极化模式之间的切换。通过加载匹配枝节的方法扩展了反射式移相器的移相范围,提高了移相器的移相精度,降低了天线圆极化模式带内的轴比。所设计天线的中心频率为5.4 GHz,在线极化模式下10 dB 阻抗带宽为990 MHz,在圆极化模式下10 dB 阻抗带宽分别为760 MHz 和850 MHz,3 dB 轴比带宽分别为510 MHz和480 MHz。该天线在频带内具有稳定的波束方向图,其平均增益为5.3 dB,并且具有27 dB 的主极化-交叉极化隔离。最终的实测结果与仿真结果基本一致,表明该天线具有良好的性能。     

Cosine pattern synthesis for single and multiple main beamuniformly spaced linear arrays

The method of cosine pattern synthesis for single- and multiple-main-beam equispaced linear arrays is introduced. The cosine pattern function is characterized by the position of the main beam in the &thetas;-domain and its half-power beamwidth. The Fourier series and Woodward-Lawson methods are applied to the special cases of single- or multiple-main-beam cosine pattern synthesis. The patterns produced by application of these classical shaped-beam synthesis methods can then be used as initial patterns for iterative and perturbational techniques. Examples are presented and discussed, including the use of multiple-main-beam cosine pattern synthesis to design a high-power, high-frequency, ground-based transmitter for the creation of an array of `wireless' ionospheric dipoles