Radiation properties of parabolic torus reflector

General radiation-pattern formulas for a torus reflector antenna have been developed using physical optics. These expressions are valid at arbitrary feed locations not only within the primary focal arc but also for beam scanning with squinted feed horn illuminations. Numerical results were obtained at 22 GHz for an experimental 1.25 m×2.5 m torus reflector in both elevational beam scanning and extended azimuthal scanning outside the primary ±15° field of view. An elevation scanning range of 7° showed only a 1 dB gain reduction. The 20° azimuth beam (i.e. 5° extended azimuth scanning) showed a 1.4 dB gain reduction. Comparison between calculated and measured patterns showed agreement in beamwidth and most pattern features. The discrepancy between calculated and measured sidelobe levels in the azimuthal plane is attributed to imperfection enhancement by the horizontal oversize of the reflector     

High aperture efficiency symmetric reflector antennas with up to60° field of view

A microwave single-reflector scanning antenna derived from an ellipse (rather than the usual parabola) which gives a much greater field of view is presented. This reflector combines reasonable scanning in one plane with good focusing in the other, and its scanning ability is superior to the torus and other single reflectors because it has much greater aperture efficiency and is thus smaller while having the same performance. The reflector surface is derived in two steps: a fourth-order even polynomial profile curve in the scan plane is found using least squares to minimize the scanned ray errors; then even polynomial terms in x and y that minimize astigmatism for both the unscanned and maximally scanned beams are added to form the three-dimensional surface. Numerical simulations of radiation patterns for a variety of antenna diameter and field-of-view cases give excellent results. The 60° scan case with 30-λ-diameter aperture has only 0.2-dB peak gain deviation from ideal and first sidelobe levels below 14 dB down from peak gain. The 17°, 500-λ case has only 0.8-dB gain variation and -14 to -11 dB sidelobe levels for approximately ±68 beamwidths of scan, with focal length to aperture diameter ratio equal to about one     

Preliminary study on offset scan-corrected reflector antenna system

Preliminary study on offset shaped dual reflector antenna systems has been carried out to assess the feasibility for multibeam satellite applications. The two-dimensional offset shaped reflector antenna geometry is generated by first creating the nodal points according to a bifocal condition and then connecting the nodal points by smooth curves to form the profiles of the main and subreflectors. The three-dimensional geometry is created by body revolution. The offset geometry is obtained by properly tailoring the three-dimensional geometry. This offset shaped reflector antenna system has an inherent astigmatism which can be either fully or partially compensated. For applications requiring a scan range in azimuth more thanpm 5beamwidths, the offset shaped dual reflector antenna systems offer better scan performance (in terms of peak gains) than offset Cassegrain geometries at the expense of the performance of the on-axis beams. In elevation with a 16 beamwidth scan range, the shaped design provides 0.3 dB less scan loss than the Cassegrain design.     

一种Ku波段混合馈电频扫天线阵设计

研制了一种俯仰向波束固定,方位向频扫的Ku波段频扫平面天线阵.采用双层微带结构获得带宽约18%的宽带微带贴片天线作为阵列单元.天线阵俯仰向采用微带功分器及该种天线单元组成线阵.方位向为实现波束较大范围的频扫能力, 并提高天线阵的工作效率采用波导慢波线缝隙与线阵微带线电磁耦合结构进行馈电.在采用HFSS软件完成仿真设计的基础上,加工并测试了一套12×40规模的天线阵,结果表明该天线阵在工作频段内驻波比优于1.5,波束扫描范围大于80, 副瓣电平优于-20 dB,除中心频点外,增益大于26.5 dB.     

用于空间功率合成的线阵馈电焦散抛物曲面天线

提出了一种用于空间功率合成的焦散抛物曲面天线,该反射面天线是由xoz平面的一条抛物线沿着yoz平面上的另一条抛物线正交扫描所形成的,天线用8单元E面喇叭线阵进行偏馈。研究了天线的反射面结构参数对天线性能的影响以及横向偏焦电扫描特性,给出了不同辐射方向下阵列的相位配置公式。仿真和实验结果表明:提出的方案可以在给定方向合成高增益波束,与同样线阵馈电的抛物柱面天线相比,H面3dB波束宽度从8.2°下降到了5°,天线增益提高了2.2dB.     

五波束抛物环面天线

本文首先给出了抛物环面天线的辐射场公式,然后利用给出的公式设计和研制出一个90角域的五波束抛物环面天线,并示出了该天线五个波束的测试方向图和中心波束的计算方向图,计算值和测量值吻合很好。最后,还介绍了中心波束和边缘波束的增益测量值。     

Pattern synthesis of the offset reflector antenna system with lesscomplicated phased array feed

The performance degradation of an offset reflector antenna with off-axis scanning feed and distorted reflector surface can be improved by using a phased array feed. Generally, both analog attenuators and phase shifters are used in phased array feed. Yet, it seems to make the feed system very complicated. In this paper, a phase-only gradient search (POGS) algorithm is developed to optimize the performance of offset reflector antenna systems using phased array feed that is equipped with phase shifters only. This technique not only can greatly simplify the complexity of phased array feed, but also can provide the reflector antenna with better antenna gain and sidelobe level control capability. Simulation and experimental results are presented to illustrate the excellent performance of offset reflector, with limited beam scanning capability, can be obtained by using this less complicated phased array feed     

A scanning reflector using an off-axis space-fed phased-array feed

An architecture for a scanning reflector antenna that supports wide-angle scanning, multioctave tunable bandwidths, transmit and receive operation, and monopulse processing is presented. It consists of a parabolic dish with an offset phased array. The array is actually a feed-through lens fed from a small feed array in the back of the lens. Beam steering is accomplished by using the feed array to illuminate clusters of elements within the lens that correspond to far-field beam positions. The evolution of the architecture and a computer model is described. Simulated and measured performance results are reported. Off-axis scanning of 10° to 15° appears to be possible while still supporting gain magnifications of four to five     

Development of a 45 GHz multiple-beam antenna for militarysatellite communications

Design and experimental results of a wide-angle coverage 45 GHz multiple-beam antenna for military satellite communications are presented in this paper. The high-gain spot beams with low sidelobe levels and efficient adjacent beam overlap are generated by employing an offset parabolic reflector with overlapping feed clusters. The beam shape can be adapted to cancel either single- or multiple-jammers by varying excitations within the feed cluster corresponding to the beam. Development of antenna components including Potter horn, polarizer, phase-amplitude controller, and beamforming network is discussed. Measured results of the demonstration antenna have shown that sidelobe and crosspolar levels of better than -25 dB are achieved for beams scanned over an eight-degree diameter circular coverage region. The adapted patterns of the antenna agree well with the computations, and null depths of better than 30 dB have been realized over a 4.5% bandwidth     

基于均匀介质球透镜的二维扫描天线

在球透镜仅实现一维扫描的基础上,通过在另一维上平行放置多层馈源的方式,实现了二维同时扫描。基于坐标变换和GO/PO方法推导了馈源偏移量和波束指向角之间的关系式。该天线由一个均匀介质球透镜和多层平面馈源天线组成。通过同一层上的TSA(渐变缝隙天线)单元之间的切换实现水平面的扫描,而通过不同层上TSA单元之间的切换实现垂直面的扫描。作为在毫米波段的一个应用,研制了一个Ka波段用8×2的TSA单元阵馈电的天线实物。实测结果表明它可以在水平面和垂直面分别达到128°和30°的覆盖。     

毫米波车地通信的小型化波导螺旋阵列天线设计

高速磁浮列车毫米波车地通信系统要求其车载天线具有小型化、宽频带、圆极化和辐射扇形波束等特点。为更好地满足这些要求,设计一种中心馈电的小型化波导螺旋阵列天线。该天线馈电系统采用同轴波导中心馈电、4路矩形波导并馈的形式,通过改变馈电波导尺寸、耦合探针长度以及末端采用波导同轴转换器等形式,实现了所有单元的等幅馈电;天线单元由低剖面螺旋天线构成,采用顺序旋转技术改善天线的圆极化性能。利用全波电磁仿真软件设计了一款中心频率为38 GHz的28单元波导螺旋阵列天线,并进行了实验测试。测试结果表明：在37~39 GHz频带范围内,天线驻波比小于1.41,增益大于21.7 dB,轴比小于3.6 dB,俯仰面波瓣宽度为4.5°~4.7°,方位面波瓣宽度为29°~29.7°,满足毫米波车地通信系统车载天线的设计需求。     

基于基片集成波导的Ka波段毫米波缝隙天线设计

本文总结了由基片集成波导(SIW)设计缝隙天线的一般方法,并设计了一款 8×8 SIW 缝隙天线阵列。 该天线主要由SIW 馈电网络、缝隙阵列和微带线至SIW 转换器三部分构成。 利用泰勒分布函数控制阵列的馈电幅度以及缝隙的偏置距离,从而有效地控制了阵列在方位面和俯仰面的旁瓣电平。 实验结果表明,该天线在 33. 30 GHz ~ 36. 54 GHz 的频带范围内 S11 幅值小于-10 dB,相对带宽为 9. 3%。 天线最大增益为 18. 56 dB,H 面副瓣电平小于-20 dB,E 面副瓣电平小于-18 dB。 该天线剖面低,易于共形,在机载、弹载等场景中有较好的应用前景。     

A comparison among 1-, 3-, and 7-horn feeds for a 37-beam MBA

A very common multiple beam antenna (MBA) configuration consists of a collimating device illuminated by an array of feeds. The collimating device is usually a reflector or a lens. The feeds are usually horn antennas with a circular aperture. The reflector is usually offset-fed to eliminate aperture blockage; the lens is center fed. The antenna's feeds are excited to produce a finite number of beams, so as to provide contiguous coverage of the field of view. The designer is forced to minimize the angular spacing between adjacent beams in order to maximize the minimum gain over the antenna's field of view. On the other hand, the feed horn's aperture gain is maximized when the feed horn spacing and its aperture diameter are equal. This results in antenna efficiency of the order of 30% when a single feed horn is excited to produce a beam. When a cluster of 3 or 7 adjacent feed horns are excited to produce a single beam, antenna efficiency can be increased to 50%. When it is tolerable, several identical antenna apertures can be used to replace a single aperture configuration. In this case, each of M apertures produces approximately N/M beams of an MBA that produces N beams. Horns producing adjacent beams do not illuminate the same aperture. This permits the use of a much larger horn aperture for a given beam spacing. This results in reduced spillover, higher gain of each beam, and increased antenna efficiency of each aperture. This paper investigates the maximization of gain for several lens antennas. It shows that antenna gain is increased as its focal length is decreased. That is, a focal length-to-diameter ratio (F/D) less than 1 is preferred     

Imaging in a Gregorian antenna from 12 to 30 GHz

A Gregorian antenna with the main reflector illuminated by magnified image of a small horn aperture was built and tested from 12 to 30 GHz. The image is approximately frequency-independent, and the main reflector is illuminated with negligible spillover. Polarization distortion caused by aberration is very small, in excellent agreement with a simple expression derived previously by the author (ibid., March 1987). Spatial filtering by the subreflector causes the far-field sidelobes in the principal plane orthogonal to the symmetry plane to be very low, about 80 dB below the main beam at 16.5 GHz for angles from the axis that are greater than 20°     

Wide-scan spherical-lens antennas for automotive radars

A new approach to wide scan-angle antennas at millimeter-wave frequencies is introduced with special focus on ease of manufacturing and reliability. The system is composed of planar feed antennas (tapered-slot antennas), which are positioned around a homogeneous spherical Teflon lens. Beam scanning can be achieved by switching between the antenna elements. The spherical-lens system is analyzed through a combined ray-optics/diffraction method. It is found that a maximum efficiency of 50%-55% can be achieved using Teflon, Rexolite, or quartz lenses. The efficiency includes taper, spillover, and reflection loss. Calculations also indicate that the maximum lens diameter is 30-40 λ₀, which results in a maximum directivity of 39.5-42 dB. Measurements done on a single-element feed and a 5-cm Teflon lens agree very well with theory and result in a 3-dB beamwidth of 5.5° and better than -20-dB sidelobe levels at 77 GHz. Absolute gain measurements show a system efficiency of 46%-48% (including dielectric loss). A 23- and 33-element antenna array with a scan angle of ±90° and a -3.5- and -6-dB crossover, respectively, in the far-field patterns was also demonstrated. The 23-element array resulted in virtually no gain loss over the entire 90° scan angle. This represents, to our knowledge, the first wide scan-angle antenna at millimeter-wave frequencies     

基于Zernike多项式的单偏置反射面天线赋形设计

研究了一种用Zernike多项式表示反射面,通过目标函数优化天线指标的反射面天线赋形方法。通过加入第一零深到目标函数中改进原目标函数,消除方向图变异。分析了Zernike阶数n=4时Zernike曲面与单偏置抛物面之间的误差。运用此方法设计了一款反射面天线:频率为9.5GHz-10.5GHz,增益≥41dB,水平波束副瓣电平≤-30dB(±10°内),≤-35dB(±10°外),俯仰波束在-35°到+30°范围内,相对增益小于目标包络线。     

Scanning capabilities of large parabolic cylinder reflector antennas with phased-array feeds

Two methods of scanning large parabolic cylinder antennas are examined: one method moves a small array across the focal plane to form a scanning beam; the other method employs a larger stationary array which is capable of electronically scanning the beam. With conventional single-element feeds, the maximum possible scan angle decreases with increasing reflector size. With array feeds, however, the scan limits are shown to be independent of reflector size and antenna gain. Antennas with movable array feeds are found to have high performance (high gain and low sidelobes) even when scanned more than ten degrees off axis; antennas with stationary array feeds degrade rapidly beyond about one degree of scan because of aperture blockage. Off-axis designs which eliminate the aperture blockage are shown to extend the coverage of antennas with stationary feeds to aboutpm 5degrees.     

Optimum tilt for elevation-scanned phased arrays

It is shown that, subject to certain restrictions, the optimum tilt angle can be calculated as a function of only the highest beam elevation angle. The term optimum means the condition that the antenna gain at the horizon is maximum. The restrictions are that the antenna be operated outside the grating-lobe regime for all required scan angles and that scan angles greater than 60° off broadside by avoided to allow useful operation of the radar system (considering antenna impedance match, sidelobes, gain, and beam width). It is assumed that the antenna, in principle, can be impedance matched to any elevation angle, leaving the match at broadside as a special case, without particular advantages. The results indicate that for most practical requirements (high-beam elevation between 45° and 70 °) the optimum tilt angle should be around 20° to 30°     

Millimeter-wave double-dipole antennas for high-gain integratedreflector illumination

A double-dipole antenna backed by a ground plane has been fabricated for submillimeter wavelengths. The double-dipole antenna is integrated on a thin dielectric membrane with a planar detector at its center. Measured feed patterns at 246 GHz agree well with theory and demonstrate a rotationally symmetric pattern with high coupling efficiency to Gaussian beams. The input impedance is around 50 Ω and will match well to a Schottky diode or SIS detector. The double-dipole antenna served as the feed for a small machined parabolic reflector. The integrated reflector had a measured gain of 37 dB at 119 μm. This makes the double-dipole antenna ideally suited as a feed for high-resolution tracking or for long-focal-length Cassegrain antenna systems     

Peak gain of a Cassegrain antenna with secondary position adjustment

For an enclosed Cassegrain antenna, the loss of peak gain and beam deviation due to structural deformations of the primary reflector and rigid body displacements of the secondary reflector and of the feed are computed from the combined changes in the radio frequency (RF) path length. As the antenna moves in elevation, the position of the secondary reflector may be adjusted mechanically to minimize the loss of peak gain; a general method for the computation of the magnitude of such adjustments and of their effects on the gain and pointing of the system is presented. Numerical results are obtained for a particular case of a 45-ft diameter antenna designed for operation at 95.5 GHz RF for which the computed peak gain of the antenna varies significantly with the elevation angle. The results indicate that the loss of peak gain as the antenna moves in elevation can be substantially reduced by mechanical adjustment of the position of the secondary reflector.