Aperture coupled to stripline antenna element for integrated antenna arrays

A new stripline-fed aperture coupled antenna element is proposed. An additional slot in a ground plane allows achievement of efficient electromagnetic coupling with the radiating element and good return loss of the antenna fed by a stripline. The described radiating elements can be easily integrated with a feeding network designed in the most commonly used stripline technique when a large antenna array is to be developed.     

渐变巴伦馈电的超宽带天线单元及阵列研究

为了满足超宽带电子系统对天线的需求, 研究了强互耦超宽带天线单元及阵列.首先设计了能够满足强耦合线极化的天线单元, 然后研究了超宽带相控阵天线阵, 设计了10×10天线单元组成的阵列.以此为基础, 利用高频电磁场仿真软件在二维周期环境中模拟了无限大周期阵列.结果表明, 在满足尺寸约束的前提下实现了二维周期边界下超宽带阵列的功能要求, 同时, 解决了强互耦效应下超宽带无限大偶极子相控阵进行全阵列仿真耗时极多、难度极大的问题.为了解决阵列单元如何有效馈电的问题, 在分析了天线单元结构设计的基础上, 研究了渐变结构巴伦的馈电特性, 并将这种馈电结构与上述强耦合超宽带天线单元相结合, 对单元结构和馈电方式进行了优化, 实现了超宽带馈电的效果.加工了天线阵列并在微波暗室中对不同频点进行了测试, 测试结果与仿真结果吻合.从测试结果可以看出, 主平面辐射方向图在不同频点内的最大扫描角波束峰值增益均大于5 dBi, 最大达到20 dBi, 满足设计要求.说明所设计的阵列天线能够应用于实际微波系统中.     

Circularly polarized antenna array with a new sequential phase feed network utilizing directional coupler

This is a presentation of a new design of circularly polarized (CP) antenna array having a wide axial ratio (AR) bandwidth and high-gain. It uses an innovative feed network which consists of compact directional couplers and a delay line describing a new kind of sequential phase (SP) feed network. Furthermore, in this work, we report and discuss the features of the feed network and single element. In the following, the single element antenna and the 2 × 2 CP antenna array are designed, prototyped and tested. The antenna array is designed by a multilayer microstrip structure with a compact size of 75 × 52 mm². Moreover, a metal reflector is utilized to enhance the antenna gain and achieve a unidirectional radiation pattern over the operating frequency band. According to the experimental results, the CP antenna array has a return loss (RL) bandwidth of 2.42 GHz (5.83–8.25 GHz), AR bandwidth of 1.11 GHz (6.76–7.87 GHz), and peak gain of 12.15 dBic. It seems that the performance of the proposed design is admirable for C-band frequency.     

Design, optimization, and validation of a planar nine-element Quasi-Yagi antenna array for X-band applications [Antenna designer's Notebook]

A planar antenna array, based on nine identical quasi-Yagi elements, is presented in this paper. Contrary to conventional designs, the feeding network is composed of three-way power dividers, which are carefully designed in order to provide synchronized output signals over a wide frequency range. The use of spline-shaped microstrip lines suppresses coupling effects by parallel lines. Thus, signal distortions within the feeding network are minimized. Compared to conventional designs with eight elements, the additional antenna element will enhance the gain of the array, which is between 10.5 dBi and 13 dBi in the X band. The input return loss of the antenna array is below -15 dB over most parts of the relevant spectrum, with a total bandwidth of 45%. The planar antenna array is well suited as a radiating element in linear phased arrays for multifunction radars, including SAR and MTI. Additionally, the suitability of this antenna for phased-array applications is studied by an experimental setup consisting of five antenna plates.     

Low-Cost Broadband Circularly Polarized Printed Antennas and Array

This paper presents the design, simulation, and measurements of two low-cost broadband circularly polarized (CP) printed antennas: an element and an array at 2 GHz. To realize the broadband circularly polarized antenna element, a circular microstrip patch is electromagnetically coupled by crossed slots cut in the ground plane, which is fed by an L-shaped microstrip feed. Two orthogonal modes in the patch are excited by using the crossed slots, and a single L-shaped feed provides a 90deg phase shift between two orthogonal slots. The antenna element achieves a 9.6% bandwidth for an axial ratio (AR) below 3 dB and a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) below 1.5. To further improve the performance, a sequentially rotated feed network is designed for a 2 times 2 array. The axial ratio value of the array is below 3 dB within a 27.2% bandwidth, from 1.75 GHz to 2.3 GHz. The return loss is above 10 dB within a 41% bandwidth, from 1.62 GHz to 2.45 GHz. Details of the proposed antenna element and the array design are described, and both the simulation and the experimental results are presented and discussed.     

基于互耦效应的相控阵天线有源反射系数研究

建立逼真高效的互耦效应分析模型对相控阵天线设计至关重要。阵列天线的互耦效应通常可以用有源反射系数显性化表征,分别采用无限阵仿真与散射(耦合)系数综合实验相结合的方法提取了阵列天线的有源反射系数。首先基于无限阵方法设计相控阵渐变开槽天线,优化并获取无限阵列环境下的中心单元有源反射系数,再依据设计结果研制169单元阵列天线,通过实验测试提取中心单元与其它各激励单元的散射系数的幅值与相位变化,最后采用散射(耦合)系数法综合出有限大阵列的有源反射系数。无限阵仿真结果与有限阵实测结果在扫描盲点出现角度、频段、有源驻波整体趋势等方面吻合良好,从而验证了无限阵设计方法在天线工程设计中的实际效果。     

Broadband printed circularly-polarised aperture antenna array for millimetre-wave gigabit applications

A simple and successful design of a printed aperture antenna array is presented in view of high-speed millimetre-wave wireless access applications. The antenna element design is based on a broadband travelling- wave aperture antenna for circularly-polarised radiation. For the antenna array design, the sequential rotation scheme is employed for improving the co-polarised gain and axial ratio. The presented antenna array is designed in the 40?48 GHz band and implemented with a 5mil-thick RT/Duroid-5880 PCB. Promising performances are achieved, including a return loss (,10 dB) bandwidth of 32%, an axial ratio (,3 dB) bandwidth of 25%, and a co-polarised gain (flatness , 3 dB) bandwidth of 32% with a maximum gain of 11dBic.     

X-band brick wall antenna fed by CPW

A brick wall antenna fed by a coplanar waveguide is introduced. This antenna can be considered as an eleven element array of reduced size. Analysis is carried out both theoretically and experimentally. The proposed antenna is designed to work in the X-band ~9.5 GHz. The return loss, radiation pattern, and antenna gain of the proposed antenna are presented and briefly discussed. The antenna has several advantages, such as ease of fabrication, good control of input impedance, small cross polarisation level, and high directivity     

Microstrip antenna phased array with electromagnetic bandgap substrate

Uniplanar compact electromagnetic bandgap (UC-EBG) substrate has been proven to be an effective measure to reduce surface wave excitation in printed antenna geometries. This paper investigates the performance of a microstrip antenna phased array embedded in an UC-EBG substrate. The results show a reduction in mutual coupling between elements and provide a possible solution to the "blind spots" problem in phased array applications with printed elements. A novel and efficient UC-EBG array configuration is proposed. A probe fed patch antenna phased array of 7/spl times/5 elements on a high dielectric constant substrate was designed, built and tested. Simulation and measurement results show improvement in the active return loss and active pattern of the array center element. The tradeoffs used to obtain optimum performance are discussed.     

Circularly polarised microstrip antenna array using proximitycoupled feed

A 2×2 circularly polarised (CP) microstrip antenna array using a proximity coupled feed and sequential rotation is described. As compared with a previously presented single-element circularly polarised microstrip antenna with a cross-slot, the new array achieves a much wider impedance bandwidth of 11.18% and has an axial ratio bandwidth of 4.1%. The return loss, radiation patterns and axial ratio of the antenna array were measured and are presented     

Design and performance analysis of side by side,echelon and H‐shaped multiple printed dipole antennas for wireless local area network application

An array of printed dipole antennas for wireless local area network applications is designed and simulated using ads software. In MIMO system, numbers of antenna elements are used in different configuration. This paper presents the simulated results of printed dipole antennas in side by side 4‐element array, echelon and H‐shaped dipole array configurations. The designed antenna is characterized by measuring return loss, radiation pattern, directivity, and gain and also presented the simulated capacity results of different array configurations. The mutual coupling between the dipoles of different orientations is included to make simulation more realistic. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An integrated active microstrip reflectarray element with an internal amplifier

A new active microstrip reflectarray element (unit cell) with an internal microwave integrated circuit amplifier is introduced. The amplifier resides in a small slot within the footprint of the square patch antenna and is connected between the feed points for the patch's orthogonal polarizations. This element results in reduced array element spacing, reduced transmission line losses through elimination of long feed lines, and a simplified fabrication process compared to other active reflectarray unit cells. Patch geometries with several slot shapes are studied with simulations to arrive at an antenna configuration with good return loss and isolation characteristics. The stability and gain of the system are analyzed over frequency. Measured radiation pattern and gain data for a single element and a small array agree well with predictions and demonstrate the element's capabilities. Limitations of the active element, approaches to mitigate these limitations, and directions for future work are discussed.     

Disc-loaded monopole antenna array for switched beam control

Switched beam control is demonstrated using a disc-loaded monopole antenna on a finite ground plane with four parasitic elements. The beam direction can be switched by open circuiting one of the parasites. The array antenna gives a gain of 5.1 dBi at 2.45 GHz, which is more than three times that of a single element. The input return loss bandwidth is 24% and the radiated beam is elevated above the ground plane by about 500. The measured results show good agreement with simulations.     

A novel amplifying antenna array using patch-antenna couplers-design and measurement

This paper proposes a novel amplifying antenna array using the patch-antenna coupler formed by placing one or two open-ended microstrip lines (coupled lines) near and along the nonradiating edge(s) of a patch antenna. An X-band five-element array with broadside 25-dB Chebyshev radiation is demonstrated. When the input signal is fed to the center element, with most of the power radiating from the antenna, part of it is tapped to the coupled lines, amplified by an FET amplifier, and fed to the next antenna element. This process is repeated after all the antenna elements are fed with suitable power. The amplitude distribution of the fields radiated from the antennas is controlled by the coupling coefficient from the patch to the coupled line, which, in turn, is governed by the coupling length and gap between the patch and line. The measured return loss of the designed five-element array is -27 dB at the center frequency of 10 GHz with 2% 10-dB bandwidth. The radiation pattern possesses a transmitting gain of 15.9 dB, a half-power beamwidth of 17/spl deg/, and a sidelobe level of -22 dB.     

Properties of a cylindrical antenna in an infinite planar or collinear array

A solution is given for the active impedance and current distribution on a cylindrical antenna in a uniform, infinite, planar, or collinear array. The analysis is applicable to the case in which the distance in the collinear direction between the ends of adjacent elements is small. The current distribution on the collinear array is found by relating the antenna current and electric-field variation on the cylindrical surface of infinite length which contains the array. This analysis is then extended to consider a planar array. Results obtained are applicable to any combination of element length and array phasing, for arrays with or without a ground plane. Comparisons with other investigations based upon sinusoidally distributed currents reveal substantial discrepancies for some configurations.     

Two efficient algorithms for the analyses of a nonlinearly loadedantenna and antenna array in the frequency domain

In this paper, two efficient algorithms for the steady-state scattering responses of a nonlinearly loaded antenna and antenna array in the frequency domain are studied. One is the reflection algorithm (RA), and the other is the inexact Newton approach (INA). The analysis is equivalent to a nonlinear circuit problem with the circuit parameters of antenna element obtained by the moment method. This equivalent nonlinear circuit is then solved using the RA or the INA. In general, the RA is suitable to strongly nonlinearly circuit element. While the INA is suitable for multifrequency excitation. In dealing with the nonlinearly loaded antenna array, the infinite periodic structure Green's function, including the array mutual coupling effects, is applied to simplify the analysis. Both of the two algorithms are easy to be combined with the periodic Green's function to deal with the large nonlinearly loaded antenna array problem     

A new Millimeter-wave printed dipole phased array antenna using microstrip-fed coplanar stripline tee junctions

A new millimeter-wave printed twin dipole phased array antenna is developed at Ka band using a new microstrip-fed CPS tee junction, which does not require any bonding wires, air bridges, or via holes. The phased array used a piezoelectric transducer (PET) controlled tunable multitransmission line phase shifter to accomplish a progressive phase shift. A progressive phase shift of 88.8/spl deg/ is achieved with the 5 mm of perturber length when the PET has full deflection. Measured return loss of the twin dipole antenna is better than 10 dB from 29.5 to 30.35 GHz. Measured return loss of better than 15 dB is achieved from 30 to 31.5 GHz for a 1/spl times/8 phased array. The phased array antenna has a measured antenna gain of 14.4 dBi with 42/spl deg/ beam scanning and has more than 11 dB side lobe suppression across the scan.     

一种高增益缝隙定向天线设计

为实现高增益低旁瓣的定向天线,设计了一种采用介质基片集成波导实现缝隙天线阵,并在辐射缝隙两边增加扼流槽,与传统的介质基片集成波导相比,大幅增加了带宽。最后实现了一介质基片集成波导天线阵,其带宽增加了8%,实际测试表明该天线具有高增益,低旁瓣,达到了设计要求。     

64 单元X 波段高增益圆极化微带阵列天线设计

采用双层矩形贴片加切角的结构设计圆极化单元,并将其组成应用于X 波段64 单元高增益圆极化微带阵列天线。天线基板采用Taconic-TRF,介电常数4. 5,厚度0. 81mm,损耗角正切0. 0035。利用Ansoft HF-SS 软件对单元及阵列模型进行仿真优化。通过实际测试,64 单元阵列天线轴比AR<6dB 的带宽500MHz,增益达到21. 2dB,S11 <-10dB 的相对阻抗带宽达到6. 9%,天线具有良好的圆极化和阻抗匹配特性。圆极化天线具有较强的抗干扰能力,可很好地应用于电子侦察、电子对抗等领域。设计的圆极化微带阵列天线为组成更大阵列的天线以及构建相控阵天线提供了单元基础。     

Design and analysis of TX/RX dual microstrip antenna using FDTD at Ku-band

A TX/RX dual microstrip 8/spl times/4 array antenna for satellite communication is designed, fabricated and measured and its element characteristics are analysed using finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. TX/RX frequency ranges are 14.0-14.5 GHz, 11.7-12.75 GHz, respectively, and vertical and horizontal polarisations are used for TX and RX. This antenna uses microstrip direct feeding for RX and aperture coupled stripline feeding for TX and accommodates stacked elements for a high directivity and wide impedance bandwidth. FDTD gives more accurate results because of the consideration of finite structure and two imperfect ground planes. This element has a return loss below -8 and -14 dB over the TX and RX frequency ranges and a gain of 7.5 and 8.3 dBi at the centre frequency of TX and RX. Return loss below -10 and -14 dB and a gain of 21.4 and 20.0 dBi were achieved for the TX and RX array, respectively.