汽车雷达微带阵列天线设计

为提高汽车雷达性能,设计了一款汽车雷达天线,采用4×8微带阵列天线形式,设计中心频率为24.1 GHz,采用指数加权的方式设计馈电网络,以降低副瓣.在HFSS电磁仿真平台上对其进行仿真、优化.仿真结果显示天线最大增益为21.4 dBi,副瓣电平低于-15 dB,H面半功率波束宽度约为10°,在24 ～ 24.5 GHz频段性能稳定.天线整体长约70 mm,宽约36 mm,体积小.将该天线应用于汽车雷达可以探测车辆和障碍物的速度、距离、角度等信息,从而实现防撞预警、盲点侦测等功能.     

X波段的圆极化微带共形阵天线的仿真与设计

为了满足X频段机载雷达天线的指标要求,使得矩形平面天线与柱面共形,通过并联侧馈方式进行馈电。在微带共形阵天线的相关理论基础上,阵元采用介电常数2.2,厚度为0.5mm的介质基板。通过HFSS12对微带共形阵天线进行仿真设计并优化。实验结果表明,在X波段内实现了方位面的全向扫描,实测阻抗带宽为9.80-10.20GHz,最大增益可达10dB,全向辐射性能稳定,满足了指标要求。     

Wide‐angle scanning circular polarization phased array based on polarization rotation technology

A wide‐beam circular polarization (CP) antenna and a wide‐angle scanning phased array based on novel polarization rotation reflective surface (PRRS) are proposed. The CP wide‐beam pattern is obtained by the combination of the radiation wave from the patch antenna and the orthogonal reflected wave from the PRRS with a 90° phase difference. The proposed CP wide‐beam antenna obtains the patterns with the 3‐dB beamwidth more than 136° and the axial ratio (AR) beamwidth more than 132° in the xoz‐plane. Furthermore, an eight‐element phased array based on the wide‐beam CP antenna element is also developed. The measured results show that the main beam of the array can scan from ?65° to 65° with a gain fluctuation less than 3 dB and the ARs at every scanning angle less than 3 dB.     

Wideband linear microstrip array antenna with high efficiency and low side lobe level

In this letter, the design and fabrication of the linear microstrip array antenna by series fed are presented. The array antenna consists of 16 reflector slot‐strip‐foam‐inverted patch (RSSFIP) antennas. The gain and efficiency of the linear array antenna is 16.6 dBi and 61% at 10 GHz, respectively. The antenna has a bandwidth (BW) of 45% from 8.1 to 12.8 GHz (S₁₁ < ?10 dB) and side lobe level (SLL) of ?25.6 dB across the BW of 19.2% from 9.4 to 10.4 GHz. These are achieved by using a microstrip series fed with defected ground structure (DGS) to feed the patch array antenna. Good agreement is achieved between measurement and simulation results.     

Computer-aided design of a CPW-fed slot antenna for MM-wave applications

This article presents a comprehensive parametric study with experimental characterization of an inductively coupled CPW-fed slot antenna on a GaAs substrate for MMIC applications. The length, width, and feed inset of the antenna are varied and their influences on the input impedance, bandwidth, and gain are investigated. The parametric study reveals that the slot length is the prime factor for determining the resonant frequency, while the width is used for fine-tuning of resonant frequency and gain-bandwidth product. For the fixed slot dimensions, the feed inset tremendously affects both resonant frequency and input match. The manufactured antenna resonates at 22.4 GHz with a 6.1% impedance bandwidth, 2% gain bandwidth, 2.5-dBi boresight gain, and 5-dB front-to-back (F/B) radiation level. The antenna exhibits bidirectional radiation patterns with almost omnidirectional patterns in the E-plane and a wide beamwidth of 84° 3-dB beam width in the H-plane. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 14, 4–14, 2004     

基于有限元法串馈微带天线阵的设计与优化

研究毫米波段串馈微带天线阵的优化问题,阵列采用1/4阻抗变换器的幅度加权方法实现低副瓣。针对阻抗变换段与传输线之间存在不连续导致各单元相位的差异而影响副瓣电平进一步的降低,应用有限元法优化传输线的长度进行相位补偿,使各单元辐射同相谐振。仿真结果表明,优化后的方向图副瓣≤-22dB,较优化前降低了7dB,增益15.8dB,波束宽度9.6°,实现了微带阵列天线的低副瓣、高增益、窄波束的指标要求。     

Circularly polarized 4 × 8 stacked patch antenna phased array with enhanced bandwidth for commercial drones

This paper demonstrates the design procedure of a 4 × 8 phased array antenna. Initially, a unit element in multilayer topology with orthogonal slots in the ground plane to couple electromagnetic energy is designed. Then, a stacked patch with truncated edges is placed on the top thick substrate layer to enhance the bandwidth to 600 MHz. This multilayered stacked patch unit element is then used to design a 1 × 4 and 4 × 8 slot coupled stacked patch array. On the bottom side, a novel feedline structure is designed to provide a 90 ^o phase difference at the antenna feed for the circular polarization. The phase difference is achieved in the feedline structure using a quarter wavelength ( λ_g/4 ) difference in the lengths. After the numerical validation, both 1 × 4 and 4 × 8 stacked patch antenna arrays are fabricated to validate the simulations. The final 4 × 8 array achieved the target specification of an active reflection of less than ?10 dB over 2.4 to 3.0 GHz, axial ratio of less than 3 dB, and stable radiation pattern over the complete band. In addition, beam scanning characteristics of the proposed stacked patch antenna arrays are also verified. The prototype resulted a peak gain of 19.5 dB at 2.7 GHz, 3‐dB beamwidth around 12 ^o in the xz‐plane, and scanning range of 90 ^o . Overall, good agreement between measured and simulated results showed that the proposed designed array capable of providing 600 MHz is an excellent candidate for the radar communication, small commercial drones, and synthetic aperture radar applications.     

Pattern synthesis of the multimode orbital angular momentum beams based on the fruit fly optimization algorithm

The multimode orbital angular momentum (OAM) radio waves can be used to multiplex multiple transmission channels to increase the capacity of communication system without adding additional bandwidth. However, the divergence of the OAM beams and beam inconsistency escalate by increasing OAM mode number. Moreover, the worse sidelobe level (SLL) always appears along with a better convergent beam. In this article, the fruit fly optimization algorithm (FOA) is proposed to suppress the SLL in multimode OAM scenario. Based on the concentric circular array antenna (CCAA), the feeding amplitudes and the radii of the array are synthesized simultaneously to realize less than ?30 dB SLL of the multimode OAM patterns. When the main lobes with different OAM modes steered to a uniform azimuth of θ = 0° , the SLLs of these OAM modes are also suppressed to less than ?21 dB. The advantages of FOA used in the OAM pattern synthesis are verified by comparing it with the genetic algorithm (GA). The FOA‐based synthesis has a simpler implementation flow diagram which reduces the time of synthesis to 39.5% of GA.     

Ten switched‐beams with 2 × 2 series‐fed 2.4 GHz array antenna and a simple beam‐switching network

This article presents a 2 × 2 series fed 2.4 GHz patch antenna array having multiple beam switching capabilities by using two simple 3 dB/90° couplers to achieve required amplitude and phase excitations for array elements with reduced complexity, cost and size. The beam switching performance with consistent gain and low side lobe levels (SLL) is achieved by exciting the array elements from orthogonally placed thin quarter‐wave (λ_g/4) feeds. The implemented array is capable to generate ten (10) switched‐beams in 2‐D space when series fed elements are excited from respective ports through 3 dB quadrature couplers. The dual polarized characteristics of presented array provide intrinsic interport isolation between perpendicularly placed ports through polarization diversity to achieve independent beam switching capabilities for intended directions. The implemented antenna array on 1.575 mm thick low loss (tan δ = 0.003) NH9450 substrate with ε_r = 4.5 ± 0.10 provides 10 dB return loss impedance bandwidth of more than 50 MHz. The measured beam switching loss is around 0.8 dB for beams switched at θ = ±20°, Ф = 0°, 90°, and 45° with average peak gain of 9.5 dBi and SLL ≤ ?10 dB in all cases. The novelty of this work is the capability of generating ten dual polarized switched‐beams by using only two 3 dB/90° couplers as beam controllers.     

Pattern synthesize of a cylindrical conformal array antenna by PSO algorithm

Pattern synthesize of conformal array antennas is often a challenging problem. Various optimization algorithms such as genetic, particle swarm optimization (PSO), and invasive weed optimization have already been used for pattern synthesizing of conformal arrays. In this paper, a focused beam is synthesized for a quarter cylindrical conformal array antenna using the PSO algorithm with small computations. The desired pattern is a focused beam at θ = 90° and ? = 45° with 10° beamwidth in elevation and 15° beamwidth in azimuth with ?20 dB side‐lobe level. This method can be used in general for synthesizing arbitrary desired patterns and array geometries.     

High‐gain magnetic‐dipole quasi‐Yagi antenna using higher‐order‐mode dielectric resonator with near‐zero‐index metamaterial

For the first time, the rectangular dielectric resonator (DR) operating in higher‐order TE_3δ1 mode is investigated and used as a magnetic‐dipole driver to design quasi‐Yagi antenna with high gain. For further enhancing the antenna gain, a near‐zero‐index (NZI) metamaterial (NZIM) is proposed instead of the traditional directors and put in the front of DR driver. It is a simple structure and composed of a set of the parallel metallic lines printed on a substrate along the end‐fire direction. Benefiting from the higher‐order mode operation of the DR and NZIM, the realized gain of the proposed antenna can reach 10.3 dBi, including the gain improvement of 2 dBi resulting from the employed NZIM. To verify the design concept, the prototype of quasi‐Yagi DR antenna with NZIM is fabricated and characterized. The measured results agree very well with the simulated results.     

Metamaterial covered modified antipodal Vivaldi antenna with lens

In order to obtain a narrower half power beamwidth (HPBW) and a higher antenna gain in a wide frequency band, metamaterial layers and constant refracting-index lens are used to optimize the antenna performance in this article. The proposed metamaterial covered modified antipodal Vivaldi antenna with lens (M-MAVA with lens) has an operating frequency band of 1–8 GHz, and the maximize gain here is 18.81 dBi at 8 GHz, which increase about 9 dB. The HPBW in the entire frequency range is decreased significantly. Beyond this, the simulation results are in good accordance with the measurements. Based on these characteristics, the proposed M-MAVA with lens has an application in optimizing the structure of ground penetrating radar, microwave imaging, UAV countermeasures system and other system which need the good radiation gain and directivity.     

High gain substrate integrated waveguide beam scanning antenna with sub‐array elements

A method to enhance the gain of substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) beam scanning antenna is proposed in this article. 2 × 2 SIW cavity‐backed sub‐arrays are employed in array design. The antenna is constructed on two layers. The top layer places four SIW cavity‐backed sub‐arrays as radiating elements and the bottom layer is an SIW transmission line to feed the sub‐arrays. Beam scanning feature can be obtained due to the frequency dispersion. Moreover, through separating radiators to the other layer and using 2 × 2 SIW cavity‐backed sub‐arrays as radiating parts, the antenna gain is improved significantly. For a linear array, 4.1 to 6.8 dB gain enhancement is achieved compared to a conventional SIW beam scanning antenna with the same length. Then, the linear array is expanded to form a planar array for further gain improvement. A 64‐element planar beam scanning array is designed, fabricated, and tested. Experimental results show that the proposed planar array has a bandwidth from 18.5 GHz to 21. 5 GHz with beam scanning angle from ?5° to 11.5° and gain in the range of 20.5 to 21.8 dBi. The proposed high gain beam scanning antennas have potential applications in radar detection and imaging.     

Design of a broadband dielectric resonator antenna and its application in low sensitivity frequency beam‐scanning array with wide scanning angle and suppressed sidelobes

In this paper, a broadband dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) with a simple H‐slot feeding structure is proposed. The broad bandwidth (~45%) and uni‐directional radiation enable this DRA suitable to work as a radiation element in the construction of a beam‐scanning array with not only low frequency sensitivity which is important for accurate angle estimation of in‐coming targets, but also a wide scanning range. Moreover, stable coupling coefficients are established around all the above three resonances with respect to its corresponding feeding line, ensuring a low sidelobe level (SLL) across the whole operating frequency range. In order to realize such a DRA, a latticed rectangular structure is utilized to generate the lower two resonances, while the upper resonance is generated by its H‐shaped feeding slot. The shape of the latticed dielectric resonator is also modified according to a 3‐D printed fixing structure for an accurate installation. A 20‐element beam‐scanning prototype is demonstrated and manufactured. The range of scanning angle is from ?36° to +13° within the bandwidth of 10 to 16 GHz, corresponding to a frequency sensitivity of only 122.5 MHz/^o. The achieved SLL are smaller than 19 dB for all scanning beams. The above performance indicates that, this array is very suitable for near‐range radar systems requiring an accurate angle estimation.     

一种高增益宽频带圆极化微带阵列天线的研制

针对微带天线阻抗匹配带宽一般较窄的自身缺陷,基于相控阵雷达天线的应用背景,设计了一种工作在X波段的双层圆极化微带天线结构,且优化发现,其各电磁参数良好。为提高其增益,还在此基础上设计并最终制作了双层2×2结构的微带天线阵列,其实测性能与设计值相符,增益达到10.7dB,带宽1.2GHz,相应轴比为4dB,符合圆极化要求。     

Pattern synthesis of time‐modulated conformal arrays by an improved differential evolution algorithm

In this article, an improved differential evolution algorithm (IDE) based on two different colonies is proposed and applied to time‐modulated conformal arrays syntheses. The whole population of IDE is divided into two parts. The one part searches the solution globally while the other searches the neighborhood of the solution provided by the previous one. Benchmark functions are provided to testify IDE. Furthermore, IDE is applied to synthetize sum‐difference patterns with a 1 × 16 elements time‐modulated circular array and low sidelobe level (SLL) patterns with an 8 × 12 elements time‐modulated cone array. After optimization, the sideband level (SBL) of the circular array at the first sideband frequency is ?1.00 dB. The SLL and SBL at the first sideband frequency of the cone array are lower than ?30.00 and ?20.00 dB, respectively. Experiment results verify the superior performance of IDE. Moreover, to accelerate the computation speed, graphics processing unit parallel computing technique is introduced into pattern synthesis and the acceleration ratios of more than 23 times can be achieved. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 24:697–705, 2014.     

Circular antenna array synthesis using firefly algorithm

In this article, the design of circular antenna arrays (CAAs) and concentric circular antenna arrays (CCAAs) of isotropic radiators with optimum side lobe level (SLL) reduction is studied. The newly proposed global evolutionary optimization method; namely, the firefly algorithm (FA) is used to determine an optimum set of weights and positions for CAAs, and an optimum set of weights for CCAAs, that provides a radiation pattern with optimum SLL reduction with the constraint of a fixed major lobe beamwidth. The FA represents a new algorithm for optimization problems in electromagnetics. It is shown that the FA results provide a SLL reduction that is better than that obtained using well‐known algorithms, like the particle swarm optimization, genetic algorithm (GA), and evolutionary programming. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 24:139–146, 2014.     

Design of miniaturized D‐band dual‐polarized dipole base station antenna based on coupling feeding

This article designs a coupling feeding miniaturized base station antenna. This base station antenna works in D‐band (2500‐2700 MHz). By introducing a bending structure to increase the current path of the dipole, the overall size of the dipole antenna can be reduced. The final design of antenna element size is only 36.8 × 36.8 mm² (0.32 × 0.32λ²). The simulation results show that the return loss of the two ports is greater than 23 dB, the isolation between the two ports is greater than 29 dB, the half‐power beamwidth of the antenna is 63° ± 1.5°, and the gain is greater than 9 dBi. The physical processing and simulation results are basically consistent, which prove the practicability of the dipole antenna. A broadband dipole antenna and this antenna are selected for array analysis. When it works in D‐band, the isolation of the antenna element designed in this article is better than that of the broadband dipole antenna.     

Planar antenna beam deflection using low‐loss metamaterial for future 5G applications

A method to tilt the beam of a planar antenna in the E‐plane is demonstrated by implementing a metamaterial (MM) structure onto the antenna substrate at the fifth‐generation (5G) band of 3.5 GHz. The beam tilting is achieved due to the phase change that occurs when the electromagnetic (EM) wave traverses through two media with different refractive indices. A new adjacent square‐shaped resonator (ASSR) structure is proposed to achieve the beam tilting in a dipole antenna. This structure provides a very low loss of ?0.2 dB at 3.17 GHz. The simulation and measurement results illustrate that the radiation beam of the dipole antenna is tilted by +25° and ?24° depending on the position of the ASSR array onto the dipole antenna substrate. In addition, no degradation in the gain is observed as in the conventional beam‐tilting methods; in fact, gain enhancement values of 3 dB (positive deflection) and 2.7 dB (negative deflection) are obtained compared with that of a dipole antenna with no ASSR array. The reflection coefficient of the dipole antenna with ASSR array has a good agreement with that of the dipole antenna with no ASSR array. The measured results agree well with the simulated ones.     

一种具有宽带双极化低散射特征的微带阵列天线

针对阵列天线宽带散射缩减设计进行研究,设计了一种基于无源对消技术的低散射阵列天线,该新型微带阵列天线在宽频带内具有双极化低雷达散射截面（RCS, Radar Cross Section）性能;对基于两种散射性能不同的单元组成阵列的RCS性能进行了理论研究,进行了单元的散射幅度和相位对阵列RCS的影响分析;提出了一种加载T型缝隙的新型微带天线结构,该单元结构的辐射性能与散射性能能够进行独立调控和综合优化,该单元与传统微带贴片单元具有相似的辐射特性,并可在宽频带（带内和带外）内与传统微带单元产生有效相位差;将传统微带单元和加载T型缝隙的新型微带单元组成4×4阵列天线,仿真结果表明,提出的阵列天线在3GHz～7GHz（相对带宽80%）频带内实现了同极化RCS缩减,在3.3GHz～7GHz（相对带宽71.8%）频带内实现了交叉极化RCS缩减,缩减峰值分别为16.3dB和36.3dB,带内RCS缩减均值分别为14.1dB 和17.6dB;与传统微带阵列天线相比,提出的阵列天线增益下降小于0.1dB;提出的微带阵列天线具有高效率辐射和宽频带双极化低散射性能,为低散射阵列天线设计提供了新的思路。