Base-station tracking in mobile communications using a switchedparasitic antenna array

Base-station tracking in mobile communications benefits from a directional antenna and so requires direction finding technology. A novel technique for electronically directing the radiation pattern of an antenna array employs a directional array with only one active element and three parasitic elements operating near resonance. Three different methods of direction finding are assessed; a coarse angular location method, a precise angular location method assuming one incident beam, and a precise angular location method with multiple incident beams. An array with n elements, if used in conjunction with a relatively simple controller, can be used to resolve n-1 signals. This technology can be implemented using both wire and patch antenna-array elements and either linear or circular polarization can be used, lending the technology to applications in both terrestrial and satellite communications systems     

基于DDS的有源相控阵天线

有源相控阵天线不仅能提高通信系统的性能,而且还能扩充其功能,所以在通信领域的应用越来越广泛.本文介绍一种没有高频移相器的8单元有源相控阵天线系统,它由平面天线阵、数字T/R组件、接收DBF和系统控制分析软件等组成.其基本原理是在发射模式下,利用直接数字合成(DDS)代替传统的高频移相器和衰减器.由于DDS的工作频率比较低,需要通过上变频到系统所需要的工作频率(2.0GHz).在发射模式下,通过控制DDS完成发射波束形成所必需的幅度、相位加权和上变频所必需的本振信号;在接收模式下,则利用DDS技术产生接收信号下变频所必需的本振信号,然后采用DBF技术形成接收波束.文中详细介绍了基于DDS的有源相控阵天线的实现方法和实验结果.通过8单元基于DDS的有源相控阵天线系统的研究,证实了DDS技术在相控阵天线中应用的显著优点和相控阵天线在通信领域具有潜在应用市场.     

Measurement and modeling of a microwave active-patch phased arrayfor wide-angle scanning

An active antenna consisting of an integrated oscillator with a passive radiator has been arrayed and beam-scanned using a new principle for phase shifting. The radiating elements consist of a transistor oscillator whose frequency is controlled by a rectangular microstrip patch antenna. Each oscillator is injection locked to an external source. The phase control of the radiated wave is achieved by varying the bias on the transistor. Individual element performance has been characterized for potential use as an array element and is comprehensively reported. Methods used to achieve configurations with full 360° phase control have been investigated utilizing novel configurations and cascaded oscillator pairs. Close to 360° of radiated phase control from each element has been achieved. Measured results on an experimental four-element S-band array indicate that beam scanning in excess of ±60° can be achieved. Mutual coupling effects on this new form of array are studied both experimentally and theoretically. A van der Pol (1934) model for the weak coupling that is occurring on the array is developed and used to qualitatively predict the phase offsetting on array elements. Reasonable agreement between theory and experiment is obtained and it is observed that good control of the coupling mechanism is essential to array performance within this new form of active integrated phase shifterless array     

一种DBF体制卫星接收共形相控阵天线

提出了一种全数字波束合成(digital beam forming, DBF)体制卫星接收共形相控阵天线设计思路.该天线采用半球形共形阵排布方式, 阵元采用双层微带贴片天线实现宽带圆极化.在半球形的布局下, 通过判断卫星信号来波方向在球面上的投影来选择工作的阵元, 形成与来波方向一致的波束, 在全空域(—75°~75°)的仰角内可实现增益起伏小于1.5 dB的波束覆盖; 后端采用射频数字一体化设计技术, 可同时形成多个波束, 实现了一个天线跟踪多颗卫星的能力.最后加工和测试了天线样机, 验证了共形半球阵的波束形成能力.提出的天线设计思路有助于拓展数字波束体制在卫星通信中的应用, 对全空域多波束相控阵天线的研制具有指导意义.     

A Novel Mobile Antenna for Ku‐Band Satellite Communications

A mobile antenna for multimedia communications with Ku‐band geostationary satellite KOREASAT‐3 and JSAT‐2A is presented. The forward link of the satellite communication is 11.7 to 12.75 GHz, and the return link is 14.0 to 14.5 GHz. The mobile antenna is designed to be a stair structure using 24 active phased array elements in order to provide a low profile, and to be at a non‐periodic array distance using the genetic algorithm. Also, the designed antenna uses the double beam forming method for stable satellite tracking. The fabricated mobile antenna is examined using various experiments to confirm its capability for practical application. From the measured results, the fabricated mobile antenna system is confirmed to have a good performance.     

Tracking antenna architectures based on a planar two-portmicrostrip patch mixer antenna

This paper describes the behavior of a compact two-port integrated mixer active antenna element with low cross polarization, high two-port circuit isolation, and good mixer detection sensitivity. Using this element as an elemental building block, a self-tracking antenna array has been realized which uses an in-band carrier signal for self calibration. The array is relatively insensitive to absolute carrier power level and is capable of tracking incoming signals over ±80°. By minor alteration of the antenna topology, a minimum complexity variant of a heterodyne retrodirective array has been demonstrated over a ±40° retransmission angle. Finally, the use of the antenna in conjunction with an injection-locked voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is included in order to demonstrate ±35° phase-shifterless beam steering     

一种04 m机载平板动中通天线的设计

传统抛物面天线剖面高,而高速运动中的飞机需要具有低剖面特性的天线以减小其风阻。文中设计了一种Ku频段平板动中通天线,具有装机高度低、风阻小、性能优的特点。该天线阵列设计为35:1的长方形结构,大幅降低了高度。天线阵列采用高效率辐射单元,天线单元通过低损耗的带状线与波导结合形式馈电进行组阵。方位跟踪采用相控电子波束扫描技术,俯仰采用程序引导跟踪技术。测试结果表明,天线高度不超过280 mm,天线增益优于33 dB,跟踪精度误差控制在05 dB以内。     

太赫兹超材料相控阵天线波束宽度调控方法

太赫兹超材料相控阵由于其强大的波束操纵能力在探测与通信一体化系统中具有重要的应用价值。为了提升系统的通信和探测性能,需要太赫兹超材料相控阵能够实现宽波束和窄波束的灵活切换。提出了一种基于反相位间隔(反相)编码的太赫兹超材料相控阵天线波束宽度调控方法。通过天线3 dB波束宽度表达式和目标波束宽度逆推阵列规模,保持其相位编码不变并对该阵列规模外的其余阵元进行反相编码,旨在实现相位相反相消。仿真结果表明,所提方法可以准确地调控太赫兹超材料相控阵天线的波束宽度,实现宽波束和窄波束的灵活切换。     

相控阵雷达高速布相的设计与实现

随着相控阵雷达技术的发展，对波控系统的要求越来越高，特别是大尺寸天线阵面波束的快速扫描问题。本文介绍了应用双口RAM对阵面所有单元实现高速布相的方法。     

5G毫米波有源阵列封装天线技术研究

提出了一种5G毫米波有源阵列封装天线.该阵列由8×16个微带天线单元组成,通过耦合式差分馈电,天线实现了宽带匹配和方向图高度对称特性.通过对天线与芯片进行合理布局,减小了芯片射频端口到天线子阵的馈电线损,提高了有源阵列天线的整体效率.测试结果表明,该阵列天线在工作频段为24.25～27.5 GHz的等效全向辐射功率(E...     

A power-sharing multiple-beam mobile satellite in Ka band

This paper presents a new power-sharing multiple-beam mobile satellite system concept in the Ka band. A wide allocated bandwidth and a large amount of frequency reuse based on hundreds to thousands of small spot beams will allow us to draw a drastically new mobile satellite systems concept in the Ka band. At first, requirements for beam size on the surface of the Earth for various signal transmissions are considered. Based on these requirements, Ka band geostationary systems with 3.5 and 10 m satellite antennas are shown. If the number of beams is hundreds to thousands, it is not appropriate to assume a fixed power transmitter for each beam because the traffic in each beam is not uniform or static. In order to cope with this multiple-beam-varying traffic problem, this paper proposes a new type offset reflector antenna fed through an equal phase-shift active array. The proposed active array consists of hundreds to thousands of equal phase-shift elements. Features and simulated performances of the proposed transmitting antenna are presented. Preliminary experimental results from a 2.1 m reflector fed through 332 hollow elements are also shown. Since each beam commonly utilizes all active array elements, power sharing among beams is possible, allowing traffic variation among beams without loss of power efficiency     

一种低成本星载宽角扫描相控阵天线设计

设计了一种工作于X频段的星载圆极化相控阵天线。相控阵天线单元的馈电探针与连接器进行了一体化设计,消除了焊点,提高了阵面的可靠性;同时阵列单元周围加载金属腔体结构,降低了单元间的耦合,展宽了天线波束,提高了阵列的扫描增益;阵面为全金属结构,可实现相控阵的均温性与内部热量的辐射,阵面自身具有较强的空间抗辐照能力,同时也能对相控阵内部的有源器件提供良好的辐照屏蔽。相控阵有源组件和合成网络采用瓦片架构,具有轻量化和低剖面的特点。所设计相控阵天线具有±60°宽角扫描能力和4%的工作带宽。     

An affordable millimeter-wave beam-steerable antenna using interleaved planar subarrays

Design and fabrication aspects of an affordable planar beam steerable antenna array with a simple architecture are considered in this paper. Grouping the elements of a phased array into a number of partially overlapped subarrays and using a single phase shifter for each subarray, generally results in a considerable reduction in array size and manufacturing costs. However, overlapped subarrays require complicated corporate feed networks and array architectures that cannot be easily implemented using planar technologies. In this paper a novel feed network and array architecture for implementing a planar phased array of microstrip antennas is presented that enables the fabrication of low-sidelobe, compact, beam-steerable millimeter-wave arrays and facilitates integration of the RF front-end electronics with the antenna structure. This design uses a combination of series and parallel feeding schemes to achieve the desired array coefficients. The proposed approach is used to design a three-state switched-beam phased array with a scanning width of /spl plusmn/10/spl deg/. This phased array which is composed of 80 microstrip elements, achieves a gain of >20 dB, a sidelobe level of <-19 dB and a 10-dB bandwidth of >6.3% for all states of the beam. The antenna efficiency is measured at 33-36% in X band. It is shown that the proposed feeding scheme is insensitive to the mutual coupling among the elements.     

Phased array antennas for mobile communications

An antenna system including antenna elements and a tracking method is considered a key technology in mobile communication systems. A phased array antenna has been considered the most favorite candidate because of many attractive characteristics such as a low and compact profile, high-speed tracking and potentially low cost performance for vehicle antennas in mobile communications. On the other hand, it has several such disadvantages as beam steering error, loss in feed lines and an increase of noise level in a receiving frequency band. Some of phased array antennas have already been used in satellite communications, and some of them are under development. This paper overviewed basic performance and some examples of phased array antennas for especially satellite mobile communications.     

Active antenna array behavior

It has been recently demonstrated that arrays of coupled active antenna oscillating elements can be locked together by mutual radiation in order to form spatial power combining and beam steered arrays. In this paper a nonlinear coupled oscillator theory is developed which accounts for both the amplitude and phase behavior of an array of distributed coupled active antenna oscillators. In its canonical form the theory can be used to describe the behavior of any number of spatially displaced coupled elements placed in a chain. These elements can have unequal spacing and they can have arbitrary free-running oscillation frequencies. Unequal free-running amplitudes are also permitted. Experimental validation of the theory is presented for some basic cases in terms of frequency and amplitude variation under mutual injection locked conditions. In its particular form the theory developed is suited for use with recently reported active antenna imaging methods     

Electronic beam steering using switched parasitic patch elements

A new technique is presented demonstrating the use of switched parasitic elements in electronic beam steering applications. Experimental and theoretical results are presented for a linearly polarised five element steerable patch antenna array operating at 1.55 GHz. Shorted parasitic elements have been used to steer the beam in two directions for tracking polar orbiting satellites. The minimum gain of the system for elevation angles >20° above the horizon is -1.5 dBi in the forward direction     

Magneto optical technique for beam steering by ferrite based patcharrays

An improved technique is presented to scan a beam of a phased antenna array on a ferrite substrate through use of time delays instead of phase shifts provided by nonlinear transmission lines coupled to elements of the array. A coplanar transmission line loaded with a varactor diode when subjected to varied optical illumination offers bias dependent time delays to the elements of the arrays over a wide range of tunable operating frequencies at lower UHF without scan blindness effect. This method results in a broadband ferrite based phased antenna array with reduced weight, loss and complexity of the integrated system. This technique has proved to have a special application potential in case of beam steering by ferrite based microstrip antenna arrays at lower UHF (800 MHz-2 GHz)     

Active aperture-coupled leaky-wave antenna

An active aperture-coupled leaky-wave antenna which is integrated with a varactor-tuned high electron mobility transistor voltage-controlled oscillator (HEMT VCO) is presented. To excite the first higher mode of the microstrip, the aperture-coupled structure is used and a sequence of covered wire is added at the centre of this antenna to suppress the dominant mode. The measured H-plane main beam can be continuously scanned 10° as the HEMT VCO frequency is varied from 9.05 to 9.5 GHz. This feeding structure is very suitable for active phase antenna array applications     

A Novel Implementation Technique of Conical Scan Radar Using A Programmable Phased Array

In radar, planar phased array antenna plays vital role in electronic scanning in the azimuth and elevation direction to the horizon. In most operations using planar phased array both the coordinates of azimuth and elevation, are steered electronically. In this paper a conceptual schematic of a phased array antenna with programmable time delay units has been presented. It is shown that by suitably exploiting the time delay matrix one can have electronic beam rotation around the target axis as required in conical scan. Thus both the elevation and azimuth motors in conical scan system are replaced by electronic scanning. Heuristically, we have selected eight consecutive points for beam rotation in a polygon shape and can also be extended almost circular shape by increasing number of array elements and phase shifter (delays) in the delay matrix. The array requires dual control of phase gradient and individual phase values. The whole array is controlled by micro-controller. This presents exciting possibilities in radar operation.     

一种可用于相控阵的双点馈多层圆极化微带天线

设计出了一种双背馈空气夹层微带圆极化天线单元,该天线单元具有13％的阻抗带宽,最大辐射方向上轴比2．5dB。用该天线单元以顺序旋转的方式组成四元阵,再用八个该天线单元和两组一分八功分器组成八单元阵列,研究了该阵列天线圆极化波束分别指向天线阵法向和偏转30°时的辐射特性和极化特性。该天线单元组阵圆极化轴比特性好,易于实现波束扫描,适合用于有源相控阵系统。