Design and experiment of a conical double‐ridged horn antenna for 6–18 GHz

A broadband conical double‐ridged horn (DRH) antenna with symmetrical radiation patterns, low side lobe level, and low cross polarization is presented. Experimental investigations and detailed simulations are conducted to understand its behavior and to optimize for broadband operation. Good agreement between the measurement and simulation has been achieved. The designed conical DRH antenna introduces a low voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR), which is lower than 2.3 for the frequency range of 6–18 GHz and simultaneously achieves slant polarization as well as stable far‐field radiation characteristics in the entire operating bandwidth. The common impedance exponential tapering is used at the flare section of the horn. Moreover, a new cavity back with a conical structure is used to improve the VSWR. The simulated and measured results for VSWR, far field E‐plane and H‐plane radiation patterns, and gain of the designed antenna are presented and discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2011.     

Pattern squint elimination for quad‐ridged conical and pyramidal horn antennas using bended probes

This article describes a new technique for pattern squint elimination of quad‐ridged conical and pyramidal horn antennas by introducing bended coaxial probes. Because of the phase difference and mutual coupling between vertical and horizontal polarizations, the radiation patterns of the conventional quad‐ridged conical and pyramidal horn antennas squint over a wide bandwidth. The proposed technique substantially reduces the phase difference and coupling between the two probes, so a significant improvement in the radiation patterns over the frequency band of 8–18 GHz can be achieved. The designed modified horn antennas are most suitable as a feed element in reflectors of radar systems and EMC applications. The proposed modified antennas have a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) less than 2.2 for the frequency range of 8–18 GHz. Moreover, the proposed antennas exhibit high gain, dual‐polarization performance, good isolation, low SLL, low back lobe, low cross polarization, and satisfactory far‐field radiation characteristics for the entire frequency band. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 2010.     

Design of conical DRH antennas for K and Ka frequency bands

Two conical double‐ridged horn (DRH) antennas for K and Ka frequency bands are presented. Detailed simulation and experimental investigations are conducted to understand their behaviors and optimize for broadband operation. The designed antennas were fabricated with 0.01 mm accuracy and satisfactory agreement of computer simulations and experimental results was obtained. The designed conical DRH antennas have voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) less than 2.1 and 2.2 for the frequency ranges of 18–26.5 GHz (K band) and 26.5–40 GHz (Ka band), respectively. Meanwhile, the proposed antennas exhibit low cross‐polarization, low sidelobe level, and simultaneously achieve slant polarization as well as symmetrical radiation patterns in the entire operating bandwidth. An exponential impedance tapering is used at the flare section of the horns. Moreover, a new cavity back with a conical structure is used to improve the VSWR. Numerous simulations via Ansoft HFSS and CST Microwave Studio CAD tools have been made to optimize the VSWR performance of the designed antennas. Simulation results show that the VSWR of the proposed antennas is sensitive to the probe spacing from the ridge edge and the cavity back structure. The designed conical DRH antennas are most suitable as a feed for the reflectors of radar systems and satellite applications. Results for VSWR, far‐field E‐plane and H‐plane radiation patterns, and gain of the designed antennas are presented and discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2011.     

Quad‐ridged conical horn antenna for wideband applications

This article presents a quad‐ridged conical horn antenna with high gain and low side lobe level for broadband applications. To the best of authors' knowledge, the proposed structure presented in this article is completely new. The designed antenna introduces a low VSWR, which is lower than 2.2 for the frequency range of 8–18 GHz, and simultaneously achieves high gain as well as dual‐polarizations with high isolation between the corresponding excitations. The common impedance exponential tapering is used at the flare section of the horn, and a coax to waveguide transition, namely quadruple‐ridged circular waveguide, with a conical cavity is used to improve the VSWR. The proposed antenna structure is designed and simulated by two well established packages, namely the CST microwave studio and the Ansoft HFSS, showing there is a close agreement between the results obtained by the aforementioned softwares. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009.     

High gain cylindrical dielectric resonator integrated with horn for multiband wireless applications

In this article, a multiband high gain cylindrical dielectric resonator (CDR) integrated with conical horn antenna is reported. This antenna has been designed for multiband wireless frequency applications. To enhance the gain, modified conical‐shaped horn is integrated to the CDR. The proposed antenna resonates at 2.3, 3.5, 3.9, 7.5, 9.2, and 9.95 GHz, respectively. Antenna attains measured 14.1 dBi peak gain at 10.7 GHz resonant frequency. In all the frequency bands, antenna offers more than 80% radiation efficiency. Simulated and experimental results show a commendable agreement. This antenna covers LTE services, Citizens Broadband Radio Service, WiMAX, vehicular communication, cellular communication, and radar applications.     

Radiation pattern and properties of double‐flared diagonal horn antenna

This article is concerned with analytical model for radiation pattern of a new double‐flared diagonal horn antenna using “plane wave spectra technique for 3D fields”. The double‐flared diagonal horn antenna is accomplished by adding one more set of flares in E‐ and H‐planes with equal flare angles into conventional diagonal horn. The copolarized and cross‐polarized radiation patterns in E‐, H‐, and D‐planes have been computed utilizing the analytical model and reported in the article. The parametric studies on peak cross‐polarization level have carried out. The radiation performance of double‐flared and conventional diagonal horns for same length and aperture size are also compared. It is investigated that double‐flared diagonal horn antenna posses better peak cross‐polarization level (≈?16.5 dB) in D‐plane (±45° plane) in comparison of conventional diagonal horn (≈?15.5 dB) at design frequency and retains almost circularly symmetric radiating beam at lower values of elevation angles. Also, double‐flared diagonal horn has better matches with free‐space and has slightly lower gain (≤0.5 dB) in comparison of conventional diagonal horn. The work presented here can provide useful design guidelines for development of prototypes of double‐flared diagonal horn, which may find potential application in satellite communication and imaging applications etc. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009.     

A wideband beam shaping reflector antenna using model predictive control

A novel method based on model predictive control (MPC) is presented for synthesis and optimization of a wide band reflector antenna with cosecant squared and flat‐topped radiation patterns. The proposed system is a doubly curved reflector antenna with nonlinear dynamic equation. This article investigates design and optimization of a double ridged horn reflector antenna operating within the frequency range of 8 to 18 GHz. In order to synthesize the proposed reflector antenna, MPC is used to achieve the desired radiation cosecant pattern. This method utilizes system model and tries to find the best control effort for minimizing the cost function by predicting the future behavior. The system differential equation is comprised of first and second order derivatives, so MPC can be a good solution for synthesis of a doubly reflector antenna. MPC optimizer operates based on state space model, so the proposed system is linearized in the operating range. Maximum error, the average error and side lobe level of this method for the radiation pattern of the proposed wideband antenna respectively are 1.4, 0.9, and ?20 dB. Simulation results of the radiation pattern in CST and HFSS software show that the proposed reflector antenna can be used in broadband surveillance radar systems.     

GSM filtering of horn antennas using modified double square frequency selective surface

In this work, a dual‐band frequency selective surface (FSS) is proposed to be placed perpendicularly into the apertures of horn antennas for prefiltering 900 and 1800 MHz GSM signals interfering during the signal reception, with the enhanced return loss, gain, and directivity at the desired frequencies. For this purpose, the microstrip double square loop MDSL is modified in the first stage. As for the second stage, an FSS array (2 × 2) is built up arranging the unit MDSLs in a periodic structure and finally these FSS unit arrays are fixed perpendicularly covering the aperture of a ridged horn antenna which is a part of the available radar system operating between 0.5 and 3 GHz in our laboratory, to construct an integrated module having both bandstop prefilter and horn antenna called “filtenna.” The simulated and experimental results are agreed that the proposed FSS structure attenuates GSM signals at the 900 and 1800 MHz through the high reflection and very poor transmission mechanisms meanwhile enhances return loss characteristics, radiation pattern, and gain of the horn antenna in the desired band. Thus, it can be concluded that these simple microstrip FSS structure can be effectively adapted to the horn antennas which need the GSM prefiltering.     

Quasi‐corrugated substrate integrated waveguide H‐plane horn antenna with wideband and low‐profile characteristics

A wideband H‐plane horn antenna based on quasi‐corrugated substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology with a very low profile is presented in this article. Open‐circuited microstrip stubs are applied to create electric sidewalls of the quasi‐corrugated SIW structure. The quasi‐corrugated SIW H‐plane horn antenna shows high performance and simple structure. A specify‐shaped horn aperture is utilized, so that the poor impedance matching owing to the structure restriction can be smoothened. The structure is simulated by ANSYS HFSS and a prototype is fabricated. The measured results match well with the simulated ones. An enhanced impedance bandwidth ranging from 5.3 GHz to 19 GHz (VSWR < 2.5) is achieved. The presented antenna also brings out stable radiation beam over the same frequency band.     

Low‐profile omnidirectional circularly polarized antenna based on substrate integrated waveguide technology

A substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) circularly polarized (CP) antenna with omnidirectional radiation in the azimuthal plane is proposed. The antenna consists of five identical end‐fire CP antenna elements in a pentagonal array configuration, which is loaded on a circular substrate. Each element contains an H‐plane horn antenna in SIW structure and a printed dipole antenna. Five parasitic curve elements are introduced to improve the omnidirectional property of the antenna. Combined with complementary dipoles theory and SIW technology, prototype antenna is designed, fabricated and measured. With a low profile of 0.024λ₀, the antenna has a 10‐dB return‐loss impedance bandwidth of 4.08% (2.4～2.5 GHz) and a 3‐dB axial‐ratio (AR) bandwidth of 5.76% (2.36～2.50 GHz). The antenna works well in the 2.45 GHz ISM band, with good cross‐polarization and excellent omnidirectional property.     

一种宽频带复合天线设计

针对多系统载体天线数量多的问题,提出了一种基于印刷振子结构的宽频带共口径复合天线设计方法;通过两种不同形式的印刷偶极子进行共口径设计：采用平面印刷偶极子结构完成宽带高增益线极化天线,通过宽带定向耦合器实现了天线和差方向图辐射;采用十字印刷偶极子实现低增益天线的圆极化辐射;两种天线单元印刷在同一微波介质上,通过优化天线单元布局,相对位置关系和增加金属隔离环等措施,降低天线之间的相互影响,实现共口径复合天线性能满足工程应用要求;加工了天线样机,测试结果表明线极化天线在工作频带1.2～1.8 GHz范围内和差通道电压驻波比小于1.8,和通道增益大于13.5 dBi,方位差波束零值深度小于-25 dB,圆极化天线在工作频带1.2～1.8 GHz范围内电压驻波比小于1.6,增益大于6.5 dBi,轴比小于2.5 dB,与计算结果基本一致;复合天线可以满足多种无线通信系统的需求,减少了天线数量,有效节省载体平台空间,同时具有结构简单紧凑、剖面低、易于工程实现等特点,具有广阔的应用前景。     

A coplanar‐waveguide‐fed planar integrated cavity backed slotted antenna array using TE33 mode

This short communication presents a substrate integrated waveguide planar cavity slotted antenna array. The proposed antenna array, excited in its TE₃₃ higher mode, incorporates a grounded coplanar‐waveguide (CPW) CPW‐feeding excitation mechanism. The electromagnetic energy is coupled to the air through 3 × 3 slot array etched on top metallic layer. The proposed antenna operates in the X‐band for the frequency range around the 10 to 11 GHz with resonances at 10.4 and 10.8 GHz frequencies. The proposed antenna array was fabricated and tested. Experimental results show good impedance matching with enhanced radiation characteristics, in terms of peak gain, cross‐polarization level, and low back‐radiation. The proposed antenna has the advantages of low‐footprints, lightweight, high gain, low‐cost, and ease of integration with other electronic circuits. With these characteristics, the proposed antenna array can find its applications in compact wireless digital transceivers.     

Design of a printed log‐periodic dipole array antenna with high gain for millimeter‐wave applications

In this article, a V‐band printed log‐periodic dipole array (PLPDA) antenna with high gain is proposed. The antenna prototype is designed, simulated, fabricated, and tested. Simulation results show that this antenna can operate from 42 to 82 GHz with a fractional impedance bandwidth of 64.5% covering the whole V‐band (50–75 GHz). The antenna has a measured impedance matching bandwidth that starts from 42 to beyond 65 GHz with good agreement between the experimental and simulated results. At 50 and 65 GHz, the antenna has a measured gain of 10.45 and 10.28 dBi, respectively, with a gain variation of 2.6 dBi across the measured frequency range. The antenna prototype exhibits also stable radiation patterns over the operating band. It achieves side‐lobe suppression better than 17.26 dB in the H‐plane and better than 8.95 dB in the E‐plane, respectively. In addition, the cross‐polarization component is 18.5 dB lower than the copolarization with front‐to‐back ratio lower than 24.1 dB in both E‐ and H‐planes across the desired frequency range. Based on a comparison of performance among the reported work in the literature, we can say that the proposed PLPDA antenna is a proper candidate to be used in many applications at V‐band frequency. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:185–193, 2015.     

具有匹配反馈环的微波段RFID标签天线设计

针对标签天线在RFID系统中的重要性,基于微带天线设计和电磁散射理论,设计和分析了一种具有匹配反馈环的微波段RFID标签天线。谐振频率为2.45 GHz和2.41 GHz天线的尺寸为54 mm×33 mm左右,天线显示近线性相位特性,在电压驻波比小于2的条件下天线的阻抗带宽为300 MHz。可以通过调整匹配反馈环的长度来调整天线的谐振频率,天线的增益为2.4~2.7 dBi。谐振频率为5.8 GHz的天线阻抗带宽为7%,增益为2.8~3.2 dBi,尺寸大小为20 mm×12 mm。通过仿真和测量可知,这种天线能较好地满足RFID微波段标签的要求。     

Novel broadband bow‐tie antenna with high‐gain performance using electromagnetic coupling feed

A novel broadband bow‐tie antenna with high‐gain performance throughout the operating band is proposed and investigated in this article. This folded sectorial bow‐tie antenna is fed by a Г‐shaped strip balun, and the electromagnetic coupling feed mechanism is easy to optimize the impedance matching. The study of proposed antenna performance with different geometric parameters has been conducted. The final design is fabricated and measured, and the results exhibit a good impedance bandwidth of approximately 93.3% for VSWR≤2 ranging from 1.35 to 3.71 GHz, stable gain of 8.43‐10.02 dBi, and unidirectional radiation patterns over the whole operating band. Broadband coverage, stable high‐gain performance, and the simple structure make this antenna an excellent candidate for wireless communication systems.     

Compact ultrathin linear graded index metasurface lens for beam steering and gain enhancement

In this article, designing of a low‐profile planar linear graded index metasurface (LGIMS) lens is presented. A wide‐beam steerable high‐gain low‐profile antenna is designed by placing LGIMS over microstrip patch antenna radiator at an optimum height. Direction control of the radiation pattern of the microwave radiator by using amplitude and phase modulated metasurface is achieved. The measured peak gain of 13.50 dBi at an operating frequency of 10.08 GHz with progressively beam steering characteristic and progressive enhanced gain within a large conical region of apex angle 64°. The measured maximum gain tolerance of 2.43 dB with significantly reduced side lobe level is obtained by mechanically moving the ultrathin LGIMS lens along the negative parallel radiator axis. The mechanical movement of LGIMS lens over radiator results in to beam steering up to +32°. A maximum measured gain enhancement of 8.75 dB is achieved. The positive parallel radiator axis movement of LGIMS causes gradual broadside gain enhancement with maximum gain enhancement of 1.5 dB. The measured results are in good agreement with the simulated results.     

Millimeter‐wave planar high gain SIW antenna using half elliptic radiation slots

This article reports a high gain millimeter‐wave substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) antenna using low cost printed circuit board technology. The half elliptic slots which can provide small shunt admittance, low cross polarization level and low mutual coupling are etched on the board surface of SIW as radiation slots for large array application. Design procedure for analyzing the characteristics of proposed radiation slot, the beam‐forming structure and the array antenna are presented. As examples, an 8 × 8 and a 32 × 32 SIW slot array antennas are designed and verified by experiments. Good agreements between simulation and measured results are achieved, which shows the 8 × 8 SIW slot array antenna has a gain of 20.8 dBi at 42.5 GHz, the maximum sidelobe level of 42.5 GHz E‐plane and H‐plane radiation patterns are 22.3 dB and 22.1 dB, respectively. The 32 × 32 SIW slot array antenna has a maximum measured gain of 30.05 dBi at 42.5 GHz. At 42.3 GHz, the measured antenna has a gain of 29.6 dBi and a maximum sidelobe level of 19.89 dB and 15.0 dB for the E‐plane and H‐plane radiation patterns. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:709–718, 2015.     

Dielectric‐loaded trapezoidal toothed log‐periodic antenna

In this article, dielectric‐loaded metal trapezoidal toothed log‐periodic antenna (TTLPA) is described. The dielectric material, Rogers RT/duroid 6010 (ε _r = 10.2, tan δ = 0.0023) of thickness = 5 mm and of same shape as TTLPA is placed on top of conventional metal TTLPA which provides enhanced bandwidth and/or miniaturizes its aperture size without degradation in gain. The dielectric loading increases the effective length of antenna, and therefore, extends its operating frequency towards lower frequency side which miniaturizes aperture cross‐section of antenna with slight increase in its thickness. The simulated input and radiation characteristics of TTLPA without and with dielectric loading are compared. The comparative studies show that the proposed antenna is 38.78% smaller in respect of aperture cross‐section as compared with conventional antenna having almost identical bandwidth of 8.6 GHz (2.2–10.8 GHz) and gain variation over the range 1.5–6.1 dBi. The proposed antenna of aperture size 48.9 × 48.9 mm² provides ?10 dB reflection coefficient bandwidth of 8.6 GHz (2.2–10.8 GHz) and gain variation in the range 1.3–5.7 dBi whereas the conventional antenna of same aperture size achieves somewhat reduced bandwidth of 7.6 GHz (3.2–10.8 GHz) and gain variation in the range 1.6–5.0 dBi over the operating frequency range.     

Compact wide band directional antenna using cross‐slot artificial magnetic conductor (CSAMC)

In this article a novel wide‐band artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) based wideband directional antenna is presented for ultra‐wideband (UWB) applications. The proposed novel cross‐slot AMC (CSAMC) achieves wide ±90° reflection phase bandwidth of 4.07 GHz (44.69%) and is used as a reflector. The overall antenna structure is designed with 4 × 4 CSAMC unit cell array and has very compact size of (0.584λ₀ × 0.584λ₀). The proposed structure improves the radiation properties and exhibits 91.5% (3.13‐8.41 GHz) impedance bandwidth (VSWR ≤2). Additionally, it results in significant improvement in gain and front to back ratio. The proposed antenna is fabricated and its measured performance is in good agreement with simulation results.     

Extremely low‐profile wideband dual‐polarized microstrip antenna for micro‐base‐station applications

A wideband dual‐polarized microstrip antenna is presented. By designing the coplanar parasitic patches and modified feed probes, antenna profile is decreased significantly. Shorted pins are used and 34 dB isolation between input ports is then achieved. A phase difference feed network is introduced to suppress higher‐order modes and reduce the cross polarization to ?27 dB. To verify the design, a prototype of the antenna is fabricated and experimentally studied. Measured results show that 30.3% operating bandwidth (VSWR < 1.5) and good dual linear polarization characteristics with a profile height as low as 0.08λ are achieved. Due to the very compact configuration, the proposed antenna is suitable for micro‐base‐station applications.