A high aperture efficiency, wide-angle scanning offset reflectorantenna

A unique single offset reflector antenna has been designed which provides as much as ±30° of scanning in azimuth while maintaining a much higher aperture efficiency than a torus antenna. Like a torus antenna, different portions of the reflector are illuminated for each scanned beam. The reflector profile curve in the plane of scan is found by least squares to minimize the error for the beams with the greatest scan angle, and then polynomial terms of up to sixth order which minimize nonplanar phase errors are added to produce a three-dimensional reflector surface. Numerical simulation indicates very good results for all 0.5° beams in the ±30° azimuth field of view, with peak gain no more than 0.3 dB below ideal and highest side-lobe levels no worse than 13.3 dB below the peak gain. Additionally, comparable performance can be extended to the elevation plane out to 15°/-30°, although full azimuth performance becomes compromised at extreme elevation scan angles. By using an offset design, there is no blockage of the outgoing beam by the feed array assembly for azimuth scanning. With better feed performance than comparably sized paraboloids, and being more compact than similar torus reflectors, this novel antenna should find numerous uses in spacecraft and terrestrial applications     

High-power steerable short-wave antennas

The theoretical study and model measurements on a high-power, steerable shortwave antenna covers a spherical reflector, a parabolic reflector, and a log-periodic switch-steerable-type antenna. The scale modeling facilities are described and the modeling results are presented. The spherical reflector gives reasonable good azimuth and elevation steering over the shortwave band from 5.8 MHz to 27 MHz. The parabolic reflector gives good azimuth steering, with higher gain but no vertical steering. The log periodic antenna provides a high-gain switch-steerable antenna suitable for over-the-horizon radar detection     

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.     

单脉冲天线的副面散射特性

本文研究修正卡氏单脉冲天线的副面散射特性。首先给出计算和、差散射场的表示式,其次给出天线直径为60左右的副面散射特性的计算结果及实测结果。本文的主要目的是通过副面散射特性的分析,说明通常单脉冲卡氏天线采用镜面修正技术可提高天线和效率和次级差波瓣斜率。同时给出天线实测结果。     

Electronically steerable Yagi-Uda microstrip patch antenna array

This paper describes a dual-frequency circularly polarized electronically steerable microstrip patch antenna array suitable for land-mobile communications. Based on a four-element Yagi-Uda (1928) patch antenna, the four antennas forming the array are located radially from a single square reflector patch on a double-sided printed circuit board. The main lobe of the array covers the elevation angles from 20 to 70° with a peak gain of 8.4 dBi at 1.54 GHz and 11.7 dBi at 1.62 GHz. Full azimuthal coverage is possible by electronically switching between the four elements     

一种低成本的雷达诱饵辐射器

通过用表面电流法计算和实验发现:文中的2种圆锥形反射面天线可分别产生有效口径的半功率宽度较宽的、增益不低的扇形波束和针状波束;同时.较大的制造公差对2种圆锥形反射面天线的特性的影响不大.2种圆锥形反射面天线适合用作雷达诱饵辐射器,具有其他产生相同形状波束的天线所不具备的易于加工、成本极低的优点.     

Large-aperture expandable truss microwave antenna

A space erectable truss antenna concept capable of deploying a rigid, lightweight (0.1 lb/ft²of aperture), parabolic reflector from 5 to 300 feet in diameter is discussed. A three-dimensional spring-loaded truss retracts into three optional packaging configurations, such that, a 100-foot diameter antenna can be packaged into a 10-foot payload envelope. Depth of the deployed antenna truss reduces thermal distortion enabling surface tolerance-to-diameter ratios less than2 times 10^{-4}to be achieved over the orbit. While the deployment is completely automatic, all functions can be supported by an astronaut. RF tests have been conducted on a 6-foot working model at 15 GHz with a peak gain frequency projected at 30 GHz.     

A satellite-tracking K- and Ka-band mobile vehicleantenna system

This paper describes the development of the K- and K_a-band, satellite-tracking mobile-vehicular antenna system for NASA's ACTS Mobile Terminal (AMT) project. ACTS is NASA's Advanced Communications Technology Satellite, which will be launched into its geostationary orbit in September 1993. The AMT task will make the first experimental use of the satellite soon after the satellite is operational, to demonstrate mobile communications via the satellite from a van on the road. The AMT antenna system consists of a mechanically steered small reflector antenna that uses a shared aperture for both frequency bands and fits under a radome of 23 cm diameter and 10 cm height, and an antenna controller that tracks the satellite as the vehicle moves about. The RF and mechanical characteristics of the antenna and the antenna tracking control system are discussed. Laboratory measurements of the antenna performance are presented     

用PTD分析双弯曲反射面天线形变和穿孔的辐射特性

该文根据模型反射面天线的爆炸实验测试结果建立了反射面天线形变的数学模型,应用物理光学(P0)法和物理绕射(PTD)理论计钟:了一种赋形反射面天线形变后的辐射特性,同时还计算了反射面天线表面被爆炸破片穿孔后的辐射特性,结果表明,由于反射面的局部形变,直接导致辐射方向图的恶化,并且随着形变部分面积的增大,水平面的副瓣抬高很大,穿孔也会使水平面的副瓣抬高。     

G/T maximization of a paraboloidal reflector fed by a dipole-diskantenna with ring by using the multiple-reflection approach and themoment method

A 1.8-m paraboloidal reflector fed by a dipole-disk antenna with a beamforming ring is optimized for high G/T at L-band by using the moment method (MM) and the multiple reflection (MR) approach. The MR approach is based on using MM to calculate the radiation and scattering patterns of the feed, using physical optics plus uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) to include the reflector, and in addition to include the mutual interaction (multiple reflections) between the reflector and the feed by using the expression for the sum of an infinite geometric series. The MR approach is shown to be equally accurate as a MM solution of the complete antenna with reflector, provided the reflector is in the far field of the feed, and the MR approach is much faster. As a result of the calculations using the MR approach, design curves are presented showing how the G/T varies as a function of antenna geometry, size, and elevation angle, all for a given noise profile of the surrounding sky and ground. The computed radiation patterns and G/Ts are compared with measurements for several elevation angles and surrounding terrain     

Passive parasitic UWB antenna capable of switched beam‐forming in the WLAN frequency band using an optimal reactance load algorithm

We propose a switched beam‐forming antenna that satisfies not only ultra‐wideband characteristics but also beam‐forming in the WLAN frequency band using an ultra‐wideband antenna and passive parasitic elements applying a broadband optimal reactance load algorithm. We design a power and phase estimation function and an error correction function by re‐analyzing and normalizing all the components of the parasitic array using control system engineering. The proposed antenna is compared with an antenna with a pin diode and reactance load value, respectively. The pin diode is located between the passive parasitic elements and ground plane. An antenna beam can be formed in eight directions according to the pin diode ON (reflector)/OFF (director) state. The antenna with a reactance load value achieves a better VSWR and gain than the antenna with a pin diode. We confirm that a beam is formed in eight directions owing to the RF switch operation, and the measured peak gain is 7 dBi at 2.45 GHz and 10 dBi at 5.8 GHz.     

Triple corner reflector antenna and its performance in H-plane

An experimental investigation of a novel corner reflector antenna with improved performance is reported. The corner reflector antenna has been structurally modified by attaching two more reflector elements. The parameters such as the primary corner angle, position, width and angle of the secondary elements have significant effects on the H-plane radiation characteristics of the antenna. Certain symmetric configurations of this triple corner reflector (TCR) antenna provide sharp beams with a gain of the order of 3 dB over that of the conventional corner reflector (CR) antenna     

A wideband high gain dielectric resonator antenna for RF energy harvesting application

A novel high gain and broadband hybrid dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is designed and experimentally validated. To obtain the wide impedance bandwidth, the proposed antenna geometry combines the dielectric resonator antenna and an underlying slot with a narrow rectangular notch, which effectively broadens the impedance bandwidth by merging the resonances of the slot and DRA. An inverted T-shaped feed line is used to excite both antennas, simultaneously. It supports amalgamation of different resonant modes of the both, DRA and slot antenna. The measured results show that the proposed antenna offers an impedance bandwidth of 120% from 1.67 to 6.7 GHz. The antenna gain is next enhanced by a reflector placed below the antenna at an optimum distance. On engineering the height and dimension of this reflector the antenna gain is improved from 2.2 dBi to 8.7 dBi at 1.7 GHz. Finally, antenna operation is attested experimentally with a rectifier circuit in the frequency range of 1.8–3.6 GHz, where various strong radio signals are freely available for RF energy harvesting. The measured maximum efficiency of the rectifier and rectenna circuit were found to be 74.4% and 61.4%, respectively.     

Coupling between crossed-dipole feeds

Various effects of coupling between crossed-dipole antennas are analyzed and by using an arbitrary feeding network some generality is preserved. With one cross excited and another cross acting as a parasitic loaded antenna, coupling losses and gain and polarization losses are presented as a function of orientation and feeding network properties. The antennas are used as feeds for a parabolic reflector, and the effect of coupling on the secondary fields is analyzed. Especially significant is the polarization loss and it may, to some extent, be reduced by a proper choice of feeding network.     

A method for producing a shaped contour radiation pattern using asingle shaped reflector and a single feed

Eliminating the corporate feed network in shaped contour beam antennas will reduce the expense, weight, and RF loss of the antenna system. One way of producing a shaped contour beam without using a feed network is to use a single shaped reflector with a single feed element. For a prescribed contour beam and feed, an optimization method for designing the reflector shape is given. As a design example, a shaped reflector is designed to produce a continental-United-States (CONUS) coverage beam. The RF performance of the shaped reflector is then verified by physical optics     

Gain-loss measurements on a carbon-fibre composite reflector antenna

The loss of gain due to surface-current attenuation on an uncoated carbon-fibre-reinforced-plastics reflector antenna has been investigated by comparing an uncoated antenna with the same unit with the addition of a metallised surface. The measurements show that the gain loss of the test antenna is of the order of 0.5 dB at X band frequencies.     

Switchable circular disk antenna for RCS and mobile communications applications

In this paper, we describe the operation of a low profile, 3 mm deep, circular disk antenna which requires a small ground plane, and incorporates a shorting bar which can be rotated. The position of the shorting bar determines the return loss and radiation characteristics of the antenna element. In one mode at 2.34 GHz the antenna exhibits a return loss of better than -25 dB, 5 dBi gain, and a conical/monopole beam pattern suitable for radar tracking/mobile communications applications. When the short circuit is positioned at 90 degrees the return loss at 3.52 GHz becomes -18 dB, 7 dBi gain, and the antenna exhibits normal linear polarized broadside cosine radiation characteristics. In addition when the short circuit is positioned at zero degrees at 3.52 GHz the antenna gives -1 dB return loss and by reciprocity will act as a reflector to incoming energy. Theoretical results are provided in support of the experimental results observed and are used to explain the operating mechanisms of the antenna.     

Compact antenna test range without reflector edge treatment and RF anechoic chamber

There are several types of CATRs (compact antenna test ranges) used in antenna-pattern measurements. An offset reflector is generally used to generate the quiet zone of a CATR. Serrated edges, rolled edges, or R-cards are generally chosen along the reflector's edge to reduce the edge-diffraction field inside the quiet zone of the CATR. In order to reduce stray signals from the environment, a high-quality RF anechoic chamber is required for a CATR. In this paper, a new type of CATR, without either a reflector edge treatment or an RF anechoic chamber, is developed. A commercially available DBS (direct-broadcast satellite) reflector antenna, without edge treatment, is used as the reflector antenna of the CATR to generate the quiet zone of the antenna test range. In order to improve the quiet zone's performance, the fields due to feed spillover, edge diffractions, and other stray signals are gated out by the ITDAMS (impulse time-domain antenna measurement system). The RF interference in the environment can also be reduced by time synchronization and pulse integration of the impulse time-domain antenna measurement system. In order to verify the capabilities of the proposed CATR, three kinds of antennas (a low-directivity horn antenna, a high-directivity 60 cm direct-broadcast satellite reflector antenna, and a 25 cm Ka-band Cassegrain LMDS - local microwave distribution system - antenna) were measured by the proposed CATR. The antenna-pattern results agreed quite well with those of a near-field range and a far-field range.     

Microstrip Yagi array antenna for mobile satellite vehicleapplication

A novel antenna structure formed by combining the Yagi-Uda array concept and the microstrip radiator technique is discussed. This antenna, called the microstrip Yagi array, has been developed for the mobile satellite (MSAT) system as a low-profile, low-cost, and mechanically steered medium-gain land-vehicle antenna. With the antenna's active patches (driven elements) and parasitic patches (reflector and director elements) located on the same horizontal plane, the main beam of the array can be tilted, by the effect of mutual coupling, in the elevation direction providing optimal coverage for users in the continental United States. Because the parasitic patches are not connected to any of the lossy RF power distributing circuit the antenna is an efficient radiating system. With the complete monopulse beamforming and power distributing circuits etched on a single thin stripline board underneath the microstrip Yagi array, the overall L -band antenna system has achieved a very low profile for vehicle rooftop mounting, as well as a low manufacturing cost. Experimental results demonstrate the performance of this antenna     

La synthèse d’antennes à deux réflecteurs conformés à alimentation décalée

A potentially economic method for upgrading the gain of the large earth reflector antenna Cassegrain system to a gain comparable to that obtainable with a dualshaped reflector antenna system is presented herein. It involves a redesign of only the subreflector portion of a Cassegrain antenna or the introduction of a subreflector feed system for a paraboloid. A pair of offset subreflectors are synthesized which will give a controllable high gain amplitude distribution in the aperture of the large paraboloid. The synthesis method that is used is based on an approximate formulation for an offset dual shaped high gain antenna where the geometrical optics energy was scattered from a subreflector and then from a second large reflector which reflected a uniform phase distribution. In the present offset dual shaped subreflector (DSS) antenna, the second reflection is from a smaller subreflector and it scatters a spherical wave that feeds a hyperboloid or feeds a large paraboloid directly. Excellent results are shown for the approximate synthesis of the DSS.