Quasi-isotropic spacecraft antenna system Final report

Spacecraft quasi-isotropic antenna system for space telemetr

A Compact and Simply-Constructed All-metal Circularly Polarized Ridge-Waveguide Slotted Antenna Array for Vehicle Mounted Satcom on the Move (SOTM) Communication Application

In this paper, a novel circularly polarized (CP) ridge-waveguide slotted antenna array is proposed for vehicle used Satcom on the Move (SOTM) applications. The antenna array is designed closely following the required factors for generating the circular polarization. The proposed antenna array is constructed on a symmetrical single-ridge slotted waveguide. Each antenna element consists of a pair of inclined slots opened on the narrow walls, and longitudinal slots opened on the bottom of the U-shaped wall of the waveguide. The inclined slots and the longitudinal slots are able to radiate orthogonal electric-fields independently with a phase-difference of 90°. After a vector superposition in the far-field by using this design, the circular polarization could be realized with extremely low axial ratio theoretically. Several essential parameters affecting the CP performance are also studied in this paper. To verify the feasibility of the proposed approach, a four-element CP antenna array is simulated, fabricated and measured. Results show that the obtained prototype achieves a measured impedance bandwidth of 14.74% from 9.24 GHz to 10.71 GHz with S11 < -10 dB, and a 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 19.1% from 9.0 GHz to 10.9 GHz

Wideband and UWB antennas for wireless applications. A comprehensive review

A comprehensive review concerning the geometry, the manufacturing technologies, the materials, and the numerical techniques, adopted for the analysis and design of wideband and ultrawideband (UWB) antennas for wireless applications, is presented. Planar, printed, dielectric, and wearable antennas, achievable on laminate (rigid and flexible), and textile dielectric substrates are taken into account. The performances of small, low-profile, and dielectric resonator antennas are illustrated paying particular attention to the application areas concerning portable devices (mobile phones, tablets, glasses, laptops, wearable computers, etc.) and radio base stations. This information provides a guidance to the selection of the different antenna geometries in terms of bandwidth, gain, field polarization, time-domain response, dimensions, and materials useful for their realization and integration in modern communication systems

Advanced automotive radar front-end based on gapwaveguide technology

The pursuit of higher levels of autonomous driving necessitates the utilization of advanced radar sensors that possess improved environmental perception capabilities. Consequently, next-generation automotive radars require sophisticated antenna systems with high efficiency, thereby making waveguide antennas a more viable choice. In this context, it has been observed that gapwaveguides exhibit superior performance in comparison to traditional waveguides, particularly in terms of assembly reliability, when employed in the development of multi-layer waveguide antennas. Within the scope of this thesis, the primary objective is to comprehensively explore the design of front-ends for cutting-edge automotive radar sensors by leveraging the potential of gapwaveguide technology. The initial aspect of this thesis involves an exploration of integration techniques capable of achieving high performance in waveguide-based RF front-ends. In particular, the thesis introduces novel vertical gapwaveguide-to-microstrip transitions that facilitate the integration of RF front-ends featuring multi-layer configurations. Furthermore, this thesis introduces radar transceivers equipped with built-in waveguide-to-microstrip transitions, known as launcher-in-package, along with an imaging radar antenna featuring customized interconnections explicitly designed utilizing gapwaveguide technology to interface with the transceivers.Secondly, in light of the utilization of radar sensors incorporating orthogonal dual polarizations on the transmitting and/or receiving ends, an opportunity arises to acquire polarimetric information from the surrounding environment, thereby representing a promising advancement in the realm of autonomous driving. This thesis presents novel antenna designs based on gapwaveguide technology for polarimetric radar sensors. An 8$\times$8 planar array utilizing double grooved circular waveguide polarizers is introduced, specifically designed for fixed beam, high gain polarimetric sensing applications. In addition, this thesis presents a polarimetric radar sensor that utilizes a MIMO configuration featuring single-CP transmitting antennas and dual-CP receiving antennas. The antenna design incorporates series-fed septum polarizers, which offer low-profile characteristics.In summary, this thesis undertakes a comprehensive investigation into the designs of advanced automotive radar front-ends utilizing gapwaveguide technology. The study explores the advancements in terms of integration techniques and polarimetric capability, demonstrating the potential of gapwaveguide technology for the practical implementation of waveguide-based RF front-ends. The utilization of such front-ends can significantly enhance the capabilities of autonomous driving systems

A dual-band high gain complementary split- ring resonator (CSRR) loaded hexagonal bowtie antenna with enhanced bandwidth for Vehicle- to-Vehicle (V2V) communication applications

A highly reliable and efficient communication system is needed for a vehicle to navigate and drive to the destination without human control (known as an autonomous or self-driving vehicle). In this work, we consider various parameters for the antenna design, ensuring reliable communication amongst vehicles and infrastructure. Specifically, we consider the type of antenna, the method used, operating frequency, substrate type (with thickness and permittivity), size and shape, gain, and bandwidth. An optimal threshold value or range of these parameters is identified. Moreover, a complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR) metamaterial (MTM) based hexagonal bowtie antenna for a high gain V2V communication environment is presented. This antenna covers sub- 6 GHz fifth generation (5G) bands (3.15-3.95 GHz) and Wi-Fi band 2.4GHz. Printing was done on a low-cost FR4 substrate for the radiating patch. Antenna Bandwidth is enhanced using a partial ground plane. The radiating layer is based on hexagonal patches printed on the double side of the substrate, and the CSSR structure is etched from patches to enrich antenna gain and bandwidth. More importantly, the proposed CSRR employed antenna provides gain and bandwidth of 1.6dBi / 6 dBi and 100MHz/ 8000MHz at 2.4GHz /3.5GHz, respectively. A highly known software, CST microwave studio, simulates the proposed antenna. Simulated and measured results make this arrangement a potential candidate for 5G high gain V2V communication

Towards an Advanced Automotive Radar Front-end Based on Gap Waveguide Technology

This thesis presents the early works on dual circularly polarized array antenna based on gap waveguide, also microstrip-to-waveguide transitions for integration of automotive radar front-end. Being the most widely used radar antenna, PCB antenna suffers from dielectric loss and design flexibility. Next generation automotive radars demand sophisticated antenna systems with high efficiency, which makes waveguide antenna become a better candidate. Over the last few years, gap waveguide has shown advantages for implementation of complicated antenna systems. Ridge gap waveguides have been widely used in passive gap waveguide components design including slot arrays. In this regard, two transitions between ridge gap waveguides and microstrip lines are presented for the integration with gap waveguide antennas. The transitions are verified in both passive and active configuration. Another work on packaging techniques is presented for integration with inverted microstrip gap waveguide antennas.Systems utilizing individual linear polarization (LP) that lack polarimetric capabilities are not capable of measuring the full scattering matrix, thus losing information about the scenery. To develop a more advanced radar system with better detectability, dual circularly polarized gap waveguide slot arrays for polarimetric radar sensing are investigated. An 8 78 planar array using double grooved circular waveguide polarizer is presented. The polarizers are compact in size and have excellent polarization properties. Multi-layer design of the array antenna benefits from the gap waveguide technology and features better performance. The works presented in this thesis laid the foundation of future works regarding integration of the radar front end. More works on prototyping radar systems using gap waveguide technology will be presented in future publications

Multi-Antenna Configuration with Reduced Passive Self-Interference for Full-Duplex Intelligent Transportation System

In this paper, we propose a closely spaced multi-antenna system with \textit{passive} self-interference cancellation (\textit{p}-SIC) of $\approx 90$ dB between the transmitter and receiver antenna for full-duplex application. The \textit{p}-SIC is achieved by field confinement near individual antennae using shorted metallic vias and the application of U-shaped perturbation in the ground plane. The \textit{p}-SIC technique is initially implemented in a 1-Tx and 1-Rx antenna system and explained using transmission line-based theory. Further, it is extended to 1-Tx and 2-Rx configurations. Here the proposed full-duplex antenna system is designed at $5.9$ GHz ($5.855-5.925$ GHz, IEEE 802.11p / WAVE technology) intelligent transportation system (ITS) application band using a microstrip patch configuration. The individual antenna exhibits an impedance bandwidth of $93$ MHz ($5.850-5.944$ GHz), $5.63$ dBi gain at $5.9$ GHz operating frequency and X-pol level less than $20$ dB in the broad side direction. The proposed FD configuration exhibits $|S_{ij}|$ of less than $-50$ dB over the complete operating band and $\approx -90$ dB is achieved at the operating frequency between the Tx and Rx. Similarly, $|S_{ij}|$ of less the $-30$ dB is achieved between 2-Rx antennas for a three-element FD configuration. The design procedure of the proposed FD configuration is explained and verified using fabrication and measurement. An experimental demonstration of the self-interference channel and its suppression using the proposed \textit{p}-SIC technique is also provided. Further, to study the diversity performance of the proposed multi-antenna configuration, the MIMO performance metrics such as \textit{ECC} and \textit{CCL} are evaluated using simulation and measurement