Design of a 2.4 GHz Horizontally Polarized Microstrip Patch Antenna using Rectangular and Circular Directors and Reflectors

In the urban or indoor wireless environment, after a complicated multiple reflection or scattering effect, the polarization of the propagating radio waves may change significantly. Although many current wireless systems are vertically polarized it has been predicted that using horizontally polarized antenna at both the transmitter and receiver has many advantages. In this thesis, new designs are proposed to develop a horizontally polarized microstrip patch antennas for 2.4 GHz applications using directors and reflectors to guide the radiated power. The radiation characteristics of these designs with respect to various geometrical parameters such as the dimensions of the reflector and directors, and spacing between these elements were studied in order to obtain the best possible performance. Also, two-dimensional and three-dimensional radiation patterns, antenna gain and return loss for each of these designs are presented

Conception et réalisation d'un récepteur composé de réseau d'antennes YAGI multicouches verticales et de composants en ondes millimétriques

RÉSUMÉ Les applications en ondes millimétriques telles que les réseaux sans-fils haute vitesse demandent des composants de hautes performances, faibles coûts de revient, modulaires et compacts. Ce mémoire présente la conception d’une chaine de démodulation en ondes millimétriques utilisant le concept du multicouche. Tout d’abord, une antenne Yagi multicouche est proposée et démontrée à 5.8 GHz. La structure utilise pour la première fois les éléments parasites des antennes Yagi dans une structure de substrats empilés verticalement. Cela permet d’atteindre un gain de 12 dBi. Deux configuration sont présentées : une première basée sur un dipôle et une deuxième basée sur un patch circulaire afin d’avoir une double polarisation. Les résultats mesurés montrent un très bon accord avec les simulations. Basé sur les principes démontrés précédemment, l’antenne est adaptée à 60 GHz, puis un réseau d’antennes Yagi verticales en ondes millimétriques est introduit pour la première fois exploitant les technologies multicouches. Une analyse est faite pour définir les limites du design. L’antenne élément mesurée atteint un gain de 11 dBi. Le réseau 4x4 a une taille 50x50x60 mm3, et atteint un gain mesuré de 18 dBi sur 7% de bande passante. Une autre configuration du réseau utilisant des antennes Yagi inclinées permet d’avoir une réduction des lobes secondaires tout en ayant un impact minimum sur le gain. Les antennes proposées sont d’excellents candidats pour des systèmes intégrés, faibles coûts, demandant une petite empreinte en ondes millimétriques. Finalement, un nouveau six-port double couche utilisant des Guides Intégrés au Substrats (GIS) est présenté et démontré. Celui-ci permet de faire la démodulation QPSK. Son architecture utilise des coupleurs multicouches, fournissant une grande surface de couplage à travers deux fentes ; un déphaseur inédit, large bande composé de deux stubs plan-H et une ligne de référence ; ainsi que de deux diviseurs de puissance. Les simulations et mesures montrent que le circuit fonctionne correctement sur toute la bande V. La démodulation QPSK complète est testée sous le logiciel de simulation ADS et montre les excellentes performances du système.----------ABSTRACT Millimeter wave applications such as high-speed wireless connections require modular, compact-size, low-cost and high-performance systems. In order to realize a complete receiver satisfying those requirements, compact stacked multilayered designs are presented in this thesis. First, high-gain compact stacked multilayered Yagi designs are proposed and demonstrated at 5.8 GHz. The structure makes use for the first time of vertically stacked Yagi-like parasitic director elements that allow easily obtaining a simulated gain of 12 dBi. Two different antenna configurations are presented, one based on dipole geometry for single polarization, and the other on a circular patch to achieve dual polarization. Measured results of the fabricated antenna prototypes are in good agreement with simulated results. Second, based on the above-demonstrated principle, the antenna is redesigned and adapted for 60 GHz applications, and a novel design showing for the first time an array of Yagi elements in millimeter wave stacked structure is presented. An analysis is performed to define the structure limits. The measured element attains 11 dBi of gain. The proposed 4x4 array has a size of 50x50x60 mm3, and reaches a measured gain of 18 dBi over 7% of bandwidth. An alternative configuration of the array using angled Yagi antenna elements allows for a significant improvement of the side lobe level without a visible impact on the gain. The proposed antennas present excellent candidates for integrated low-cost millimeter-wave systems that require small footprint. Third, a novel dual layered six-port front-end circuit using the Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) technology is presented and demonstrated. The six-port architecture makes use of multilayer couplers, providing a wide coupling area through two slots; a new broadband SIW phase shifter composed of two H-plane stub lines and one reference line; and two SIW power dividers. Simulation and measurement results show that the proposed six-port circuit can easily operate at 60 GHz for V-band system applications. The complete QPSK demodulation is tested through the ADS simulation platform to prove the good performances of the designed circuits

Design and Implementation of an Integrated Solar Panel Antenna for Small Satellites

Thesis (PhD (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019This dissertation presents a concept for a compact, low-profile, integrated solar panel antenna for use on small satellites in low Earth orbit. To date, the integrated solar panel antenna design approach has primarily been, patch (transparent or non-transparent) and slot radiators. The design approach presented here is proposed as an alternative to existing designs. A prototype, comprising of an optically transparent rectangular dielectric resonator was constructed and can be mounted on top of a solar panel of a Cube Satellite. The ceramic glass, LASF35 is characterised by its excellent transmittance and was used to realise an antenna which does not compete with solar panels for surface area. Currently, no closed-form solution for the resonant frequency and Q-factor of a rectangular dielectric resonator antenna exists and as a first-order solution the dielectric waveguide model was used to derive the geometrical dimensions of the dielectric resonator antenna. The result obtained with the dielectric waveguide model is compared with several numerical methods such as the method of moments, finite integration technique, radar cross-section technique, characteristic mode analysis and finally with measurements. This verification approach was taken to give insight into the resonant modes and modal behaviour of the antenna. The interaction between antenna and a triple-junction gallium arsenide solar cell is presented demonstrating a loss in solar efficiency of 15.3%. A single rectangular dielectric resonator antenna mounted on a ground plane demonstrated a gain of 4.2 dBi and 5.7 dBi with and without the solar cell respectively. A dielectric resonator antenna array with a back-to-back Yagi-Uda topology is proposed, designed and evaluated. The main beam of this array can be steered can steer its beam ensuring a constant flux density at a satellite ground station. This isoflux gain profile is formed by the envelope of the steered beams which are controlled using a single digital phase shifter. The array achieved a beam-steering limit of ±66° with a measured maximum gain of 11.4 dBi. The outcome of this research is to realise a single component with dual functionality satisfying the cost, size and weight requirements of small satellites by optimally utilising the surface area of the solar panels

Microstrip Patch Electrically Steerable Parasitic Array Radiators

This dissertation explores the expansion of the Electrically Steerable Parasitic Array Radiator (ESPAR) technology to arrays using microstrip patch elements. Scanning arrays of two and three closely-coupled rectangular patch elements are presented, which incorporate no phase shifters. These arrays achieve directive radiation patterns and scanning of up to 26° with maintained impedance match. The scanning is effected by tunable reactive loads which are used to control the mutual coupling between the elements, as well as additional loads which compensate to maintain the appropriate resonant frequency. The design incorporates theoretical analysis of the system of coupled antennas with full-wave simulation. A prototype of the threeelement array at 1 GHz is fabricated and measured to exhibit a maximum gain of 7.4 dBi with an efficiency of 79.1%. Further, the microstrip ESPAR is thoroughly compared to uniformlyilluminated arrays of similar size. To satisfy the need for higher directivity antennas with inexpensive electronic scanning, the microstrip ESPAR is then integrated as a subarray. The three-element subcell fabrication is simplified to a single layer with an inverted-Y groove in the ground plane, allowing for DC biasing without the need for the radial biasing stubs or tuning stubs found in the two-layer design. The 1 GHz ESPAR array employs a corporate feed network consisting of a Wilkinson power divider with switchable delay line phase shifts, ring hybrid couplers, and achieves a gain of 12.1 dBi at boresight with ±20° scanning and low side lobes. This array successfully illustrates the cost savings associated with ESPAR subarray scanning and the associated reduction in required number of phase shifters in the RF front end

Mutual Coupling in Phased Arrays: A Review

The mutual coupling between antenna elements affects the antenna parameters like terminal impedances, reflection coefficients and hence the antenna array performance in terms of radiation characteristics, output signal-to-interference noise ratio (SINR), and radar cross section (RCS). This coupling effect is also known to directly or indirectly influence the steady state and transient response, the resolution capability, interference rejection, and direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation competence of the array. Researchers have proposed several techniques and designs for optimal performance of phased array in a given signal environment, counteracting the coupling effect. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the methods that model and mitigate the mutual coupling effect for different types of arrays. The parameters that get affected due to the presence of coupling thereby degrading the array performance are discussed. The techniques for optimization of the antenna characteristics in the presence of coupling are also included

Design and construction of pattern reconfigurable antenna with fine direction resolution

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonRecent developments in modern communication system have led to high demand in antenna as a transmitter and receiver in every electronic device. Antenna with high performance, low cost and multi-function is mostly desirable to fit into the system. Reconfigurable antenna has attained a lot of attention from antenna researchers with regards to its unique performance. Frequency, pattern and polarisation reconfigurable antenna has resolved many antenna problems in these recent years. The radiation pattern reconfigurable antenna has led to many novel designs of reconfigurable antennas using different techniques and have different phase covered. The objective of this thesis is to overcome the limitation of beam angle polarisation. A considerable amount of literature has been published on the radiation pattern reconfigurable antenna. However, most of the papers have a difficulty of covering all angles in a plane. Thus, the aim of this research is to design and develop a radiation pattern reconfigurable antenna with fine direction resolution ensuring full coverage extension on the plane. There are numerous researches conducted on pattern reconfigurable antenna showing the ability of the smart antenna to change its radiation pattern, but not many has cover the full plane. An antenna that has a radiation pattern with full coverage on azimuthal plane is beneficial for an application that would requires signal transmitted or received in all directions. In this thesis, the radiation pattern is configured by the insertion of metal rods around the patch antenna. The radiation pattern does change accordingly but with the cost of large size of the antenna build-up. The complexity of the reconfigurable antenna design has also brought to more in-depth studies on the miniaturisation techniques. Modern communication technology demands a low cost and compact design to be fitted in the wireless devices. Most of the reconfigurable antennas available these days have a drawback of complicated design which is problematical to be applied into communication devices. The experiment is carried out to attain a design of low profile pattern reconfigurable antenna with least shortfall in the antenna performance

Low-Cost Beam Steerable Antennas Using Parasitic Elements

Beam steerable antennas are considered as a possible solution for meeting challenges in military and civilian systems such as satellite communication networks, automotive collision avoidance radar, base stations and biomedical applications. Phased array antennas are a natural choice as the foundation for many steerable antenna platform due to its exibility and gain scalability. The implementation of a phased array requires a large number of electronic components, tending to drive the cost of phased arrays and limit their usage to military applications. The electrically steerable parasitic array radiator (ESPAR) has been introduced as an antenna which is capable of adaptively controlling its beam pattern using parasitic elements loaded with varactors. ESPAR has attracted the attention of researchers from the desire for electrically scanned beams with inexpensive fabrication and has found as a suitable candidate for communication systems applications, including advanced radars, cellular base stations and space communications. The ultimate goal of this research is to design and propose state of the art designs in the �eld of ESPAR that can satisfy the requirements of today's advanced communication systems, which should be cost-e�ective and can compete with other rival technologies. Considering the potentials of ESPAR, it can be proved that it is a good candidate for modern wireless communications. The thesis presents several contributions related to the design and analysis of ESPAR technology using dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) as the main radiator element. First, the thesis presents solutions to alleviate the problems associated in implementing a large ESPAR. The large array is useful in many applications since some required recon�gurable radiation characteristics may not be achievable with a single ESPAR element. The proposed structure consists of 240 perforated DRAs, whichare uniformly excited by a parallel-series feeding network. By employing the perforation technique, the need for aligning and bonding individual DRA is eliminated. The subarrays are placed in an interleaved arrangement to suppress the grating lobes. The proposed large ESPAR can incredibly reduce the number of phase shifter by 80% in comparison with the conventional phased array, which makes it inexpensive. Second, the thesis investigates potentials of ESPAR for massive multi-input multiple output (MIMO) communication. Massive MIMO technology has attracted tremendous interest due to its capabilities in enhancing the data transmission capacity, increasing the reliability, and reducing the multipath fading. However, in this technology for feeding each individual antenna, one radio frequency chain is required that can increase the power consumption and complexity of the structure. Moreover, to obtain decorrelated channels and to reduce mutual coupling, the antenna should be spaced suffciently far from each other that imposes increased physical dimensions. In contrast to the conventional MIMO structures, in ESPAR only one RF chain is needed and the small size constraint turns to be an advantage as the mutual coupling is exploited to form the desired signals. Furthermore, by controlling the tunable loads at each parasitic antenna element, different radiation patterns can be formed which can signi�cantly improve the performance of a MIMO antenna system operating in a changing environment. Thus, by using the advantages of ESPAR, a design approach to address the size and cost issues is proposed through this work. The proposed design is validated by simulation and measurement of a prototype, and results include the antenna and MIMO �gure of merits such as radiation patterns, efficiency, S-parameters, signal correlations, total active reection coeffcient (TARC), and channel capacity. These results have demonstrated that the proposed ESPAR design can be successfully implemented for a massive MIMO structure. Finally, the thesis presents an effective method to design a ESPAR with a circularly polarized (CP) beam-scanning feature. Circular polarization is an ideal polarization due to its advantages in signal propagation properties, which can address the di�culties associated with mobility, inclement weather conditions, and immunity to multi path distortion. In this work, the CP beam steering is achieved by adopting a sequential rotation approach for placing the parasitic antennas that are loaded with tunable varactors. The proposed CP-ESPAR technique eliminates the need of expensive phase shifters, which signi�cantly reduces cost and fabrication complexity. For performance evaluation, a prototype of the proposed antenna is designed, fabricated, and measured. It is observed that the proposed antenna has a monotonic CP beam scanning from { 22 to 22 operating at 10.5 GHz

Additively Manufactured Shape-changing RF Devices Enabled by Origami-inspired Structures

The work to be presented in this dissertation explores the possibility of implementing origami-inspired shape-changing structures into RF designs to enable continuous performance tunability as well as deployability. The research not only experimented novel structures that have unique mechanical behaviour, but also developed automated additive manufacturing (AM) fabrication process that pushes the boundary of realizable frequency from Sub-6 GHz to mm-wave. High-performance origami-inspired reconfigurable frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) and reflectarray antennas are realized for the first time at mm-wave frequencies via AM techniques. The research also investigated the idea of combining mechanical tuning and active tuning methods in a hybrid manner to realize the first truly conformal beam-forming phased array antenna that can be applied onto any arbitrary surface and can be re-calibrated with a 3D depth camera.Ph.D