Abstract
This paper presents the design of a smart antenna that can achieve 3-D beam-scanning coverage. The antenna consists of a novel planar feed array and a cylindrical active frequency-selective surface (AFSS). First, an array fed metallic reflector is studied as a reference antenna to validate the beam-scanning characteristics in the elevation plane. Then, the AFSS is assessed through simulation and measurement results. Finally, the complete structure containing the planar collinear array and the AFSS is analyzed. A prototype at S-band has been designed, manufactured, and measured. The resulting antenna is shown to be able to operate at the 2.4–2.5 GHz frequency band and switch beams in both the azimuth and elevation planes. In the azimuth plane, the proposed antenna is capable of sweeping beams toward different directions to cover a full range of 360°. In the elevation plane, it can achieve beam steering within an angle range of +16°/ − 15°. The measured maximum gain of the antenna is 9.2 dBi. This is the first report of a low-cost 3-D coverage beam-scanning antenna based on AFSS.
Highlights
A FTER decades of exponentially growing demands placed on handling the vast amount of wireless data volumes, wireless system design is faced with challenges in spectrum efficiency, cell capacity, and cost-effective deployment
To fulfill beam steering in the elevation plane, we propose a novel collinear feed array excited by progressive phase shifts between elements
Low-cost smart antennas are important for a wide range of applications in wireless communications
Summary
A FTER decades of exponentially growing demands placed on handling the vast amount of wireless data volumes, wireless system design is faced with challenges in spectrum efficiency, cell capacity, and cost-effective deployment. To facilitate the future 5G applications, it is expected that smart antennas would have a compact size, low power consumption, and are affordable to a larger number of users in contrast to conventional phased arrays. Another design consideration is the beam-scanning coverage. In [6], a circular Yagi-Uda array incorporates liquid metal mercury into the director and reflector elements to reconfigure the antenna radiation patterns Electromagnetic structures such as metamaterials and frequency-selective surfaces (FSSs) have been engineered to achieve antenna beam switching/steering [7]–[10] thanks to their fabrication simplicity and enhanced reconfigurability using various tuning technologies. Increasing the number of elements increase the directivity of the array, and from the beam optimization viewpoint, a larger number of feed elements leads to more freedom to apply sidelobe reduction/beam-shaping techniques to the array
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