A compact and high gain substrate integrated horn array antenna system

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, a novel compact, lightweight and high gain array antennae system is demonstrated which is based on substrate integrated dielectric filled waveguide concepts. It is a planar design which can be easily fabricated with a common two‐layer substrate. The overall goal was to have a high gain so that this array antenna could be potentially used in autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle systems for collision avoidance. An initial model was designed, simulated and fabricated and, upon evaluation, was further modified to achieve a higher performance specification. Additionally, the design can be easily and inexpensively fabricated using standard substrates with a rapid prototyping platform. A two element array resulted in a simulated gain of 9.6 dB with a radiation pattern which had a maximum lobe between a broadside and an end‐fire. This was with a low loss substrate such as Rogers RT duroid 5880. For the design, a low dissipation factor material is preferable as it minimizes losses and also increases compactness of the entire antenna array.