Compact and Scalable Active-Integrated Antenna System With Both Oscillation and Amplification Characteristics for High-Power Applications

Abstract

An active-integrated antenna (AIA) system with a compact and scalable topology is proposed in this work. Two kinds of highly integrated AIA unit cells, i.e., the oscillating unit cell and the amplifying unit cell, are designed by integrating the active switching circuits into the modified monopole antennas. In each working cycle, the amplifying unit cell remains stable until it is triggered by the radiation wave from the oscillating unit cell for in-phase radiation, thereby amplifying the output power. In order to reduce the antenna spacing, the corners of the ground of the antennas are cut off and the threshold voltage of the amplifying unit cells is precisely controlled to offset the mutual coupling, consequently realizing a much compact system. The AIA systems with and without the amplifying unit cell are fabricated, and the measured results verify the power amplification characteristic of the compact and scalable system. Compared to the existing self-oscillating AIAs, this work provides one more degree of freedom for power enhancement with a compact topology.