Abstract
An antenna capable of directly phase modulating a radio frequency (RF) carrier is discussed, designed, and measured as both an antenna and a modulator. Access point densification for the Internet of Things will be expensive in part due to the cost and inefficiency of amplifying waveforms with large peak-to-average power ratios for downlink transmission. Directly modulating at the antenna means only a carrier wave has to be amplified, reducing the cost of densification. Here, reconfigurable frequency selective surfaces are suggested as phase modulators. The design process for producing a phase modulating antenna is detailed, and a prototype is fabricated that is capable of up to 8-PSK modulation with 5.3 dB variation in constellation points and a peak gain of 2.3 dB. When implemented in an end-to-end communications system, the antenna exhibits only 1.5 dB drop in performance compared with instrument grade modulation in an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel.
Highlights
C ONNECTING millions of devices in smart, reconfigurable networks has the possibility to change the way public service delivery, civic infrastructure and industry operate
The frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) was fabricated with standard PCB etching techniques, with copper conductor on 1.6 mm thick FR4 board
The antenna S11 was measured using a Agilent E5071C network analyzer in an anechoic chamber, and gives below 10 dB match for the majority of the antenna passband, though this is at some points reduced to 4 dB [Fig. 12(a)]
Summary
C ONNECTING millions of devices in smart, reconfigurable networks has the possibility to change the way public service delivery, civic infrastructure and industry operate. Wideband technologies have the advantage of being interference-resilient, allowing operation in licensed or unlicensed bands, and are flexible in terms of the number of devices and data rates they can support [6]. This is of interest on the IoT downlink, where many devices must have a near-constant link to enable smart network reconfiguration and resource allocation [7]. The wideband downlink approach would require an expansion of network infrastructure, increasing the number of base stations to support the millions of new connected devices This increases the installation and running costs of Manuscript received December 7, 2018; revised July 22, 2019; accepted August 5, 2019.
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