Efficient Design of Tightly Coupled Dipole Array Using an Equivalent Circuit-Based Approach

Wenyang Zhou,Yikai Chen,Shiwen Yang

doi:10.1109/access.2020.2966247

Abstract

This paper proposes an efficient and systematic design approach for tightly coupled dipole array (TCDA) designs. In this approach, the radiator structure and feeding structure are designed and optimized based on their equivalent circuit models (ECM) respectively. A novel ECM is proposed to accurately describe the impedance characteristics of the radiator structure with dual-diamond dipoles. The proposed ECM of the radiator structure keeps its accuracy for variable design parameters. The ECM of the proposed feeding structure is also developed to analyze its impedance characteristics. As compared with conventional brute-force optimizations based on full-wave simulations, the two ECMs make it easy and efficient to design wideband TCDAs. A dual-polarized TCDA is designed with the proposed approach to illustrate the efficiency of the approach. The resultant TCDA operates in a wide frequency band of 0.87-10.14 GHz with VSWR ≤2 for broadside radiation. Meanwhile, the VSWR value under all conditions (broadside, ±60° scanning in E- and H-planes) remains ≤3 over the frequency band of 0.8-9 GHz. A 10 × 10 prototype is fabricated to demonstrate the design.

Highlights

Performance of wideband phased arrays is always restrained by the contradictory demands for low profile height, ultrawide bandwidth, and large scanning ranges
The design for the feeding structure is based on the equivalent circuit model (ECM) that we have developed in this work
This paper presents a novel approach for the efficient design of tightly coupled dipole arrays (TCDA)

Summary

Introduction

Performance of wideband phased arrays is always restrained by the contradictory demands for low profile height, ultrawide bandwidth, and large scanning ranges. One of the difficulties in TCDA design is that the performance of an antenna array heavily depends on parameter optimization based on full-wave simulation [10]–[15]. RADIATOR STRUCTURE AND ITS ECM As was stated previously, the shape of the dipoles has to be determined first in TCDA design.

Results

Conclusion