Abstract

A wide-band phased array antenna with wide-angle scanning capability for mobile communication system is proposed in this article. An air cavity is properly embedded into the substrate under each array element. This method is very simple and can efficiently enhance wide-angle scanning performance by improving the wide-angle scanning impedance matching (WAIM) and realizing the beam-width of elements in the array. Besides, the operating bandwidth is also extended with the proposed approach. The wide-angle scanning capability is analyzed and verified by both the linear array antennas (on large ground planes in detail) and the planar array. Two <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1\times 8$ </tex-math></inline-formula> linear arrays and one <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$8\times 8$ </tex-math></inline-formula> planar array are demonstrated, which achieve the beam scanning of around ±60° with a realized gain reduction under 3.5 dB in the wide operating bandwidth (37.4%). Furthermore, the beam in the E-plane can scan over ±70° with a realized gain reduction under less than 3 dB. Two linear array prototypes with wide-angle scanning capacity in two planes are fabricated and characterized, yielding good performance within overall operational bandwidth. The measured results align very well with the simulated. The proposed wideband phased array with large scanning coverage is a promising candidate for 5G mobile communications.

Highlights

  • WITH the rapid development of electronic technology, phased array antennas have been applied in the defense and military fields, and in civil fields, such as radar, satellite communications, astronomy and meteorology, air traffic, earth detection, space exploration, remote sensing mapping, driverless, and biomedicine, especially 5G communications [1,2]

  • The multi-domain requirements of phased array antennas have led to increasingly higher performance requirements for phased array antennas, such as multifunction, low cost, and fast and flexible changes in beams, especially wider beam scanning coverage

  • Mutual coupling among array elements varies with array scanning angles, which changes the impedance of each array element at different scan angles

Read more

Summary

INTRODUCTION

WITH the rapid development of electronic technology, phased array antennas have been applied in the defense and military fields, and in civil fields, such as radar, satellite communications, astronomy and meteorology, air traffic, earth detection, space exploration, remote sensing mapping, driverless, and biomedicine, especially 5G communications [1,2]. There are many methods have been applied to achieve more excellent phased array antennas with large-angle scanning capability [3]-[18]. Extending the element pattern of the array is a useful method to improve the scanning coverage of phased arrays [3]-[8]. A novel and efficient approach will be introduced to enhance the beam scanning coverage with low gain reduction and the impedance bandwidth of a phased array antenna, where a mixed dielectric substrate with an air-cavity structure is applied. (d) The low-profile phased array with large scanning coverage is designed and applied in the mobile communication system.

Antenna element geometry and design
The methodology analysis of this work
The E-plane linear array
The measurement
WIDE-ANGLE SCANNING PLANAR PHASED ARRAY
Findings
CONCLUSION
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call