Array Antenna System Research Articles

Innovative Approaches to Beam Forming Antenna Array Systems with Adaptive Partial Update NLMS Algorithms

Improvements in interference cancellation, energy economy, spectrum efficiency, and system security are among the most pressing needs for today's wireless networks. One effective technique for this is the use of a Beamforming Array Antennas (BAA). However, the complexity of the Beamforming (BF) network, the long convergence time, and the large number of adjustable weight coefficients, all work against full band BAA. The key innovation and contribution of this research was to use Partial Update (PU) instead of full band adaptive algorithms, as no previous attempt had been made to do so. A subset of the array's elements, rather than all of them, will be connected to by PU methods. This allows the system to reduce the number of active antennas across all cells while maintaining high efficiency, and low cost. In this research, a new architectural model was proposed that makes use of PU adaptive algorithms, to reduce the required number of phase shifters (PSs), and hence base station antennas. For the most part, we will be discussing PU Normalized Least Mean Square (PU NLMS) algorithms like M-max NLMS, Periodic-NLMS, and Stochastic-NLMS. Using a Uniform Linear Array (ULA) Antennas in a simulation environment, we find that the, in terms of Mean Square Error (MSE), convergence rate, and steady-state error, it is evident that all PU NLMS algorithms (with the exception of Periodic-NLMS) had performed close, and approximately equivalent performance to the full band NLMS algorithms. In other hands, these PU algorithms maintain the radiation pattern with as little change from the original (distortion-free) as possible and symmetrical of the array, while. fewer elements are needed to produce the same amount of radiation. Reducing the number of required coefficients N to M (M = 5; M: Number of coefficients to be update per iteration) compared to the full update method (N = 8), to obtain the Reduction ratio 38%.

Receiving Paths Improvement of Digital Phased Array Antennas Using Adaptive Dynamic Range

In contemporary radar technology, the observation and detection of objects with low radar cross-sections remains a significant challenge. A multi-functional radar model employing a digital phased array antenna system offers notable advantages over traditional radar in addressing this issue. Nonetheless, to fully capitalize on these benefits, improving the structure of the receiving path in digital transceiver modules is crucial. A method for improving the digital receiving path model by implementing a matched filter approach is introduced. Given that the return signals from objects are often lower than the internal noise, the analog part of the digital transceiver modules must ensure that its dynamic range aligns with the level of this noise and the weak signal. The output signal level of the analog part must correspond to the allowable input range of the analog-to-digital converter. Improvements in the receiving path to achieve a fully matched model can reduce errors in the phase parameters and amplitudes of the useful signal at the output. The simulation results presented in this paper demonstrate a reduction in amplitude error by approximately 1 dB and a phase error exceeding 1.5 degrees for the desired signal at the output of each receiving path. Consequently, these improvements are expected to enhance the overall quality and efficiency of the spatial and temporal accumulation processes in the digital phased array antenna system. Furthermore, to maintain the matched filter model, we also propose incorporating an adaptive “pseudo-expansion” of the linear gain range. This involves adding a feedback stage with an automatic and adaptive bias voltage adjustment for the intermediate-frequency preamplifier in the analog part of the receiving path. Simulations to qualitatively verify the validity of this proposal are conducted using data from practical operational radar system models.

Ku-band 300 kW high power ferrite phase shifter.

Phase shifter (PS) is a key component of a phased array antenna (PAA) system, which controls the microwave phase and realizes the antenna beam forming and scanning. A ferrite PS (FPS) is a current-controlled PS that uses the ferrite's gyromagnetic properties to realize phase shifting. It has the advantages of short phase switching time, low microwave loss, and high reliability and, therefore, has been widely used in low-power PAA systems. However, the power handling capability of the traditional Ku-band FPS is only a few kW, prohibiting FPS from being used in high-power microwave (HPM) PAA systems. Spurred by this concern, this paper proposes a new dual-toroid FPS structure with an external magnetic excitation. By optimizing the PS configuration, improving the integration process, and enhancing the performance of ferrite materials, a single FPS in the Ku band has reached the power handling capability of more than 300 kW with an insertion loss of less than -1.2 dB, the phase shift range of 0°-360°, the width less than 11.5mm, and the ability of a one-dimensional array. The FPS has the potential to be used in the PAA of an HPM system, laying a foundation for the research of the HPM PAA system.

Near-Field Codebook Design for Extremely Large Cylindrical Antenna Array Systems

Near-Field Codebook Design for Extremely Large Cylindrical Antenna Array Systems

Highly isolated pin-loaded millimeter wave MIMO antenna array system for IoT-based smart environments

The Internet of Things (IoT) based wireless devices are mainly designed for rapid indoor millimeter-wave (mmW) communication systems. These systems often require high gain mmW antennas within a wideband MIMO framework. This work presents a high performance quad element pin-loaded multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna array for mmW communications that can be utilized within IoT-enabled smart environment. The novelty of these antenna elements lies in the incorporation of unique flower-shaped slots and shorting pins in each patch of a two-element antenna array. Moreover, a four-port MIMO antenna system is created by arranging the two element arrays in an orthogonal configuration. By employing this pattern diversity technique and incorporating shorting pins in each individual element, the adverse mutual coupling effects between adjacent elements are effectively mitigated. Experimental validation of the MIMO array prototype confirms the minimum isolation of 34 dB and high port isolation of 72 dB over the operating bandwidth from 26.31–30.25 GHz (3.96 GHz). Notably, these features together with lower correlation values and higher diversity gain, make it a good choice for mmW-based IoT devices in smart environments.

Wide scan angle multibeam conformal antenna array with novel feeding for mm-wave 5G applications

This paper presents a low-profile wide scan angle multibeam conformal antenna array system with a novel feeding network for 28 GHz mm-wave 5G applications. The proposed antenna system utilizes two conventional branch-line couplers as its beamforming network. A novel feeding technique is applied to generate 7 beams with these couplers that are usually capable of generating 2 beams. The proposed solution provides a wide scanning range with a minimum realized gain of 5 dBi from −90° to 90° owing to this feeding approach and the peculiar placement of the array elements on a 0.15 mm thick R-F775 bendable substrate. The generated beams at their steer direction have the minimum and maximum gain values of 6.5 dBi and 9.7 dBi, respectively. A low-cost PCB manufacturing technique based on soft lithography and wet etching is used. The system dimensions excluding extra connector sections are 67×15×3mm3. The proposed flexible design is suitable for lightweight 5G communication systems and handsets with its compact low-complexity beamforming network, and wide 180° continuous covering angle.

A modified dispersed frequency and phase consensus algorithm based on differential evolution and credibility weighting matrix

In distributed antenna array systems, accurate synchronization of the frequency and phase of the transmission signals among subarrays is a premise for beamforming. To solve this problem, a modified dispersed frequency and phase consensus (MDFPC) algorithm, which is based on differential evolution (DE) and the credibility weighting matrix, is proposed in this paper. DE algorithm is adopted to optimize the mixing matrix of MDFPC algorithm, and the convergence speed of consensus algorithm can be improved. Moreover, Lanczos method is adopted to calculate the fitness of individuals during optimization, thus the computation amount of the eigenvalue decomposition of the large-scale, sparse and symmetric mixing matrix can be effectively reduced. In addition, the influence of the transmission distance between subarrays on the received Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) is considered, and the credibility weighting matrix can be obtained. Then the contribution of low-credible frequency and phase messages to the iterative updated values can be decreased by the credibility weighting matrix, thus more accurate frequency and phase updated values can be obtained in each iteration. It is shown from simulation results that the proposed algorithm can further reduce the phase synchronization error by at least 8% and achieve at least 18% convergence speed improvement compared to dispersed frequency and phase consensus (DFPC) algorithm.

Millimeter wave negative refractive index metamaterial antenna array

In this paper, a novel negative refractive index metamaterial (NIM) is developed and characterized. The proposed metamaterial exhibits negative effective permittivity (εeffe) and negative effective permeability (µeffe) at millimeter wave frequency of 28 GHz. This attractive feature is utilized to enhance the gain of a microstrip patch antenna (MPA). Two thin layers of 5 × 5 subwavelength unit cell array of NIM are placed above a single MPA to enhance the gain of the antenna. Each unit cell has an area of 3.4 × 3.4 mm2. A gain increase of 7.9 dBi has been observed when using the proposed NIM as a superstrate. Furthermore, the NIM array is placed over a 2 × 2 array of MPAs with four ports to demonstrate versatility of the metamaterial. The total size of the 2 × 2 antenna array system with N-MTM is about 61.1 × 34 × 16mm3 (5.71λ × 3.18λ × 1.5λ, where λ is the free-space wavelength at 28 GHz). The measurement result indicate that the maximum gain of the antenna array is 13.5dBi. A gain enhancement of 7.55 dB in E-Plane and 7.25 dB in H-Plane at the resonant frequency of 28 GHz is obtained. The proposed antenna structure is suitable for 5G millimeter wave communications, in particular, for possible implementation in future millimeter wave access points and cellular base stations.

Array pattern synthesis with phase-only constraint based on scaled-ADMM algorithm

The utilization of constant modulus beamforming technology is prevalent in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar systems and MIMO wireless communication systems. This paper investigates the problem of phase-only pattern control and synthesis in linear antenna array systems. It imposes a fixed amplitude constraint on the excitation signal, which only involves a phase constraint. However, this constraint is NP-hard and non-convex. To effectively address this challenging problem, we propose an iterative solution based on the scaled form of ADMM. This solution provides a means to rapidly synthesize patterns and significantly contributes to mitigating interference in other directions. In addition, the convergence of the proposed method is proved theoretically, and it is further demonstrated that the algorithm converges to the KKT stationary point of the original problem. Finally, simulation results show that the proposed method is superior to the most advanced methods in terms of pattern synthesis and convergence speed.

Beam Defocus in Near-Field Wideband Cylindrical Antenna Array Systems: Analysis and Mitigation

Beam Defocus in Near-Field Wideband Cylindrical Antenna Array Systems: Analysis and Mitigation

Cross Far- and Near-Field Wireless Communications in Terahertz Ultra-Large Antenna Array Systems

Cross Far- and Near-Field Wireless Communications in Terahertz Ultra-Large Antenna Array Systems

High-resolution 2D-DoA sequential algorithm of azimuth and elevation estimation in automotive distributed system of coherent MIMO radars

Objectives. One of the main tasks of radiolocation involves the problem of increasing spatial resolution of the targets in the case of limited aperture of the radar antenna array and short length of time samples (snapshots). Algorithms must be developed to provide high angular resolution and low computational complexity. In order to conform with the existing Advanced Driver Assistance Systems requirements, modern cars are equipped with more than one radar having a common signal processing scheme to improve performance during target detection, positioning, and recognition as compared to a single radar. The present study aims to develop a two-dimensional Direction-of-Arrival algorithm with low computation complexity as part of distributed coherent automotive radar system for cases involving short time samples (snapshots).Methods. A virtual antenna array formation algorithm is formulated according to the two-dimensional Capon method. A proposed modification of two-dimensional Capon algorithm is based on sequentially estimating the directions of arrival for the distributed radar system. The Monte Carlo method is used to compare the effectiveness of the considered algorithms.Results. The 2D-DoA sequential algorithm of azimuth and elevation estimation is proposed. The comparative analysis results for the developed algorithm and classical 2D Capon method based on numerical simulation using Monte Carlo method are presented. The proposed scheme of DoA estimation for coherent signal processing of distributed radars is shown to lead to an improvement of the main considered metrics representing the probability of correctly estimating the number of targets, mean square error, and square error compared to a single radar system. The proposed low-computational algorithm shows the gain in complexity compared to full 2D Capon algorithm.Conclusions. The proposed two-stage algorithm for estimating the directions of arrival of signals in azimuth and elevation planes can be applied to the distributed system of coherent radars with several receiving and transmitting antennas representing multiple input multiple output (MIMO) radars. The algorithm is based on sequentially estimating the directions of arrival, implying estimation in the azimuthal plane at the first stage and estimation in the vertical plane at the second stage. The performance of a coherent radar system with limited antenna array configuration of separate radar is close in characteristics to a high-performance 4D-radar with a large antenna array system.

A decentralized HC-ADMM approach for large antenna arrays

This work addresses the evolving landscape of internet of things (IoT) applications and large antenna array systems, where optimizing spectral efficiency and simplifying design complexities are crucial. Focusing on two key challenges, the study introduces a novel hybrid analog-digital transceiver strategy tailored for frequency-selective channels. By integrating Shannon and Hartley theorems, the approach enhances data transfer rates, thereby optimizing radio frequency (RF) chain utilization in large-scale antennas. To achieve a balance between transceiver performance and hardware complexity, the study employs a decentralized alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) framework. The proposed hybrid consensus ADMM algorithm (HC-ADMM) ensures efficient convergence in decentralized optimization scenarios. Comparative analyses with ADMM and existing system transceiver optimization (ESTO) models highlight HC-ADMM's superior performance across key metrics such as spectral efficiency, efficiency per cell, total efficiency, and optimal scheduling of user equipment (UEs). Particularly notable is HC-ADMM's advanced optimization capabilities as the number of transmit antennas increases, positioning it as a promising approach for enhancing overall communication network performance.

Wideband Simultaneous Dual Circularly Polarized Phased Array Subarray with Scalable Characteristics for Satellite Communications

This paper proposes a budget-friendly, highly integrated, and low-profile wideband simultaneous dual circularly polarized phased array subarray with scalable characteristics for satellite communications. In order to achieve wideband, the antenna unit is not only fed by double-fed point probe contact, but also by electromagnetic coupling. Moreover, the dual circularly polarized radiation of the antenna unit is realized by a miniaturized 3 dB bridge-type phase-shift network. In addition, the phased array subarray uses metalized vias to reduce inter-element crosstalk, which effectively improves the active voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) and beam steering characteristics. Also, the subarray has interchangeability and versatility, enabling convenient two-dimensional expansion to form a tile-type phased array antenna. Besides, the phased array subarray can be used to achieve two-dimensional ±40∘ beam scanning in both the azimuth and elevation planes. Within ±40∘ beam scanning, the active VSWR of the subarray is less than 2.5 in 9.55 - 14.35 GHz (40.17%). At 12.1 GHz, the two-dimensional gain decreases by less than 2.1 dB and 1.95 dB, respectively. The proposed antenna exhibits good performance in terms of matching and beam steering characteristics, which make it suitable for use in future 5G/6G phased array antenna systems.

Microwave Loaded Line Phase Shifter Design for Beam-steering Applications in Adaptive Array Antenna System

In this scholarly work, we present innovative design for Loaded Line Phase Shifter (LLPS) which is tailored for the dynamic requirements of beam-steering adaptive antenna arrays. This phase shifter plays a pivotal role by installing a precise 90o phase shift into the elements of the adaptive array, enabling beam switching in diverse directions. In the absence of the Loaded Line Phase Shifter, the S-Parameter values, specifically S11 and S21, are recorded at 158.88o and -23.72o, respectively. Upon integrating the LLPS into the transmission line, a remarkable transformation occurs with S11 and S21 values transitioning to -143.28o and -53.03o, correspondingly. These results hold great promise for the practical applications of adaptive antenna arrays.

The Design and Implementation of a Phased Antenna Array System for LEO Satellite Communications.

LEO satellite constellations can provide a viable alternative to expand connectivity to remote, isolated geographical areas and complement existing IoT terrestrial communication infrastructures. This paper aims to improve LEO satellite communications by implementing a new phased antenna array system that can significantly improve the radio communication link's performance. By adjusting the progressive phase shift to each element of the antenna array system, the direction of the main radiation lobe of the phased antenna array system can be controlled with accuracy. As far as we know, it is the first time that a four-element, three-quarter wavelength phased antenna array system has been successfully realized with the intention of being optimized for implementation in LEO IoT satellite reception systems. The proposed system's high level of performance is confirmed by the measurements, which indicate effective control of the main radiation lobe orientation. The numerical analysis shows a maximum gain close to 12 dBi for about 42° elevation, a Half Power Beamwidth (HPBW) of 32° in the vertical plane, and 80° in the azimuth plane. The experimental measurement results at various main lobe orientation angles revealed an HPBW ranging from 76° to 87° in the azimuth plane and a maximum Front-to-Back ratio (F/B) of 14.5 dB.

Performance analysis of the dual-band trapezoidal antenna array for ultra-wideband application

Designing a wireless transmission system with high data rates, high fidelity, and small size is a tough undertaking that has become more popular in the digital age. One of the most important components of wireless communication systems, such as wireless LANs, mobile WIMAX, and Bluetooth devices, is the design of an efficient antenna system. The new circular slot Trapezoidal patch antenna array, which operates in the ultra wide band frequency range of 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz, is introduced in this study. The FR4 substrate on which the antenna system is built has a dielectric constant of 4.4. The CST microwave studio suite is used to develop and analyze the performance of the compact structure patch antenna array. Antenna performance is examined in the frequency range of 2 GHz to 5 GHz. Antenna array resonance frequency is 3.1 GHz. By inserting a quarter wave line between the SMA connection and the micro stripline, 50 ohm impedance matching may be achieved. In comparison to previous studies, the intended antenna array has a minimum VSWR of 1.18, a maximum radiation efficiency of ?4.842 dB, and a directivity of 8.645 dBi. Using network analyzer, the test and simulation data were analyzed. The intended use of the antenna array system is for biomedical imaging and body area networks. Abbreviations: UWB: ultra wideband; EMI: electromagnetic interference; MIMO: multiple input multiple output; WLAN: wireless local area network; VSWR: voltage standing wave ratio; AVA: antipodal vivaldi antenna; DGS: defected ground structure; RF: radio frequency.

Frequency-adjustable OAM antenna with co-divergent beams for IoT applications

A frequency-tunable Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM)-generating antenna array system is introduced for the first time to provide high-data-rate and secure communication for Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructures and devices. Propagation of simultaneous OAM modes brings about the high-data-rate and frequency tunability leads to interference suppression for secure communication. Regarding the design evolution of the proposed structure, the novel Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna consisting of two input ports creates a 2 × 2 UCA, resulting in two 2 × 2 sub-UCA. Feeding each 2 × 2 sub-array with [0°, 90°, 180°, 270°] phase gradients in clockwise and counterclockwise states gives rise to dual-mode OAM-carrying waves with simultaneous excitation capability. It should be mentioned that each MIMO element owns frequency tunability, resulting in a frequency-adjustable dual-mode OAM antenna array. A prototypes of the suggested MIMO antenna as well as the OAM array are fabricated and measured. Changing the applied DC-voltage to the varactor diodes embedded in capacitive stubs of the antenna elements shifts the operating frequency in the MIMO antenna and consequently in the OAM array. Concerning the unique radiation characteristics of the OAM antenna, vortex beams having helical phase fronts are observed, confirming the generation of expected OAM waves. Therefore, it is asserted that the introduced structure, for the first time, proposes new features of frequency-tunability, and co-divergent simultaneous OAM propagation using the MIMO-UCA technique to provide high-data-rate and secure communication in IoT applications.

A Miniaturized Metamaterial-Loaded Switched-Beam Antenna Array System With Enhanced Bandwidth for 5G Applications

A Miniaturized Metamaterial-Loaded Switched-Beam Antenna Array System With Enhanced Bandwidth for 5G Applications

Millimeter Wave Wideband and Low-Loss Compact Power Divider Based on Gap Waveguide: For Use in Wideband Antenna Array System

Millimeter Wave Wideband and Low-Loss Compact Power Divider Based on Gap Waveguide: For Use in Wideband Antenna Array System