Directional Antennas Research Articles

Study on the Identification Method of Planar Geological Structures in Coal Mines Using Ground-Penetrating Radar

The underground detection environment in coal mines is complex, with numerous interference sources. Traditional ground-penetrating radar (GPR) methods suffer from limited detection range, high noise levels, and weak deep signals, making it extremely difficult to accurately identify geological structures without stable feature feedback. During research, it was found that the detection energy of the same target significantly changes with the antenna direction. Based on this phenomenon, this paper proposes a geological radar advanced detection method using spatial scanning. This method overcomes constraints imposed by the underground coal mine environment on detection equipment, enhancing both detection range and accuracy compared to traditional approaches. Experiments using this method revealed pea-shaped response characteristics of planar geological structures in radar images, and the mechanisms behind their formation were analyzed. Additionally, this paper studied the changes in response characteristics under changes in target inclination, providing a basis for understanding the spatial distribution of geological structures. Finally, application experiments in underground coal mine environments explored the practical potential of this method. Results indicate that, compared to drilling data, this method achieves identification accuracies of 91.88%, 90.42%, and 78.72% for the depth and spatial extent of geological structures, providing effective technical support for coal mining operations.

Control system design for azimuth position of earth station antennas

Smart earth station antennas have been used for several decades in many applications, from satellite communications to space object detection and tracking. The accuracy of the azimuth position for such antennas plays a crucial role in most steerable ground station antennas. Satellite tracking and space object detection demand precise tracking capabilities from the Earth. Several methods and techniques have been developed and used in industry to control the directions of ground station antennas, including the azimuth position. The challenge of azimuth tracking is increasing with the demand for full-sky coverage and with the exponential increase in space objects, including man-made satellites and operational and nonoperational objects; thus, providing accurate tracking is a key technology that demands continuous enhancement and development. This article presents the use of a PID-proportional-integral-derivative controller, a slide mode controller and a fractional order PID controller. It also introduces a new methodology based on model predictive control (MPC). The manuscript provides the core design for each of these controllers and provides insight into the performance of each controller even in the presence of disturbance. The camel optimization algorithm (COA) was used to obtain the optimal design parameters of each controller in the considered scenarios.

Beam steerable MIMO antenna based on conformal passive reflective metasurface for 5G millimeter wave applications

A conformal reflective metasurface fed by a dual-band multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is proposed for low-cost beam steering applications in 5G Millimeter-wave frequency bands. The beam steering is accomplished by selecting a specific port of MIMO antenna. Each MIMO port is associated with a beam that points in a different direction due to a conformal reflective metasurface. This novel conformal metasurface antenna design has the advantages of higher gain, lower cost, a simpler feeding source, and a lower profile when compared to traditional reflective metasurfaces using bulky horn antennas and phased arrays with complex feeding networks and phase shifters for beam steering. The proposed beam steering antenna consists of a compact five-element dual-band MIMO and a 32×32\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$32 \ imes 32$$\\end{document} unit-cell conformal dual-band reflective metasurface placed at the top of the MIMO antenna to obtain the beam steering capability as well as gain enhancement. The proposed reflective metasurface has a stable response under oblique incidence angles of up to 600\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$60^0$$\\end{document} at 24 GHz and 38 GHz and its symmetric, single-layer structure, ensures polarization insensitivity and stable response under conformal conditions. The presented MIMO antenna design is not only compact but also offers a wideband response effectively covering the desired 5G mm-wave frequency bands. The overall size of the MIMO antenna alone is 70 ×\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\ imes$$\\end{document} 12 mm2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\hbox {mm}^2$$\\end{document} with a maximum gain of 5.4 and 7.2 dB. It is further improved up to 13.1 and 14.2 dB at 24 and 38 GHz respectively, with a beam steering range of ś400\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$40^0$$\\end{document} by using a conformal reflective metasurface. Unlike the existing beam steering strategies, the suggested method is not only cost-effective but also increases the overall directivity and gain of the source MIMO antenna. The measured results agree with the simulated results, making it a potential candidate in the 5G and beyond beam steering applications.

Analysis and Implementation of Metamaterial-Inspired Microstrip Antenna for Wireless Applications

In this paper, a novel metamaterial-inspired microstrip antenna for wireless applications is proposed. The proposed design consists of a radiating path on top and a uniformly distributed split ring-shaped metamaterial structure on the ground. The presented antenna of 50´38 mm with a thickness of 1.6 mm is printed on FR4 substrate and resonates at 1.80 GHz. The design was fabricated and the measured results were found to be in accordance with the simulations. The goal is accomplished by loading uniformly distributed split ring-shaped metamaterial structures on the ground plane of this antenna. The results of the experiments show that using the metamaterial structure on the ground plane improved gain from 4.34 to 7.3 dB, efficiency from 5.94 to 7.8 dB compared to the conventional patch antenna. This introduction in the ground plane exhibits return loss up to –38 dB and modified the gain and directivity to 7.3 and 7.8 dB respectively. The presented antenna has 45 MHz bandwidth. The presented design is proven by simulated surface current, S parameter, VSWR, radiation pattern. We have also investigated the effect of substrate permittivity, split width, and inter-element spacing in a split ring-shaped metamaterial structure on return loss. This directive antenna is designed for the applications of wireless local area networks and other Internet of things-based applications.

Enhanced reinforcement learning-based two-way transmit-receive directional antennas neighbor discovery in wireless ad hoc networks

The utilization of directional antennas for neighbor discovery in wireless ad hoc networks brings notable benefits, such as extended transmission range, reduced transmission interference, and enhanced antenna gain. However, when nodes use directional antennas for neighbor discovery, the communication range is limited, resulting in a lack of knowledge of potential neighbors. Hence, it is necessary to design a special antenna direction switching strategy for neighbor discovery based on directional antennas. Traditional methods of switching antenna directions are often random or follow predefined sequences, overlooking the historical knowledge of sector exploration for antenna directions. In contrast, existing machine learning approaches aim to leverage observed historical knowledge to adjust antenna directions for faster neighbor discovery. Nonetheless, the latency of neighbor discovery is still high because the node cannot fully utilize the observed historical knowledge (i.e., only using the knowledge observed by the node in transmission mode, ignoring the knowledge observed by the node in reception mode). Meanwhile, the corresponding reward and penalty mechanisms are still not detailed enough (i.e., these reward and penalty mechanisms only consider the sectors of discovered and undiscovered neighboring nodes, ignoring the scenario of sectors that have been rewarded). In this paper, the neighbor discovery process is modeled as a reinforcement learning-based learning automaton. We propose an enhanced reinforcement learning-based two-way transmit-receive directional antennas neighbor discovery algorithm, called ERTTND. The algorithm consists of a two-way transmit-receive reinforcement learning mechanism (TTRL) and an enhanced reward-and-penalty mechanism (ERAP). This algorithm leverages insights from nodes in transmission and reception modes to refine their tactical decisions. Then, through an enriched reward-and-penalty framework, nodes optimize their strategies, thus expediting neighbor discovery based on directional antennas in wireless ad hoc networks. Simulation results demonstrate that compared to existing representative algorithms, the proposed ERTTND algorithm can achieve over 30% savings in terms of average discovery delay and energy consumption.

Joint antenna selection and resource allocation for mm‐wave directional D2D communications using distributed deep reinforcement learning

AbstractIn this paper, with the promising assumption of using adaptive directional microstrip antenna on user equipment, the problem of joint antenna selection, spectrum assignment, and transmit power allocation for mm‐wave device‐to‐device communications underlying cellular networks is tackled, with the goal of enhancing system throughput and energy efficiency. To address the complexity of this problem, a method based on multi‐agent distributed deep reinforcement learning in which an autonomous intelligent agent is deployed for each user equipment is proposed. The performance evaluation demonstrates its superiority over existing strategies, resulting in improved system performance, reduced outage probability, and enhanced energy efficiency.

Joint Optimization of UAV Deployment and Directional Antenna Orientation for Multi-UAV Cooperative Sensing System

Joint Optimization of UAV Deployment and Directional Antenna Orientation for Multi-UAV Cooperative Sensing System

A 2.4-7GHz Dual Band Microstrip Patch Antenna (DBMPA)

We designed a 2.4-7GHz dual-band microstrip patch antenna DB-MPA using electromagnetic field simulation and transmission characteristic (S21) measurements. Optimizing the slot length of the patch surface increased the directional antenna gain at 7 GHz by 3.5 dB compared to 2.48 GHz, reducing the effect of the higher spatial propagation loss of 9 dB at 7 GHz. A transmission system simulation with an antenna component model incorporating S21 data measured with the 2.4-7GHz DB-MPA from 1 to 8 GHz was conducted at a spatial propagation distance of 5 to 40 m to verify the practicality of the 2.4-7GHz DB-MPA

Radiation Pattern Analysis and Phase Shifter for Base Station Mobile Communication Circular Array Antenna at 900MHz Frequency by Using 4NEC2X Software

Background: This paper presents the utilization of phase shifters to manipulate and control the radiation patterns in Uniform Circular Array (UCA) antennas. UCAs, known for their 360-degree coverage and symmetrical radiation patterns, are enhanced by incorporating phase shifters, enabling dynamic beam steering and pattern shaping. Materials and Methods: A uniform circular antenna array operating at 900 GHz frequency has been intended for use in base stations using 4NEC2X simulation software. Results: A single-element dipole antenna having a 2.14 dBi gain is used as a base for constructing a uniform 0.5 λ spacing circular array. The number of elements gradually increased from 2 to 12, raising the gain to 12.3 dBi. HPBW decreased both in vertical and horizontal plans from 80o to 60o and 360o to 20o respectively this implies that the circular array antenna's directivity is enhanced. The eight-element array beam scanning was performed from 0o to 360o without any distortion in radiation pattern, gain, and directivity, contradictory with the linear array. Conclusions: The studied case and simulation output illustrate the impact of the element numbers and phase shifter configurations on properties of the radiation pattern of the uniform circular array can be obtained when increasing the number of elements, the gain increases too and scanning the main beam without any change and distortion

Large-Area Perovskite Nanocrystal Metasurfaces for Direction-Tunable Lasing.

Perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) are attractive emissive materials for developing compact lasers. However, manipulation of PNC laser directionality has been difficult, which limits their usage in photonic devices that require on-demand tunability. Here we demonstrate PNC metasurface lasers with engineered emission angles. We fabricated millimeter-scale CsPbBr3 PNC metasurfaces using an all-solution-processing technique based on soft nanoimprinting lithography. By designing band-edge photonic modes at the high-symmetry X point of the reciprocal lattice, we achieved four linearly polarized lasing beams along a polar angle of ∼30° under optical pumping. The device architecture further allows tuning of the lasing emission angles to 0° and ∼50°, respectively, by adjusting the PNC thickness to shift other high-symmetry points (Γ and M) to the PNC emission wavelength range. Our laser design strategies offer prospects for applications in directional optical antennas and detectors, 3D laser projection displays, and multichannel visible light communication.

Impact of extragalactic point sources on the low-frequency sky spectrum and cosmic dawn global 21-cm measurements

Abstract Contribution of resolved and unresolved extragalactic point sources to the low-frequency sky spectrum is a potentially non-negligible part of the astrophysical foregrounds for cosmic dawn 21-cm experiments. The clustering of such point sources on the sky, combined with the frequency-dependence of the antenna beam, can also make this contribution chromatic. By combining low-frequency measurements of the luminosity function and the angular correlation function of extragalactic point sources, we develop a model for the contribution of these sources to the low-frequency sky spectrum. Using this model, we find that the contribution of sources with flux density >10−6 Jy to the sky-averaged spectrum is smooth and of the order of a few kelvins at 50–200 MHz. We combine this model with measurements of the galactic foreground spectrum and weigh the resultant sky by the beam directivity of the conical log-spiral antenna planned as part of the Radio Experiment for the Analysis of Cosmic Hydrogen (REACH) project. We find that the contribution of point sources to the resultant spectrum is $\sim 0.4\%$ of the total foregrounds, but still larger by at least an order of magnitude than the standard predictions for the cosmological 21-cm signal. As a result, not accounting for the point-source contribution leads to a systematic bias in 21-cm signal recovery. We show, however, that in the REACH case, this reconstruction bias can be removed by modelling the point-source contribution as a power law with a running spectral index. We make our code publicly available as a Python package labelled epspy.

Numerical investigation of non-uniform arrays of directive antennas for radiation pattern analysis using spatial modulation schemes

This research presents a novel Non-Uniform Array (NUA) design for Spatial Modulation (SM) systems, aiming to improve Bit Error Rate (BER) performance. The NUA utilizes directional antennas with low-similarity radiation patterns, enabling the receiver to effectively distinguish between signals transmitted from different antenna elements. This enhanced signal discrimination capability directly contributes to improved system capacity and potential spectral efficiency gains for massive MIMO systems employing SM techniques. The proposed NUA was optimized for operation at 5.2 GHz, achieving a high degree of pattern distinguishability. Measured results confirm the effectiveness of the design, demonstrating good agreement with simulations. Moreover, an analysis based on the similarity of the radiation pattern was conducted

Wireless Continuous Glucose Monitoring Using V-Band Circularly Polarized Directive Antenna Arrays in a Transmit/Receive System

Wireless Continuous Glucose Monitoring Using V-Band Circularly Polarized Directive Antenna Arrays in a Transmit/Receive System

An Adaptive 3D Neighbor Discovery and Tracking Algorithm in Battlefield Flying Ad Hoc Networks with Directional Antennas.

Neighbor discovery and tracking with directional antennas in flying ad hoc networks (FANETs) is a challenging issue because of dispersed node distribution and irregular maneuvers in three-dimensional (3D) space. In this paper, we propose an adaptive 3D neighbor discovery and tracking algorithm in battlefield FANETs with directional antennas. With time synchronization, a flying node transmits/receives the neighbor discovery packets sequentially in each beam around it to execute a two-way handshake for neighbor discovery. The transmitting or receiving status of each discovery slot depends on the binary code corresponding to the identification of the node. Discovered neighbor nodes exchange their 3D positions in tracking slots periodically for node tracking, and the maximum tracking period is determined by node velocity, beamwidth, and the minimum distance between nodes. By configuring the relevant parameters, the proposed algorithm can also apply to two-dimensional planar ad hoc networks. The simulation results suggest that the proposed algorithm can achieve shorter neighbor discovery time and longer link survival time in comparison with the random scanning algorithm in scenarios with narrow beamwidth and wide moving area. When the frame length increases, the protocol overhead decreases but the average neighbor discovery time increases. The suitable frame length should be determined based on the network range, node count, beamwidth, and node mobility characteristics.

Research on Aircraft Direction Finding Based on Antenna Directionality Parameter Identification

Radar direction finding is an essential cooperative monitoring method for aircraft, and the directional parameters of the direction-finding antenna determine the accuracy of direction finding. A modified amplitude comparison direction finding model is proposed based on the traditional principle of adjacent amplitude comparison direction finding and the error of amplitude comparison direction finding. Based on the modified amplitude comparison direction finding model, an error correction genetic simulated annealing (COR-GSA) algorithm is proposed to identify unknown directional antenna directionality parameters by determining the antenna directionality parameters that need to be identified. Identification experiments were conducted using a self-designed dual channel DF receiver, and 1000 sets of aircraft real azimuth data were used for verification. The results showed that using the COR-GSA algorithm to identify antenna directional parameters had the highest DF accuracy. Finally, the identified antenna directionality parameters were used to track the aircraft’s azimuth, and the tracking error was reduced by 18.3% compared to the tracking error without azimuth correction.

Designing an ultra-wideband directional antipodal Vivaldi antenna with U-slots for biomedical applications using an optimized attention network

Abstract This research introduces a compact Ultra-Wideband (UWB) antipodal Vivaldi antenna with a U-slot tailored for biomedical applications. Utilizing an elliptical tapered patch variation on a 50*32 mm2 substrate achieves its compact design. Parameter optimization, employing the Multi-Layer Stacked Shallow Attention Neural Network (MLSSANN) with Adaptive Gannet Optimization Algorithm (AGOA), ensures accurate predictions and efficient exploration of the design space. Performance analysis includes metrics like gain, directivity, reflection coefficients, return loss and radiation efficiency. The U-slot variant exhibits higher gain peaking at 24.5 GHz (10 dB) compared to the standard variant peaking near 37 GHz (13.7 dB). The U-slot antenna also shows improved directivity and return loss, with a 13.89 % enhancement in return loss at 3.7 GHz. Moreover, the addition of the slot shifts the lower cut-off frequency from 1,580 MHz to 740 MHz, reducing the antenna size by 41 % while maintaining acceptable radiation characteristics.

Joint Optimization of Location, Beam, and Radio Resource for an Aerial Base Station With Controllable Directional Antennas

Joint Optimization of Location, Beam, and Radio Resource for an Aerial Base Station With Controllable Directional Antennas

Analysis of Near-Field Characteristics on Improved Structures of Double-Slot Antipodal Vivaldi Antenna.

A characterization of near-field impulse responses based on electromagnetic (EM) near-field data from an EM solver to explore features of the propagation process on a well-known wideband traveling wave antenna-double-slot Vivaldi antenna-is presented in this article. The intensity, propagating time and partitional response characteristics facilitate interpretation of the propagation process and impacts of the antenna partitions on the process. The EM energy flows guided, reoriented and scattered along a sequence of antennas transmitting and radiating segments were recognized. The geometric features of near-field wavefront surfaces supported evaluation of the EM flow proportions and antenna directivity. Impact of the structural section on radiation was also assessed by the partitional far-field response characteristic in frequency and time domains. Supported by many complementary characteristics in the analyses, inherent features of the propagation process were emphasized and false flags were minimized. By this approach, the simplification for the near-field propagation model contributed to enhancing the insight of near-field propagation processes on the double-slot antipodal Vivaldi antennas and enabled optimizing the antenna structure details.

RSSI-Based Distributed Control to Align Directional Antenna Pairs for UAV Communication

RSSI-Based Distributed Control to Align Directional Antenna Pairs for UAV Communication

A location fingerprinting approach for the automated radio telemetry of wildlife and comparison to alternative methods

BackgroundAutomated radio telemetry (ART) systems enable high-temporal resolution data collection for species unsuited to satellite-based methods. A challenge of ART systems is estimating the location of radio tagged animals from the radio signals received on multiple antennas within an ART array. Localisation methods for ART systems with omni-directional receivers have undergone rapid development in recent years, with the inclusion of machine learning techniques. However, comparable machine learning methods for ART systems with directional antennas are unavailable, despite their potential for improved accuracy and greater versatility. To address this, we introduce an open-source machine learning-based location fingerprinting method for directional antenna-based ART systems. We compare this method to two alternative localisation approaches. Both alternatives use relative signal strengths recorded among multiple antennas to estimate the signal’s angle of arrival at each receiver. In the ‘biangulation’ approach, the location is estimated by finding the intersection of these angles from two receivers. In contrast, the ‘linear regression’ approach uses a linear regression model to estimate the distance from the receiver along the angle of arrival, providing a location estimate. We evaluate these methods using an ART data set collected for the southern black-throated finch (Poephila cincta cincta), in the Desert Uplands Bioregion of Queensland, Australia.ResultsThe location fingerprinting method performed slightly better than the best performing alternative, the linear regression method, with mean positional errors of 308 m (SE = 17.7) and 335 m (SE = 18.5), respectively. The biangulation method performed substantially worse, with a mean positional error of 550 m (SE = 42.9, median = 540 m). Improved accuracy was observed with shorter distances between transmitters and receivers, higher signal strengths, and a greater number of detecting receivers, suggesting that increasing receiver density improves localisation accuracy, albeit with potential trade-offs in system coverage or cost. Furthermore, shorter pulse intervals of transmitters resulted in greater accuracy, highlighting the trade-offs among battery life, transmitter weight and radiative power.ConclusionsThe open-source location fingerprinting method offers an improved and versatile localisation approach suitable for a wide variety of ART system designs, addressing the challenge of developing study-specific localisation methods using alternative approaches.