Dual-polarized Phased Array Antenna Research Articles

Planar, Ultra-Wideband and Dual-Polarized Phased Array Antenna for Millimeter-Wave Vehicular Communication

Planar, Ultra-Wideband and Dual-Polarized Phased Array Antenna for Millimeter-Wave Vehicular Communication

Highly Integrated Low-Profile Multilayer Dual-Polarized Phased Array Antenna With Truncated Cavities for First Pulsed Bistatic L-Band Airborne SAR Sensor

Highly Integrated Low-Profile Multilayer Dual-Polarized Phased Array Antenna With Truncated Cavities for First Pulsed Bistatic L-Band Airborne SAR Sensor

Full-Metal Dual-Polarized Phased Array Antenna With Large Element Spacing

Full-Metal Dual-Polarized Phased Array Antenna With Large Element Spacing

Millimeter-Wave Wideband ±45° Dual-Polarized Phased Array Antenna Based on Compact Wideband Widebeam Dipole Element Antenna

To meet the requirements of a millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication system prototype complying with 5G (24.25-29.5GHz) and B5G/6G (30-33GHz) standards, this letter presents a compact wideband widebeam ±45° dual-polarized dipole element antenna to form a wideband phased array antenna (PAA) covering the entire 24-33GHz (∼31.6%) band. First, by placing two orthogonal coupling feeding baluns over a dual-polarized dipole to excite the dipole's two pairs of orthogonal arms and employing four parasitic patches, a ±45° dual-polarized dipole element antenna is developed, showing a compact size (0.34λ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0</sub> ×0.34λ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0</sub> @24GHz), wide -14-dB impedance bandwidth (24-33GHz, 31.6%), wide 3-dB beamwidth (>100°), high polarization isolation (>25dB), and high cross-polarization discrimination (XPD) (>25dB) within the -14-dB impedance bandwidth. Then, based on the element antenna, a 4×4-element ±45° dual-polarized PAA is designed, fabricated using the LTCC process, and measured. The measurements show that, within the entire 24-33GHz band, the broadside scanning gain of the PAA is up to 14dBi, and the 3-dB gain variation scanning range is >±41° with a peak up to ±60º.

Open-access millimeter-wave software-defined radios in the PAWR COSMOS testbed: Design, deployment, and experimentation

While millimeter-wave (mmWave) wireless has recently gained tremendous attention with the transition to 5G, developing a broadly accessible experimental infrastructure will largely facilitate the research and allow the community to make significant progress in this area. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of various programmable and open-access mmWave software-defined radios (SDRs) that have been deployed in the PAWR COSMOS advanced wireless testbed, in both indoor and outdoor environments. These programmable mmWave radios are based on the IBM 28GHz 64-element dual-polarized phased array antenna module (PAAM) subsystem board and the Sivers IMA 60GHz WiGig transceiver. These front ends are integrated with USRP SDRs or Xilinx RFSoC boards, which provide baseband signal processing capabilities. Moreover, we present measurements of the TX/RX beamforming performance and example experiments (e.g., real-time channel sounding and RFNoC-based 802.11ad preamble detection), using the mmWave radios. Finally, we discuss ongoing enhancement and development efforts focusing on these radios.

An Ultrawideband Dual-Polarized Phased Array Antenna for Sub-3–GHz 5G Applications With a High Polarization Isolation

A dual-polarized ultra-wideband phased array antenna with a wide scanning range and high isolation polarization characteristics is presented in this paper. A tightly coupled dipole with an etched slot is proposed as the element antenna, which has a low active input impedance in a wideband and a wide scanning range. Thus, a simple feed strategy without requiring additional external matching networks and baluns could be adopted for the designed scheme. To obtain a large polarization isolation, a capacitively-loaded cross-shaped metallic wall is proposed. It is also helpful to improve the in-band matching by mitigating the bandwidth-limiting loop mode at lower frequencies and removing the undesirable common-mode resonance. As a demonstration, an array is designed with a 4.1:1 bandwidth (0.69-2.88 GHz) and an active VSWR < 3.4 while scanning up to ±45° in the E-, H-, and D-planes. Its polarization isolation is better than 45 dB at the broadside and 35 dB within most of the bandwidth when scanning to ±45° in the E-/H-planes. Its cross-polarization level is more than 51 dB at broadside and 40 dB in scanning up to ±45° in the E- and H- planes. A dual-polarized 8×8 array prototype (64 ports per polarization) is manufactured and evaluated. Results from the experiment demonstrate good agreement between the measurement and design. The designed antenna is scalable, has a high polarization isolation, a wide scanning range, an ultra-wide bandwidth, and a low cost.

Dual-Polarized Wide-Angle Scanning Phased Array Antenna for 5G Communication Systems

A dual-polarized phased array antenna is presented with wide-angle scanning capability in this article. To improve the mutual coupling in the array, a current cancellation method (CCM) is proposed by changing the current distribution on the excited unit to induce a pair of the canceled currents on the adjacent unit. Meanwhile, this current distribution broadens the beamwidth of the unit in the array. Besides, the proposed method can also optimize the array unit size and achieve a small inter-unit distance for wide-angle scanning capability. A low-profile dual-polarization antenna operating in the bandwidth from 4.4 to 5.0 GHz is designed as a linear array and a planar array to verify the proposed method. Regardless of the linear array or planar array, the mutual coupling in the array is below −19 dB, which is better than that in conventional arrays. Meanwhile, the antenna unit in the array can radiate a wide-beam pattern. Two arrays can scan over ±60° for both polarizations. Within the scanning range, the realized gain reduction is less than 3 dB and the sidelobe level is lower than −7.5 dB. To verify the performance, two array antenna prototypes are fabricated and tested. The experimental results agree well with the simulation.

Study on Impact of Mutual Coupling on Performance of Dual Polarized Phased Array Antenna

This study involves the determination of the impact of mutual coupling between antenna elements on the performance of a dual-polarized, wide-angle scanning, phased array antenna for weather radar applications. Weather radars require dual linearly polarized antennas with low cross-polarization, and a narrow beam phased array for wide scanning angle. For this simulation-based study, a microstrip dual linearly polarized 2x20 phased array antenna operating at S-band (2.65 to 3.0 GHz) is designed. This antenna has been designed to have a cross-polarization level less than -45 dB at both polarizations and for the scan angle range of -55o to 55o, which is better than most of the existing dual-pol phased array antennas. This antenna has been used to analyze the impact of mutual coupling on cross-polarization, beamwidth, and antenna gain at various scan angles. Mutual coupling is studied in terms of antenna active element pattern and the corresponding cross-polarization value as well as the active reflection coefficient and impedance values for inter-element spacings of 0.4λ and 0.5λ. It has been found in this study that cross-polarization levels of the whole array (at various scan angles) are affected significantly because of mutual coupling between elements.

Dual-Polarized Planar Phased Array Antenna With Cavity-Backed Elements

A planar dual-polarized phased array antenna with cavity-backed elements is proposed in this letter. The array antenna is designed based on a dual-polarized patch antenna element with vertical orthogonal baluns. The antenna element is backed by a compact cavity to reduce the interelement mutual coupling and enhance the scanning performance of the planar array. The proposed array achieves a wide fractional bandwidth of over 20% when scanning up to ±45° in the E- and H-planes. The isolation between the two orthogonal ports in the same element is higher than 30 dB. The validity of a design is verified by simulation and measurements of a 10 × 10 array prototype.

Development, Implementation, and Characterization of a 64-Element Dual-Polarized Phased-Array Antenna Module for 28-GHz High-Speed Data Communications

Silicon-based millimeter-wave (mm-wave) phased-array technologies are enabling directional wireless data communications at Gb/s speeds. In this paper, we review and discuss the challenges of implementing a multichip phased-array antenna module for mm-wave applications using organic buildup substrate technology. A prototype test vehicle has been fabricated and studied to evaluate the antenna and interconnect performance, dielectric properties, package substrate warpage conditions at different temperatures, chip- and board-level joint process reliability, and thermal management feasibility for cooling. Based on the learning from the test vehicle, an organic-based multilayered phased-array antenna package for 28-GHz mm-wave radio access applications is implemented. The package incorporates 64 dual-polarized antenna elements and features an air cavity common to all antennas. Direct probing measurements on a single-antenna element of the package show over 3 GHz of bandwidth and 3-dBi gain at 28 GHz. A phased-array transceiver module has been developed with the package; the module includes four SiGe BiCMOS ICs attached using flip-chip assembly. Module-level measurements in the TX mode show a 35-dB near-ideal output power increase for 64-element power combining; 64-element radiation pattern measurements are reported with a steering range of ± 50° without tapering in off-boresight directions, and 64-element radiation pattern measurements with tapering show achievement of a sidelobe level lower than −20 dB. The transceiver modules achieved 20.64-Gb/s throughput with 256 QAM and 800-MHz bandwidth in direct over-the-air link measurement results.

A Drop Size Distribution (DSD)-Based Model for Evaluating the Performance of Wet Radomes for Dual-Polarized Radars

AbstractA novel analytical method is presented for evaluating the electrical performance of a radome for a dual-polarized phased-array antenna under rain conditions. Attenuation, reflections, and induced cross polarization are evaluated for different rainfall conditions and radome types. The authors present a model for estimating the drop size distribution on a radome surface based on skin surface material, area, inclination, and rainfall rate. Then, a multilayer radome model based on the transmission-line-equivalent circuit model is used to characterize the radome’s scattering parameters. Numerical results are compared with radar data obtained in the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) and Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) systems, and good agreement is found.

Suppressing Beam Systematics in Antenna-Coupled TES Bolometers for CMB Polarimetry

We have deployed arrays of antenna-coupled TES bolometers for cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimetry in the BICEP2 and Keck array experiments and will deploy similar detectors in SPIDER and Polar-1. Each pixel receives optical power centered at 146 GHz with a 20% bandwidth (−10 dB edges) through an integrated dual-polarized phased-array antenna. In past deployments, these detectors have shown offsets in the two polarizations’ beam centroids (differential ‘steering’), but we have redesigned the feed networks by strategically spacing lines and adding intentional phase delays to suppress this unwanted effect. We expect that the focal planes in this season’s deployment of Keck and in SPIDER will have detectors with less than 5′ steering, which is 0.5% of the 14.2° nominal antenna’s FWHM (i.e. without lenses). We have also redesigned the antenna-array’s illumination pattern to suppress side-lobe response in anticipation of the Polar-1 experiment, reducing spillover by a factor of 2.5.