Multiport Antenna Research Articles

Design and validation of a miniaturized reconfigurable power divider with arbitrary power split ratio and flexible output phase difference

This study introduces a microstrip line (ML) based reconfigurable 5-port power divider (PD) capable of manipulating power ratios at four output ports. The proposed PD offers two operational modes: unidirectional and bidirectional. In unidirectional transmission mode, the entire source power is directed to a particular output port, while in bidirectional transmission mode, the source power is equally distributed between two output ports. The selection of different transmission modes is accomplished by configuring six adaptive loads that are coupled to the PD structure, and the corresponding S-parameters of the proposed PD are derived by even–odd mode modeling. The resulting data is subsequently optimized by a numerical approach to identify the required design parameters that would ensure optimal performance. The proposed PD resonates at 1.06GHz and covers a frequency range spanning 0.9GHz to 1.2GHz, making it an excellent option for supplying regulated power to multi-port antennas or multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antennas proposed for aircraft navigation applications. The prototype has been developed to validate the notion of reconfigurable reactive loads utilizing varactor diodes and the recorded result is evaluated with the simulated results. The findings confirm excellent performance with regards to insertion loss (with a difference of <-2dB from the optimal values), reflection coefficient (≥-20dB), and isolation (≥-40dB) between the transmitting (input port) and non-transmitting or the remaining ports.

Direction-of-Arrival Estimation for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Aircraft Transponders Using a Multi-Mode Multi-Port Antenna.

Increasing airspace safety is an important challenge, both for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as well as manned aircraft. Future developments of collision avoidance systems are supposed to utilize information from multiple sensing systems. A compact sensing system could employ a multi-mode multi-port antenna (M 3PA). Their ability to radiate multiple orthogonal patterns simultaneously makes them suitable for communication applications as well as bearing and ranging applications. Furthermore, they can be designed to flexibly originate near-omnidirectional and/or directional radiation patterns. This option of flexibility with respect to the radiation characteristic is desired for antennas integrated in collision avoidance systems. Based on the aforementioned properties, M 3PAs represent a compelling option for aircraft transponders. In this paper, direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation using an M 3PA designed for aerial applications is put to the test. First, a DoA estimation scheme suitable to be employed with M 3PAs is introduced. Next, the validity of the proposed method is confirmed through numerical simulations. Lastly, practical experiments are conducted in an antenna measurement chamber to verify the numerical results.

Fractal Engineering Integration in Antenna Arrays: A Comparative-review for Advanced Transceiver Systems with 5G/IoT Connectivity

The growing demand for space-efficient antennas compatible with portable electronic gadgets inspired the integration of recursively iterated fractal geometries (characterized by self-similarity, space-filling, and multiband/wideband capabilities) in antenna designs. Therefore, this article conducts an extensive survey on fractal-based single-port and multi-port patch antenna designs with multiband and ultrawideband characteristics for their implementation in 5G/IoT (Internet of Things) devices. The survey begins with a basic overview of fractal geometries and the iterated function system (IFS) technique employed for their generation. Further, it highlights the limitation of multipath fading prevalent in single-port antenna arrays that can be overcome by adopting multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. The MIMO antenna systems are vital for 5G networks to enhance data transmission rate, network capacity, and system reliability. Apart from these admirable attributes, the closely packed antenna elements in the MIMO configuration result in a severe mutual coupling. To address this limitation, various isolation enhancement techniques developed by distinguished researchers are thoroughly discussed in this article, detailing their merits and demerits. At last, this article portrays diverse band-notch structures integrated into the antenna designs to eradicate the existing interfering narrow bands in the ultrawideband (UWB) spectrum. The underlying reason for conducting this survey is to aid antenna designers and academicians with a thorough knowledge of distinct fractal geometries, various isolation improvement approaches, and band-notch techniques on a single platform, desired for designing 5G/IoT-based antenna systems.

Wideband Multiport Antenna Design by Sub-Array Aperture Sharing Offering Dual-Circularly Polarized Beamforming for Wireless Power Transfer

Wideband Multiport Antenna Design by Sub-Array Aperture Sharing Offering Dual-Circularly Polarized Beamforming for Wireless Power Transfer

Joint Communication and Sensing Using Compressive Sensing and a Single Multi-Mode Multi-Port Antenna

Joint Communication and Sensing Using Compressive Sensing and a Single Multi-Mode Multi-Port Antenna

Comments on “Transducer and Radiation Efficiency Figures of a Multiport Antenna Array”

Comments on “Transducer and Radiation Efficiency Figures of a Multiport Antenna Array”

Reply to Comments on “Transducer and Radiation Efficiency Figures of a Multiport Antenna Array”

Reply to Comments on “Transducer and Radiation Efficiency Figures of a Multiport Antenna Array”

Performance Analysis of Multiport Antennas in Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Channels

Performance Analysis of Multiport Antennas in Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Channels

A conformal multi-port MIMO patch antenna for 5G wireless devices

This paper presents a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna array with low-profile and flexible characteristics. Multiple microstrip patches are arranged in the E-plane configuration and decoupled by shorted quarter-wavelength stubs. The antenna has a small element spacing of 0.032 λ, where λ is a free-space wavelength at the center frequency. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed concept, a 1 × 4 MIMO array prototype is fabricated. The measured results on the fabricated prototype demonstrate that the MIMO antenna has good operation features at 4.8 GHz with a reflection coefficient of less than –10 dB and an isolation of better than 20 dB. Besides, good radiation patterns and broadside gain of around 4.5 dBi are also attained. The antenna also works in the bending mode and has the capability of extending to large-scale MIMO arrays. Such attractive features prove the utility of the proposed antenna in various modern electronic devices.

Aperture Sharing Metasurface-Based Wide-Beam Antenna for Energy Harvesting

Since the available ambient power level is usually quite low for radio frequency energy harvesting, it is very desirable for an antenna to have both a high gain and a wide beamwidth. Usually, they cannot be achieved simultaneously. In order to overcome this limitation, a multi-port antenna using a nonuniform metasurface (MTS) is presented. In this MTS-based antenna, three modes with complementary radiation patterns are excited through one middle and two side aperture-coupled feeding ports. The first mode is the fundamental TM10 mode with in-phase current distributions on the MTS. It has a broadside directional radiation pattern with a high gain. The second and third modes are symmetrical to each other at a high mode. They have opposite current distributions on two sides of the MTS. These two modes have a directional radiation pattern with a tilted angle. These three modes share the same aperture but are excited by three different feeds. Each feed is connected to a rectifier. By combining direct current (DC) output to a single load, an antenna with a wide beam and a high gain can be effectively achieved, although each mode has the usual limitation of gain and beamwidth. The key advantage of this proposed rectenna is that the unit cells on the MTS layer can be reused to excite different MTS modes with different radiation patterns simultaneously. Thus, a wide beamwidth can be achieved. Three realized beams are oriented at −35°, 0°, and + 35° respectively. By combining the DC output from the three modes, the proposed rectenna has effectively achieved a beamwidth of 114° with a gain ranging from 8 to 9.8 dBi. The RF-to-DC conversion efficiency of the rectifiers is 3%-67% at 2.45 GHz when the input power ranges from −35 to 0 dBm. The proposed MTS antenna with an overall size of λ0 × λ0 × 0.03 λ0 can achieve 12% fractional bandwidth.

Theoretical Study and Systematic Design of Multiport Wire Antenna

This work presents a systematic study of multi-port wire antennas (MPWA) as a step toward reconfigurable radiation apertures, an essential component in modern wireless systems. We predict the surface current distribution (SCD) of the multi-port structure and derive a closed-form relation for the radiation pattern of the aperture as a function of its input port excitations. Based on this, we present a design procedure for optimal selection of port locations and their respective input excitations with a desired radiation pattern in mind. Finally, we develop a computationally efficient method to derive the impedance matrix of the multi-port aperture all without the need for full-wave simulation. As an example, we use this method to design a 15-port mm-wave antenna. We demonstrate that for a selected aperture size and port locations and only by adjusting the phases and amplitudes of excitation, we can reconfigure the MPWA to synthesize a desired beam at any frequency within the 20-40GHz range. There is good agreement between results predicted by this method compared to those from EM-based simulations, enabling an efficient and scalable approach for designing multi-port radiators.

A planar four-element modified L-shaped monopolar multiport antenna for sub-6 GHz applications

This paper presents and implements a four-element modified L-shaped multiport antenna for sub-6 GHz applications. The isolation between the antenna elements is improved by careful engineering in the ground plane. The proposed four-element modified L-shaped MIMO antenna has a footprint of 0.21897 λ02, where, λ0 is the wavelength of the lowest operating frequency. The fractional bandwidth of this antenna is 55.15% while operating between 3.9–6.87 GHz. The inter-element isolation is always above 16 dB in simulation and above 18 dB in measurements, with the simulated peak gain of 2.53 dBi over its operating frequency band. The measured Envelope Correlation Coefficient (ECC) is below 0.008 which makes it a potential candidate for IEEE 802.11a and sub-6 GHz wireless applications requiring compact and low-profile antennas with high inter-element isolation.

Low-Profile Multibeam Antenna Based on Modulated Metasurface

Linearly polarized (LP) multi-port multi-beam antennas (MBAs) based on modulated metasurface (MTS) are presented in this paper. A key challenge for MTS to generate multiple independent beams is the mutual interference of different impedance modulations. This interference can lead to reduced directivities of main beams and high side lobe levels (SLLs). A full-wave based optimization for a large number of beams is significantly time consuming and practically ineffective. The source locations are optimized here by employing the aperture field calculated from a zeroth-order approximation (ZOA) of the currents on the surface. This provides a good preliminary accuracy without any full-wave analysis. The relevant design method is verified by two examples of 3-beam and 7-beam MTS antennas. Furthermore, the 7-beam MTS antenna is fabricated and successfully measured. The measurements show a measured realized gain of 20 dBi at 14.10 GHz with a beam coverage (10-dB overlap) up to ±36°. It is seen that the same performance requires larger areas with conventional summation of apertures.

Transducer and Radiation Efficiency Figures of a Multiport Antenna Array

Optimal performance of antennas used in MIMO systems is addressed in this paper with optimality being expressed in terms of the power radiated which is subject to realistic, yet unknown, excitation and fixed, however arbitrarily complicated, matching. It is shown that if excitation is not specified, the optimality of a MIMO radiating system has to be understood differently as compared to the case of a specified excitation. Consequently, two important figures of merits – transducer and radiation efficiency figures – are adopted to measure the quality of the MIMO radiating systems. The communication is accompanied by examples illustrating the theoretical concepts.

Design of a UWB Antenna with Multiple Ports on a Single Circular Radiator for Direction-Finding Applications

This paper proposes a single circular radiator with a multi-port (SRMP) antenna that can estimate the direction-of-arrival (DoA) in the azimuth and elevation directions. The proposed SRMP antenna is designed to minimize the size of the ultra-wideband system by using only one patch radiator. To verify the feasibility, the proposed antenna is fabricated, and the reflection coefficient and boresight gain are measured (-13.3 dB and 3.4 dBi at 8 GHz). Then, to observe the direction-finding performance, the DoA estimation results using the Bartlett beamformer are compared with the typical array. At all incident angles, a root-mean-square error of less than 1° is observed when the signal-to-noise ratio is higher than 6 dB.

Multiport Single Element Mimo Antenna Systems: A Review

In response to the increasing demand for voice, data, and multimedia applications, the next generation of wireless communication systems is projected to provide faster data rates and better service quality to customers. Techniques such as Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) and diversity are being studied and implemented to meet the needs of next-generation wireless communication systems. Embedding multiple antennas into the same antenna system is seen as a promising solution, which can improve both the system's channel capacity and the communication link's quality. However, for small handheld and portable devices, embedding many antennas into a single device in a small area and at the same time providing good isolation becomes a challenge. Hence, designing a shared antenna system with multiple feed ports with equivalent or better performance characteristics as compared to the approach of multiple antennas with multiple feed ports is a promising advantage which can reduce the size and cost of manufacturing. This paper intends to provide an in-depth review of different MIMO antenna designs with common radiators covering various antenna design aspects such as isolation techniques, gain, efficiency, envelope correlation coefficient, and size, etc. There is also a discussion of the mathematical concepts of MIMO and different isolation techniques, as well as a comparative analysis of different shared radiator antenna designs. The literature review shows that only very few antennas' design with common radiator have been suggested in the available literature at present. Therefore, in this review paper, we have endeavored to study different antennas' designs with common radiator. A comparison is provided of their performance improvement techniques in a holistic way so that it can lead to further develop the common radiator multiport antenna systems and realize the promising advantages they offer.

Measuring Array Mutual Impedances Using Embedded Element Patterns

The radiation pattern of an antenna element embedded in a multiport antenna such as a phased array depends on the loads connected to the array element ports. If the embedded element patterns (EEPs) are measured using at least two known loading conditions, the patterns can be used to determine the array mutual impedance matrix. In previous work, this result has been derived with the simplifying assumption that the impedance of the source connected to the driven element changes along with the load impedances connected to the nondriven elements. In a practical test configuration, the source impedance cannot be readily changed. We analyze the case of EEPs measured with a fixed source impedance and changing impedances on the nondriven elements. The transformation from one set of EEPs to another with fixed source impedance is more complex than in the case of a source impedance that changes with the load impedances. The transformation depends on the coupling between elements and is only weakly sensitive to the element self-impedances. With measured EEPs for an array of identical elements, the impedance matrix can be found up to a scale factor. We demonstrate the method experimentally by measuring the patterns of an antenna array terminated with one loading condition and repeating the pattern measurements with a different loading condition. The mutual impedance matrix extracted from the pattern measurements compared to network analyzer mutual impedance measurements is accurate to within 1– <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2~\Omega $ </tex-math></inline-formula> for most of the mutual impedances.

A Multi-Port Pattern Diversity Antenna With High Isolation

A Multi-Port Pattern Diversity Antenna With High Isolation

Compact size easily extendable self isolated multi-port multi-band antenna for future 5G high band and sub-THz band applications

Compact size easily extendable self isolated multi-port multi-band antenna for future 5G high band and sub-THz band applications

SAR Reduction With Antenna Cluster Technique

An efficient and straightforward antenna design method is presented that maximizes the ratio of total efficiency and specific absorption rate (SAR). This goal is achieved with a multiport antenna cluster technique where several ports are excited collectively with appropriate feeding weights. These weights are found as an eigenvalue solution formulated in terms of the radiated and near-field power of an antenna. The method relies on both the near-field (SAR) and far-field (radiation) physics of an antenna and it can be applied to various design cases. The importance of the maximization of total-efficiency-SAR ratio and the feasibility of the proposed approach are demonstrated with a simple multiple-dipole antenna example and with a more realistic antenna design where a metal-rimmed antenna is held in the user’s hand.