Stacked Patch Antenna Research Articles

A novel millimetre‐wave 2D wide‐angle scanning phased array antenna based on decoupling surface

AbstractThis paper presents a novel millimetre‐wave (mmWave) 2D wide‐angle scanning (WAS) phased array antenna (PAA) based on decoupling surface (DS). The proposed element is a coaxial feeding stacked patch antenna structure that consists of an L‐shape coaxial probe, substrate integrated waveguide cavity, slot layer, radiating patch, DS and defective ground structure. The simulated impedance bandwidth for the element is 14.85% (26.18–30.34 GHz). The simulated result of the 2 × 2 array shows that the designed antenna based on DS achieves an isolation of ≥19 dB within the bandwidth. To validate the scanning capabilities of the proposed antenna, an 8 × 8 PAA prototype is fabricated and measured. The measured scanning range of the prototype achieves a 2D WAS range of ±56° at 27 GHz. The proposed antenna shows great potential in application scenarios, such as automotive radar and satellite communication due to its compact design and ability to achieve WAS in two dimensions.

Dual-Polarized Heterogeneous Stacked Patch Antenna With Stable Radiation Performance and High Efficiency

Dual-Polarized Heterogeneous Stacked Patch Antenna With Stable Radiation Performance and High Efficiency

Design of Compact Size Tri-Band Stacked Patch Antenna for GPS and IRNSS

Design of Compact Size Tri-Band Stacked Patch Antenna for GPS and IRNSS

LCP-Based Low-Cost Base Station Antenna for 3.7 GHz 5G Band

This paper presents a large-scale base station antenna assembly structure that is low-cost, reliable, and easy to manufacture. The antenna element is composed of a low-loss liquid crystal polymer based on a plastic molded module and a modified wideband stacked patch antenna. The base station antenna consists of a 4 × 8 antenna module, with each module comprising 3 × 1 subarrays along with dual-polarized antenna elements. The antenna element achieved an efficiency of 91% and an impedance bandwidth of 1.14 GHz within a height of 10 mm at 3.7 GHz. Furthermore, the fabricated array antenna structure was tested and verified to have an effective isotropic radiated power of 75.6 dBm at boresight and a steering range of less than ±60°. Therefore, the proposed structure meets the required antenna and beam-forming performance for commercial 5G active antenna systems.

Design of Compact Size Tri-Band Stacked Patch Antenna for GPS and IRNSS

Abstract: This paper introduces a low-profile, compact tri-band microstrip patch antenna designed for GPS and IRNSS applications. The proposed antenna operates at frequencies of 1.57 GHz, 1.22 GHz, and 1.77 GHz. The antenna configuration consists of a patch antenna with a slip slot or manderline to generate three frequency bands while maintaining an acceptable radiation pattern. The focus of the study is to enhance the antenna's gain across all three frequency bands. This design aims to offer a versatile solution for navigation systems, leveraging the tri-band capability to accommodate different satellite signals and improve overall performance in GPS and IRNSS applications.

A Lightweight Broadband Circularly Polarized Stacked Patch Antenna Formed by Meshed Aluminum Disks for Inter-Satellite Communication

A Lightweight Broadband Circularly Polarized Stacked Patch Antenna Formed by Meshed Aluminum Disks for Inter-Satellite Communication

Dual-band frequency reconfigurable metasurface antenna for millimeter wave joint communication and radar sensing systems

This paper introduces an innovative, compact, and high-gain metasurface antenna, covering both the 24 GHz millimeter wave (mmWave) radar band and the 5 G n257 and n258 bands. The proposed metasurface antenna consists of a wideband stacked patch antenna and a dual-layer metasurface to focus its radiation beams for multiple mmWave bands. The operating frequency can be slightly shifted by altering the distance between the feeder and the metasurface. The distribution of the metasurface unit cells is designed based on a simplified phase compensation formula. The dimension of the fabricated feeder is 6 mm × 6 mm, and the metasurface occupies a 65 mm × 65 mm radome area. Experimental results demonstrate a wide bandwidth from 23.5 GHz to 29.1 GHz for the feeder, and impressive maximum gains of 19.7 dBi and 19.5 dBi for the lower band and higher band of the metasurface antenna are achieved simultaneously. The frequency reconfiguration ability was characterized by a 750 MHz frequency shift with every 1 mm distance adjustment. The compact size and high gain performance of the proposed design underscore its potential for practical applications in millimeter wave joint communication and radar sensing systems.

A [formula omitted]45°dual-polarized co-channel patch antenna array for in-band full-duplex applications

A broadband stacked patch antenna array with high port isolation is presented for in-band full-duplex (IBFD) applications in this article. A co-channel feeding scheme is proposed to simultaneously excite two ports of the patch antenna to achieve ±45°dual polarization. An antenna system is then designed using a 2 × 2 stacked patch array, a parallel feeding network, and a hybrid coupler. The coupling between the Tx and Rx ports due to mismatch and coupling between the antenna elements is analysed in detail and shown to be eliminated completely. A demonstrator is fabricated and measured to endorse the accuracy of the proposed feeding scheme. The measured results show that the developed prototype can operate from 3.15 GHz to 4.0 GHz. The isolation level between Tx and Rx ports is higher than 45 dB within the operating band. The realized gains of two ports are higher than 10.5 dBi throughout the band of interest with the maximum gain of 13.9 dBi, which are congruent with the simulated ones.

Design of dual circular polarized stacked patch antenna for BeiDou navigation satellite systems

In this article, a design of two-layered, dual circular-polarization (CP) and dual-band path antenna is presented for BeiDou navigation satellite (BDS) system applications. A single 50-Ω Co-axial probe feeding arrangement is employed to achieve dual-band operation and it feeds both the antennas simultaneously. This mode introduces the CP radiation on both upper (RHCP) and lower (LHCP) operation bands. The impedance bandwidth is further widened by accommodating two semi-circular stubs on the top patch. The fabricated and experimentally validated prototype radiates at 1.82 and 3.45 GHz (center frequency). The upper and lower operating band exhibits right and left-handed CP radiations, which constructs dual-band operation. The fabricated prototype has a physical size of πr2 × 0.024 λg with an antenna profile of 2.38 mm (0.024 λg). The experimentally validated upper and lower bands impedance bandwidth with |S11| < −10 dB are 21.1% and 11.1%, respectively. The fabricated prototype is a good candidate to use in BDS applications. [Q2

Wideband Center-fed Stacked Patch Circularly Polarized Antenna used in Phased Array

A center-fed circularly polarized stacked patch antenna (CF-CPSPA) with enhanced axial-ratio (AR) bandwidth is proposed in this paper. The antenna is composed of two microstrip patches, the lower patch consists of a circular pad, an elliptical-ring, and two branch lines connecting them, which is used to realize the center-fed condition, and the upper patch is an elliptical patch to achieve the wide band performance. Firstly, two center-fed linearly polarized stacked patch antennas with wide band are designed, one mode radiated with x polarization, and the other generates y polarized radiation. Next, the orthogonal modes of two linearly polarized antennas are combined together by a specific design. Finally, the approximate equal amplitude and quadrature phase difference of the introduced modes are achieved in the operating frequency band with proper parameters analysis. And the impedance bandwidth and 3dB AR bandwidth is improved to 30.4% and 16.5%.

Wideband High-Gain Stacked Patch Antenna Array on Standard PCB for D-Band 6G Communications

Wideband High-Gain Stacked Patch Antenna Array on Standard PCB for <i>D</i>-Band 6G Communications

Circuit Model for Nth-Order Stacked Patch Antenna, Parameter Extraction, and Radiation Prediction

Circuit Model for Nth-Order Stacked Patch Antenna, Parameter Extraction, and Radiation Prediction

A Compact 1:3 Power Divider Incorporating 180° Shifted Path for Polarization Purity Enhanced Base Station Subarray

This paper presents a compact 1:3 power divider and a base station subarray antenna with enhanced polarization purity exhibiting high cross-polarization discrimination (XPD) and high input port isolation. The compact 1:3 power divider incorporating a 180° shifted path is proposed to achieve both polarization purity and the wideband characteristics of the subarray antenna, which is difficult to implement using the conventional dual-feed method in limited areas. Using the proposed power divider, a dual-polarized quadruple Π-probe feed stacked patch antenna array is designed, which achieves a wide bandwidth of over 30% (&lt; -13 dB) from 1.68 GHz to 2.25 GHz. The XPD is increased by approximately 8 dB and 5 dB at 1.71 GHz and 2.11 GHz, respectively, to attain an increase in the isolation bandwidth (&lt; -20 dB) from 14% to 43%. Furthermore, the measurement results of a 4 × 3 antenna array confirm the effectiveness of the proposed design in terms of XPD and isolation while maintaining the bandwidth and beam performance. This study demonstrates a relatively wide bandwidth between patch antennas, despite the use of multiple subarrays. The comparative results also show a relatively better frontto-back ratio and isolation of the proposed design.

Bandwidth-Enhanced Frequency-Agile Stacked Patch Antenna Sharing Common Tuning Element

Bandwidth-Enhanced Frequency-Agile Stacked Patch Antenna Sharing Common Tuning Element

A Ka-Band Silicon-Based Antenna-in-Package Design Using Characteristic Mode Analysis for Bandwidth Enhancement

With the emergence of 5G and satellite communication applications, where millimeter-wave (mm-wave) active phased arrays play an important role, the demand for a highly integrated and cost-effective method to achieve mm-wave antennas is an inevitable trend. Antenna-in-package (AiP) design is therefore becoming a hotspot. This paper presents the design procedure for a broadband silicon-based stacked patch antenna in Ka-band, which realizes a practical AiP structure for phased-array module integration requirements. A stacked-patch antenna on a high-resistivity silicon (HRSi) substrate is demonstrated to effectively extend the bandwidth with the guidance of characteristic mode analysis (CMA).The proposed antenna element and its 2 × 2 array were designed and fabricated using silicon bulk micromachining and wafer-level bonding technology. The measured results from the fabricated antenna prototypes showed that (1) the antenna element had an impedance bandwidth of 13.8% from 26.2 to 30.1 GHz, and the peak gain was 6.1 dBi at 28.9 GHz; (2) the 2 × 2 array realized an impedance bandwidth of 11.4% from 27.2 to 30.5 GHz, and the peak gain was 9.3 dBi at 28.5 GHz.

Wideband Co-Polarized Stacked Patch Antenna for In-Band Full-Duplex Applications

Wideband Co-Polarized Stacked Patch Antenna for In-Band Full-Duplex Applications

3‐D glass integrated stacked patch antenna array for silicon active package system

3‐D glass integrated stacked patch antenna array for silicon active package system

High-Efficiency Circularly Polarized Phased Array Based on 5 μm-Thick Nematic Liquid Crystals: Design, Over-The-Air Calibration, and Experimental Validation

This paper presents a systematic investigation and demonstration of a K-band circularly polarized liquid-crystal-based phased array (LCPA), including the design, over-the-air (OTA) in-array calibration, and experimental validation. The LCPA contains 16 phase-shifting radiating channels, each consisting of a circularly polarized stacked patch antenna and a liquid-crystal-based phase shifter (LCPS) based on a loaded differential line structure. Thanks to its slow-wave properties, the LCPS exhibits a maximum phase-shifting range of more than 360° with a figure of merit of 78.3(° )·dB−1 based on a liquid crystal layer with a thickness of only 5 μm. Furthermore, an automatic OTA calibration based on a state ergodic method is proposed, which enables the extraction of the phase–voltage curve of every individual LCPA channel. The proposed LCPA is manufactured and characterized with a total profile of only 1.76 mm, experimentally demonstrating a scanned circularly polarized beam from −40° to +40° with a measured peak gain of 12.5 dBic and a scanning loss of less than 2.5 dB. The bandwidth of the LCPA, which satisfies the requirements of port reflection (|S11|) < −15 dB, an axial ratio (AR) < 3 dB, beam squinting < 3°, and a gain variation < 2.2 dB, spans from 25.5 to 26.0 GHz. The total efficiency is about 34%, which represents a new state of the art. The use of the demonstrated low-profile LCPA to support circularly polarized scanning beams, along with the systematic design and calibration methodology, holds potential promise for a variety of millimeter-wave applications.

Suitability of Dual-Band, Dual-Polarized Patch Antennas with a Superstrate for the Miniaturization of Ku-Band Antenna Arrays for Automotive Applications

The extension of low-earth orbit (LEO) services to non-terrestrial mobile communications has huge potential for eliminating network white spots and providing high-speed, low-latency links with worldwide geographic coverage. State-of-the-art user terminals for mobile platforms are too large for integration into a passenger vehicle. Antenna elements loaded with a dielectric superstrate could potentially lead to a considerable miniaturization of the user terminal. As per link budget calculations, an array with a gain of 27 dBi is necessary to ensure a throughput of 25 Mbps in the downlink at the Ku-band. A conventional array with a gain of 6 dBi per element, assuming a 12 × 12 arrangement with half-wavelength spacing, would require a footprint of 36 λ2 at 10 GHz to achieve this target and appears unsuitable for automotive integration. This paper proposes a low-profile, dual-band, dual-polarized, vertically stacked patch antenna with superstrate loading and shows that the inclusion of the superstrate improves the antenna’s gain by at least 3 dB. Therefore, compared to a conventional array, a superstrate-loaded array would need only half of the number of elements to meet the target gain, thus occupying only half of the surface area, and offers better integration for automotive applications. Requiring half of the number of elements also implies considerably reduced design complexity and cost.

A Gain-Enhanced Differential-Fed Stacked Circular Patch Antenna With Simultaneously Controllable E-Plane and H-Plane Radiation Nulls

In this work, a differential-fed three-layer stacked circular patch antenna with enhanced gain performance is theoretically investigated for the simultaneous control of radiation nulls over both <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">E</i> -plane and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">H</i> -plane patterns. First, the bottom layer patch is meticulously designed based on a modified TM <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">11</sub> mode to meet the matching conditions. Then, the structures of the parasitic layer patches are contrived to form similar peripheral radiative current distributions compared with the bottom one, aiming to simplify the analysis process. After that, the three-layer patches are stacked in a capacitively coupled fashion, which guarantees the out-of-phase scheme between the middle layer patch and the other two-layer patches. By means of the cavity-model theorem, further investigations on the multilayer distributions of the equivalent magnetic currents for the three radiators have successfully demonstrated that the destructive interference among the currents will result in the emergence of radiation nulls for both <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">E</i> -plane and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">H</i> -plane patterns. As a result, the beamwidth of the antenna in the two principal planes can be narrowed, which contributes to a significant improvement in the overall gain performance. Furthermore, a thorough array factor analysis on the flexible control of the radiation nulls is highlighted with both theoretical predictions and full-wave quantitative verifications. Finally, an experimental prototype is fabricated and measured to prove its validity. Compared with other stacked antennas with approximately the same longitudinal profiles, this design features the highest measured peak gain of 13.9 dBi, with an attractive increment of 8.0 dB pronounced.