A new class of electronically beam-steerable corrugated substrate integrated waveguide (CSIW) slot array antenna operating at 26 -29 GHz has been developed. The conventional via based walls of SIWs or stub-based walls of CSIWs have been replaced with an inter-digitated capacitor (IDC) structure to enable reconfigurability. This novel IDC-CSIW is shown to have a lower transmission loss compared with conventional CSIWs in the literature. A new mathematical method has been described to calculate the cut-off frequency of CSIWs. The surface of the IDC-CSIW is then loaded with longitudinal slots, building a leaky-wave architecture. Radiation from individual slots is controlled by shorting the IDC at specific points using PIN diodes. The antenna is fed at either end using a singlepole-double-throw (SPDT) switch to achieve a 2D reconfigurable beam. A compact switched array of two IDC-CSIWs is demonstrated to produce a continuous full sector coverage of 120° in the azimuth plane, and ±15° in the elevation plane, providing a 2D beam-steer with a stable gain of ~13.5 dBi and an efficiency greater than 80%.
A novel methodology is introduced for designing bespoke homogeneous and graded index lenses for enhancing the gain of travelling wave antenna arrays (TWAs). 3D-printed lenses in the literature are majorly explored with standing wave antennas (SWAs) such as a microstrip or a horn antenna for gain enhancement. As there is progressively less power radiated from each slot in a TWA, as well as the successive phase delay between slots, the existing lens design approaches used for SWAs is not optimal for TWAs. Accordingly, we present a new approach of introducing a curvature to the lens that is derived from studying the power radiation profile of each slot of the TWA. This new methodology is demonstrated on a dielectric filled waveguide (DFW) slot array antenna operating at 26 -30 GHz band. An optimized dielectric graded lens and an optimized homogeneous lens have both been designed, fabricated, and measured with the DFW slot array. The new lens demonstrated a gain enhancement of more than 7 dB compared to less than 4 dB with conventional dielectric lenses. The proposed lens theory has been further verified with a bespoke optimized lens for a periodic stub-loaded microstrip leaky-wave antenna with a beam-scanning of 65°. Design rules are included that can be applied for any TWA.
A fast beam‐steering capability has been demonstrated using an array of high‐gain corrugated substrate integrated waveguide (CSIW) slot antennas coupled with a bespoke dielectric lens. The proposed system prototype has been simulated, fabricated, and measured. The proposed system is shown to have a full 360° beam‐steer in azimuth plane with an angular sensitivity of 9°, half power beamwidth (HPBW) of 18° and a gain of < 20.5 dBi at n257 frequency band of 26 to 29 GHz. Further, the antenna is shown to have a fixed frequency beam steer of ±15° along with a frequency‐controlled beam‐scanning of ±45° in the elevation plane. The antenna setup is shown to be suitable for applications for 5G base‐stations.
This paper documents a novel design of dual-band dielectric resonator antenna exhibiting circular polarization at a high-frequency band of (7.85 GHz-7.93 GHz) in addition to linearly polarized lower frequency band of (5.12 GHz-5.49 GHz) using new materials, sapphire, and TMM13i for antenna design. With sapphire and TMM13i being immune to physical change, the novel design is suitable for weather radar applications. The obtained circular polarization reduces signal attenuation. A four-layered structure with sapphire and TMM13i stacked alternatively with aperture coupled feed is presented. Additionally, the corners of the patch have been truncated, and a slot has been etched in order to obtain the dual-band resonance and circular polarization respectively. The design is simulated using Ansys HFSS and fabricated for measurements. The VSWR (Voltage standing wave ratio) is measured to be less than 2 for both the bands. The simulated and measured gains of the antenna are 5.2 dBi and 4.9 dBi, respectively.
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