A Generalized Model for Two-Element Biomimetic Antenna Arrays

Abstract

Biomimetic Antenna Arrays (BMAAs) are antenna systems enabling an improved angle estimation for small apertures by mimicking the hearing system of the fly Ormia ochracea. This is achieved by a special kind of coupling applied to the antenna elements inspired by the insect. However, recent designs of BMAAs rely on a strong mutual coupling between the antenna elements. In this paper, it will be shown that the strong mutual coupling is not needed for a BMAA at the antenna side, and a generalized model of the biomimetic antenna system is theoretically derived, evaluated, and verified by measurements. This new model also gives an intuitive insight into the working principle of the biomimetic antenna system.

Ultracompact Monostatic MIMO Radar With Nonredundant Aperture

“…For the sake of compactness, only the effects on a system level are considered and parameters are defined to quantify them. For a detailed explanation of the underlying working principle, please refer to [18].…”

“…1(a), where k = 2π/λ is the wavenumber in free space and λ is the wavelength. Due to the biomimetic coupling, the phase difference φ bio after the biomimetic coupling (BMC) network is significantly enlarged compared with φ in [18]. An exemplary course of the phase progression is shown in Fig.…”

“…1(b)]. The biomimetic antenna system consisting of two antennas and one coupling network can be fully described on system level by only three parameters: the phase gain η, the offboresight factor ξ , and the normalized output power L out [18], [22], [23]. The phase gain and the normalized output power compare the BMAA to a regular antenna with the same antenna elements at the same spacing but without the coupling network.…”

“…Thus, the aperture is enlarged in the boresight direction by a factor of 3, resulting in a total aperture size of d bio ≈ λ. The BMC network is designed according to the generalized model presented in [18] and is implemented in the RX path of the MMIC. A sketch of the layout of the realized BMC network is shown in Fig.…”

Enhancing Angle Estimation Accuracy of Ultra Compact Two-Channel Radar MMICs at 160 GHz Using a Biomimetic Antenna Array

“…When integrating antennas on-chip this increases the cost of the chips enormously as a lot of additional space on the wafer is needed. A technology to overcome this issue is using biomimetic antenna arrays [7], [8], [9]. This kind of antenna systems which is inspired by the hearing system of a fly couples two adjacent receive antennas in a specific way and enlarges the phase progression between the antennas.…”