An X-band self-mixing oscillator antenna for transceiver and spatial power-combining applications

Abstract

The general theory for oscillator and mixer design is applied to develop an X-band self-mixing oscillator antenna. The antenna uses a Gunn diode as the active device that provides the oscillations and self-mixing operations. The circuit uses a slotline ring resonator for frequency stabilization and can be modified to include a varactor diode for wide-band frequency tuning. The circuit performance is compared with theoretical results derived from simple transmission-line models. The radiation patterns of the self-mixing oscillator antenna are also compared with those measured from a similarly configured passive antenna. Since the radiated power also serves as the local oscillator (LO) frequency for the self-mixing operation, the circuit is useful as a half-duplex transceiver. When the self-mixing operation is not required, a single oscillator antenna can be used as a transmitter and several units can be assembled in a planar array for spatial powercombining applications.

Method for mounting Gunn Diode in Active Tapered Slot-Ring Antenna

“…It is an active device mounted slotted ring antenna coupled to the free space through an output port matched to the free space. Existing literature [2][3][4][5][6][7] gives the following procedure for calculating the dimension of the slot ring antenna in terms of the desired frequency of oscillations…”

“…An Active Slot-Ring Antenna (ASRA) i.e. a microstrip slot antenna integrated with active device performs both the function of generation and radiation simultaneously [1][2][3][4][5][6]. It is an active device mounted slotted ring antenna coupled to the free space through an output port matched to the free space.…”

Active Slot-Ring Antennas as a Receivers

“…An active slot-ring antenna (ASRA) is a slot ring antenna to which an active element (Gunn diode) is integrated [1,2]. It serves the purpose of generation and radiation.…”

“…Antennas, as an integral part of the system, being the port through which communication is made, follow this growth pattern and their electrical and structural characteristics are improved to fit each particular application. At higher band of frequencies microstrip antennas present some well known advantages such as low profile, small size, and low cost [1][2][3][4][5]. Another important feature is the possibility of integrating wide variety of active elements like diodes, transistors, MMIC circuits or passive lumped miniature elements such as resistors, capacitors, or inductors [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

Comparison on the Reception Property of Gunn Mounted ASRA and AMPA

“…Some of them are operated in self-http://www.ispacs.com/journals/acte/2013/acte-00138/ International Scientific Publications and Consulting Services mixing receiving mode and proposed for signal detection. Recently self mixing Gunn mounted active antennas have been reported [3,4] at L-band for a half duplex communication system and at X-band for transceiver and spatial power combining applications. An active antenna is basically an oscillator and then a radiator, its device characteristic under injection locked condition shows an interesting modification [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”