Assessment of the performance of the TOPGNSS and ANN-MB antennas for ionospheric measurements using low-cost u-blox GNSS receivers

Low-cost GNSS receivers have recently been gaining reliability as good candidates for ionospheric studies. In line with these gains are genuine concerns about improving the performance of these receivers. In this work, we present a comprehensive investigation of the performances of two antennas(the u-blox ANN-MB and the TOPGNSS TOP-106) used on a low-cost GNSS receiver known as the u-blox ZED-F9P. The two antennas were installed on two identical and co-located u-blox receivers. Data used from both receivers cover the period from January to June 2022. Results from the study indicate that the signal strengths are dominantly greater for the receiver with the TOPGNSS antenna than for the receiver with the ANN-MB antenna, implying that the TOPGNSS antenna is better than the ANN-MB antenna in terms of providing greater signal strengths. Summarily, the TOPGNSS antenna also performed better in minimizing the occurrence of cycle slips on phase TEC measurements. There are no conspicuous differences between the variances(computed as 5-min standard deviations) of phase TEC measurements for the two antennas, except for a period around May-June when the TOPGNSS gave a better performance in terms of minimizing the variances in phase TEC. Remarkably, the ANN-MB antenna gave a better performance than the TOPGNSS antenna in terms of minimizing the variances in pseudorange TEC for some satellite observations. For precise horizontal(North and East) positioning, the receiver with the TOPGNSS antenna gave better results, while the receiver with the ANN-MB antenna gave better vertical(Up) positioning. The errors for the receivers of both antennas are typically within about 5 m(the monthly mean was usually smaller than 1 m) in the horizontal direction and within about 10 m(the monthly mean was usually smaller than 4 m) in the vertical direction.

Spatial Coded Modulation:Coding over Antennas

In spatial modulation systems,the reliability of the active antenna detection is of vital importance since the modulated symbols tend to be correctly demodulated when the active antennas are accurately identified.In this paper,we propose a spatial coded modulation(SCM)scheme,which improves the accuracy of the active antenna detection by coding over the transmit antennas.Specifically,the antenna activation pattern in the SCM corresponds to a codeword in a properly designed codebook with a larger minimum Hamming distance than the conventional spatial modulation.As the minimum Hamming distance increases,the reliability of the active antenna detection is directly enhanced,which yields a better system reliability.In addition to the reliability,the proposed SCM scheme also achieves a higher capacity with the identical antenna configuration compared to the conventional counterpart.The optimal maximum likelihood detector is first formulated.Then,a low-complexity suboptimal detector is proposed to reduce the computational complexity.Theoretical derivations of the channel capacity and the bit error rate are presented in various channel scenarios.Further derivation on performance bounding is also provided to reveal the insight of the benefit of increasing the minimum Hamming distance.Numerical results validate the analysis and demonstrate that the proposed SCM outperforms the conventional spatial modulation techniques in both channel capacity and system reliability.

Kinematic-mapping-model-guided analysis and optimization of 2-PSS&1-RR circular-rail parallel mechanism for fully steerable phased array antennas

This paper presents a systematic methodology for analyzing and optimizing an innovative antenna mount designed for phased array antennas, implemented through a novel 2-PSS&1-RR circular-rail parallel mechanism. Initially, a comparative motion analysis between the 3D model of the mount and its full-scale prototype is conducted to validate effectiveness. Given the inherent complexity, a kinematic mapping model is established between the mount and the crank-slider linkage, providing a guiding framework for subsequent analysis and optimization. Guided by this model, feasible inverse and forward solutions are derived, enabling precise identification of stiffness singularities. The concept of singularity distance is thus introduced to reflect the structural stiffness of the mount. Subsequently, also guided by the mapping model, a heuristic algorithm incorporating two backtracking procedures is developed to reduce the mount's mass. Additionally, a parametric finite-element model is employed to explore the relation between singularity distance and structural stiffness. The results indicate a significant reduction(about 16%) in the antenna mount's mass through the developed algorithm, while highlighting the singularity distance as an effective stiffness indicator for this type of antenna mount.

Array (Smart) Antennas Improve GSM Performance

As wireless data applications over cellular networks become more widespread, the pressure to increase capacity will become even more intense. Capacity in the 800 and 900 MHz bands, where bandwidth is restricted, is already becoming a limiting factor. This paper attempts to address how the application of smart antenna systems has brought about improvements in call quality and increased capacity through reduced Interference in Mobile Communication. The smart antenna may be in a variety of ways to improve the performance of a communications system. Perhaps most importantly is its capability to cancel co-channel interference. It helps in improving the system performance by increasing the channel capacity, spectrum efficiency, extending range coverage, speech quality, enabling tighter reuse of frequencies within a cellular network and economically, feasible increased signal gain, greater, reduced multipath reflection. It has been argued that Smart antennas and the Algorithms to control them are vital to a high-capacity communication system development.

Physical-Layer Key Generation Based on Multipath Channel Diversity Using Dynamic Metasurface Antennas

Physical layer key generation(PKG)technology leverages the reciprocal channel randomness to generate the shared secret keys.The low secret key capacity of the existing PKG schemes is due to the reduction in degree-of-freedom from multipath fading channels to multipath combined channels.To improve the wireless key generation rate,we propose a multipath channel diversity-based PKG scheme.Assisted by dynamic metasurface antennas(DMA),a two-stage multipath channel parameter estimation algorithm is proposed to efficiently realize super-resolution multipath parameter estimation.The proposed algorithm first estimates the angle of arrival(AOA)based on the reconfigurable radiation pattern of DMA,and then utilizes the results to design the training beamforming and receive beamforming to improve the estimation accuracy of the path gain.After multipath separation and parameter estimation,multi-dimensional independent path gains are utilized for generating secret keys.Finally,we analyze the security and complexity of the proposed scheme and give an upper bound on the secret key capacity in the high signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)region.The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can greatly improve the secret key capacity compared with the existing schemes.

New Wideband Notch Antennas for Communication Systems

Wireless communication industry is in rapid growth in the last years. Due to the huge progress in development of communication systems in the last decade development of wideband communication systems is continuous growth. However, development of wideband efficient antennas is one of the major challenges in development of wideband wireless communication systems. Low cost compact antennas are crucial in the development of communication systems. Printed notch antennas and miniaturization techniques are employed to develop efficient compact notch antennas. Fractal technology is used to improve the electrical performance and efficiency of notch antennas. Design tradeoffs, computed and measured results of wideband notch antennas with high efficiency are presented in this paper. All antennas are analyzed by using 3D full-wave software. The paper presents new compact Ultra-Wideband notch antenna 1 GHz to 6 GHz, a wideband notch antenna 2.1 GHz to 7.8 GHz and a 5.8 GHz to 18 GHz fractal notch antenna.

Analysis and Design of Broadband Stacked Microstrip Patch Antennas

A broadband microstrip patch antenna was analyzed and designed.Full wave analysis method(FWAM) was employed to show that a stacked microstrip dual patch antenna(SMDPA) might have a much wider bandwidth than that of the ordinanry uni patch one.By means of discrete complex image theory(DCIT),the Sommerfeld integrals (SI) involved were accurately calculated at a speed several hundred times faster than numerical integration method(NIM).The feeding structure of the SMDPA was then improved and the bandwidth was extended to about 22% or more for voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR)s≤2 Finally,a matching network was constructed to obtain a bandwidth of about 25% for s≤1.5.

Two-step Structural Design of Mesh Antennas for High Beam Pointing Accuracy

A well-designed reflector surface with high beam pointing accuracy in electromagnetic performance is of practical significance to the space application of cable mesh reflector antennas. As for space requirements, cir- cular polarizations are widely used in spaceborne antennas, which usually lead to a beam shift for offset reflectors and influence the beam pointing accuracy. A two-step structural design procedure is proposed to overcome the beam squint phenomenon for high beam pointing accuracy design of circularly polarized offset cable mesh reflectors. A simple structural optimal design and an integrated structural electromagnetic optimization are combined to alleviate the beam squint effect of circular polarizations. It is imple- mented by cable pretension design and adjustment to shape the offset cable mesh surface. Besides, in order to increase the efficiency of integrated optimization, an update Broy- den-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno （BFGS） Hessian matrix is employed in the optimization iteration with sequential quadratic programming. A circularly polarized offset cable mesh reflector is utilized to show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed procedure. A high beam pointing accuracy in order of 0.0001~ of electromagnetic performance is achieved.

Wide-Angle Scanning Antennas for Millimeter-Wave 5G Applications

The fifth generation(5G)network communication systems operate in the millimeter waves and are expected to provide a much higher data rate in the multi-gigabit range,which is impossible to achieve using current wireless services,including the sub-6 GHz band.In this work,we briefly review several existing designs of millimeter-wave phased arrays for 5G applications,beginning with the low-profile antenna array designs that either are fixed beam or scan the beam only in one plane.We then move on to array systems that offer two-dimensional(2D)scan capability,which is highly desirable for a majority of 5G applications.Next,in the main body of the paper,we discuss two different strategies for designing scanning arrays,both of which circumvent the use of conventional phase shifters to achieve beam scanning.We note that it is highly desirable to search for alternatives to conventional phase shifters in the millimeter-wave range because legacy phase shifters are both lossy and costly;furthermore,alternatives such as active phase shifters,which include radio frequency amplifiers,are both expensive and power-hungry.Given this backdrop,we propose two different antenna systems with potential for the desired 2D scan performance in the millimeter-wave range.The first of these is a Luneburg lens,which is excited either by a 2D waveguide array or by a microstrip patch antenna array to realize 2D scan capability.Next,for second design,we turn to phased-array designs in which the conventional phase shifter is replaced by switchable PIN diodes or varactor diodes,inserted between radiating slots in a waveguide to provide the desired phase shifts for scanning.Finally,we discuss several approaches to enhance the gain of the array by modifying the conventional array configurations.We describe novel techniques for realizing both one-dimensional(1D)and 2D scans by using a reconfigurable metasurface type of panels.

Metamaterials and metasurfaces for designing metadevices:Perfect absorbers and microstrip patch antennas

In the past twenty years, electromagnetic metamaterials represented by left-handed metamaterials（LHMs） have attracted considerable attention due to the unique properties such as negative refraction, perfect lens, and electromagnetic cloaks. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of our group＇s work on metamaterials and metasurfaces. We present several types of LHMs and chiral metamaterials. As a two-dimensional equivalent of bulk three-dimensional metamaterials, metasurfaces have led to a myriad of devices due to the advantages of lower profile, lower losses, and simpler to fabricate than bulk three-dimensional metamaterials. We demonstrate the novel microwave metadevices based on metamaterials and metasurfaces： perfect absorbers and microwave patch antennas, including novel transmission line antennas,high gain resonant cavity antennas, wide scanning phased array antennas, and circularly polarized antennas.

Cooperative Spectrum Sensing Exploiting a Certain Number of CR Users Based on Multi- Antennas in Cognitive Radio Networks

In this paper,a cooperative spectrum sensing scheme,which is based on cooperation of a certain number of secondary users and cooperative diversity under multi-antenna scenario,is proposed.Under multi-antenna scenario,we set a targeted detection probability and optimize the false alarm probability of the network by choosing a certain number of secondary users with the highest primary user’s signal to noise ratio.The detection performance of the network is also evaluated when all the secondary users are cooperating to illustrate the benefits of the proposed scheme as a contrast.In addition,how to choose the detection threshold of the secondary user is analyzed for the purpose of decreasing the average risk.Theory analysis and simulation results show that the optimum false alarm probability can be derived by cooperating a certain number of secondary users rather than all the secondary users and the detection performance of the network can be further improved if secondary users are equipped with multiple antennas.Also,a minimum average risk can be obtained by optimizing the detection threshold.

Single Source Self-Screen Jamming Elimination and Target Detection for Distributed Dual Antennas Radar System

Detecting target echo in the existence of self-screen jamming is a challenging work for radar system, especially when digital radio frequency memory(DRFM) technique is employed that mixes the jamming and target echo both in spatial and time-frequency domain. The conventional way to solve this problem would suffer from performance degradation when physical target(PT) and false target(FT) are superposed in time. In this paper, we propose a new spatial filter according to the different correlation characteristic between PT and FT. The filter takes the ratio of expected signal power to expected jamming and noise power as the objective function under the constant filter modulus constraint. The optimal filter coefficients are derived with a generalized rayleigh quotient approach. Moreover, we analytically compute the target detection probability and demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method to the correlation coefficient. Monte Carlo simulations are provided to corroborate the proposed studies. Furthermore, the proposed method has simple architecture and low computation complexity, making it easily applied in modern radar system.

Strain-Insensitive Hierarchically Structured Stretchable Microstrip Antennas for Robust Wireless Communication

As the key component of wireless data transmission and powering,stretchable antennas play an indispensable role in flexible/stretchable electronics.However,they often suffer from frequency detuning upon mechanical deformations;thus,their applications are limited to wireless sensing with wireless transmission capabilities remaining elusive.Here,a hierarchically structured stretchable microstrip antenna with meshed patterns arranged in an arched shape showcases tunable resonance frequency upon deformations with improved overall stretchability.The almost unchanged resonance frequency during deformations enables robust on-body wireless communication and RF energy harvesting,whereas the rapid changing resonance frequency with deformations allows for wireless sensing.The proposed stretchable microstrip antenna was demonstrated to communicate wirelessly with a transmitter(input power of−3 dBm)efficiently(i.e.,the receiving power higher than−100 dBm over a distance of 100 m)on human bodies even upon 25%stretching.The flexibility in structural engineering combined with the coupled mechanical-electromagnetic simulations,provides a versatile engineering toolkit to design stretchable microstrip antennas and other potential wireless devices for stretchable electronics.

Low spatial correlation at base station uniform linear antennas

A spatial channel propagation model is presented. Consider a uniform linear antenna （ULA） at the base station （BS） and narrowband signals transmitted at the mobile. In two types of propagating environments： indoor and outdoor, performance of low spatial correlation is investigated and some results are provided, which are significant to an,3. lyze the performance of diversity systems and configuration of army. The results also show that the configuration of array with either smaller angular spread or bigger angle of arrival （AOA） dominates the impact on spatial correlation, and that increasing angular spread or decreasing AOA diminishes, or even eliminates this impact.

Essential Characteristics of Plasma Antennas Driven by One-ended Surface Wave

Based on the principle that one-ended electromagnetic surface wave can drive a plasma antenna, the relation between the effective length of an antenna column and the applied radio frequency （RF） power was studied both theoretically and experimentally. The density dis- tribution along the antenna column as well as the electron temperature in different conditions were investigated. The characteristics of the reception of local frequency modulated （FM） electro- magnetic wave by the plasma antenna were compared with that by a copper antenna with same dimensions. The results show that it is feasible to take plasma antennas as receiving ones.

Advanced Antennas Push Forward Wireless Connectivity

Antennas are critical components for wireless connectivity.In general,antennas with a wide bandwidth,compact size,and high efficiency are required in order to achieve a high level of system performance with modern wireless communication systems,sensor networks,radio astronomy,deep space probes,and so on.The importance of antennas is reflected by the numerous research articles that have been published on this topic in recent years—not only in antenna journals,but also in other related journals on sensors,vehicular technologies,microwave techniques,and terahertz techniques.The huge number of downloads for the papers published in major antenna journals also demonstrates the attractiveness of antenna research.

A MAC PROTOCOL TO SUPPORT HYBRID ANTENNAS IN A WIRELESS LAN

Hybrid Distributed Coordination Function (HDCF),a modified medium access control pro-tocol of IEEE 802.11 standard,is proposed in this paper to support both smart adaptive array anten-nas and normal omni-directional antennas simultaneously in one wireless LAN. Omni-directional an-tennas follow the standard Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) and smart antennas follow the Directional DCF (DDCF). The proposed DDCF is based on Hybrid Virtual Carrier Sense (HVCS) mechanism,which includes Omni-directional Request-To-Send/Clear-To-Send (ORTS/OCTS) hand-shake mechanism and directional data transmission. HDCF is compatible with DCF. When a node transmits in a directional beam,the other nodes can multiplex the physical channel. Hence,HDCF supports Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA). Simulation results show that HDCF can support hybrid antennas effectively and provide much higher network throughput and lower delay and jitter than DCF does.

Synthesis and Optimization of Almost Periodic Antennas Using Floquet Modal Analysis and MoM-GEC Method

This paper presented a new Floquet analysis used to calculate the radiation for 1-D and 2-D coupled periodic antenna systems. In this way, an accurate evaluation of mutual coupling can be proven by using a new mutual interaction expression that was based on Fourier analysis. Then, this work indicated how Floquet analysis can be used to study a finite array with uniform amplitude and linear phase distribution in both x and y directions. To modelize the proposed structures, two formulations were given in a spectral and spatial domain, where the Moment (MoM) method combined with a generalized equivalent circuit (GEC) method was applied. Radiation pattern of coupled periodic antenna was shown by varying many parameters, such as frequencies, distance and Floquet states. The 3-D radiation beam of the coupled antenna array was analyzed and compared in several steering angles θs and coupling values dx. The simulation of this structure demonstrated that directivity decreased at higher coupling values. The secondary lobs in the antenna radiation pattern affected the main lobe gain by energy dispersal and considerable increasing of side lobe level (SLL) may be achieved. Therefore, the sweeping of the radiation beam in several steering directions affected the electromagnetic performance of the antenna system: the directivity at the steering angle θs = π⁄3 was more damaged and had 19.99 dB while the second at θs = 0 had about 35.11 dB. This parametric study of coupled structure used to concept smart periodic antenna with sweeping radiation beam.

Microstrip Antennas Loaded with Shorting Post

In this paper, a technical review with recent advances of the microstrip antennas loaded with shorting posts is presented. The overall size of the antenna is significantly reduced by a single shorting posts and the effect of the various parameters of shorting posts on short-circuit microstrip antenna is also discussed.

Full Diversity Reception Based on Dempster-Shafer Theory for Network Coding with Multiple-Antennas Relay

In this paper,a two-way relay system which achieves bi-directional communication via a multiple-antenna relay in two time slots is studied.In the multiple access(MA) phase,the novel receive schemes based on Dempster-Shafer(D-S) evidence theory are proposed at the relay node.Instead of traditional linear detection,the first proposed MIMO-DS NC scheme adopts D-S evidence theory to detect the signals of each source node before mapping them into network-coded signal.Moreover,different from traditional physical-layer network coding(PNC) based on virtual MIMO model,the further proposed MIMO-DS PNC comes from the vector space perspective and combines PNC mapping with D-S theory to obtain network-coded signal without estimating each source node signal.D-S theory can appropriately characterize uncertainty and make full use of multiple evidence source information by Dempster's combination rule to obtain reliable decisions.In the broadcast(BC) phase,the space-time coding(STC) and antenna selection(AS) schemes are adopted to achieve transmit diversity.Simulation results reveal that the STC and AS schemes both achieve full transmit diversity in the BC phase and the proposed MIMO-DS NC/PNC schemes obtain better end-to-end BER performance and throughputs compared with traditional schemes with a little complexity increasing and no matter which scheme is adopted in the BC phase,MIMO-DS PNC always achieves full end-to-end diversity gain as MIMO-ML NC but with a lower complexity and its throughput approaches the throughput of MIMO-ML NC in high SNR regime.