Performance analysis of the mutual coupling effect on Phased Array Feeds

A phased array feed(PAF)is a type of receiving array that places phased array antennas on the focal plane of a radio telescope to expand its field of view and improve observation efficiency.Owing to the mutual coupling effect between elements caused by a tightly arranged feed array,which changes the performance of a PAF,this paper presents a 7×7 rectangular feed array model for a 25 m reflector telescope.By adjusting the element spacings,the performance of a PAF with different spacings is comprehensively analyzed with respect to the mutual coupling effect via performance statistics and comparison.This research aims to provide a reference for the preliminary design of a related PAF.

Decoupling technique of patch antenna arrays with shared substrate by suppressing near-field magnetic coupling using magnetic metamaterials

In this paper,we propose the decoupling technique of patch antenna array by suppressing near-field magnetic coupling（NFMC） using magnetic metamaterials.To this end,a highly-integrated magnetic metamaterials,the substrate-integrated split-ring resonator（SI-SRR）,is firstly proposed to achieve negative permeability at the antenna operating frequency.By integrating SI-SRR in between two closely spaced antennas,magnetic fields are blocked in the shared substrate due to negative permeability of SI-SRR,reducing NFMC between the two antennas.To verify the technique,a prototype was fabricated and measured.The measured results demonstrated that the isolation can be enhanced by more than 17 dB even when the gap between the two patch antennas is only about 0.067 A.Due to high integration,this technique provides an effective alternative to high-isolation antenna array.

A Novel Beam Design Method for mm Wave Multi-Antenna Arrays with Mutual Coupling Reduction

To overcome the mutual coupling (MC) of multiple antennas in millimeter wave (mmWave) communication systems, a novel beam design method with low complexity is proposed in this paper. Firstly, an equivalent channel model incorporating the effect of MC is analyzed and established, and then an optimal precoding / combiner vector for beamforming is derived. On this basis, by using greedy geometric (GG) algorithm, a novel hybrid beam design method is proposed. Finally, the performance of proposed method is analyzed and compared with other traditional ones. The simulation results show that the proposed method has better suppression of the MC effect as well as lower complexity.

Estimation of Mutual Coupling Coefficient of the Array by Simulated Annealing Algorithm

We propose a method for estimating the mutual coupling coefficient among antennas in this paper which is based on the principle of signal subspace and the simulated annealing （SA） algorithm. The computer simulation has been conducted to illustrate the＇ excellent performance of this method and to demonstrate that it is statistically efficient. The benefit of this new method is that calibration signals and unknown signals can be received simultaneously, during the course of calibration.

Electromagnetic coupling reduction in dual-band microstrip antenna array using ultra-compact single-negative electric metamaterials for MIMO application

In this paper, an ultra-compact single negative（SNG） electric waveguided metamaterial（WG-MTM） is first investigated and used to reduce the mutual coupling in E ＆ H planes of a dual-band microstrip antenna array. The proposed SNG electric WG-MTM unit cell is designed by etching two different symmetrical spiral lines on the ground, and has two stopbands operating at 1.86 GHz and 2.40 GHz. The circuit size is very compact, which is only λ_0/33.6 ×λ_0/15.1（where λ_0 is the wavelength at 1.86 GHz in free space）. Taking advantage of the dual-stopband property of the proposed SNG electric WG-MTM, a dual-band microstrip antenna array operating at 1.86 GHz and 2.40 GHz with very low mutual coupling is designed by embedding a cross shaped array of the proposed SNG electric WG-MTM. The measured and simulated results of the designed dual-band antenna array are in good agreement with each other, indicating that the mutual coupling of the fabricated dual-band antenna array realizes 9.8/11.1 d B reductions in the H plane, 8.5/7.9 d B reductions in the E plane at1.86 GHz and 2.40 GHz, respectively. Besides, the distance of the antenna elements in the array is only 0.35 λ_0（where λ_0 is the wavelength at 1.86 GHz in free space）. The proposed strategy is used for the first time to reduce the mutual coupling in E ＆ H planes of the dual-band microstrip antenna array by using ultra-compact SNG electric WG-MTM.

Design of a hexagonal air-coupled capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer for air parametric array

An air parametric array can generate a highly directional beam of audible sound in air,which has a wide range of applications in targeted audio delivery.Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer(CMUTs)have great potential for air-coupled applications,mainly because of their low acoustic impedance.In this study,an air-coupled CMUT array is designed as an air parametric array.A hexagonal array is proposed to improve the directivity of the sound generated.A finite element model of the CMUT is established in COMSOL software to facilitate the choice of appropriate structural parameters of the CMUT cell.The CMUT array is then fabricated by a wafer bonding process with high consistency.The performances of the CMUT are tested to verify the accuracy of the finite element analysis.By optimizing the component parameters of the bias-T circuit used for driving the CMUT,DC and AC voltages can be effectively applied to the top and bottom electrodes of the CMUT to provide efficient ultrasound transmission.Finally,the prepared hexagonal array is successfully used to conduct preliminary experiments on its application as an air parametric array.

On the improvement of the mutual coupling compensation in DOA estimation

A new and exact calculation method for the mutual impedance matrix of receiving arrays is proposed. The mutual impedance matrix is derived from electromagnetic boundary conditions and can be used to relate the coupling free open-circuit voltages, instead of the conventional ones, to the measured voltages. A remarkable improvement on compensation for the coupling effects is shown in the direction finding applications, while a simple relationship between measured terminal voltages and the coupling free voltages is remained.

DIRECTION-OF-ARRIVAL ESTIMATION IN THE PRESENCE OF MUTUAL COUPLING BASED ON JOINT SPARSE RECOVERY

A novel Direction-Of-Arrival (DOA) estimation method is proposed in the presence of mutual coupling using the joint sparse recovery. In the proposed method, the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue of covariance matrix of array measurement is viewed as the signal to be represented. By exploiting the geometrical property in steering vectors and the symmetric Toeplitz structure of Mutual Coupling Matrix (MCM), the redundant dictionaries containing the DOA information are constructed. Consequently, the optimization model based on joint sparse recovery is built and then is solved through Second Order Cone Program (SOCP) and Interior Point Method (IPM). The DOA estimates are gotten according to the positions of nonzeros elements. At last, computer simulations demonstrate the excellent performance of the proposed method.

A New Dual Polarized Aperture-Coupled Printed Array for SAR Applications

This paper presents a new design of dual polarized aperture coupled printed antenna array. The finite difference time domain (FDTD) analysis of an aperture coupled microstrip element is performed, and the effects of antenna parameters on its characteristics are obtained to guide the design of the printed array. Then an 8×2 dual polarized array design in X band is introduced with configuration plots. In order to improve its isolation and cross polarization, an outphase displacement feeding technique is adopted in the feed network. Also, the round bends are used instead of conventional right angle bends so as to achieve better VSWR performance. Experimental results are presented, indicating the validity of the design. This dual polarized array can be applied as a sub array of spaceborne SAR systems.

An Array Consisting of 10 High-Speed Side-Illuminated Evanescently Coupled Waveguide Photodetectors Each with a Bandwidth of 20 GHz

We design and fabricate a parallel system with 10 high speed side-illuminated evanescently coupled waveguide photodetectors （ECPDs）. The 10 ECPDs exhibit a uniform 3dB bandwidth of 20 GHz and low dark current of about i nA at 2 V reverse bias. The 10 ECPDs also exhibit uniform photo-responsivity of about 0.23A/W with an active region of 5 × 25μmS. The photodetector array has a total bandwidth of more than 200 GHz and can be integrated with other optoelectronic devices.

Factors Affecting the Top Stripping of GaAs Microwire Array Fabricated by Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching

The effects of different masks and patterns on the top stripping of GaAs microwire arrays fabricated by inductively coupled plasma etching for 20min and 40min are investigated. The results show that the mask layer is the main affect of the top stripping of the GaAs microwires in 40min. Increasing the mask layers and reducing the photoresist layers can prevent top stripping and result in a suitable GaAs microwire array.

Differential Quasi-Yagi Antenna and Array

A novel differential quasi-Yagi antenna is first presented and compared with a normal single-ended counterpart.The simulated and measured results show that the differential quasi-Yagi antenna outperforms the conventional single-ended one.The differential quasi-Yagi antenna is then used as an element for linear arrays.A study of the coupling mechanism between the two differential and the two singleended quasi-Yagi antennas is conducted,which reveals that the TE0 mode is the dominant mode,and the driver is the decisive part to account for the mutual coupling.Next,the effects of four decoupling structures are respectively evaluated between the two differential quasi-Yagi antennas.Finally,the arrays with simple but effective decoupling structures are fabricated and measured.The measured results demonstrate that the simple slit or air-hole decoupling structure can reduce the coupling level from−18 dB to−25 dB and meanwhile maintain the impedance matching and radiation patterns of the array over the broad bandwidth.The differential quasi-Yagi antenna should be a promising antenna candidate for many applications.

High-order extended coprime array design for direction of arrival estimation

Nonuniform linear arrays,such as coprime array and nested array,have received great attentions because of the increased degrees of freedom(DOFs)and weakened mutual coupling.In this paper,inspired by the existing coprime array,we propose a high-order extended coprime array(HoECA)for improved direction of arrival(DOA)estimation.We first derive the closed-form expressions for the range of consecutive lags.Then,by changing the inter-element spacing of a uniform linear array(ULA),three cases are proposed and discussed.It is indicated that the HoECA can obtain the largest number of consecutive lags when the spacing takes the maximum value.Finally,by comparing it with the other sparse arrays,the optimized HoECA enjoys a larger number of consecutive lags with mitigating mutual coupling.Simulation results are shown to evaluate the superiority of HoECA over the others in terms of DOF,mutual coupling leakage and estimation accuracy.

Composite metamaterial enabled excellent performance of microstrip antenna array

This paper reports that the split ring resonators and complementary split ring resonators are compounded to construct a novel compact composite metamaterial. The composite metamaterial exhibits a unique property of blocking electromagnetic wave propagating in two directions near the resonant frequency. An example of two-element microstrip antenna array demonstrates that the developed metamaterial enables array performance that is an improvement in comparison with the traditional one, including mutual coupling suppression of 9.07 dB, remarkable side lobe suppression and gain improvement of 2.14 dB. The mechanism of performance enhancement is analysed based on the electric field and Poynting vector distributions in array. The present work not only is a meaningful exploration of new type composite metamaterial design, but also opens up possibilities for extensive metamaterial applications to antenna engineer.

Design and fabrication of multi-channel photodetector array monolithic with arrayed waveguide grating

We have provided optical simulations of the evanescently coupled waveguide photodiodes integrated with a 13- channels AWGs. The photodiode could exhibit high internal efficiency by appropriate choice of layers geometry and refrac- tive index. Aseamless joint structure has been designed and fabricated for integrating the output waveguides of AWGs with the evanescently coupled waveguide photodiode array. The highest simulation quantum efficiency could achieve 92% when the matching layer thickfiess of the PD is 120 nm and the insertion length is 2 μm. The fabricated PD with 320-nm-thick match.ing layer and 2-μm-length insertion matching layer present a responsivity of 0.87 A/W.

Joint 2D-DOA and polarization estimation for sparse nonuniform rectangular array composed of spatially spread electromagnetic vector sensor

In this paper,a sparse nonuniform rectangular array based on spatially spread electromagnetic vector sensor(SNRASSEMVS)is introduced,and a method for estimating 2D-direction of arrival(DOA)and polarization is devised.Firstly,according to the special structure of the sparse nonuniform rectangular array(SNRA),a set of accurate but ambiguous direction-cosine estimates can be obtained.Then the steering vector of spatially spread electromagnetic vector sensor(SSEMVS)can be extracted from the array manifold to obtain the coarse but unambiguous direction-cosine estimates.Finally,the disambiguation approach can be used to get the final accurate estimates of 2DDOA and polarization.Compared with some existing methods,the SNRA configuration extends the spatial aperture and refines the parameters estimation accuracy without adding any redundant antennas,as well as reduces the mutual coupling effect.Moreover,the proposed algorithm resolves multiple sources without the priori knowledge of signal information,suffers no ambiguity in the estimation of the Poynting vector,and pairs the x-axis direction cosine with the y-axis direction cosine automatically.Simulation results are given to verify the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed algorithm.

Output mode characteristics of an in-phase locked gain waveguide array CO_2 laser

In this paper, experimental and theoretical studies of the output mode characteristics of an in-phase locked gain waveguide array CO2 laser are reported. The experimental results of the optical oscillation mode frequency, the far-field intensity distribution and the burnt pattern of the sliced waveguide array laser are obtained. A revised mode expression of the rectangle waveguide, which is suited for this waveguide array CO2 laser, is proposed. The theoretical simulation results based on the revised mode expression are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental results.

Hybrid alternate projection algorithm and its application for practical conformal array pattern synthesis

Based on the fabricated 12-element cavity-backed microstrip sector cylinder array,a novel hybrid alternate projection algorithm（HAPA）,which combines analytical method with numerical techniques effectively,is proposed for synthesizing the pattern of practical conformal array.The algorithm applies the variable direction aperture projection method with mutual coupling correction techniques to provide the good initial excitations of elements to the enhanced alternate projection algorithm（EAPA）.In order to do further optimization,which improves the convergent speed of the algorithm significantly.Finally,the HAPA has been applied to the fabricated sector cylinder array with mutual coupling considered.The results of synthesized patterns,such as low sidelobe with null points formed pattern,beam scanning with low sidelobe pattern and the shaped beam pattern are presented.It demonstrates the validity of HAPA in practical conformal array synthesis.

Compact Multibeam Array with Miniaturized Butler Matrix for 5G Applications

This paper presents the design and implementation of a miniaturized beam steering network that produces broadside beams when it is fed with a compact antenna array.Butler Matrix(BM)was used as the beam steering network.It was completely built from a miniaturized 3 dB hybrid-couplers in planar microstrip technology.It was configured by feeding the BM with a Planar Inverted-E Antenna(PIEA)array separated at 0.3λas against the 0.5λseparation.This makes the BM produce a major radiation pattern at the broadside.Apart from the miniaturization,no modification was made from the BM side.However,employing effective mutual coupling reduction techniques helped to design the compact PIEA array.The validity of this BM based multibeam PIEA array was demonstrated by comparing the simulation results of the reflection coefficients,transmissions coefficients and the radiation pattern with measurements.The measurement results showed good agreement with simulations.

Optimal Design of Improved L-shaped Coprime Array Based on Difference and Sum Co-array

The concept of difference and sum co-array(DSCA)has become a new design idea for planar sparse arrays.Inspired by the shifting invariance property of DSCA,a specific configuration named here as the improved L-shaped array is proposed.Compared to other traditional 2D sparse array configurations such as 2D nested arrays and hourglass arrays,the proposed configuration has larger central consecutive ranges in its DSCA,thus increasing the DOF.At the same time,the mutual coupling effect is also reduced due to the enlarged spacing between the adjacent sensors.Simulations further demonstrate the superiority of the proposed arrays in terms of detection performance and estimation accuracy.