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.

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.

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.

The Tianma 65 m radio telescope antenna

The Tianma 65 m radio telescope(TMRT)at Shanghai is a fully steerable single-dish radio telescope in China,operating at centimeter to millimeter wavelengths(1.25 GHz to 50 GHz).This paper presents details on the main specifications,design,performance analysis,testing,and construction of the telescope antenna.The measured total efficiency is better than 50%over the whole elevation angle range,first sidelobe levels are less than−20 dB,antenna system noise temperatures are less than 70 K at 30°elevation angle,and pointing accuracy is less than 3″.The measured and calculated results are in good agreement,verifying the effectiveness of the design and analysis.

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.

A Compact UHF Antenna Based on Hilbert Fractal Elements and a Serpentine Arrangement for Detecting Partial Discharg

Efforts to protect electric power systems from faults have commonly relied on the use of ultra-high frequency(UHF)antennas for detecting partial discharge(PD)as a common precursor to faults.However,the effectiveness of existing UHF antennas suffers from a number of challenges such as limited bandwidth,relatively large physical size,and low detection sensitivity.The present study addresses these issues by proposing a compact microstrip patch antenna with fixed dimensions of 100 mm×100 mm×1.6 mm.The results of computations yield an optimized antenna design consisting of 2nd-order Hilbert fractal units positioned within a four-layer serpentine arrangement with a fractal unit connection distance of 3.0 mm.Specifically,the optimized antenna design achieves a detection bandwidth for which the voltage standing wave ratio is less than 2 that is approximately 97.3%of the UHF frequency range(0.3–3 GHz).Finally,a prototype antenna is fabricated using standard printed circuit board technology,and the results of experiments demonstrate that the proposed antenna is capable of detecting PD signals at a distance of 8 m from the discharge source.

Physical design and recent experimental results of the new ICRF antenna on EAST

Two new ICRF antennas operating in the ion cyclotron radio frequency(ICRF) range have been developed for EAST to overcome the low coupling problem of the original antennas.The original ICRF antennas were limited in their power capacity due to insufficient coupling.The new antenna design takes into account both wave coupling and absorption processes through comprehensive wave coupling and absorption codes,with the dominant parallel wave number k∥of 7.5 m-1at dipole phasing.Through the use of these new ICRF antennas,we are able to achieve 3.8 MW output power and 360 s operation,respectively.The initial experimental results demonstrate the reliability of the antenna design method.

Prediction of Bandwidth of Metamaterial Antenna Using Pearson Kernel-Based Techniques

The use of metamaterial enhances the performance of a specific class of antennas known as metamaterial antennas.The radiation cost and quality factor of the antenna are influenced by the size of the antenna.Metamaterial antennas allow for the circumvention of the bandwidth restriction for small antennas.Antenna parameters have recently been predicted using machine learning algorithms in existing literature.Machine learning can take the place of the manual process of experimenting to find the ideal simulated antenna parameters.The accuracy of the prediction will be primarily dependent on the model that is used.In this paper,a novel method for forecasting the bandwidth of the metamaterial antenna is proposed,based on using the Pearson Kernel as a standard kernel.Along with these new approaches,this paper suggests a unique hypersphere-based normalization to normalize the values of the dataset attributes and a dimensionality reduction method based on the Pearson kernel to reduce the dimension.A novel algorithm for optimizing the parameters of Convolutional Neural Network(CNN)based on improved Bat Algorithm-based Optimization with Pearson Mutation(BAO-PM)is also presented in this work.The prediction results of the proposed work are better when compared to the existing models in the literature.

Dual-band multi-beam reconfigurable terahertz antenna based on graphene frequency selective surface

In this paper,a dual-band graphene-based frequency selective surface(GFSS)is investigated and the operating mechanism of this GFSS is analyzed.By adjusting the bias voltage to control the graphene chemical po-tential between 0 eV and 0.5 eV,the GFSS can achieve four working states:dual-band passband,high-pass lowimpedance,low-pass high-impedance,and band-stop.Based on this GFSS,a hexagonal radome on a broadband omnidirectional monopole antenna is proposed,which can achieve independent 360°six-beam omnidirectional scanning at 1.08 THz and 1.58 THz dual bands.In addition,while increasing the directionality,the peak gains of the dual bands reach 7.44 dBi and 6.67 dBi,respectively.This work provides a simple method for realizing multi-band terahertz multi-beam reconfigurable antennas.

Design of a Metasurface Antenna Based on Characteristic Mode Theory

A novel metasurface antenna consisting of 5×5 rectangular patch elements is presented.Thestructure with and without the central element are both analyzed by the Characteristic Mode Theory(CMT).The developed mutually orthogonal principal modes of the optimized periodic patch structure areexcited by a center-feed dipole.A differential feeding network is employed to realize impedance matching.Prototype with profile height of 0.07λ_(0)(λ_(0)is the wavelength in free space at the lowest operatingfrequency)is fabricated and assembled to verify the simulation results.The measured results show that thereflectance coefficient of proposed matesurface antenna is less than-10 dB in the whole operating bandrange from 4.2 GHz to 5.5 GHz,a relative bandwidth of 26.8%is achieved,and the maximummeasured realized gain is more than 9 dBi with a maximum radiation efficiency of 90%.The designprovides a guideline on the application of characteristic modes(CMs)to radiation problems.

Microstrip Patch Antenna with an Inverted T-Type Notch in the Partial Ground for Breast Cancer Detections

This study designs a microstrip patch antenna with an inverted T-type notch in the partial ground to detect tumorcells inside the human breast.The size of the current antenna is small enough(18mm×21mm×1.6mm)todistribute around the breast phantom.The operating frequency has been observed from6–14GHzwith a minimumreturn loss of−61.18 dB and themaximumgain of current proposed antenna is 5.8 dBiwhich is flexiblewith respectto the size of antenna.After the distribution of eight antennas around the breast phantom,the return loss curveswere observed in the presence and absence of tumor cells inside the breast phantom,and these observations showa sharp difference between the presence and absence of tumor cells.The simulated results show that this proposedantenna is suitable for early detection of cancerous cells inside the breast.

Deployment Dynamic Modeling and Driving Schemes for a Ring-Truss Deployable Antenna

Mesh reflector antennas are widely used in space tasks owing to their light weight,high surface accuracy,and large folding ratio.They are stowed during launch and then fully deployed in orbit to form a mesh reflector that transmits signals.Smooth deployment is essential for duty services;therefore,accurate and efficient dynamic modeling and analysis of the deployment process are essential.One major challenge is depicting time-varying resistance of the cable network and capturing the cable-truss coupling behavior during the deployment process.This paper proposes a general dynamic analysis methodology for cable-truss coupling.Considering the topological diversity and geometric nonlinearity,the cable network's equilibrium equation is derived,and an explicit expression of the time-varying tension of the boundary cables,which provides the main resistance in truss deployment,is obtained.The deployment dynamic model is established,which considers the coupling effect between the soft cables and deployable truss.The effects of the antenna's driving modes and parameters on the dynamic deployment performance were investigated.A scaled prototype was manufactured,and the deployment experiment was conducted to verify the accuracy of the proposed modeling method.The proposed methodology is suitable for general cable antennas with arbitrary topologies and parameters,providing theoretical guidance for the dynamic performance evaluation of antenna driving schemes.

Effect of antenna helicity on discharge characteristics of helicon plasma under a divergent magnetic field

The characteristics of the blue core phenomenon observed in a divergent magnetic field helicon plasma are investigated using two different helical antennas, namely right-handed and lefthanded helical antennas. The mode transition, discharge image, spatial profiles of plasma density and electron temperature are diagnosed using a Langmuir probe, a Nikon D90 camera,an intensified charge-coupled device camera and an optical emission spectrometer, respectively.The results demonstrated that the blue core phenomenon appeared in the upstream region of the discharge tube at a fixed magnetic field under both helical antennas. However, it is more likely to appear in a right-handed helical antenna, in which the plasma density and ionization rate of the helicon plasma are higher. The spatial profiles of the plasma density and electron temperature are also different in both axial and radial directions for these two kinds of helical antenna. The wavelength calculated based on the dispersion relation of the bounded whistler wave is consistent with the order of magnitude of plasma length. It is proved that the helicon plasma is part of the wave mode discharge mechanism.

3D electromagnetic simulation of the coupling characteristics and double-stub Ferrite tuners impedance matching for EAST ICRH four-strap antenna

A program developed with COMSOL software integrates EAST four-strap antenna coupling with the double-stub Ferrite tuners(FT)impedance matching,obtaining physical quantities crucial for predicting the overall performance of the ion cyclotron resonance heating(ICRH)antenna and matching system.These quantities encompass S-matrix,port complex impedance,reflection coefficients,electric field and voltage distribution,and optimal matching settings.In this study,we explore the relationship between S-matrix,reflection coefficients,port complex impedance,and frequency.Then,we analyze the impact of Faraday screens placement position and transparency,the distance from the Faraday screen(FS)to the current straps(CS),the relative distance between ports,and the characteristic impedance of the transmission line on the coupling characteristic impedance of the EAST ICRH system.Finally,we simulate the electric field distribution and voltage distribution of the EAST ICRH system for plasma heating with double-stub FT impedance matching.Using optimized parameters,the coupling power of the ICRH system can be approximately doubled.The results present herein may offer guidance for the design of high-power,long-pulse operation ICRH antenna systems.

A Multi-Token Sector Antenna Neighbor Discovery Protocol for Directional Ad Hoc Networks

In this paper,we propose a Multi-token Sector Antenna Neighbor Discovery(M-SAND)protocol to enhance the efficiency of neighbor discovery in asynchronous directional ad hoc networks.The central concept of our work involves maintaining multiple tokens across the network.To prevent mutual interference among multi-token holders,we introduce the time and space non-interference theorems.Furthermore,we propose a master-slave strategy between tokens.When the master token holder(MTH)performs the neighbor discovery,it decides which 1-hop neighbor is the next MTH and which 2-hop neighbors can be the new slave token holders(STHs).Using this approach,the MTH and multiple STHs can simultaneously discover their neighbors without causing interference with each other.Building on this foundation,we provide a comprehensive procedure for the M-SAND protocol.We also conduct theoretical analyses on the maximum number of STHs and the lower bound of multi-token generation probability.Finally,simulation results demonstrate the time efficiency of the M-SAND protocol.When compared to the QSAND protocol,which uses only one token,the total neighbor discovery time is reduced by 28% when 6beams and 112 nodes are employed.

An externally perceivable smart leaky-wave antenna based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons

Smart antennas have received great attention for their potentials to enable communication and perception functions at the same time.However,realizing the function synthesis remains an open challenge,and most existing system solutions are limited to narrow operating bands and high complexity and cost.Here,we propose an externally perceivable leakywave antenna(LWA)based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons(SSPPs),which can realize adaptive real-time switching between the“radiating”and“non-radiating”states and beam tracking at different frequencies.With the assistance of computer vision,the smart SSPP-LWA is able to detect the external target user or jammer,and intelligently track the target by self-adjusting the operating frequency.The proposed scheme helps to reduce the power consumption through dynamically controlling the radiating state of the antenna,and improve spectrum utilization and avoid spectrum conflicts through intelligently deciding the radiating frequency.On the other hand,it is also helpful for the physical layer communication security through switching the antenna working state according to the presence of the target and target beam tracking in real time.In addition,the proposed smart antenna can be generalized to other metamaterial systems and could be a candidate for synaesthesia integration in future smart antenna systems.

Sparse antenna array design methodologies:A review

Designing a sparse array with reduced transmit/receive modules(TRMs)is vital for some applications where the antenna system’s size,weight,allowed operating space,and cost are limited.Sparse arrays exhibit distinct architectures,roughly classified into three categories:Thinned arrays,nonuniformly spaced arrays,and clustered arrays.While numerous advanced synthesis methods have been presented for the three types of sparse arrays in recent years,a comprehensive review of the latest development in sparse array synthesis is lacking.This work aims to fill this gap by thoroughly summarizing these techniques.The study includes synthesis examples to facilitate a comparative analysis of different techniques in terms of both accuracy and efficiency.Thus,this review is intended to assist researchers and engineers in related fields,offering a clear understanding of the development and distinctions among sparse array synthesis techniques.

V2I Physical Layer Security Beamforming with Antenna Hardware Impairments under RIS Assistance

The Internet of Vehicles(IoV)will carry a large amount of security and privacy-related data,which makes the secure communication between the IoV terminals increasingly critical.This paper studies the joint beamforming for physical-layer security transmission in the coexistence of Vehicle-to-Infrastructure(V2I)and Vehicle-toVehicle(V2V)communication with Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface(RIS)assistance,taking into account hardware impairments.A communication model for physical-layer security transmission is established when the eavesdropping user is present and the base station antenna has hardware impairments assisted by RIS.Based on this model,we propose to maximize the V2I physical-layer security transmission rate.To solve the coupled non-convex optimization problem,an alternating optimization algorithm based on second-order cone programming and semidefinite relaxation is proposed to obtain the optimal V2I base station transmit precoding and RIS reflect phase shift matrix.Finally,simulation results are presented to verify the convergence and superiority of our proposed algorithm while analyzing the impact of system parameters on the V2I physical-layer security transmission rate.The simulation results further demonstrate that the proposed robust beamforming algorithm considering hardware impairments will achieve an average performance improvement of 0.7 dB over a non-robustly designed algorithm.Furthermore,increasing the number of RIS reflective units from 10 to 50 results in an almost 2 dB enhancement in secure transmission rate.

The electrical design of a membrane antenna for a lunar-based low-frequency radio telescope

Detecting primordial fluctuations from the cosmic dark ages requires extremely large low-frequency radio telescope arrays deployed on the far side of the Moon.The antenna of such an array must be lightweight,easily storable and transportable,deployable on a large scale,durable,and capable of good electrical performance.A membrane antenna is an excellent candidate to meet these criteria.We study the design of a low-frequency membrane antenna for a lunar-based low-frequency(<30 MHz)radio telescope constructed from polyimide film widely used in aerospace applications,owing to its excellent dielectric properties and high stability as a substrate material.We first design and optimize an antenna in free space through dipole deformation and coupling principles,then simulate an antenna on the lunar surface with a simple lunar soil model,yielding an efficiency greater than 90%in the range of 12-19 MHz and greater than 10%in the range of 5-35 MHz.The antenna inherits the omni-directional radiation pattern of a simple dipole antenna in the 5-30 MHz frequency band,giving a large field of view and allowing detection of the 21 cm global signal when used alone.A demonstration prototype is constructed,and its measured electrical property is found to be consistent with simulated results using|S11|measurements.This membrane antenna can potentially fulfill the requirements of a lunar low-frequency array,establishing a solid technical foundation for future large-scale arrays for exploring the cosmic dark ages.

A Combined Antenna Array Deployment with High Positioning Accuracy and Low Angular Measurement Error

In this paper,an antenna array composed of circular array and orthogonal linear array is proposed by using the design of long and short baseline“orthogonal linear array”and the circular array ambiguity resolution design of multi-group baseline clustering.The effectiveness of the antenna array in this paper is verified by sufficient simulation and experiment.After the system deviation correction work,it is found that in the L/S/C/X frequency bands,the ambiguity resolution probability is high,and the phase difference system error between each channel is basically the same.The angle measurement error is less than 0.5°,and the positioning error is less than 2.5 km.Notably,as the center frequency increases,calibration consistency improves,and the calibration frequency points become applicable over a wider frequency range.At a center frequency of 11.5 GHz,the calibration frequency point bandwidth extends to 1200 MHz.This combined antenna array deployment holds significant promise for a wide range of applications in contemporary wireless communication systems.