Multi-Band Rectangular Patch End-Fire Antenna Array

A novel multi-band end-fire antenna array was designed, fabricated, and characterized. Analytical calculations were carried out to determine the critical antenna dimensions and the design was optimized using a 3D electromagnetic finite-element solver. The measured results were in good agreement with the designed results. The proposed antenna array exhibits multi-band capabilities which can be potentially used for applications that require a multi-band end-fire radiation pattern.

Multiple Frequency Cancellation Method for Stealth Design of UWB End-Fire Antenna Array

A multiple frequency cancellation(MFC)method is proposed for stealth design of ultra-wide band(UWB)end-fire antenna array.The proposed method can produce significant radar cross section(RCS)reduction in the whole operating band.The 1×4 and 4×4 Vivaldi antenna arrays of different kinds of cancellation structures are discussed as examples to validate the effectiveness of the MFC method on both linear and planar arrays.On average,22.6 dB reduction of monostatic radar cross section(MRCS)is obtained in the whole X-band.MRCS under oblique incident waves is also reduced within±60°.Basically favorable radiation characteristics are maintained.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Helix Inspired 28 GHz Broadband Antenna with End-Fire Radiation Pattern

This paper presents the design and characterization of a via free planar single turn helix for 28 GHz broadband applications.The proposed antenna is designed using ROGERS RO4003 material,having a simple structure and end-fire radiation pattern.The antenna comprises of a compact dimension of 1.36λ_(0)×0.9λ_(0) with a thickness of 0.0189λ_(0)(whereλ_(0) is the free-space wavelength at the central frequency of 28 GHz).Parametric study has been carried out to investigate the impact of key design parameters and to achieve an optimum design.Results show a good agreement between the simulated and measured results.A single turn helical inspired antenna covers−10 dB impedance bandwidth of 26.25-30.14 GHz having a peak gain of 5.83 dB and radiation efficiency up to 85%.Moreover,linear array configurations with 2 and 4 elements have been analyzed for applications with higher gain and space constraints.Presented array configurations are suitable for applications having space constraints in one dimension.Results show that peak gain up to 8.2 dB and 11.1 dB can be achieved with 2 and 4 elements,respectively.Due to its simple planar and via free structure,this antenna is suitable for 5G communications and for sensing,imaging,IoT and tracking applications at 28 GHz band spectrum.

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.

Optimization of the Physical Aperture of the Parabolic Reflector Antenna

In fields like astronomy and radar technology, high-gain antennas are required for long-distance communication. Due to its relatively large gain, the use of parabolic antennas has become very popular over time, because they can easily achieve gains of above 30 dB at microwave and higher frequencies. Today, most systems’ success depends on how well the antennas perform. These antennas are available in different types and sizes. Each antenna’s effective area usually has less than the actual physical area of the antenna surface. This means that the unused area of the antenna is massive, and a waste. The aim of the research is to show that the actual physical aperture of a parabolic antenna can be reduced as much as possible to equal the effective area, as given by the antenna formula, thereby saving manufacturing costs, improve the aesthetics. In other words, the focus of this work is to experimentally show that reflector antenna can be made of smaller sizes but better performance. Measurements were taken from different positions from a parabolic antenna, the signal level measured and compared with signal levels for optimal performance.

New Antenna Array Beamforming Techniques Based on Hybrid Convolution/Genetic Algorithm for 5G and Beyond Communications

Side lobe level reduction(SLL)of antenna arrays significantly enhances the signal-to-interference ratio and improves the quality of service(QOS)in recent and future wireless communication systems starting from 5G up to 7G.Furthermore,it improves the array gain and directivity,increasing the detection range and angular resolution of radar systems.This study proposes two highly efficient SLL reduction techniques.These techniques are based on the hybridization between either the single convolution or the double convolution algorithms and the genetic algorithm(GA)to develop the Conv/GA andDConv/GA,respectively.The convolution process determines the element’s excitations while the GA optimizes the element spacing.For M elements linear antenna array(LAA),the convolution of the excitation coefficients vector by itself provides a new vector of excitations of length N=(2M−1).This new vector is divided into three different sets of excitations including the odd excitations,even excitations,and middle excitations of lengths M,M−1,andM,respectively.When the same element spacing as the original LAA is used,it is noticed that the odd and even excitations provide a much lower SLL than that of the LAA but with amuch wider half-power beamwidth(HPBW).While the middle excitations give the same HPBWas the original LAA with a relatively higher SLL.Tomitigate the increased HPBWof the odd and even excitations,the element spacing is optimized using the GA.Thereby,the synthesized arrays have the same HPBW as the original LAA with a two-fold reduction in the SLL.Furthermore,for extreme SLL reduction,the DConv/GA is introduced.In this technique,the same procedure of the aforementioned Conv/GA technique is performed on the resultant even and odd excitation vectors.It provides a relatively wider HPBWthan the original LAA with about quad-fold reduction in the SLL.

Designing a Dual-Feed Circular Polarization Antenna

This paper describes a novel dual-feed circularly polarized antenna,and the dual feeding mode is realized by grooving on the antenna radiator.The antenna utilizes air dielectric material to meet the requirements of low weight and cost.Test results demonstrate that the antenna exhibits capacitive loading between the metal antenna patch and the ground floor,allowing for adjustment of the working frequency of the dual-feed circularly polarized microstrip antenna.Specifically,the original center frequency of 2.264 GHz was reduced to 1.582 GHz,facilitating antenna miniaturization and broad bandwidth.With a return loss(S11)below-10 dB,a bandwidth of 72 MHz(1.552-1.624 GHz)was obtained.Additionally,the dual-feed microstrip antenna incorporates a 90°bridge,resulting in circular polarization gains of 2.26 dBi at 1.561 GHz and 2.45 dBi at 1.575 GHz.Overall,the antenna design offers a large working bandwidth and excellent circular polarization characteristics,making it suitable for a wide range of applications in satellite navigation and positioning terminals.

A Compact Ultra-Wideband Circularly Polarized Antenna Array for Vehicular Communications

In this paper,a new compact ultrawideband(UWB)circularly polarized(CP)antenna array for vehicular communications is proposed.The antenna array consists of a 2×2 sequentially rotated T-shaped cross dipole,four parasitic elements,and a feeding network.By loading the T-shaped cross dipoles with parasitic rectangular elements with cut corners,the bandwidth can be expanded.On this basis,the radiation pattern can be improved by the topology with sequential rotation of four T-shaped cross-dipole antennas,and the axial ratio(AR)bandwidth of the antenna also can be further enhanced.In addition,due to the special topology that the vertical arms of all Tshaped cross dipoles are all oriented toward the center of the antenna array,the gain of proposed antenna is improved while the size of the antenna is almost the same as the traditional cross dipole.Simulated and measured results show that the proposed antenna has good CP characteristics,an impedance bandwidth for S11<-10 d B of about 106.1%(3.26:1,1.57-5.12 GHz)and the 3-d B AR bandwidth of about 104.1%(3.17:1,1.57-4.98 GHz),a wide 3-d B gain bandwidth of 73.3%as well as the peak gain of 8.6 d Bic at 3.5 GHz.The overall size of antenna is 0.56λ×0.56λ×0.12λ(λrefers to the wavelength of the lowest operating frequency in free space).The good performance of this compact UWB CP antenna array is promising for applications in vehicular communications.

Quantum-Inspired Equilibrium Optimizer for Linear Antenna Array

With the rapid development of communication technology,the problem of antenna array optimization plays a crucial role.Among many types of antennas,line antenna arrays(LAA)are the most commonly applied,but the side lobe level(SLL)reduction is still a challenging problem.In the radiation process of the linear antenna array,the high side lobe level will interfere with the intensity of the antenna target radiation direction.Many conventional methods are ineffective in obtaining the maximumside lobe level in synthesis,and this paper proposed a quantum equilibrium optimizer(QEO)algorithm for line antenna arrays.Firstly,the linear antenna array model consists of an array element arrangement.Array factor(AF)can be expressed as the combination of array excitation amplitude and position in array space.Then,inspired by the powerful computing power of quantum computing,an improved quantum equilibrium optimizer combining quantum coding and quantum rotation gate strategy is proposed.Finally,the proposed quantum equilibrium optimizer is used to optimize the excitation amplitude of the array elements in the linear antenna array model by numerical simulation to minimize the interference of the side lobe level to the main lobe radiation.Six differentmetaheuristic algorithms are used to optimize the excitation amplitude in three different arrays of line antenna arrays,the experimental results indicated that the quantum equilibrium optimizer is more advantageous in obtaining the maximum side lobe level reduction.Compared with other metaheuristic optimization algorithms,the quantum equilibrium optimizer has advantages in terms of convergence speed and accuracy.

A Novel Design of Antenna Array with Two K-Band Circularly Polarized Antenna

As an important part of phased array system,the research on phased array antenna is very necessary.The phased array antenna achieves the scanning beam adaptively by regulating the phase difference between each array element.In this paper,a dual K-band circularly polarized antenna with high broadband,broadband beam,wide axial ratio bandwidth and high radiation efficiency is designed.We combine with the advantages of slot antenna and aperture antenna,use multimode waveguide cavity structure to design an aperture antenna,which is fed to waveguide circular polarizer by slot coupling in order to realize circular polarization radiation.Meanwhile,it has the characteristics of broadband,broadband beam,wide axial ratio bandwidth and high radiation efficiency.A slit antenna is designed by using a multimode waveguide cavity structure and a slit coupling feed to a waveguide circular polarizer is used to achieve circularly polarized radiation.The designed antenna consists of two K-band circularly polarized antenna units,and the spacing between the two units is 9.5 mm,which is fed by aK-band T/R module(Transmitter/Receiver module).In order to study the performance of the pattern in the case of the research group,the 2-unit structure is established.The simulation results of frequency–axial ratio bandwidth are given,and the simulation result of the antenna array is shown.The practical results of antenna design and test are also given.

Artificial Magnetic Conductor as Planar Antenna for 5G Evolution

A 5G wireless system requests a high-performance compact antenna device.This research work aims to report the characterization and verification of the artificial magnetic conductor(AMC)metamaterial for a high-gain planar antenna.The configuration is formed by a double-side structure on an intrinsic dielectric slab.The 2-D periodic pattern as an impedance surface is mounted on the top surface,whereas at the bottom surface the ground plane with an inductive narrow aperture source is embedded.The characteristic of the resonant transmission is illustrated based on the electromagnetic virtual object of the AMC resonant structure to reveal the unique property of a magnetic material response.The characteristics of the AMC metamaterial and the planar antenna synthesis are investigated and verified by experiment using a low-cost FR4 dielectric material.The directional antenna gain is obviously enhanced by guiding a primary field radiation.The loss effect in a dielectric slab is essentially studied having an influence on antenna radiation.The verification shows a peak of the antenna gain around 9.7 dB at broadside which is improved by 6.2 dB in comparison with the primary aperture antenna without the AMC structure.The thin antenna profile ofλ/37.5 is achieved at 10GHz for 5Gevolution.The emission property in an AMCstructure herein contributes to the development of a lowprofile and high-gain planar antenna for a compact wireless component.

Th-Shaped Tunable Multi-Band Antenna for Modern Wireless Applications

A compact,reconfigurable antenna supporting multiple wireless services with a minimum number of switches is found lacking in literature and the same became the focus and outcome of this work.It was achieved by designing a Th-Shaped frequency reconfigurable multi-band microstrip planar antenna,based on use of a single switch within the radiating structure of the antenna.Three frequency bands(i.e.,2007–2501 MHz,3660–3983MHz and 9341–1046 MHz)can be operated with the switch in the ON switch state.In the OFF state of the switch,the antenna operates within the 2577–3280MHz and 9379–1033MHz Bands.The proposed antenna shows an acceptable input impedance match with Voltage Standing Wave Ratio(VSWR)less than 1.2.The peak radiation efficiency of the antenna is 82%.A reasonable gain is obtained from 1.22 to 3.31 dB within the operating bands is achieved.The proposed antenna supports UniversalMobile Telecommunication System(UMTS)-1920 to 2170 MHz,Worldwide Interoperability and Microwave Access(WiMAX)/Wireless Broadband/(Long Term Evolution)LTE2500–2500 to 2690 MHz,Fifth Generation(5G)-2500/3500 MHz,Wireless Fidelity(Wi-Fi)/Bluetooth-2400 to 2480 MHz,and Satellite communication applications in X-Band-8000 to 12000 MHz.The overall planar dimension of the proposed antenna is 40×20mm2.The antennawas designed,along with the parametric study,using Electromagnetic(EM)simulation tool.The antenna prototype is fabricated for experimental validation with the simulated results.The proposed antenna is low profile,tunable,lightweight,cheap to fabricate and highly efficient and hence is deemed suitable for use in modern wireless communication electronic devices.

4-Port Octagonal Shaped MIMO Antenna with Low Mutual Coupling for UWB Applications

A4-port multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO)antenna exhibiting lowmutual coupling andUWBperformance is developed.The octagonal-shaped four-antenna elements are connected with a 50microstrip feed line that is arranged rotationally to achieve the orthogonal polarization for improving the MIMO system performance.The antenna has a wideband impedance bandwidth of 7.5GHz with S11<−10 dB from(103.44%)3.5–11GHz and inter-element isolation higher than 20 dB.Antenna validation is carried out by verifying the simulated and measured results after fabricating the antenna.The results in the form of omnidirectional radiation patterns,peak gain(≥4 dBi),and Envelope Correlation Coefficient(ECC)(≤0.01)are extracted to validate the suggested antenna performance.Aswell,time-domain analysis was investigated to demonstrate the operation of the suggested antenna in wideband applications.Finally,the simulated and experimental outcomes have almost similar tendenciesmaking the antenna suitable for its use in UWBMIMOapplications.

Higher Order OAM Mode Generation Using Wearable Antenna for 5G NR Bands

This paper presents a flexible and wearable textile array antenna designed to generate Orbital Angular Momentum(OAM)waves with Mode+2 at 3.5 GHz(3.4 to 3.6 GHz)of the sub-6 GHz fifth-generation(5G)New Radio(NR)band.The proposed antenna is based on a uniform circular array of eight microstrip patch antennas on a felt textile substrate.In contrast to previous works involving the use of rigid substrates to generate OAM waves,this work explored the use of flexible substrates to generate OAM waves for the first time.Other than that,the proposed antenna was simulated,analyzed,fabricated,and tested to confirm the generation of OAMMode+2.With the same design,OAM Mode−2 can be generated readily simply by mirror imaging the feed network.Note that the proposed antenna operated at the desired frequency of 3.5 GHz with an overall bandwidth of 400 MHz in free space.Moreover,mode purity analysis is carried out to verify the generation of OAM Mode+2,and the purity obtained was 41.78%at free space flat condition.Furthermore,the effect of antenna bending on the purity of the generated OAM mode is also investigated.Lastly,the influence of textile properties on OAM modes is examined to assist future researchers in choosing suitable fabrics to design flexible OAM-based antennas.After a comprehensive analysis considering different factors related to wearable applications,this paper demonstrates the feasibility of generating OAMwaves using textile antennas.Furthermore,as per the obtained Specific Absorption Rate(SAR),it is found that the proposed antenna is safe to be deployed.The findings of this work have a significant implication for body-centric communications.

Secure Underwater Distributed Antenna Systems: A Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Approach

Dear Editor,Underwater distributed antenna systems(DAS) are stationary infrastructures consisting of multiple geographically distributed antenna elements(DAEs) which are interconnected through high-rate backbone networks [1]. Compared to centralized systems, the DAS could provide a larger coverage area and higher throughput for underwater acoustic(UWA) transmissions. In this work, exploiting the low sound speed in water, a multi-agent reinforcement learning(MARL)-based approach is proposed to secure underwater DAS against eavesdropping at the physical layer.