Abstract: A compact decoupling network for enhancing the port isolation between two closely spaced antennas is proposed in this paper. In the network, we first connect two transmission lines (TLs) individually to the input ports of two strongly coupled antennas. The length of the TLs is designed so that the trans-admittance between ports changes from a complex one at the antenna inputs to a pure imaginary one. A shunt reactive component is then attached in between the TL ends to cancel the resultant imaginary trans-admittance. Finally, a simple lumped-element circuit is added to each port for input impedance matching. The even-odd mode analysis is adopted to investigate the currents excited on the antennas for predicting the radiation pattern of the two-element antenna array. Two examples of printed antennas at 2.45 GHz are tackled by using the proposed decoupling structure. The measurement results agree quite well with the simulation ones. High antenna isolation and good input return loss are simultaneously achieved in both cases, which demonstrates the feasibility of the structure. The decoupled antenna array in each example radiates, as prediction, toward different but complementary directions when the input power is fed in turn to the two input ports. The array efficiency is estimated better than 75% in each example. This pattern diversity effect is helpful for reducing the channel correlation in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system.

Abstract: It is shown that ESPRIT exploits the invariance property of both the transmit array and the receive array in a bistatic MIMO radar to estimate the target's direction. Some numerical results are presented to verify the effectiveness of this method.

Abstract: This paper derives the outage probability and transmission capacity of ad hoc wireless networks with nodes employing multiple antenna diversity techniques, for a general class of signal distributions. This analysis allows system performance to be quantified for fading or non-fading environments. The transmission capacity is given for interference-limited uniformly random networks on the entire plane with path loss exponent alpha > 2 in which nodes use: (1) static beamforming through M sectorized antennas, for which the increase in transmission capacity is shown to be thetas(M2) if the antennas are without sidelobes, but less in the event of a nonzero sidelobe level; (2) dynamic eigenbeamforming (maximal ratio transmission/combining), in which the increase is shown to be thetas(M 2/alpha ); (3) various transmit antenna selection and receive antenna selection combining schemes, which give appreciable but rapidly diminishing gains; and (4) orthogonal space-time block coding, for which there is only a small gain due to channel hardening, equivalent to Nakagami-m fading for increasing m. It is concluded that in ad hoc networks, static and dynamic beamforming perform best, selection combining performs well but with rapidly diminishing returns with added antennas, and that space-time block coding offers only marginal gains.

Abstract: Periodic structures can help in the reduction of mutual coupling by using their capability of suppressing surface waves propagation in a given frequency range. The purpose of this work is to show the viability of using a planar electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure based on a truncated frequency selective surface (FSS) grounded slab to this aim. The goal is to use it in patch antenna arrays, keeping both the element separation smaller than for grating lobes avoidance (assuming broadside case) and the patch antenna size large enough to have a good antenna directivity. To this aim, a multilayer dielectric substrate composed of high and low permittivity layers is convenient. This allows the use of a planar EBG structure made of small elements printed on the high permittivity material and, at the same time, the low permittivity layer helps the bandwidth and the directivity of the antenna to be increased. The EBG structure was designed under these premises and optimized for the particular application via an external optimization algorithm based on evolutionary computation: ant colony optimization (ACO). The mutual coupling reduction has been measured and it is larger than 10 dB with a completely planar structure.

Abstract: New reconfigurable antenna array is demonstrated for multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication systems that improves link capacity in closely spaced antenna arrays. The antenna system consists of an array of two printed dipoles separated by a distance of a quarter wavelength. Each of the dipoles can be reconfigured in length using PIN diode switches. The switch configuration can be modified in a manner adaptive to changes in the environment. The configuration of switches effects the mutual coupling between the array elements, and subsequently, the radiation pattern of each antenna, leading to different degrees of pattern diversity which can be used to improve link capacity. The PIN diode-based reconfigurable antenna solution is first motivated through a capacity analysis of the antenna in a clustered MIMO channel model. A new definition of spatial correlation coefficient is introduced to include the effects of antenna mismatch and radiation efficiency when quantifying the benefit of pattern diversity. Next, the widespread applicability of the proposed technique is demonstrated, relative to conventional half wavelength printed dipoles, using computational electromagnetic simulation in an outdoor and indoor environment and field measurements in an indoor laboratory environment. It is shown for the 2 times 2 system considered in this paper, that an average improvement of 10% and 8% is achieved in link capacity for a signal to noise ratio (SNR) respectively of 10 dB and 20 dB in an indoor environment compared to a system employing non reconfigurable antenna arrays.

Abstract: Recently, it has been shown [Duofang et al.] how the ESPRIT algorithm exploited the invariance property of both the transmit array and the receive array for target direction estimation in a bistatic MIMO radar. However, this method estimates the transmit angles and the receive angles separately in each dimension, and then requires pair matching between the two-dimensional angle estimation, which requires additional computational load. In this reported work, the interrelationship between the two one-dimensional ESPRIT is utilised to obtain automatically paired transmit angles and receive angle estimation without debasing the performance of angle estimation in a bistatic MIMO radar. Simulation results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Abstract: The characteristic basis function method (CBFM) has been hybridized with the adaptive cross approximation (ACA) algorithm to construct a reduced matrix equation in a time-efficient manner and to solve electrically large antenna array problems in-core, with a solve time orders of magnitude less than those in the conventional methods. Various numerical examples are presented that demonstrate that the proposed method has a very good accuracy, computational efficiency and reduced memory storage requirement. Specifically, we analyze large 1-D and 2-D arrays of electrically interconnected tapered slot antennas (TSAs). The entire computational domain is subdivided into many smaller subdomains, each of which supports a set of characteristic basis functions (CBFs). We also present a novel scheme for generating the CBFs that do not conform to the edge condition at the truncated edge of each subdomain, and provide a minor overlap between the CBFs in adjacent subdomains. As a result, the CBFs preserve the continuity of the surface current across the subdomain interfaces, thereby circumventing the need to use separate ldquoconnectionrdquo basis functions.

Abstract: A new type of substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) multibeam antenna is proposed for mobile satellite communications using beam switching and diversity techniques. It employs an SIW Rotman lens as the beamforming network. The prototype of a single multibeam antenna is implemented at 28.5 GHz with seven input ports and an antenna array constructed by nine SIW linear slot arrays, which can generate a corresponding number of beams along one dimension. Several such antennas are grouped in two different ways to cover a 2-D solid angle with multiple beams. Experiment results show that the 2-D solid angle around (-40deg, 40deg) X (-35deg, 35deg) or (-25deg, 25deg) x (-35deg, 35deg) are covered with 20 or 25 beams with 5 -dB beamwidth, respectively. It is demonstrated that this type of printed multibeam antenna is a good choice for communication applications where mobility and high gain are simultaneously required.

Abstract: Transmit beamforming is an energy-efficient wireless communication technique that allows a transmitter with two or more antennas to focus its bandpass signal in an intended direction. The idea of transmit beamforming has been extended to networks of single-antenna cooperative transmitters that pool their antenna resources and behave as a ldquodistributed beamformer.rdquo Unlike conventional transmit beamforming, however, the carriers of the single-antenna transmitters in a distributed beamformer are each synthesized from independent and imperfect local oscillators; carrier phase and frequency synchronization among the transmitters is necessary to ensure that a beam is aimed in the desired direction. In this paper, a new time-slotted round-trip carrier synchronization protocol is proposed to enable distributed beamforming in multiuser wireless communication systems. Numerical results for a distributed beamformer with two transmitters show that the parameters of the round-trip synchronization protocol can be selected such that a desired level of phase accuracy and reliability is achieved during beamforming and such that the synchronization overhead is small with respect to the amount of time that reliable beamforming is achieved. The impact of mobility on the performance of the round-trip carrier synchronization protocol is also shown to be small when the synchronization timeslots are short.

Abstract: In a cellular distributed antenna system (DAS), distributed antenna elements (AEs) are connected to the base station via an offline dedicated link, e.g. fiber optics or line-of-sight RF. Distributed antennas have been recently shown to provide considerable gains in coverage and capacity, at much lower cost than decreasing cell size. Previous studies have neglected the key sources of randomness in such systems, notably (i) random channel effects (fading and shadowing) and (ii) the random quantity and locations of both the mobile users and the AEs. Typically, path loss has been the focus, and the AEs are assumed to be regularly spaced, both of which are significant idealizations. First, we develop an analytical framework that allows random channels to be accommodated. We use this approach to show that selection transmission (using a single AE) is preferable to maximum ratio transmission (which uses all the AEs) in a multicell environment. Interestingly, the opposite is true in an isolated cell. Second, since AEs are placed opportunistically (on tall structures with backhaul access) rather than regularly, we develop a stochastic geometry-inspired approach to determine the outage probability as a function of the number of randomly placed AEs, which we model as a point process. With selection transmission, the outage probability is shown to decrease exponentially with the number of AEs and users. In the most general setup - with multiple distributed antennas and users, and both AE selection and user selection - we show that randomly deployed AEs provide nearly the same performance as regularly spaced AEs.

Abstract: Placing the radiators of antenna arrays closer than aggravates the problem of power mismatch. Based on efficiency considerations, a general analysis of this effect is presented, putting forward a simple tool to quantify, compare, and optimize the performance of antenna arrays. This analysis is not restricted with respect to the number of radiators or the degree of compactness. In order to improve power matching, a systematic approach for the design of lossless decoupling and matching networks based on 180 directional couplers is suggested for up to eight radiators. Implications of network losses, which have not yet received appropriate attention by researchers in the past, will be analyzed and discussed by means of a manufactured three-element prototype array.

Abstract: A system and method are described for powering a vehicle using radio frequency (“RF”) signals. For example, a method according to one embodiment of the invention comprises: positioning an antenna array beneath or on the road surface of a roadway, the antenna array configured to transmit RF signals responsive to RF processing logic and/or circuitry; coupling a rectenna array to a vehicle, the rectenna array configured to receive the RF signals transmitted from the antenna array and to generate power from the RF signals; providing feedback signals from the vehicle to the RF processing logic and/or circuitry, the feedback signals including channel state information (CSI) defining a current state of the channels between the antenna array and the rectenna array, the RF processing logic and/or circuitry using the channel state information to adjust the RF signal transmissions from the antenna array to improve the efficiency of the power generated by the rectenna array; and using the power generated by the rectenna array to power the vehicle.

Abstract: This paper proposes the use of a new generalized asymptotic paradigm in order to analyze the performance of subspace-based direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation in array signal processing applications. Instead of assuming that the number of samples is high whereas the number of sensors/antennas remains fixed, the asymptotic situation analyzed herein assumes that both quantities tend to infinity at the same rate. This asymptotic situation provides a more accurate description of a potential situation where these two quantities are finite and hence comparable in magnitude. It is first shown that both MUSIC and SSMUSIC are inconsistent when the number of antennas/sensors increases without bound at the same rate as the sample size. This is done by analyzing and deriving closed-form expressions for the two corresponding asymptotic cost functions. By examining these asymptotic cost functions, one can establish the minimum number of samples per antenna needed to resolve closely spaced sources in this asymptotic regime. Next, two alternative estimators are constructed, that are strongly consistent in the new asymptotic situation, i.e., they provide consistent DoA estimates, not only when the number of snapshots goes to infinity, but also when the number of sensors/antennas increases without bound at the same rate. These estimators are inspired by the theory of G-estimation and are therefore referred to as G-MUSIC and G-SSMUSIC, respectively. Simulations show that the proposed algorithms outperform their traditional counterparts in finite sample-size situations, although they still present certain limitations.

Abstract: This letter investigates the application of EBG radar absorbing material (RAM) to asymmetric ridged waveguide slot antenna array to reduce its backward RCS. The EBG RAM is based on the mushroom-like EBG structure loaded with lumped resistances. A ridged waveguide slot antenna array with 4 times 10 slot elements was designed and built, part of the metal ground plane of the array is replaced with this EBG RAM. The measured results show that performance of the antenna array is preserved when EBG RAM is used. At working frequency the backward RCS of antenna array with EBG RAM has dramatically reduced than that of the common antenna array.

Abstract: [1] The theory, computer simulations, and experimental measurements are presented for electrically small, two-element supergain arrays with near-optimal end-fire gains of 7 dB. We show how the difficulties of narrow tolerances, large mismatches, low radiation efficiencies, and reduced scattering of electrically small parasitic elements are overcome by using electrically small resonant antennas as the elements in both separately driven and singly driven (parasitic), two-element, electrically small supergain end-fire arrays. Although rapidly increasing narrow tolerances prevent the practical realization of the maximum theoretically possible end-fire gain of electrically small arrays with many elements, the theory and preliminary numerical simulations indicate that near-maximum supergains are also achievable in practice for electrically small arrays with three (and possibly more) resonant elements if the decreasing bandwidth with increasing number of elements can be tolerated.

Abstract: The design and measured results of a 2 times 2 microstrip line fed U-slot rectangular antenna array are presented. The U-slot patches and the feeding network are placed on the same layer, resulting in a very simple structure. The advantage of the microstrip line fed U-slot patch is that it is easy to form the array. An impedance bandwidth (VSWR < 2) of 18% ranging from 5.65 GHz to 6.78 GHz is achieved. The radiation performance including radiation pattern, cross polarization, and gain is also satisfactory within this bandwidth. The measured peak gain of the array is 11.5 dBi. The agreement between simulated results and the measurement ones is good. The 2 times 2 array may be used as a module to form larger array.

Abstract: In this paper, we consider the downlink of a multiuser wireless communication system with multiple antennas at the base station and users each with a single receive antenna. It is known that when channel state information (CSI) is available at the transmitter a large performance gain can be achieved. In a system employing time-division duplexing (TDD), CSI can be obtained at the base station if there is reciprocity between the forward and reverse channels. CSI can also be conveyed from the users to the base station via a limited-rate feedback channel in a frequency-division duplexing (FDD) system. In any case, channel estimation errors are inevitable due to the presence of background noise in the estimated signal and due to the finite number of feedback bits used in a limited-rate feedback system model. In this paper, we first consider the general case when partial CSI is available at the transmitter. We derive an MMSE based precoding technique that considers channel estimation errors as an integral part of the system design. Using rate-distortion theory and the generalized Lloyd vector quantization algorithm, we then specialize our results for the more practical limited-rate feedback system model. Compared to previously proposed precoding techniques such as channel inversion and regularized channel inversion, it is shown that the proposed precoding technique significantly improves the average bit error rate (BER) in the system. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed technique is investigated in the high signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) regime. It is shown that the proposed technique suffers from a ceiling effect that asymptotically limits the system performance.

Abstract: A high-efficiency microstrip-fed endfire angled-dipole antenna has been developed for millimeter-wave phased array applications. The antenna is built on both sides of a Teflon substrate (epsivr = 2.2) and this allows a wideband feed from the single-ended microstrip line to the differential dipole. The design results in wide radiation patterns for scanning purposes with a gain of around 2.5 dB at 20-26 GHz and a cross-polarization level of 6 dB at 23.2-24.6 GHz and very low mutual coupling between elements ( 93% when referenced to the microstrip line feed (including mismatch loss). The usefulness of these antennas as phased array radiators is demonstrated by several eight-element linear arrays at 22-24 GHz with scan angle up to 50 degrees. The application areas are in automotive radars and high data-rate communication systems.

Abstract: An antenna system for wireless networks having a dual stagger antenna array architecture is disclosed. The antenna array contains a number of driven radiator elements that are spatially arranged in two vertically aligned groups each having pivoting actuators so as to provide a controlled variation of the antenna array's azimuth radiation pattern.

Abstract: To improve the performance of microstrip antenna array, a matching-in-step (MIS) configuration of microstrip series-fed taper array is designed. Compared to the traditional one, the novel antenna array has a better VSWR characteristic. The design procedure of the MIS antenna array is discussed in detail, and some valuable results are acquired. Numerical results are obtained and a very good agreement is observed between experimental and simulated results of such arrays.

Abstract: We have evaluated a modified delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming algorithm for breast cancer detection with a microwave radar-based system. The improved DAS algorithm uses an additional weight factor calculated at each focal point to improve image quality. These weights essentially represent the quality of preprocessing and coherent radar operation. Using a multistatic UWB radar system based on a hemispherical antenna array, we present experimental detection of 7 mm and 10 mm phantom tumours. We show that the new proposed DAS algorithm improves signal-to-clutter ratio in focused images by 2.65 dB for 10 mm tumour, and by 4.4 dB for 7 mm tumour.

Abstract: Many classical direction of arrival (DOA) estimation algorithms suffer from sensitivity to sensor coupling. By applying a group of auxiliary sensors in a uniform linear array (ULA), we prove the resiliency of the MUSIC direction finding algorithm against array sensor coupling. We show that the performance of MUSIC algorithm under antenna array with unknown coupling can be very close to the case with known coupling. We can also estimate the mutual coupling coefficients before refining the DOA estimates by utilizing an extended sensor array. Moreover, our analysis on the effect of mutual coupling in direction finding illustrates the existence of some blind angles which should be avoided when the array is designed. Our simulation results corroborate our analysis.

Abstract: A 3-D reference model is proposed for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) mobile-to-mobile (M-to-M) multipath-fading channels. From this model, a closed-form joint space-time correlation function is derived for a 3-D nonisotropic scattering environment. Two sum-of-sinusoids-based 3-D simulation models for MIMO M-to-M multipath-fading channels are proposed. The statistics of the simulation models are verified by simulation. Finally, these simulation models are used to evaluate the effect of the space-time correlation on the outage capacity of uniform linear antenna arrays and to compare the capacities of linear, circular, and spherical antenna arrays.

Abstract: A novel measurement method is proposed in order to measure the active electric fields of the individual antenna elements in a phased array antenna. Fast and accurate measurements can be realized by the proposed method because the electric fields of multiple elements can be obtained simultaneously and no phase measurements are required. Hence, it can be easily applied to the on-board diagnostics and re-calibration in the operating phased array antenna systems. In the first step with this method, the phases of multiple antenna elements are successively shifted with the specified phase intervals while the array power variations are measured. Next, the measured power variation is expanded into a Fourier series and the terms are rearranged to put them into the form of the rotating element electric field vector (REV) method. Finally, the REV solution is used to identify the electric fields of the individual elements. Additionally, a theoretical study is carried out on the accuracy of the proposed measurement method. Simple, closed-form equations have been successfully derived for the measurement errors and the calibration accuracy is theoretically estimated. The proposed measurement method is validated with experimental results and the measurement accuracy is compared with the theoretical prediction.

Abstract: An alternative approach to port decoupling and matching of arrays with tightly coupled elements is proposed. The method is based on the inherent decoupling effect obtained by feeding the orthogonal eigenmodes of the array. For this purpose, a modal feed network is connected to the array. The decoupled external ports of the feed network may then be matched independently by using conventional matching circuits. Such a system may be used in digital beam forming applications with good signal-to-noise performance. The theory is applicable to arrays with an arbitrary number of elements, but implementation is only practical for smaller arrays. The principle is illustrated by means of two examples.

Abstract: We explore the potential benefits of using pattern reconfigurable antennas in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems. First, theoretical capacity increases are calculated in a typical indoor multipath environment assuming ideal, fully reconfigurable antennas and compared to cases using theoretical isotropic antennas. Next, a real reconfigurable antenna built into a multiple element antenna system for MIMO use is described and analyzed to investigate the possible effects of beam tilts on capacity. Finally, this system is used to quantify the possible capacity improvements due to both antenna diversity and antenna gain that are enabled by antenna pattern reconfigurability in a scientifically reproducible environment that includes antenna coupling.

Abstract: Antenna arrays based on aperiodic tilings have been shown to exhibit low sidelobe levels and modest bandwidths over which grating lobes are suppressed. In addition, compared to conventional periodic arrays, these arrays are naturally thinned (i.e., mean inter element spacing is greater than ). The generation of these arrays involves placing array elements at the locations of the vertices of an aperiodic tiling. To obtain a realizable design, the entire array is then scaled and truncated to achieve a desired minimum element spacing and aperture size. This paper demonstrates that it is possible to greatly extend the bandwidth of these arrays by incorporating a simple perturbation scheme into the basic array generation process. The implementation of this perturbation scheme is straightforward and it lends itself well to being combined with an optimization technique such as the genetic algorithm. It is successfully used to generate arrays that have large bandwidths (peak sidelobe level dB with no grating lobes) of up to a minimum element spacing of . Moreover, the flexibility of this technique will be further demonstrated by introducing a slight variation of the basic scheme that is capable of generating arrays with extremely wide bandwidths. An example will be presented for an array design that has a bandwidth corresponding to a minimum element spacing of up to .

Abstract: In this paper a compact switched-beam antenna is proposed. The antenna is composed of a four-element antenna array based on L-shaped quarter-wavelength slot antenna elements. Such an antenna element is a planar structure and presents a directional radiation pattern in the azimuth plane. Its maximum radiation direction is toward near the direction of the open end of the slot. As a result, the open ends of the four slot antennas are arranged toward 0, pi/2, pi, and 3pi/2 , respectively. The statuses of these antennas are controlled by some diodes. Consequently, by carefully controlling the diodes, an antenna with several switchable patterns can be achieved. To prove the concept, a 2.4-2.5 GHz switched-beam antenna for WLAN applications is designed and implemented. Its size is 52 mm in square. The antenna possesses eight directional patterns and many nearly omnidirectional patterns in the azimuth plane. The experiment results fully demonstrate the performance of the proposed design. The envelope correlations and the characteristics of the designed antenna are also discussed. Due to the compact size and low manufacture cost, such a design can be a promising solution for digital home applications to overcome multipath problems and increase the transmission data rate.

Abstract: We consider J transmitter units each equipped with N transmit antennas over wireless Rayleigh fading channels. Previously in [1], it was proved that when each transmitter unit has TV transmit antennas, using (J - 1)N + r receive antennas for any r ges 1, the receiver can completely separate the signals of J users. The provided diversity to each user was shown to be Nr if the units employ space-time trellis codes even if the units transmit asynchronously. Here, we consider the case when all units are synchronized and employ quasi-orthogonal space-time block codes (N > 2). It is proved that in this case a receiver with J + r - 1 antennas with r ges 1 can separate the transmitted signals of all units and provide each unit with a diversity order of Nr. Based on our interference cancellation technique, we then offer an array processing scheme which provides trade-off between diversity and spatial multiplexing. It is shown via simulations that this array processing scheme performs better than well-known modulation schemes, e.g. space-time block codes and BLAST, for a moderate number of receive antennas.