Bandwidth of reflectarrays

It is shown that the dominant factor controlling reflectarray bandwidth is the bandwidth of the radiating element, and that the effect of non-constant path delays over the surface of the flat reflector has little significance unless the aperture is electrically very large and the f/D ratio is small. An example of a polarisation-twist reflectarray using aperture coupled elements with time delay lines is used to demonstrate this conclusion.     

Radiation and scattering characteristics of microstrip antennas onnormally biased ferrite substrates

Radiation and scattering characteristics of microstrip antennas and arrays printed on ferrite substrates with a normal magnetic bias field are described. The extra degree of freedom offered by the biased ferrite can be used to obtain a number of novel characteristics, including switchable and tunable circularly polarized radiation from a microstrip antenna having a single feed point, dynamic wide-angle impedance matching for phased arrays of microstrip antennas, and a switchable radar cross section reduction technique for microstrip antennas. Results are obtained from full-wave moment method solutions for single microstrip antennas and infinite arrays of microstrip antennas. A cavity model solution for a circular patch antenna on a biased ferrite substrate is also presented, to aid in understanding the operation of these antennas     

Characterisation of aperture coupled microstrip patch antenna withthick ground plane

The feasibility of using a thick ground plane with an aperture coupled microstrip patch antenna while maintaining reasonable antenna performance is demonstrated using moment method and reciprocity analyses in the spectral domain. The thick ground plane, which may serve as a heatsink for active MMIC circuitry, or as a mechanical support for thin substrates, is particularly advantageous in millimetre wave phased array applications. It is found that the effect of ground plane thickness is to reduce the level of coupling from the feed line to the patch     

General relations for a phased array of printed antennas derived from infinite current sheets

Simple and general relations characterizing the behavior of infinite phased arrays of printed antenna elements are derived from a model based on infinite current sheets. The Green's function of an electric current source on a grounded dielectric slab is used in various limiting forms to treat arrays in free space, arrays above a ground plane, arrays on a semi-infinite substrate, and arrays on a grounded dielectric slab. Current sheets are selected, using the orthogonality properties of the Floquet modes of the infinite array Green's function, to excite only a few specific low-order Floquet modes. Results from this idealized model, in the form of reflection coefficient magnitudes and input resistance, are compared with rigorous moment method solutions for specific elements (dipoles and microstrip patches). It is shown how the dominant scanning characteristics of a printed phased array, such as reflection coefficient and input resistance trends, scan blindnesses, and grating lobe effects, are dictated more by factors such as element spacing and substrate parameters than by the particular element type itself.     

Aperture-coupled microstrip antenna with a perpendicular feed

A new technique is described for feeding printed antennas. A microstrip antenna on one substrate is coupled through an electrically small aperture to a microstrip feed line on a perpendicularly oriented substrate. No direct connection is made to the patch. Such a geometry allows two separate substrates to be used for the antenna and feed functions. Measurements of a prototype design are presented.     

Finite phased arrays of rectangular microstrip patches

Finite phased arrays of rectangular microstrip patch antennas are analyzed. Reflection coefficient magnitudes, element patterns and efficiency (based on power lost to surface waves) are calculated for various sized arrays on substrates of practical interest and are compared with previous infinite array solutions. Measured element patterns and mutual coupling data for a small array are presented and compared with calculations.     

Optimization of pulse radiation from dipole arrays for maximum energy in a specified time interval

The optimum solution for maximized radiated energy in a specified time interval from anN-element dipole array at a specified farfield position is presented. The solution is obtained in terms of time-domain dipole terminal voltages which are constrained in bandwidth and total input energy, with the currents on the dipoles satisfying Pocklington's integral equation. The orthogonality of characteristic terminal modes is used in the derivation of the optimum solution, and the far-zone field is expanded as a finite sum of characteristic modal fields with unknown mode coefficients. The optimum mode coefficients are found in terms of prolate spheroidal wave functions. An additional constraint can be used to find the optimum solution with a reduced sidelobe level. The effects of signal bandwidth and time interval specification on the peak field intensity and energy density in the direction of optimization are shown and limiting cases are found to agree with previous results.     

Comments on `The role of analysis in an age of computers: view fromthe analytical side'

The commenter disagrees with the implication in the above-titled paper by R.E. Collin (ibid., vol.32, p.27-31 (Aug. 1990)) that analytical solutions are the only way, or even the best way, to check the accuracy of numerical solutions. He expresses surprise that no mention was made of verifying solutions accuracy by comparison with measured data. He argues that measurements provide what is often the best way of verifying the accuracy of a solution to a practical problem in electromagnetics, regardless of the extent to which the solution is analytical or numerical. He gives an example from the paper (radiation conductance of an open-ended microstrip line versus substrate thickness) to illustrate this point     

Scattered and absorbed powers in receiving antennas

This paper discusses the amount of power, which is scattered and absorbed by a receiving antenna and in particular, whether an antenna can absorb the entire power incident upon it. The absorbed and scattered power from dipole arrays in either free space, or over ground plane is considered. By defining a suitable "aperture efficiency" for the receiving case, a dipole array without a ground plane can best absorb half of the incident power (scattering the rest), while an array over a ground plane can absorb all of the incident power. It is shown how aperture efficiency varies with load impedance, which is of practical interest for array designers.