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In this article, a capacity-oriented envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) that incorporates a preferred channel model for assessing a multiple antenna system of a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) mobile device is proposed. Originated from the rudimentary law of ergodic channel capacity, the ECC for multiple antennas (ECC-M) is proven to holistically reflect the impact of radiation patterns and total efficiencies of multiple antennas on channel capacity. The closed-form ECC-M expressions for Rayleigh fading channel model and ray-based spatial channel model are studied, leading to an easy-to-use ECC-M expression that approximately incorporates a realistic channel model. The correlation of the proposed ECC-M to the channel capacity is demonstrated through the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of three four-element MIMO antenna testbeds in two channel models, showing that the antenna total efficiency and a realistic channel model involved in the ECC-M play an important role in assessing the performance of multiple antennas. It is justified that the difference in channel capacities of two multiple antenna systems is highly relevant to their ECC-Ms at high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). The proposed ECC-M is also experimentally validated through over-the-air (OTA) throughput measurement, revealing that the ECC-M can effectively assess the OTA performance of multiple antenna systems for MIMO terminal devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cost-effective and accurate method for predicting over-the-air (OTA) data throughput of multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) wireless devices in the antenna design stage is proposed. The method incorporates passive characteristics of MIMO antennas, realistic channel model, and conductive measurement results in a computer simulation framework. With extracted relation between received power and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a wireless device at antenna ports by a conductive test and measured passive characteristics of MIMO antennas, OTA throughput versus received power in a realistic channel model is obtained by the Monte Carlo simulation of Shannon’s law. The unique features of this method include: no channel emulator equipment is required; a wide variety of precoding schemes can be applied; passive characteristics of antennas are fully incorporated; and frequency-selective fading channel can be adopted. The method has been intensively validated by comparing the calculated OTA throughputs with those measured by a multiprobe anechoic chamber method under spatial channel model extension (SCME) in three aspects: spatial correlation, radiation efficiency, and mutual coupling, showing as low as 0.2–0.3 dB discrepancy in power level in most cases. The method can be used to evaluate a MIMO array antenna design of a wireless device with respect to OTA performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, H-plane cross-polarization (X-pol) radiation of probe-fed air-filled patch antennas is substantially suppressed by introducing two or more floating metal cylinders underneath the patch, respectively. The X-pol is canceled by the radiation of induced currents on metal cylinders. The working principle of the new X-pol suppressed patch (XSP) antenna is revealed by an approximate model. The X-pol level of a typical XSP antenna can be suppressed to lower than −49 and −37 dB theoretically and experimentally for $| \theta |\le 60^{\circ }$. Two $1\times $ 8-element arrays constructed by XSP antennas and conventional patch antennas are prototyped and measured at scanning beam angles of $\theta = 0^{\circ }$ , −40°, and −65°. The measured co-polarization (co-pol) gain of the XSP antenna array is 0.7 and 0.9 dB larger than that of the conventional patch array at $\theta = -40^{\circ }$ and −65°, respectively. Besides, the beam scanning angle with −30 dB X-pol level of the XSP antenna array can be as wide as $| \theta |\le 40^{\circ }$ , while that of the conventional patch array is about $| \theta |\le 12^{\circ }$. A wide-band dual-polarized XSP antenna is also presented. The measured maximum H-plane X-pol level can be lower than −29 dB within 8.7% fractional bandwidth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate and present a very low-profile, high-efficiency, and high-gain 2-D leaky-wave antenna (2DLWA) implemented on a high permittivity substrate operating in the millimeter-wave range, paving the way for the seamless integration of a high-gain and high-efficiency antenna with a frontend. In contrast to the typical air-filled 2DLWA, where a perturbation of the first higher-order mode (TE1/TM1) results in highly directed broadside radiation, in the proposed antenna, the propagation and leakage of a quasi-TEM (Q-TEM) mode results in an extremely low-profile ($0.065\lambda _{0}$), high-gain (~15 dBi) antenna. In this scenario, the transverse resonance condition for a Q-TEM mode is established by employing a capacitive partially reflective surface (PRS) in a thin ($0.065\lambda _{0}$) substrate with a relative permittivity of 10.2. The proposed periodic 2DLWA, unlike the conventional uniform/quasi-uniform air-filled counterparts, radiates based on the $\mathbf {n}=-\mathbf {1}$ space harmonic operation. Due to a strong mutual interaction between the PRS and ground plane, conventional design and analysis approaches are no longer relevant in this low-profile architecture. Instead, we employ the Floquet modal expansion theory to create an equivalent circuit model (ECM) for the PRS that takes into account the contributions and mutual interactions of the Floquet harmonics as well as the ground plane effect. By employing reflecting boundaries realized with edge truncation (air trenches) in a high permittivity substrate, we show that the aperture efficiency is enhanced by 15% compared to conventional counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we propose and demonstrate an integrated dual linearly polarized cavity-backed patch antenna, which is excited by a concurrent dual-mode substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) structure. For the first time, we have exploited the TE10 and TE20 modes of a traveling wave in a dual-mode SIW configuration to excite the horizontal and vertical polarizations of the patch antenna. The proposed methodology yields a low-profile structure with a high interport isolation thanks to the inherent symmetry of the structure. Measurement results indicate an isolation performing better than 42 dB over a 600 MHz impedance bandwidth of the antenna. Moreover, a methodology is developed to implement transitions from the dual-mode SIW to the two different TEM transmission lines for separate but concurrent excitations of the device. Detailed field and impedance analyses are presented to explain the operation principle of the proposed antenna, which are supported by an excellent agreement between the obtained measurement and simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes and presents a fully planar endfire circularly polarized (CP) antenna with mingled three-layer substrates. It consists of a unidirectional dielectric radiator (UDR) and an antipodal linearly tapered slot antenna (ALTSA) surrounded by a UDR. The ALTSA is fed by a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) on a thin substrate of $0.05\lambda _{0}$ , which can easily be integrated with RF subsystems. The UDR is fed by the ALTSA, which enables the UDR to enhance the original vertically polarized radiation rather than the horizontally polarized radiation from the ALTSA. Due to the polarization selectivity enhancement, an endfire CP antenna with a very thin substrate is created. An experimental prototype of the proposed antenna has been studied, designed, and measured. The measured impedance bandwidth of −10 dB covers a broadband of 29.7 GHz from 26.1 to 55.8 GHz, and the 3 dB AR bandwidth is 19.7 GHz ranging from 25.3 to 45 GHz. The measured gain is over 9 dBic from 27.8 GHz to over 32 GHz. A good performance with a small size of only $2.57\lambda _{0} \times 0.78\lambda _{0} \times 0.33\lambda _{0}$ , including the CPW-SIW transition, makes it an attractive option in the development of high gain planar endfire CP antennas and arrays for 5G and B5G applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept and feasibility of deploying higher-order space harmonics (HSHs) in 1-D periodic leaky-wave antennas (1-D periodic LWAs) is proposed, studied, analyzed, and demonstrated in this article. This can lead to the creation of multiband multibeam antennas (MBMBAs) with the capability of wide scanning ranges. To show the proposed concept, the excitation and flexibility of odd (n ε [−1, −3]) and even (n ε [−2, −4]) HSHs based on the analysis of a Brillouin diagram along with the effect of unit-cell geometrical structures of substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) for different propagating media are investigated. The proposed analysis is experimentally validated by prototyping and measuring a 1-D periodic LWA in SIW technology in which two HSHs (n ε [−1, −2]) are utilized for achieving a dual-band multibeam LWA with wide scanning range capability. In addition, a triple-band multibeam LWA design based on this concept is also analyzed and demonstrated where we take advantage of the characteristics of four HSHs (n ε [−1, −2, −3, −4]). Furthermore, the band edge issue of different stop-bands of HSH is also examined, and a method is proposed and used to address this issue where we use a quarter wavelength technique to overcome the matching problem at different frequencies related to different stop-bands of various HSHs (n ε [−1, −2, −3, −4]). Another design of a SIW-based 1-D periodic LWA is also discussed to extend and generalize the proposed concept in solving the mismatch issues of HSHs focusing on broadside radiation of the n = −2 space harmonic. The measured results are found to agree very well with their simulation and analysis counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiation efficiency of electrically small antennas largely depends on antenna geometry. However, the actual mechanism that governs the antenna radiation efficiency remains unclear, although various models have been developed since the 1940s. Extant circuit models are either intuition-based or mathematic representations of input impedance/far-field spherical mode functions for structurally simple antennas with limited uses and physical insight. In this article, a recently developed physical micromodeling circuit (MMC) model is utilized to explain the nature of radiation of an electrically small antenna of arbitrary configuration. It is theoretically discovered and experimentally validated for the first time that the radiation efficiency decisively depends on mutual radiated power associated with partial segments of the antenna. A circuital figure of merit for describing the total mutual radiated power is introduced to quantify the measure. The graphical representation of the figure of merit called the holographic radiation diagram is also proposed for illustrating the correspondence of the positive and negative radiated power and the antenna structure. The applications of the proposed theory to antenna design is demonstrated by designing a highly efficient loop antenna. The physical circuit model paves a new way of understanding electromagnetic (EM) radiation problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A generalized mesh-network equivalent model for a microstrip rectangular patch antenna (RPA), which is simple yet efficient is proposed, studied, and demonstrated in this article. The mesh-network equivalent model is established through the segmentation of RPA width and radiation parameters into $M$ sections, as well as the segmentation of RPA length into $N$ sections. A general design procedure to realize the mesh-network equivalent model is addressed and described for any number of RPA segmentations, as desired by specific applications. Subsequently, the proposed mesh-network equivalent model is used to accurately evaluate the input impedance responses at various feed positions along the length of RPA. In addition, to include the effects of a slot etched inside the RPA geometry, a generalized microstrip coupled line equivalent model is proposed, analyzed, and discussed in detail. Eventually, the microstrip coupled line model in conjunction with the proposed mesh-network equivalent model can accurately estimate the input impedance response of a slotted RPA, and has been verified for RPA with center slot, edge slot, and multiple slots as examples in this work. Two cases with multiport excitation of RPA are also analyzed and presented as a part of this work. For demonstration purposes, all these prototypes are designed, fabricated, and measured at 28 GHz. The proposed equivalent model-based results are validated by measured and simulated counterparts. Furthermore, the extension of the proposed mesh-network model to accommodate slots of smaller size inside RPA, RPA loaded with via, inverted-F antenna, and multimode operation are demonstrated and discussed through a comparison between mesh-network modeling results and simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a densely integrated and unified paralleled amplifier and antenna architecture is proposed and demonstrated for next-generation millimeter-wave (mmW) and terahertz (THz) front-end modules. It makes use of topologically paralleled transistors cohabitated within a compact rectangular patch antenna (CRPA) as a unified cell. This design simultaneously amplifies and radiates power without resorting to any power divider, input and output matching networks, or power combiner whatsoever, therefore, greatly reducing front-end loss, size, and complexity. Then, the unified unit cell is self-consistently distributed to form a unified planar array with active elements between array elements as power feeders. In this demonstration, the input power is sequentially amplified, radiated through each array element, and spatially added up, resulting in low on-board circuit losses and efficient radiation. In this article, we investigate and present challenges and early results of implementing this unification concept of active circuitry and antenna at mmW frequencies. Using a standard 65-nm CMOS process, a set of chips were designed, fabricated, and tested under different amplifier biasing conditions at 146 GHz for experimental demonstration. The realized low-loss, matched, and compact unified prototypes have demonstrated an amplified radiation, with power enhancement of 3.4 dB through single element and 6 dB through $2 \times 2$ layout compared to their respective passive counterparts. Moreover, frequency tuning is observed varying drain bias and self-matching is improved with increasing gate bias. Therefore, the feasibility of a unique feature in the architectural implementation of low-loss, compact, and densely integrated and topologically cohabitated mmW and THz front-end modules is confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of a self-decoupled antenna array using the cancellation of two opposite couplings is proposed in this article. A pair of such antennas can be closely placed with inherent high isolation without using an extra decoupling structure between the antennas. A pertinent equivalent circuit model is presented to illustrate the physical mechanism of this new concept. It is found that the inductive and capacitive couplings between the antennas can be well canceled out with each other by properly adjusting the antenna dimensions. A demonstrating antenna array with a spacing of $0.024\lambda _{0}$ at the working frequency of 3.5 GHz and its counterpart array are first studied. The measured results show that although the proposed antenna array occupies a slightly larger size than its counterpart array, it presents better performance compared with its counterpart antenna array in port isolation (from 10 to 20 dB), total efficiency (from 68% to 80%), and envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) (from 0.14 to 0.04) throughout the desired frequency band of 3.3–3.8 GHz. A 3-D self-decoupled antenna array is designed to show that the proposed antenna can be in a compact form factor. Another self-decoupled array and its counterpart working at 2.14 GHz (long-term evolution (LTE) band 1) are studied through multi-input multi-output (MIMO) over-the-air (OTA) test when the arrays are integrated with an LTE module, showing significant improvement on the data throughput. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loading effects of radiating discontinuities have been explored to increase the phase constant’ frequency sensitivity of leaky-wave antennas (LWAs), based on which a quasi-uniform transversely slotted substrate integrated waveguide LWA featuring rapid beam-scanning and its hexagonal array have been proposed and investigated for millimeter-wave applications. The design concept is simply based on the use of a short period of unit cells and a long transverse slot with a sharp inductive reactance, and it has been theoretically elaborated and effectively validated by both full-wave and circuit-based simulations. A taper design with −25 dB Taylor amplitude distribution is implemented for the proposed LWA to have a low sidelobe radiation. For practical system applications, a hexagonal array consisting of six proposed LWAs is developed to provide an omnidirectional coverage in the azimuth plane while remaining the rapid frequency-driven beam-scanning in the elevation plane. Both the measured and simulated results are in an acceptable agreement with respect to the LWA block and the associated hexagonal array in terms of circuit and radiation performances. The proposed antenna will be a good candidate to be applied for prospective millimeter-wave systems such as autonomous driving and flying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a class of mode composite transmission line called mode composite sandwich slot line (MCSSL) is proposed, studied, and demonstrated. The MCSSL is composed of two substrate integrated waveguides (SIWs) and a sandwiched quasi-slot line. Structural parts of the two SIWs inherently serve as the two conductors of the quasi-slot line. The SIW supports the TE10 fundamental mode propagation, whereas the quasi-TEM mode is supported by the quasi-slot line. Two types of transition structures are proposed in this article, which enable an easier integration of the studied MCSSL with other transmission lines. An MCSSL-based antenna is designed and fabricated to theoretically and experimentally demonstrate its advantages and feasibility. It has been shown that the MCSSL features the physical and electrical characteristics of a joint structure (or structure sharing) in connection with a mode composite with planar structures, and it can find applications in broadband and multiband circuits and antenna developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel diplexer-based fully passive transponder is presented in this paper, which targets sub-6-GHz 5G-compatible internet-of-things applications. To alleviate the antenna design restrictions of traditional transponder with two separate antennas, a new architecture has been proposed with the introduction of a diplexer, which allows transponder to simply employ a dual-band antenna. In this paper, a dual-band circularly polarized omnidirectional spiral slot antenna, with enhanced bandwidth and gain performance, is designed as the transponder Tx/Rx antenna. Besides the new architecture, a diode selection criterion is proposed as well. Analytical models are derived, showing relationships between the diode’s SPICE parameters and the conversion efficiency or conversion loss (CL) of such diode-based transponders. With help of the analysis, transponder designers can easily identify diodes to implement transponders with better performance. Under the guidance of the criterion, low-barrier diode SMS7630 is chosen for verification. Measured CL results of the transponder circuitry part show a noticeable improvement over the state-of-the-art works. The complete prototype was tested with radar’s transmitting power of 25 dBm, and it presents a maximum read-out distance up to 7 m when the operating fundamental frequency is 3.5 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new wideband ±45° dual-polarized metal loop dielectric resonator magnetoelectric antenna is proposed in this communication. The antenna consists of two orthogonal dielectric bars that support two orthogonal electric dipoles and two cross interlaced metal semi-loops that are equivalent to two orthogonal magnetic dipoles above the ground. With a legitimate combination of the electric and magnetic dipoles, a unidirectional radiation with low backward radiation and equal E-plane and H-plane radiation patterns can be achieved. The antenna can be made of a monolithic dielectric block with simple installation. To validate the new antenna configuration, a prototype is designed, manufactured, and measured. The prototype antenna using ceramic with the electrical size of $0.33\lambda _{o} \times 0.33\lambda _{o} \times 0.21\lambda _{o}$ demonstrates that an impedance bandwidth of 11.4% ($\vert S_{11}\vert < -15$ dB) in the 3.5 GHz frequency band can be achieved with the measured forward/backward ratio of better than 22 dB. The proposed antenna is suitable as antenna element for massive-MIMO array antennas, where a large number of antenna elements need to be installed in a compact space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study a frequency-modulated continuous-wave based radio-frequency identification system, which is composed of a reader with single transmitter and multiple receiving antennas as well as multiple active backscatter tags. In particular, our contribution is twofold in this paper. First, we construct a general architecture for achieving the functionality of wireless positioning based on the principle of the switched injection-locked oscillator (SILO). Unlike the previous SILO-based schemes, some limitations on the pulsed waveform generated by the tags are overcome. In addition, only one reader set up with multiple receiving antennas is used to precisely localize tags based on the delay and direction-of-arrival estimates. Second, the developed algorithms make use of a shift invariant property among the baseband signal snapshots of intra- and/or intermodulation intervals, i.e., snapshots in one modulation period and/or sets of snapshots in multiple modulation periods. A new joint singular value decomposition based ESPRIT algorithm is developed for determining the number of multiple active tags and their positions by implementing the matrix reconstruction and stacking techniques. The proposed method has its basic foundation on the processing of received data with global fusion scheme. In this way, this method can improve the performance of parameter estimates in terms of accuracy and resolution without suffering from the pair matching problem. System simulations and experimental validations are carried out to verify the proposed system architecture associated with the signal processing technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This communication presents a high-order-mode microstrip patch antenna driven by substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) for millimeter-wave polarization-adjustable applications. Different polarization status can be yielded from variable excited signals, including vertical and horizontal linear, right-handed and left-handed circular polarizations. In the patch antenna configuration, an enlarged aperture coming from high-order mode makes it easy to be fed by orthogonal SIWs for dual polarizations. Loaded slots on the patch significantly improve the radiation patterns. The impedance bandwidth with dual resonances is originated from the SIW slot and patch modes. A Ka-band $2\times 2$ antenna array integrated with single-layer SIW feeding network is designed and tested to illustrate this technique. The results manifest that the planar integrated $2 \times 2$ antenna array features adjustable polarization with considerable gain. Furthermore, a two-layer scheme of orthogonal SIW feeding is developed, which would provide a more flexible topology for the scale-expandable array antenna with adjustable polarizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) coupled resonator decoupling network (CRDN) for two coupled antennas is proposed in this paper. By virtue of LTCC technology, a second-order CRDN is realized by two tightly coupled lumped-element resonators in a volume of \3.2\times \2.5\times \1.2\ \mm^3. Theoretical analysis has revealed that a wide range of mutual admittance of a CRDN can be realized by choosing appropriate I/O coupling elements while the coupled resonators can be consolidated in an LTCC device. This “one-fit-all” feature allows for decoupling a wide range of coupled antennas with different form factors for a given frequency band. To prove the concept, two LTCC CRDNs for decoupling different forms of antennas working in the 2.45-GHz band are designed, fabricated, and tested. Measurement results have demonstrated that significant improvement in isolation can be achieved within a wide operating frequency range in all cases. The presented design theory and circuit topology are general and can be applied to both symmetric and asymmetric two-element antenna arrays. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A new decoupling scheme called dual-band coupled resonator decoupling network (CRDN) is presented. By properly designing the coupling coefficients between two pairs of coupled resonators, the network can effectively reduce the mutual couplings between two coupled dual-band antennas in two bands simultaneously. The new scheme is proved by a practical microstrip version of the device for two dual-band antennas working at 2.4 and 5.2 GHz frequency bands. A compact planar dual-band CRDN consisting of a pair of dual-band open-loop square ring resonators is proposed. The measured scattering parameters of two coupled antennas with and without the dual-band CRDN in free space (FS) and with hand phantom demonstrate that the isolation between the two antennas in both the low and high bands can be improved from 8 to 10 dB, respectively, to below 20 dB while maintaining a good matching performance. The total efficiency and envelop correlation coefficient for the decoupled antennas show a significant improvement as compared to the coupled antenna case. The proposed dual-band CRDN scheme is easy to be implemented in an integrated device, and is very attractive for practical multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) applications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The gain bandwidth constraint of sequential-rotation arrays (SRAs) has been an open issue since it was first pointed out in 1989. This paper reveals the reason, provides some useful conclusions and proposes an optimum design. Firstly, a first-order analytical formula is derived for the array factor (AF) of the 4-element sub-SRA. The formula embraces the polarization properties of the antenna elements. The AF is found to be dependent on the elements' polarization properties and frequency, which is not found in conventional regular arrays. Based on the theoretical results and full-wave simulations, these dependencies are analyzed in detail. Secondly, an optimum design is proposed to enhance the gain bandwidth: to constitute SRA with elliptically polarized elements (this type of SRA is denoted as EP-SRA) rather than the conventional circularly polarized elements (this type of SRA is denoted as CP-SRA). Detailed design guidance is presented for this new method. Finally, as an example, a CP-SRA and an EP-SRA are designed and tested for comparison. According to the example, by employing EP-SRA, the 1 dB AF bandwidth is improved by 80%, the measured 1 dB/3 dB gain bandwidth is enhanced by 114%/76%. In fact, the conventional CP-SRA and LP-SRA (SRA with linearly polarized elements) are two special cases of the proposed EP-SRA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity backed dual-band triangular-ring slot (TRS) antennas are proposed for planar integration. First, a low profile dual band 45^\circ linearly polarized (LP) antenna is designed and analyzed. The dual-mode TRS is proposed and developed by simultaneously exciting the mode of the slot and the mode of the patch inside the slot. To minimize the antenna size, the lowest mode (TE110 mode) of the SIW cavity is adopted to excite the TRS. The -10 dB impedance bandwidth at the higher band is 5.9%, 58.3% wider than that of the conventional SIW cavity backed slot antenna. The interactions of the SIW cavity, the slot mode and the patch mode are analyzed with circuit models and verified by full wave simulations, which provides a new insight into the SIW cavity backed antennas. Then, by exciting a pair of the 45^\circ LP antennas with an SIW coupler, a circularly polarized (CP) dual band antenna with a small frequency ratio of 1.26 is developed. The two antennas are fabricated and tested, and the measured and simulated results agree well. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]