Enhancing Gain Through Optimal Antenna Element Distribution in a Thinned Array Configuration
Enhancing Gain Through Optimal Antenna Element Distribution in a Thinned Array Configuration
复制标题
DOI：
10.1109/ojap.2023.3331322
复制
发表时间：
2023
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Michael Ortiz;Md Nazim Uddin;Marisol Roman Guerra;Elias A. Alwan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Michael Ortiz;Md Nazim Uddin;Marisol Roman Guerra;Elias A. Alwan
本文提出了一种阵列减薄方法，用于在5.4 GHz的$5\times5$网格中布置的25元天线阵列。我们的目标是在增益损失较小的情况下消除最大数量的天线元件，从而减小阵列的尺寸、重量、成本和功率要求。因此，减薄阵列配置节省的空间为集成额外的天线和硬件提供了机会，从而实现了低姿态的封装天线。我们的研究表明，阵列减少64%（从25个到9个探针馈电贴片天线）获得的阵列增益与全阵列配置相当。因此，通过细化过程生成用于测试的各种9元配置，并使用遗传算法进行优化。然后使用全波模拟验证了这些配置。结果表明，在保留有效面积的同时保持各轴对称的所有配置对增益降低的影响最小。具体来说，与完全填充的$5\times5$阵列相比，最佳细化配置在模拟中只导致了1.82 dB的损失。精确的配置也显示了波束扫描性能从−45°到+45°（即90°）。制作了一个原型，并对每一种薄结构进行了测试。优化后的9元薄阵列结构的实测增益与仿真结果吻合较好。
This paper presents an array thinning approach for a 25-element antenna array arranged in a $5\times5$ grid at 5.4 GHz. Our goal is to eliminate a maximum number of antenna elements with minor gain loss and hence reduce the array size, weight, cost, and power requirements. Consequently, the space saved by the thinned array configuration presents opportunities to integrate additional antennas and hardware, allowing for a low-profile antenna-in-package. Our study showed that a 64% array reduction (from 25 to 9 probe-fed patch antennas) achieved an array gain comparable to a full array configuration. As such, various 9-element configurations for testing were generated through the thinning process and optimized using the genetic algorithm. These configurations were then validated using full-wave simulations. Results show that all configurations that preserved the effective area while maintaining symmetry along all axes showed a minimal effect on gain reduction. Specifically, the best thinning configuration resulted in a loss of only 1.82 dB in simulation at broadside compared to a fully populated $5\times5$ array. The exact configuration also showed beam scanning performance from −45° to +45° (viz. 90°). A prototype was fabricated and tested for each of the thinned configurations. The measured gain of the optimal 9-element thinned array configuration showed excellent agreement with the simulations.