CAREER: Near-The-Horizon Steerable Phased Array Antennas with Reconfigurable Inter-Element Spacing and Radiation Patterns

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The increasing demand of mobile and wireless communications necessitates technology advancements in the antenna, which is a pivotal component of any wireless system. In particular, phased array antennas are sought after in next generation mobile communications as well as wireless communications for military, space, and satellites. The proposed research aims to fundamentally advance the technical approach and methodologies of designing state-of-the-art phased array antennas consisting of reconfigurable radiating elements, featuring wide-angle scanning capabilities, adaptive aperture distributions, and multi-functional radiation properties. It has promising applications in mobile and wireless systems for homeland security, unmanned vehicles, surveillance, remote sensing, automotive radars, intelligent transportation, etc. In addition to the research advancements that will have immediate impacts on the emerging wireless communications, the project will also bring important long-term societal benefits. To address the noticeable shortage of antenna engineers and scientists, the proposed work will significantly contribute to the training of students by integrating education and research in antennas and applied electromagnetics, thus sustaining the U.S. competitiveness in advanced wireless communications. The educational component of the proposed work is focused on developing inter-disciplinary antenna courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). The outreach plan is to foster local community college participation in antenna research activities, engage K-12 students in workshops held at UAH, and attract young students, particularly from underrepresented groups, to study Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).The proposed research aims to address existing challenges of near-the-horizon beam scanning antennas with reconfigurable radiation characteristics and, for the first time, investigate adaptive phased array antennas with electronically controlled inter-element spacing. These are realized by utilizing adaptive antenna elements that can facilitate developing radiation matched elements for null steering and wide-angle beam scanning, without compromising desired antenna radiation properties. More importantly, the antenna elements provide unique features through changing their effective source of radiation, and thus allowing electronic control of the array element spacing without using any mechanical means. The proposed research provides a basis to further test the hypothesis of virtual array antennas, since each element of the proposed phased array antenna can be virtually displaced from its physical center. This enables new levels of real-time control of the array aperture fields by reconfiguring both amplitude patterns and phase distributions at the element level, as well as generating wide-angle scanned beams and adaptive radiation patterns at the array level. This will in turn lead to versatile functionality, reduced sidelobe levels, and suppressed grating lobes in the proposed array antenna. The proposed new technique of antenna reconfiguration has promising potential for the future generation of adaptive phased array antennas.