Integrated active antenna arrays with polarization multiplexing for broadband communications at W-band

具有偏振复用功能的集成有源天线阵列，用于 W 频段宽带通信

• 批准号: 237428911
• 负责人: Professor Dr.-Ing. Arne F. Jacob
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Institut für Hochfrequenztechnik E-3
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Priority Programmes
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2012-12-31 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/237428911?language=en
• 关键词: Integrated; active; antenna; arrays; polarization

The main goal of this proposal is the design of a wideband, circularly polarized antenna at W-band and its subsequent integration with a CMOS power amplifier to a system-in-package which may be used as an active radiating element within an array-based transmitter. The project shall be completed in close cooperation with Prof. Georg Böck, TU Berlin, as Prof. Böck‘s group is concerned with the above mentioned CMOS power amplifier. The W-band offers a total bandwidth of 35 GHz. Unlike lower frequency bands (e.g., UWB or 60 GHz) modulation schemes with moderate complexity (3-4 bit/s/Hz) may be employed. In contrast to higher frequency bands (200 GHz and above) CMOS processes with sufficiently high cutoff frequencies are already commercially available, so that the technological barrier for the design of circuits and systems is considerably lower. Antenna arrays are advantageous because, on the one hand, they enable system scalability, which means that the link budget may be adapted to suit different application scenarios. On the other hand, they are a prerequisite for analog or digital beam steering, which may be used to communicate with users via a directed line-of-sight (LOS) connection and thus improves the link quality. One goal is the design and fabrication of a simple, small (e.g. 2x1 or 2x2) antenna array demonstrator. The designed antenna element shall be circularly polarized so that there is no need for alignment between the base station and the user‘s mobile device. Further, by utilizing two orthogonal polarizations (left- and right-handed circular polarization) the data rate is doubled. The designed antenna element thus supports two independently driven polarizations (polarization multiplexing). One goal is the design and fabrication of an active antenna element with polarization multiplexing. Since WLAN/WPAN is mainly a customer market, the employed technology is a low-cost stereolithographic process. The process has a micrometer-scale feature size and well-controlled vertical growth by deposition and curing of polymers, which enables structures (e.g. inclined walls), which cannot be fabricated with `standard` PCB or MMIC processes (due to layer thickness or limited amount of layers). Direct packaging of active components into the polymer layers leads to integrated (sub)-systems with optimally designed interconnects and, thus, lower signal losses. The basic underlying challenge of the proposal is to use these technological opportunities to achieve the best possible system performance (e.g.: wide bandwidth, low losses).

该提案的主要目标是设计 W 波段宽带圆极化天线，并随后将其与 CMOS 功率放大器集成到系统级封装中，该系统级封装可用作基于阵列的发射机内的有源辐射元件。该项目将与柏林工业大学的Georg Böck教授密切合作完成，因为Böck教授的团队关注上述CMOS功率放大器。 W 频段提供 35 GHz 的总带宽。与较低频段（例如，UWB 或 60 GHz）不同，可以采用具有中等复杂度（3-4 位/秒/赫兹）的调制方案。与更高频段（200 GHz及以上）相比，具有足够高截止频率的CMOS工艺已经商用，因此电路和系统设计的技术障碍要低得多。天线阵列的优势在于，一方面，它们能够实现系统可扩展性，这意味着可以调整链路预算以适应不同的应用场景。另一方面，它们是模拟或数字波束控制的先决条件，可用于通过定向视距 (LOS) 连接与用户进行通信，从而提高链路质量。一个目标是设计和制造简单的小型（例如 2x1 或 2x2）天线阵列演示器。设计的天线元件应为圆极化，以便基站和用户的移动设备之间无需对准。此外，通过利用两个正交偏振（左旋和右旋圆偏振），数据速率加倍。因此，设计的天线元件支持两个独立驱动的极化（极化复用）。目标之一是设计和制造具有极化复用功能的有源天线元件。 由于WLAN/WPAN主要是客户市场，因此采用的技术是低成本的立体光刻工艺。该工艺具有微米级的特征尺寸，并通过聚合物的沉积和固化实现了良好控制的垂直生长，从而实现了无法使用“标准”PCB或MMIC工艺（由于层厚度或层数有限）制造的结构（例如倾斜壁）。将有源元件直接封装到聚合物层中可以形成具有优化设计互连的集成（子）系统，从而降低信号损失。该提案的基本挑战是利用这些技术机会来实现最佳的系统性能（例如：宽带宽、低损耗）。