Biomimetic Antenna Concepts for Millimeter Wave Sensors

毫米波传感器的仿生天线概念

• 批准号: 315290836
• 负责人: Professor Dr.-Ing. Christian Waldschmidt
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Institut für Mikrowellentechnik (MWT)
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2015-12-31 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/315290836?language=en
• 关键词: Biomimetic; Antenna; Concepts; Millimeter; Wave

The principle of the hearing system of the fly Ormia ochracea is subject to current research. Antennas designed according to this principle are, therefore, called ‘biomimetic antenna arrays’ (BMAAs). The working principle relies on the fact that the small phase progression between closely spaced antennas is stretched by a specifically designed coupling network inspired by the fly. The electrical size of the antenna array is hereby enhanced whereas the physical size remains constant. Through the larger aperture, a more accurate angle estimation is possible.In the first project (project I), an electrical model of the antenna system was developed and successfully verified by several demonstrators. The working principles of the biomimetic antenna array could be intuitively understood by using vectors in the complex plane. Within the scope of project I, an integrated, two-channel radar sensor with chip-integrated antennas at 160 GHz with very compact dimensions of less than 3 mm² has been designed, fabricated and measured. The biomimetic coupling hereby helps to reduce the antenna separation on the MMIC to a minimum without using the angle estimation ability. Furthermore, a novel compact MIMO-System on the MMIC could be successfully verified. The two physical antennas on the MMIC span hereby a virtual array consisting of four elements.Recent works concentrate on the development of biomimetic antenna arrays consisting of two elements only. Based on the models derived in project I, the focus in this follow-up project is placed on the scaling of the biomimetic antenna principle towards more than two antenna elements. Hereby, a lot of new applications arise which were not possible with the small 2-element-arrays in current setups. The scaled BMAA concept promises further enhancement in terms of angle estimation capability for future millimeter wave radar sensors, not only with regard to accuracy but also with regard to angular resolution. Within the scope of the project not only the direct scaling of the number of the coupled antennas is investigated but also the optimal placement in a MIMO setup.

红腹蚁听觉系统的原理目前还处于研究阶段。因此，根据这一原理设计的天线被称为“仿生天线阵列”（BMAA）。其工作原理依赖于这样一个事实，即紧密间隔的天线之间的小相位进展被一个受苍蝇启发而专门设计的耦合网络拉伸。天线阵列的电尺寸由此增强，而物理尺寸保持恒定。在第一个项目（项目I）中，开发了天线系统的电气模型，并通过几个演示者成功验证。利用复平面上的矢量可以直观地理解仿生天线阵列的工作原理。在项目I的范围内，设计、制造和测量了一个集成的双通道雷达传感器，该传感器具有160 GHz的芯片集成天线，尺寸非常紧凑，小于3 mm²。仿生耦合由此有助于在不使用角度估计能力的情况下将MMIC上的天线间隔减小到最小。此外，一个新的紧凑型MIMO系统的MMIC可以成功地验证。MMIC上的两个物理天线由此跨越了一个由四个单元组成的虚拟阵列。基于在项目I中导出的模型，在这个后续项目中的重点是放置在对两个以上的天线元件的仿生天线原理的缩放。因此，出现了许多新的应用程序，这是不可能的小2元素阵列在当前的设置。缩放BMAA概念承诺进一步增强未来毫米波雷达传感器的角度估计能力，不仅在精度方面，而且在角度分辨率方面。在该项目的范围内，不仅直接缩放的耦合天线的数量进行了调查，但也在MIMO设置的最佳位置。