Biomimetic Antenna Concepts for Millimeter Wave Sensors

苍蝇听觉系统的原理目前尚处于研究阶段。因此，根据这一原理设计的天线被称为“仿生天线阵列”(BMA)。其工作原理依赖于这样一个事实，即近距离天线之间的小相位级数通过受苍蝇启发而专门设计的耦合网络来伸展。因此，天线阵列的电尺寸被增强，而物理尺寸保持不变。在第一个项目(项目I)中，开发了天线系统的电气模型，并通过几个演示成功地验证了该模型。利用复平面中的矢量可以直观地理解仿生天线阵的工作原理。在项目I的范围内，设计、制造和测量了一种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，其尺寸非常紧凑，小于3 mm？因此，仿生耦合有助于在不使用角度估计能力的情况下将MMIC上的天线间隔减少到最小。此外，在MMIC上实现了一种新颖的紧凑型MIMO系统。MMIC上的两个物理天线构成一个由四个单元组成的虚拟阵列，目前的工作集中在开发只由两个单元组成的仿生天线阵。在项目I所建立的模型的基础上，本后续项目的重点是将仿生天线原理扩展到两个以上的天线单元。因此，出现了许多新的应用，而在当前的设置中，小的2元阵列是不可能的。扩展的BMAA概念保证了未来毫米波雷达传感器在角度估计能力方面的进一步增强，不仅是在精度方面，而且在角度分辨率方面。在该项目的范围内，不仅研究了耦合天线数目的直接缩放，而且还研究了在MIMO设置中的最佳布置。

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.