Low-cost smart antennas for advanced wireless systems

Smart antenna is a key technology for mobile communications, satellite communications, radar and sensors as it can enable the wireless systems to achieve the optimum performance by electronically steering its maximum radiation towards the desired directions while forming nulls against interfering sources. Traditional smart antennas are, however, complicated in structure, bulky, power hungry and costly. For commercial applications, it is important to reduce the size, mass, power consumption and cost of smart antennas. Firstly, this paper presents an introduction to smart antennas, followed by a brief review of various types of low-cost smart antennas. Then, several recent examples of low-cost smart antennas reported by the author's group are presented and discussed. These antennas are capable of achieving electronic beam steering within a wide angular range, while having compact sizes, low power consumption and low cost. A detailed list of references is given in the end of this paper.

[1]  Anders Host-Madsen,et al.  Hybrid smart antenna system using directional elements - performance analysis in flat Rayleigh fading , 2003 .

[2]  Haitao Liu,et al.  Small Director Array for Low-Profile Smart Antennas Achieving Higher Gain , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[3]  Mook-Seng Leong,et al.  Integrated multibeam dual-polarised planar array , 2001 .

[4]  J.T. Bernhard,et al.  A pattern reconfigurable microstrip parasitic array , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[5]  Tatsuo Itoh,et al.  An active integrated retrodirective transponder for remote information retrieval-on-demand , 2001 .

[6]  Xiaojing Huang,et al.  A Hybrid Adaptive Antenna Array for Long-Range mm-Wave Communications [Antenna Applications Corner] , 2012, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine.

[7]  S. Safavi-Naeini,et al.  Fast Beamforming for Mobile Satellite Receiver Phased Arrays: Theory and Experiment , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[8]  Kazushi Nishizawa,et al.  Fourier transform optically controlled phased array antenna in receiving operation , 2009, 2009 International Topical Meeting on Microwave Photonics.

[9]  Haitao Liu,et al.  Electrically Small and Low Cost Smart Antenna for Wireless Communication , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[10]  H. Scott,et al.  360/spl deg/ electronically controlled beam scan array , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[11]  Vincent Fusco,et al.  Developments in retrodirective array technology , 2013 .

[12]  A. Marvin,et al.  Reconfigurable phased array antennas with RF-MEMS on a PCB substrate , 2012, 2012 Loughborough Antennas & Propagation Conference (LAPC).

[13]  T. Ohira,et al.  Electronically steerable parasitic array radiator antenna , 2004 .

[14]  G.S. Smith,et al.  A reconfigurable aperture antenna based on switched links between electrically small metallic patches , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[15]  D.V. Thiel.  Switched parasitic antennas and controlled reactance parasitic antennas: a systems comparison , 2004, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Symposium, 2004..

[16]  Haitao Liu,et al.  Compact Dual-Band Antenna With Electronic Beam-Steering and Beamforming Capability , 2011, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

[17]  T. Ohira,et al.  Fast beamforming of electronically steerable parasitic array radiator antennas: theory and experiment , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[18]  William A. Imbriale,et al.  Space Antenna Handbook , 2012 .

[19]  Robert R. Romanofsky,et al.  Advances in Scanning Reflectarray Antennas Based on Ferroelectric Thin-Film Phase Shifters for Deep-Space Communications , 2007, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[20]  V. F. Fusco,et al.  Rotman Lens-Based Retrodirective Array , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[21]  H. Scott,et al.  360 Electronically Controlled Beam Scan Array , 2004 .

[22]  Roger F. Harrington,et al.  Reactively controlled directive arrays , 1978 .

[23]  X. Wang,et al.  A Novel Planar Switched Parasitic Array Antenna With Steered Conical Pattern , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[24]  C.T. Rodenbeck,et al.  Ultra-wideband low-cost phased-array radars , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[25]  W. Menzel,et al.  New multi-layer millimetre-wave folded reflectarray antennas for satellite communications , 2012, 2012 6th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP).

[26]  Tian Hong Loh,et al.  Low-cost intelligent antenna with low profile and broad bandwidth , 2013 .

[27]  Wolfgang Menzel,et al.  Reconfigurable liquid crystal reflectarray with extended tunable phase range , 2011, 2011 8th European Radar Conference.

[28]  Haitao Liu,et al.  Compact MIMO Antenna With Frequency Reconfigurability and Adaptive Radiation Patterns , 2013, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

[29]  S. X.  Circularly Polarized Antennas , 2014 .

[30]  Theodore S. Rappaport,et al.  Smart Antennas for Wireless Communications: Is-95 and Third Generation Cdma Applications , 1999 .

[31]  David V. Thiel,et al.  Switched Parasitic Antennas for Cellular Communications , 2002 .

[33]  Zhengqing Yun,et al.  Hybrid smart antenna system using directional elements - performance analysis in flat Rayleigh fading , 2003, IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, 2003.

[34]  Qi Luo,et al.  Circularly Polarized Antennas: Gao/Circularly Polarized Antennas , 2014 .