Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T01:54:10.121Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Phased-array antennas using novel PSoC-controlled phase shifters for wireless applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2021

Aparna B. Barbadekar*
Affiliation:
Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, AISSMS IOIT, Pune, India Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, VIIT, Pune, India
Pradeep M. Patil
Affiliation:
SNDCOERC, Yeola, Dist. Nashik, India
*
Author for correspondence: Aparna B. Barbadekar, E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

The paper proposes a system consisting of novel programmable system on chip (PSoC)-controlled phase shifters which in turn guides the beam of an antenna array attached to it. Four antennae forming an array receive individual inputs from the programmable phase shifters (IC 2484). The input to the PSoC-based phase shifter is provided from an optimized 1:4 Wilkinson power divider. The antenna consists of an inverted L-shaped dipole on the front and two mirrored inverted L-shaped dipoles mounted on a rectangular conductive structure on the back which resonates in the ISM/Wi-Fi band (2.40–2.48 GHz). The power divider is designed to provide the feed to the phase shifter using a beamforming network while ensuring good isolation among the ports. The power divider has measured S11, S21, S31, S41, and S51 to be −14, −6.25, −6.31, −6.28, and −6.31 dB, respectively at a frequency of 2.45 GHz. The ingenious controller is designed in-house using a PSoC microcontroller to regulate the control voltage of individual phase shifter IC and generate progressive phase shifts. To validate the calibration of the in-house designed control circuit, the phased array is simulated using $s_p^2$ touchstone file of IC 2484. This designed control circuit exhibits low insertion loss close to −8.5 dB, voltage standing wave ratio of 1.58:1, and reflection coefficient (S11) is −14.36 dB at 2.45 GHz. Low insertion loss variations confirm that the phased-array antenna gives equal amplitude and phase. The beamforming radiation patterns for different scan angles (30, 60, and 90°) for experimental and simulated phased-array antenna are matched accurately showing the accuracy of the control circuit designed. The average experimental and simulated gain is 13.03 and 13.48 dBi respectively. The in-house designed controller overcomes the primary limitations associated with the present electromechanical phased array such as cost weight, size, power consumption, and complexity in design which limits the use of a phased array to military applications only. The current study with novel design and enhanced performance makes the system worthy of the practical use of phased-array antennas for common society at large.

Type
Antenna Design, Modelling and Measurements
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with the European Microwave Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bhattacharyya, AK (2006) Phased Array Antennas: Floquet Analysis, Synthesis, BFNs and Active Array Systems, 1st Edn. Newark, NJ, USA: Wiley-Interscience.Google Scholar
Bhartia, P, Bahl, I, Garg, R and Ittipiboon, A (2000) Microstrip Antenna Design Handbook. Norwood, MA, USA: Artech House Publishers.Google Scholar
Balanis, CA (2015) Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Uddin, MN and Choi, S (2020) Non-uniformly powered and spaced corporate feeding power divider for high-gain beam with low SLL in millimeter-wave antenna array. Sensors 20, 4753.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, EC, Fu, XY and Tian, Q (2012) Broadband power divider with phase shifter. 2012 2nd International Conference on Consumer Electronics, Communications and Networks (CECNet), pp. 17001702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kodgirwar, VP, Deosarkar, SB and Joshi, KR (2020) Design of beam steering-switching array for 5G S-band adaptive antenna applications – part-I and part-II. IETE Journal of Research, 113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Varadan, VK, Jose, KA, Varadan, VV, Hughes, R and Kelly, JF (1995) A novel microwave planar phase shifter. Microwave Journal 38, 244249.Google Scholar
Chang, C, Guo, L, Tantawi, SG, Liu, Y, Li, J, Chen, C and Huang, W (2015) A new compact high-power microwave phase shifter. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques 63, 18751882.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Padilla, JL, Padilla, P, Valenzuela-Valdés, JF and Fernández, JM (2014) High-frequency radiating element and modified 3 dB/90° electronic shifting circuit with circular polarization for broadband reflectarray device cells. Electronics Letters 50, 10421043.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, H and Chrepta, MM (1974) Electronic phase shifter for millimeter-wave semiconductor dielectric integrated circuits. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques 22, 411417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abdollahy, H, Farahbakhsh, A and Ostovarzadeh, MH (2021) Mechanical reconfigurable phase shifter based on gap waveguide technology. AEU-International Journal of Electronics and Communications 132, 153655.Google Scholar
Hum, SV and Perruisseau-Carrier, J (2014) Reconfigurable reflect arrays and array lenses for dynamic antenna beam control: a review. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation 62, 183198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, Z, Wang, X, Choi, K, Lugo, C and Hunt, AT (2007) Ferroelectric phase shifters at 20 and 30 GHz. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques 55, 430437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingsley, N, Ponchak, GE and Papapolymerou, J (2008) Reconfigurable RF MEMS phased array antenna integrated within a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) system-on-package. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation 56, 108118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basu, A and Koul, SK (2009) Theory and design of solid-state microwave phase shifters. IETE Journal of Education 50, 918.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yusuf, Y and Gong, X (2008) A low-cost patch antenna phased array with analog beam steering using mutual coupling and reactive loading. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters 7, 8184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, H-Y, Zhang, F-S, Zhang, F, Sun, F-K and Xie, G-J (2017) High-power array antenna based on phase-adjustable array element for wireless power transmission. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters 16, 22492253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, G, Li, J, Wei, D and Xu, R (2017) Study on wide-angle scanning linear phased array antenna. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation 66, 450455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loghmannia, P, Kamyab, M, Nikkhah, MR and Rezaiesarlak, R (2012) Miniaturized low-cost phased-array antenna using SIW slot elements. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters 11, 14341437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ji, Y, Ge, L, Wang, J, Chen, Q, Wu, W and Li, Y (2019) Reconfigurable phased-array antenna using continuously tunable substrate integrated waveguide phase shifter. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation 67, 68946908.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ding, C, Jay Guo, Y, Qin, P-Y and Yang, Y (2015) A compact microstrip phase shifter employing reconfigurable defected microstrip structure (RDMS) for phased array antennas. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation 63, 19851996.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nikfalazar, M, Sazegar, M, Mehmood, A, Wiens, A, Friederich, A, Maune, H, Binder, JR and Jakoby, R (2016) Two-dimensional beam-steering phased-array antenna with compact tunable phase shifter based on BST thick films. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters 16, 585588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, H, Cao, X, Gao, J, Yang, H and Li, T (2020) A wide-beam antenna for wide-angle scanning linear phased arrays. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters 19, 21222126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsai, J-H, Liu, C-K and Lin, J-Y (2014) A 12 GHz 6-bit switch-type phase shifter MMIC. Proceedings 44th European Microwave Conference, pp. 19161919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cetindogan, B, Ozeren, E, Ustundag, B, Kaynak, M and Gurbuz, Y (2016) A 6-bit vector-sum phase shifter with a decoder-based control circuit for X-band phased-arrays. IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters 26, 6466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hosseinnezhad, M, Nourinia, J and Ghobadi, C (2017) Back radiation reduction of a printed Yagi antenna backed by a metalized reflector for C-band applications at 3.7–4.2 GHz. In 2017 IEEE 4th International Conference on Knowledge-Based Engineering and Innovation (KBEI), pp. 08280830.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kulkarni, J, Kulkarni, N and Desai, A (2020) Development of H-shaped monopole antenna for IEEE 802.11a and HIPERLAN 2 applications in the laptop computer. The International Journal of RF and Microwave Computer Aided Engineering 30, 114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar