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Design and evaluation of a vertically integrated passive two‐dimensional beam switching antenna array at 60 GHz
Author(s) -
Horwath Benjamin D.,
Abhari Ramesh
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of rf and microwave computer‐aided engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.335
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1099-047X
pISSN - 1096-4290
DOI - 10.1002/mmce.21930
Subject(s) - microstrip , beam steering , anechoic chamber , beam (structure) , antenna (radio) , optics , microstrip antenna , footprint , phased array , planar , waveguide , patch antenna , acoustics , electrical engineering , computer science , physics , engineering , geology , paleontology , computer graphics (images)
A millimeter‐wave two‐dimensional (2D) beam switching planar microstrip patch antenna array excited by a 4 × 4 substrate‐integrated waveguide Butler matrix (BM) is presented in this article. The BM architecture is modified to feed the planar array in a vertically integrated multilayer design to minimize parasitic effects due to junction discontinuity and reduce the radio frequency (RF) front‐end footprint. This feed architecture enables the designer to control the phased array inputs to achieve a set of beam directions in four quadrants of radiation space at a desired elevation angle. For verification of beam switching via over‐the‐air measurements at 60 GHz, a bench‐top anechoic chamber with proper transmitter and receiver antenna positioners was designed and fabricated using in‐house laboratory resources. 2D beam steering was confirmed in the intended four quadrants of radiation space at ϕ 0 = 50°, 140°, 220°, and 300° and θ 0 = 30° ± 5°, meeting the design specifications with a very good margin. Each switched beam demonstrated between 5 and 6 dBi gain at 60 GHz, which is within 1 dB deviation from the simulated results.