Design and Performance Evaluation of a Dielectric Flat Lens Antenna for Millimeter-Wave Applications (original) (raw)

Design of a Perforated Flat Luneburg Lens Antenna Array for Wideband Millimeter-Wave Applications

2019 13th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP), 2019

Antenna array integrated with a flat Luneburg lens to form directive beam-steering system in a wideband millimeter-wave frequency range is investigated. The study and design of a perforated gradient index dielectric flat lens antenna for RF repeater application in V- and W- band (45 ‒ 110 GHz) is presented. The flat Luneburg lens is designed to have a focal point away from its surface to enhance the radiation in a particular direction via a beam-switching system. Scanning capability of ±30° in both azimuth and elevation planes over the entire frequency range is demonstrated. Wider scan-beam angles at expense of higher scan losses are achievable by using the same type of lens configuration with different dimensions. Furthermore, these lenses are easy and cost-effective to prototype while maintaining the straightforward integration with antenna feed manifolds.

Dielectric Slabs-Based Lens for Millimeter-Wave Beamforming

Applied Sciences, 2022

This paper proposes a dielectric slabs-based lens for millimeter-wave beamforming systems. The proposed lens is based on the graded steps of the effective refractive index of the semi-spherical lens. It consists of multiple dielectric slabs that match the selected gradient effective refractive index. These slabs have the same thicknesses and different radii. The slab thickness in this lens should not exceed a quarter of the operating wavelength to keep on a similar effective refractive index of the original semi-spherical lens. A horn antenna is used to examine the performance of the designed lens at 28 GHz frequency in terms of the maximum gain, sidelobe level, and 3 dB beamwidth. Sixteen switchable horn antennas are used to demonstrate lens capability for millimeter-wave beamforming. Every single antenna element is selected individually, thus the dielectric lens steers and enhances the corresponding radiation of the selected element in the desired direction.

Compact Beam-Steerable Lens Antenna for 60GHz Wireless Communications

This paper presents a new concept of steerable beam antenna composed by a dielectric lens which pivots in front of a single stationary moderate gain feed. The lens not only allows steering mechanically the beam in elevation and full azimuth, but further increases the gain up to 21 dBi. The solution is broadband, including the entire international unlicensed spectrum from 57 GHz to 66 GHz. A fabricated prototype shows the possibility of tilting the beam from -45º to +45º for all azimuths with gain scan loss below 1.1 dB and radiation efficiency above 95%. The arrangement is very simple, it does not require rotary joints, it is low cost and compact, lens plus feed volume being of the order of 3x3x3 cm3 with lens weight less than 10 g.

60 GHz MICROSTRIP-FED HIGH GAIN DIELECTRIC LENS ANTENNA

A high-gain, low-cost millimeter-wave hybrid antenna is presented. The designed antenna consists of a dielectric spherical lens with low dielectric constant fed with microstrip patch antenna. The design parameters for achieving optimal operation of the proposed hybrid antenna are analyzed extensively in order to understand the antenna operation and improve its performance and haracteristics. The impedance bandwidth of the prototype is ~6.7%. A high gain of 21.7dB is achieved at 60 GHz using a 2 cm iameter dielectric lens. The proposed antenna is suitable for nlicensed millimeterwave ISM-band applications.

Millimeter-Wave Printed Dipole Array Antenna Loaded with a Low-Cost Dielectric Lens for High-Gain Applications

2020

In this paper, two different millimeter-wave printed dipole array (PDA) antenna prototypes for high-gain applications are proposed. The antenna prototypes are designed, simulated, fabricated, and experimentally tested. A good agreement between the simulated and measured results is achieved. Calculated results show that those antenna prototypes can operate from 51.5 to 74 GHz with a fractional impedance bandwidth of 35.9%. Due to limitations in the measurement facilities, the antenna return loss is measured up to 65 GHz only. At 60 GHz, the two antenna prototypes have maximum realized peak gain of 14.0 dBi and 23.29 dBi, respectively, with a gain variation of 3 dBi and 1.4 dBi, respectively, across the whole frequency band of interest with stable radiation patterns over the operating band. The proposed PDA antenna prototypes achieve good side lobe suppression, excellent front-to-back ratio in both E-and H-planes and low cross-polarization levels over the entire frequency range.

Dielectric Lens Antennas for Millimetre Wave Communications

2007

This document presents a brief overview of the work that is being developed at Instituto de Telecomunicações for more than one decade on dielectric lens antennas for millimeter wave applications, focusing on its use both for future generation mobile broadband communication systems and for

Beam Steering 3D Printed Dielectric Lens Antennas for Millimeter-Wave and 5G Applications

Sensors

Two types of cost-efficient antennas based on dielectric gradient index dielectric lens have been designed for 5G applications at 28 GHz. The first is a linearly polarized flat lens antenna (LP-FLA) for terrestrial 5G communications. The second is a novel circularly polarized stepped lens antenna (CP-SLA) for 5G satellite services. An efficient design method is presented to optimize and conform the lens topology to the radiation pattern coming from the antenna feeder. The LP-FLA is fed by a traditional linearly polarized pyramidal horn antenna (PHA). The CP-SLA is fed by an open-ended bow-tie waveguide cavity (BCA) antenna. This cavity feeder (BCA), using cross-sections with bow-tie shapes, allows having circular polarization at the desired frequency bandwidth. The two types of presented antennas have been manufactured in order to verify their performance by an easy, low-cost, three-dimensional (3D) printing technique based on stereolithography. The peak realized gain value for the ...

Beam-Steering Performance of Flat Luneburg Lens at 60 GHz for Future Wireless Communications

International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

The beam-steering capabilities of a simplified flat Luneburg lens are reported at 60 GHz. The design of the lens is first described, using transformation electromagnetics, before discussion of the fabrication of the lens using casting of ceramic composites. The simulated beam-steering performance is shown, demonstrating that the lens, with only six layers and a highest permittivity of 12, achieves scan angles of ±30° with gains of at least 18 dBi over a bandwidth from 57 to 66 GHz. To verify the simulations and further demonstrate the broadband nature of the lens, raw high definition video was transmitted over a wireless link at scan angles up to 36°.