Conformal and Spectrally Agile Ultra Wideband … Array Antenna for Communication and Sensing ......
Transcript of Conformal and Spectrally Agile Ultra Wideband … Array Antenna for Communication and Sensing ......
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Conformal and Spectrally Agile Ultra Wideband Phased Array Antenna for Communication and
Sensing
Markus Novak *
Elias Alwan *
Félix Miranda **
John Volakis ** The Ohio State University
** NASA Glenn Research Center
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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center9/22/15
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20150023062 2018-07-13T02:47:10+00:00Z
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Outline
State of the Practice & State of the Art
UWB TCDA Concept and Implementation
Digital Beamforming Concept and Implementation
UWB Phased Array Applications
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Benefits/Limitations ofPhased Arrays
• Narrowband/fixed frequency operation• Broad beams (few elements)• Low efficiency (10-35%)• Single Access• High cost
• Graceful degradation• Mechanical simplicity• Multi-function• Agile• Conformal• Size, Weight
Benefits
Limitations
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Examples of SoP Phased Arrays for Space Applications
MESSENGER
EO-1
BRAIN (SLS)
ORION
TDRSS
• 2 X-band arrays on board• 208 slot elements• 1-D scanning to 45˚, 4-bit phase shifters• 11W RF output, 35% efficiency• 4.88kg
• 64-element X-band array on board• 2-D scanning to 60˚ (4 dB loss)• 5W RF output, 11% efficiency• 105 Mbps link
• 30-element S-band, nonuniform array• 12˚ scanning
• S-band, very little known
• 13 patch array, S-band
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State of the Art-Trade Off TablesG
rea
ter B
an
dw
idth
, S
ca
n A
ng
le
Greater Electrical Thickness
Patches
Vivaldi
TCDA(Tightly Coupled Dipole Array)
BAVA(Balanced Antipodal Vivaldi Array)
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Expanded Comparisons
Efficiency
Bandwidth
Scanning
Data Capacity
0% 100%
10% 10:1
10° 60°
10Mbps >1Gbps
MESSENGER
MESSENGER
MESSENGER
MESSENGER
EO-1
EO-1
EO-1
EO-1
TDRSS
TDRSS
Vivaldi / BAVA
Vivaldi
Vivaldi
Patch
Patch
Patch
TCDA
TCDA
BAVA
TCDA
BAVA
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DARPA ACT
http://www.darpa.mil/program/arrays-at-commercial-timescales
Arrays for Commercial Timescales seeks versatile array components for S-X band
• Heavily based on analog reconfiguration• Goals and technology limited to lower frequencies• No backend integration• Generally high cost
Benefit/Novelty of our approach:
• Scalable in frequency and size• Full system integration• Software-defined operation
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Outline
State of the Practice & State of the Art
UWB TCDA Concept and Implementation
Digital Beamforming Concept and Implementation
UWB Phased Array Applications
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Frequencies of Interest
• Need for integration of multiple functions to reduce SWaP
• Need access to high data-rate comms and high resolution imaging, across fragmented spectrum
• Should be low cost
WS
85 GHz
• FSS • Military FSS• DSN• Radar
• Radar• ISS+TDRSS
• GEO FSS• TDRSS
• TDRSS
• Commercial comms.
ExistingPhase 1
Phase 21.5
5 GHz 20 GHz 85 GHz
3 GHz 18 GHz 50 GHz
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TCDA Background
[1] Munk, “CSA”; [2] Doane, “TCDA-IB”10
Tightly Coupled Dipole Arrays (TCDAs) utilize capacitive coupling between elements to support low frequencies across multiple elements.
Resistive sheet (optional)
Circuit Model
Zi
n
[1] Munk’s Current Sheet Array (CSA)introduces inter-digital capacitors to achieve 4:1 BW
[2] Doane adds integrated balun to demonstrate TCDAs with >7:1 BW and λlow/14 profile
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Expanded Background
[3] Moulder, “SESLA”; [4] Novak, “UWB Antennas for Satellite Applications”
However…
All previous work at <5GHz
Must extend operation to Ku, Ka, and mm-Wave bands
• Fabrication limitations
• Cannot be simply scaled
[3] Moulder designs loaded TCDA with >10:1 bandwidth and <λlow/18 profile; 14:1 infinite array bandwidth (some loss)
[4] Dual-polarized, lossless TCDA demonstrated with 6:1 BW while scanning to ±60˚; 8:1 at broadside
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18GHz Proof of Concept
3.5-18.5 GHzVSWR < 2 (Broadside)VSWR < 2.6 (scan)
50 Ω
90 Ω9 mm
7.5 mm 3-layer PCB8 mil (200um)feature size- Can be scaled to higher frequencies
Linear taper to 50 ohm (dashed) approaches
nominal 90 ohm (solid) performanceVSWR<2.2 at 70o E-plane
4-17.25GHz (88% of Broadside BW)
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What About Even Higher Frequencies?
50mm
0.5-4 GHz
4 mil feature size
7-37 GHz
5mm
4 mil
9-49 GHz
3.75mm
3 mil(State of Practice)
Previous Works
Ku-TCDA
3.5-18.5 GHz
10mm
8 mil features
At 18 GHz, nowhere near the limit for PCB fabrication!
With minimal alteration this design can scale to Kaand above
Ka and Millimeter Wave
Array and feeding network are fabricated on Printed Circuit Board (PCB) which can support down to 3 mil (~75um) features.
Groundplane and superstrate are CNC milled
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Scaled Arrays with Real Materials
Novak, Miranda, Volakis, “Ultra-Wideband Phased Array Antennas for Satellite Communications up to Ku- and Ka-Band”, IN SUBMISSION
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 401
2
3
4
5
Frequency (GHz)
VS
WR
7--37 GHz Matching
Broadside
45o E-Plane
45o H-Plane
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 501
2
3
4
5
Frequency (GHz)
VS
WR
9--49 GHz Matching
Broadside
45o E-Plane
45o H-Plane
0 10 20 30 40 501
2
3
4
5
Frequency (GHz)
VS
WR
3--50 GHz Coverage
Layer Stacks:
5 mil Duroid 5880 (εr=2.2)
4 mil Polyflon Polyguide (εr=2.32)
5 mil Duroid 5880 (εr=2.2)
5 mil Duroid 5880 (εr=2.2)
2 mil Polyflon Polyguide (εr=2.32)
5 mil Duroid 5880 (εr=2.2)
4 mil CuFlon (εr=2.1)
2 mil Polyflon Polyguide (εr=2.32)
4 mil CuFlon (εr=2.1)
37 GHz
49 GHz
Up to 40 GHz available
18 GHz
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SMP ports• Push-to-connect• 4mm wide
Ku Array Fabrication in PCB
• Four-layer PCB• Rogers Duroid 5880• 14mil total
20mm 65mm
• All elements identical• Low-cost fabrication
• Fabrication easily scaled• Frequency scalable
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Measurement Setup
Details in upcoming “Wideband Array for C, X, and Ku-Band Applications” IEEE APS 2015
NASA GRC Far-Field Range47cm
7cm
64 element array with extended groundplane
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Scan Patterns: 8.4 GHz, 13GHz, 17.5GHz
E-Plane
H-Plane
17.5GHz
Details in upcoming “Wideband Array for C, X, and Ku-Band Applications” IEEE APS 2015
13GHz8.4GHz
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Ka to mm-Wave Concept
Nominal band: 24-86GHzλhi = 3.49mm (~140mil)
65 mil 65 mil
40 mil
18
VS
WR
Non-optimized broadside VSWR• Not interested in matching as much
as resonance-free band• Using Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) or Multilayer Organic laminates (MLO)
• Requires planar or extremely simplified balun for all-in-one fabrication
• Additional matching stages can be inserted below groundplane
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Outline
State of the Practice & State of the Art
UWB TCDA Concept and Implementation
Digital Beamforming Concept and Implementation
UWB Phased Array Applications
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Current SoA Beamformers
Analog Beamformer
Digital Beamformer
• Well understood• Single Access• Many phase shifters
• Expensive • Inefficient
• Narrowband
• Multiple Access• High efficiency• Many ADC
• Power Hungry • Large area
• Heavy FPGA requirements
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New Digital Beamforming Concept
On-Site Coding Digital Beamformer
Single ADC serves multiple elements
Orthogonal codes preserve individual element signals
• Multiple Access• High efficiency• Reduced ADC and FPGA• Broadband
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System Implementation
4-channel Beamformer
Utilizing on-site coding in analog signal path, we realize hardware-reduced digital beamforming:
• Up to 10x reduction in ADCs• Wideband, multiple beam operation• Fast scanning• Software-defined operation
• 4-chanel system has been demonstrated at 2GHz
• Demonstration up to 12GHz being prepared
0 2 4
-0.1
-0.05
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
Time (s)
Am
plit
ud
e (
V)
=27
I2
Q2
0 5
-0.1
-0.05
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
Time (s)
Am
plit
ud
e (
V)
=35
I2
Q2
-1 0 10
5
10
15
Phase Error (rad)
Pro
ba
bili
ty D
en
sity F
un
ctio
n
=0.05(rad)
-1 0 10
5
10
15
Phase Error (rad)P
rob
ab
ility
De
nsity F
un
ctio
n
=0.04(rad)
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Digital Beamforming up to 10 GHz
Measurements conducted 9/14 and 9/15, results being processed.
ESL Anechoic Chamber
Incoming
wave
• Columns of 8 elements routed to power combiners
• 4 channels routed, maximum 3 measured due to equipment malfunction
• Demonstrate azimuthal scanning in H-Plane
• Demonstrate Direction-of-Arrival estimation from 2 channels
• Receive and process separate signals at 6 and 10 GHz
• Beam patterns being compared against previous measurements
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Outline
State of the Practice & State of the Art
UWB TCDA Concept and Implementation
Digital Beamforming Concept and Implementation
UWB Phased Array Applications
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UWB Phased Array Applications
[1] NASA GRC CoNNeCT/SCaNTestbed, [2] NASA JPL
SmallSat/CubeSat
Smart Relays
Reduce end-to-end link burden
Software-Defined Radio
• Spectral agility• Future-proof• Coding & waveform flexibility• Multi-Gbps link capability
• Low cost exploration• Potentially distributed architecture
for communication and sensing
[1]
Planetary Exploration
[2]
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Summary / Future Work
Summary
• We have an ultra-wideband antenna which is:• Low cost, low profile, low weight• Scalable in size and frequency
• Paired with novel digital beamforming architecture• Multiple access and simultaneous multi-beam scanning• Up to 10x reduction in ADC count (thus power and size)
• Both fabricated and measured
Future Work
• Fabricate and measure 20-80 GHz array
• Build an integrated, RF–digital, mm-Wave phased array
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Acknowledgements
Mr. Markus Novak work is supported by the NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship (NSTRF) Program under NASA Grant: # NNX13AL48H.