x band substrate integrated horn array antenna for …

133
X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR FUTURE ADVANCED COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM by AMEYA RAMADURGAKAR B.S., Drexel University, 2011 A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering 2015

Upload: others

Post on 24-Oct-2021

3 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA

FOR FUTURE ADVANCED COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM

by

AMEYA RAMADURGAKAR

B.S., Drexel University, 2011

A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

Master of Science

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

2015

Page 2: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

ii

© Copyright By Ameya Ramadurgakar 2015

All Rights Reserved

Page 3: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

iii

Page 4: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

iv

To my parents, Surésh and Alka, for their infinite love,

support, and to my sister Aditi for her everlasting love and encouragement

Page 5: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

v

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

My paramount appreciation goes to my academic advisor Dr. Heather Song

(University of Colorado Colorado Springs) for her non-stop advice over the progress of my

thesis research and providing all conditions to keep my work running. I equally appreciate

the valuable feedback, guidance and help from Dr. James Lovejoy (Lockheed Martin) for

his stellar comments, critic and ideas throughout the thesis. I would also appreciate my

deepest gratitude to Dr. T.S. Kalkur (University of Colorado Colorado Springs) for his

overarching support throughout the completion of my degree. Last but in no ways the least,

I most appreciate the help of Kevin Quillen (ANSYS) for showing me the ropes and tricks

of using the HFSS software over many sessions.

Page 6: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION __________________________________________________ 1 1.1. Overview of Collision Avoidance System _________________________________________________________ 2 1.1.1 Automated Dependent Surveillance - broadcast(ADS-B) _____________________________________ 2 1.1.2 Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) __________________________________________________ 4 1.2 State of the Art UAV Collision Avoidance System _________________________________________________ 6 1.3 Literature Search and Review _______________________________________________________________________ 7 1.4 Novelty of the Proposed Thesis Work ______________________________________________________________ 8 1.5 Scopes and Motivations of Thesis ___________________________________________________________________ 9

II. BACKGROUND AND THEORY ___________________________________ 13 2.1. Horn Antenna ______________________________________________________________________________________ 14 2.1.1 H-Plane sectoral horn __________________________________________________________________________ 14 2.2 Array Antenna ______________________________________________________________________________________ 19 2.2.1 Broadside Array Antenna ______________________________________________________________________ 21 2.2.1 End fire Array Antenna ________________________________________________________________________ 23 2.3 Dielectrically Filled Waveguide____________________________________________________________________ 24

2.4 Radar Range Equation ______________________________________________________________________________ 29

2.5 Microstrip ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 33

2.6 Summary of Theory ________________________________________________________________________________ 34

III. DESIGN _______________________________________________________ 35 3.1 Radar Range Equation (RRE) Calculations ________________________________________________________ 36

3.1.1 Design Calculations and Plots ________________________________________________ 36 3.2 Computer Design and Simulation __________________________________________________________________ 44

3.2.1 Waveguide Design and Simulation ___________________________________________ 44 3.2.2 Antenna Design and Simulation ______________________________________________ 46 3.2.3 Microstrip to SIW Feed Transition and Network Design __________________________ 49 3.2.4 Single Antenna Element Design and Simulation ________________________________ 50

3.3 Array Antenna Design and Simulation _____________________________________________________________ 52

3.4. Feeding Network Technique Analysis and Application ___________________________________________ 59

3.5. Methods to Enhancing Performance in Array Antennas __________________________________________ 76

IV. MEASUREMENT AND RESULT DISCUSSION _____________________ 80 4.1 Antenna Gain Measurement Techniques ___________________________________________________________ 80

4.1.1 Three Antenna Gain Measurement Technique __________________________________ 83 4.2 Calculated, Simulated and Measured Array Facto _________________________________________________ 84 4.3 Experiment Setup ___________________________________________________________________________________ 86

4.3.1 S11 Measurement Test _________________________________________________________________________ 86 4.3.2 Radiation Pattern Setup _______________________________________________________________________ 90 4.3.3 Gain Measurement Setup ______________________________________________________________________ 94

V. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK ______________________________ 98

REFERENCES ____________________________________________________ 101

APPENDICES _____________________________________________________ 104 RADAR RANGE EQUATION ____________________________________________________________________ 104

Subsrate Integrated Waveguide Dimension Calculator Code ___________________________ 116 Array Factor calculator and radiation pattern plotter ______________________________________________ 120

Page 7: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

vii

TABLES

Table 1-1: Basic system requirement (compatible with 1090 ES) ..................................... 2 Table 1-2: Link Budget calculation for ADS-B system..................................................... 2 Table 1-3: TCAS Levels of Protection ............................................................................... 4 Table 1-4: Previous and currently related research and work. ............................................ 9 Table 1-5: Final specification of the proposed design thesis array antenna ..................... 12 Table 2-1: Constant K1 in a Two Way Radar Range Equation ........................................ 22 Table 2-2: Constant K2 in a Two Way Radar Range Equation. ....................................... 22 Table 3-1: Gain Range vs Scan Range. ............................................................................ 33 Table 3-2: Simulated Antenna Elements vs. Gain and Scan Range. ................................ 47 Table 3-3: Number of Elements vs Element Spacing Study Results. ............................... 66 Table 4-1: Return Loss Test Measurement Equipment Used ........................................... 87 Table 4-2: Details of Components Used in Radiation Pattern Measurement ................... 90 Table 4-3: Antennae Dimensions and Far Field Criterion ................................................ 93 Table 4-4: Component Listing for Gain Measurement Experiment ................................. 97 Table 4-5: Main Lobe Measured Absolute Gain .............................................................. 98

Page 8: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

viii

FIGURES

Figure 1-1: TCAS II Block Diagram .................................................................................. 6 Figure 2-1: H-Plane horn .................................................................................................. 14 Figure 2-2: H-Plane (x-z) cut of an H-plane sectorial horn .............................................. 15 Figure 2-3: E and H normalized plane patterns for H plane sectoral horn ....................... 17 Figure 2-4: E and H normalized plane patterns for H plane sectoral horn ....................... 18 Figure 2-5: Array Factor/Pattern Multiplication ............................................................... 20 Figure 2-6: Broadside Array Radiation pattern ................................................................ 21 Figure 2-7: Array factor patterns of a 10-element uniform amplitude broadside array .... 22 Figure 2-8: Three-dimensional amplitude patterns for end-fire arrays toward 0 and 180 degrees .............................................................................................................................. 23 Figure 2-9: Array Factor patterns for ordinary end fire array at different phase excitation........................................................................................................................................... 24 Figure 2-10: Geometry of the dielectric slab waveguide (a) Perspective view (b) Side View .................................................................................................................................. 25 Figure 2-11: Substrate Integrated Waveguide .................................................................. 26 Figure 2-12 Dimension definition of rectangular waveguide ........................................... 27 Figure 2-13: Pitch ‘p’ and Diameter‘d’ of the SIW .......................................................... 29 Figure 2-14: Monostatic Array Antenna System .............................................................. 30 Figure 2-15: Equivalent Circuit Model of the RRE .......................................................... 30 Figure 2-16: A typical cross section view of a microstrip line ......................................... 33 Figure 3-1: Thesis Design Cornerstones ........................................................................... 35 Figure 3-2: MATLAB generated value for Range ............................................................ 37

Page 9: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

ix

Figure 3-3: MATLAB plot of Range vs. Receiver Sensitivity with TX and RX Gain = 10dB .................................................................................................................................. 38 Figure 3-4: MATLAB plot of Range vs. Receiver Sensitivity with TX and RX Gain = 20dB .................................................................................................................................. 39 Figure 3-5: MATLAB plot of Range vs. Receiver Sensitivity ......................................... 40 Figure 3-6: Gain vs Number of Phased Array Elements at 9 GHz ................................... 41 Figure 3-7: Gain Range vs Scan Range Plot ..................................................................... 42 Figure 3-8: Regular Waveguide with Metal Side Walls ................................................... 45 Figure 3-9: SIW X-Band Waveguide ............................................................................... 45 Figure 3-10: S-Parameter response overlay of SIW and Regular Waveguide .................. 46 Figure 3-11: Horn Antenna Structure Design using SIW at reduced height .................... 47 Figure 3-12: S11 (Return Loss) simulation results for the Horn Antenna structure shown in Figure 3-10 .................................................................................................................... 47 Figure 3-13: Horn Antenna Structure Design using SIW at normal X-Band waveguide . 47 Figure 3-14: Realized gain of the Horn Antenna structure from Figure 11...................... 48 Figure 3-15: Field Propagation Animation through the Horn Structure ........................... 49 Figure 3-16: Back to Back Transitions Simulation Model ............................................... 49 Figure 3-17: Single Element Antenna Structure ............................................................... 50 Figure 3-18: S11 Response from the Single Element Antenna Structure .......................... 51 Figure 3-19: Gain Response Pattern from the Single Element Structure at 9 GHz .......... 52 Figure 3-20: Two Element SIW Horn Antenna Array...................................................... 53 Figure 3-21: Element Spacing Consideration ................................................................... 54 Figure 3-22: S11 response for two element array ............................................................. 54 Figure 3-23: Realized Gain response from two element array ......................................... 55

Page 10: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

x

Figure 3-24: Five Element Array Design .......................................................................... 56 Figure 3-25: Five Element Array Gain Response ............................................................. 56 Figure 3-26: Simulated S11 response as per fabrication specifications ............................. 58 Figure 3-27: Simulated Gain response as per fabrication specifications .......................... 58 Figure 3-28: Version 1 of feeding network modification ................................................. 60 Figure 3-29: Version 1 Array Antenna S11 response ....................................................... 60 Figure 3-30: Version 2 of proposed Array Design with Quarter Wave Matching Feeding........................................................................................................................................... 61 Figure 3-31: S11 response of version 2 .............................................................................. 62 Figure 3-32 Radiation Pattern of version 2 of proposed design ....................................... 62 Figure 3-33 Realized Gain of version 2 of the proposed array design with quarter wave matching feed network ...................................................................................................... 63 Figure 3-34: Rectangular Plot of Directivity (dB) vs. Phi Angle ..................................... 64 Figure 3-35 Top view of the array with 1.6cm element spacing ...................................... 65 Figure 3-36 Array with 1.6cm element spacing side view ............................................... 65 Figure 3-37 Array with 1.6cm element spacing perspective view .................................... 66 Figure 3-38: S11 response of the array with 1.6 cm element spacing ............................... 67 Figure 3-39: Directivity 3D radiation pattern of the array structure ................................. 67 Figure 3-40: Radiation Patterns of the full array in Polar format ..................................... 68 Figure 3-41: Overlay rectangular radiation pattern plots between full array model and single element AF estimation............................................................................................ 69 Figure 3-42: Overlay Plot of Flare Angle ......................................................................... 71 Figure 3-43: Alternating Stackup Arrangement of Array Elements having a separation’d’ of 1.6cm ............................................................................................................................ 72 Figure 3-44: Single element transition structure stripline location ................................... 73

Page 11: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

xi

Figure 3-45: Overlay Radiation Pattern ............................................................................ 73 Figure 3-46: 3D polar radiation pattern plot for single element with 40 degree flare angle............................................................................................................................................ 74 Figure 3-47: Polar overlay plot of single element, full array, AF estimation ................... 75 Figure 3-48: Directivity vs. Relative Spacing plot for a short dipole collinear array. ...... 77 Figure 3-49: Two Element Opposing Orientation SIW Horn Array Design .................... 78 Figure 3-50: Return Loss Response for Two Element Opposed Orientation SIW Horn Array Design ..................................................................................................................... 78 Figure 3-51: Two Element Realized Gain Pattern for an Opposing Element Horn Array............................................................................................................................................ 79 Figure 4-1: Fabricated Array Antenna. ............................................................................. 80 Figure 4-2: Overlay Plot of Array Factor Patterns ............................................................ 85 Figure 4-3: Antenna S11 response from Calibrated VNA ................................................. 87 Figure 4-4: Overlay S11 response ...................................................................................... 89 Figure 4-5: Anechoic Chamber Antenna and Experiment Setup...................................... 91 Figure 4-6: Proposed Antenna Array Mounted for Testing in Anechoic Chamber facility at UCCS ............................................................................................................................ 93 Figure 4-7: Overlay Plot of Simulated and Measured Radiation Pattern of AUT ............ 94 Figure 4-8: Three Antenna Gain Measurement Setup ...................................................... 95 Figure 4-9: Measured Absolute Gain of AUT .................................................................. 97

Page 12: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Collision Avoidance Systems (CAS) have long been used in aviation industry primarily

to sense and avoid mid airborne collision between two flying bodies. However, their recent

application has extended down to vehicles such as civilian cars and unmanned aerial

vehicles (UAVs). With civilian UAV sector on the verge of a rapidly booming market for

commerce and trade, the need for a compact, high performance CAS is self-evident.

One of the primary components of a CAS is a high performance and configurable RF

front end. The CAS needs to be able to scan for a target from virtually all directions and

therefore an antenna system which can be configured to move the scanning lobe angle is

highly desirable. As an antenna is one of the major front end component in such a system,

efforts have been made by the industry to make a lightweight, compact and high

performance antenna in the past.

The UAV has long had its traditional application in the military sector. However, in the

recent past this has radically changed and it is common to find a UAV for a myriad of

civilian applications including but not limited to recreational hobby, oil and gas

exploration, environment conservation and the likes. However, most of these systems are

not automated and require an operator while the system is in action and in flight.

In the case of unattended and automated UAV or automotive sector, CAS are recently

being implemented. However, the systems are usually bulky, expensive and have very high

power requirements. One such example is the TCAS and ADS-B system commonly

employed on many commercial passenger aircrafts.

Page 13: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

2

1.1 Overview of Collision Avoidance System From the initial literature search, it was found that there were essentially two

types of collision avoidance system which are prominent in the aviation industry. They

are

1. Automated Dependent Surveillance – broadcast(ADS-B)

2. Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)

1.1. 1. Automated Dependent Surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B)

ADS-B is a newer standard adopted by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). It

is possible to modify the standard ADS-B transceiver to function as an airborne radar for

obstacle detection and tracking. The application is mostly for smaller piloted aircraft or

UASs that do not have the legacy Traffic Collision and Avoidance System (TCAS)

system. The basic ADS-B system requirement is as shown in Table 1-1:

Page 14: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

3

Table 1-1: Basic system requirement (compatible with 1090 ES) [1]

Additionally, the following radar equation analysis and link budget calculations below

show that for the system to effectively work, there is a constant need of high power

source, which given the current power and battery technologies is not being satisfactory

for the proposed small, light civilian automated UAV sector.

Table 1-2: Link Budget calculation for ADS-B system [1]

As shown in Table 1-2, a 500 watt power source is not a viable option when it

comes to UAVs as to generate such power would need strong power generator system

which in traditional sense is only possible in a small passenger aircraft. Therefore, it is

Page 15: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

4

imperative that the RF front end system such as antenna systems and receivers are

enhanced to attempt to achieve scan ranges with the existing ADS-B system.

One of the disadvantages of the ADS-B system is that in order for the system to

detect and avoid collisions all other aircrafts need to be equipped with ADS-B system

1.1. 2. Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)

The TCAS system has long been in use for collision avoidance in aircrafts. The

TCAS system can be broken down to TCAS I and TCAS II. The difference between TCAS

I and TCAS II system is in their coverage range.

The TCAS system operates by issuing beacons at 1030 MHz that nearby

transponders on other aircrafts respond to at 1090 MHz. The replies received are then

processed by the onboard signal processing hardware and software and relayed to the

cockpit.

As TCAS operates on the same frequency as a ground air traffic controller RADAR

system, to minimize interference the rate at which the interrogation beacon signal is sent

out is dependent on the range and the closure rate between two aircrafts. At far ranges, the

interval is every five seconds and reduces to every second.

TCAS I system are typically used in smaller planes and consists of a TCAS antenna,

signal processor and an output display. This system shows traffic within approximately to

a 5 to 10 kilometer (km) range and issues traffic advisories but is not capable of resolution

advisories [2]

A TCAS II system on the other hand utilizes two antennas and is a requirement for

all aircrafts operating in the United States with more than 30 passenger seats. One antenna

Page 16: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

5

is placed on top and the other on the bottom of the aircraft. TCAS II systems can show

traffic approximately 22.5 km in the front and 11 km behind of the aircraft. The primary

advantage of the TCAS II system is it’s ability to calculate and issue resolution advisories.

Resolution advisories are aural voice and display messages which the TCAS II system

issues to the flight crew, advising that a particular maneuver should or should not be

performed to attain or maintain minimum safe vertical separation from an intruder [3]

Table 1-3: TCAS Levels of Protection [3]

Table 1-3 shows how the TCAS system performs and interacts with other aircraft

transponder (XPDR). The Mode A and C is simply the type of surveillance used by the

target aircraft. It can be seen that when both target and own aircraft equipment are on

TCAS II system, there is traffic advisory(TA) which is an auditory and visual information

from the system to the flight crew, identifying the location of nearby traffic that meets

certain minimum separation criterion[3] and “Co-ordinated” vertical resolution advisory.

Here is a simplified block diagram of TCAS II system shown in Figure 1-1.

Page 17: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

6

Figure 1-1: TCAS II Block Diagram [3]

1.2 State of the Art UAV Collision Avoidance System

The primary goal of developing an autonomous collision avoidance system for

UAV is to make them as efficient and satisfactory compete or be on par with a manned

aircraft in terms of safety and accuracy.

Previously, one of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

committee titled F-38 had issued a standard which was published. In it, ASTM stipulated

that a UAV was required to avoid a midair collision by detecting another airborne object

within a range of +/- 15 degrees in elevation and +/- 110 degrees in azimuth and be able to

respond and take necessary maneuvers so that a collision is avoided by at least 500 ft. [4].

This stipulation has been withdrawn since May 2014, and FAA is still in the works for

creating a standard for civilian UAV flying in National Airspace System (NAS).

Page 18: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

7

With the civilian UAV sector projected to be really taking off from the angle of

commercial, personal, and civilian security use there is an absolute need for autonomous

UAV which will be airborne in NAS to detect and avoid collisions [4]. For such systems

to work and be a commercial success there is an absolute need for antenna systems which

can scan for airborne objects but at the same time small, readily available, compact and

low cost to fabricate. The final goal of this thesis is to develop such an antenna system that

addresses the needs of the upcoming civilian UAV sector.

1.3 Literature Search and Review The Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) is a relatively obscure type of

transmission line which only recently has been explored into for various applications. The

working concepts of a SIW will be discussed in the next chapter. A SIW from a top level

overview is a dielectrically filed waveguide (DFW) with VIAs serving as a guiding side

walls instead of a traditional metal sidewall. However, what sets the SIW apart from a

traditional DFW is that they can be integrated within common planar substrates and printed

circuit boards (PCB) and therefore prove to be very beneficial in designing efficient

transmission lines and circuits which are extremely light weight when compared to their

traditional waveguide counterparts. Traditional waveguides which are metal walled need

metal cladding and transitions which are usually housed in a metallic structure, all of which

adds weight.

Extensive literature search on previous published work on SIWs have focused on

designs of using it as means of transmission line in a two port network and, it was found

Page 19: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

8

that very little past research was published to explore the possibility of using SIW based

antenna designs.

Given their design which lets SIWs be designed and integrated in commonly

available PCB substrates, across a wide range of frequency bands in the MHz and GHz

spectrum. SIWs therefore are a boon to any collision avoidance system which traditionally

demand for high performance and high power microwave front end components at high

frequencies. This requirement is all the more stressed in a small integrated form factor such

as a typical autonomous UAV application.

1.4 Novelty of the Proposed Thesis Work

As mentioned in the earlier section, the SIW is a relatively uncommon type of

transmission line technique. It’s a very potent platform to develop any RF and

Microwave system which requires high demands such as that of a vehicular CAS.

Horn Antennas have indeed been explored and researched thoroughly in their

basic traditional structural design. From the literature search that was done, there was

only work which demonstrated the use of horn antennas in SIW but that was at very high

W-Band (75 GHz – 110 GHz) frequencies [7]. At such high frequencies the free space

losses are extremely high and it proves to be impractical to design antenna systems

planned for collision avoidance especially in extremely booming and exploding civilian

UAV sector. Some literature studies have used the W-Band for collision avoidance in

automotive sector, however this is at the luxury of having a full electrical system such as

high capacity lead acid batteries, alternators etc. which can be used to generate and store

Page 20: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

9

electricity. Given a modern automobile has all these aforementioned electrical

components, it is thus possible to use the W-Band in its CAS. High losses translate to

very high power requirements which are at a premium when it comes to light, small

autonomous UAVs which are intended to deliver parcels and services to the general

public.

Therefore this civilian UAV sector certainly outcries for small, compact, low

power but high performing antennas which can attempt to meet the demands of

governmental mandated regulations from international agencies such as FAA and United

Nations International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). One of the ways to enhance a

performance of an antenna is to develop an array system for it.

As of September 2015, there hasn’t been any published work found which

investigates the use of SIW based horn antennas in an array system within the X-Band

frequency regime. The study provides the scientific and engineering basis to bettering

this technology and its usage in the collision avoidance systems in upcoming wave of

civil unmanned aviation vehicles sector. [5]

1.5 Scopes and Motivations of Thesis The motivation for this thesis and research primarily stems for the need of high

performance, compact RF/Microwave systems in the civilian unmanned aerial vehicle

(UAV) sector. As the civilian airspace in many nations across the globe is being given

access to small compact UAV for commercial use, it is vital that the aviation systems

incorporated in them are state-of-the art to prevent and avoid collisions be it airborne or

while preparing for flight or decent.

Page 21: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

10

In the United States, the FAA which is the governing agency is still in the process

of defining CAS for such a commercial civilian application.

CAS antennas which have been used in the past for military and defense air systems

are heavy and physically large. Given the limited range and power availability for

lightweight civilian UAV sector, the need for a high performing, light weight, small and

low cost antenna system is most crucial.

Additionally, the antenna system which has been researched and designed for this

thesis has never been attempted before. Especially in terms of having a substrate integrated

waveguide horn antenna in an array fashion within the X-Band regime.

The previous work which was found close to the objective of this research is shown

in Table 1-4 below.

Table 1-4: Previous and currently related research and work

Number Work Title

Antenna

Type

Structure

Dimensio

ns

Antenn

a

Element

s

Appl

icati

on

Institution,

Agency or

Corporation

Freque

ncy

Band

Publish

Date

1

Design and

Analysis of an

X-band

Phased

Patch

Square

Array

40 cm x

40 cm 64

Milit

ary

Norwegian

University of

Science X

June 2013

Array Patch

Antenna[6] and Technology

2

Design and

Fabrication of

W-Band SIW

Horn

Single

Element

2.414 cm

x 0.45 cm 1

Mult

iple

German and

American

University W

February

2013

Antenna using

PCB

process[7] in Cairo

3

A Multilayer

PCB Dual-

Polarized

Radiating

Element

Patch Linear

Array

9 cm x 4

cm(Estim

ate) 6

Milit

ary

Italian Space

Agency X

February

2014

for Future

SAR

Applications[8

]

4

Miniature

Radar for

Bowtie

Array

22 cm x

10cm 8

Mult

iple

Massachusetts

Institute of

Technology X

September

2013

Page 22: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

11

Mobile

Devices[9]

Table 1-4 is indicative of the fact that there is indeed a recent push for developing

array antenna systems in X-Band. However, most of the time this has been traditionally

restricted to military and the physical size, cost of production were relaxed factors. As

mentioned earlier, with most civilian air traffic regulators across the globe starting to look

into possible integration of UAVs for civilian and commercial usage in their national

airspace, the need to research develop antenna systems which are compact as well as

capable on such aerial vehicles is going to set off a new wave of antenna designs in terms

of requirements.

X-Band seems to be a very good candidate to develop such antenna systems as it

has traditionally been used by air traffic controllers to track and monitor airborne vehicles.

Also free space losses at X-Band are not extensive when compared to higher frequency

bands such as W band therefore relatively good detection ranges can be achieved at

moderate power. Finally, X band is comfortably away from ISM band and therefore is not

susceptible to accidental or malicious interference from devices and operators in that

allotted spectrum.

Traditional collision avoidance antennas such as the ones used in TCAS II and

ADS-B systems are big and bulky. Given the relatively ease of accessibility of space,

computing resources and power on even a small passenger aircraft, much of the

performance gamut as goal was not focused on the antenna systems but rather the onboard

and on deck DSP and electronics that fed into the RF and Microwave front end.

With the case of unmanned and autonomous aerial vehicles however, the balance

is going to shift equally between DSP/Electronics and RF and Microwave front end, given

Page 23: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

12

the absolute stringent and limited physical space, computing and power resources on board

a typical UAV.

In its report titled Human Factors in the Maintenance of Unmanned Aircraft

published by various departments of NASA, it is mentioned from their findings that the

accident rate for UAVs is higher than for conventional aircraft [10].Therefore, one of the

impacts that the research which entails in this thesis could be that the industry as well as

academic focusses and spawns on small but high performing antenna systems specifically

targeted to UAVs operating in civilian airspace.

To address the above mentioned needs, in the proposed thesis work, a novel

compact lightweight substrate integrated waveguide based antenna array is designed,

fabricated and characterized. The designed final antenna array shows a gain of 11 dB,

dimensions of 11.475cm x 4cm operating in X-Band. The proposed antenna successfully

met its objectives and can be employed for future advanced CAS systems. Below is the

specification in Table 1-5 of the proposed antenna array design.

Table 1-5: Final specification of the proposed design thesis array antenna

Specification Value Frequency of Operation X Band(8.2 GHz to 12.4 GHz)

Array Gain Greater than 8 dB Number of Elements 4

Radiation Pattern Type Narrow to Medium Broadside Main Lobe Size Compact(Less than 12 cm by 5 cm)

Weight Extremely Light Weight(Less than 250g) Application Collision Avoidance Systems

Page 24: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

13

CHAPTER 2

BACKGROUND AND THEORY

The underlying principles of horn and array antennas, waveguides and microstrip are

crucial in the characterization of the proposed final design. The goal of this chapter is to

review the fundamentals of the pertaining topics from an electromagnetic theory

perspective.

The relevant theories of horn antennas, dielectrically filled waveguide, array antenna

and microstrip will be discussed in the following sections as they form the foundation of

the research work which was performed and presented in the subsequent sections of this

thesis. A summary of the theory applicable to this thesis, based on the developed methods

carried out in the laboratory and its practical interest concludes each subchapter.

It is of value to discuss the aforementioned relevant theories as the final proposed

design uses the concepts from each respective theory. For example, the dielectrically filled

waveguide is useful in understanding of SIW, which will be discussed in detail in this

section. The substrate integrated waveguide is transformed from a waveguide to a horn

antenna and the microstrip is useful in helping transfer and feed energy to each individual

element. Finally, each individual antenna element is arranged in an array fashion and

therefore array antenna concepts come into importance.

Page 25: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

14

2.1 Horn Antenna Horn antennas have been very effective and enjoyed a wide array of application

through the microwave and RF spectrum since their inception. This is so because their

inherent structure provide for high gain, wide bandwidth and relatively ease of fabrication.

There are essentially three forms of horn antennas and they are listed as below:

1. H-Plane sectoral horn

2. E-Plane sectoral horn

3. Pyramidal horn

2.1.1 H-Plane sectoral horn For the purposes of this thesis, the H-Plane sectoral horn was chosen as a suitable

candidate for the design. This was because, it could be implemented in a linear fashion on

a planar substrate. This type of horn is flared in the H-plane and its geometry and

parameters are shown as follows in Figure 2-1:

Figure 2-1: H-Plane horn [11]

Page 26: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

15

Figure 2-2: H-Plane (x-z) cut of an H-plane sectorial horn [11]

As can be seen in Figure 2-2, the aperture is flared in the x plane, the phase is

uniform in the y plane. The central two variables for the construction of this type of horn

are A and RH from the above Figure 2-2 and the transceiver E and H fields arriving at the

input of the horn are in TE10 mode, when decomposed are as follows[11]

= � −��� (1)

= − / � (2)

where:

� = √ − (3)

is the wave impedence of the TE10 mode and,

� = √ − ( ) (4)

Page 27: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

16

is the propagation constant of the TE10 mode, = ω√ � = 2π/λ, and λ is the free-space

wavelength. The amplitude pattern of an H-plane horn is obtained as [11]

= ( + cos ) sin ( sin sin�)sin sin� , � (5)

The principal-plane pattern for E plane is shown below. In equation 5 the second term is

the pattern of a uniform line source of length b along the y-axis.

� = ° : � = ( + cos ) [sin ( sin sin�)sin sin� ] (6)

The H-plane (� = ° pattern can be found using the following equation 7

= ( + cos ) =

= ( + cos ) , � = °, � = °

(7)

Page 28: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

17

Figure 2-3 E and H normalized plane patterns for H plane sectoral horn [12]

It can be seen in Figure 2-3 that the general pattern for E and H-plane differ. The

E-plane is generally having a larger beam width than the H-plane. The directivity of a H-

plane sectoral horn can be approximated through a family of universal directivity curves.

For a given axial length R0, at a given wavelength, there is an optimal aperture width A

corresponding to the maximum directivity.

Optimal directivity can be obtained if the relation between A and R0 is

= √ = √ (8)

Page 29: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

18

Figure 2-4: Universal directivity curves for an H-plane sectoral horn [13]

In Figure 2-4, taking axial length (R0 = 6λ) as an example, and A/λ = 4.5 on the x-axis,

and ( λ/b) DH = 32 on the y-axis, it is possible to find what is the optimal aperture width

‘A’ which corresponds to the max directivity of 32. In this case, it works out as below

= . → = . .

= .

=

(9)

Assuming the substrate height ‘b’ to be 1λ, the = 32(dimensionless) which translates

to 30.1 dB.

Page 30: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

19

2.2 Array Antenna

An antenna array is a group of antennas arranged in a particular way to achieve

performance enhancements such as gain, directivity, scanning area etc. It is important to

look into the two basic types of arrays i.e broadside and end fire arrays.

In a typical array design, there are always parameters that can be utilized to

manipulate the overall pattern of the antenna. They are as follows

Geometrical configuration of the entire array(linear, circular, spherical)

Excitation Phase of the individual elements

Excitation amplitude of the individual elements

Relative displacement or spacing between the elements

Relative pattern of each element

For the research purposes of this work, the geometrical configuration and spacing

between the elements were more closely introspected to achieve a desirable performance.

It is also vital to understand the concept of Array Factor while designing an array

antenna. The total field from an array antenna equals to the field of a single element

multiplied by a ‘factor’ which is commonly referenced as the ‘Array Factor (AF)’. The

Array factor for a ‘n’ element array antenna in normalized form can be calculated as [12]

= [ cos + ] (10)

where k is the wave number, d is the spacing between the elements and β is the phase

separation between the elements.

Thus, the AF is a function of separation ‘ ’, and phase ‘ ’ which can be varied

and adjusted to control the characteristics of the entire array and therefore total directivity

Page 31: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

20

and gain. Hence the resulting E field of an array can be described with the following

Equation 9[12]

� � � = × [ ] (11)

The above equation is also referred to as pattern multiplication and can be applied

to antenna arrays with identical elements. For example, taking a look at the two element

array field pattern below with identical elements and phase, it can be realized that using

pattern multiplication, the total field of the array is different and can be manipulated

using the variables element spacing and phase separation.

Figure 2-5: Array Factor/Pattern Multiplication [13]

Page 32: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

21

2.2.1 Broadside Array Antenna For applications where there is a need to have the maximum radiation to be in the

direction normal to the axis of the array, the broadside array antenna is useful. This

means the θ0 = 90 degrees. This indicates:

= cos + |�= = = (12)

So to have the maximum radiation directed broadside to the axis of the array, it is

important to have the phase excitation of all elements to be the same i.e. β = 0. To avoid

grating lobes in other directions, the separation between the elements should not equal to

the multiples of wavelength i.e. d ≠ nλ (n = 1, 2, 3…).

Figure 2-6: Broadside Array Radiation pattern [12]

Page 33: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

22

Figure 2-6 shows a typical pattern for a 10 element broadside array with element

spacing to be λ/4. It can be observed that there is still some energy radiated in the end fire

region but not as prominent in the broadside.

Figure 2-7: Array factor patterns of a 10-element uniform amplitude broadside array [14]

It is noticeable in the Figure 2-7 how the spacing affects the overall radiation pattern

of an array. As mentioned earlier, if the spacing ‘d’ is integer multiples of wavelength λ,

then there will be grating lobes which appear alongside the main lobe. However, if the

spacing is fraction such as ¼ of the wavelength then there are no grating lobes.

Page 34: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

23

2.2.1 End fire Array Antenna An end fire pattern is the converse of a broadside pattern i.e. θ0 = 0 or θ0 = 180.

To have the maxima directed towards either of these theta values, the phase between

elements should be:

= cos + |�= = + = → = − (13)

= cos + |�= = − + = → = (14)

An interesting note to observe is if the element separation ‘d’ = λ/2 then end-fire

radiation can simultaneously exist at both θ0 = 0 and θ0 = 180 which can be seen in Figure

2-8. A comparison of ordinary and end fire array pattern is shown in Figure 2-9

Figure 2-8: Three-dimensional amplitude patterns for end-fire arrays toward 0 and 180 degrees [12]

Page 35: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

24

Figure 2-9: Array Factor patterns for ordinary end fire array at different phase excitation [14]

2.3 Dielectrically Filled Waveguide The Dielectrically Filled Waveguide (DFW) is a structure which is composed of

two dielectric slab sandwiched between two metal plates. The electromagnetic energy is

guided through total internal reflections from dielectric boundaries.

The importance of bringing the theory into light is because it leads to a specialized

structure called substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) which will be used as a guiding

structure to propagate electromagnetic waves to the antenna section of the design. A SIW

as will be explained further in this section is a reduced height DFW. Additionally a DFW

becomes a SIW by the replacement of side metallic walls with vias. Although this decrease

in height compared to a ‘regular’ waveguide increases capacitance per length and in turn

reducing the impedance the electromagnetic wave sees.

Page 36: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

25

Figure 2-10 shows a sample geometry of the structure. Dielectric waveguides

have non-zero fields outside the guide unlike a metal waveguide and therefore both the

inside and outside fields need to be taken under consideration for analysis. For a

dielectrically filled waveguide to guide electromagnetic energy, the fields must be

confined within the slab and must also decay exponentially outside the slab.

Figure 2-10: Geometry of the dielectric slab waveguide (a) Perspective view (b) Side View

There are two common theories to handling dielectrically filled waveguides. For

the analytic purposes of this thesis research, the Wave theory is considered.

Wave Theory

Ray Theory

For the DFW to be propagating the wave energy, the electromagnetic field must

be confined to the vicinity of the slab and must decay exponentially away from the slab.

The field propagation equation therefore can be divided into two halves

= { − � − , � + , (15)

where Ca : above slab, Cb : below slab[14]

The E and H-field components can be found using the following equation:

Page 37: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

26

= − ℎ (16)

= −( �ℎ ) (17)

= − ℎ (18)

= −( ℎ ) (19)

As microstrip based designs are not generally efficient in high frequency and high

power applications given to nature of short wavelengths, waveguide based designs are

usually employed. But given the fact that microstrip designs can be easily manufactured

when compared to waveguide, a balanced tradeoff transmission line structure called SIW

has been developed. A simple SIW structure is shown below.

Figure 2-11: Substrate Integrated Waveguide

In Figure 2-11, the red portion of the structure is the cavity filled substrate which

is guided all the way with metallic VIAs (shown in grey). The height of the via along the z

axis is equal to the height of the substrate (shown in green). Both the top and the bottom

layers are metal.

One of the advantages of using SIWs is the ability to integrate within common

dielectric filled metal cladded laminates which are commercially available. This also

Page 38: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

27

makes them very lightweight, ease of fabrication with common prototyping machines such

as LPKF and economically viable option for creating high performance designs in high

frequency applications. By creating metallic plated via ‘walls’ in the guide structure and a

metal structure on the top coupled with a ground plane at the bottom, the structure behaves

as a dielectrically filled waveguide to an electromagnetic wave launched at one end or one

port.

The decreased height does have an effect when compared to a regular waveguide

in terms of impedance the wave sees as the capacitance/length increases. The following are

the design equations and variables are crucial in designing a SIW:

Figure 2-12 Dimension definition of rectangular waveguide [15]

The design equations pertaining to SIW are as shown below. Beginning with the standard

equation for finding the cut-off of an arbitrary waveguide which is:

= �√ � + � (20)

where:

c = 3 × 108 m/s

m , n = mode numbers

a , b = dimensions of the waveguide

Page 39: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

28

Therefore, the cut-off frequency for the TE10 fundamental mode is:

= (21)

The fundamental mode of a SIW is therefore only affected by ‘ ’ width dimension and

not the ‘b’ height. This is important observation as it shows that waveguides can be

fabricated on a typical substrate which are mostly restricted in the thickness or ‘b’ height.

The width dimension ( for a DFW can be found out for the same waveguide if the

dielectric constant (�� of the material which makes up the substrate is known by the

following equation:

= √�� (22)

Having known the cutoff frequency and the width dimensions, the values can then be

passed on for design of the SIW. The two essential design rules as per the published work

the substrate integrated circuits - a new concept for high-frequency electronics and

optoelectronics is that:

the pitch(center to center distance) between two vias must be less than twice the

diameter

< (23)

the diameter of each via is smaller than the fifth of the guide wavelength(λg)

< λ�

Page 40: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

29

Figure 2-13: Pitch ‘p’ and Diameter‘d’ of the SIW

The guide ‘d’ wavelength is defined by the following equation[15].

λ� = �√�� � − � (24)

The theory of DFW and SIW and the equations associated with it that were

discussed in this section is most crucial in creating the fundamental design of the proposed

antenna system. Most of the equations and requirements for building a SIW were put in

computation software MATLAB, which enabled the calculation of initial design values.

2.4 Radar Range Equation

It is important to discuss the Radar Range Equation (RRE) which is derived from

the Friis transmission equation. The Friis transmission equation can be used to estimate

many factors of a microwave communication systems operating in a certain environment.

One of the basic forms of the Friis transmission equations is shown below.

�� = ( � ) � ��� (25)

where: �� is the Received Power in dBm, �� is the Transmit Power in dBm, � is the

Transmit antenna gain in dB, � is the Receive antenna gain in dB, R is the distance

between the transmit and receive antenna in meters(m)

Page 41: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

30

Using Equation (25), it is possible to estimate and calculate the link budget required

for a particular microwave wireless transmission system if some of the values of the

elements are known beforehand. This will be explored in much detail in the following

section as it provides the basis to getting the performance of the phased array antenna

system developed given certain conditions and/or criterion are met or provided.

The general design specification of the array antenna developed for this thesis is

based on the specifics and parameters from this equation. It is assumed that the antenna

system which will be used in a radar system for collision avoidance is monostatic i.e. both

the transmit and receive array antennas are co-located.

Figure 2-14: Monostatic Array Antenna System [16]

The equivalent circuit of the Figure 2-14 is as below in Figure 2-15. Notice that the free

space loss doubles as the energy is transmitted or reflected back from the target to the

receiver

Figure 2-15: Equivalent Circuit Model of the RRE [16]

As there are many forms of the RRE and many were used to identify which is the

best suited to the application case, a report is created showing the different types of RRE

and/or gain. MATLAB was used to perform a parametric analysis to mostly find the gain

Page 42: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

31

vs. range by setting other parameters in the respective equations constant. The parameters

that were kept constant or fixed are noted on the top of every plot.

���� = � � �� [ � ] (26)

When the above equation is simplified in terms logarithms it becomes [16]:

log �� = log �� + log � + log � + � − (27)

where

� = Target gain factor

� = log � + log +

= One way free space loss = log ∗ +

Note on K1 and K2

K1 comes from the space loss equation which can also be expressed as[16]

= log [ � ] (28)

= log [ �] (29)

The K1 and values are in dB and must be appropriately selected for the

different units of range and frequency. Table 1 shows this.

Page 43: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

32

Table 2-1: Constant K1 in a Two Way Radar Range Equation [16]

K2 comes from the Target Gain Factor ( � equation which can also be

expressed as[16]

� = log [ � �] (30)

� = log [ � ] (31)

= log [ �] (32)

The K2 and � Values are in dB and are dependent on RCS, frequency and

dimensions. Therefore the K2 differs and varies according to type of the RCS unit

and frequency. It is summarized in the table below

Table 2-2: Constant K2 in a Two Way Radar Range Equation [16]

Page 44: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

33

2.5 Microstrip The microstrip line is a planar type transmission line which has been proven to be

very popular given its ease of fabrication and integration. A typical geometry for a

microstrip structure is shown below.

Figure 2-16: A typical cross section view of a microstrip line

It is important to understand that the type of electromagnetic propagation in a

microstrip is ‘Quasi TEM’. This is primarily because the presence of a dielectric material

i.e. εr ≠ 1 between two the conductor and a ground plane. The microstrip line usually has

most of its field lines between the dielectric region between the strip and the conductor and

also in the air above the substrate. This makes phase matching at interfaces not possible

since the phase velocity of TEM fields in the dielectric region governed by /√�� whereas

in the air region above the conductor it is c, showing in turn that the pure TEM wave is not

supported by microstrip lines.

Some of the important design equations and parameters for microstrip are effective

dielectric constant, characteristic impedance and W/d ratio. They are discussed and shown

below [17]

� = � + + � − √ + / (33)

Page 45: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

34

The effective dielectric constant for a microstrip line encompasses both the air

and the dielectric regions. If the dimensions of a microstrip line are provided, it is

possible to find the characteristic impedance Zo which can be found as[17].

= { √� ln ( + ) �√ [ + . + . ln + . ] (34)

On the other hand if the characteristic impedance Z0 and the dielectric constant �� is

known, the W/d ratio can be found out using the equation below [17]

= { − < � [ − − ln − + �� −�� {ln − + . − .�� }] > (35)

2.6 Summary of Theory The theories that were discussed were directly employed in the design of the

proposed design. The RRE and Friis transmission equation were useful in calculating the

link budget and estimating the scan range for gain ranges. Horn antenna theory was useful

is finding the flare angle of the horn element in the array and the array factor equation was

useful in estimating the radiation pattern. The SIW design equations were useful in

calculating the dimensions required for modelling the waveguide part of the antenna and

finally the microstrip equations were useful in calculating the width of the microstrip feed

to the waveguides of the proposed design.

Page 46: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

35

CHAPTER 3

DESIGN

Each of the individual theory which was explained in the previous chapter is

instrumental in creating the final design for the proposed antenna. As mentioned

previously a MATLAB® [18] script code was created which prompted the user on the

design parameters and requirements. That aided in updating the simulation model

created with ANSYS© HFSS ® [19] software quickly. The simulation model was also

created in parts which will be demonstrated in this chapter.

Additional design parameter optimizations were also done on the final simulation

model to achieve a desired performance specification. Once the final design was locked

down, it was exported into a 3D modeler to create fabrication GERBER files which were

sent out to a third party PCB manufacturer. Due to very tight tolerances involved in the

design, it was not possible to fabricate this design in house at the University of Colorado

Colorado Springs facilities.

Figure 3-1: Thesis Design Cornerstones

Figure 3-1 above shows the four essential cornerstones which were

developed for the final antenna design. Each of the following sections in this chapter

is focused on the design of each of these cornerstones. But before all the design

Page 47: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

36

could be started a lot of analysis was performed in terms of performance and

specifications using the radar range equation (RRE) mentioned in the previous

chapter. The RRE was put into a MATLAB script and fed various initial conditions so

that a performance ballpark could be estimated. This is explained in detail in the

following section.

3.1 Radar Range Equation (RRE) Calculations

The RRE was presented in the previous chapter in detail. The equation was

input in MATLAB and there were multiple plots generated by changing various

parameters. The plots are all range versus receiver sensitivity but with parameters

changed such as transmit and receive antenna gain and transmit power.

All the calculation and plots were conducted for 9 GHz frequency which falls

under the X-band spectra.

3.1.1 Design Calculations and Plots

A sample calculation resulting the scan range of given some initial condition is shown

as below.

Receiver Sensitivity = �� + � + � + � − where: = log + log +

� = log + log + or if Receiver Sensitivity is assumed to be �� the right hand side R(S becomes: = �� + � + � + � − ��

Page 48: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

37

=

= = = . + + + . +

Assumption: Pt = . dBm � = dB �= dB and �� = - dBm = . The R(S = . and when the left hand side L(S is equated with the right hand side R(S it becomes: log + log + . = . Using K1 value from the table above and = the Range R after further simplication can be estimated to be:

= − . = .

= .

This value also agrees from the MATLAB script developed for this calculation

and its result is shown in Figure 3-2 below.

Figure 3-2: MATLAB generated value for Range

Page 49: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

38

Figure 3-3: MATLAB plot of Range vs. Receiver Sensitivity with TX and RX Gain = 10dB

The plot in Figure 3-3 shows how varying the radar cross section (RCS) of a

target object affects the scan range at a set gain and transmit power. The plot indicates

that the higher the front end system receive sensitivity, the further the detection

range for an object of a specific size can be. The receive sensitivity of a wireless system

depends on the components such as low noise amplifier (LNA) and the electronics

and signal processing which is embedded in it. A higher sensitive system tuned to a

particular frequency is generally one of the performance goal of a microwave system

design.

Page 50: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

39

Figure 3-4: MATLAB plot of Range vs. Receiver Sensitivity with TX and RX Gain = 20dB

Increasing the gain of both the transmit and receive antenna by a factor of

100(20 dB) in Figure 3-4, when compared to the Figure 3-3 which used 10 dB for

antenna gain, shows that the scan range for all three target cross sections is

increased by roughly 3.16 times.

Page 51: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

40

Figure 3-5: MATLAB plot of Range vs. Receiver Sensitivity

When the transmit power is doubled from 2 W (33.1 dBm) to 4 W (36.02

dBm) or 3 dB, as was shown in Figure 3-5 while the gain of both transmit and

receive antennas was set to 20 dB, the detection range of all three RCS objects

shows very marginal improvement when compared to Figure 3-4.

To approximate the number of elements required to achieve a certain gain

range, the following plot in Figure 3-6 was generated using the equation from the

source [20]. This is assuming antenna element efficiency = . or %. The equation and a sample calculation is shown below [20]

= � (36)

where is the broadside gain, is the number of elements and is the

antenna losses due to efficiency..

Page 52: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

41

= � , . = � . =

(37)

Therefore, four elements are needed indicating the gain per element is 2 dB.

Figure 3-6: Gain vs Number of Phased Array Elements at 9 GHz

All of the above plots in Figures 3-3 to 3-6 ignore atmospheric conditions such

as rain, hail and snow. Water is a tough barrier to pass through for electromagnetic

waves. The transmission loss for electromagnetic waves when they propagate

through fresh water is roughly 4.3 dB [21].

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Number of Antenna Elements

Gai

n,dB

Plot of Gain vs. Phased Array Elements at 9 GHz

Page 53: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

42

Figure 3-7: Gain Range vs Scan Range Plot

A range estimation was performed given certain initial parameters for gain

ranges required for a scan range. This can be seen in the plot in Figure 3-7. It was

assumed that the transmit power was set to 33.1 dBm and the receiver is sensitive

enough to detect the received signal at -100 dBm. This plot can essentially be divided

into three gain ranges, 1-5 dB, 5-10 dB and 10-15 dB. The chart below summarizes all

the information from the previous plots which is helpful in understanding how

physical factors and conditions affect the needs and capabilities of the proposed

antenna design.

Page 54: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

43

Table 3-4: Gain Range vs Scan Range

RCS,m2

Gain Range, dB 0.05 0.15 1

1 30.87 40.63 65.29

2 34.64 45.59 73.26

3 38.87 51.15 82.2

4 43.61 57.39 92.23

5 48.93 64.4 103.48

6 54.9 72.26 116.11

7 61.6 81.07 130.28

8 69.12 90.97 146.17

9 77.55 102.07 164.01

10 87.02 114.52 184.02

11 97.63 128.49 206.48

12 109.55 144.17 231.67

13 122.91 161.77 259.94

14 137.91 181.51 291.66

15 154.74 203.65 327.24

Table 3-4 shows the scan range for an object of particular RCS and the needed

gain range to detect that object given certain pre-conditions. The pre-conditions were

frequency = 9 GHz, Pt = 33.1 dBm, Pr = -100 dBm. From the three gain ranges, the

proposed antenna performance was targeted towards going in the last gain range i.e.

10-15 dB. From Figure 6 plot this is also indicative therefore the target performance

goal is met with greater than 5 elements which translates to greater than 2

dB/element in an array assuming each element efficiency to be 0.65 or greater.

Therefore, in conjunction with Table 3-4 and all the range estimates conducted in

regards to preconditions, the target antenna specification is to have an antenna

design that can achieve scan ranges of greater than or equal to 70 m for a smallest

object of 0.05 m2 RCS or greater than or equal to 160 m for a large object of 1 m2 RCS.

Given that the UAV is travelling at 20 m/s, which is relatively fast for any

autonomous airborne object, this translates to having 3 seconds to impact the

Page 55: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

44

smallest airborne target (0.05 m2). With modern high speed electronics and signal

processing onboard, three seconds is enough time for the autonomous UAV to alter

its flight course in order to avoid the collision [22].

3.2. Computer Design and Simulation

The antenna design process was modular. This meant each component from

each of the design cornerstone (shown in Figure 3-1) was built individually, and then

integration took place with the rest after satisfactory results of the individual

component. Upon integration, there were several optimizations done on the entire

array structure, which will be discussed in the later section of this chapter.

3.2.1 Waveguide Design and Simulation

To first step in the thesis design was to build a waveguide in HFSS and then

simulate it for S-parameter results. After this the SIW was designed based on the

results of the MATLAB script which had the design equations mentioned in the

previous chapter. An overlay plot of the S-Parameter was generated to verify that the

regular X-Band waveguide results matched with the results of the SIW. The dielectric

that was used was air in both cases.

Page 56: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

45

Figure 3-8: Regular Waveguide with Metal Side Walls

The height and width that were used in waveguide shown in Figure 3-8 was

2.28 cm and 1.016 cm respectively. These are the standard dimensions for a typical

rectangular waveguide designed to operate in the X-Band spectrum.

Figure 3-9: SIW X-Band Waveguide

The structure shown in Figure 3-9 is a SIW design. The metal via diameter

and pitch was adjusted to 0.21 cm and 0.42 cm using the design rule equation 21.

The overlay plots of the S-parameter results from the simulation are shown below.

The dielectric used was air.

Page 57: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

46

Figure 3-10: S-Parameter response overlay of SIW and Regular Waveguide

It is important to note and observe that the S12 response from both the

structures is different. Especially there was an anomaly noted in the insertion loss for

the SIW trace. It can be seen that in Figure 3-10 plot shows a positive gain (> +0 dB)

around the cut-off frequency for the S)W trace shown in green which shouldn t be possible as the waveguide is a passive structure with no active elements (such as

amplifiers or power sources) in it. This anomaly was noted down and submitted to

the ANSYS engineering team so that they could look into it further and it was

concluded that it was just the software simulation artifact after discussion with the

team.

3.2.2 Antenna Design and Simulation

To start off the antenna design within the substrate using via as walls, only the

flare section of the horn antenna was designed. The excitation port was setup and the

return loss simulation was performed on it to check if it was operating in the X-Band.

Page 58: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

47

Figure 3-11: Horn Antenna Structure Design using SIW at reduced height

Figure 3-12: S11 (Return Loss) simulation results for the Horn Antenna structure shown in Figure 3-10

Figure 3-13: Horn Antenna Structure Design using SIW at normal X-Band waveguide

Page 59: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

48

Comparing Figures 3-11 to 3-13, it is noticeable that the height of the structure

in Figure 3-11 is reduced compared to the normal X-band waveguide height. The

reduced height generally implies that efficiency of the structure is decreased as

electromagnetic waves see an increase in capacitance per length.

The reduced height was a necessary step because of fabrication concerns, the

board manufacturer only made substrate thickness to a certain limit and therefore

was a design constraint. Overcoming this challenge to achieve a working antenna

reaching an agreeable gain/element value was as a significant achievement.

The realized gain and gain pattern of the horn antenna from Figure 3-11

resulted as below in Figure 3-14. Note that realized gain is the gain which is realized

from the structure after consideration of the losses involving the material dielectric,

surface roughness etc.

Figure 3-14: Realized gain of the Horn Antenna structure from Figure 11

A very directed towards bore sight radiation pattern in the YZ plane is the goal.

However, given that the proposed design can be made into a scanning array, this is

not a hard goal. The E-field propagation visualization can also be obtained through

Page 60: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

49

the software and it can be seen in Figure 3-15 below on how an electromagnetic wave

propagates at a certain phase angle through the structure.

Figure 3-15: Field Propagation Animation through the Horn Structure

3.2.3 Microstrip to SIW Feed Transition and Network Design

This design element is unique in the sense that it essentially was helpful in

transforming from one type of transmission line technique namely microstrip to

feeding another type which is waveguide.

Figure 3-16: Back to Back Transitions Simulation Model [23]

Figure 3-16 shows the general design of a microstrip to SIW transition. The

microstrip part consists of the narrow signal layer tapering into a larger conical feed

which terminates right at the junction of the waveguide port. This type of transition

tapered design was chosen because of its relatively ease of design and integration

Page 61: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

50

between Microstrip to SIW interfaces. The design equations pertaining to this

structure are as follows [24].

The width we of the taper line can be found as. �[ + . + . + . ] = . − . ����+1 + ��−1 √ + ℎ/� (38)

The above equation 3 is complex and therefore it was part of the design

equation script.

3.2.4 Single Antenna Element Design and Simulation

With the designs of the horn SIW antenna ready along with the design for the

microstrip to waveguide transitions, it was time to integrate both individual

structures together to design the single element of the antenna array structure.

Figure 3-17: Single Element Antenna Structure

It is observable from Figure 3-17 that, the structure is made of two section at

this stage of the design. The first section is horn antenna embedded within the

dielectric substrate with VIAs. These VIAs act as replacement for walls of the antenna.

Page 62: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

51

The second half is the feed transition structure which is helping in moving

electromagnetic energy from a planar tapered microstrip via line to the antenna

section. The waveguide section is now flared on the other end thus effectively making

the waveguide which was originally a two port microwave structure into an antenna

which is a one port structure. The top and bottom plane of the antenna section is

copper clad while only the bottom section of the transition structure is copper

cladded.

Figure 3-18: S11 Response from the Single Element Antenna Structure

The S11 response shown in plot of Figure 3-18 is indicative that the

calculations performed for having the antenna s center frequency at G(z were accurate and working. There is a weak resonance around 11.25 GHz as well.

Page 63: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

52

Figure 3-19: Gain Response Pattern from the Single Element Structure at 9 GHz

With the simulated single element gain coming to roughly 3.6 dB as seen in

Figure 3-19, it was indicative that the structure of a horn antenna embedded within a

substrate and having vias as walls as guiding structures proved to be of advantageous

at relatively high frequencies such as X-Band. Both the S11 and the gain response was

of significant value as they showed that it was firstly possible to design the antenna

structure within the intended frequency and secondly the gain per element value

coming to 3.6 dB promised that higher values could be achieved in an array formation.

3.3 Array Antenna Design and Simulation

With the single element responses proving to be promising to be pursued in

an array design, the next step was to see how adding another element would affect the parameters. (ence a two element array was created to see the structure s

Page 64: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

53

behavior in an array pattern. A simple microstrip corporate feed network was used

to feed into the tapered feed transition which then transformed energy into the SIW

antenna.

Figure 3-20: Two Element SIW Horn Antenna Array

A lumped port type of excitation was used at the edge of the microstrip. It can

be seen in red in Figure 3-20. The element spacing between the two elements was

defined as the distance between the centers of the aperture of one element to the

center of the second element.

Figure 3-11: Element Spacing Consideration

Page 65: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

54

For the two element antenna, the β which was the phase angle separation

between the elements defined in the previous chapter was considered to be zero. In

a real world application this phase angle separation would be traditionally achieved

by a specialized phased shifter hardware or in modern means through smart digital

signal processing to make this array from a broadside or end-fire array to a scanning

array. Optimal element spacing between array elements is dependent on array gain

and radiation pattern requirements.

Figure 3-22: S11 response for two element array

Page 66: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

55

Figure 3-33: Realized Gain response from two element array parametrized over array element spacing

The S11 response for the two element array in Figure 3-22 showed a

considerable difference when compared to the single element response shown in

Figure 3-18. The resonances between 9.0 and 9.5 GHz and 11.0 and 11.5 GHz are

stronger in the sense that they are deeper and more negative, indicating that the array

antenna has minimal reflection losses around those frequency bands when compared

to its single element counterpart. The gain has also increased from 3.59 dB for the

single element to 7.61 dB as can be seen in Figure 3-23. This is a very dramatic

increase of 4.02 dB.

The next logical step in the array antenna design process was to increase the

number of elements to achieve a scan range of greater than 77 meters for a target RCS

of 0.01 m2.

Page 67: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

56

Figure 3-44: Five Element Array Design

Figure 3-25: Five Element Array Gain Response

With the increase in elements to five in a linear array fashion, the gain

pattern response can be seen in Figure 3-25 resulting in around 11 dB. That shows

an increase of 3.4 dB from the two element array.

Page 68: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

57

Table 3-5: Simulated Antenna Elements vs. Gain and Scan Range

Number of

Elements

Simulation

Gain Range(dB)

Calculated Scan

range(m) for

RCS 0.01m2

Calculated

Scan

range(m) for

0.15m2

Calculated Scan

range(m) for

RCS 1 m2

1 3.6 39-43 51-57 82-92

2 7.6 62-70 81-91 130-146

5 10.8 87-98 115-129 184-206

Assumption: Pt is equal to 33.1dBm, Pr is equal to -100dBm

Due to fabrication cost concerns and limited funding available, the final

antenna design was modified to be created out of a lossy FR4 subsrate instead of the

lower loss εr ROGERS RO3010. This meant that the design calculations for the SIW

and array spacing along with metal thickness needed to be readjusted and simulated

to check for S11 and Gain response.

The design was changed according to the specifications of the FR4 board

material and copper thickness as stated by the board manufacturer so that a lower

cost could be obtained. The results using the final manufacturing specifications are

as below.

Page 69: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

58

Figure 3-26: Simulated S11 response as per fabrication specifications

Figure 3-27: Simulated Gain response as per fabrication specifications

As expected the Gain performance of the array antenna dropped by 2.24 dB

when the Rogers RO3010 material was dropped and a lossy FR4 material was used.

Figure 3-27 shows a realized gain of 8.56 dB at 9.2 GHz, whereas Figure 3-25 shows

the gain response of 10.8 dB at 11.5 GHz.

Page 70: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

59

3.4. Feeding Network Technique Analysis and Application.

Upon the suggestion of thesis committee, it was suggested that a more

conventional type of feeding technique be investigated and designed into the final

proposed design. The previous design employed an unknown and unconventional

feeding network which proves ineffective in transferring energy from the source

excitation port to the individual elements.

As proposed in the final specifications table in Chapter 1, a strong main lobe is

required at the broadside which can be used to scan for midair targets. One of the

ways this can be achieved is to have a zero phase difference of energy at the entry of

each array element. Therefore, a matching feeding network has to be designed so that

this goal can be realized.

After some research into corporate microstrip feeding and matching methods,

it was found that quarter wave impedence matching, proved effective in the proposed

design interms of ease of manufacturability.

The proposed design was then taken through many iterations interms of its

feeding network. Each version of the iteration showed a marked improvement in the performance from the original array design which didn t incorporate a calculated matching and conventional micro strip array feeding network.

Page 71: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

60

Figure 3-28: Version 1 of feeding network modification

It can be seen that the array design shown in Figure 3-28, has four elements

instead of the one in Figure 3-24 which has five. It was found that for a corporate

feed to be employed, the number of elements that need to be branched out to can

only be in the order of 2,4,8,16 etc. This change from 5 to 4 elements also improved

the S11 response of the structure.

Figure 3-29: Version 1 Array Antenna S11 response

Page 72: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

61

The S11 response shows a strong resonance at 9.7 GHz and no other

resonances at other frequencies in the X-Band spectrum. This is ideal in terms of

antenna performance as a single strong resonance denotes the operating frequency

at which the antenna is efficiently transforming electromagnetic energy. This

operating frequency can then be adjusted as per the needs of the application by the

antenna engineer. Also this eliminates the need of using filters in the RF front end

which can prove as an additional design element.

The next major version change of the design was the incorporation of the

quarter wave matching microstrip in the feeding network. A sample calculation of

how the widths and lengths for each segment has been demonstrated in Chapter 2.

However, to speed up the design process, Keysight® s Advanced Design System (ADS)© tool was used to automatically calculate the microstrip widths and lengths

based on other parameters.

Figure 3-30: Version 2 of proposed Array Design with Quarter Wave Matching Feeding

The S11 response from the version 2 which included the quarter wave

matching feeding network is shown below. The structure now exhibits resonances

Page 73: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

62

at multiple frequencies.

Figure 3-31: S11 response of version 2

At the strongest resonance frequency of 9.4 GHz of the version 2 of the

proposed design, the array structure showed the following radiation pattern and

performance characteristics.

Figure 3-32 Radiation Pattern of version 2 of proposed design

From figure 3-32, it is evident that there is no strong main lobe at boresight

(+90 degrees), but there are two strong lobes found at roughly 45 degrees apart from

the boresight at roughly 50 degrees and 130 degrees. The expected pattern from a

Page 74: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

63

broadside array with element spacing which is not integer multiple of wavelengths as

discussed in Chapter 2 should not have grating lobes in other directions. However,

the efficiency of the structure seems to have increased after incorporating the

microstrip quarter wave feeding network and a positive gain has been realized. This

can be evidenced in the 3D realized gain polar plot below

Figure 3-33 Realized Gain of version 2 of the proposed array design with quarter wave matching feed network

A better understanding of realized pattern can be seen in the following

rectangular plot. This 2D plot was generated by setting the Theta to be equal to 90

degrees and Phi set to be the primary sweep of 360 degrees, therefore it is rotation

of the structure about the Z axis. The Y-axis is the axis where the array elements are

linear or alongside each other.

Page 75: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

64

Figure 3-34: Rectangular Plot of Directivity (dB) vs. Phi Angle

Referring to Figures 3-34 and 3-32, it is now evident that, the principal lobes

are at roughly 50 degrees from boresight. In efforts to bring the main lobe to the

boresight, the element spacing variable and length of horn section were manipulated

to observe for any effects using the Array Factor concept discussed in Chapter 2 in

HFSS. This was manipulated by using the single element design shown in Figure 3-17

and then having HFSS do the AF multiplication rule to check and compared to the full

array design.

For the AF estimation through HFSS, the following configuration was setup for

the single element. The element spacing was ensured to be 1.6 cm (< 0.5λ as to avoid for any grating lobes. For 1.6 cm element spacing, the array design had to modified in

terms of cell placement so as to avoid the horn flaring angles did not cross into the

other cell boundary. Therefore, the elements were placed one below the other as can

be seen in the views on the following page.

Page 76: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

65

Figure 3-35 Top view of the array with 1.6cm element spacing

Figure 3-36 Array with 1.6cm element spacing side view

Page 77: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

66

Figure 3-37 Array with 1.6 element spacing perspective view

Figures 3-35 through 3-37 show how the array structure had to be

redesigned in efforts to bring the main lobe to the bore sight. Elements are stacked

are each element is provided with a port excitation. Note that the conventional

matching feeding network would need to be modified slightly if this method

resolves the bore sight position. The array was then analyzed and the following

results were achieved.

Page 78: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

67

Figure 3-38: S11 response of the array with 1.6 cm element spacing

Figure 3-39: Directivity 3D radiation pattern of the array structure

Page 79: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

68

Figure 3-40: Radiation Patterns of the full array in Polar format

Page 80: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

69

Figure 3-41: Overlay rectangular radiation pattern plots between full array model and single element AF

estimation

Figure 3-40 shows the radiation pattern for the array antenna in two separate

the axis. When the pattern is swept for Theta angle through 360 degrees and Phi angle

Page 81: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

70

set to 0 degrees, the pattern shows a strong main lobe at bore sight (0 Degrees).

However, given the nature of linear array, the total pattern is shifted onto the +Y axis

(as seen in Figure 3-44) and therefore, when the 2D polar plot is generated by

sweeping for Phi angle through 360 degrees and Theta angle set at 45 degrees, we see

the strong main lobe at bore sight angle(+90 Degrees).

To gain a clearer understanding of the radiation pattern, Figure 3-41 can be

used. The overlay rectangular radiation pattern chart which are set at the same Theta

and Phi angle values. However, these two charts depict a comparison between the

single element AF estimation vs. the full array model created with the same element

spacing. When the primary sweep is set to Theta and swept through 360 degrees and

Phi set to 0 degrees, the single element pattern (green trace) shows a sharper fall to

the side lobes when compared to the full array pattern(red trace) which shows a more

gradual fall to the side lobes suggesting a wider beam width. However, there is a

strong agreement that the main lobe falls at bore sight (0 degrees) with a back lobe

at around 180 degrees from both patterns.

There is a much better agreement in terms of the radiation patterns when both

the single element AF estimation and the actual full array model when the primary

sweep is set to Phi 360 degrees and the Theta at 45 degrees. Again, as evidenced

through the previous plot, there is a wider beam width shown by the full array model

versus the single element array factor estimation. However, the maxima on both of

them seem to agree i.e. at ~90 Degrees and 270 Degrees) as can be seen through the

plot.

Page 82: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

71

In a further effort to bring the main lobe to broadside, reduce back lobe and

also decrease size of the array more design exploration was done. One of the two

parameters that was further explored was the flaring angle. The single element horn

flare angle was stepped in increments of 10 degrees from 10 to 40 degrees to observe

for any benefits in terms of reduced back lobes.

Figure 3-42: Overlay Plot of Flare Angle

The overlay plot in Fig 3-42 indicates that the flare angle of 40 degrees (red

trace) proves most effective in terms of reducing back lobe and this can be seen

between the Phi of 150 to 200 degrees.

The next step was to ensure that there were no grating lobes and hence the

spacing between the elements had to be less than λ/2. This translates to a spacing less

than 1.65 cm for an operating design frequency of 9 GHz. It was challenging to

maintain less than 1.65 cm element spacing in array given the flare angle of 40

degrees which was determined to be suitable in reducing back lobes. This was so

Page 83: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

72

because the via elements intersected with each other when the spacing was set to 1.6

cm on the same substrate plane and this meant a change in the single element pattern

and therefore in effect the overall radiation pattern.

In efforts to mitigate this, one of the solution came out to be to have alternating

stack up of the arrangement in elements. This can be further seen in the new

arrangement of elements shown in Figure 3-43.

Figure 3-43: Alternating Stackup Arrangement of Array Elements having a separation’d’ of 1.6cm

This alternating arrangement was not only helpful in offering flexibility of

changing the element spacing, but also in helping in increasing the compactness of

the array structure. Also the transition structure which was previously a microstrip

was changd to a stripline so as to reduce energy losses and via structures were added

alongside for additional measure. A clearer view of this change can be seen in Figure

3-44, where the transition substrate is made invisible so as to show the location of

the transition structure which has been made into a stripline.

Page 84: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

73

Figure 3-44: Single element transition structure stripline location

With that important observation noted for a single element, the next step was

to estimate the pattern using array factor estimation tool in HFSS. As described and

shown in chapter 2, the array factor is useful in estimation the radiation pattern of an

array antenna setup. Using the pattern multiplication equation 9 from Chapter 2, the

total estimated radiation pattern should be a multiplication of the single element with

the array factor.

Figure 3-45: Overlay Radiation Pattern

Page 85: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

74

Figure 3-46: 3D polar radiation pattern plot for single element with 40 degree flare angle

The 3D radiation pattern plot of the single element is shown in figure 3-46 for

reference. From figure 3-45, it can be seen that the Array Factor pattern estimation is

scaled higher than the individual pattern which is expected. The overlay plot also

shows that the actual four element array design created does not deviate much except

slightly in between Theta values of 160 and 210 degrees. A polar representation of

Figure 3-45 is shown in Figure 3-47.

Page 86: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

75

Figure 3-47: Polar overlay plot of single element, full array, AF estimation

Using both Figure 3-45 and 3-47 as reference it is now possible to see that

most of the much of the main beam is focused on the +Y axis, with some side lobes in

the –Y axis. It is interesting to note that the trace for full array (red) is very closely

overlapping the single element (green) when it was generally expected to align with

the array factor estimation (blue)

Page 87: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

76

3.5. Methods to Enhancing Performance in Array Antennas

In efforts to increasing the scan range of the proposed antenna, there was

some study conducted on what can be performed to enhance the performance such

as realized gain, efficiency, radiation pattern etc. Some of the parameters which are

common but not limited to array antennas that are commonly looked into while

tuning for the earlier mentioned performance criterion are

1. Number of Elements

2. Element Spacing

3. Array element orientation and arrangement

4. Ground Plane

All of the above criterion were explored in regards to the proposed design in

this thesis to check if manipulating them resulted in performance benefits.

Specifically, the first two were explored and the following Table was created showing

the results from simulation.

Table 3-6: Number of Elements vs Element Spacing Study Results

Inferring the data from Table 3-6, it is indicative that the maximum realized

gain in the five element linear array design happened when the spacing between the

5 ELEMENT

Realised Gain, dB Element Spacing,cm Ele e t Spaci g i Electrical Le gth,λ11 2 0.5

6 2.734 0.25

7 ELEMENT

Realised Gain, dB Element Spacing,cm Ele e t Spaci g i Electrical Le gth,λ8 2.403 0.25

8 3.517 0.5

For 9 GHz , λ ~ . cλ/ λ/

0.825 cm 1.65 cm

Page 88: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

77

elements was equal to 0.5 λ but showed a dramatic decline when the spacing was 0.25 λ. However, there was no observable difference in gain when the spacing was changed

for the seven element. It can also be inferred that the increase in number of elements

from five to seven did not incur a positive effect in terms of gain. To increase the gain

of an array by a factor of two (3 dB) it is usually required to double the number of

elements, as can be seen in the below graph which is for a collinear array made of

short dipoles.

Figure 3-48: Directivity vs. Relative Spacing plot for a short dipole collinear array [25]

Therefore, a ten element array for the proposed design in this thesis would

have occupied a large physical area and since one of the constraints on this design

was small physical footprint, this design avenue was not explored. However, an

increase in number of elements to a total of seven which is 1.4 times the five elements,

should have at the very least shown a slight increase in gain from 11 dB, thus

Page 89: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

78

indicating that increase in number of elements in an array doesn t always show an increase in gain.

In efforts to observe if there was a performance effect of individual element

orientation with respect to each other in the proposed design array, the following

orientation modifications were done shown in Figure 3-49 where each element is

opposing the one besides it.

Figure 3-49: Two Element Opposing Orientation SIW Horn Array Design

Figure 3-50: Return Loss Response for Two Element Opposed Orientation SIW Horn Array Design

Page 90: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

79

Plot in Figure 3-50 shows a very similar response to that shown by a single

element in Figure 3-18. However, there is only a slight increase in gain from 3.59 dB

resulting from a single element shown in Figure 3-19 to 3.82 dB for a two element

shown in Figure 3-30. This is a difference of 0.23 dB which is only a 1.054 times

increase in gain from a single element, thus showing that arranging the elements in

an opposing orientation to each other has no effect on gain or radiation pattern as

was in the case of two elements without opposing orientation. As already shown

through Figure 3-24, doubling the number of elements from single to double indeed

increase the gain by 3 dB as per general theory.

Figure 3-51: Two Element Realized Gain Pattern for an Opposing Element Horn Array

The results from literature search showed that altering the ground plane of a

monopole antenna, usually resulted in improved return loss and bandwidth of the

design [25]. As the scope of the study was pertaining to improving gain and radiation

patterns for array antennas this avenue was not given consideration

Page 91: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

80

CHAPTER 4

MEASUREMENT AND RESULTS DISCUSSION

The final proposed Antenna design was submitted to an external PCB

manufacturer. However, due to rising fabrication costs when a ROGERS material is

used, it was decided to fabricate the design on a FR4 substrate board. To ensure that the

antenna array was demonstrable when a FR4 material is replaced, additional simulations

were performed and after verification of functionality the final design files were handed

over to the PCB manufacturer.

Figure 4-1: Fabricated Array Antenna

4.1 Antenna Gain Measurement Techniques

For antenna gain measurement, there are three commonly used methods

used to calculate gain. They are:

1. Two Antenna Method

2. Three Antenna Method

3. Gain Comparison or Gain Transfer Method

The two antenna method also known as two known antenna method is a method

which is commonly used when the antennas used are identical. The gain calculation

Page 92: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

81

is based off the Friis transmission equation which has been introduced in the previous

chapter. The gain of the Antenna Under Test (AUT) is calculated as follows.

���� = ( � ) � �

where Gt = Gr = G(as they are both identical antennae)

(39)

When the above equation is rearranged to obtain Gain in dB, it becomes,

= [ log ( � ) + log (����)] (40)

However, in the two antenna measurement technique the AUT that need to be

measured for their gain response, need to be identical. As the existing X-Band antennae

in the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Electromagnetics Lab were of unknown

manufacturer which bore no details of records of their performance, this option was

initially considered but then replaced with the three antenna technique for maximum

accuracy. However, the two antenna method was still performed in order to compare and

as a cross validation method against the three antenna method.

For the gain comparison method, the requirement is that there needs to be a

known antenna known as the gain standard in the test setup and a third antenna

whose gain is not needed to be known. The following are the steps followed.

1. The AUT is set to be on the receiving side and it s received power PAUT is

recorded using a power meter with the unknown gain antenna set on the

transmit side.

2. The gain standard is next set to be on the receiving side and its received

power (PGS) is measured while ensuring that the transmit power and the

Page 93: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

82

distance between the transmit and receive side is kept the same as the earlier

measurement for AUT.

With the recorded power values known at various azimuth angles, the following

two equations are evaluated based of the received power recordings of the two

steps.

+ � = log ( � ) + log (��� ) (41)

where: Gt = the Gain of the Transmit Antenna(unknown)

+ � = log ( � ) + log (��� ) (42)

By solving Equations 3 and 4 simultaneously and re-arranging them, the

following expression is obtained

= + log (��� ) (43)

The three unknown antenna method is the most accurate of the three above

mentioned method. However, it is also the most time consuming method and

computationally more intensive than the other two method. The three antenna

method is a well-established way to finding the gain of an AUT when there are no two

identical antennas available or a reference antenna available in the measurement

frequency of interest. As the available X-Band horn antennas in the lab were of

unknown manufacturer and unknown performance the three antenna method was

used to measure the gain of the proposed thesis antenna and then compared with the

two antenna method for accuracy.

Page 94: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

83

Additionally, a MATLAB script was developed to alleviate and simplify the

process of calculating the Gain of the AUTs using the Three Antenna Method. The

script took the raw data gathered from the anechoic chamber measurements,

processed them using the three antenna method and then outputted the gain pattern

plots of each antenna based of those calculations. Finally, another script was

developed in MATLAB which calculated the array factor for pattern estimation which

based its results off user input, simulation and measurement results.

4.1.1 Three Antenna Gain Measurement Technique

The key factor in using the three antenna gain measurement method is that

none of the specs of the antennae that are involved need to be known as long as they

are designed to operate in the frequency of interest of the AUT. In essence all of the

antennae which are involved in this technique become AUTs themselves as is

evidenced by looking at the calculations below.

The method to testing is to measure all three antennas against each other. The

first antenna is first tested with the second antenna and then the third antenna. Then

the second antenna is tested with the third antenna.

+ = log ( � ) + log (����)

+ = log ( � ) + log (����)

+ = log ( � ) + log (����)

(44)

Page 95: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

84

So, there are essentially three rounds of measurement done. In the RHS of all three expressions in Equation the Range R and lambda λ are kept constant and only the ratio of Pr/Pt is changing for each round. Therefore the equations can be re-

written as:

+ =

+ =

+ =

(45)

Solving the system of equations in Equation 7 simultaneously, it is possible to

obtain the individual gain of each antenna

= + −

= − +

= − + +

(46)

4.2 Calculated, Simulated and Measured Array Factor

Array Factor calculations have been traditionally used in Array Antenna

radiation pattern estimation using the Pattern Multiplication concept, which has

been discussed in Chapter 2 of this thesis work. Array Factor calculation and pattern

estimation are useful to quickly estimate the radiation pattern of an array antenna

system without the need of a complex antenna modelling and simulation software

which requires high computing resources and time.

Page 96: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

85

For these purposes, a script was developed in MATLAB which calculated the

Array Factor using the Equation 8 from Chapter 2 at various azimuth angles theta in

1 degree increments. The script was also fed with simulated and measured data

obtained from HFSS simulations and anechoic chamber experiment respectively and

an overlay plot is generated.

Figure 4-2: Overlay Plot of Array Factor Patterns

The overlay patterns shown in Figure 4-2 for the array factor are similar

around their main lobe but the simulated pattern shows side lobes. One of the

possible causes for this is because the simulation design considers the microstrip

feed, the transition and horn antenna among other physical factors in the design as it

evaluates the radiation pattern. However, Equation 8, is generic to all array and is not

a design equation specifically for Substrate Integrated Horn Array. Additionally Equation doesn t consider the physical factors previously mentioned but only takes

Page 97: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

86

into account mathematical ones such as element spacing, phase separation angle β

and theta .

4.3 Experiment Setup

For the testing and measurement of the proposed antenna, three main

experiments needed to done and they were:

1. S11 Measurement Test

2. Radiation Pattern Measurement

3. Gain Pattern Calculation

All the above three experiments were done in the Electrical Engineering

graduate research laboratories at University of Colorado Colorado Springs. The

fabricated antenna, received from the fabrication facility and then a 50 Ω SMA

connector was soldered to the feeding port. For each of the above experiment, cables

and instruments involved were calibrated to the best of capabilities and the raw data

was processed using MATLAB.

4.3.1 S11 Measurement Test After the SMA connector was soldered onto the board, one of the first test that

was done which served as a sanity test was the S11 of the antenna is helpful in

calculation of the impedance of the antenna, which in this case is the load in the

network. The following equation is used

� = = � −� + (47)

Where, Γ = reflection co-efficient, Z0 = characteristic impedance

Page 98: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

87

Zl = load impedance

The following table summarises the devices and equipment used for each of the

experiment.

Table 4-1: Return Loss Test Measurement Equipment Used

Return Loss

Measurement Test

Equipment Used

Model

Number

Agilent VNA PNA N5224A

Cable

Gore N5260-

60023

AUT Prototype

Figure 4-3: Antenna S11 response from Calibrated VNA

After the SMA connector was soldered, the antenna was measured using the

calibrated VNA in the lab. Figure 4-3, shows that the S11 response from the antenna

Page 99: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

88

is showing a strong resonance at 8.969 GHz, 8.334 GHz and 9.902 GHz shown by

Marker 1, 2 and 3 respectively. An overlay S11 plot between the measured and

simulated response of the array antenna is shown in the following page.

Page 100: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

89

Figure 4-4: Overlay S11 response

From the overlay plot, it can be seen that the simulated response is shifted by

roughly 0.21 GHz from the center frequency of 9 GHz when comparing the shift between marker m and m .

Page 101: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

90

4.3.2 Radiation Pattern Setup

The radiation pattern of the fabricated antenna was measured in the

Microwave Anechoic Chamber facility within the Electromagnetics Lab of the CU

Colorado Springs campus location. The overall setup for radiation pattern

measurement is shown In Figure 4-5 and details of the components used is listed

Table 4-2.

Table 4-2: Details of Components Used in Radiation Pattern Measurement

Component Make and Model Quantity Used

Low Noise

Amplifier(LNA)

Macom MAAL-010528 1

Bias-Tee Mini Circuits ZX85-12G-

S+

2

Signal Amp Mini Circuits ZX60-

14012L-S+

2

Signal Splitter Mini Circuits ZFSC-2-

10G+

1

Signal Generator HP 836208 1

Power Meter HP 437B 1

Power Meter Sensor Head HP 8481B 1

Scientific Atlanta

Positioner

SA 4131 1

A DOS based sweeper program was used to automate the azimuth sweep operation and it s raw data was collected in a comma separated value (CSV) text file.

The raw data was then processed using MATLAB or HFSS for analysis.

Page 102: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

91

LNA

TX ANT 1

RF SOURCE

RX ANT 2

BIAS-TSPLITTER

SPECTRUM

ANALYSER

POWER METER

DISTANCE ‘

INSIDE ANECHOIC CHAMBERCOMPUTER

CONTROL

AZIMUTH POSITIONER

DATA

AMP 2AMP 1BIAS-T

Figure 4-5: Anechoic Chamber Antenna and Experiment Setup

The connection between the RF source and the TX antenna was setup using a

low loss cable and same applies between the RX antenna and the splitter. In all cases

the . In both the experiments, the setup was kept constant after calibration. However,

before the measurements were started, it was essential to calculate that both

antennas are operating in the Far Field region. As per literature in Stutzman and

Thiele in their book Antenna Theory and Design, the distances to the edges of far and

near fields of operation for big antennas, D > 2.5λ are as follows []:

: = . √

: =

: >

(48)

where:

D = Maximum Antenna Aperture Dimensions (m) λ = wavelength (m)

Page 103: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

92

r = distance (m)

The far field condition for a large antenna is therefore satisfied as can be seen from Equation when the distance r is greater than D2/λ. For an electrically small antenna i.e. an antenna whose physical dimensions can fit in a sphere of radius

a equal to or less than 0.16λ [Stutzman and Thiele p ] the field conditions are different from electrically large antennas shown earlier and are as follows

: = � ~ .

: = : >

(49)

To obtain accurate radiation pattern measurements and plot therefore, both

the transmit and receive antennae must be operating in the far field region and

therefore the three far field conditions are given below [Stutzman and Thiele].

> > .

(50)

A table was created to indicate the dimensions of all antennas used for

radiation pattern measurement and showing if they each passed the three far field

criterion in Equation 12. The distance between the transmit and receive antenna was

measured to be 1.8023m using a tape measure.

Page 104: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

93

Table 4-3: Antennae Dimensions and Far Field Criterion

Antenna Maximum Aperture

Dimensions, cm

Passed Far Field

Criterion

HP/EMCO 3115 15.9 YES

Homemade X-Band Horn 14.02 YES

Proposed Design SIW

Horn

12.15 YES

Figure 4-6: Proposed Antenna Array Mounted for Testing in Anechoic Chamber facility at UCCS

For radiation pattern test, the proposed thesis design antenna array was

made the AUT and it was set to be the receiver and placed on a positioner turn table

as shown in Figure 4-6. The LNA was connected directly after the antenna feed (not

shown) but wrapped with radio absorbing foam so as to avoid unwanted reflection

to antenna measurement. The resulting radiation pattern is shown below Figure 4-

7. The measurement was taken at 9.023 GHz.

Page 105: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

94

Figure 4-7: Overlay Plot of Simulated and Measured Radiation Pattern of AUT

4.3.3 Gain Measurement Setup

For calculating the gain, as explained previously the three antenna method

was used. The MATLAB script developed to calculate the Gain using the three antenna

method based on the raw data provided through the chamber measurement was

used. The setup was similar to Figure 4-5, except that it essentially needed to be done

three times by switching the antennae as per the three antenna gain measurement

setup.

Page 106: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

95

LNA

TX ANT 1

RF SOURCE

RX ANT 2

BIAS-TSPLITTER

SPECTRUM

ANALYSER

POWER METER

DISTANCE ‘

INSIDE ANECHOIC CHAMBERCOMPUTER

CONTROL

AZIMUTH POSITIONER

DATA

AMP 2

TX ANT 1 RX ANT 3

TX ANT 2 RX ANT 3

AMP 1BIAS-T

TP1

TP2

TP3

TP4

Figure 4-86: Three Antenna Gain Measurement Setup

There were multiple test points inserted in the setup where the power was

measured to calculate for the losses through the cables, connectors and components

using a zeroed and calibrated power meter. At the baseline setup, the following

equations were used to estimate the losses at different part of the setup, which were

then inputted into the MATLAB script which calculated and plotted the gain for all the

three unknown antennae that were used in the gain measurement. The frequency was

set to 9.023 GHz and the transmit continuous wave power was set to 20 dBm at the

RF signal generator source.

= � − � (51)

= � − � (52)

Note that to measure the TP4, a cable was connected from TP2 to TP3 in the

baseline setup. The cable (not shown) in Figure 4-9 showed a loss of 2.18 dB was

calculated as follows

= � − � (53)

Once the TP4 was found, the Cable between TP2 and TP3 was removed and

replaced with the appropriate antennae at both ends. Using the tape measurement

Page 107: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

96

mentioned previously, it was then possible to calculate the Free Space Loss (FSL)

between the transmit and receive antennae using the following equation.

= ( × � × ) (54)

The R in equation 16 represents the distance between the two antennae, and

that was 1.8034m. From Figure 4-8 it can be seen that the distance R between the two antennae was kept constant along with all other factors such as cable type,

equipment and components. The arrow marks indicate the steps involved in

switching out each of the antenna during the measurement. The first measurement

was between Antenna 1 and 2, next Antenna 1 and 3 and finally Antenna 2 and 3.

The following components shown in Table 4 were used in the gain

measurement experiment.

Table 4-4: Component Listing for Gain Measurement Experiment

Component Make and Model Quantity Used

Low Noise

Amplifier(LNA)

Macom MAAL-010528 1

Bias-Tee Mini Circuits ZX85-12G-

S+

2

Signal Amp Mini Circuits ZX60-

14012L-S+

2

Signal Splitter Mini Circuits ZFSC-2-

10G+

1

Signal Generator HP 836208 1

Power Meter HP 437B 1

Power Meter Sensor Head HP 8481B 1

The three antennas that were used are mentioned in Table 4-5. Antenna 1

was the HP/EMCO 3115 bi-ridged horn, Antenna 2 was the proposed thesis SIW

horn array antenna (AUT) and antenna 3 was the homemade X-Band metallic horn.

Page 108: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

97

Upon completion, the gain at maximum lobe for each type was recorded and is

shown in Table below.

Table 4-5: Main Lobe Measured Absolute Gain

Antenna Main Lobe Absolute Gain,

dB

HP/EMCO 3115 10.47

AUT 11.07

Home Made X-Band Horn 14.16

Once the raw data obtained from the measurement setup was fed into the

MATLAB script developed to calculate and plot gain, the AUT showed a peak

absolute gain of 11.07 dB at the main lobe and a gain of 8.735 dB at broadside (0

Degrees).

Figure 4-9: Measured Absolute Gain of AUT

Page 109: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

98

The AUT antenna gain pattern is shown in Figure 4-9. It can be seen that the

gain pattern is showing three main lobes. The main lobe is showing a gain at

Broadside (180 Degrees) of roughly 8 dB.

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

The SIW based horn array antenna design has met the specifications. Both the

simulated and fabricated models of the design show a gain greater than 8 dB around

center design frequency of 9 GHz. With the ROGERS RO3010 material, the design can

be made to show a gain of 11 dB.

The design also showed a good overlap between the measured and simulated

radiation pattern. However, the S11 response showed a shift between the measured

and simulated when the antenna was measured using the calibrated VNA. One of the

possible reasons for this could be due to difference in parameters between fabricated

and simulated design. A digital Vernier caliper was used to measure for some

parameters such as via radius, board thickness, copper thickness etc. There range of

difference went from 1.18mils to 4mils. Although this might seem a negligible, such

differences do need to be factored in for high frequency antenna designs such as this

one.

There were some of the difficulties in producing the results for the antennae.

The initial design was done for ROGER RO3010 material which had a high dielectric

constant value of 10.2. However, due to cost constraints the fabricated antenna had

to be done on FR4 which meant compensating for a different dielectric. FR4 is a lossy

material at high frequencies. Also it was not possible to find out what the surface

Page 110: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

99

roughness of the material was from the manufacturer. There was a design frequency

shift noted when the FR4 material was used. But this design frequency could again be

tuned for the FR4 by manipulating the waveguide end aperture of the integrated horn

design.

The test chamber, instruments and components were also posing difficulties

in getting a more accurate reading when it came to radiation patterns. The signal

generator and the spectrum analyzer had an unknown calibration date. This showed

a difference in the measured and transmit frequency value. The cables used were very

lossy at the design frequency and hence posed the problem of inadequate SNR for

getting clean and accurate power reading. The power meter used in the testing did

not have a high dynamic range. A workaround to this would be to use the spectrum

analyzer, given its inherent high dynamic range. However the spectrum analyzer did

not yield understandable values when it was made to remotely acquire with the

sweeper program.

However these issues were certainly were mitigated when using the three

antenna technique to calculate for the realized gain. The overall design therefore

succeeded in meeting its requirements in terms of gain, size and weight and therefore

successfully achieving its goal. The design is also very modular and future iterations

of it could be made on a flexible substrate material to achieve bendable characteristics which could prove useful it s intended proposed applications in the UAV sector.

Additionally, it can be easily be made into a scanning array antenna with the

introduction of phase shifting techniques at each element.

Page 111: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

100

There were several design updates and analyses done after the initial

fabrication and testing of the five element array. All of this was done on a lossy FR4

substrate. However, it would be interesting to see the design being done and tested

on a higher dielectric or less lossy substrate such as ROGERS RO3010. Another

element that can be research and investigated as future work is the feeding technique

for the design version which has alternating interlaced elements.

Page 112: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

101

REFERENCES

[1]L. Haynes, C. Lin and A. Feinberg, Collision Avoidance Using ADS-B Radar, 1st ed.

Intelligent Automation, Inc, 2007, p. 6.

[2]"Collision Avoidance: ADS-B or TCAS." 123HelpMe.com. 14 Sep 2015

<http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=43897>.

[3]Advisory Circular, Air Carrier Operational Approval and Use of TCAS II Date:

3/18/13 , AC No: 120-55C ßin important papers folder

[4] http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/projects/senseavoid/Images/CMU-RI-TR-08-03.pdf.

Section 4.1 User Requirements, Table 2

[5] http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/203261/files/EPFL_TH6421.pdf, Section 1.2, page 3

[6] Fredrik Gulbrandsen, Design and Analysis of an X-band Phased Array Patch

Antenna, Norwegeian University of Science and Technology, 01/01/2014.

[7] Mohamed El-Nawawy, A.M.M.A. Allam and Maged Ghoneima, Design and

Fabrication of W-Band SIW Horn Antenna using PCB process,

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6487259: IEEE, 09/09/2014.

[8] Pasquale Capece, Nardo Lucci,Giuseppe Pelosi,, A Multilayer PCB Dual-Polarized

Radiating Element for Future SAR Applications,

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=6733274: IEEE, 04/02/2014.

[9] Praveen, S., Miniature radar for mobile devices,

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6670337: IEEE, 04/02/2014.

[10] Alan Hobbs,Stanley R. Herwitz, Human Factors in the Maintenance of Unmanned

Page 113: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

102

Aircraft,

http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/maintenance_hf/library/documents/media/human_fa

ctors_maintenance/maint_uav_nasa.pdf: FAA, 02/10/2014.

[11]Niklova, " LECTURE 18: Horn Antennas,"

http://www.ece.mcmaster.ca/faculty/nikolova/antenna_dload/current_lectures/L18_Horns

.pdf.

[12] Constantine Balanis, Antenna Theory, 3rd ed. , United States: John Wiley, 2014. pp

674

[13] Warren L.Stutzman and Gary A. Thiele, Antenna Theory and Design, 3rd. ed. ,

United States of America: John Wiley & Sons, 2013. pp. 374

[14] Umran S. Inan ,Aziz Inan,Ryan Said, Engineering Electromagnetics and Waves, 2nd

ed. , Prentice Hall, 2014.

[15] Bilkent University, Dimension definition of rectangular waveguide, Unknown ed. ,

http://www.microwaves101.com/encyclopedias/substrate-integrated-waveguide:

Microwaves 101.com, 2014.

[16]TWO-WAY RADAR EQUATION (MONOSTATIC) Navy Electronic Warfare

Handbook, Ed. United States Navy, http://jacquesricher.com/EWhdbk/2waymon.pdf:

United States Navy, 14/9/2014, .

[17] David M Pozar, Microwave Engineering, 4th ed. , John Wiley, 2014.

[18] Mathworks, MATLAB, R2014 ed. , Mathworks, 2014.

[19] ANSYS, HFSS, 2015 ed. , ANSYS, 2015.

Page 114: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

103

[20] Merrill Skolnik, Radar Handbook, 3rd ed. , United States of America: McGraw Hill,

pp13.2

[21] Shan Jiang and Stavros Georgakopoulos, " Electromagnetic Wave Propagation into

Fresh Water,"www.scirp.org/journal/PaperDownload.aspx?paperID=5906: Journal of

Electromagnetic Analysis and Applications, 2011, .

[22] James K. Kuchar and Ann C. Drumm, " The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance

System,"https://www.ll.mit.edu/publications/journal/pdf/vol16_no2/16_2_04Kuchar.pdf:

2015, .

[23] Muhammad Imran Nawaz and Zhao Huiling, " Substrate Integrated Waveguide

(SIW) to Microstrip Transition at X-

Band,"http://europment.org/library/2014/interlaken/bypaper/CSC/CSC-09.pdf:

International Conference on Circuits, Systems and Control, 2014, .

[24] Dominic Deslandes, “Design Equations for Tapered Microstrip-to-

,"http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=5517884: IEEE, 2014, .

[25] Richard C. Johnson, Henry Jasik, Antenna Engineering Handbook, 2nd ed. ,

McGraw-Hill Inc, 08/08/2014.

Page 115: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

104

APPENDICES

1. Radar Range Equation

2. clear all;

clc;

%Radar Cross Section

RCS = 0.05; %Bird

%Lambda/Wavelength

f_design = 9*10^9;

c = 3*10^8;

Lambda = c/f_design;

%Range

%Assume R1 = R2, in meters and R_target = square of range

R_target = (150);

%Power Transmitted, Watts

P_t = 2;

P_t_dbm = 10*log10(P_t*1000);

%Power Received, Watts

P_r = 0.01;

P_r_dbm = 10*log10(P_r*1000);

%%Gain

Gain_squared = sqrt(((R_target.^2)*(16*pi^2)*P_r))./((P_t)*RCS*Lambda);

Gain_db = abs(10*log10(Gain_squared));

figure(1)

semilogx(R_target,Gain_db,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('Range,Meters');

ylabel('Gain,dB')

title('Plot of Gain vs. Range with G_t=G_r,RCS = 0.05m^2,P_t=2W,P_r=0.01W');

Page 116: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

105

3. %From Dr Song's source

f_design = 9*10^9;

c = 3*10^8;

Lambda = c/f_design;

%Diameter of the antenna in meters

D = 0.001:0.001:0.5;

G = (pi^2*(D.^2))/(Lambda^2);

Gain_db = abs(20*log10(G));

figure(2)

plot(D,Gain_db,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('Diameter,m');

ylabel('Gain,dB')

title('Plot of Gain vs. Antenna Diameter');

4. %From Skolnik's Source

clc

clear all

%Using Skolnik's RRE with NF and SN

f_design = 9*10^9;

c = 3*10^8;

Lambda = c/f_design;

%Power Transmitted, Watts

P_t = 2;

%Power Transmitted, 2Watts in dBm

P_t_dBm = 10*log10(P_t*1000);

%\\Start Variable Gain\\

%Assume Gain Transmit and Receive is = 40 dB/ variable

Gain = 1:1:200;

%Radar Cross Section of a bird

RCS = 0.05;

%Denominator

%kTB = 31.62*10^-9 Watts(-65 dBm), NF = 3 dB , SNR = 14dB

%///Convert from dBm to Watts for Received Power///

%Noise Power when BW is in MHz/kHz(Equation from RF Cafe)

%Assuming 25 MHz BW

BW =25;

Page 117: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

106

kTB = -114 + 10*log10(BW);

RHS = kTB/10;

RHS_w = (10^RHS/1000);

kTB_W = RHS_w;

%///End Conversion Process///

%Noise figure in dB

NF = 3;

%SNR in dB

SNR = 18;

%Numerator and Denominator

Den_1 = (16*pi^2)*kTB_W*NF*SNR;

Num_1 = P_t*(Gain.^2)*(Lambda^2)*RCS;

%Take the Fourth Root of the RHS

Range1 = nthroot((Num_1./Den_1),4);

figure(3)

plot(Range1,Gain,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('Range,Meters');

ylabel('Gain,dB')

title(char('Plot of Gain vs.Range with G_t=G_r,RCS = 0.05m^2','P_t=2W,kTB ~= -100

dBm,NF = 3dB,SNR = 14dB'));

%Noise figure in dB

NF = 0.5:0.5:3;

%SNR in dB

SNR = 18;

Gain_NF = 20;

%Numerator and Denominator

Den_1_NFvar = (16*pi^2)*kTB_W*NF*SNR;

Num_1 = P_t*(Gain_NF.^2)*(Lambda^2)*RCS;

%Take the Fourth Root of the RHS

Range1_NFvar = nthroot((Num_1./Den_1_NFvar),4);

figure(4)

plot(Range1_NFvar,NF,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('Range,Meters');

ylabel('Noise Figure,dB')

title(char('Plot of Range vs. NF with G_t,G_r=20,RCS = 0.05m^2','P_t=2W,kTB ~= -

100 dBm,SNR = 18dB'));

BW_var =1:10:500;

kTB_var = -114 + 10*log10(BW_var);

RHS_var = kTB_var/10;

RHS_w_var = (10.^RHS_var/1000);

kTB_W_var = RHS_w_var;

%Noise figure in dB

NF = 3;

%SNR in dB

SNR_kTBvar = 18;

%Gain in dB

Gain_kTB = 20;

%Numerator and Denominator

Den_1_kTBvar = (16*pi^2)*kTB_W_var*NF*SNR_kTBvar;

Page 118: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

107

Num_1_kTBvar = P_t*(Gain_kTB^2)*(Lambda^2)*RCS;

%Take the Fourth Root of the RHS

Range1_kTBvar = nthroot((Num_1./Den_1),4);

figure(5)

plot(Range1_kTBvar,BW_var,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('Range,Meters');

ylabel('kTB,pico Watts')

title(char('Plot of kTB vs.Range with with G_t,G_r=20,RCS =

0.05m^2','P_t=2W,NF=3dB,SNR = 18dB'));

5. clc

clear all

close all

frequency = 9*10^9;

P_t = 30;

P_r = -94;

G_t= 45;

G_r= 45;

RCS = 0.01;

%Range is in kM

Range = 31;

K1 = 92.44;

K2 = 21.46;

6. Range = P_t-P_r+G_t+G_r+...

10*log10(RCS)-20*log10(9)-30*log10(4*pi)+20*log10(3);

Range_meters = abs(10^(Range/40))

7. %Calculate Senstivity Required, Given Range

clc

clear all

close all

%Frequency is in GHz i.e 5 = 5 GHz

frequency = 5;

%Transmit and Receive power in dBm

P_t = 70;

P_r = -94;

%Transmit and Receive Gain in dB

G_t= 40;

G_r= 40;

%RCS in m^2

RCS = 0.05;

Page 119: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

108

%Range is in kM

Range = 0.17;

K1 = 92.44;

K2 = 21.46;

alpha_atten = 20*log10(frequency*Range)+ K1;

%Frequency is simply taken as 5 instead of 5 x 10^9

G_alpha = 10*log10(RCS)+20*log10(5)+K2;

Rx_sense = P_t+G_t+G_r+G_alpha-(2*alpha_atten)

8. %Let us Backwork this Out

clc

clear all

close all

%Frequency is in GHz i.e 5 = 5 GHz

frequency = 9;

%Transmit(2W) and Receive(31.62nW) power in dBm

P_t = 33.1;

P_r = -65;

%Transmit and Receive Gain in dB

G_t= 40;

G_r= 40;

%RCS in m^2

RCS = 0.05;

%Range is in kM

%Range = 31;

K1 = 92.44;

K2 = 21.46;

%Frequency is simply taken as 9 instead of 9 x 10^9

G_alpha = 10*log10(RCS)+20*log10(frequency)+K2;

%alpha_atten = 20*log10(frequency)+20*log10(Range)+ K1;

RHS = P_t+G_t+G_r+G_alpha-P_r;

RHS = RHS/2;

twenty_log_R = RHS - 20*log10(frequency) -K1;

log_R = twenty_log_R/20;

R = 10^(log_R);

R_meters = R*1000

9. clc;

clear all;

%Plot for various RCS

RCS = 0.01:0.1:10;

%Lambda/Wavelength

f_design = 9*10^9;

c = 3*10^8;

Lambda = c/f_design;

%Range

%Assume R1 = R2, in meters and R_target = square of range

R_target = (152.4)^2;

%Power Transmitted, Watts

P_t = 1;

%Power Received, Watts

Page 120: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

109

P_r = 0.1;

%%Gain

Gain_squared = sqrt((P_t.*RCS/(4*pi)*(Lambda/(4*pi*R_target)))./P_r);

Gain_db = abs(20*log10(Gain_squared));

figure(2)

plot(RCS,Gain_db,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('RCS,m^2');

ylabel('Gain,dB')

title('Plot of Gain vs. Varying Radar Cross Section(RCS)');

10. clc;

clear all;

%Plot for various RCS(m^2)

RCS = 0.1:0.1:10;

f_design = 9*10^9;

c = 3*10^8;

Lambda = c/f_design;

%Range

%Assume R1 = R2, in meters and R_target = square of range

R_target = (152.4)^2;

%Power Transmitted, Watts

P_t = 400;

%Power Received, Watts

P_r_05W = 40;

P_r_1W = 4;

P_r_2W = 1;

%%Gain

Gain_squared_05W = sqrt((P_t.*RCS/(4*pi)*(Lambda/(4*pi*R_target)))./P_r_05W);

Gain_squared_1W = sqrt((P_t.*RCS/(4*pi)*(Lambda/(4*pi*R_target)))./P_r_1W);

Gain_squared_2W = sqrt((P_t.*RCS/(4*pi)*(Lambda/(4*pi*R_target)))./P_r_2W);

Gain_db_05W = abs(20*log10(Gain_squared_05W));

Gain_db_1W = abs(20*log10(Gain_squared_1W));

Gain_db_2W = abs(20*log10(Gain_squared_2W));

figure(3)

plot(RCS,Gain_db_05W,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

hold on;

plot(RCS,Gain_db_1W,'g','LineWidth',1.6);

plot(RCS,Gain_db_2W,'b','LineWidth',1.6);

legend('P_r = 0.5W','P_r = 1W','P_r = 2W')

xlabel('RCS,m^2');

ylabel('Gain,dB')

title('Plot of Gain vs. Varying Radar Cross Section(RCS) with Pt =20W');

11.

Page 121: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

110

12. clc;

clear all;

%PCS for Bird

%RCS = 0.01;

RCS = 10;

%Lambda/Wavelength

f_design = 9*10^9;

c = 3*10^8;

Lambda = c/f_design;

%Range

%Assume R1 = R2, in meters and R_target = square of range

%Plot for Various Range from 1 to 200 meters

R_target = 1:1:50;

R_target_sq = (R_target).^2;

%Power Transmitted, Watts

P_t = 20;

%Power Received, Watts

P_r = 0.1;

%%Gain

Gain_squared = sqrt((P_r/P_t)*(4*pi)*(16*pi^2)/(RCS*Lambda^2)).*R_target;

Gain_db = abs(20*log10(Gain_squared));

figure(4)

plot(R_target,Gain_db,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('Range,m');

ylabel('Gain,dB')

title('Plot of Gain vs. Range');

13. %From the plot in figure 4, the maximum gain for a 10 cm diameter antenna

%is about 40 dB @ 9GHz. Using this value, we calculate the number of elements

%required assuming eta(efficieny to be around 0.65)

Gain_var = 1:1:20;

N = Gain_var/(pi*0.65);

figure(6)

plot(N,Gain_var,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('Number of Elements');

ylabel('Gain,dB')

title('Plot of Gain vs. Phased Array Elements @ 9GHz');

Gain_var_1G = 0.1:0.1:2.5;

N1G = Gain_var_1G/(pi*0.65);

figure(7)

plot(N1G,Gain_var_1G,'b','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('Number of Elements');

ylabel('Gain,dB')

Page 122: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

111

title('Plot of Gain vs. Phased Array Elements @ 1GHz');

%Calculate Gain per element. Assuming N = 9 and Gain = 14 dB. From Skolnik

%13.15 @ 9 GHz

G_per_element = 14/(9*0.65);

%Gain per element for 1 GHz.

G_per_element_1 = 2.5/(9*0.65);

%The gain per element is rougly 3.0769 dB

%Find element spacing,

S = sqrt(G_per_element*(Lambda^2)/(4*pi))

S1GHz = sqrt(G_per_element_1*(Lambda1^2)/(4*pi))

%Find Antenna Array Size(as per Skolnik pg 13.14)

Array_size = 9*S

Array_size1 = 9*S1GHz

%Array size comes out to 13.09 cm^2 or 0.1309 m^2

%Plot for various RCS

RCS = 0.01:0.1:10;

%Range

%Assume R1 = R2, in meters and R_target = square of range

%Power Transmitted, Watts

P_t = 2;

%Power Received, Watts

P_r = 10^-3;

%Range(assuming target is a man i.e RCS = 1 and G = 40dB)

Range = sqrt((1*(40^2)*P_t*(Lambda^2))/(4*pi*P_r*(16*pi^2)));

Range1 = sqrt((1*(40^2)*P_t*(Lambda1^2))/(4*pi*P_r*(16*pi^2)));

figure(7)

plot(RCS,Gain_db,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('RCS,m^2');

ylabel('Gain,dB')

title('Plot of Gain vs. Varying Radar Cross Section(RCS) with Pt =2W');

14. %Compare with Original Range Equation

clc;clear all;close all

f_design = 9*10^9;

f_design_1 = 1*10^9;

c = 3*10^8;

Lambda = c/f_design;

Lambda1 = c/f_design_1;

%Power Transmitted, Watts

P_t = 2;

%Power Received, Watts

P_r = 10^-3;

Gain = 40;

RCS = 1;

konstant = sqrt((P_r*4*pi)./(P_t*RCS*(Gain^2)));

Range = sqrt((Lambda/4*pi*konstant))

Range1 = sqrt((Lambda1/4*pi*konstant))

15. %From Skolnik. This is from 1.10 assuming the The Receiver sensitivity part

%is Pr OR S_min i.e Minimum Detectable Signal equation 1.4

Page 123: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

112

f_design = 9*10^9;

f_design_1 = 1*10^9;

c = 3*10^8;

Lambda = c/f_design;

Lambda1 = c/f_design_1;

%Power Transmitted, Watts

P_t = 2;

%Power Received, Watts

P_r = 0.1;

Gain = 40;

RCS = 1;

R_max_power4_9GHz = ((P_t*(Gain^2)*Lambda*RCS)./(((4*pi)^2)*P_r));

R_max_power4_1GHz = ((P_t*(Gain^2)*Lambda1*RCS)./(((4*pi)^2)*P_r));

R_max_9GHz = nthroot(R_max_power4_9GHz,4)

R_max_1GHz = nthroot(R_max_power4_1GHz,4)

16. clc

clear all

close all

%Using Skolnik's RRE with NF and SN

f_design = 9*10^9;

f_design_1 = 1*10^9;

c = 3*10^8;

Lambda = c/f_design;

Lambda1 = c/f_design_1;

%Power Transmitted, Watts

P_t = 2;

%Power Transmitted, #-Watts in dBm

P_t_dBm = 10*log10(P_t*1000);

%Gain in dB

Gain = 20;

%Radar Cross Section

RCS = 0.01;

%SNR of Receiver

%SNR = 60;

SNR = 10:10:60;

%Bandwidth. Check on what BW is required and how to model Bandwidth

BW = 100 * 10^3;

%Noise Power when BW is in MHz/kHz(Equation from RF Cafe)

kTB = -114 + 10*log10(BW);

%Noise Figure, in dB(From RF Cafe)

NF = 3;

%Numerator in dB

Num_1 = P_t_dBm*(Gain.^2)*(Lambda^2)*RCS;

%Denominator in dB

Den_1 = (4*pi)^3*(SNR)*(kTB*NF);

% Use LOG property to subtract denominator from numerator and then find the

% 4th ROOT

R_max_1 = nthroot((Num_1./Den_1),4)

figure(1)

plot(SNR,R_max_1,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('SNR, dB');

Page 124: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

113

ylabel('Range,m')

title('Plot of SNR vs. Range @ 9 GHz kTB = 64 dB/Hz and NF =3 dB');

17. Gain = 20:10:60

%Radar Cross Section

RCS = 0.01;

%SNR of Receiver

SNR = 18;

%Bandwidth. Check on what BW is required and how to model Bandwidth

BW = 100 * 10^3;

%Noise Power when BW is in MHz/kHz(Equation from RF Cafe)

kTB = -114 + 10*log10(BW);

kTB_abs = abs(kTB);

%Noise Figure, in dB(From RF Cafe)

NF = 3;

%Numerator in dB

Num_1 = P_t_dBm*(Gain.^2)*(Lambda^2)*RCS;

%Denominator in dB

Den_1 = (4*pi)^2*(SNR)*(kTB_abs*NF);

% Use LOG property to subtract denominator from numerator and then find the

% 4th ROOT

R_max_1 = nthroot((Num_1./Den_1),4)

figure(2)

plot(Gain,R_max_1,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('Gain, dB');

ylabel('Range,m')

title('Plot of Gain vs. Range @ 9 GHz with SNR =18 kTB = 64 dB/Hz');

18. %Gain = 20:10:60

Gain = 18

%Radar Cross Section

RCS = 0.01;

%RCS = 0.01:0.5:10;

%SNR of Receiver

SNR = 60;

%SNR = 10:10:60;

%Bandwidth. Check on what BW is required and how to model Bandwidth

BW = 100 * 10^3;

%Noise Power when BW is in MHz/kHz(Equation from RF Cafe)

kTB = -114 + 10*log10(BW);

kTB_abs = abs(kTB);

%Noise Figure, in dB(From RF Cafe)

NF = 3;

%Numerator in dB

Num_1 = P_t_dBm*(Gain.^2)*(Lambda^2)*RCS;

%Denominator in dB

Den_1 = (4*pi)^2*(SNR)*(kTB_abs*NF);

% Use LOG property to subtract denominator from numerator and then find the

% 4th ROOT

R_max_1 = nthroot((Num_1./Den_1),4)

figure(2)

plot(Gain,R_max_1,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

Page 125: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

114

xlabel('Gain, dB');

ylabel('Range,m')

title('Plot of Gain vs. Range @ 9 GHz with SNR =60,Gain = 18 , NF = 3dB');

19. %Gain relative to isotropic radiator

%Gain = 10:10:60; <-- Original

Gain = 1:1:15;

f_design = 9*10^9;

c = 3*10^8;

Lambda = c/f_design;

%Distance between TX and RX Cans, in meters

r = 1;

Pr_o_Pt = (Gain.^2*Lambda.^2)./((4*pi*r).^2);

Gain_dBi = 0.5*(10*log10(Pr_o_Pt) + 20*log10(4*pi*r/Lambda));

figure(4)

plot(Gain,Gain_dBi,'r','LineWidth',1.6);

grid on;

xlabel('Gain of Circular Aperture WG, dB');

ylabel('Gain of RADAR,dBi')

title('Plot of Gain of Radar vs. Gain of Circular Aperture WG');

20. clc

clear all

close all

frequency = 9*10^9;

P_t = 30;

P_r = -94;

G_t= 45;

G_r= 45;

RCS = 0.01;

%Range is in kM

Range = 31;

K1 = 92.44;

K2 = 21.46;

Range = P_t-P_r+G_t+G_r+...

10*log10(RCS)-20*log10(9)-30*log10(4*pi)+20*log10(3);

Range_meters = abs(10^(Range/40))

21. clc

clear all

close all

%Frequency is in GHz i.e 5 = 5 GHz

frequency = 5;

%Transmit and Receive power in dBm

P_t = 70;

P_r = -94;

%Transmit and Receive Gain in dB

G_t= 40;

G_r= 40;

%RCS in m^2

RCS = 9;

%Range is in kM

Range = 31;

K1 = 92.44;

K2 = 21.46;

Page 126: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

115

alpha_atten = 20*log10(frequency*Range)+ K1;

%Frequency is simply taken as 5 instead of 5 x 10^9

G_alpha = 10*log10(RCS)+20*log10(5)+K2;

Rx_sense = P_t+G_t+G_r+G_alpha-(2*alpha_atten)

22. %Let us Backwork this Out

clc

clear all

close all

%Frequency is in GHz i.e 5 = 5 GHz

frequency = 9;

%Transmit and Receive power in dBm

P_t = 30;

P_r = -94;

%Transmit and Receive Gain in dB

G_t= 20;

G_r= 20;

%RCS in m^2

RCS = 0.01;

%Range is in kM

Range = 31;

K1 = 92.44;

K2 = 21.46;

%Frequency is simply taken as 5 instead of 5 x 10^9

G_alpha = 10*log10(RCS)+20*log10(frequency)+K2;

alpha_atten = 20*log10(frequency)+20*log10(Range)+ K1;

RHS = P_t+G_t+G_r+G_alpha-P_r;

RHS = RHS/2;

twenty_log_R = RHS - 20*log10(frequency) -K1;

log_R = twenty_log_R/20;

R = 10^(log_R);

R_meters = R*100

Published with MATLAB® R2015b

Page 127: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

116

2. Subsrate Integrated Waveguide Dimension Calculator Code

%Dimeension Calculator for SIW

%Predefined Contants

c = 3e8;

%The first condition is that d < lambda_guide/5.

% Find Guide Wavelength

%Need to find dimension a for SIW. According to ...

%http://www.microwaves101.com/encyclopedias/substrate-integrated-waveguide

%the relation between the waveguide cutoff frequency and a width is defined by

% The cutoff for a WR90 waveguide operating in X Band as per wiki

% http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waveguide_%28electromagnetism%29 is 6.566

prompt = 'What is the SIW Design Frequency? ';

f_design = input(prompt);

f_cutoff = 6.557*10^9;

a = c/(2*f_cutoff);

%for a Dielectrically Filled Waveguide the the permittivity comes into play

%as per microwaves 101

prompt1 = 'What is the Dielectric Permittivity, E_r? ';

E_r = input(prompt1);

a_d = a/sqrt(E_r);

a_d_cm = a_d*100;

waveguide_end_w = ['The W/G end Width is ',num2str(a_d_cm),' cm'];

disp(waveguide_end_w);

%Denominator. Not sure if it's operating frequency or cutoff frequency.

%Using cut-off frequency

den = ((E_r*(2*pi*f_design)^2/c^2) - (pi/a)^2);

lambda_guide = 2*pi/(sqrt(den));

lambda_guide_1 = ['The Guide Wavelength is ',num2str(lambda_guide),' meters'];

disp(lambda_guide_1);

%So first rule is diameter should be guide wavelength/5

d_max = lambda_guide/5;

d_max_cm = d_max*100;

d_max_mils0 = ['The Max Via Diameter is ',num2str(d_max_cm),' cm'];

disp(d_max_mils0);

%In Mils that is

d_max_mils = 39370.0787*d_max;

d_max_mils1 = ['The Max Via Diameter is ',num2str(d_max_mils),' mils'];

disp(d_max_mils1);

Page 128: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

117

r_max = d_max/2;

r_max_cm = r_max*100;

r_max_mils0 = ['The Max Via Radius is ',num2str(r_max_cm),' cm'];

disp(r_max_mils0);

%Second Condition is PITCH, p

p_max = 2*d_max_mils;

p_max_1 = p_max * 2.54*10^-5;

p_max_mils1 = ['The Max Pitch is ',num2str(p_max),' mils'];

disp(p_max_mils1);

p_max_mils2_cm = p_max*100;

p_max_cm = 2*d_max*100;

p_max_mils2 = ['The Max Pitch is ',num2str(p_max_cm),' cm'];

disp(p_max_mils2);

%Seems like with the values that result, the diameter of each via cab be

%80mils and pitch be 160 mils.

%%Width of Waveguide. from the paper 'a review on SIW & it's uStrip

%%Interconnect, Kumar'

if (p_max_cm >= d_max_cm)

disp('Pitch Is Greater than Diameter so Dimensions PASS');

end

if (p_max_cm <= d_max_cm)

disp('Diameter Is Greater than Pitch so FAIL');

end

BAND_stop = p_max_cm*((c*0.01)/f_cutoff);

if (BAND_stop < 0.25)

disp('Band_Stop Is Smaller than 0.25 so PASS');

end

% Microstrip to Rectangular Waveguide Step

%Calculate Effective Permittivity

prompt_height = 'What is the SIW/Antenna substrate Height in cm? ';

height_substrate = input(prompt_height);

Page 129: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

118

E_eff = ((E_r+1)/2)+...

((E_r-1)/2)*(1/sqrt(1+12*(height_substrate/a_d_cm)));

E_effective_disp = ['The Effective Permittivity is ',num2str(E_eff),' Ohms'];

disp(E_effective_disp);

%Calculate Effective Impedence

Z_effective = (120*pi)/(sqrt(E_eff)*((a_d_cm/height_substrate)+...

1.393+0.667*log((a_d_cm/height_substrate)+1.444)));

Z_effective_disp = ['The Effective Impedence is ',num2str(Z_effective),' Ohms'];

disp(Z_effective_disp);

Er_over_Ef = E_eff/E_r;

Er_over_Ef_disp = ['The Er/Ef is ',num2str(Er_over_Ef)];

disp(Er_over_Ef_disp);

%From HFSS simulation we can see that a_e(effective width of the W/G) is

%2.29517 cm

a_e = 2.29517;

exponent = -0.627*(E_r/E_eff);

one_over_w_e = (4.38/a_e)*exp(exponent);

w_e = 1/one_over_w_e;

%So according Paper 'A review on SIW and it's Microstrip Interconnect'

prompt_A_e = 'What is the SIW Waveguide Port Width(in cm)?';

effective_wg_internal_width = input(prompt_A_e);

W_taper = 0.4*effective_wg_internal_width;

disp_W_taper = ['The Taper Width is ',num2str(W_taper),'cm'];

disp(disp_W_taper);

%Taper Length...according to Equation 12 in the same published source as

%above for W_Taper, the taper length should be greater than 0.5 Guide

%Wavelength but smaller than Guide Wavelength

% taper_length = 0.75*lambda_guide;

% taper_length_cm = lambda_guide*100;

% disp_W_length = ['The Taper Length is ',num2str(taper_length_cm), 'cm'];

% disp(disp_W_length);

%Calculate the microstrip width.

%Using Equation 8(in section III Design Technique)

B_width = (377*pi/(2*50*sqrt(E_r)));

Page 130: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

119

RHS_width = (2/pi)*(B_width -1-log(2*B_width-1)+((E_r-1)/(2*E_r))...

*(log(B_width-1)+0.39-(0.61/E_r)));

W_microstrip = RHS_width*height_substrate;

disp_micrsostrip_width= ['The Microstrip Width is ',num2str(W_microstrip), 'cm'];

disp(disp_micrsostrip_width);

%Test out what multiplier they are using to calculate taper_length

taper_length_paper_cm = 1.2;

taper_length_m = taper_length_paper_cm/100;

multiplier = taper_length_m/lambda_guide;

prompt_cutoff = 'What is the Waveguide Design Cutoff Frequency(GHz)? ';

f_cutoff_paper = input(prompt_cutoff);

lambda_cutoff_paper = c/f_cutoff_paper;

lambda_guide_paper = lambda_cutoff_paper/sqrt(E_r);

multiplier_paper = taper_length_m/lambda_guide_paper;

taper_length = 0.5543*lambda_guide_paper;

taper_length_cm = taper_length*100;

disp_W_length = ['The Taper Length is ',num2str(taper_length_cm), 'cm'];

disp(disp_W_length);

f_design = 9*10^9;

lambda = 3e8/f_design;

wave_number_k = (2*pi)/lambda;

prompt_excitation_phase_thetha = 'What is the Phase between elements(in Degrees)?';

phase_between_element_thetha_degrees = input(prompt_excitation_phase_thetha);

prompt_element_spacing = 'What is the spacing between elements(in meters)?';

element_spacing = input(prompt_element_spacing);

RHS_AF_deg =

0.5*(wave_number_k*element_spacing*cos(phase_between_element_thetha_degrees));

RHS_AF_deg_rads = cos(RHS_AF_deg);

Page 131: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

120

%Array Factor Second Equation Equation 6.7 from Class Notes on Page 14

phi = wave_number_k*element_spacing*cos(phase_between_element_thetha_degrees);

Published with MATLAB® R2015b

3. Array Factor calculator and radiation pattern plotter

4. %Array Factor Calculator and Phased Array Radiation Pattern Plotter

clear all;

close all;

clc;

%Number of Elements in the Array Prompt

prompt_element_number = 'How many elements are in the array?';

N = input(prompt_element_number);

% element numbers

%N = 2;

prompt_element_spacing = 'What is the element spacing(in meters)?';

% element spacing

d = input(prompt_element_spacing);

% theta zero direction

% 90 degree for braodside, 0 degree for endfire.

theta_zero = 0;

An = 1;

j = sqrt(-1);

AF = zeros(1,360);

for theta=1:360

% change degree to radian

deg2rad(theta) = (theta*pi)/180;

%array factor calculation

for n=0:N-1

AF(theta) = AF(theta) + An*exp(j*n*2*pi*d*(cos(deg2rad(theta)))-1);

end

AF(theta) = abs(AF(theta));

end

AF_HFSS_array= csvread('ph360_array_five.csv');

AF_HFSS_element = csvread('ph360v2.csv');

RAD_Pat_single = AF_HFSS_element(:,end);

RAD_Pat_array = AF_HFSS_array(:,end);

Page 132: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

121

%We delete the last value of the imported raw value vector to enable

%multiplication with AF in MATLAB

RAD_Pat_single(end) = [];

RAD_Pat_array(end) = [];

Array_Pattern = transpose(AF).*RAD_Pat_single;

figure(1)

% plot the Array Factor

polar(deg2rad,AF);

title('Array Factor Radiation Pattern based on Element Spacing "d" ');

figure(2)

%Plot the Single Element pattern imported from HFSS in MATLAB

polar(deg2rad,transpose(RAD_Pat_single));

title('Single Element Radiation Pattern plot imported from HFSS');

figure(3)

%Plot the Array Radiation Pattern

polar(deg2rad,transpose(Array_Pattern));

title({'Plot of Calculated MATLAB Array Pattern';'i.e. Single Element * AF'});

figure(5)

%Plot the Array Radiation Pattern

polar(deg2rad,transpose(RAD_Pat_array));

title({'Plot of Actual HFSS Array Pattern';'i.e. Single Element * AF'});

figure(6)

polar(deg2rad,transpose(Array_Pattern));

hold on

polar(deg2rad,transpose(RAD_Pat_array));

legend('Calculated','Simulated');

title('Overlay Plot of Calculated vs Simulated Array Radiation Pattern');

norm_Calc_Array_Pattern = Array_Pattern - max(Array_Pattern);

norm_Sim_Array_Pattern = RAD_Pat_array - max(RAD_Pat_array);

figure(7)

polar(deg2rad,transpose(norm_Calc_Array_Pattern));

hold on

polar(deg2rad,transpose(norm_Sim_Array_Pattern));

legend('Calculated','Simulated');

title('Overlay Plot of Normalised Calculated vs Simulated Array Radiation

Pattern');

5. %Update 26th July 2015

% We have to normalise the AF from MATLAB

AF_norm = AF - max(AF);

figure(8)

% plot the Array Factor

polar(deg2rad,AF_norm,'r-');

Page 133: X BAND SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED HORN ARRAY ANTENNA FOR …

122

title('Normalised Array Factor Radiation Pattern based on Element Spacing "d" ');

Array_Pattern_norm = transpose(AF_norm).*RAD_Pat_single;

figure(9)

%Plot the Array Radiation Pattern

polar(deg2rad,transpose(Array_Pattern_norm));

title({'Plot of Calculated MATLAB Array Pattern';'i.e. Single Element * AF'});

figure(10)

polar(deg2rad,transpose(Array_Pattern_norm));

hold on

polar(deg2rad,transpose(norm_Sim_Array_Pattern));

legend('Calculated','Simulated');

title('Overlay Plot of Normalised Calculated vs Simulated Array Radiation

Pattern');

norm_RAD_Pat_array = (min(Array_Pattern_norm)/max(RAD_Pat_array)).*RAD_Pat_array;

circ_shift_norm_RAD_Pat_array = circshift(norm_RAD_Pat_array,90);

figure(11)

polar(deg2rad,transpose(Array_Pattern_norm));

hold on

polar(deg2rad,transpose(circ_shift_norm_RAD_Pat_array));

view([90 -90])

legend('Calculated','Simulated');

title('Overlay Plot of Normalised Calculated vs Simulated Array Radiation

Pattern');

Published with MATLAB® R2015b