A Shared Aperture Microstrip Antenna Array with Multiple Polarisations and Near-Field Beam Steering

In this paper we present a shared-aperture polarisation reconfigurable microstrip array designed to resonate at 11.5 GHz with a gain bandwidth of 2 GHz (~17%). The polarisation reconfigurability (both linear and circular) is achieved using two orthogonal and independently-fed sub-arrays that are intertwined together on the same aperture. Each subarray is fed through one port and a feed network that distributes the power among the array elements incorporating Taylor taper distribution to minimize the sidelobe level. The array has low cross-polarisation level (<-20 dB) and good port isolation (<-24 dB). The shared aperture and absence of active switching devices provide better control of polarisation selection with almost no insertion loss. A near-field metasurface based steering system is also presented and applied to the array for one- and two-dimensional beam steering. The results are verified through model simulations and measurement of the fabricated prototypes.

A Shared Aperture Microstrip Antenna Array with Multiple Polarisations and Near-Field Beam Steering

In this paper we present a shared-aperture polarisation reconfigurable microstrip array designed to resonate at 11.5 GHz with a gain bandwidth of 2 GHz (~17%). The polarisation reconfigurability (both linear and circular) is achieved using two orthogonal and independently-fed sub-arrays that are intertwined together on the same aperture. Each subarray is fed through one port and a feed network that distributes the power among the array elements incorporating Taylor taper distribution to minimize the sidelobe level. The array has low cross-polarisation level (<-20 dB) and good port isolation (<-24 dB). The shared aperture and absence of active switching devices provide better control of polarisation selection with almost no insertion loss. A near-field metasurface based steering system is also presented and applied to the array for one- and two-dimensional beam steering. The results are verified through model simulations and measurement of the fabricated prototypes.

A Varactor-Tunable Rasorber Using Tripole and Ring Slot Elements

In this study, a frequency-selective rasorber with a tunable passband and two absorptive bands is presented. It is designed using two active FSSs, an absorptive FSS realized with tripole elements, and a lossless bandpass FSS achieved with ring slots. Both active FSSs embedded with varactors realize the shift of transmission frequency bands by controlling the bias voltage of the feed network. The working principle is briefly investigated according to an equivalent circuit model. A prototype is fabricated and measured to verify the simulated results, which show that a passband is tuned from 3 to 4.78 GHz between two absorptive bands, and the maximum band of |S11| < −10 dB covers from 2.2 to 7.96 GHz.

Design and analysis of Maxwell fisheye lens based beamformer

Antenna arrays and multi-antenna systems are essential in beyond 5G wireless networks for providing wireless connectivity, especially in the context of Internet-of-Everything. To facilitate this requirement, beamforming technology is emerging as a key enabling solution for adaptive on-demand wireless coverage. Despite digital beamforming being the primary choice for adaptive wireless coverage, a set of applications rely on pure analogue beamforming approaches, e.g., in point-to-multi point and physical-layer secure communication links. In this work, we present a novel scalable analogue beamforming hardware architecture that is capable of adaptive 2.5-dimensional beam steering and beam shaping to fulfil the coverage requirements. Beamformer hardware comprises of a finite size Maxwell fisheye lens used as a scalable feed network solution for a semi-circular array of monopole antennas. This unique hardware architecture enables a flexibility of using 2 to 8 antenna elements. Beamformer development stages are presented while experimental beam steering and beam shaping results show good agreement with the estimated performance.

Dynamic Impact Analysis of Integrating a 6 MW Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant into Medium Voltage Distribution Network

In this paper, the impact of integrating a 6MW solar PV plant installed in Zaouiet Kounta (Wilaya Adrar), in southwest Algeria into a medium voltage network during transient conditions is analyzed. This network is fed by two sources, either a grid source or a conventional power plant if a grid source is not available. Three different transient circumstances are considered in this analysis. The impact on voltage and frequency at the network’s main busbar as well as generator rotor angle is investigated. The analysis is carried out on the network by using ETAP software. The analysis results showed that the integration of this PV plant has an adverse effect on network performance during transient conditions when a Conventional power plant is used to feed network. Moreover, it has a slight effect on main busbar voltage when a grid source is used to feed network.