A Dual-Band Shared-Aperture Antenna With Wide-Angle Scanning Capability for Mobile System Applications

A dual-band shared-aperture phased array antenna with wide-angle scanning capability (WASC) is presented in this paper for mobile communications. Each shared-aperture antenna element consists of two wideband microstrip antenna units with air-cavity for the C-band and one wide beam magnetic-electro dipole antenna unit for the S-band. To achieve the wide-angle scanning, a phased array should have low inter-element mutual coupling and wide array-element beam-width. A simple metallic strip (MS), comprising four metal stubs and one rectangle shaped metal pillar, is utilized to improve the inter-element isolation of the array in and between the C- and S-bands. Furthermore, the metal strip can also broaden the beam-width of the C-band antenna units without distorting the wide-beam property of the S-band units. The shared-aperture array with a simple metallic strip is designed based on the above elements, and WASC is realized in both the C- and S- bands with low mutual coupling. To verify the proposed method, the shared-aperture array is fabricated and characterized, yielding good performance within the overall operating bandwidth. The measured results align very well with the simulated. The proposed array realizes the scanning coverage of +/- 60 degrees with realized gain reduction of less than 3 dB in both the C- and S-bands, which is a good candidate for the base station in the mobile environment.

Automated summary

This paper presents a dual-band shared-aperture phased array antenna with wide-angle scanning capability for mobile communications. The antenna elements are optimized for low mutual coupling and wide beam-width, using a metallic strip to improve isolation and broaden beam-width. The fabricated array achieves good performance in both C- and S-bands, making it suitable for base stations in mobile environments.