Pattern Synthesis for Lossy Antennas Based on N-Port Characteristic Mode Analysis

In this article, a pattern synthesis methodology for lossy antennas is proposed based on N-port characteristic mode analysis (CMA), with the radiation efficiency of the antenna guaranteed at the same time. Reactive loads are chosen as physical implementations. To perform N-port CMA, N ports are first added to the lossy and lossless structures to obtain the impedance matrices. Modal efficiencies are then calculated, based on which the locations of the feed and the loads are selected. With the characteristic solutions and one set of modal weighting coefficients (MWCs), where inefficient modes have been excluded, the corresponding loads and radiation pattern can be determined. Afterward, an objective function considering physical implementation and the target pattern is established and optimized. With optimal MWCs, the lumped components loaded at each port are calculated and implemented. The method is applied to an arm-worn smartwatch antenna operating at GPS L1 band, which aims at radiating toward the sky direction for reliable link with satellites. Following the proposed method, the power radiated toward the target area has been increased by more than 40% compared with the original design. The total efficiency is above -6.1 dB when it is worn on a Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) arm. The prototype of the proposed antenna (Prop. Ant) has been fabricated and measured, which showed similar performances to the simulated one both in free space and in the arm-worn scenario.

Automated summary

In this article, a pattern synthesis methodology for lossy antennas is proposed based on N-port characteristic mode analysis (CMA), with the radiation efficiency of the antenna guaranteed at the same time. Reactive loads are chosen as physical implementations. The method is applied to an arm-worn smartwatch antenna operating at GPS L1 band, which aims at radiating toward the sky direction for reliable link with satellites. The power radiated toward the target area has been increased by more than 40% compared with the original design, and the prototype of the proposed antenna has been fabricated and measured, which showed similar performances to the simulated one both in free space and in the arm-worn scenario.