Equivalent Circuit Modelling of Active Reflectarray Antenna

Authors: M. Y. Ismail, M. Inam

Abstract:

This paper presents equivalent circuit modeling of active planar reflectors which can be used for the detailed analysis and characterization of reflector performance in terms of lumped components. Equivalent circuit representation has been proposed for PIN diodes and liquid crystal based active planar reflectors designed within X-band frequency range. A very close agreement has been demonstrated between equivalent circuit results, 3D EM simulated results as well as measured scattering parameter results. In the case of measured results, a maximum discrepancy of 1.05dB was observed in the reflection loss performance, which can be attributed to the losses occurred during measurement process.

Keywords: Equivalent circuit modelling, planar reflectors, reflectarray antenna, PIN diode, liquid crystal.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1124817

References:

[1] G. D. G. Berry,, R. G. Malech and W. A. Kennedy, “The reflect array antenna”, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., Vol. AP-11, pp. 645-651, 1963.
[2] S. V. Hum, M. Okoniewski and R. J. Davies, “Realizing an Electronically Tunable Reflectarray Using Varactor Diode-Tuned Elements”. IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters,Vol. 15, pp. 422-424, 2005.
[3] M. Y. Ismail, W. Hu, R. Cahill, V. F. Fusco, H. S. Gamble, D. Linton, R. Dickie, S. P. Rea and N. Grant, “Phase Agile Reflectarray Cells Based On Liquid Crystals”. Proc. IET Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 809-814, 2007.
[4] W. Hu, M. Y. Ismail, R. Cahill, H. S. Gamble, R. Dickie, V. F. Fusco, D. Linton, S. P. Rea and N. Grant, “Tunable Liquid Crystal Patch Element”. IET Electronic Letters, Vol 42, No 9, 2006.
[5] A. Mossinger. R. Marin, S. Mueller, J. Freese and R. Jakoby, “Electronically Reconfigurable Reflectarrays with Nematic Liquid Crystals”. IET Electronics Letters, Vol. 42, No. 16, 2006.
[6] H. Rajagopalan, Y. Rahmat and W. A. Imbriale, “RF MEMES Actuated Reconfigurable Reflectarray Patch-Slot Element”. IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., Vol. 56, No. 12,pp. 369-3699, 2008.
[7] F. A. Tahir, H. Aubert and E. Girard, “Equivalent Electrical Circuit for Designing MEMS-Controlled Reflectarray Phase Shifters”. Progress In Electromagnetics Research, Vol. 100, pp. 1-12, 2010.
[8] M. Riel and J. J. Laurin, “Design of an Electronically Beam Scanning Reflectarray Using Aperture-Coupled Elements”. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 55, No. 5, pp. 1260- 1266, 2007.
[9] M. Y. Ismail, M. I. Abbasi, A. F. M. Zain, M. Amin, and M. F. L. Abdullah, “Characterization of Loss and Bandwidth Performance of Reflectarray Antenna Based on Lumped Components,” Int. J. Electr. Electrocnics Informatics, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 113–122, 2010.
[10] M. I. Abbasi and M. Y. Ismail, “Reflection Loss and Bandwidth Performance of X-band Infinite Reflectarrays: Simulations and Measurements,” Microw. Opt. Technol. Lett., Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 77–80, 2011.