Phased Arrays

Contact: Daniele Cavallo

The need for phased array antennas is expanding in modern society, since besides the traditional applications of phased arrays, i.e. defence radar and satcom, novel applications are emerging such as wireless communications and automotive radars.

These applications require the development of innovative antenna arrays with very large frequency range of operation and good scan performance over wide angular ranges. The wide bandwidth is crucial to cover multiple frequency bands concurrently in a single wideband shared aperture and thus to overcome the very limited space available to place the antenna systems. Moreover the generation of several simultaneous beams for establishing multiple connections at once with a single antenna is fundamental, but very challenging because of the interference between beams.

When the phased array has to fit on a small platform (e.g. on a smartphone), fundamental scientific challenges need to be solved: modelling of small antennas, analysis of edge effects, study of multi-beam interference, reduction of surface waves.

The goals of this research subgroup are:

1) solve the fundamental limits of phased arrays integrated on small platforms
2) improve the current state-of-the-art of the antenna systems
3) link the antenna development to parallel development in other fields: electronics, packaging, radars, beamforming.

Projects under this theme

Future Network Services 6G

Nationaal Groeifonds

Wideband wide-scanning arrays with improved polarization purity

Wideband wide-scan arrays for multifunction radars applications

UWB Antenna Apertures at VHF/UHF Frequency Band

Research on UWB Antenna Apertures at VHF/UHF Frequency Band

Sub-THz Antennas for Next Generation Automotive Radars

Research towards the next generation of car radar systems at 140 GHz

Multi-Beam Antenna arrays

Wideband wide-scanning array with multi-beam capability

Antenna user terminal with Wide Angle Impedance Matching (WAIM) metamaterial radome

Development of Satcom antenna for user terminals, with improved performances with respect to available phased array solutions.

History

WAtt LEvel transmitters at mm-waves

The WhALE project targets, employing complementary expertise in the field of electromagnetics, system integration and integrated circuit design, to develop the next generation of mmwave transmitters.

3D Elements For Phased Array Systems

The goal is to develop 3D antenna elements for phased arrays with integrated filtering solutions and suitable pattern shaping.

Efficient on-chip antennas for terahertz applications

Silicon technology promises affordable integrated THz systems, but at the cost of limited achievable efficiency. Antenna solutions to overcome this bottleneck efficiency will be investigated.