Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
SHREYASI BHOWMIK
Master’s Thesis at EE
Supervisor: Mahsa E.Hamklar
Examiner: Oscar Q.Teruel
TRITA-EE 2017:008
Abstract
“Radome” is a necessary shield for any type of antenna. Its
shape, thickness, mechanical and electrical properties de-
fine its application. This thesis mainly revolves around the
techniques, used for radome analysis in W-band with the
help of electromagnetic solvers of High Frequency Struc-
ture Simulator (HFSS) and CST Microwave Studio. Mea-
surement of permittivity of many materials is not made at
such high frequencies and hence one is not sure about its
material characteristics. This thesis includes a survey on
materials which are applicable in W-band regime and give
a sturdy performance with single type of material or com-
monly known as ‘Style A’ radomes. The thesis further de-
scribes, the shape and thickness modification of the radome.
It contemplates on the the choice of solver involved and the
different advantages and disadvantages of the electromag-
netic solvers with respect to this particular case. Several
trials have been done on each of these platforms and only
the relevant results have been presented. The antenna stud-
ied is a “Travelling Wave Microstrip Patch Antenna” which
is subjected to different sizes of ground plane in order to
obtain the realistic environment for it to be simulated in.
It was observed that as the thickness of radome increased,
the gain through the radome enclosed antennas decreased
but the side lobe level performances improved. The simu-
lations done in HFSS have a closer resemblance to theory
of radome performance.
From the perspective of measurement, the return loss
and insertion loss has been recorded for the radome in the
W-band. A radome piece having different thicknesses has
also been measured using the Rhode & Shwarz VNA. As
a step further, to study the radome pattern characteristic,
Fabry perot periodic resonating dipoles are simulated on
a radome of desired thickness. The height of the radome
from the ground plane is optimized in order to get a 3-
dB gain at the region of interest. After implementation
it was observed that, around 76.5 GHz the setup which is
described later on acquired a gain of 20.33 dB. Although
it is a high gain and low profile solution, it comes with
a cost of narrow beam-width. Thus one has to optimize
the number of periodic elements along with phase tapering
in order to achieve the desirable beam characteristics. In
short, the thesis outlines the theory and thinking behind
designing a radome, its effect on the antenna and how one
can resolve the issues.
Referat
This report is the final thesis in the master study in Investigation of mm-wave
Radomes at Acreo Swedish ICT in association with the department of Electro-
physics, Faculty of Electromagnetic Engineering, at the KTH-Royal Institute of
Technology, Sweden.
The report has been written in the period February 2016 - October 2016. The
work has combined doing robust simulation in commercially available electromag-
netic solvers, mechanical and electrical design as well as laboratory measurements.
The nature of the topic, has been very beneficial for me as it helped me gain knowl-
edge in one of the most challenging field in the automotive industry with regard to
antennas. It has given me a deep insight on the electromagnetic solvers and their
functioning, the intuition of understanding the electromagnetic theory involved be-
hind the design of radomes, the hands on experience of doing lab measurements.
I would like to thank my examiner Oscar Q. Terual and supervisor Mahsa E.
Hamlkar at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology for their constant guidance
and advice which helped me achieve the goals of the thesis. I would also like to
extend my heart felt gratitude to Michael Salter, Duncan Platt and Lars Pettersson
at Acreo Swedish ICT for providing me with this opportunity and helping me out
throughout the thesis, to overcome the hurdles. I would also like to extend my
gratitude to Markus Laudien of Ansys who was of immense help and guidance
during the thesis. Last but not the least I would like to thank my family for their
faith in me. I would like to thank my classmates Amir Torki and Veit Langrock for
their constant encouragement throughout Masters. I would like to thank my friends
Soumik Dagupta and Deepa Krishnamurthy for their constant feedback during the
draft of the thesis.
iv
Contents
Contents v
List of Tables ix
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Overview of Radomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Antennas employed with Radomes for Automotive Radars . . . . . . 2
1.3 Problem Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Fundamentals of Radome 5
2.1 Radome Characteristics and Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Radome Interaction with the Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3 Basic Radome Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.4 Advances in Radome Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.5 Basic Radome Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4 Measurement Techniques 30
4.1 Measuring Insertion Loss (IL) and Return loss (RL) of Material 1 . . 30
v
6 Future Work 41
Bibliography 42
List of Figures
1.1 Evolution of radar technology over time has reached the miniaturiza-
tion of 79 GHz using 28nm silicon CMOS technology. Imec is now also
working on 140 GHz radar chips. (Source: imec) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.1 Travelling wave series fed microstrip patch array antenna operating at
76.5 GHz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.2 Modified radome shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
(a) The Return Loss (S11) of the TWA patch array antenna for all
the three cases in CST Microwave Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
(b) The Return Loss (S11) of the TWA patch array antenna for all
the three cases in HFSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
(a) E-plane pattern of the TWA Patch array in all the three cases
simulated in CST Microwave Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
(b) H-plane pattern of the TWA Patch array in all the three cases
simulated in CST Microwave Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
(a) E-plane pattern of the TWA Patch array in all the three cases
simulated in HFSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
(b) H-plane pattern of the TWA Patch array in all the three cases
simulated in HFSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
vii
3.6 The TWA patch array antenna enclosed in the radome . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.7 The comparison of various E-M solvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.8 Lit and Shadowed regions for a PO assigned dielectric region . . . . . . 22
3.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
(a) E-plane radiation pattern of Material 1 at 76.5 GHz of thickness
1.18 mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
(b) H-plane radiation pattern of Material 1 at 76.5 GHz of thickness
1.18 mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
(a) E-plane radiation pattern of Dyneema at 76.5 GHz of thickness
1.3 mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
(b) H-plane radiation pattern of Dyneema at 76.5 GHz of thickness
1.3 mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
(a) E-plane radiation pattern of Rexolite at 76.5 GHz of thickness
1.23 mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
(b) H-plane radiation pattern of Rexolite at 76.5 GHz of thickness
1.23 mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.12 Return loss of Material 1 radome enclosed antenna compared to Antenna
with large finite GND plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.1 The vertically aligned Material 1 Radome between the W-band horns . 30
4.2 Return loss and insertion loss when there is no radome . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
(a) The insertion loss through the radome of Material 1 in horizon-
tal and vertical alignments at 0 degree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
(b) The return loss through the radome of Material 1 in horizontal
and vertical alignments at 0 degree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.4 The return loss and insertion loss recorded through pieces of 6.27mm ,
4.72mm and 2.49mm of Material 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
ix
Chapter 1
Introduction
1
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
trically large structures and go upto very high frequencies. One can model them
approximately and try to achieve as much as a realistic environment as possible.
With these commercially available electromagnetic simulators it is possible to vary
each parameter of interest and study its influence on the antenna. These parameters
and formulations will also be explained later on in the proceeding chapters.
2
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Figure 1.1: Evolution of radar technology over time has reached the miniaturization
of 79 GHz using 28nm silicon CMOS technology. Imec is now also working on 140
GHz radar chips. (Source: imec)
3
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
3. Comparing the same design and recreating the environment in CST for arriv-
ing at the same results -
This particular step always adds value from an academic perspective since,
different solvers employ different algorithms and to compare their solutions is
always a way to identify errors or get an assurance that the problem has been
picturized and modelled in a correct manner.
• Chapter 3, outlines the basic theory and concept visualization of single layer
radome.It also comprises of the comparison of results of HFSS versus CST
Microwave Studio.
• Chapter 4 consists of the Measurement Set up and its results about the per-
formance of the radome.
• Chapter 5 introduces the concept of Fabry Perot resonators and their appli-
cation at such high frequencies.
4
Chapter 2
Fundamentals of Radome
It was from the time of World War II, 1940’s that radome become such a boiling
topic in the microwave community. Materials such as plywood, polyseterene fiber,
plexi glass etc. were employed and it became the then state of the art. Signifi-
cant contributions were made during that period by Cady [4] [9] who described the
electrical design of normal and streamlined radomes and their installation, together
with the theory of reflection and transmission of electromagnetic waves through
dielectric materials. Hansen, [9] focused on large ground radomes, their environ-
mental, structural and design problems, as well as on methods of construction,
including metal spaced frame radomes covered with thin dielectric materials, etc.
Nowadays Frequency Selective Surfaces, Transformation optics, Rasorbers, etc are
used to improve the radome performance.
5
CHAPTER 2. FUNDAMENTALS OF RADOME
d. Metal surfaces covered with dielectric covered slotted or other shaped win-
dows.
One can also distinguish them based on their dielectric wall construction: [14]
c. Style C: Radomes are also called A-sandwich multilayer walls. These consist
of three layers: two high-density skins and a low-density core material. The
dielectric constant of the skins is greater than the dielectric constant of the
core material.
Figure 2.2: (a) Low dielectric constant with honey comb core (b) Low dielectric
constant with foam core
6
CHAPTER 2. FUNDAMENTALS OF RADOME
Figure 2.3: (a) Double sandwich (b) More than five layers
e. Style E: Radomes are defined here in as all possible radome wall construction
not fitting into styles A through D. These include the B-sandwich and others.
The B-sandwich is similar to the A-sandwich except it consists of two low-
density skins and a high-density core material. The dielectric constant of the
skins is less than the dielectric constant of the core material.
a. Transmission loss: This results from the reflection against the radome walls,
reflection and diffraction around the corners and edges as well as polarization
shift. The remainder of the loss occurs from dissipation within the dielectric
layers. The material loss tangent or tanδ is a measure of these dissipative
losses.
7
CHAPTER 2. FUNDAMENTALS OF RADOME
Inspite of these disadvantages, on the other hand one gets a large number of
operational, structural as well as economic advantages when the radome is mounted.
To mention a few, the antenna now is protected from the harsh environment and
does not need any special maintenance. Although the radome, will wither with time.
The over-all system is much more accurate and reliable as it is not susceptible to
any changes.
8
CHAPTER 2. FUNDAMENTALS OF RADOME
The radome wall construction are typically of either the monolithic type or
the sandwich design type. Since the focus in this thesis is mostly on monolithic
radomes, a detailed outline and some commonly used materials shall be presented.
The monolithic radomes often incorporate fiber reinforcement in order to enhance
the mechanical properties. Thus the relative dielectric constant that we obtain from
the mixture [4] is as follows:
VR log R + VF log F
m = (2.1)
VR + VF
Where,
9
CHAPTER 2. FUNDAMENTALS OF RADOME
or even embedded within the radome wall. They are usually a periodic array of
etched antenna elements that can be used to either reflect or transmit electromag-
netic waves with a frequency discretion. A FSS can take many forms and strips,
slots, square loops, omega units and Jerusalem crosses have all been used in array
configuration on the radome surfaces.
377Ω
ZD = √ (2.2)
Where r is relative pemittivity of the material.
In other words, when the incident wave strikes on the surface of the dielectric a
part of the wave is transmitted and a part of it is reflected back (as shown in Figure
2.5).
10
CHAPTER 2. FUNDAMENTALS OF RADOME
A radome that is electrically thin (less than 0.1λ) will generally deliver good RF
performance. This is because signal reflections at the freespace-dielectric boundary
are cancelled out by out-of-phase reflections from the dielectric-free space boundary
on the other side of the dielectric material. Unfortunately, electrically thin radomes
provide very little thermal insulation and are not suitable for locations with wide
temperature extremes and a requirement for controlled temperatures.
Another radome approach that works well is,the half-wavelength-thick solid lam-
inate, as in Figure 2.6. In this case, the wave travels 180° through the laminate, it
is then reflected with a phase shift of −180°, and travels another 180° on the return
trip to achieve the net 180° phase shift required for cancellation. [10, 15]
c0
λ0 = (2.3)
fc
λ0
λm = √ (2.4)
r
λm
Tm = n (2.5)
2
fc : resonating frequency
r : dielectric constant
c: speed of light
λ0 : free space wavelength
λm : wavelength in dielectric
Optimal distance between antenna and radome [10] allows minimizing the effects
of reflections caused by the radome. These effects become minimal if the waves
returned at the antenna are in phase with the transmitted waves. The radomes are
very sensitive to this distance as it affects the radiation pattern drastically. The
optimum distance, dm is given by:
11
CHAPTER 2. FUNDAMENTALS OF RADOME
λ0
dm = (2.6)
2
Distances < λ0 /2 should be avoided while distances greater than that are not
as critical and can be optimized through various algorithms.
12
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1: Travelling wave series fed microstrip patch array antenna operating at
76.5 GHz
In order to suppress the grating lobes, care is taken that the mutual distance
between each element in the column is lesser than half the free space wavelength.
According to theory, since the column contains few antenna elements, series feeding
13
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
Parameter Specification
Type Series fed TWA
Solution Frequency 76.5 GHz
Substrate Roger 3003
εr of Roger 3003 3.045
Thickness 0.13 mm
Small GND size 4.6λ X 1.53λ
Large GND size 18.6λ X 25λ
is the feasible solution which will also support beam forming in the elevation plane.
The critical task, which affects the matching of an array is the length of the high
impedance line which ensure the transformation at the edge of the patch. It is this
length, that dictates the phase distribution across the array, which in turn influences
the radiation pattern. The main beam should point in the broadside direction, so
the interconnecting lines’ lengths are adjusted for 360° phase shift between the
input edges of consecutive patches. If we observe carefully, the impedance line is
terminated in a fashion that after the last patch element there is an inward inset.
This inset length controls the global input reactance and thus improves the matching
without affecting the center frequency. Keeping these rules in mind, this kind of
antenna can be designed to obtain a complete set up of Rx-Tx arrays with different
feeding network. As the number of columns are increased, care has to be taken to
adjust the space between them and tuning of the feeding network, which can be
done with a differential single element patch, etc. [13] But, in this thesis for now,
we will deal with one such column to study the influence of radome on it, using
different electromagnetic simulators. The radiation pattern and return loss of the
antenna is described in the sections below.
As more and more sensors are incorporated and the Rx-Tx antennas need to
be mounted, an electrically large radome is needed. With electrically large struc-
tures, comes the baggage of constructing them properly so that the simulator can
divide them into their adaptive meshes. Moreover , one has to keep in mind the
14
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
hardware specification of the device also which can afford to store such complex
matrix calculations. In conclusion, the structure needs to be made as simple as
possible for the purpose of simulation. As the interest is to study the shape of the
radome and realize its effect on the radiation pattern, one must keep in mind the
symmetry, aperture and bends involved in the shape. As the number of radius of
curvature increases to realize the shape, it is true that the internal reflections will
indeed be minimized but simulating such a structure with different aperture radii
will consume a lot of memory power.
The original radome structure studied in this thesis has a size of approximately
56λ X 37.5λ (Where λ is calculated at 76.5 GHz). Thus, the structure is quite large
and consumes a lot of computation power. Meshing such a structure accurately and
simplifying it can be quite a challenge at these high frequencies. Hence, the idea
was to create a similar shaped model but of a smaller size. This would give an edge
of a faster computation time as well as give a perspective about the behavior of the
various radome materials tested. Figure 3.2 illustrates the modified radome shape
used for the study further. The electrical size of this radome is 22.5λ X 12.53λ.
Thus , a smoothly rounded and symmetrical shape was designed . This reduced
the number of meshing cells involved with the simulators. In this shape, just the
material and thickness parameters, were varied to study the radome performances.
In the case of TWA patch array, an infinite ground plane was modelled in both
CST and HFSS. Since , practically one has to have a finite size of the ground plane,
termination of the surface waves is desired [15]. This would help to prevent spurious
radiation patterns from the antenna radiation. Thus, a study has been performed
based on three different cases in CST and HFSS. A comparison of those results is
presented along with their reported return loss and gain values. The following three
15
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
The electrical sizes of the small and large electrical ground plane is mentioned
in Table 3.1. The concept behind including the word infinite and finite is that, from
the simulator point of view ,an infinite ground plane will be multiple of wavelengths
compared to the antenna structure whereas in the finite structure it would exactly
be of the size as specified to be. From Figure 3.4 and Figure 3.5, it is deduced that,
in the infinite ground plane condition ,the side lobe levels and other spurious radi-
ations from the edges is stopped and when one deals with terminating the ground
plane these radiations show up. But, their level is so low and their effect on the
gain is minimal and hence it can be lived with.
(a) The Return Loss (S11) of the TWA patch array antenna for all the three cases in
CST Microwave Studio
Figure 3.3
16
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
(b) The Return Loss (S11) of the TWA patch array antenna for all the three
cases in HFSS
Figure 3.3
(a) E-plane pattern of the TWA Patch array in all the three cases simulated in
CST Microwave Studio
Figure 3.4
17
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
(b) H-plane pattern of the TWA Patch array in all the three cases simulated in
CST Microwave Studio
Figure 3.4
(a) E-plane pattern of the TWA Patch array in all the three cases simulated in
HFSS
Figure 3.5
18
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
(b) H-plane pattern of the TWA Patch array in all the three cases simulated in
HFSS
Figure 3.5
Table 3.2: summarizes the performance of all the three cases implemented in both
the solvers
Thus we see that both the simulations in CST and HFSS with the same envi-
ronment as seen in Table 3.2 yields similar results.
19
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
Figure 3.6: The TWA patch array antenna enclosed in the radome
The main quest that remained to be solved was still the type of electromagnetic
solver to be considered for obtaining the accurate results . The choice of optimum
solver depending upon the 3-D geometry and material of the structure is to be made.
In this thesis, HFSS and CST have been considered for doing the simulation. In
HFSS, there are the following types of solvers:
• Physical Optics (PO) solver which is based on the principle of high frequency
asymptotic solver.
To begin with firstly with the FEM solver which is the most popular solver
in HFSS. In this particular solver, there is a fixed volume of “box” defined [17].
This box encloses the boundary conditions and geometry to be solved. The mesh
20
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
is discretized into tetrahedrons and it is much denser near the geometry. The main
unknown that the solver solves for is the field quantity. Thus, this type of mesh-
ing is called the volume based meshing. Though this type of solver is very good
with complex geometry or materials, the slack that one faces that it needs a lot of
computation space to store the coefficients of the matrix and moreveover for this
problem one would prefer an open scattering environment.
Next, moving on with the Physical Optics solver [3]. It employs the technique of
illuminating a smooth and locally flat region. It is not a full wave solution and hence
must be thought twice before implementing it. The structure which is declared as
a PO region needs to be atleast 10λ times large and also 10 wavelengths away from
the radiating source, which is not the case in our problem statement [5]. Moreover,
the radome structure is highly rounded and has curved surfaces which will lead to
multi path reflections. Thus, while solving for the currents on the surface, it solves
for the currents on the ‘lit’ region and declares the rest as a ‘shadowed’ region as
shown in Figure 3.8. Hence, the entire surface of the radome is ‘NOT’ taken into
account while analyzing the solution.
21
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
Figure 3.8: Lit and Shadowed regions for a PO assigned dielectric region
Lit Region:
j = (1 − R)n × H inc (3.1a)
e = −T n × E inc × n (3.2b)
Where,
kz2 − kzs_µ
2 − (kz2 − kzs_µ
2 )e−2jkzs dd
R=
(kz + kzs_µ )2 − (kz − kzs_µ )2 e−2jkzs dd
4(kz kzs_µ )e−jkzs dd
T =
(kz + kzs_µ )2 − (kz − kzs_µ )2 e−2jkzs dd
√
kz = k0 , kzs = kz r µr , kzs_µ = kzs /µr
Thus, moving onto the IE solver [2] used in HFSS. It is based on method of mo-
ments technique, to solve for the currents on the surfaces of dielectric and metallic
objects in an open scattering environment. This solver utilizes adaptive meshing
technique which designs the optimum mesh needed around the object to consider in
order to reduce the complexity and time involved in the iterative solving technique.
This particular solver was closely related to a possible solution for the thesis, since
it models open scattering problems reliably.
The FE-BI approach [16] involves a box around the antenna could be solved
with FEM inside it and a conformal boundary around the radome where it is solved
as IE region within and interaction can be recorded between the two boundaries
with this hybrid FE-BI technique. The slack in this method is that the, dielectric
region is a IE region and the ground plane which is a metallic IE region cannot be
in contact with each other in a hybrid solving technique.
22
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
Thus, the simulations in HFSS were performed with the antenna solved in a
FEM region and the large ground plane declared as IE region as the ground plane
should be exposed to open scattering and the radiation pattern obtained was linked
to the input field in the radome model which was simulated in the IE environment.
The results of this simulation are discussed in section 3.4.2.
Finally, boiling down to the FDTD solver which was employed in CST Mi-
crowave studio for simulation is a full wave 3D simulator but based on partial
differential equations of the Maxwellian equations. Boundary conditions can be set
in the domain and a box is formed. The entire volume of the simulation domain is
discretized, usually using hexahedral mesh cells. FDTD uses a time stepping algo-
rithm which updates the field values across the mesh cell time-step by time-step,
thereby explicitly following the electromagnetic waves as they propagate through
the structure. One of the significant benefits over the FEM method is that FDTD
technique does not require a matrix solve and thus very large problems can often
be addressed using surprisingly small amounts of computer memory.
On the other hand, the FDTD faces a problem known as “Stair-stepping edges”
[12]. The orthogonal grid structure of the FDTD method implies that edges of
structures within the simulation have edges that follow the grid structure. This can
become a problem for curved surfaces, for which greater accuracy is sought .
23
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
Dyneema ST-17
0.00018 1.3
( =2.28)
(@60 GHz) 3.89
Measured: 60 GHz
Rexolite 1422
0.00066 1.23
( =2.53)
(@10 GHz) 3.69
Measured: 500 GHz
Table 3.3: The list of materials of the radome and their dielectric properties
Fig 3.9 illustrates the radiation pattern of the E and H- planes when Material
1 was used as the radome material having a thickness of half-wavelength as shown
in Table 3.3. Similarly, Figure 3.10 reflect on the performance of Dyneema as a
material and Figure3.11 project the results with Rexolite as radome,also at thick-
nesses of half-wavelength. Each of these thicknesses have been executed in CST
and HFSS environments. The figures illustrate the comparison between the same
case being implemented in different solvers. Table 3.4 documents the performance
of these antenna enclosed radomes in both CST and HFSS with regard to the gain
and side lobe levels.
Table 3.4: Comparison of the solved radome materials between CST and HFSS at
76.5 GHz
24
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
Figure 3.9
25
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
Figure 3.10
26
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
Figure 3.11
27
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
From Figure 3.9-3.11 and Table 3.4, we deduce the following conclusions:
• From Figure 3.9-3.11 and Table 3.4 the recordings of Material 1, Dyneema and
Rexolite has agreed with the theory. It illustrated the fact, that apart from
the calculated thicknesses, the side lobe levels and the gain from the radome-
antenna system will be inferior, as in the case of Material 1 with thickness of
3.2mm. Both, HFSS and CST solutions verify that, Material 1 of thickness
3.2mm is clearly not a viable solution.
• Generally, it was observed that as the thickness of the materials increase
from λ/2 to 3λ/2 there is a decrease in the gain but improvement in the side
lobe levels. From Table 3.4, for the antenna-radome system solved in CST,
an anomaly was observed in Material 1 of thickness 3.55mm. The side lobe
levels had abruptly increased. This can be attributed to requirement of denser
meshing cells.
• From Table 3.4, it is also seen that for all the cases, the set up in CST has
recorded higher side lobe levels than HFSS. This can be attributed to the fact
that, the entire radome-antenna set up was in one complete simulation file
while that in HFSS was solved with linked radiation fields. This, could be a
reason for CST to record more accurate side lobe levels.
• It is observed that the radome structures having a thickness of half-wavelength
solutions in all the three materials have not lost in gain, bore sight error and
side lobe level. This behavior is verified by the radomes solved in HFSS and
is in accordance with theory.
Figure 3.12: Return loss of Material 1 radome enclosed antenna compared to An-
tenna with large finite GND plane
28
CHAPTER 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RADOME AND TRAVELLING WAVE
ANTENNA(TWA)
The fast solution method and short time required in CST helps to visualize
the matching parameter S11 of the entire set up. The Figure 3.12 showcases the
matching of the radome-antenna set up for Material 1 at the frequency of operation.
The figures compare the basic antenna with large ground plane to the radome
enclosed set up of different thicknesses. Similar characteristics is also observed for
the radomes composed of Dyneema and Rexolite.
29
Chapter 4
Measurement Techniques
Figure 4.1: The vertically aligned Material 1 Radome between the W-band horns
The S-parameters were measured between the two horn antennas when no
30
CHAPTER 4. MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
Figure 4.2: Return loss and insertion loss when there is no radome
Next, the insertion loss as well as return through the radome was recorded
keeping the radome between them.It was obtained by S21open − S21radome . The
radome was kept in horizontal and vertical alignment (as shown in Fig 4.1 which
corresponds to vertical alignment). The following results were obtained.
31
CHAPTER 4. MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
(a) The insertion loss through the radome of Material 1 in horizontal and vertical
alignments at 0 degree.
(b) The return loss through the radome of Material 1 in horizontal and vertical
alignments at 0 degree.
Figure 4.3
The next step was to cut a rectangular piece of Material 1 and de-embed it
within the waveguides so that an accurate return loss and insertion loss of various
thicknesses can be seen. It was done just to get an idea about the matching of
radomes at various thicknesses. Figure 4.4 shows the return loss and insertion loss
32
CHAPTER 4. MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
through the thicknesses of 6.28 mm, 4.72 mm and 2.49 mm. These pieces were cut
in a manner so that it perfectly fits the face end of WR-10 waveguide.
The thinnest radome thickness has broader matching in this frequency region
and it has the lowest insertion loss as well. Depending upon the region of operation
we have observed that simulations must be done and thickness must be optimized.
Thus these measurements, gave an overall idea about the performance of Material
1.
Figure 4.4: The return loss and insertion loss recorded through pieces of 6.27mm ,
4.72mm and 2.49mm of Material 1
33
Chapter 5
Implementation of Fabry-Perot
Resonator
This technique delves into the concept of Partially Reflecting Surfaces (PRS)
which produces a leaky wave and beam forming affect when excited by a ground
plane wave guide aperture which in our case is a TWA Microstrip Patch Antenna.
This kind of solution is well suited for our problem where the radome can be con-
verted to a Partially Reflecting surface. The gain and amplitude depend on the
reflection from the PRS and also the distance of it from the ground plane. One
must optimize the height involved in order to get the maximum gain from the
structure. The partial reflecting surfaces can be obtained by designing a periodic
array of patches, apertures, dipoles, etc. which are also termed as Frequency Selec-
tive Surfaces. These structures either support complete reflection or transmission
within the frequency range of interest. They characteristically show case a 3-dB
gain both in the E and H-plane around the resonating frequencies.
The reflecting surfaces in this scenario are the ground plane and the PRS. The
reflection coefficient of the ground plane Rgr = 1 and the corresponding reflection
34
CHAPTER 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF FABRY-PEROT RESONATOR
phase φgr = −π. The reflection coefficient and the phase of the PRS vary with
frequency [7]. The schematic diagram of the antenna, using a partially reflective
array, is shown in Fig 5.1. An open-ended rectangular waveguide operating in the
W-band , placed within the ground plane, is used as the primary antenna since it is
simple and has adequate bandwidth. The antenna function can then be described
as follows. Waves emerging from the primary antenna travel long paths as a result
of in multiple reflections between the ground plane and the PRS. A phase shift is
introduced by the path length, the total reflection on the ground plane and also by
the phase of the reflection coefficient of the PRS. The transmitted power can be
calculated by the interference of the waves partially transmitted through the PRS.
The sum of the transmitted rays yields an analytic formula for the power pattern,
given by:
|1 − R2 (θ)|
P (θ) = h i F 2 (θ) (5.1)
4πLr
1 + R2 (θ) − 2R(θ)cos φ(θ) − π − λ0
where R(θ) is the complex reflection coefficient of the PRS as a function of θ, λ is
the free-space wavelength, and F (θ) is the radiation pattern of the primary antenna.
The resonant distance, Lr , is the distance between the PRS and the ground plane.
Maximum power at boresight is obtained when,
4πLr
φ(0) − π − = 2N π (5.2)
λ0
or,
φ(0) λ0 λ0
Lr = −1 + N , N = 0, 1, 2... (5.3)
π 4 2
When equation 5.2 is inserted in equation 5.1, and θ is considered at 0 degrees,
then gain at boresigt is obtained to be:
1+R
G= (5.4)
1−R
Thus, to obtain a linearly increasing (with frequency) phase response will result
in a maximum gain within a certain frequency range. The gain maximum will
be determined from the magnitude of the reflection coefficient. Under these two
conditions high gain and wide bandwidth can be obtained.
35
CHAPTER 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF FABRY-PEROT RESONATOR
Parameters Values
Length of dipole 1.31 mm
Width of dipole 0.4 mm
Height of superstrate 1.96 mm
Thickness of superstrate 1.23
Material of superstrate Rexolite
Thickness of copper 20 µm
36
CHAPTER 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF FABRY-PEROT RESONATOR
Figure 5.3
37
CHAPTER 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF FABRY-PEROT RESONATOR
(b) Reflection and Transmission phase coefficient of the unit cell at normal incidence
Figure 5.3
After optimizing the unit cell, an array of these structures was implemented(as
shown in Figure 5.4) . The array size is of 11 X 11 such elements on a large
ground plane (size mentioned in table 5.1). A WR-10 waveguide was used to excite
the structure. The superstrate layer was placed first at Lr : 1.96mm(λ/2) above
the ground plane and then 5.88 mm (3λ/2) respectively. As the multiple of half
wavelengths increase, gain increase but the side lobe level performance deteriorates.
Fig 5.5 (a) and (b) show the 3-dB gain increase in both the E and H-plane at the
above-mentioned heights.
38
CHAPTER 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF FABRY-PEROT RESONATOR
Figure 5.4: Implementation of the Fabry Perot resonator using the dipole elements
from 76-77 GHz
Figure 5.5
39
CHAPTER 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF FABRY-PEROT RESONATOR
Figure 5.5
Thus concluding, it is observed that on one hand these structures have a very
directive beam gain of 20.33 dB at 76.5 GHz. The directivity from about 13 dB leaps
by 7dB at the frequency of interest. This low profile solution has the transmission
band in control and if the elements are tapered correctly they can exhibit good
phase control as well. On the other hand, it is a narrow band solution, making it
applicable only for pencil beam solutions.
40
Chapter 6
Future Work
41
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43
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