Optimal Current Distributions for Antenna Arrays in Radiative Near-Field Communication Links
N.B. Plug (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
J. Tan (Student TU Delft)
S. Bosma (NXP Semiconductors)
G. Carluccio (NXP Semiconductors)
A. Neto (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
N. Llombart (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
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Abstract
We present a design methodology for high-capacity line-of-sight communication arrays in the radiative near-field of each other. We optimize the equivalent aperture current distribution of highly directive antennas in order to obtain noise-limited independent data streams with maximal average signal to noise interference ratio over a range of link distances. The current distributions, equal for the transmit and receive arrays, are found to be defined by the Prolate Spheroidal Wave Function in amplitude and a quadratic phase focusing term. We show that these optimized arrays reach the same coupling levels as when using beamforming techniques without the need for phase control per element. We also demonstrate that this optimization allows the use of fixed beamforming weights rather than highly variable weights over link distance. Finally, we study a 2x2 array at 270 GHz with 6λ0 diameter elements where the desired aperture current distribution is synthesized using a leaky-wave lens antenna fed by a double-iris slot and a focusing hyperbolic lens. Appropriate modeling of the aperture current distributions results in good agreement between transfer matrix calculations and FW simulations.
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