This paper presents a novel frequency-controlled beam steering scheme for a phased-array antenna system (PAS). The proposed scheme employs phase-controlled carrier signals to form the PAS beam. Two local oscillators (LOs) and delay lines are used to generate the carrier signals. The carrier of one LO is divided into branches, and then the divided carriers passing through the corresponding delay lines have the desired phase relationship, which depends on the oscillation frequency of the LO. To confirm the feasibility of the scheme, four-branch PAS transmitters are configured and tested in a 10-GHz frequency band. The results verify that the formed beam is successfully steered in a wide range, i.e., the 3-dB beamwidth of approximately 100 degrees, using LO frequency control.

A sub-Terahertz band is envisioned to play a great role in 6G to achieve extreme high data-rate communication. In addition to very wide band transmission, we need spatial multiplexing using a hybrid MIMO system. A recently presented paper, however, reveals that the number of observed multipath components in a sub-Terahertz band is very few in indoor environments. A channel with few multipath components is called sparse. The number of layers (streams), i.e. multiplexing gain in a MIMO system does not exceed the number of multipaths. The sparsity may restrict the spatial multiplexing gain of sub-Terahertz systems, and the poor multiplexing gain may limit the data rate of communication systems. This paper describes fundamental considerations on sub-Terahertz MIMO spatial multiplexing in indoor environments. We examined how we should steer analog beams to multipath components to achieve higher channel capacity. Furthermore, for different beam allocation schemes, we investigated eigenvalue distributions of a channel Gram matrix, power allocation to each layer, and correlations between analog beams. Through simulation results, we have revealed that the analog beams should be steered to all the multipath components to lower correlations and to achieve higher channel capacity.

This paper studies the performance of the quantitative RF power variation in Radio-over-Fiber beam forming system utilizing a phased array-antenna integrating photo-diodes in downlink network for next generation millimeter wave band radio access. Firstly, we described details of fabrication of an integrated photonic array-antenna (IPA), where a 60GHz patch antenna 4×2 array and high-speed photo-diodes were integrated into a substrate. We evaluated RF transmission efficiency as an IPA system for Radio-over-Fiber (RoF)-based mobile front hall architecture with remote antenna beam forming capability. We clarified the characteristics of discrete and integrated devices such as an intensity modulator (IM), an optical fiber and the IPA and calculated RF power radiated from the IPA taking account of the measured data of the devices. Based on the experimental results on RF tone signal transmission by utilizing the IPA, attainable transmission distance of wireless communication by improvement and optimization of the used devices was discussed. We deduced that the antenna could output sufficient power when we consider that the cell size of the future mobile communication systems would be around 100 meters or smaller.

Beamforming technology is an effective method to build a robust link. The commonly used digital beamforming is an expensive and power consuming approach to realizing millimeter-wave transmission. This makes radio frequency(RF) beamforming, which has low cost and low power consumption due to its use of phase shifters the more feasible approach to creating stable links in the millimeter-wave band. Unfortunately, the performance of RF processing is degraded by the limited precision of digital phase shifters. In this paper, we analyze the gain loss caused by the limited precision of phase shifter in millimeter wave single stream beam steering. We deduce a theoretical relationship between the array gain loss and variance of phase error. The theoretical results are validated by the Monte Carlo simulations, which indicate that gain loss could be reduced by the increased precision of phase shifter. In practical applications, 4-bit phase shifters provide sufficient accuracy for single stream beam steering.

This paper proposes a simple and practical scheme to decide the direction of a phased array antenna beam in wireless access systems using Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) technique. The feasibility of the proposed scheme is confirmed by the optical and wireless transmission experiments using 2GHz RoF signals. In addition, two-dimensional steering operation in the millimeter-wave band is demonstrated for targeting future high-speed wireless communication systems. The required system parameters for practical use are also provided by investigating the induced transmission penalties. The proposed detection scheme is applicable to two-dimensional antenna beam steering in the millimeter-wave band by properly designing the fiber length and wavelength variable range.

Phase-nonreciprocal ε-negative and CRLH metamaterials are analyzed using a new approach in which field analysis and transmission line model are combined. The examined one-dimensional nonreciprocal metamaterials are composed of a ferrite-embedded microstrip line periodically loaded with shunt stubs. In the present approach, the phase constant nonreciprocity is analytically estimated and formulated under the assumption of operating frequency far above the ferromagnetic resonant frequency. The present approach gives a good explanation to the phenomenon in terms of ferromagnetic properties of the ferrite and asymmetric geometry of the metamaterial structure, showing a good agreement with numerical simulations and experiment.

Beam steering of leaky wave radiation from a nonreciprocal composite right/left handed transmission line with a ferrite substrate is proposed. The nonreciprocal phase constants of the line were tuned by changing the applied DC magnetic field normal to the ferrite substrate. In the numerical simulation and the experiment, the nonreciprocal phase characteristics and leaky wave radiation are investigated for the ferrite substrate with the magnetization not only in the saturated region, but also in the unsaturated region. The numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the measurement. It is confirmed that the beam directions of the obliquely unidirectional leaky wave radiation for two different power directions are continuously tunable.

Recently, dielectric lens antennas are paid attentions in ITS applications. Many lens shape designing methods were already developed. And electrical performances were estimated through a ray tracing method. Here, arbitral lens shapes were expressed by a system of power series. In the case of ray tracing, time-consuming three-coordinate root-finder programs were needed to find intersection points of rays on the lens surfaces. In order to calculate complicated structures such as zoned lenses and complicated rays such as multiple reflections between lens surfaces, simple ray tracing methods are requested. In this paper, a simple ray tracing method that utilizes directly designed discrete points of lens surfaces is developed. In this method, a refracted ray is automatically determined for a given incident ray. As for an intersecting point of a lens surface for an outgoing ray, the nearest point to the refracted vector is found out by employing a simple searching procedure. This method is time-saving compared to the previous three-coordinate root-finding program. Through calculated results of focal points and radiation patterns in wide angle beam steering, effectiveness of a developed method is ensured. Application of the developed ray tracing method of complicated multiple reflections are studied. Reflecting points are found out speedily by the same searching procedure. A calculated example of doubly reflected rays is obtained. Through comparing calculated and measured results of wide angle radiation patterns, effectiveness of a developed method is ensured.

In this paper, an optical signal processing beam forming network (BFN) for two-dimensional (2-D) beam steering is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Two lightwaves, called the signal and reference, are both Fourier transformed, combined, and then down-converted into RF signals using an optical heterodyne technique. A simple combination of orthogonal one-dimensional position scannings of the signal and reference lightwaves generates RF signals with phase distributions for 2-D beam steering. The system operation and optical losses are theoretically analyzed. Using graded index fiber (GIF) lensed single mode fibers (SMFs), total optical loss of the sampling fiber array is evaluated to be 4.5 dB from the fiber to fiber loss measurements. Using an experimental optical signal processing BFN at 25 GHz, 2-D beam steering is demonstrated at 0, 10, 20, and 30through the measured amplitudes and phases of RF signals for 16 position sets of the signal and reference fibers. The proposed method has the potential to provide ultra-fast beam scanning by utilizing optical switching technologies.

This paper reviews the historical development of adaptive antennas in Japan. First of all, we watch basic adaptive algorithms. In 1980s, particularly, the following issues were a matter of considerable concern to us; (a) behavior to the coherent interference like multipath waves or radar clutters, (b) signal degradation in case that the direction of arrival (DOA) of desired signal is different from the DOA specified beforehand in the adaptive antennas with the DOA of the desired signal as a prior knowledge, and (c) performance of adaptive antennas when the desired signal and interference are broadband. Although there are a lot of development and modification of adaptive algorithms in Japan, we refer in this paper only to the above-mentioned topics. Secondly, our attention is paid to implementation of adaptive antennas and advanced technologies. A large number of researches on the subjects have been carried out in Japan. Particularly, we focus on the initiative studies in Japan toward mobile communication application. They include researches of mobile radio propagation for adaptive antennas, calibration methods, and adaptive antenna for mobile terminals. As a matter of course, we also refer to adaptive antenna technologies for advanced communication schemes such as CDMA, SDMA, OFDM and so on. Finally, we take notice of some pilot products which were developed to verify the effect of the adaptive antenna in the practical environments. As the initiative ones, a couple of equipments are introduced in this paper.

The onboard antenna beam forming network (BFN) of the next-generation communication satellites must offer multiple beam forming and beam steering. The conventional BFN, which directly controls the array elements, is not suitable for a large-scale array antenna because of the difficulty of BFN control. This paper proposes a new BFN configuration that consists of three/four-way variable power dividers and a Butler matrix (FFT circuit). This BFN can offer continuous beam steering with fewer variable components. By introducing new techniques based upon excluding FFT periods and power evaluations by definite integration, the deviation in beamwidth is reduced by 75% or more and the maximum sidelobe level is improved by 10 dB or more.