Recently, “Both-Side Retrodirective System” was proposed, as a beam convergence technique, for microwave high power transmission. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the both-side retrodirective system by experiment, the authors propose a 2-dimensional measurement equipment. Propagation in the parallel plate waveguide was analogized based on free-space propagation, and the theory and characteristics were clarified by simulation. The electric field distribution in the waveguide was measured by electric probe with the proposed equipment. Two types of measurement equipment were developed. One is a 4-element experiment system, which is a small-scale device for principle verification. The other is a 16-element measurement equipment, which is intended to evaluate beam convergence of a both-side retrodirective system in the next step. The measured results were compared with simulation results. As a result, it was confirmed that the beam formed in the waveguide was successfully measured. Thus, the effectiveness of 2-dimensional measurement equipment for evaluation of beam convergence was shown.

Drones have been attractive for many kinds of industries, but limited power supply from batteries has impeded drones from being operated for longer hours. Microwave power transmission (MPT) is one of the most prospective technologies to release them from the limitation. Since, among several types of drones, micro-drone has shorter available flight time, it is reasonable to provide micro-drone with wireless charging access with an MPT system. However, there is no suitable rectenna for micro-drone charging applications in preceding studies. In this paper, an MPT system for micro-drone was proposed at C-band where a lightweight and compact rectenna array with 20-W class output power was developed. Under illumination of a flat-top beam with 203 mW/cm2 of power density, a 16-element rectenna array was measured. The 16-element rectenna was formed with the aid of a honeycomb substrate for lightness and GaAs Schottky barrier diodes for high output. It was 37.5 g in weight and 146.4 mm by 146.4 mm in size. It output 27.0 W of dc power at 19.0 V at 5.8 GHz when radio frequency power of 280 W was generated by the injection-locked magnetron and 134 W was transmitted from the transmitting phased array. The power-to-weight ratio was 0.72W/g. The power conversion efficiency was 61.9%. These numbers outperformed the rectennas in the preceding studies and are suitable for an MPT system to micro-drone.

In the beam-type microwave power transmission system, it is required to minimize the interference with communication and the influence on the human body. Retrodirective system that re-radiates a beam in the direction of arrival of a signal is well known as a beam control technique for accurate microwave power transmission. In this paper, we newly propose to apply the retrodirective system to both transmitting and receiving antennas. The leakage to the outside of the system is expected to minimize self-convergently while following the atmospheric fluctuation and the antenna movement by repeating the retrodirective between the transmitting and receiving antenna in this system. We considered this phenomenon theoretically using an infinite array antenna model. Finally, it has been shown by the equivalent circuit simulation that stable transmission can be realized by oscillating the system.

This paper proposes a rate adaptation scheme (RAS) for a wireless local area network (WLAN) station powered with microwave power transmission (MPT). A WLAN station attempting to transmit data frames when exposed to microwave radiation for MPT, experiences a reduction in the physical (PHY) layer data rate because frames are lost even when the carrier sense mechanism is used. The key idea of the proposed scheme is to utilize the output of the rectenna used for receiving microwave power. Using rectenna output, a WLAN station based on the proposed scheme assesses whether the station is exposed to microwave radiation for MPT. Then, using historical data corresponding to the assessment result, the station selects an appropriate PHY data rate. The historical data are obtained from previous transmission results, e.g., historical data pertaining to the data frame loss ratio. The proposed scheme was implemented and verified through an experiment. Experimental results showed that the proposed scheme prevents the reduction in the PHY data rate, which is caused by the use of historical data stored in a single memory. Thus, the proposed scheme leads to an improvement in the WLAN throughput.

We discuss the division of radio resources in the time and frequency domains for wireless local area network (WLAN) devices powered with microwave energy. In general, there are two ways to avoid microwave power transmission (MPT) from influencing data communications: adjacent channel operation of continuous MPT and WLAN data transmission and co-channel operation of intermittent MPT and WLAN data transmission. Experimental results reveal that, even when we implement these methods, several problems arise because WLAN devices have been developed without supposing the existence of MPT. One problem clarified in our experiment is that adjacent channel operation at 2.4GHz does not necessarily perform well owing to the interference from MPT. This interference occurs regardless of the frequency separation at 2.4GHz. The other problem is that intermittent MPT could result in throughput degradation owing to the data rate control algorithm and the association scheme of the WLAN. In addition, the experimental results imply that a microwave energy source and a WLAN device should share information on the timings of intermittent MPT and data transmission to avoid buffer overflow.

In this paper, we study the feasibility of a batteryless wireless sensor supplied with energy by using microwave power transmission (MPT). If we perform co-channel operation of MPT and wireless local area networks (WLANs) for the sake of spectral efficiency, a time division method for MPT and WLAN communications is required to avoid serious interference from MPT to WLAN data transmissions. In addition, to reduce the power consumption of a sensor, the use of power-save operation of the sensor is desirable. We proposed a scheduling scheme that allocates time for MPT and WLAN communications. Specifically, in the proposed scheduling system, an energy source transmits microwave power to a sensor station except when the sensor station transmits data frames or receives beacon frames. In addition, in the proposed scheduling system, we force the remaining energy of the sensor station to converge to a maximum value by adjusting the time interval of data transmission from the sensor station such that the power consumption of the sensor station is reduced. On the basis of the proposition, we implemented a scheduling system and then confirmed that it performed successfully in the conducted experiments. Finally, we discussed the feasibility of the proposed scheduling scheme by evaluating the coverage and then showed that the scheduling scheme can be applied to closed space or room.

The Earth will require sustainable electricity sources equivalent to 3 to 5 times the commercial power presently produced by 2050. Solar Power Satellite (SPS) is one option for meeting the huge future energy demand. SPS can send enormous amounts of power to the Earth as the form of microwave (MW). A highly efficient microwave power transmission (MPT) system is needed for SPS. A critical goal of SPS is to maintain highest Beam Efficiency (BE) because the microwaves from SPS will be converted to utility power unlike the MW from communication satellites. Another critical goal of SPS is to maintain Side Lobe Levels (SLL) as small as possible to reduce interference to other communication systems. One way to decrease SLL and increase BE is the edge tapering of a phased array antenna. However, tapering the excitation requires a technically complicated system. Another way of achieving minimum SLL is with randomly spaced element position but it does not guarantee higher BE and the determination of random element position is also a difficult task. Isosceles Trapezoidal Distribution (ITD) edge tapered antenna was studied for SPS as an optimization between full edge tapering and uniform amplitude distribution. The highest Beam Collection Efficiency (BCE) and lowest SLL (except maximum SLL) are possible to achieve in ITD edge tapering and ITD edge tapered antenna is technically better. The performance of ITD is further improved from the perspective of both Maximum Side Lobe Level (MSLL) and BE by using unequal spacing of the antenna elements. A remarkable reduction in MSLL is achieved with ITD edge tapering with Unequal element spacing (ITDU). BE was also highest in ITDU. Determination of unequal element position for ITDU is very easy. ITDU is a newer concept that is experimented for the first time. The merits of ITDU over ITD and Gaussian edge tapering are discussed.

The concept of placing enormous Solar Power Satellite (SPS) systems in space represents one of a handful of new technological options that might provide large scale, environmentally clean base load power to terrestrial markets. Recent advances in space exploration have shown a great need for antennas with high resolution, high gain and low side lobe level (SLL). The last characteristic is of paramount importance especially for the Microwave Power Transmission (MPT) in order to achieve higher transmitting efficiency (TE) and higher beam collection efficiency (BCE). In order to achieve low side lobe levels, statistical methods play an important role. Various interesting properties of a large antenna arrays with randomly, uniformly and combined spacing of elements have been studied, especially the relationship between the required number of elements and their appropriate spacing from one viewpoint and the desired SLL, the aperture dimension, the beamwidth and TE from the other. We propose a new unified approach in searching for reducing SLL by exploiting the interaction of deterministic and stochastic workspaces of proposed algorithms. Our models indicate the side lobe levels in a large area around the main beam and strongly reduce SLL in the entire visible range. A new concept of designing a large antenna array system is proposed. Our theoretic study and simulation results clarify how to deal with the problems of side lobes in designing a large antenna array, which seems to be an important step toward the realization of future SPS/MPT systems.

Minimizing the Side Lobe Level (SLL) and attain highest achievable Beam Collection Efficiency (BCE) is a critical goal for Solar Power Station/Satellite (SPS). If all antennas are uniformly excited then the main beam will carry only a part of the total energy due to the higher SLL. SLL is decreased and BCE is increased by adopting edge tapering for SPS. But edge tapering is a complex technical problem for SPS. So an optimization is needed between uniform amplitude distribution and edge tapering system. We have derived a new method of edge tapering called Isosceles Trapezoidal Distribution (ITD) edge tapering. Only a small number of antennas from each side of the phased array antenna are tapered in this method. ITD edge tapering is almost uniform so it is technically better. We have compared different amplitude distribution systems; uniform, Gaussian, Dolph-Chebyshev and the newly derived ITD method. The SLL reduction in ITD is even lower than those of other kinds of edge tapering. Therefore the amount of losing power in the SLL in ITD is lower. As a result the interference level becomes lower and BCE becomes higher in this method. The higher BCE and better SLL performance than those with uniform distribution can be achieved in ITD with phase error and under unit failed condition.

A simple self-biased receiver system with a dual branch architecture consisting of a low-power consumption receiver and a rectenna is introduced. The system is efficiently integrated with a dual-fed circular sector antenna with harmonic rejection characteristics without a BPF. The receiver portion is designed by utilizing a low-noise amplifier (LNA) with low power consumption and a self-heterodyne mixer, while the rectenna achieves high conversion efficiency up to 80%, thanks to the harmonic rejection of the circular sector antenna. The rectified DC power from the rectenna is applied for a bias of the receiver without any external bias. Simultaneously, an ASK digital signal demodulation without an extra power supply are implemented successfully.

We developed a phase controlled magnetron (PCM) with high DC-RF conversion efficiency and with phase control to steer a microwave beam in order to realize the final space Solar Power Station (SPS) system. For the PCM, we use injection locking technique and PLL feedback to anode current. We can stabilize and control a frequency and a phase of a microwave of the PCM. However, we have a power loss after the PCM for the SPS use because of a size of the antenna (> km) and of a microwave power (> GW). In order to decrease power loss after PCM, we newly propose a concept of "sub phase shifter" which can change only 1 or 2 bits of a phase and has low loss. We can keep high beam collection efficiency when we control a beam to a twice larger direction in the SPS system. With this concept, we developed a PCM array called SPORTS (Space Power Radio Transmission System) in FY2000 and FY2001 in Kyoto University.

Microwave Power Transmission (MPT) technology is one of the most essential parts for Solar Power Station/Satellite (SPS). We study on application of magnetrons as DC-RF converters for the MPT transmitting system. Magnetrons cost much cheaper, have much higher DC-RF efficiency over 70% and much lighter system weight per 1 watt RF output than semiconductor amplifiers although they have wider bandwidth of the fundamental frequency and spurious noises in various frequencies. Spurious noises are radiated from the transmitting system and interfere in the other communication systems both in space and on the Earth. The objective of this study is the improvement of the spurious noises generated from magnetrons. Experimentally, magnetrons driven by DC stabilized power supply had not only narrower bandwidth of the fundamental frequency but also lower spurious noise levels when filament current is turned off than when it is turned on. Some spurious noises are probably caused by the intermodulation between the low frequency spurious noises, which frequency is below 1 GHz, and the fundamental or the harmonics. We also verified that the harmonics levels of the measured magnetron in our measurement system were below -70 dBc, which are comparable to or better than those of some semiconductor amplifiers, and that the harmonics were not improved greatly when the filament current was turned off because the source of the harmonics is the distortion of the fundamental.

We studied a three-wave coupling process occurring in microwave power transmission (MPT) experiment in the ionospheric plasma by performing computer experiments with one-dimensional electromagnetic PIC (Particle-In-Cell) model. In order to examine the spatial variation of the coupling process, we continuously emitted intense electromagnetic wave from an antenna located at a simulation boundary. In the three-wave coupling, a low-frequency electrostatic wave is excited as the consequence of a nonlinear interaction between the forward propagating pump wave and backscattered one. In the computer experiments, low-frequency electrostatic bursts are discontinuously observed in space. The discontinuity of the electrostatic bursts is accounted for by the local electron heating due to the bursts and associated modification of the wave dispersion relation. In a case where the pump wave propagates along the geomagnetic field Bext, several bursts of Langmuir waves are observed. Since the first burst consumes a part of the pump wave energy, the pump wave is weakened and cannot trigger the three-wave coupling beyond the region where the burst occurs. Since the dispersion relation of the Langmuir wave is variable due to the local electron heating by the burst, the coupling condition eventually becomes unsatisfied and the first interaction becomes weak. Another burst of Langmuir waves is observed at a different region beyond the location of the first burst. In the case of perpendicular propagation, the upper hybrid wave, one of the mode branches of the electron cyclotron harmonic waves, is excited. Since the dispersion relation of the upper hybrid wave is less sensitive to the electron temperature, the coupling condition is not easily violated by the temperature increase. As a result, the three-wave coupling periodically takes place in time and eventually the transmission ratio of the microwaves becomes approximately 20% while almost no attenuation of the pump waves is observed after the first electrostatic burst in the parallel case.

Results of a DC motor driving test with a power sent by a microwave and extracted with a rectenna array are reported. No significant difference has been observed in the output DC power from the rectenna array between a motor load and a resistive load. Mechanical output could be extracted from the received microwave power with an efficiency of 26%.

A rectenna element applicable to Stratosphere Radio Relay System was proposed and a fundamental microwave power transmission experiment was carried out at 2.45GHz using a rectenna array manufactured based on the proposal. The rectenna element consists of a circular microstrip patch and a rectifying circuit of novel balanced-type design. The circuit allows to mount a rectifier and circuit components just on one side of a substrate without through holes, and hence it must be easy to manufacture a rectenna even having a large aperture. It was verified by a preliminary experiment that the rectifying circuit can provide more than 1 W of DC output power using 8 Shottky diodes as a rectifier with microwave-DC conversion efficiency of 67%. Then, DC output power of 4W was obtained from the 4-element rectenna array in the microwave power transmission experiment carried out in a radio anechoic chamber. The data showed a feasibility of practical application of the microwave power transmission technique.