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Time-Modulated Arrays: A Four-Dimensional Antenna Array Controlled by Switches

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Journal of Communications and Information Networks

Abstract

With the rapid development of modern electronic technologies, antenna arrays typically operate in very complex electromagnetic environments. However, owing to the various errors such as systematic errors and random errors, conventional antenna arrays have relatively high sidelobes. Time modulated arrays (TMAs), also known as four-dimensional (4-D) antenna arrays, introduce time as an additional dimension for generating ultra-low sidelobes at fundamental component and realizing real-time beam scanning by harmonic components. Recently, the harmonic components can also be developed for various new applications including wireless communications and radar systems. In this review, we introduce comprehensively the fundamental methodologies and recent applications of TMAs. This aims to stimulate continuing efforts for the understanding of TMAs and explore their applications in various aspects. The methods mentioned in this review include three aspects: sideband radiation suppression, power efficiency of TMAs, and applications of harmonic components. These methods either improve the existing TMAs or promote the practical applications of TMAs. First, to suppress the sideband radiation, a method using non-uniform periodical modulation is introduced. The proposed method has an advantage of low computation and can be easily used for synthesizing a real-time radiation pattern according to the environmental need. Next, a TMA structure using reconfigurable power dividers/combiner is introduced to improve the power efficiency of feeding network. Finally, three applications of harmonic component including direction finding, calibration method, and space division multiple access are separately introduced to illustrate the development potential of TMAs.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Chong He, Lele Wang, Jingfeng Chen & Ronghong Jin

Authors
  1. Chong He
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  2. Lele Wang
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  3. Jingfeng Chen
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  4. Ronghong Jin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ronghong Jin.

Additional information

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61571298).

Chong He received his B.S. degree in electronic and information engineering and M.S. degree in electromagnetic and microwave technology from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, in 2007 and 2009 respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, in 2015. Since 2016, he has been a postdoctor researcher in Department of Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research interests include phased arrays, DOA estimation, DBF, location and calibration techniques. (Email: hechong@sjtu.edu.cn)

Lele Wang received his B.S. degree in applied physics from Hubei University of Education and M.S. degree in plasma physics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. He is currently working toward his Ph.D. degree at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. His research interests include antenna arrays, unconventional array design, DBF, and weqsas DOA estimation. (Email: lele wang@sjtu.edu.cn)

Jing feng Chen received his B.S. degree in electronics and information engineering and M.S. degree in signal and information processing from Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, China, in 2009 and 2012, respectively. He is currently working toward his Ph.D. degree at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. His research interests include antenna arrays, unconventional array design, DBF, and DOA estimation. (Email: laowu3917@163.com)

Ronghong Jin [corresponding author] received his B.S. degree in electronic engineering, the M.S. degree in electromagnetic and microwave technology, and his Ph.D. degree in communication and electronic systems from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai, China, in 1983, 1986, and 1993, respectively. In 1986, he joined the faculty of the Department of Electronic Engineering, SJTU, where he has been an Assistant, a Lecturer, an Associate Professor, and is currently a Professor. From 1997 to 1999, he was a visiting scholar with the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Japan.

From 2001 to 2002, he was a Special Invited Research Fellow with the Communication Research Laboratory, Tokyo, Japan. From 2006 to 2009, he was a Guest Professor with the University ofWollongong,Wollongong, NSW, Australia. He is also a Distinguished Guest Scientist with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Sydney, NSW, Australia. He has authored or co-authored over 300 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings and co-authored four books. He holds about 60 patents in antenna and wireless technologies. His current research interests include antennas, electromagnetic theory, numerical techniques of solving field problems, and wireless communication.

Dr. Jin is a Committee Member of the Antenna Branch of the Chinese Institute of Electronics, Beijing, China. He was a recipient of the National Technology Innovation Award, the National Nature Science Award, the 2012 Nomination of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation (Supervisor), the Shanghai Nature Science Award, and the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award. (Email: rhjin@sjtu.edu.cn)

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He, C., Wang, L., Chen, J. et al. Time-Modulated Arrays: A Four-Dimensional Antenna Array Controlled by Switches. J. Commun. Inf. Netw. 3, 1–14 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41650-018-0004-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41650-018-0004-7

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