Title :
A wideband beam switching antenna using RF MEMS switches
Author :
Schaffner, J.H. ; Sievenpiper, D.F. ; Loo, R.Y. ; Lee, J.J. ; Livingston, S.W.
Author_Institution :
Hughes Res. Labs., Malibu, CA, USA
Abstract :
Reconfigurable aperture antenna technology has been enabled by the advent of RF MEMS switches. Typical measured insertion losses of less than 0.25 dB up to 40 GHz with superb broadband isolation means that reconfiguration of the antenna for multi-band operation can now occur with a few MEMS switches rather than multiple PIN diode or FET switch circuits. In this paper, we describe a reflectarray antenna approach that can perform true time delay beam steering by using cascaded RF MEMS switches/coplanar strip transmission line sections. Measured RF MEMS switch characteristics in coplanar strip transmission lines are presented and the modeled reflected phase of five cascaded switch/transmission line sections is presented.
Keywords :
antenna arrays; aperture antennas; beam steering; coplanar transmission lines; micromechanical devices; microwave switches; millimetre wave devices; multifrequency antennas; reflector antennas; RF MEMS switches; beam switching antenna; cascaded sections; coplanar strip transmission line; multi-band antenna; reconfigurable aperture antenna; reflectarray antenna; reflected phase; true time delay beam steering; wideband antenna; Antenna measurements; Aperture antennas; Broadband antennas; Coplanar transmission lines; Distributed parameter circuits; Insertion loss; Isolation technology; Loss measurement; Radiofrequency microelectromechanical systems; Switches;
Conference_Titel :
Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, 2001. IEEE
Conference_Location :
Boston, MA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7070-8
DOI :
10.1109/APS.2001.960182
