This paper presents a millimeter-wave end-fire dual-polarized (DP) array antenna with symmetrical radiation patterns and high isolation. The DP radiation element is formed by integrating a quasi-Yagi antenna (providing horizontal polarization) into a pyramidal horn antenna (providing vertical polarization), resulting in a DP radiation element with a symmetrical radiation aperture. To efficiently feed the DP element while maintaining high isolation, a mode-composite full-corporate-feed network is employed, comprising substrate-integrated waveguide supporting the TE10 mode and substrate-integrated coaxial line supporting the TEM mode. This design eliminates the need for additional transition structures, achieving excellent mode isolation and a reduced substrate layer number. A 1 × 4-element DP array prototype operating at 26.5–29.5 GHz using low temperature co-fired ceramic technology was designed, fabricated, and measured. The test results indicate that the prototype achieves an average gain exceeding 10 dBi for both polarizations within the operating band. Thanks to the symmetrical DP radiation element and mode-composite full-corporate-feed network, symmetrical radiation patterns for both polarizations are observed in both the horizontal and vertical planes, along with a high cross-polarization discrimination of 22 dB and polarization port isolation of 35 dB.

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) enhance the performance of wireless communication networks, particularly within millimeter wave (mm-Wave) bands. When a line-of-sight link is not strong enough or is fully blocked. The location of RIS has a significant impact on the RIS’s wireless channel and system performance. A wireless communication model has been proposed in a mm-Wave environment supported by RIS. The proposed model contains one transmitter and five users at the receiving end. Due to the small distance between users, there is interference between them and the received signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) decreases. Three RISs separated by different interspace distances were proposed to serve users at various distances from the transmitter to reduce inter-user interference. The simulation results showed that increasing the distance between the RIS site and the TX-User line served a larger number of users, and the three heights of the RIS provided a coverage range domain complementary to each other for different user sites. The improvement percentages in SINR for the second and third RIS are 48.46% and 77.38%, respectively. Enlarging the size of the RIS only increases the signal capacity and does not affect the coverage range domain of the single RIS.

A long-range, compact, wideband Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) tag is proposed. The design features a triangular patch, designed to achieve wideband impedance matching. The tag exhibit −10 dB bandwidth from 753 to 917 MHz with a substrate thickness of 1.575 mm. The overall size of the tag is 121 × 30 × 1.575 mm3. The gain and bandwidth for varying substrate thickness is investigated. Further, two parasitic strips are designed alongside the patch to operate the tag more effectively at Federal Communications Commission (FCC) band in simultaneous with European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) band with increased read range. With parasitic strips, the tag exhibits −10 dB bandwidth from 766.5 to 896.5 MHz and 905 to 943.6 MHz which covers the bandwidth requirements in Europe, Asia, and North America. A prototype of the proposed tag is fabricated and experimentally tested with the RFID Higgs 4 IC. The tag provides a read range of over 14 m in 865–870 MHz and 13 m in 902–928 MHz when the tag is operated in free space and a read range of over 10.2 m in 865–870 MHz range and 10.3 m in 902–928 MHz range when mounted on a metallic surface of size of 200 × 200 m2 . The performance parameters of the designed tag are also compared with some commercially available designs.

This paper presents a wideband dual-polarized in-band full duplex antenna which can also suppress the higher order modes. A dual differential capacitive feeding scheme is proposed to increase the isolation between the co-located transmitter and receiver ports. The proposed design uses λ/4 resonators in close vicinity of the radiating patch to provide spurious-free characteristics. Further, a parasitic patch placed above the radiating patch at height “h” is used to enhance the input matching, impedance bandwidth, and gain of the proposed design. The key features of the proposed structure are its wide impedance bandwidth (∼20%), high inter-port isolation (>58 dB) throughout the entire operating frequency range (2.26–2.76 GHz), and simultaneous suppression of higher order modes which makes it a suitable candidate for modern wireless application. Finally, a prototype is fabricated and measurement results are in good agreement with simulation results.

This paper presents a flexible SiGe monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) chipset for 120 GHz ultra-wideband frequency-modulated continuous wave radar systems. The highly integrated chipset is implemented with multiple-input and multiple-output radar in mind which leads to transmit and receive MMICs with four integrated channels in each chip. The transmitter achieves an output power of 12.9 dBm with a total power consumption of only 403 mW. The receiver chip incorporates a sub-harmonic approach for suppression of leakage radiation at 120 GHz through a receive channel. Both chips integrate active multiplier chains that are driven by a third reference dual band voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) MMIC that can deliver an output at center frequencies of 15 or 30 GHz. The reference VCO MMIC demonstrates relative tuning ranges of 32%.

In this paper, we propose a hybrid sparse array design utilizing Delaunay Triangulation algorithm for element positioning and Convex algorithm for element excitation optimization. This Delaunay Triangulation algorithm yields a radiation pattern devoid of grating lobes. Then Convex algorithm is used to optimize the element excitations to further decrease side-lobe-level. The minimum inter-element distance is as large as 8 times of wavelength. The peak-side-lobe-level can be −17.3 dB. Furthermore, beam steering can be achieved with good performance within 80° field-of-view range.

In this paper, a large, compact array antenna that can be expanded in the 2-D plane is proposed for near-field radio frequency identification applications. By the introduction of the fractal structure and corner joint method, the array is easy to expand in the 2-D plane. An antenna element can be divided into a dozen or so loops, and traveling wave distribution makes sure that every loop is excited in a time period. So that a strong and uniform magnetic field could be generated in a large area. As a proof of concept, array antennas with $1 \times 8$, $2 \times 4$, and $3 \times 3$ elements are designed, fabricated, and measured. The measured bandwidth of the antennas covers the entire Chinese standard. Reading distances of the proposed large array antennas achieved up to 57 mm. Results show that the proposed antenna could realize flexibility and extendibility in a large area with stable and uniform magnetic field distribution.

This manuscript presents a millimeter-wave GaN high-power amplifier (HPA) intended for next generation inter-satellite links (ISLs). The proposed architecture achieves a fractional bandwidth wider than 18% in the V-band spectrum, to deliver a 10 Gbit/s throughput compatible with multi-thousand-km ISLs. Core of the HPA is the monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC ) power amplifier which covers the whole 59–71 GHz band with high efficiency through innovative topologies and a cutting-edge gallium nitride on silicon carbide (GaN-on-SiC) process. The MMIC is then parallelized by means of a 1-to-8 splitter/combiner to obtain a V-band 10 W GaN HPA. Measurement results show a peak small-signal gain of 25.6 dB, 6.5% peak power-added efficiency, and a maximum P1dB of 40.3 dBm.

In this article, a qualitative work has been carried out based on airborne pulsed Doppler (PD) RF sensor consist of its operational requirements in terms of phase noise modeling and associated contributing factors. Precise and efficient theoretical modeling of phase noise requirement for airborne-PD radar or long-range RF sensor is presented. This work also emphasis on the limitation of conventional phase noise modeling practices used for PD RF sensor. An improved equation has been derived for accurate phase noise estimation considering the range correlation effect and inline flicker contribution on residual phase noise requirement. Random vibrations causes increase in phase noise level around low frequency offsets region in local oscillator. The proposed phase noise model is efficient enough to counter phase noise degradation at lower frequency offsets. The proposed model is also experimentally validated. Improved modeling offers benefit in reducing the stringent RF sensor phase noise specifications at close-in frequency offsets using range correlation effect and precise inclusion of inline flicker contribution. Present work can be used to mitigate random vibration effects at close-in phase noise offsets, which avoids complex stabilization practices and stringent oscillator design phase noise specification.

Antenna arrays are a main driver of next generation millimeter-wave communication and radar systems as shrinking antenna sizes leverage larger arrays to compensate for reduced link budget. However, conventional phase controlled arrays exhibit a frequency dependent scan angle that appears as loss to a fixed counterpart. Bandwidth limitations introduced by the so-called beam squint effect hinder larger array sizes and data rates thereby generating a demand for timed arrays as a solution. This paper gives a quantified overview of the beam squint phenomenon, different hardware architectures as well as evaluation parameters and common shortcomings of true-time delay (TTD) elements. A broad variety of TTD realizations from literature are compared by their operational principles and performance. Finally, the delay interpolation principle, its non-idealities, and their impact on a hierarchically time delay controlled D-band antenna array are described. Extended content on a previously published, continuously tunable TTD implementation at a center frequency of 144 GHz with a bandwidth of 26 GHz and a delay range of 1.75 ps that requires only 0.53 × 0.3 mm2 of core chip area is presented. Measurement results have been obtained from a demonstrator manufactured in 130 nm BiCMOS technology.

In this work, a compact active integrated antenna based on a highly compatible antenna-in-package (AiP) solution is proposed. It consists of two sections, namely, a cover plate integrated with an antenna and a package backplane that carries a GaN power amplifier (PA) die. The proposed AiP solution not only provides efficient interconnection between the antenna and the GaN PA die while providing physical shielding, but also provides impedance compensation for the die to improve the matching performance. Besides, a plated through hole array is designed inside the package backplane to significantly improve heat dissipation performance. The proposed AiP solution is compatible with radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) dies with different pin arrangements. Two prototypes are fabricated and measured for validation. The first prototype is the active integrated antenna based on the GaN PA, which shows an impedance bandwidth of 25.7–28.7 GHz, a peak gain of 31 dBi, and a dimension of 8 mm × 8 mm × 1.7 mm. Another prototype is based on a GaN front-end module (FEM) die integrating the PA and low noise amplifier, which demonstrates better EVM and ACPR than the conventional design with separate antenna and FEM.

This work describes the design process of a single-pole double-throw (SPDT) microwave switch operating at Ka-band. It is tailored to a tunable reflective termination design that can be used in tunable power amplifier configurations. A high electron mobility transistor and a resonating network are employed in shunt configuration to enhance the performance in the output port’s active and inactive conditions. The small and large signal measurements showcase a 2 GHz bandwidth with an insertion loss and isolation better than −1.8 dB and −25 dB, respectively, and handling power levels of up to 3 W at 30.5 GHz. The load-pull measurements across the entire Smith chart offer comprehensive insights into the behavior of the SPDT when operating with complex and reactive loads, fulfilling the purpose of tunable reactive termination.

This paper presents a vertically folded gap waveguide filter for use as the filter element for each antenna in an array of slotted waveguide antennas, at W-band. Loaded gap-waveguide resonators are used to reduce the footprint of the filter, and the filter is vertically folded to reduce the length. New input and output transitions are proposed, as well as inter-resonator coupling structures that conform to the basic gap-waveguide structure. A 7th order filter with a bandwidth of 10 GHz and a center frequency of 101 GHz is designed to meet geometric constraints of a transmitter system. A sensitivity analysis was performed on the structure to determine the required manufacturing tolerances. The filter was manufactured and measured yielding 10 dB of return loss in the passband and a detuning of the passband by 1 GHz. The return loss at 88 GHz peaked due to deviations in manufactured gap height in the gap waveguide. Deviations from the simulated response were accounted for with a parameter extraction from the measured results.

A reconfigurable leaky-wave antenna and its application capable of electronically steering the beam within the entire hemisphere is presented. The original antenna is designed as a 1D array of conducting patches on a dielectric substrate coupled by varactors in series with interdigital capacitors. The beam of this antenna is driven by a DC bias that controls the capacitances of the varactor diodes over a frequency range from 8 to 8.2 GHz. Simulations showed a change in the direction of the main radiation pattern within 55° at 8 GHz by varying the varactor capacitances in the range of 0.1 to 1 pF. The maximum gain is 10 dBi and the side lobe level is -10 dB. The fabricated antenna sample operates at an applied DC voltage between 0 and 12 V, which corresponds to varactor capacitances controlled in the range of 1 to 0.15 pF. This gives a range of elevation angles equal to 40°. The application of the antenna in a reconfigurable star-type structure is proposed. The direction of the main lobe of the radiation pattern in azimuth is controlled by switching between the centrally excited eight antenna arrays using PIN diodes. The direction of radiation in elevation is controlled by the DC bias of the varactors of a particular array switched to “ON”. This complex beam steering throughout the hemisphere represents a novel character of the presented antenna. The antenna has a planar structure. Low-cost printed circuit board technology was used for its fabrication.

This article proposes a hexagonal shaped circularly polarized (CP) antenna at ultra-high frequency (UHF) for radio frequency identification (RFID) and X-band applications. Initially, the antenna operates only in X-band and to convert this CP dual-band antenna asymmetric ground plane and four electromagnetic band gap structures are employed. A metasurface consisting of two complementary metamaterial structures is positioned above the patch at a 9 mm distance to enhance the gain and impedance bandwidth in both the bands. The presented antenna whose electrical dimension 0.48 λg × 0.48 λg × 0.02 λg achieves an impedance bandwidth of 796 MHz and of 4.24 GHz in UHF–RFID and X-band spectrum, respectively. The proposed antenna achieves circular polarization and has a bandwidth of 995 MHz and 796 MHz which spans 2.28–3.28 GHz and 10.44–11.24 GHz, respectively, with a 3 dB axial ratio. In addition to these, a stable radiation characteristic with an average gain of 6 dBi at both 2.45 GHz and 11.21 GHz are achieved which makes it suitable for RFID based real time logistic warehousing applications.

A novel high-selectivity ultra-wideband (UWB) balanced bandpass filter (BPF) with harmonic suppression characteristics is proposed. The differential-mode UWB passband is constructed using quarter-wavelength asymmetrical parallel-coupled transmission lines, resulting in sharp filtering selectivity, while common-mode noises are suppressed by loading the T-type stubs. A simple design method of integrating bandstop filter branches into the BPF for third harmonic suppression without increasing the circuit size is described and confirmed. A planar high-selectivity balanced BPF prototype is manufactured and measured at 2.6 GHz with a measured 3-dB fractional bandwidth of 108% to validate the framework principle. More importantly, with third harmonic suppression characteristics, the measured out-of-band rejection is more than 20 dB, spanning 4.35 GHz until 12.4 GHz.

A circularly polarized broadband antenna is designed for Wi-Fi 7 applications. The patch antenna is modeled in the shape of G, and the feed position is adjusted to produce the arms with a length difference of λ/4. The G-shaped patch antenna has shown an impedance bandwidth of 5% (6.16−6.48 GHz) and a peak gain of 6.3 dBi. The metasurface is structured with a periodic array of 4 × 4 patches. The metasurface is sandwiched between dielectric substrates beneath the G-shaped patch. The outcome of these combinations has achieved an impedance bandwidth of 41% (4.85−7.37 GHz) and an axial ratio bandwidth of 26% (5.26−6.83 GHz), and the antenna achieved a peak gain of 7.45 dBic.

Worldwide adoption of 5G mobile devices has been one of the main driving engines behind semiconductor industry. Since the initial release in 2020, 5G-enabled devices have surpassed the market penetration of 3G/4G smartphones. 5G brings higher data capacity, low latency, and new applications. These are possible due to lower feature nodes such as FinFET 3 nm/5 nm but also due to improvements of the 5G radio frequency (RF)front-end circuitry. This paper presents 5G RF front-end architectures with novel circuits and measurement details which will be part of future 5G advanced and 6G mobile devices and are easier to be controlled using digital circuitry. The paper presents an envelope-controlled power amplifier (PA) principle, along with a novel simplified calibration architecture designed for 5G/5G+ operating under 6 GHz, as well as for frequency range 2 millimeter-wave PAs. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2023 53rd European Microwave Conference and was published in the Proceedings [Balteanu F, Thoomu K, Pingale A, Venimadhavan S, Sarkar S, Choi Y, Modi H, Drogi S, Lee J and Agarwal B (2023) Enabling RF circuit techniques for 5G and beyond In 53rd European Microwave Conference (EuMC), Berlin, Germany, 22–25].