Flexible active antenna arrays
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1.
California Institute of Technology
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2.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Abstract
Complex and dynamic control of radiated fields are advantageous for flexible radio systems, which naturally move, roll, bend, twist, deform, and vibrate. Practical challenges hinder the proliferation of these antenna arrays. This work shows how using radio-frequency microchips reduces system component count, decreases mass to ~0.1 g cm⁻², and increases functionality and mechanical flexibility. We develop a general platform for large scale flexible arrays and demonstrate two different 256-elements, 30 × 30 cm² flexible arrays. By varying supply distribution methods and radiators we show how performance can be optimized for maximum power delivery or physical flexibility. The demonstrated systems conform to curved surfaces with radii of curvatures as low as 23 cm and wirelessly deliver ~ 80 mW of DC power to a 6.7 cm × 11 cm-receiver over one meter away. This paves the way towards the integration of smart arrays in flexible wearables and deployable lightweight airborne systems.
Additional Information
The authors acknowledge Florian Bohn, Behrooz Abiri, and Amirreza Safaripour for their work developing earlier versions of the RFIC. The authors would also like to acknowledge Mohammed Reza Hashemi for his work on tile-scale array prototypes. The authors would like to thank the Caltech Space Solar Power Project (SSPP) for partial funding of this work. Additionally the authors would like to thank the Rogers Corporations for providing circuit board prototyping materials and Keysight Technologies for providing measurement equipment used in this project.Additional details
Identifiers
- Eprint ID
- 117536
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20221024-123751900.4
Funding
- Space Solar Power Project
Dates
- Created
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2022-10-28Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2022-11-01Created from EPrint's last_modified field