Compact high-gain wideband antenna systems for through-the-wall imaging and wireless communications, featuring 160% fractional bandwidth, are presented. Each radiating system, consisting of two orthogonal Vivaldi antennas forming a cross-shaped configuration so to excite linear (horizontal/vertical) and circular polarization (CP), is equipped with a top-mount spherical-axicon dielectric lens. The optimized shaping of the lens and of the outer edge Vivaldi arms allow achieving gain levels exceeding 15dBi with good front-to-back-ratio. The proposed antenna features a broadside gain diagram with stable radiation pattern and wideband impedance matching in the frequency range between 650 MHz and 6 GHz. CST Microwave Studio®, implementing a full-wave locally conformal finite integration technique (FIT), was employed to design and characterize the antenna and to guide its physical realization. Two-port equivalent circuits were developed to characterize parasitic coupling effects between the Vivaldi antennas ports, while a full-wave analysis allowed characterizing their frequency and time domain behaviors. The numerical results concerning the antennas parameters, illustrating the suitability of the proposed antennas to support narrow and ultra-wideband signal waveforms, are found to be in good agreement with the experimental measurements performed on an antenna prototype.

A wideband high-gain dielectric horn-lens antenna (DHLA) for wireless communications and UWB applications, featuring 122% fractional bandwidth, is presented. The antenna, consisting of a dielectric horn equipped with a spherical-axicon dielectric lens that increases and equalizes the gain within the operating band, is placed on a PCB featuring a wideband 8-shaped slot fed by a tapered microstrip line employed to excite the radiating system. The lens, integrated within the body of the dielectric horn, has the property of focusing the RF energy near its vertex on an extended frequency band, thus ensuring compact size, excellent field coupling with the antenna excitation system, and a significant increase of antenna gain. The antenna operates in the 3-12.4 GHz frequency range with relatively flat group delay, making it suitable for operating with narrowband, broadband, and impulsive UWB signals. The antenna can work properly without or with a metal reflector useful to enhance gain (up to 19 dBi), improve the front-to-back ratio, and reduce the impact of the antenna characteristics from the installation site. CST Studio Suite™, implementing a full-wave locally conformal finite integration technique (FIT), was employed to design and characterize the antenna. The antenna characteristics estimated numerically were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results performed on an antenna prototype.

As the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication is utilizing millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency bands, electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure emitted from a 5G mmWave mobile handset should be evaluated and compliant with the relevant EMF exposure limits in terms of peak spatial-average incident power density (PD). In this work, a fast PD assessment method for a 5G mmWave mobile handset using the equivalent current (EQC) method is proposed. The EQC method utilizes the intermediate-field (IF) data collected by a spherical measurement system to reconstruct the EQCs over a reconstruction surface and then computes the PD in close proximity of the mobile handset with acceptable accuracy. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated using a mmWave mobile handset mock-up equipped with four quasi-Yagi antennas. The assessed PD results are compared with those computed using full-wave simulations and also those measured with a planar near-field (NF) scanning system. In addition, three influencing factors related to the accuracy of the EQC method, namely, the angular resolution, the phase error, and the handset position in the IF measurements, are also analyzed. The proposed method is a good candidate for fast PD assessment of EMF exposure compliance testing in the mmWave frequency range.

This Roadmap overviews present challenges and opportunities for the development of antenna measurement techniques and technologies to support the all-pervasive and ever-increasing demand for radio-frequency wireless systems in modern society. The Roadmap comprises 19 inspiring contributions by 34 leading experts in antenna measurements.

The development and validation of a Plane Wave Generator (PWG) suitable for 5G testing at frequencies below 6 GHz have been reported in recent publications. There is an obvious interest to further develop the successful PWG technology for testing at higher frequencies employed by 5G and other communication systems. In this paper, we report on the technology development of a dual polarized PWG at millimeter wave frequencies. A representative technology demonstrator has been manufactured and tested. The demonstrator consists of twelve identical dual polarized elements distributed on two concentric rings using a corporate feed network to ensure the correct amplitude and phase distribution. The spatial allocation of the elements is determined from the geometry of the PWG system with the full-size test zone. The demonstrator has been manufactured and validated successfully. The validated technology is currently being implemented in the full-size PWG system.