Multibeam Receiving Antennas Employing Generalized Joined Coupler Matrix

• Published in: IEEE transactions on antennas and propagation Vol. 72; no. 1; pp. 424 - 432
• Main Authors: Guo, Charles A., Guo, Y. Jay, Yuan, Jinhong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.01.2024; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Antenna arrays; Antennas; Beams (radiation); Blass matrix; Butler matrices; Directional couplers; Directive antennas; generalized joined coupler (GJC) matrix; Incident waves; Interference; Joining; Load matching; Manganese; multibeam antennas; Network synthesis; Nolen matrix; Power efficiency; Power management; Receiving; Receiving antennas; receiving arrays; Transmitting antennas
• ISSN: 0018-926X; 1558-2221
• DOI: 10.1109/TAP.2023.3330634

Owing to the characteristics of directional couplers, series-fed multibeam receiving antenna arrays require different treatments from their transmitting counterparts. In this article, the theory and strategies for the feed network synthesis of multibeam receiving antennas employing the generalized joined coupler (GJC) matrix are presented. Given <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">M </tex-math></inline-formula> incident waves in any set of directions, we first derive the output signal matrix as a function of the incident signal matrix. This serves as an important tool for both synthesizing and analyzing GJC receiving matrices. Then, we present three different synthesis strategies and show how they are related to the array patterns. We also reveal how the receiving power efficiency of the GJC matrix changes with the antenna beam pattern. We further demonstrate that, despite the employment of matched loads, high receiving power efficiencies can be achieved using the GJC matrix.