Design of Minimum Nonlinear Distortion Reconfigurable Antennas for Next-Generation Communication Systems

Nonlinear effects in the radio front-end can degrade communication quality and system performance. In this paper we present a new design technique for reconfigurable antennas that minimizes the nonlinear distortion and maximizes power efficiency through the minimization of the coupling between the i...

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Main Authors: Germán Augusto Ramírez Arroyave, Antoni Barlabé, Lluís Pradell, Javier Leonardo Araque Quijano, Bedri A. Cetiner, Luis Jofre-Roca
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/7/2557
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author Germán Augusto Ramírez Arroyave
Antoni Barlabé
Lluís Pradell
Javier Leonardo Araque Quijano
Bedri A. Cetiner
Luis Jofre-Roca
spellingShingle Germán Augusto Ramírez Arroyave
Antoni Barlabé
Lluís Pradell
Javier Leonardo Araque Quijano
Bedri A. Cetiner
Luis Jofre-Roca
Design of Minimum Nonlinear Distortion Reconfigurable Antennas for Next-Generation Communication Systems
Sensors
reconfigurable antennas
reconfigurable parasitic layers
antenna optimization
antenna design
nonlinear characterization
behavioral modelling
author_facet Germán Augusto Ramírez Arroyave
Antoni Barlabé
Lluís Pradell
Javier Leonardo Araque Quijano
Bedri A. Cetiner
Luis Jofre-Roca
author_sort Germán Augusto Ramírez Arroyave
title Design of Minimum Nonlinear Distortion Reconfigurable Antennas for Next-Generation Communication Systems
title_short Design of Minimum Nonlinear Distortion Reconfigurable Antennas for Next-Generation Communication Systems
title_full Design of Minimum Nonlinear Distortion Reconfigurable Antennas for Next-Generation Communication Systems
title_fullStr Design of Minimum Nonlinear Distortion Reconfigurable Antennas for Next-Generation Communication Systems
title_full_unstemmed Design of Minimum Nonlinear Distortion Reconfigurable Antennas for Next-Generation Communication Systems
title_sort design of minimum nonlinear distortion reconfigurable antennas for next-generation communication systems
publisher MDPI AG
series Sensors
issn 1424-8220
publishDate 2021-04-01
description Nonlinear effects in the radio front-end can degrade communication quality and system performance. In this paper we present a new design technique for reconfigurable antennas that minimizes the nonlinear distortion and maximizes power efficiency through the minimization of the coupling between the internal switching ports and the external feeding ports. As a nonlinear design and validation instance, we present the nonlinear characterization up to 50 GHz of a PIN diode commonly used as a switch for reconfigurable devices in the microwave band. Nonlinear models are extracted through X-parameter measurements supported by accurate calibration and de-embedding procedures. Nonlinear switch models are validated by S-parameter measurements in the low power signal regime and by harmonic measurements in the large-signal regime and are further used to predict the measured nonlinearities of a reconfigurable antenna. These models have the desired particularity of being integrated straightforwardly in the internal multi-port method formulation, which is used and extended to account for the power induced on the switching elements. A new figure of merit for the design of reconfigurable antennas is introduced—the power margin, that is, the power difference between the fed port and the switching elements, which combined with the nonlinear load models directly translates into nonlinearities and power-efficiency-related metrics. Therefore, beyond traditional antenna aspects such as port match, gain, and beam orientation, switch power criteria are included in the design methodology. Guidelines for the design of reconfigurable antennas and parasitic layers of minimum nonlinearity are provided as well as the inherent trade-offs. A particular antenna design suitable for 5G communications in the 3.5 GHz band is presented according to these guidelines, in which the specific switching states for a set of target performance metrics are obtained via a balancing of the available figures of merit with multi-objective separation criteria, which enables good control of the various design trade-offs. Average Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) and power efficiency improvement of 12 and 6 dB, respectively, are obtained with the application of this design approach. In summary, this paper introduces a new framework for the nonlinear modeling and design of reconfigurable antennas and provides a set of general-purpose tools applicable in cases beyond those used as examples and validation in this work. Additionally, the use of these models and guidelines is presented, demonstrating one of the most appealing advantages of the reconfigurable parasitic layer approach, their low nonlinearity.
topic reconfigurable antennas
reconfigurable parasitic layers
antenna optimization
antenna design
nonlinear characterization
behavioral modelling
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/7/2557
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spelling doaj-44b98e2fb26e44d08e1b4cc167ff92a32021-04-06T23:03:11ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202021-04-01212557255710.3390/s21072557Design of Minimum Nonlinear Distortion Reconfigurable Antennas for Next-Generation Communication SystemsGermán Augusto Ramírez Arroyave0Antoni Barlabé1Lluís Pradell2Javier Leonardo Araque Quijano3Bedri A. Cetiner4Luis Jofre-Roca5Department of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC), School of Telecommunications Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Campus Nord, 08034 Barcelona, SpainDepartment of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC), School of Telecommunications Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Campus Nord, 08034 Barcelona, SpainDepartment of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC), School of Telecommunications Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Campus Nord, 08034 Barcelona, SpainDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (DIEE), Faculty of Engineering, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ciudad Universitaria, Bogotá 111321, ColombiaElectrical and Computer Engineering Department, Utah State University, 4120 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-4120, USADepartment of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC), School of Telecommunications Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Campus Nord, 08034 Barcelona, SpainNonlinear effects in the radio front-end can degrade communication quality and system performance. In this paper we present a new design technique for reconfigurable antennas that minimizes the nonlinear distortion and maximizes power efficiency through the minimization of the coupling between the internal switching ports and the external feeding ports. As a nonlinear design and validation instance, we present the nonlinear characterization up to 50 GHz of a PIN diode commonly used as a switch for reconfigurable devices in the microwave band. Nonlinear models are extracted through X-parameter measurements supported by accurate calibration and de-embedding procedures. Nonlinear switch models are validated by S-parameter measurements in the low power signal regime and by harmonic measurements in the large-signal regime and are further used to predict the measured nonlinearities of a reconfigurable antenna. These models have the desired particularity of being integrated straightforwardly in the internal multi-port method formulation, which is used and extended to account for the power induced on the switching elements. A new figure of merit for the design of reconfigurable antennas is introduced—the power margin, that is, the power difference between the fed port and the switching elements, which combined with the nonlinear load models directly translates into nonlinearities and power-efficiency-related metrics. Therefore, beyond traditional antenna aspects such as port match, gain, and beam orientation, switch power criteria are included in the design methodology. Guidelines for the design of reconfigurable antennas and parasitic layers of minimum nonlinearity are provided as well as the inherent trade-offs. A particular antenna design suitable for 5G communications in the 3.5 GHz band is presented according to these guidelines, in which the specific switching states for a set of target performance metrics are obtained via a balancing of the available figures of merit with multi-objective separation criteria, which enables good control of the various design trade-offs. Average Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) and power efficiency improvement of 12 and 6 dB, respectively, are obtained with the application of this design approach. In summary, this paper introduces a new framework for the nonlinear modeling and design of reconfigurable antennas and provides a set of general-purpose tools applicable in cases beyond those used as examples and validation in this work. Additionally, the use of these models and guidelines is presented, demonstrating one of the most appealing advantages of the reconfigurable parasitic layer approach, their low nonlinearity.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/7/2557reconfigurable antennasreconfigurable parasitic layersantenna optimizationantenna designnonlinear characterizationbehavioral modelling