Received August 27, 2020, accepted August 31, 2020, date of publication September 4, 2020, date of current version

September 21, 2020.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3021744

Low-Profile Beam Steerable Patch Array With

SIW Feeding Network
YUJIE LIU , QIAO CHENG , (Member, IEEE), AHSAN NOOR KHAN, HENRY GIDDENS ,
MAX MUNOZ TORRICO, AND YANG HAO , (Fellow, IEEE)
School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, U.K.
Corresponding author: Yang Hao ([email protected])
This work was supported in part by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize
(ECSH1D8R) and in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under Grant of SYnthesizing 3D
METAmaterials for RF, microwave and THz applications (SYMETA) (EP/N010493/1).

ABSTRACT This paper presents a novel beam steerable array antenna that encompasses fully planar, low
profile and lightweight characteristics for satellite communication (SatCom) applications. The proposed
array contains a wideband linear source generator (LSG), an array of circular patches, and an inductive
surface. The LSG is designed based on the substrate-integrated-waveguide (SIW) technology, whereas the
patches are regarded as coupling circular scatterers, placed on the inductive surface for converting surface
wave into the radiating wave. Each scatterer acts as a location-dependent phaser that can tailor the farfield
behaviour to leverage beam steering, and is achieved by changing its distribution mechanically. A prototype
of the proposed design has been fabricated and measured to evaluate the antenna performance. The measured
results are in good agreement with the simulated results. The array antenna operates well with S11 < −10 dB
in the frequency band of 10.75-12.5 GHz and has stable radiation performance with beam steering capability
of nearly ±60◦ in the elevation plane. The total height of the proposed array is about 5.1 mm (0.19λ◦ ). It is
envisaged that the proposed antenna array will empower small moving platforms due to low cost, low profile
and suitability for mass production.

INDEX TERMS Array antenna, beam steering, low-profile, satellite communication, substrate-integrated
waveguide (SIW).

I. INTRODUCTION integrated with active devices to obtain electronic steering

Currently, there is an increasing demand for establishing [9], [10]. For this reason, these electronically scanning arrays
seamless, uninterrupted and high data rate wireless connec- have been considered as the future of mobile communication
tions for satellite communication [1]. A relative low-profile terminals [11]. However, feeding networks with the ICs or
antenna system is thus required to enable wireless commu- digital phase shifters are expensive and raise major concerns
nications with a wide-angle scanning capability [2]. During for commercial users as they can be cumbersome, lossy and
the last few decades, various established solutions have been complicated to design for large array antennas [12].
explored to realize such antennas with low apertures and In recent years, research has been devoted to assimilat-
broad scanning capabilities. In [3], an integrated circuit (ICs) ing electrical and mechanical scanning capabilities together
based stacked patch array antenna was proposed to obtain [13] and replacing the costly phase shifters with electrically
the steering capability of ±60◦ . The array profile was sig- controllable materials, such as Liquid Crystal [14]. In [15],
nificantly reduced by implementing the principle of folded Kymeta developed a Metamaterial Surface Antenna Technol-
reflectarray [4], [5] that incorporated a reflector based polar- ogy (MSAT) based on a holographic concept and integrated
ization grid. Another planar array [6] was designed within with liquid crystals as on-or-off switches, which enabled the
one functional block using an RF circuitry and dual-band antenna to achieve ±60◦ beam scanning at a total thickness of
scanning performances were achieved using digital beam 50 mm. Nevertheless, this technique requires a sophisticated
steering concept [7], [8]. Some other planar antennas also algorithm for optimizing the desired metasurface in addition
to extra microchip components such as field-programmable
The associate editor coordinating the review of this manuscript and gate arrays (FPGA), and thus it becomes expensive for Sat-
approving it for publication was Davide Comite . Com operators [12]. Furthermore, despite the reduced cost,

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

164178 For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ VOLUME 8, 2020
Y. Liu et al.: Low-Profile Beam Steerable Patch Array With SIW Feeding Network

FIGURE 1. The details of the proposed array antenna with: (a) perspective view, (b) cross-sectional view.

the MSAT also involves complicated assembly and is there- substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) feeding and radiating
fore, like other hybrid phased arrays, not suitable for mass patch elements on PCB materials provide mass production
production [16], [17]. possibility with low-cost processing, and also significantly
The continuous transverse stub (CTS) antenna is a low cost, reduces the antenna weight. In contrary to existing VICTS
low profile antenna solution for SatCom applications. It has antenna solutions, the proposed approach offers more free-
significant advantages in the low-cost feeding mechanisms dom of integrating active components or designing the radi-
and mechanical steering system, obviating the need for any ating elements without influencing the plane-wave feeder,
expensive active phase devices. CTS antennas were invented as the inductive surface isolates it from the radiating layer.
in the 1990s by Milroy [18]. Usually, a CTS array consists In the VICTS antenna, it is not easy to achieve these co-design
of a set of 1-D long radiating slots and a broadband line characteristics without altering the feeding performance. Fur-
source that support the fundamental transverse electromag- thermore, this design utilizes circular coupling scatterers to
netic (TEM) mode. Its far-field characteristics can be tailored achieve consistent linear polarisation without requiring any
by rotating the in-between relative positions of the radiating extra external polarizers.
slots and line source. Later on, Milroy continued to derive The remainder of this paper is organized as follows.
the variable inclination CTS (VICTS) array [19] for scanning In Section II, the antenna architecture and its working prin-
capabilities. In [20], a gap waveguide fed VICTS array was ciple will be described. Section III presents the broadband
proposed in the 60 GHz band that has achieved steering range SIW line source generator (LSG) for the antenna prototype,
up to ±60◦ within the thickness of 9.35 mm (1.92 λ0 ). A CTS and simulated results are briefly illustrated. A detailed char-
array with a high aperture efficiency of 60% was presented in acterization of the antenna through simulated and measured
[21] with a rotating feed part. This technique excludes the results is explained in Section IV, along with a comparison
requirements of a radiating aperture and ensues in leveraging of SatCom array antennas from the literature.
array with ±30◦ and frequency independent beam directions.
Although several types of CTS arrays have been implemented
to target specific applications [22], their metallic waveguide II. ANTENNA DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
structures are massive and still require high power mechanical A. OPERATION PRINCIPLE AND 1-D ARRAY ANTENNA
control systems to realize scanning in azimuth and elevation DESIGN
planes. The mechanical control system also makes the whole The proposed array is developed from the phased array sheet
antenna system bulky and consumes more power that is not concept [25] and implemented into Ku band specifically for
feasible for low-cost applications. Furthermore, an external SatCom applications. It is well known that the 2D guided
polarizer is required to maintain the consistent polarization surface wave is converted into a 3D radiating beam in free
of VICTS array due to its dependence on the directions of space with the wavenumber modulation. The directivity is
radiating slots under rotation. dependent on the grating period of each scatterer (or antenna
In this paper, we propose a novel low profile array that element) [26]. Fig. 1 illustrates the array structure in detail.
integrates several critical emerging antenna technologies for From the perspective view, a 50  coaxial cable is used to
SatCom applications. The proposed design addresses the connect the SIW, and the SIW plane-wave feeder, which is
constraints of complex feeding networks and costly phase constructed by combining power divider with the multiple
shifters; the design process does not require algorithmic pro- T-junctions, generates the line source for the array. A conduc-
gramming techniques as that have been utilized for elec- tive mesh layer, known as inductive surface (labelled as M2),
tronic and hybrid beam steering array antennas. The use of is designed for the surface wave propagating at the interface

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FIGURE 2. (a) Simulation model of 1D array with 9 circular patch

elements as the scatterers. The details of the dimensions are M =
2.5 mm, S = 0.5 mm, d = 6.6 mm, P = 13.3 mm. (b) Simulated results of FIGURE 3. The equivalent array distribution with the dynamic
normalized radiation patterns of the 1D-array at various frequencies. coordination system shown in red dash line. (a) When the M3 layer is
relatively rotated by θ = 25◦ . (b) The variation of element spacing in X
and Y directions under the condition of rotating angle θ = 25◦ , where
Px = Py = P cos(θ) and dy =P sin(θ).
of two substrates with different permittivity [27]. The cir-
cular scatterers (labelled as M3) are utilized to couple the
surface wave energy into free-space radiation with consistent and 12.5 GHz, which indicate that the designed array antenna
polarization. Fig. 1(b) shows the cross-sectional view which works well in the SatCom receiving bandwidth of 10.7 to 12.5
consists of 5 layers - 3 conductive layers and 2 substrates. M3 GHz.
layer is etched on the top surface of an FR-4 substrate with a
thickness of 2 mm. Beneath the FR-4, another metal M2 layer B. THEORETICAL MODEL FOR ARRAY PATTERN
is located with both the inductive surface and a SIW plane- Rather than utilizing the frequency scanning capability, the
wave feeder in F4B dielectric with a permittivity of 2.94 and antenna design mainly focusses on the beam steering capabil-
thickness of 3 mm. The beam scanning feature is achieved by ities across different frequencies. As stated above, rotating the
rotating M3 layer in relative to the bottom layer. Each of the upper M3 layer provides the required phased delay to realize
scatterers has a varying phase delay which is dependent on the beam scanning, as the relative element period changes along
rotation angle. This position is expressed through the rotating with it. Here, the equivalent radiation model is analyzed with
angle (RA) referred as the angle between the X-axis, as shown a theoretical calculation to obtain the array beam patterns.
in Fig. 1(a). In order to avoid the interfacial friction while Fig. 3 illustrates the equivalent circular element distribution
rotating, an air gap with 0.1 mm space is needed between M2 of this proposed array while the rotating angle (RA) is at
layer and FR-4 substrates. The whole antenna has a diameter θ = 25◦ . By referring to the closed-form solution of the
of 270 mm and a thickness of 5.1 mm, equivalent to just VICTS array [25], [30], the main beam of this proposed array
0.19 λ◦ . is therefore predictable.
A periodic model of a 1-D array was built to investigate As shown in Fig. 3(b), the locations of the elements can be
the surface-to-plane wave conversion and is illustrated in expressed as:
Fig. 2(a). The sidewalls were set as perfect magnetic conduc-
Xmn = mPx , (1)
tor (PMC) boundary conditions in order to maintain the plane
wave propagation. When the incident plane-wave propagates Ymn = nPy + mdy . (2)
along the y-direction in the SIW, the non-radiative evanescent where m and n are integers. By assuming each element has the
field is formed on the inductive surface. This field simul- same coupled amplitude, and each of them is approximately
taneously propagates in the y-direction and decays expo- radiating as an isotropic point source in the farfield, the
nentially along z-direction. The scatterers on the top layer antenna pattern can be calculated as follows
perturb this evanescent field condition, and some portion of
the guided evanescent energy is coupled into magnetic dipole ejβ0 R X p
AF(θ, ϕ) w r(1 − r)n
like radiation. A mesh of conductive lines can realize the R m,n
inductive surface with the period (e.g. M = 2.5 mm) and
line width (e.g. S = 0.5 mm), which both are sufficiently × e−jm(β0 Py sin(θ) cos(ϕ)−βg Py )
shorter than the guided wavelength (e.g: λg = 16.35 mm) × e−jn[β0 (dy sin(θ) cos(ϕ)+Px sin(θ) sin(ϕ))−βg dy ] . (3)
at 10.7 GHz. Its theory was described in [28] with details.
Here, r is a coupled energy rate. λg and λ0 are the wavelength
The scatterers diameter (e.g. d = 6.6 mm) is calculated and
in the SIW and in the air, respectively. R is the distance from
optimized according to the microstrip antenna method [29].
the center element to the far observation point which can be
The spacing between each scatterer is about one wavelength
indicated as:
(e.g. p = λs = 13.36 mm) in the FR-4 dielectric for achieving p
the in-phase radiation. Meanwhile, the simulated radiation θ = sin−1 ( u2 + υ 2 ), (4)
patterns, in Fig. 2(b), verify the above working scenario at −1 υ
ϕ = tan ( ). (5)
the frequencies of 10.7 GHz, 11 GHz, 11.5 GHz, 12 GHz u

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TABLE 1. Dimensions of the line source generator (Unit: mm).

FIGURE 5. LSG simulated results including amplitudes of reflection (S11 )

and transmission (S21 ) coefficients.

by arranging a series of H-plane horns together to achieve

plane wave propagation. As shown in Fig. 4(a), the proposed
FIGURE 4. (a) SIW T-junction configuration which transfer the TE mode
into quasi-TEM mode with dimension details, (b)E-field distribution at the T-junction design contains two H-plane horns and one 1-to-2
frequencies of 10.5 GHz, 11.5 GHz, 12 GHz and 12.5 GHz, (c)The structure power divider. The sidewalls of it are set as PMC boundary
of the LSG which contains the 1-to-8 power divider and 8 T-junctions and
also with the feeding details of coaxial cable to SIW design. The used to imitate the infinite space for the plane-wave propagation.
parameters are listed in Table 1. It is worth noting that the plane-wave propagation is highly
dependent on the coupling between adjacent H-plane horns,
where u and v are defined below: which requires the width (e.g. w0 ) of the H-plane horn to
(Py − λg )λ0 be about one dielectric wavelength (e.g. λg ) at the highest
u= , (6) frequency of 12.5 GHz in the SIW. We explicitly design the
Px Py
1-to-2 power divider to connect the above H-plane horns.
dy λ0
υ = . (7) For proper impedance matching, the diamond-shaped divider
Px Py and the step structure are applied to efficiently transfer the
As Px = Py = P cos(θ) and dy = P sin(θ) are all relative to waveguide mode to parallel-plate mode with a compact size,
the rotating angle θ and fix element spacing P, the location where the lengths (e.g. L3 , L4 ) are approximately 0.5λg at
of the main beam is easily calculated through the Eq. 4 and 5. a centre frequency of 11.5 GHz. The E-field distributions at
The theoretical antenna radiation results are compared with frequencies of 10.5 GHz, 11.5 GHz, 12 GHz and 12.5 GHz
the simulated and measured results later in the paper (Table displayed in Fig. 4(b) indicate that this designed T-junction
2). can convert the TE mode to quasi-TEM mode perfectly across
the operating bandwidth.
III. DESIGN OF SIW LINE SOURCE GENERATOR Fig. 4(c) shows the whole structure of the proposed LSG,
The LSG is one of the critical parts for the array antenna, including the detail of connecting to coaxial cable. Eight
and its key point is to launch a plane wave in the parallel- T-junctions are linked with the power divider and placed
plate waveguide. There are already various types of SIW- serially together to obtain the full range plane-wave in SIW.
LSG have been developed in recent decades. For example, Through the equations in [32], the SIW parameters, of φR, the
the series structure with a cascade of π junctions [31], and plated vias radius, and Vd , the periodic spacing, can be easily
parabolic cylindrical reflector based on geometrical optics calculated for gaining excellent transmission efficiency. The
[23], [24]. Taking into account the design considerations of coaxial cable connection part was also optimized in order to
achieving the required bandwidth and utilizing simple low- have a sufficient transmission. The inner core of the connector
cost fabrication techniques, we utilized a SIW-LSG design was embedded into the substrate at a length of 2.5 mm, and the

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TABLE 2. The details of radiation patterns of the proposed array antenna. (‘The.’ stands for theoretical).

FIGURE 7. The reflection coefficient comparison at the rotating

FIGURE 6. The photographs of (a) the top scatterers layer, (b) the bottom
angle (RA) of 0◦ , 15◦ and 25◦ between simulated and measured results.
feeding network, (c) the antenna prototype and its S-parameter
measurement setup and (d) the near-field setup for pattern
measurement.
The simulated and measured reflection coefficients at dif-
feeding position is placed away from the SIW bottom border ferent rotating angles are shown in Fig. 7. The reflec-
at a distance of St = λg /4 in the SIW. The final parameters tion coefficient remains below −10 dB across the entire
of the LSG structure are listed in Table 1. Fig. 5 illustrates 10.75-12.5 GHz band (a relative bandwidth of 15%) and is
the simulated S-parameter of LSG with both amplitudes of unaffected by the rotational angles.
reflection and transmission coefficients, which shows that the Fig. 8 shows the measured normalized radiation patterns
LSG transmission with S11 below −10 dB, whilst there is at rotating angles (RAs) of 0◦ , 10◦ , 15◦ ,20◦ and 25◦ and
less than 0.5 dB transmission loss during the bandwidth of frequencies of 11.5 GHz, 12 GHz and 12.5 GHz. The sim-
10.5 GHz to 12.5 GHz. ulated radiation patterns at three RAs are also displayed for
comparison. A relatively good agreement can be observed
IV. ARRAY ANTENNA PROTOTYPE AND ITS between them. In the measurement, the beam steering range
CHARACTERIZATION RESULTS has achieved from 0◦ to 53◦ at 12.5 GHz. The side-lobe
In order to validate this proposed array design, a prototype level (SLL) remains −10 dB below the maximum at most of
with a total of 313 patch scatterers was manufactured using the rotating angles except the angle at 25◦ . This increased
a low-cost PCB processing technology. The bottom substrate SLL is due to a larger reflected surface wave at the high
is a double-sided copper-clad, laminated with gold plating. rotating angle. Further details on the scanning angle and SLL
The high conductivity can reduce the loss of surface wave for rotation angles of 15◦ and 25◦ are listed in Table 2,
propagation on the inductive surface. The top layer of cir- including the data at 11 GHz which shows a steering angle
cular scatterers is shown in Fig. 6(a) and the SIW feeding of 60◦ was achieved.
network with inductive mesh are shown in 6(b). In addition, The antenna gain and radiation efficiency at various rotat-
Fig. 6(c) and 6(d) also show the S-parameter and radiation ing angles are shown in Fig. 9. It can be observed that the
pattern measurement setup with N5244A PNA-X Network measured gains remain stable with reduced beam scanning
Analyzer and NSI 2D near-field scanner system, respectively. loss in the RA range from 0◦ to 20◦ , in which the maximum

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FIGURE 8. Measured and simulated radiation patterns of this beam steerable proposed array at 11.5 GHz, 12 GHz and 12.5 GHz. Solid lines
show the measured directivity at rotating angle (RA) of 0◦ ,10◦ ,15◦ ,20◦ and 25◦ , and dash lines represent the simulated results at RA of 0◦ ,
15◦ and 25◦ .

FIGURE 9. Simulated and measrued realized gain and efficiency comparisons at different rotating angles (RAs).

scanned angle reaches 45◦ at 11.5 GHz within 1 dB gain these losses, a 70% efficiency is achieved for RA = 0◦ in
difference. Comparing to the simulated gain at RA that equals simulation, which indicates that the antenna efficiency could
to 0◦ , the measured gain is with the average lower value of be improved with low loss substrate, and this should be
2.8 dB. This gain reduction is attributed to substrate material considered for a commercial exploitation.
loss and fabrication tolerance because the F4-B dielectric Besides, in Fig. 9, a relatively significant gain drop of 5 dB
has a high loss tangent above 10 GHz, and it was used has been observed at the rotating angle of 25◦ . This gain drop
to manufacture the feeding structure. Also, the upper FR-4 is attributed to the increased spacing between scatterers with
substrate would have an impact on the antenna gain as it is a the rotating movement, resulting in a decreased number of
well-known lossy material. The FR-4 was used here to gen- radiating elements, and less surface mode energy is trans-
erate the surface wave at the interface of two materials, and ferred into a radiation mode. This also leads to the high SLL
these two substrates should have a different permittivity [27]. occurred along with the increased reflective wave. It can be
In this case, FR-4 is a suitable option as the permittivity is clarified that at this phrase, the proposed array scans to 45◦
different as compared to F4-B, and it has some advantages within the gain reduction of 2 dB, and the gain drops to 5 dB
in price compared to low loss RF PCB substrates. Likewise, while the scanned angle is above 60◦ . It is a concern that this
this material loss causes radiation efficiency to decrease from gain drop and high SLL have caused the radiation efficiency
65% in simulation to 40% in measurement. And the measured reduces below 20%, and higher power may be needed to
radiation efficiency continues decreasing as the frequency reach the SatCom signal in some areas. It is worth noting
increases above 10 GHz, which illustrated in Fig. 9. Despite that VICTS array also suffers from the same reflective wave

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TABLE 3. The performance comparisons of different types of steerable array antennas.

issue. To overcome this issue, the authors in [19] applied the low-cost attractive contributions to satellite communication
RF choke to reduce its robust reflective wave. This RF choke on small moving platforms.
presents an extremely high impedance to any incidences
and generated magnitude interference between reflective and V. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
transmitted waves. However, this RF choke requires a very In this paper, a novel beam steerable array antenna with
good mechanical processing which significantly increases low-cost SIW feeding network has been presented for the
the cost and complexity of the manufacturing. Nevertheless, Ku-band SatCom applications. The proposed antenna has
the fully planar and isolated feeder characteristics of our been successfully validated using the SIW technologies and
approach do, however offer the possibility to alleviate the PCB process. The theoretical, simulated and measured results
aforementioned issues. With emerging metasurface features, of radiation patterns have excellent agreement among each
it is possible to eliminate the coupling effect while increasing other. The bandwidth of reflection coefficient for S11 <
the numbers of radiating elements and enhance the antenna −10 dB is around 15% in measurements for all rotat-
gain and efficiency at a sizeable rotating angle. For example, ing angles. The ±60◦ scanning capability and peak gain
by integrating a resistive surface as a perfectly matched layer of 19.5 dBi have been obtained at this designed band-
or absorber at the end of the plane-wave feeder, one can width. Although the array side-lobe levels (SLLs) need some
alleviate the reflective wave issue straightforward with low- improvements, it is still worthy of conducting further work
cost fabrication in contrast to the VICTS array. This will be to fulfil and develop for practical use. This developed array
conducted in future work. antenna solution is an up-and-coming candidate for the satel-
Finally, Table 3 summarizes the performances of the cur- lite communication on the small moving platforms where low
rent published beam steering array solutions for SatCom cost, low profile, easy assembly and integration are required.
applications. Electrical ICs or digital beam steering enabled
technologies that have been used in planar array design offer
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[16] F. Tiezzi, S. Vaccaro, D. Llorens, C. Dominguez, and M. Fajardo, ‘‘Ku-
band hybrid phased array antennas for mobile satellite communication
systems,’’ in Proc. 7th Eur. Conf. Antennas Propag. (EuCAP), Gothenburg,
Sweden, Apr. 2013, pp. 1605–1608. QIAO CHENG (Member, IEEE) received the B.S.
[17] S. Borisov and A. Shishlov, ‘‘Antennas for Satcom-on-the-move, review,’’ degree in electronic information engineering and
in Proc. Int. Conf. Eng. Telecommun., Nov. 2014, pp. 3–7. the M.S. degree in electromagnetic theory and
[18] W. W. Milroy, ‘‘Continuous transverse stub (CTS) element devices and microwave engineering from Xidian University,
methods of making same,’’ U.S. Patent 5 266 961, Aug. 29, 1991. China, in 2010 and 2013, respectively, and the
[19] W. W. Milroy, J. Sor, and E. Yum, ‘‘Augmented E-plane taper techniques in Ph.D. degree in microwave and millimeter-wave
variable inclination continuous transverse (VICTS) Antennas,’’ U.S. Patent array imaging using compressive sensing tech-
9 413 073 B2, Aug. 9, 2016. niques from the Queen Mary University of London
[20] K. Tekkouk, J. Hirokawa, R. Sauleau, and M. Ando, ‘‘Wideband and large
in 2017. He is a Postdoctoral Research Assistant
coverage continuous beam steering antenna in the 60-GHz band,’’ IEEE
with the Antennas and Electromagnetics Research
Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 65, no. 9, pp. 4418–4426, Sep. 2017.
[21] X. Lu, S. Gu, X. Wang, H. Liu, and W. Lu, ‘‘Beam-scanning continuous Group, Queen Mary University of London, U.K., where was also a Research
transverse stub antenna fed by a ridged waveguide slot array,’’ IEEE Assistant during the Ph.D. degree and worked on antenna array design,
Antennas Wireless Propag. Lett., vol. 16, pp. 1675–1678, 2017. metamaterials, and indoor and body-centric localization. After graduation,
[22] T. Lou, X.-X. Yang, H. Qiu, Z. Yin, and S. Gao, ‘‘Compact dual-polarized he continued as a Research Assistant with the school, where he worked
continuous transverse stub array with 2-D beam scanning,’’ IEEE Trans. on electromagnetic modeling and the design of novel lens antennas. He is
Antennas Propag., vol. 67, no. 5, pp. 3000–3010, May 2019. currently a PDRA of the EPSRC Multidisciplinary Grand Challenge: Syn-
[23] X.-X. Yang, L. Di, Y. Yu, and S. Gao, ‘‘Low-profile frequency-scanned thesizing 3-D Metamaterials for RF, Microwave, and THz applications. His
antenna based on substrate integrated waveguide,’’ IEEE Trans. Antennas research interests include array imaging algorithms, UWB array antenna and
Propag., vol. 65, no. 4, pp. 2051–2056, Apr. 2017. lens antenna design, compressive sensing and machine learning techniques
[24] Y. Gao, T. Hong, W. Jiang, S. Gong, and F. Li, ‘‘Low-profile wideband CTS for imaging, material characterization, and EM software automation and
array using substrate-integrated waveguide technology for K -band appli- optimization.
cations,’’ IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 67, no. 8, pp. 5711–5716,
Aug. 2019.
[25] Y. Monnai and H. Shinoda, ‘‘Microwave phased array sheet for wireless
sensor network,’’ in Proc. 7th Int. Conf. Netw. Sens. Syst. (INSS), Jun. 2010,
pp. 123–129.
[26] Y. Monnai and H. Shinoda, ‘‘Converting 2D microwave into 3D beam
using dielectric grating antenna,’’ in Proc. 6th Int. Conf. Netw. Sens. Syst. AHSAN NOOR KHAN was born in Faisalabad,
(INSS), Jun. 2009, pp. 1–5. Pakistan, in 1987. He received the B.Sc. degree
[27] F. K. Schwering and S.-T. Peng, ‘‘Design of dielectric grating antennas in communication systems from the Institute of
for millimeter-wave applications,’’ IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Techn.,
Space Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2009,
vol. MTT-31, no. 2, pp. 199–209, Feb. 1983.
and the M.Sc. degree (Hons.) in radio science
[28] H. Shinoda, Y. Makino, N. Yamahira, and H. Itai, ‘‘Surface sensor network
using inductive signal transmission layer,’’ in Proc. 4th Int. Conf. Netw.
and engineering from Aalto University, Espoo,
Sens. Syst., Jun. 2007, pp. 201–206. Finland, in 2016. He is currently pursuing the
[29] K. Carver and J. Mink, ‘‘Microstrip antenna technology,’’ IEEE Trans. Ph.D. degree with the Department of Electronics
Antennas Propag., vol. AP-29, no. 1, pp. 2–24, Jan. 1981. Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary
[30] B. G. Porter, ‘‘Closed form expression for antenna patterns of the variable University of London, U.K. His current research
inclination continuous transverse stub,’’ in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Phased interests include implantable and wearable antenna systems, and RF trig-
Array Syst. Technol., Oct. 2010, pp. 164–169. gered medical devices for drug delivery.

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 Y. Liu et al.: Low-Profile Beam Steerable Patch Array With SIW Feeding Network

HENRY GIDDENS received the B.Eng. and Ph.D. YANG HAO (Fellow, IEEE) received the Ph.D.
degrees in electrical and electronics engineering degree in computational electromagnetics from the
from the University of Bristol, in 2010 and 2015, Center for Communications Research, University
respectively. In 2016, he joined the Antennas and of Bristol, U.K., in 1998. He was a Postdoctoral
Electromagnetic Research Group, Queen Mary Research Fellow of the School of Electronics,
University of London. His current research topics Electrical, and Computer Engineering, Univer-
include reconfigurable antennas, tunable materi- sity of Birmingham. He developed, with leading
als, metamaterial antennas, and the additive man- U.K. industries, novel and emergent gradient index
ufacturing of novel antenna structures. materials to reduce mass, footprint, and the profile
of low frequency and broadband antennas. He also
co-developed the first stable active non-Foster metamaterials to enhance
usability through small antenna size, high directivity, and tunable operational
frequency. He coined the term body-centric wireless communications and
networking among wearable and implantable wireless sensors on the human
body. He was the first to characterize and include the human body as a com-
munication medium between on-body sensors using surface and creeping
waves. He contributed to the industrial development of the first wireless
sensors for healthcare monitoring. He is currently a Professor of antennas
and electromagnetics with the Antenna Engineering Group, Queen Mary
University of London, London, U.K. He currently leads a U.S. $ 4.6 million
project on transformation electromagnetics and microwave metamaterials.
MAX MUNOZ TORRICO received the M.Eng. He is also a Management Board Member of the Cambridge Graphene Center.
degree in electronics engineering from the He developed several fully integrated antenna solutions based on novel
Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), artificial materials to reduce mutual RF interference, weight, and cost, and
London, U.K., in 2008, and the Ph.D. degree in system complexity for security, aerospace, and healthcare. He has authored
body-centric wireless communications from the over 140 journal articles. He coedited and coauthored the books Antennas
Antennas and Electromagnetics Research Group, and Radio Propagation for Body-Centric Wireless Communications (Artech
QMUL, in 2013. House, 2006 and 2012) and the FDTD Modeling of Metamaterials: Theory
In 2016, he joined the QMUL, as an Antenna and Applications (Artech House, 2008). He is active in a number of research
and Electromagnetics Manager of the laboratory areas, including computational electromagnetics, microwave metamaterials,
facilities. Since 2013, he has been a Postdoctoral graphene and nanomicrowaves, antennas and radio propagation for body
Research Scientist of various Engineering and Physical Sciences Research centric wireless networks, active antennas for millimeter/sub-millimeter
Council Projects with the QMUL. His new role has awarded him active applications, and photonic integrated antennas. He was a Fellow of the
collaboration with leading U.K. and European industries. He has also ERA Foundation in 2007 and the IET, U.K., in 2010. He is a member
participated in well-established international conferences, including the of the Strategic Advisory Board for Engineering and Physical Sciences
EuCAP, APS, BSN, MobiHealth, IWAT, and LAPC. He has been blending Research Council, where he is committed to championing RF/microwave
the research outcomes with innovative solutions for electromagnetic char- engineering for reshaping the future of U.K. manufacturing and electronics.
acterization up to submillimeter/millimeter frequencies. He has coauthored He is a member of the Board of the European School of Antenna Excellence,
the book chapters in Autonomous Sensor Networks Collective Sensing the EU VISTA Cost Action Virtual Institute for Artificial Electromagnetic
Strategies for Analytical Purposes (Springer Series on Chemical Sensors Materials and Metamaterials, and the Metamorphose VI AISBL. He was the
and Biosensors, 2012) and Electromagnetics of Body Area Networks: Anten- Vice-Chairman of the Executive Team of the IET Antennas and Propaga-
nas, Propagation, and RF Systems (Wiley, 2016). His research outcomes tion Professional Network. He received the BAE Chairman’s Silver Award
and collaborations have been published in a number of journal articles in 2014 and the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. He served
and scientific reports. His current research interests include 3-D printed as an Invited and a Keynote Speaker of the ANTEM in 2005, the ISAP
antennas/absorbers using frequency division multiplexing and polyjet tech- in 2007, the LAPC in 2007, the IWAT in 2010, the ICMTCE in 2011, the
niques, future wearable and communication link technologies operating MobiHealth in 2011, and the ICE in 2013, the General Chair of the LAPC
at millimeter waves, low-power wireless sensors at microwaves, flexible in 2008 and Metamaterials in 2009, and a Session Chair and Short Course
and conformal body-worn antennas for medical applications, biodegradable Organizer of many international conferences. He was an Associate Editor of
antennas and their interaction with the human body, noninvasive physio- the IEEE ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION LETTERS, and an Associate Editor and
logical sensing techniques, the modeling for body-centric sensor networks, a Co-Guest Editor of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION,
indoor radio propagation, active and passive indoor RF localization, and RF from 2008 to 2013 and 2009, respectively.
instrumentation.

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