Injection-locked coupled microstrip leaky-mode antenna array

Abstract

The paper presents a novel design for an injection-locked microstrip leaky-mode antenna array. It demonstrates that the coupling parameters can be obtained numerically, leading to the analysis of the steady-state phase relationships of the coupled oscillators based on Van der Pol equations for determining the excitation signals of the array. In particular, it applies the coupled-mode approach to investigating the clear and considerable mutual coupling effect on the radiation characteristics of the microstrip leaky-mode array. This, in turn, produces a very efficient and accurate assessment of the radiation far-field patterns. Finally, a proof-of-concept design using a two-element injection-locked microstrip leaky-mode array is presented for experimental verification, showing excellent agreement between theoretical data and measured results.