Radiating systems in the near and far field for next generation wireless links: key innovations and novel paradigms

In the near future, high-speed wireless networks will benefit from the massive amount of available bandwidth in the sub- and millimeter frequency range of XG systems and the New Space. Future networks will handle communication between users and objects located in the far-field and near-field region of radiating devices. Antenna innovations are key to exploiting these broad bandwidths and to providing smart data links for mobile users. In collaboration with major industrial and academic partners, I recently proposed quasi-optical planar systems as efficient beam formers for multi-beam, wide-scanning antennas. Such an approach limits the losses and cost of beam forming networks for arrays at higher frequencies, while preserving the agility of the radiating unit. An implementation of the proposed system by silicon micromachining will be presented with state-of-the-art efficiency at 300 GHz. For satellite links, I will show that quasi-optical planar systems can be used to drive wideband terminal antennas based on long slot connected arrays for wide field of views. The benefits of connected arrays in bandwidth and scanning will be presented and their physical implementation discussed. For near-field links, I will summarize my current studies on non-diffractive beams. In particular, I will show how non-diffractive beams can be generated with planar radiating structures through the excitation of cylindrical leaky waves. The capability of non-diffractive beams to defeat the path loss and overcome obstructions will be introduced and demonstrated experimentally at millimeter frequencies. These results pave the way to a novel ‎paradigm for next generation near-field wireless links.