A differential active patch antenna element for array applications

This letter describes the implementation of an active receiving antenna at 5-6 GHz. An aperture-coupled patch antenna is designed to provide a differential interface toward monolithically integrated circuits. The integration with a low-noise amplifier is shown. The proposed structure offers new advantages for the construction of compact and robust adaptive antenna arrays. Measurements show around 5.5 dBi antenna gain with a cross-polarization below -27 dB. The differential low-noise amplifier provides more than 10 dB gain improvement.