Phase Modulation Technique for Harmonic Beamforming in Time-Modulated Arrays

In this article, a novel high-efficiency harmonic beamforming technique based on time-modulated arrays (TMAs) with multistate time modulators is proposed. The typical single-sideband TMAs suppress the image harmonic components in the radio frequency (RF) channel, which means low power conversion efficiency, large power consumption, and a major heat dissipation problem. To circumvent these constraints, we present a novel phase modulation (PM) waveform with a linear phase that can be easily constructed using multiple fixed delay lines and a pair of single-pole-multi-throw (SPMT) RF switches. This fundamental PM waveform enables the creation of uniform radiation patterns. Furthermore, two complementary methodologies are proposed for synthesizing more advanced radiation patterns that need nonuniform array weights. One method is to change the linear phase slope of PM waveforms that exhibit sideband radiation but have 100% feeding network efficiency. The other option is to investigate hybrid amplitude and PM (HAPM) waveforms, which suffer from inefficiencies in the feeding network but do not exhibit sideband radiation. Besides, the comprehensive efficiency evaluation formulas have been effectively derived. Simulations have been done to verify its effectiveness.