A Scalable Aperiodic RFIC Phased-Array Topology for the mmWave Spectrum

The millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum promises improved communications, but comes with the challenge of developing steerable, highly directive antennas which are operable over wide bandwidths. For mmWave systems, engineers often employ RF integrated circuit (RFIC) technologies for which scalable architectures are highly desirable. Periodic arrays, easily scaled to large apertures, are nevertheless hindered by grating lobes and inter-element coupling, which necessarily limit the operating bandwidth. Therefore, we present in this work a new aperiodic array topology which is supported by an underlying periodic feeding layer. Antenna element aperiodicity renders grating lobes virtually non-existent at wide steering angles, while feed point periodicity maintains RFIC scalability. Furthermore, this new topology is shown to be rapidly optimized with modern algorithms and verified by analytical formulations.