Millimeter-wave Antennas and Components for Future Mobile Broadband Networks (MILLIBAN)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Surrey
Department Name: Communications Systems Res CCSR
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Publications
Alkaraki S
(2022)
Reconfigurable Liquid Metal-Based SIW Phase Shifter
in IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques
Alkaraki S
(2021)
Reconfigurable Antenna Using Liquid Metal Vias
Alkaraki S
(2024)
mm-Wave Low Insertion Loss SIW Phase Shifter Based on Liquid Metal Technology
in IEEE Microwave and Wireless Technology Letters
Alkaraki S
(2021)
Radiation Pattern Reconfigurable Antenna Using Liquid Metal Vias
Alkaraki S
(2023)
Liquid Metal mm-Wave Phased Array Antenna for 5G Wireless Communication
Alkaraki S
(2021)
Gallium-Based Liquid Metal Substrate Integrated Waveguide Switches
in IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters
Alkaraki S
(2023)
10-GHz Low-Loss Liquid Metal SIW Phase Shifter for Phased Array Antennas
in IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques
Alkaraki S
(2023)
Phased Array Antenna System Enabled by Liquid Metal Phase Shifters
in IEEE Access
Related Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Award Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/P008402/1 | 23/03/2017 | 24/10/2018 | £673,436 | ||
| EP/P008402/2 | Transfer | EP/P008402/1 | 26/01/2019 | 04/12/2020 | £371,516 |
| Description | A high gain antenna is analogous to a spot light; in that it sends most of its energy towards a certain direction and relatively little energy in all other directions. One of the most popular forms of high gain antenna is the phased array. This type of antenna consists of a number of radiating elements. Each element generates a, so called, element factor. The configuration and feeding of these elements gives rise to the, so called, array factor. When all of the elements are fed at once, the antenna is able to produce a beam of energy, which is known as the main lobe. Importantly, by changing the excitation applied to the elements it is also possible to electronically steer the main lobe. In this project we have acquired a deeper knowledge of a novel phased array steering technique, reported earlier in the literature. This steering technique involves dynamically reconfiguring the element factor in conjunction with the array factor. The additional insight discovered is that, when this approach is used: 1) the curve of antenna gain (i.e. sharpness of the main lobe) verses steering angle exhibits a maximum at the angle to which the element factor is steered, 2) the lobe level (i.e. undesirable peaks of radiation occurring in unwanted directions), at wide steering angles, is reduced in comparison with that for a conventional phased array, 3) item 2 increases the maximum steering angle that can be achieved for a given number of radiating elements. Phased array antennas must incorporate components, known as phase shifters, to control the excitation signal applied to each element. Conventional phase shifters exhibit high insertion loss (i.e. loss of RF/microwave signal power). We have devised, designed, and simulated a novel phase shifter operating at 10GHz. The phase shifter has a wide tuning range and provides extremely low levels of insertion loss compared with conventional technology. This work could have commercial applications and it is something we intend to work on further. There is considerable interest in reconfigurable antennas which can be used in a wide range of applications wherever antennas need to adapt to their environment. There are 3 main techniques for reconfiguring circuits/antennas: 1) switches/tuning elements, 2) mechanical movement, 3) tunable materials that can vary their bulk properties. The most popular technique for reconfiguring circuits/antennas is to use semiconductor switches/tuning elements and this technology is quite mature. However, it suffers from several important limitations including: (i) significant overall power consumption; (ii) poor harmonic performance; (iii) limited tuning range; (iv) spurious effects due to isolated areas of metalisation; and (v) poor power handling capability. Liquid metals based on alloys of Gallium have the potential to address these limitations. We have begun experimenting with using liquid metal within antennas operating at millimetre wave frequencies. This work requires moving tiny volumes of liquid metal in a very precise way. To enable this and to address other fundamental problems with the technology we now realise that a co-design approach is required involving input from an interdisciplinary team including experts with a background in: chemistry, RF, physics, mechanics, controls, etc. We have also shown that a phased array can be used as the feed beneath a series of lenses. The lenses are arranged on a circular arc. At wider steering angles several cascaded lenses are used in order to enhance the gain and thus mitigate for scan loss. The approach yields a reduction in scan loss (i.e. the reduction in gain as a beam is steered from the minimum to maximum angle). However, the lobe level was increased partly because the lens provides gain at all angles, around the phased array, not just the angle corresponding to the main beam. Matching layer material was used ensure that the electromagnetic waves, launched from the phased array, were properly absorbed by the lenses rather than simply being reflected off the surface of the lenses. We discovered that it is very important to use low loss materials in the construction of those matching layers to avoid reducing the antenna gain. We also showed that by combining a transmit array with a phased array antenna it is possible to obtain useful performance benefits. A phased array antenna was used to feed the transmit array and steer the main beam. The transmit array is used to boost the gain of a phased array at wide scan angles. For this reason, the side panels, of the transmit array, are rotated to align with the maximum steering angle. The transmit array employs a reduced number of reconfigurable unit cells compared with the conventional case. The advantage of this approach is that one can turn the gain of the transmit array on in the direction of the main beam and yet turn it off in all other directions. In this way we have demonstrated successful mitigation of scan loss without significantly increasing the lobe level. Directional transmissions are usually employed in mm-wave communications in order to combat high path loss and avoid interference. It was a common belief that the narrower the beam we use in millimetre wave systems, the longer distance we can cover and the less interference to other users. The end result is increased signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), leading to higher system throughput. However, our research in this project revealed that a narrower beam will also necessitate a larger beam training overhead, which consequently decreases the system throughput. The design of a millimetre wave system should therefore strike a good balance between SINR gain and beam training overhead. Our latest research reveals that by using passive large intelligent surfaces one can create a smart radio environment, which turns a hostile wireless channel into a favourable one, resulting in a large power saving and more secure transmissions. |
| Exploitation Route | We have demonstrated various different approaches for beam steering involving hybridising existing steering techniques: e.g. parasitics and phased arrays, lenses and phased arrays, transmit arrays and phased arrays. Our findings therefore highlight several possible antenna techniques that can be employed to achieve wide scan angle range or low scan loss, as required for various applications in mobile telecommunications and defence. We have also analysed the trade-offs inherent in a range of different approaches. This new insight will help to highlight the best approach for someone wanting to improve a particular performance metric. We are currently preparing a funding proposal on antennas incorporating Gallium based liquid metal in which we seek to address the key problems which currently limit the practical applications of this exciting new technology. We will do this by assembling a multidisciplinary team and taking a holistic metaphysics approach. Our work on tunable phase shifters, operating at millimeter wave frequencies, having low insertion losses and a wide tuning range has attracted interest from industry. We plan to explore opportunities for developing the technology into a commercial product. |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Healthcare Transport |
| Description | EPSRC Liquid metal engineering hub (LiME) Feasibility Study |
| Amount | £30,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2019 |
| End | 05/2020 |
| Description | Beam steerable millimeter wave antennas based on liquid metal - State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves, City University of Hong Kong |
| Organisation | City University of Hong Kong |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Knowladge and experience in using liquid metal for antenna applications |
| Collaborator Contribution | Fabricating prototypes and making antenna measurements |
| Impact | 1 conference paper and 1 paper in the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | High gain omni-directional millimeter wave antennas - Inatel Brazil |
| Organisation | Instituto de Telecomunicações |
| Country | Portugal |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Exchange of technical knowladge and experience. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Exchange of technical knowladge and experience. |
| Impact | 2 conference papers |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Microfluidic network design |
| Organisation | University of Southampton |
| Department | Southampton Nanofabrication Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Insight into: 1) the problems associated with current techniques for actuating (i.e. moving) liquid metal; 2) the ways in which we need to actuate liquid metal in order to create reconfigurable antenna/circuits. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The collaborator has contributed: 1) expertise and knowledge of advanced microfluidic fabrication techniques and electrokinetics; 2) possible solutions to the problems with current actuation techniques; 3) collaborated to write 3 other standard mode EPSRC grant proposals on using liquid metal to reconfigure circuits and antennas. |
| Impact | In April 2021 my collaborator and I submitted one standard mode EPSRC proposal on using liquid metal to reconfigure metamaterial structures. The proposal was unsuccessful. In September 2023 my collaborator and I submitted one proposal to the Leverhulme Trust on using liquid metal to create circuits and antennas capable of self-healing and self-reconfiguration. The proposal was unsuccessful. My collaborator and I expect to submit a second EPSRC proposal in October 2024. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Phase shifting using liquid metal - University of Central Florida |
| Organisation | University of Central Florida |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Knowladge and experience of using liquid metal in antenna applications |
| Collaborator Contribution | New ideas and technical guidance |
| Impact | During the visit the Professor from the University of Central Florida delivered a presentation to the research group. He and I also reviewed the technical results arising from a collaborative piece of research on the topic of phase shifters that can be reconfigured using liquid metal. Our collaboration led to the publication of the following paper: Khaled Alqurashi, James R. Kelly, Zhengpeng Wang, Carol Crean, Raj Mittra, Mohsen Khalily, Yue Gao, "Liquid Metal Bandwidth Reconfigurable Antenna," IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 218 - 222, 2020. This collaboration began from initial discussions during which I presenting a range of research projects, to the Professor. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | 2 Invited Talks at University College London (UCL) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Marion and I were both invited to deliver presentations about our work, on beam steerable millimeter wave antennas, to researchers at UCL. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | 2 Presentations to Industry during 5GIC Workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Gave talks and poster presentations on research linked with this grant during our quarterly 5GIC technical workshops. The primary audience for the workshop is our industry partners. The talks lead to questions and discussion. In some cases this was followed up with a one-to-one meeting. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Chairing a session in EuCAP 2024 (19th of March 2024) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Mauro Ettorre asked me to co-chaired a session titled "Advances in reconfigurable antenna technologies" during EuCAP 2024. Around 100 people attended the session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Gave talk during iWAT 2025 (19th of Feb. 2025) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Attended iWAT 2025 which was held in Cocoa Beach Florida. Delivered an oral talk titled "Using Gallium-Based Liquid Metal to Create Beam Switchable Bull's Eye Antennas" to an in-person audience of around 100 people. The audience comprised academics from leading universities around the world. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Gave talk during workshop titled "Biomimetics and Biomimicry for EM Defence Applications" (28th of Jan. 2024) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Attended a workshop titled "Biomimetics and Biomimicry for EM Defence Applications". Presented a talk titled: "Reconfiguring high frequency circuits and antennas using liquids" to an audience of 10 people online + 13 in the room. The audience comprised: civil servants from Dstl, academics, and people from companies supplying defence related products and services. I also served on an expert panel of speakers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Helped to deliver a 90 minute workshop during the OFEME Symposium 2024 (19th of Nov. 2024) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Helped to deliver a 90 minute workshop during the OFEME Symposium 2024. The workshop was titled: "IET - Integrate new antenna concepts with agile radio systems and agile networks" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | IEEE-APS Topical Conference on Antennas and Propagation in Wireless Communications |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Co-chair session titled "Innovative antenna technologies and wide/multi band antennas" in the conference International Conference on Electromagnetics in Advanced Applications and IEEE-APS Topical Conference on Antennas and Propagation in Wireless Communications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Invited oral presentation at the IEEE Conference on Antenna Measurements and Applications (CAMA) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Delivered an invited talk on the topic of millimeter wave beam steerable antennas, based on liquid metal, at the IEEE APWC conference. The talk was attended by around 80 people. I received several questions from the audience following the talk. A few members of the audience said that they had not been aware of the potential of liquid metal previously. But are now interested in starting work some work in this area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invited oral presentation at the IEEE-APS Topical Conference on Antennas and Propagation in Wireless Communications |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Delivered an invited talk on the topic of millimeter wave beam steerable antennas, based on liquid metal, at the IEEE APWC conference. The talk was attended by around 80 people. It was very well received by the audience and attracted numerous questions. The session organiser congratulated me on the talk and invited me submit a paper to the next edition of the conference where he will chair a session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invited talk at Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | After presenting our paper at the AP-S 2017 conference I was invited to undertake a 10 day research visit at Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications (CQUPT), in Chongqing, China. The visit was paid for by CQUPT. During the visit I delivered an invited talk about our research, on the topic of millimeter wave antennas. I am now in discussions with one of the lecturers at CQUPT about undertaking joint research on the topic of millimeter wave antennas. It is likely that this lecturer will undertake a research visit in the UK during 2018-19. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Meetings with Colleagues in The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) about a Beamforming Testbed |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Surrey is leading WP6 in the MILLIBAN project which involves the development of a beamforming testbed. We are collaborating with NPL and the Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST) http://www.cast.cn/item/list.asp?id=1561 on this topic. We have been working with CAST to specify and design CAST the RF beamformer. CAST will build the beamformer. NPL will assist with calibration and measurement. We have presented the design details to colleagues at NPL on numerous occasions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | OFEME 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | My colleague Akram Alomainy presented work from my team on functional reconfigurable microwave hardware and millimeter wave phase shifters and antennas. The audience consisted of around 200 people from defence related companies in the u.k.. The presentation lead to follow-up discussions with companies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.gov.uk/government/news/operating-in-the-future-electromagnetic-environment-symposium-202... |
| Description | Oral Presenation at International Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a conference presentation at the IEEE Symposium on Antennas and Propagation (AP-S) in San Diego, California, USA. I presented Marion's work, on a multiple parameter reconfigurable antenna operating at millimeter wave frequencies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Personal meeting with Representitives from Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Had several meetings with representatives from DSTL in which I presented our work on millimeter wave beam steerable antennas. We discussed technical matters and opertunities for funding via DSTL. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Presentation at City University of Hong Kong |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at City University of Hong Kong. The presentation covered our work on novel forms of beam steerable millimetre wave antennas, including work from my previous PhD students: Marion Allayioti, Tim Hill, and Khaled Alqurashi. The work has led to further collaboration with Hang Wong at City University of Hong Kong. Hang Wong and I also made a successful application to run a convened session during the EuCAP 2020 conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Presentation to Company (Cablelabs) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presented a brief summary of our work on beam steerable millimeter wave antennas to Cablelabs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Presentation to Sony Europe |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Had several meetings with Sony Europe. During the meetings Sony presented their views on some of the RF/antenna challenges. We presented an overview of the MILLIBAN project along with a selection of our antenna designs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Presentation to the Antennas and Electromagnetics Research Group at QMUL |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Delivered a presentation about our research on the topic of millimeter wave beam steerable antennas to the Antennas and Electromagnetics Research Group at QMUL. There were approximately 30 people in attendance. After the presentation a number of people expressed an interest in working with me. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Research Week |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I presented a 3-minute overview of our research during the school's research open week. The event was attended by 16 delegates. The delegates included prospective PhD, MSc students, as well as industry partners. The event was recorded and has been made available via our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq4k1JbDguA. To-date it has received 40 views online. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq4k1JbDguA |
| Description | Skype call with Li-ke Huang from Viavi Solutions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Skype call with Li-ke Huang from Viavi Solutions. During the call I described work that we have undertaken in QMUL on the topic of phase shifters than can be reconfigured using liquid metal as well as beam steerable antennas. Li-ke Huang expressed an interest in following that work closely with a view to possible commercialisation. We arranged a follow-up meeting on the 27th of March. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Talk at Pint of Science 2024 (14th of May 2024) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presented a 20-minute talk at Pint of Science 2024. There were approximately 40 members of the general public in attendance. The event was titled: The Next Generation of Materials (see: https://pintofscience.co.uk/event/the-next-generation-of-materials-engineering). It took place at the following location: The Drapers Lounge, 15 Bancroft Rd, Bethnal Green, London, E1 4FZ, United Kingdom. The title of my talk was: "Terminator metals for 6G mobile and Starlink Satellite terminals". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Talk to IEEE CRFID-APS Chapter Delhi Section (4th of July 2024) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Delivered a 1-hour talk, titled: "Reconfigurable High-Frequency Circuits and Antennas" on my research. The event was organised by The IEEE CRFID-APS Chapter Delhi Section in association with IEEE MTT-S SBC IIT Delhi. The talk was delivered via MS Teams. There were approximately 60 people in attendance. The audience consisted of PhD students, Post Docs. and Academics from Indian universities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Wikipedia page on transmitarrays |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Wikipedia page on transmitarrays written by Tim Hill. Tim Hill was a student who studied for his PhD under my supervision. His research was aligned to this project. The page was only accepted for publication on the 12th of March and so it is too early to assess the impact. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmitarray_antenna |