An Efficient Method for Calculating the Characteristics of the Integrated Lens Antennas on the Basis of the Geometrical and Physical Optics Approximations

We develop a combined method for calculating the characteristics of the integrated lens antennas for millimeter-wave wireless local radio-communication systems on the basis of the geometrical and physical optics approximations. The method is based on the concepts of geometrical optics for calculating the electromagnetic-field distribution on the lens surface (with allowance for multiple internal re-reflections) and physical optics for determining the antenna-radiated fields in the Fraunhofer zone. Using the developed combined method, we study various integrated lens antennas on the basis of the data on the used-lens shape and material and the primary-feed radiation model, which is specified analytically or by computer simulation. Optimal values of the cylindrical-extension length, which ensure the maximum antenna directivity equal to 19.1 and 23.8 dBi for the greater and smaller lenses, respectively, are obtained for the hemispherical quartz-glass lenses having the cylindrical extensions with radii of 7.5 and 12.5 mm. In this case, the scanning-angle range of the considered antennas is greater than +/- 20A degrees for an admissible 2-dB decrease in the directivity of the deflected beam. The calculation results obtained using the developed method are confirmed by the experimental studies performed for the prototypes of the integrated quartz-glass lens antennas within the framework of this research.