A multifunctional smart field-programmable radio frequency surface

Tianzhi Li (), Yang Yu, Yutong Liu, Ranjith R. Unnithan, Ryan J. McDermott, Dominique Schreurs, Robin Evans and Efstratios Skafidas ()
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Tianzhi Li: The University of Melbourne
Yang Yu: The University of Melbourne
Yutong Liu: The University of Melbourne
Ranjith R. Unnithan: The University of Melbourne
Ryan J. McDermott: The University of Melbourne
Dominique Schreurs: KU Leuven
Robin Evans: The University of Melbourne
Efstratios Skafidas: The University of Melbourne

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Antennas that can operate across multiple communication standards have remained a challenge. To address these limitations, we propose a Field-Programmable Radio Frequency Surface (FPRFS), which is based on manipulating current flow on its surface to achieve desirable RF characteristics. In this work, we demonstrate that substantial enhancements in radiation efficiency can be achieved while preserving the high reconfigurability of antenna structures implemented on the FPRFS. This is accomplished by utilizing an asymmetric excitation, directing the excitation to the low-loss contiguous surface, and dynamically manipulating the imaged return current on a segmented ground plane by switches. This important insight allows for adaptable antenna performance that weakly depends on the number of RF switches or their loss. We experimentally validate that FPRFS antennas can achieve efficiencies comparable to traditionally implemented antenna counterparts. This permits the FPRFS to be effectively utilized as a productive antenna and impedance-matching network with real-time reconfigurability.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48242-z

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