Multibeam Transmit-Reflect-Array Antenna Using Alternating Transmission and Reflection Elements for Space-Air-Ground-Sea Integrated Network

A bidirectional multibeam transmit-reflect-array (TRA) antenna has been proposed for the space-air-ground-sea integrated network (SAGSIN). The TRA consists of alternating transmission element (TE) and reflection element (REs), and its aperture phase distribution comprises focusing and periodic phases. The combination of different transmission and reflection apertures with varying periodic phase differences can achieve TRA with different numbers of transmitted and reflected beams. Total TE and RE with linearly varying phases with thickness are used to analyze the relationship between the gains of transmitted and reflected beams. It has been proved that the gain ratio of the transmitted and reflected beams can be adjusted by changing the area ratio of the transmission and reflection aperture. To verify universality, a single-layer TRA has been designed for verification, and the simulation and measurement results are in good agreement. The measurement results have demonstrated that the proposed TRA antenna can realize the tri-beam transmission and dual-beam reflection.