Transient Response of Injection-Locked Active Antenna Arrays

An active antenna array was developed using elements based on a two-port microstrip patch. This topology, being relatively tolerant of device model parameters, is suitable for translating to millimeter-wave frequencies, with monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) realization. While many such circuits have been reported, the transient response to an external injection-locking signal has been investigated at circuit level for the first time through simulations. It is seen from these simulations that some of the circuits earlier reported will be difficult to use in practice. A modified approach to achieve injection locking is demonstrated experimentally.