Integrated leaky-wave antenna front-end using a ferrite-loaded open waveguide structure

A novel integrated leaky-wave antenna front-end is presented. This system uses a ferrite-loaded open waveguide leaky-wave structure and is capable of full-space beam-scanning using magnetic bias tuning at fixed RF and LO frequencies. This is achieved by setting the RF signal frequency in the CRLH leaky-wave region of the structure and the LO signal frequency in the edge-mode guided-wave region of the structure. The front-end is demonstrated by full-wave and harmonic-balance analysis. It may be seen as a co-design sub-system, where the waveguide structure plays both the role of the radiator and of the power-combiner for first-stage mixing.