Unified Design of a Single-Layer Radial Line Slot Array Antenna

A unified design of a single layer Radial Line Slot Array (RLSA) antenna of arbitrary polarisation is presented. The design addresses such tasks as the electromagnetic modelling of the feed, modelling of the radiating surface, prototyping of the feed and the radiating surface, and near-and far-field testing of the developed prototypes. The issues of beam tilting, beam broadening and shaping are also considered. The developed antennas are tested in terms of return loss, uniformity of aperture illumination, gain and radiation pattern. Iterative refinements are performed when the prototype does not meet the assumed performance specifications.