Fast Analysis of Parallel-Plate Stratified Cylindrical Luneburg Lens Antennas for Millimeter-Wave Vehicular Communication

A scattering matrix approach is proposed for the fast analysis of parallel-plate stratified cylindrical Luneburg lens antennas (CLLAs) with real feeds, which can provide an accurate and efficient design for millimeter-wave (mmWave) vehicular communication. The electric/magnetic current element in an infinite parallel plate environment is firstly expanded into a vector cylindrical wave function via the mirror image principle. The equivalent electric/magnetic current distribution of the feed is then projected on the vector cylindrical wave basis. Afterwards, the scattering matrix of stratified CLLA is obtained through mode matching technology (MMT), and the field of stratified CLLA with a real feed is solved in an infinite parallel-plate environment. The radiation field of the actual parallel-plate stratified CLLA is then obtained. The numerical results of the proposed approach are in good agreement with the simulation results by commercial software. Finally, the proposed approach is extended to optimal design by integrating with the differential evolution (DE) algorithm, which facilitates the design and optimization of both linearly and circularly polarized CLLAs.