Properties of Circularly Polarised Spherical Retrodirective Array
Published in 2026 20th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP), 2026
In this paper we provide the first ever discussion of the characteristics of a spherical retrodirective array. The array is populated with planar circularly polarised (CP) microstrip patch antennas. The proposed retrodirective array offers significant potential to realise orientation-agnostic, continuous, self-steering coverage in both hemispheres. In this work we use numerical full-wave simulations to determine for the first time the main radiation characteristics, far-field and axial ratio, of a spherical CP retrodirective array operating at 2.45 GHz and describe their dependence on both orientation and aperture cross section. Beam patterns with main lobe directivity of 16-16.6 dBi, comparable in directivity to a planar array of the same aperture, that preserve the handedness of the pilot signal, are presented in all cardinal directions.
Citation: G. Travers, M. Zhao, V. Fusco, O. Yurduseven, and M. A. B. Abbasi, "Properties of circularly polarised spherical retrodirective array," 2026 20th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP), Dublin, Ireland, 2026, pp. 1-5.
