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Advantages of NDF as oscillator linear design tool: Design of a NIC active patch antenna

Abstract:

This paper shows one active patch antenna with a Negative Impedance Converters (NIC) and other one without it. The NIC works as negative admittance to increase the Q of the antenna. These circuits can be analysed using classic methods, but classic methods require the verification of the appropriated provisos. The chosen classic method depends on the oscillator topology, while the Normalized Determinant Function (NDF) is independent of topologies and it does not require any provisos. The NDF is suitable for Q estimation and noise optimization during linear analysis of any topology. The oscillators are designed using the NDF and the Admittance; then the phase noise is evaluated using the NDF. The Harmonic Balance (HB) analysis and the measurements of the prototypes confirm, in favour of NDF, the stability discrepancies between classic methods and NDF. The linear approximation of the improvements introduced by a NIC is questioned by the risk of instabilities and the introduction of new noise sources.