A System-Level Overview of Near-Field Meta-Steering

The paper provides a system-level overview of Near-Field Meta-Steering (NFMS) technology. The NFMS is upcoming antenna beam-steering method that uses the physical rotation of pair of thin metasurfaces that are placed in very close proximity to a high-gain feeding base antenna. This method neither uses any active radio frequency (RF) components nor physical tilting of any antenna part. It is for these reasons that this method yield antenna systems that superior to traditional electronically scanned phased array and mechanically rotated beamsteering antennas. The antenna systems can be developed for a range of applications including inflight connectivity, low-cost satellite terminal antennas to provide connectivity at remote places, and high-power micro- and millimetre-wave applications. The dynamic phase transformation that is achieved by the rotation of two metasurfaces, in a proof-of-concept prototype reported in 2017, indicate that an antenna beam can be scanned in a conical region having an apex angle of 102°.