Reconfigurable Surfaces: A New Paradigm for Multi-Functional Milllimeter-Wave Arrays

Reconfigurable surfaces have drawn significant interest in recent times as a new paradigm for the implementation of integrated arrays at high mm-wave frequencies. Building upon decades of work on transmit- and reflect-array surfaces, they overcome some key challenges in mm-wave array design, namely the signal distribution across a large array. This talk will describe a comprehensive system analysis of transmissive and reflective surfaces, to arrive at a conclusion of when they make sense over conventional beamforming arrays. A new architecture that enables formation of multiple simultaneous beams will be described, along with CMOS implementations at 140GHz.