Integrated antenna for LINC systems

This letter presents a novel concept of integrated antenna for LINC (linear amplification with nonlinear components) systems. In this approach, the power combiner involved in the conventional LINC system is removed, and the power combination is realized within a microstrip antenna. This is a significant advance on current LINC systems, where the circuit-level power combiner losses degrade overall efficiency. The configuration of the integrated antenna is described and an example antenna is designed at 2.0 GHz. The simulated results based on moment method which validate the concept, are presented. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 33: 93–95, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.10240