Transmit array of transistor amplifiers illuminated by a patch array in the reactive near-field region

In this paper, a small transmit array of transistor amplifiers illuminated by a passive array of microstrip patches in the reactive near-field region is investigated as a power-combining structure. The two cases considered ar e when the transmit array radiates in a free space and when a passive array similar to the one used for illumination collects the radiated power. A co mparison of the performance of the proposed structure against the alternati ve one, which uses a conventional horn antenna as a power-launching/receivi ng device, is also presented.