Multifunctional Space-Time Modulated Metasurface for Direction of
Arrival Estimation and RCS Manipulation in a Single System
Abstract
 In this paper, we propose a multifunctional space-time modulated
metasurface (STM-MTS) able to perform simultaneously a direction of
arrival (DoA) estimation and radar cross section (RCS) manipulation in a
single system. The metasurface consists of an alignment of unit-cells,
whose scattering response can be dynamically controlled to be
transparent (full transmissive unit-cell) or opaque (full reflective
unit-cell), according to the amplitude of the modulating signal applied
to the loading PIN diodes. The DoA estimation is performed behind the
metasurface, i.e., in the transmission region, where multi-order
harmonics of the incident field whose complex amplitudes are
proportional to the DoA is transmitted. The multiple signal
classification (MUSIC) algorithm is employed to estimate DoA.
Simultaneously, the mono-/bi-static RCSs manipulation is performed in
front of the metasurface, i.e. in the reflection region, where the
reflected field is properly tailored by controlling the modulation
scheme at unit-cell level. An X-band STM-MTS is fabricated to
experimentally verify the feasibility of the proposed design. A DoA
estimation errors are less than 2° in the incidence angular range of
[-50°, +50°] is demonstrated, whereas mono-static and bi-static
RCS manipulations of about 17dB and 36dB are achieved at operative
frequency.Â