Frequency-independent antennas and broad-band derivatives thereof

The principles used in the development of frequency-independent antennas are reviewed. Examples of log-periodic (LP) geometry and the additional requirements that must be met for practical success are given. The evolution of unidirectional, wire-outline, and dipole arrays is presented. Analytical results for LP dipole arrays led to the concept of an active region that remains almost fixed in size relative to the wavelength. Periodic structure theory serves as an aid to understanding LP structures. The analysis of periodically loaded lines shows the problems that may arise from the existence of stop regions on LP antennas and provides procedures for eliminating them. This has led to successful LP monopole and cavity-backed slot arrays. Planar and conical log-spiral antennas are discussed. Frequency-independent, circularly polarized patterns-bidirectional, unidirectional, omnidirectional, and conical-can be provided from log-spiral antennas with two or more arms. Recently, the LP design principles have been applied to low-profile antennas: patches, thin cavities, and spirals over ground. They have also produced flush-mounted aircraft antennas that can respond simultaneously to two different linear of circular polarizations     

Endfire tapered slot antennas on dielectric substrates

Endfire tapered slot antennas are suitable for many integrated circuit applications, imaging and phased arrays. We report on an investigation of single elements of such antennas, including slots which are exponentially tapered (Vivaldi), linearly tapered (LTSA) and constant width (CWSA). For antennas of all types, a good general agreement is obtained for curves of beamwidth versus length, normalized to wavelength, when one compares the data with that for traveling-wave antennas published by Zucker. An important condition for this agreement is that the effective dielectric thickness, defined in the text, is in a certain optimum range. This condition is qualitatively explained in terms of the theory for traveling-wave antennas.     

Use of broadside twin element antennas to increase efficiency on electrically thick dielectric substrates

This paper describes a technique for using twin element antennas (dipoles and slots) to increase the efficiency of antennas fabricated on electrically thick dielectric substrates. We present calculations which show that the efficiency of both the slot and dipole antennas can be increased by the proper spacing of elements placed broadside to each other. We consider the use of substrates that are odd integral multiples of a quarter of a dielectric wavelength thick and give results for an ε=4 substrate with thicknesses of one, three, and five quarter wavelengths. These thicknesses can be used when working at millimeter wave frequencies and yield substrate dimensions which can be handled and processed easily, while still yielding radiation-to-air efficiencies of about 70%. We also show calculated beam patterns for the elements which appear to be suitable for imaging array applications.     

FDTD and experimental investigation of EMI from stacked-card PCBconfigurations

Stacked-card and modules-on-backplane printed circuit-board geometries are advantageous for conserving real-estate in many designs. Unfortunately, at high frequencies, electromagnetic magnetic interference (EMI) resulting from the nonnegligible impedance of the signal return at the connector may occur. This effective EMI coupling path results in the daughtercard being driven against the motherboard and attached cables, resulting in common-mode radiation. The connector geometry can be modified to minimize the EMI coupling path when high frequencies are routed between the motherboard and daughtercard. Current speeds and printed circuit board (PCB) sizes result in geometries that are of significant dimensions in terms of a wavelength at the upper frequency end of the signal spectrum. The PCB geometries are then of sufficient electrical extent to be effective EMI antennas. The resonant lengths of the EMI antennas may, however, be quite removed from the typical half-wavelength dipole resonances. The finite difference time-domain method can be used to numerically analyze the printed circuit board geometries, determine antenna resonances, and investigate EMI coupling paths. EMI resulting from the stacked-card configuration has been investigated experimentally and numerically to ascertain the EMI coupling path at the bus connector, and EMI antennas     

Scanning synthetic radiation pattern antennas

It is proposed conception of development of new type transmitting-receiving scanning antennas, which are called antennas with synthetic radiation pattern. It is based on application of movement of radiating (receiving) element together with synthesizing of radiation pattern (RP) by means of SAR for processing of recorded information about radiated and received signals. Physical radiator movement can be real or virtual (switching of radiation phase center) due to switching in turns of radiators of one-dimension antenna array (AA) to single-channel transmitter-receiver. There are represented two applications of this approach realization, such as spiral-waveguide slot and tape-slot scanning synthetic RP antennas for registration of radio images and radiofilms in 8-mm wavelength band.     

VHF helicopter antennas that incorporate the airframe and reducerotor modulation

Antennas at VHF frequencies mounted to small (with respect to wavelength) helicopter platforms are usually limited to whip and loop antennas. Antenna placement and rotor position can drastically change antenna performance due to induced currents on the platform. This work illustrates deliberate antenna-platform interactions that cause induced currents to reinforce and improve the radiating system performance. Additionally, rotor modulation effects can be simultaneously limited. This is accomplished by using oppositely placed loop antennas at a location on the airframe that is nominally one wavelength in circumference. The resulting broadcast pattern admits low cross-polarization radiation and low copolarized rotor modulation, but is not uniform. The dipole moment of the loops dictates this nonuniformity. Double-loop antennas are used to create a more uniform broadcast pattern without sacrificing the desired low cross-polarized radiation and low copolarized rotor modulation     

Polarisation and ground effects on HF receiving antenna patterns

The behaviour of receiving antennas is investigated forHF wavelengths. The polarisation characteristics of incoming waves are determined and then, taking into account ground reflections, the signal intensity at the antenna output is calculated for antennas that are small compared to the wavelength. The results are shown as a series of figures. They illustrate the importance of the link geometry and the location of the receiving site in relation to the earth’s magnetic field. The results can be used to achieve a better adaptation between antennas and ionospheric modes.     

Effect of microstrip antenna substrate thickness and permittivity:comparison of theories with experiment

A set of measurements of patch antennas on substrates of varying thickness and permittivity, using three types of feeds, is presented. Resonant frequency and resonant resistance are compared with calculated values from the representative theories. The measurements show that erratic results may be obtained for substrates thicker than about 0.02 λ₀, where λ₀ is the free-space wavelength at the resonant frequency. These problems may be related to coax-to-microstripline transitions, but their cause is not yet definitely known. The theoretical models that are compared give reasonably good results for resonant frequency, but none give impedance results that are consistently reliable. It thus appears that further work is needed to develop analytical models that can adequately predict the impedance performance of microstrip antennas on thick and/or high dielectric constant substrates     

Beam steering for wireless optical links based on an optical phased array in silicon

The ability to steer optical beams, crucial to the operation of high-speed optical wireless links may be achieved using optical phased array antennas which have significant potential in this application. The beam formed by the phased array antennas is steered by tuning the relative phase difference between the adjacent antenna elements which may be achieved nonmechanically. In this paper, the characteristics and behaviour of two dimensional optical phased arrays with a structure composed of 2?×?2, 4?×?4, and 16?×?16 antenna elements in beam steering are verified. The wavelength beam steering of ?0.16°/nm is measured along the θ direction with a required steering range (between main lobes) of 1.97° within a ?3 dB envelop of 5° extent in the θ direction and 7° extent in the Φ direction. To achieve two-dimensional beam steering, thermo-optic beam steering can be used in Φ direction. It is found that the thermo-optic phase tuning departs the expected quadratic dependence and is well characterised by a quartic dependence upon heater current or voltage.     

Disk-loaded monopoles with parallel strip elements

Design considerations and experimental performance data are presented for disk-loaded folded monopoles in which the vertical elements consist of flat parallel strips separated by a dielectric. The presence of the dielectric and the flat strip geometry permit control of resonance frequency, susceptance slope, and impedance step-up ratio over ranges suitable for the design of electrically small antennas with a broad double-tuned response. Graphs are presented giving the impedance step-up ratio due to folding for various strip dimensions derived from static calculations. Experimental results are shown for antennas with heights in the range of one-eighth to one-tenth wavelength     

Calculation of the radiation resistance of loop antennas with sinusoidal current distribution

Loop antennas with dimensions comparable to the wavelength are sometimes of practical interest. In order to use such antennas, design engineers would need simple formulas or data about the radiation resistance of such antennas. For the reason, that nothing else has been known, the radiation resistance has been calculated by means of a digital computer.     

基于人工表面等离激元的天线研究进展

人工表面等离激元是在人工电磁媒质与传统材料界面激发的一种亚波长表面电磁模式, 具有波长短、场局域增强、色散可调等新奇的电磁特性, 在小型化微波器件、隐身材料与隐身结构、天线/天线罩等领域具有重要应用前景.文章综述了人工表面等离激元在天线中的应用研究进展, 包括基于混合模式耦合、相位梯度超表面解耦、周期结构解耦等原理的端射天线、多波束天线、频扫天线, 为新型天线的研发与应用提供技术支撑.     

A new and efficient hybrid model for estimating space diversity inindoor environment

This study presents a novel hybrid model based on a two-dimensional (2-D) site-specific model and a statistical model to investigate space diversity in indoor environments. The statistical model describes the field scattered by rough surface boundaries and randomly positioned scatterers, which may be important when one or both of the receiving and transmitting antennas are close to the boundaries of the scatterers. Comparing the computed spatial correlation with the measured one with the transmitting frequency at 2.44 GHz at many different sites demonstrates the effectiveness of the hybrid model. In addition to accurately predicting field strength, the hybrid model can quantify the relative mean contribution of diffused scattering in an indoor environment with a factor r. The factor is equal to the ratio of ensemble average of a randomly scattered envelope to the spatially averaged envelope. Its optimum value is in a narrow range from 0.3 to 0.5 when the intensity fluctuation at the measurement sites is in or close to saturation regions, where a large number of micromultipaths are generated. This finding confirms the relative ease in applying the hybrid model. Experimental results suggest that choosing r=0.4 in a saturation allows the hybrid model to yield a satisfactory performance, as confirmed by a blind test. Moreover, good diversity gains can be obtained with an antenna spacing greater than or equal to one wavelength. Our results further demonstrate that the diversity gain of horizontally spaced antennas exceeds that of vertically spaced antennas     

Antennas and waveguides for far-infrared integrated circuits

Antennas and waveguides for the wavelength range 0.1-3 mm are considered. Emphasis is placed on those designs which lend themselves to integration with each other and with other components such as diodes. The general properties of FIR antennas are reviewed. A novel silicon waveguide antenna is discussed, and its design, simulation, fabrication, and performance at 119 μm are described. This antenna has a highly symmetrical, single-lobed beam with 3 dB beamwidths of 35 and 38° in theE- andH-planes, respectively. The gain (measured in microwave simulation) is 12.8 dB. This antenna is well suited for integration with Schottky diodes. The related subject of FIR waveguides is discussed. Experiments with metal transmission lines at 119 μm are described and dielectric guides related to the waveguide antenna are also considered. Using components such as these it may soon be possible to construct receiver front ends for this wavelength range in integrated-circuit form.     

Aperture coupled microstrip patch antenna with thick ground planein millimetre waves

The finite thickness of the ground plane is taken into account in the cavity model to analyse some aperture coupled microstrip patch antennas at millimetre-wave frequencies (60 GHz). The thickness has a strong effect on impedance matching at high frequencies owing to the ratio between the thickness and the wavelength, which increases with frequency. The calculated results are compared to those obtained by experiment for several antennas with different input impedances due to different slot lengths. Close agreement is found between the calculated and experimental results     

Dual-frequency patch antennas

Dual-frequency patch antennas may provide an alternative to large-bandwidth planar antennas, in applications in which large bandwidth is really needed for operating at two separate transmit-receive bands. When the two operating frequencies are far apart, a dual-frequency patch structure can be conceived to avoid the use of separate antennas. In this paper, a critical overview of possible solutions for dual-frequency patch antennas is presented, and future perspectives are outlined. Geometries are discussed in particular     

On antenna tolerance theory

To predict the loss of gain of antennas due to surface deviations which are not distributed uniformly over the aperture, an extension of Ruze's theory is presented. It is found that the assumption of uniform error distribution, in general, underestimates the axial gain of an antenna whose surface deviations have regional variations over the aperture. This effect becomes significant only when the surface deviations cannot be considered small as compared to the wavelength. Furthermore, it is found that the assumption of a uniform distribution of error may have a significant effect on the predicted scatter even when surface deviations are not large. Assuming that the deviations from uniform distribution are also random, a correction term to the theory is also presented.     

Ultra-Wideband Electrostrictive Mechanical Antenna

Mechanical antennas based on piezoelectric materials can effectively reduce the size of long wave antennas down to 1/1000 of the wavelength (from km scale to mm level). However, the narrow bandwidth and weak field intensity seriously restrict its practical applications in transmission distance and channel capacity. Here, a mechanical antenna-based electrostrictive effect of relaxor ferroelectric ceramic (PMN-PT) is proposed to improve radiation capacity and achieve ultra-wideband characteristics (10 kHz–1 MHz). Due to the ultra-high dielectric constant at working temperature and the relationship between the strain and applied field intensity, the proposed antenna gets rid of the dependence on the poled materials and exhibits excellent communication properties beyond traditional mechanical antennas, which are experimentally demonstrated by a practical wireless communication system. Only using a single proposed mechanical antenna with 8 mm diameter and 3 mm thickness, the effective communication with a transmission distance of 200 m can be realized. This design offers a promising way of constructing mechanical antennas for long-wave communication.     

Heating characteristics of thin helical antennas with conductingcores in a lossy medium. I. Noninsulated antennas

We report a combined theoretical and experimental study of the heating characteristics of helical antennas in lossy dielectric media. Proposed biomedical application of such antennas include angioplasty, hyperthermia, and catheter ablation of tissue. The study focuses on helical antennas, operated in the normal mode (wavelength greater than antenna diameter but comparable to antenna length), that are terminated at one end by a short circuit and at the other by a coaxial feedpoint. The analytical model is based on the helical sheath approximation, extended to the case of lossy media. In addition, experimental studies were performed on helical antennas immersed in aqueous electrolyte of various conductivity. The antennas show two distinct modes of propagation: a slow mode similar to that observed in helical antennas in loss-free media, and a faster mode. The analytical/numerical results are in good agreement with experimental data, thus demonstrating the validity of the model     

Periodic metal plate-loaded dielectric slab antenna with broadsideradiation

Wave guiding properties of a periodic metal plate-loaded dielectric slab structure are investigated for obtaining surface wave antennas with broadside radiation and low voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) characteristics. A novel technique is proposed in which dielectric phase transformers play an essential role for realizing a uniform phase distribution on the radiating aperture which is required to achieve broadside radiation. A quarter-guided wavelength spacing of the metal plates guarantees the suppression of reflections at the input port. On the basis of the theoretical results obtained, two types of antennas have been designed at 10 GHz, one having the exponential aperture distribution, the other the uniform aperture distribution. The overall antenna efficiency of the latter type has been found to be 53%, exhibiting a practical performance at microwave frequencies