This dissertation investigates the application of the frequency-scanned beam of a microstrip leaky wave antenna (LWA) to track humans in the two-dimensional (2-D) range-azimuth plane. The history, operating principles and frequency-scanned properties of a microstrip LWA are first reviewed. The basic concept of using a microstrip LWA to track humans is verified by designing, building and testing a broadband microstrip LWA, developing the necessary processing algorithm, and collecting data using a vector network analyzer. A number of topics are then investigated to further advance the concept. First, the idea of combining the frequency-scanned antenna with a short-pulse ultra-wideband (UWB) radar is developed to realize a portable, real-time system for human tracking. The radar concept and the components of the system are discussed in detail. Line-of-sight and through-wall measurements of a human subject are carried out to demonstrate the performance. Second, a new LWA structure is proposed to achieve a narrower azimuth beam, which requires both a small leaky-wave attenuation constant and a long aperture. The transverse resonance method (TRM) is applied to analyze the proposed structure and the results are verified with measurements of a built prototype. Third, a new signal processing technique, compressive sensing, is applied to further improve the resolution in both the azimuth and down range dimensions. The technique is tested with simulation and measurement data and is shown to produce sharper target responses in both the down range and azimuth dimensions. Lastly, the radar cross-section (RCS) of a microstrip LWA is studied. The antenna mode scattering and structural mode scattering are modeled separately. A ray picture is provided to explain the observed time-domain features using the group delay of the leaky wave. / text

The interaction between a bounded ultrasonic beam and a liquid wedge over a solid half-space is studied theoretically as well as experimentally. A semi-analytical technique called Distributed Point Source Method (DPSM) is adopted for modeling the ultrasonic field in a wedge-shaped fluid structure on a solid half-space. This study is important for analyzing and understanding the propagation of ultrasonic waves used for underwater communications and inspections. A better understanding of the elastic wave propagation in water and in submerged marine strata near the seashore requires extensive investigations of such problem geometries. The semi-analytical technique used in this dissertation considers a bounded acoustic beam striking a fluid-solid interface between a fluid wedge and a solid half-space. Solution of this problem is beyond the scope of the currently available analytical methods when the beam is bounded. However, it is important to model the bounded beams because, in all underwater communications and inspections, bounded beams are used. Currently, only numerical method [Boundary Element Method (BEM) or Finite Element Method (FEM)] based packages (e.g., PZFlex) are in principle capable of modeling ultrasonic fields in such structures. However, these packages are not very accurate and are very CPU-intensive for high-frequency ultrasonic problems. At high frequencies, FEM- and BEM-based packages require huge amount of computation memory and time for their executions that the DPSM technique can avoid. The effect of the angle variation between the fluid-solid interface and the fluid wedge on the wave propagation characteristics is studied and presented.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.