Trough waveguides (TWG) have been utilized in a variety of radio frequency (RF) and other related applications including radar, the treatment of hypothermia and in the generation of plasmas. Perturbing the guided wave in these structures with blocks, rods, dielectrics, and other structures can create reconfigurable periodic line sources. These trough waveguide antennas (TWA) are then capable of providing both fixedfrequency and frequency-dependent beam steering. This was originally performed using electro-mechanical “cam-and-gear” mechanisms. Previous work related to the excitation of TWG and the performance of TWA topologies are limited when compared to more common antenna designs, yet they possess many desirable features that can be exploited in a modern system. This thesis will examines an S-band rectangular-to-trough waveguide transition and trough guide antenna that has been designed for broadband reconfigurable antenna applications considering as well the airflow characteristics for sensing applications. The design, fabrication, and electromagnetic performance (mode conversion, impedance matching, and antenna performance) are discussed, including the use of metallic cantilever perturbations placed along the troughguide sidewalls that are designed to provide improved impedance matching when steering the beam from the backward quadrant through broadside, towards the forward quadrant. Impedance matching techniques such as use of circular holes at the edge of each actuated cantilever are used to reduce power reflections and provide a low voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) along the S-band. Finite element simulations will provide a demonstration of the airflow and turbulence characteristics throughout the entire structure, where the metallic cantilevers are used to manipulate the flow of air, to distribute it across the surfaces of the structure better and improve its potential for sensing operations.

This thesis proposes a variety of antenna designs suitable for modern of mobile products, such as mobile phones, PDAs and so forth, on both the 2G and 3G communication systems according to the mobile communication development. Based on the integration of monopole or planar inverted-F antenna with the system ground planes, multi-frequency, broadband, and high radiation efficiency can be achieved, which is very promising to be adapted into communication products. Furthermore, an antenna capable of WLAN and UWB is proposed for future wireless communication applications.

In this thesis the study mainly focuses on the trends in development of present-day mobile phones and provides a promising alternative for integrating various elements inside mobile phones. With the presence of a small ground plane protruded from the main circuit board of a mobile phone, the proposed antenna design is substantially different from the configuration of feeding the conventional internal patch or planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA), and the proposed antenna can be placed in close proximity to the RF shielding case in the mobile phone, with very small effects on the antenna performances. Thus, more flexibility in the integration between an internal antenna and other associated elements inside a mobile phone can be obtained. In addition, by making use of the space inside the shorting cylinder of the internal PIFA, which can be treated as a shielding wall, the lens module of an embedded digital camera or other possible practical modules can easily fit in the cylinder to satisfy the trends in development of the miniaturized and multi-function mobile phones.

In this thesis, the study mainly focuses on the terrestrial DTV signal reception antenna. These antennas are designed based on the use of planar dipole antenna, but with different techniques in order to overcome the narrow-bandwidth problem of conventional dipole antenna. In ¡§Broadband Three-arm Dipole Planar Antenna for DTV Signal Reception,¡¨ a metal plate is added for achieving wideband operation. In ¡§End-fed Modified Dipole Antenna for DTV Signal Reception,¡¨ two arms of different lengths are extended in the same direction to wideband operation. In ¡§Internal DTV Antenna for Folder-Type Mobile Phone,¡¨ two system ground planes are regarded as the two arms of the dipole. With the use of an internal matching circuit, good impedance matching can be obtained for receiving DTV signal over a wide bandwidth.

<p>In modern military operations the requirements of transmitting large amounts of information have increased substantially during the last decade. This increases the demand for high-capacity radio networks. It is also very important that military decisions are made on recent and correct information and this implies that low and known delays are required. The existing military radio ommunications, within the Swedish army, do not meet the requirements for capacity and delay. </p><p>We have investigated how the capacity and average delay can be improved in an Ad Hoc network with STDMA by using antenna arrays. The study is based on different antenna combinations consistingof single isotropic antenna element, beam steering and adaptive beamforming. We have also studied how the number of antenna elements, the terrain, and an increased connectivity due to the antenna arrays_affects the performance measurements. </p><p>The study shows that the capacity is improved with up to 1200%, and the average delays are decreased when using antenna arrays instead of single isotropic antenna elements. Depending on the beamforming combination used the capacity gain and average delay reduction will differ. The way of using the antenna array also affects the capacity gain and average delay. The capacity gain is higher when the antenna array is used not only to suppress and decrease interferences, but also to increase the connectivity. </p><p>The study also shows that the capacity gain is higher when using more antenna elements for a network with a high number of links, than with fewer. The benefit from antenna arrays is higher in a flat terrain than in a rough.</p>

No description available.

Neste trabalho é realizada a otimização de antena de microfita banda larga de formato E utilizando o método de Diferenças Finitas no Domínio do Tempo (FDTD). Um programa desenvolvido em C é usado para analisar e aperfeiçoar a antena em projeto, tamanho, largura de banda e polarização. Inicialmente é feita a introdução sobre o assunto, abordando aspectos de comunicações e de antenas de microfita, além de se fazer revisão bibliográfica e resumir o estado da arte sobre o tema do trabalho. O próximo item, visando a sistematizar o projeto da antena, é a caracterização da antena de formato E, obtida ao variar seus parâmetros e verificar o desempenho por meio da análise do comportamento das freqüências que compõem a largura de banda. O trabalho prossegue com simulações numéricas e medidas da largura de banda, do ganho, dos níveis de polarização e da eficiência da antena. A tese é concluída com observações sobre o analisado e sugestões para prosseguimento e aperfeiçoamento das investigações técnicas realizadas. / The optimization of wideband E-format microstrip antenna employing the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method is shown in this work. This developed software is used to optimize different design parameters and characteristics of the antenna, such the dimensions, the bandwidth, the input impedance and the polarization. Firstly, an introduction considering the main issues related to wireless communications and antennas is done. Then, a review of the wideband antennas theory and conventional methods to the antenna analysis, with emphasis on the FDTD method, are described. The following topic is a parametric study, where the antenna parameters are being changed and performance variations are considered. Next, simulations using the FDTD method and measurements are compared and the relevant characteristics are optimized, e.g., in terms of dimensions, bandwidth, input impedance, gain, efficiency and polarization. Finally, the main contributions and conclusion of this thesis are described and some suggestions for further works are presented.

Neste trabalho é realizada a otimização de antena de microfita banda larga de formato E utilizando o método de Diferenças Finitas no Domínio do Tempo (FDTD). Um programa desenvolvido em C é usado para analisar e aperfeiçoar a antena em projeto, tamanho, largura de banda e polarização. Inicialmente é feita a introdução sobre o assunto, abordando aspectos de comunicações e de antenas de microfita, além de se fazer revisão bibliográfica e resumir o estado da arte sobre o tema do trabalho. O próximo item, visando a sistematizar o projeto da antena, é a caracterização da antena de formato E, obtida ao variar seus parâmetros e verificar o desempenho por meio da análise do comportamento das freqüências que compõem a largura de banda. O trabalho prossegue com simulações numéricas e medidas da largura de banda, do ganho, dos níveis de polarização e da eficiência da antena. A tese é concluída com observações sobre o analisado e sugestões para prosseguimento e aperfeiçoamento das investigações técnicas realizadas. / The optimization of wideband E-format microstrip antenna employing the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method is shown in this work. This developed software is used to optimize different design parameters and characteristics of the antenna, such the dimensions, the bandwidth, the input impedance and the polarization. Firstly, an introduction considering the main issues related to wireless communications and antennas is done. Then, a review of the wideband antennas theory and conventional methods to the antenna analysis, with emphasis on the FDTD method, are described. The following topic is a parametric study, where the antenna parameters are being changed and performance variations are considered. Next, simulations using the FDTD method and measurements are compared and the relevant characteristics are optimized, e.g., in terms of dimensions, bandwidth, input impedance, gain, efficiency and polarization. Finally, the main contributions and conclusion of this thesis are described and some suggestions for further works are presented.

Neste trabalho é realizada a otimização de antena de microfita banda larga de formato E utilizando o método de Diferenças Finitas no Domínio do Tempo (FDTD). Um programa desenvolvido em C é usado para analisar e aperfeiçoar a antena em projeto, tamanho, largura de banda e polarização. Inicialmente é feita a introdução sobre o assunto, abordando aspectos de comunicações e de antenas de microfita, além de se fazer revisão bibliográfica e resumir o estado da arte sobre o tema do trabalho. O próximo item, visando a sistematizar o projeto da antena, é a caracterização da antena de formato E, obtida ao variar seus parâmetros e verificar o desempenho por meio da análise do comportamento das freqüências que compõem a largura de banda. O trabalho prossegue com simulações numéricas e medidas da largura de banda, do ganho, dos níveis de polarização e da eficiência da antena. A tese é concluída com observações sobre o analisado e sugestões para prosseguimento e aperfeiçoamento das investigações técnicas realizadas. / The optimization of wideband E-format microstrip antenna employing the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method is shown in this work. This developed software is used to optimize different design parameters and characteristics of the antenna, such the dimensions, the bandwidth, the input impedance and the polarization. Firstly, an introduction considering the main issues related to wireless communications and antennas is done. Then, a review of the wideband antennas theory and conventional methods to the antenna analysis, with emphasis on the FDTD method, are described. The following topic is a parametric study, where the antenna parameters are being changed and performance variations are considered. Next, simulations using the FDTD method and measurements are compared and the relevant characteristics are optimized, e.g., in terms of dimensions, bandwidth, input impedance, gain, efficiency and polarization. Finally, the main contributions and conclusion of this thesis are described and some suggestions for further works are presented.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Electronic Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / PhD / unrestricted