Thesis (PhD (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / This dissertation presents a concept for a compact, low-profile, integrated solar panel antenna for use on small satellites in low Earth orbit. To date, the integrated solar panel antenna design approach has primarily been, patch (transparent or non-transparent) and slot radiators. The design approach presented here is proposed as an alternative to existing designs. A prototype, comprising of an optically transparent rectangular dielectric resonator was constructed and can be mounted on top of a solar panel of a Cube Satellite. The ceramic glass, LASF35 is characterised by its excellent transmittance and was used to realise an antenna which does not compete with solar panels for surface area. Currently, no closed-form solution for the resonant frequency and Q-factor of a rectangular dielectric resonator antenna exists and as a first-order solution the dielectric waveguide model was used to derive the geometrical dimensions of the dielectric resonator antenna. The result obtained with the dielectric waveguide model is compared with several numerical methods such as the method of moments, finite integration technique, radar cross-section technique, characteristic mode analysis and finally with measurements. This verification approach was taken to give insight into the resonant modes and modal behaviour of the antenna. The interaction between antenna and a triple-junction gallium arsenide solar cell is presented demonstrating a loss in solar efficiency of 15.3%. A single rectangular dielectric resonator antenna mounted on a ground plane demonstrated a gain of 4.2 dBi and 5.7 dBi with and without the solar cell respectively. A dielectric resonator antenna array with a back-to-back Yagi-Uda topology is proposed, designed and evaluated. The main beam of this array can be steered can steer its beam ensuring a constant flux density at a satellite ground station. This isoflux gain profile is formed by the envelope of the steered beams which are controlled using a single digital phase shifter. The array achieved a beam-steering limit of ±66° with a measured maximum gain of 11.4 dBi. The outcome of this research is to realise a single component with dual functionality satisfying the cost, size and weight requirements of small satellites by optimally utilising the surface area of the solar panels.

No description available.

No / A miniaturized modified planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) is presented and experimentally studied. This antenna consists of a planar rectangular monopole top-loaded with a rectangular patch attached to two rectangular plates, one shorted to the ground and the other suspended, both placed at the optimum distance on each side of the planar monopole. The fabricated antenna prototype had a measured impedance bandwidth of 125%, covering 3 to 13GHz for reflection coefficient better than -10 dB. The radiator size was 20 x 10 x 7.5 mm(3), making it electrically small over most of the band and suitable for incorporation in mobile devices. The radiation patterns and gains of this antenna have been cross-validated numerically and experimentally and confirm that this antenna has adequate characteristics for short range ultra-wideband wireless applications.

No description available.

Yes / In this letter a novel on-chip array antenna is investigated which is based on CMOS 20μm Silicon technology for operation over 0.6-0.65 THz. The proposed array structure is constructed on three layers composed of Silicon-Ground-Silicon layers. Two antennas are implemented on the top layer, where each antenna is constituted from three sub-antennas. The sub-antennas are constructed from interconnected dual-rings. Also, the sub-antennas are interconnected to each other. This approach enhances the aperture of the array. Surface waves and substrate losses in the structure are suppressed with metallic via-holes implemented between the radiation elements. To excite the structure, a novel feeding mechanism is used comprising open-circuited microstrip lines that couple electromagnetic energy from the bottom layer to the antennas on the top-layer through metasurface slot-lines in the middle ground-plane layer. The results show the proposed on-chip antenna array has an average radiation gain, efficiency, and isolation of 7.62 dBi, 32.67%, and -30 dB, respectively. / H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016 SECRET-722424 and the financial support from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under grant EP/E0/22936/1

A desirable goal in wireless communication systems is to achieve a high-rate data transmission through electrically small antennas. However, the overall transmission bandwidth is limited by the antenna size. As a well-known physical limitation, maximum achievable bandwidth of a small antenna is governed by the fundamental limit which defines a lower bound on the antenna quality factor. This limit is a function of electrical size of the antenna and therefore, as the antenna shrinks in size the bandwidth decreases as well. This dissertation presents a new technique to decouple the impedance bandwidth of a high-Q antenna from the information bandwidth in order to provide a wideband data-transmission. This technique controls the natural resonant frequencies of an electrically small antenna in a time-varying fashion such that ultra-fast frequency-shift keying modulation can be achieved regardless of the narrow bandwidth of the antenna. A major advantage of the proposed technique is that the high-Q property of a miniaturized antenna is a desirable design parameter rather than a limiting factor. Therefore, the antenna size can be reduced as much as required. It is shown that if the fundamental resonance of an antenna is shifted in time, the frequency of the near-zone fields which construct the reactive stored energy, changes momentarily and hence, the radiating fields track any instantaneous variation of the antenna fundamental resonance. This characteristic is utilized to employ a single-mode high-Q antenna in the transient state and modulate the fundamental resonant frequency according to the baseband data information. This approach leads to a new class of compact transmitters with a minimized architecture and high data-rate transmission capability. / Ph. D.

Yes / This paper presents empirical results of an innovative beam scanning leaky-wave antenna (LWA) which enables scanning over a wide angle from -35o to +34.5o between 57 GHz and 62 GHz, with broadside radiation centered at 60 GHz. The proposed LWA design is based on composite right/left-handed transmission-line (CRLH-TL) concept. The single layer antenna structure includes a matrix of 3×9 square slots that is printed on top of the dielectric substrate; and printed on the bottom ground-plane are Π and Tshaped slots that enhance the impedance bandwidth and radiation properties of the antenna. The proposed antenna structure exhibits metamaterial property. The slot matrix provides beam scanning as a function of frequency. Physical and electrical size of the antenna is 18.7×6×1.6 mm3 and 3.43􀣅􀫙×1.1􀣅􀫙×0.29􀣅􀫙, respectively; where 􀣅􀫙 is free space wavelength at 55 GHz. The antenna has a measured impedance bandwidth of 10 GHz (55 GHz to 65 GHz) or fractional bandwidth of 16.7%. Its optimum gain and efficiency are 7.8 dBi and 84.2% at 62 GHz. / Partially supported by innovation programme under grant agreement H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016 SECRET- 722424 and the financial support from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under grant EP/E022936/1.

The Log-Periodic Loop Antenna with Ground Reflector (LPLA-GR) is investigated as a new type of antenna, which provides wide bandwidth, broad beamwidth, and high gain. This antenna has smaller transverse dimensions (by a factor of 2/pi) than a log-periodic dipole antenna with comparable radiation characteristics. Several geometries with different parameters are analyzed numerically using ESP code, which is based on the method of moments. A LPLA-GR with 6 turns and a cone angle of 30* offers the most promising radiation characteristics. This antenna yields 47.6 % gain bandwidth and 12 dB gain according to the numerical analysis. The LPLA-GR also provides linear polarization and unidirectional patterns. Three prototype antennas were constructed and measured in the Virginia Tech Antenna Laboratory. Far-field patterns and input impedance were measured over a wide range of frequencies. The measured results agree well with the calculated results. Because of its wide bandwidth, high gain, and small size, the LPLA is expected to find applications as feeds for reflector antennas, as detectors in EMC scattering range, and as mobile communication antennas. / Master of Science

Le milieu plasma correspond au 4ème état de la matière présentant une permittivité diélectrique complexe qui peut être exploitée pour les systèmes de communication. Sa permittivité négative a été étudiée dans de nombreux travaux de recherche démontrant que le plasma peut avoir des caractéristiques similaires à celles d'un métal en termes de conductivité électrique. En considérant une perméabilité positive, le plasma peut ainsi réagir de la même manière qu'un métal en présence d'une onde électromagnétique. Cette thèse a pour objectif de démontrer que le plasma est une alternative au métal pour la réalisation d'antennes reconfigurables. La première partie du travail concerne la caractérisation du milieu plasma en utilisant des sources plasma commerciales à savoir des lampes à Néon. Cette caractérisation est primordiale afin de pouvoir ensuite simuler ce type de source. La seconde partie des recherches a concerné la conception et la réalisation d'antennes plasma reconfigurables en rayonnement et ceci à la fréquence de 2.4 GHz. Le premier concept est un réflecteur circulaire et le second un réflecteur à angle droit tous les deux réalisés à partir de différentes lampes à Néon et illuminés par une antenne source monopole. Le réflecteur circulaire permet de dépointer le faisceau d'antennes sur 360° alors que le réflecteur à angle droit permet de reconfigurer le faisceau rayonnant et de passer d'un faisceau directif à deux faisceaux avec un creux dans l'axe. Ces dispositifs rayonnants innovants basés sur des lampes à Néon ont été validés expérimentalement et les résultats de mesure (S11 et rayonnement) sont en bonne adéquation avec les résultats de simulation. Ces deux types d'antennes réflecteurs possèdent également de bons résultats en termes de gain, ce qui valide l'utilisation et la caractérisation des lampes plasma de commerce utilisées. Dans la troisième partie du travail, ce même type de lampe à néon a été utilisé pour concevoir cette fois un élément rayonnant excité par couplage capacitif. La réalisation d'un prototype à permis de démontrer la faisabilité d'une telle source rayonnante. Enfin, la dernière partie des recherches concerne une étude de la Surface Equivalente Radar des antennes réflecteur conçues précédemment. L'étude a démontré que ces antennes réflecteurs plasma présentent des SER largement inférieures lorsqu'elles sont éteintes ainsi qu'à fréquence haute (8 GHz) comparativement à celles d'antennes métalliques équivalentes ce qui en fait des antennes furtives d'un point de vue radar. / Plasma is the 4th state of matter with complex permittivity that can be exploited to give advantages in communication system. Its negative permittivity has been studied in many research papers and it was proven to have similar characteristics as metal material in terms of electrical conductivity. While keeping permeability in the positive region, plasma will respond to electromagnetic waves in the similar manner as metal. Therefore, this thesis aimed to use plasma as an alternative to metal in the construction of reconfigurable antennas. The first part of this thesis is dedicated to characterize a plasma model based on the commercially available plasma source. Since there are many type of plasma source in terms of their electrical properties and physical shapes, it is important to characterize a particular plasma source so that it can be modeled in simulations to construct other types of plasma antennas. The second part presents the realization of plasma reflector antennas. Two types of plasma reflector antennas have been simulated, fabricated and measured at 2.4 GHz. The first one is are round reflector antenna (RRA) and the second one is corner reflector antenna (CRA). The performances of RRA have been validated and it was proven to provide beam shaping and beam scanning capability. The measured radiation patterns are in a good agreement with simulation ones. The capability of RRA is exceptional since it can steer its main beam from 0° up to 360°. Moreover, the scanning gain remains the same as the main beam is being moved from one direction to another. The CRA that has been introduced in this thesis is a novel design since it integrates two corner-reflector antennas on a single ground plane. The CRA offers three beam shapes which are electrically switchable from one shape to another. The CRA was simulated, fabricated and finally its performances were validated throughout a series of agile measurements. The measured reflected radiation patterns are in good agreements with the simulation ones. The measured gains of the RRA and CRA are 5 dB higher than the gain of classical monopole antenna with an identical size of finite ground plane. The fourth part deals with plasma as radio waves radiator. Two plasma antennas using commercially available U-shaped compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) have been fabricated and measured and it was proven that these antennas can be to radiate radio signal. The last part discusses about radar cross section performance of the plasma reflector antennas. The two plasma reflector antennas (RRA and CRA) were tested and measured for their RCS performance.

In this thesis, the study mainly focuses on the current trends in development of compact multi-media mobile phone and provides a wideband monopole antenna design suitable for application in wireless communicating system in the near future. By utilizing the planar monopole antenna structure, the proposed antenna design is easy to be embedded into the mobile phone. Further, by using a shielding metal cover, we create a zone with low surface current distribution. This effect will reduce the electromagnetic coupling between the antenna and the electronic elements and make it possible to integrate more related elements into the mobile phones. Finally, we use the simulation software to analyze the dielectric effect caused by the casing of mobile phone and human body on the proposed antenna.