This dissertation introduces new technologies and techniques for low-cost phased arrays and scanning antennas. Special emphasis is placed on new approaches for low-cost millimeter-wave beam control. Several topics are covered. A novel reconfigurable grating antenna is presented for low-cost millimeter-wave beam steering. The versatility of the approach is proven by adapting the design to dual-beam and circular-polarized operation. In addition, a simple and accurate procedure is developed for analyzing these antennas. Designs are presented for low-cost microwave/millimeter-wave phased-array transceivers with extremely broad bandwidth. The target applications for these systems are mobile satellite communications and ultra-wideband radar. Monolithic PIN diodes are a useful technology, especially suited for building miniaturized control components in microwave and millimeter-wave phased arrays. This dissertation demonstrates a new strategy for extracting bias-dependent small-signal models for monolithic PIN diodes. The space solar-power satellite (SPS) is a visionary plan that involves beaming electrical power from outer space to the earth using a high-power microwave beam. Such a system must have retrodirective control so that the high-power beam always points on target. This dissertation presents a new phased-array architecture for the SPS system that could considerably reduce its overall cost and complexity. In short, this dissertation presents technologies and techniques that reduce the cost of beam steering at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies. The results of this work should have a far-ranging impact on the future of wireless systems.

Investigation of the Double-Y Balun for Feeding Pulsed Antennas Jaikrishna Venkatesan 232 Pages Directed by Dr. Waymond Scott, Jr. In this research, a double-y balun implemented with coplanar waveguide (CPW) and coplanar strip (CPS) was investigated for use with pulsed antennas. The balun was modeled using two commercial electromagnetic simulators: Momentum and HFSS. Using these numerical solvers, design information such as the design of CPW bridges, aspect ratio of the double-y balun, and stub lengths of the CPW and CPS open and short stubs were studied. A dipole, along with the outer conductor of a coaxial line was modeled in NEC. The model was used to study the currents along the arms and feedline of balanced and unbalanced dipoles. Normalized amplitude patterns were generated along the azimuth and elevation planes for balanced and unbalanced dipoles. These patterns were used later for comparison with measured patterns. Experimental work was conducted to measure the performance of a double-y balun designed to feed a resistively loaded V-dipole. The performance of the balun was investigated via VSWR, insertion loss, and antenna pattern measurements. Antenna pattern measurements along the azimuth plane were conducted for a 5 cm dipole fed without a balun, a 5 cm dipole fed with the double-y balun, a 5 cm dipole fed with the sleeve balun, a 12 cm dipole fed without a balun, and a 12 cm dipole fed with the double-y balun. The dipoles fed without a balun were fed directly with a 50 W coaxial line. An optical link, consisting of a laser modulator (LM) unit and a laser receiver (LR) unit, was constructed to measure the patterns along the elevation plane of the above dipoles. Resulting patterns agreed closely with patterns generated with NEC models. In addition, the patterns of a resistively loaded V-dipole were measured along the E-plane using the optical link. The measured patterns for the V-dipole were compared with numerical results obtained from literature. The experimental work conducted in this research illustrates the improvement obtained in the patterns of a dipole and a resistively loaded V-dipole with the use of the double-y balun.

Simulation and experiments quantify the effect of moving a horizontal dipole antenna close to a metal ground plane. Solutions to the radiation problems are offered.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of changes in the physical parameters of tapered slot antennas (TSA) on their radiation characteristics and also to explore the possibility of reconfiguration in the radiation pattern of TSA by switching between two different types of tapering. There are mainly three physical parameters that affect the radiation pattern of TSAs. These are antenna length, aperture width and the ground extension. After designing a wideband microstrip line to slot line transition, the effect of antenna parameter variations on the beamwidth and sidelobe level of the antenna are investigated through the use of a commercially available electromagnetic simulation software HFSS by ANSOFT. The radiation characteristics of constant width slot antennas (CWSA) and linearly tapered slot antennas (LTSA) are compared. It is observed that CWSAs exhibit narrower beamwidth and higher sidelobe level whereas linearly tapered slot antennas (LTSA) have wider beamwidth with lower sidelobe level compared to each other. A novel switching architecture between CWSA and LTSA is proposed to obtain a reconfigurable antenna.

The bandwidth-enhancement characteristics of slot-loaded rectangular microstrip antennas constructed on a thin microwave substrate have been investigated in this dissertation. The primary design process about this topic is demonstrated. Firstly, a new antenna design idea is provided from pre-determined antenna design specifications or obtained antenna performances from the previous antenna design, which lead to a novel antenna configuration. From the results of the simulation software IE3DTM, the characteristics of this new antenna configuration are obtained and compared with the experimental results. The antenna configuration is also modified to achieve a final optimal design from the comparison results. The study of the single-feed dual-frequency rectangular microstrip antenna with a pair of bent slots is first presented. By embedding properly-designed slots on a rectangular microstrip patch, the impedance characteristics of this antenna design have been effectively changed to exhibit dual-resonant behavior, which result in the excitation of two adjacent resonant modes with similar radiation characteristics. Furthermore, the two resonant modes can be excited at frequencies very close to each other to form a wider operating bandwidth by embedding additional perturbation slots. Four successful antenna designs with different embedded-slot shapes for bandwidth enhancement have been implemented and discussed in this dissertation.

Novel designs of printed slot antennas have been investigated in this dissertation. For the linearly polarized designs, the study of single-feed dual-frequency printed slot antennas with an open-ring conducting strip is first presented. In addition, a novel design of dual-frequency dual-loop printed slot antenna is described. As for the broadband printed slot antenna designs, a printed semicircular slot antenna with a microstripline feed is shown. The impedance bandwidth obtained reaches about 46%. For the circularly polarized designs, we propose a circularly polarized microstrip antenna with an asymmetry of the antenna structure. By choosing a suitable meandered slot, CP operation can be obtained. Finally, we apply the design concept of CP operation using a shorted section to achieve a circularly polarized printed slot antenna design. The obtained CP bandwidth of this design is greater than 8%.

Novel broadband designs of patch antennas with an air substrate have been proposed in this dissertation. In the dual-frequency design, the study of single-fed dual-frequency microstrip antenna with a V-shaped slot has been first presented. As for the broadband patch antenna design, antennas with a U-shaped slot or a pair of wide slits can have an operating bandwidth more than 2.0 times that of a conventional one at a given operating frequency. The antenna bandwidth of then can be enhanced about 25%. In the designs of reducing cross-polarization, by using dual capacitive feeds with equal input powers, but with a 180¢X-phase shift, The cross-polarization radiation can be reduce about 10 to 15dB in the H-plane. Finally, A broadband shorted patch antenna fed by an aperture-coupled feed with an H-shaped coupling slot is proposed. By using an air substrate of thickness about 0.07 free-space wavelength of the center operating frequency, the proposed antenna can have an impedance bandwidth of about 26.2%. And the antenna design reduced the antenna size to be 40%~50%of the simple case.

Two novel antenna designs for mobile handsets are proposed in this thesis. With a helix loading, an inverted-L monopole antenna capable of generating two resonances at about 900 and 1850 MHz is first presented. The operating bandwidths obtained cover the required bandwidths of the GSM/DCS/PCS bands. Besides, an internal mobile handset antenna comprising a PIFA and a PILA, which are, respectively, designed for covering the GSM and DCS/PCS bands is also presented. The PIFA and PILA together occupy a compact volume of 7.2 ¡Ñ 20 ¡Ñ 40 mm3, and are suitable to be built-in within the housing of a mobile handset.

This dissertation introduces new technologies and techniques for low-cost phased arrays and scanning antennas. Special emphasis is placed on new approaches for low-cost millimeter-wave beam control. Several topics are covered. A novel reconfigurable grating antenna is presented for low-cost millimeter-wave beam steering. The versatility of the approach is proven by adapting the design to dual-beam and circular-polarized operation. In addition, a simple and accurate procedure is developed for analyzing these antennas. Designs are presented for low-cost microwave/millimeter-wave phased-array transceivers with extremely broad bandwidth. The target applications for these systems are mobile satellite communications and ultra-wideband radar. Monolithic PIN diodes are a useful technology, especially suited for building miniaturized control components in microwave and millimeter-wave phased arrays. This dissertation demonstrates a new strategy for extracting bias-dependent small-signal models for monolithic PIN diodes. The space solar-power satellite (SPS) is a visionary plan that involves beaming electrical power from outer space to the earth using a high-power microwave beam. Such a system must have retrodirective control so that the high-power beam always points on target. This dissertation presents a new phased-array architecture for the SPS system that could considerably reduce its overall cost and complexity. In short, this dissertation presents technologies and techniques that reduce the cost of beam steering at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies. The results of this work should have a far-ranging impact on the future of wireless systems.

This thesis presents an analysis of the behavior of an equiangular spiral antenna using a mixture of numerical and measurement techniques. The antenna is studied as an isolated element and as a part of a spiral-based ground-penetrating radar (GPR) detection system. The numerical modeling was based on the parallelized finite-difference time-domain method and the model was validated by comparison with a prototype antenna and detection system. The intention is to isolate the effect of varying different geometrical parameters that define the spiral element or the spiral GPR system. With some notion of each parameter's effect, systems that use the spiral antenna can be designed more easily. The analysis of the spiral antenna in isolation provides a set of design graphs for the antenna. A set of design graphs are constructed that allow one to better understand the effect of the chosen dielectric substrate on the characteristic impedance of the antennas. A second set of design graphs give very specific data about the lower cut-off frequency possible for the antennas given a requirement on its minimum boresight gain, axial ratio, or voltage standing-wave ratio when matched with an appropriate transmission line. The analysis of the spiral antenna in the context of a detection system provides information on the effect of the ground on the GPR system and to what extent the circular polarization properties of the spiral antenna play a role in GPR. It is shown that a spiral antenna used in a monostatic radar configuration will reject a symmetric scatterer well into the near-field. The importance of a resistive loading to the spiral arms is demonstrated for this rejection to be optimal. In addition, it is shown that increasing the dielectric constant of the ground narrows the pattern and polarization properties, making the antenna more directive towards boresight when the spiral antennas radiate into a flat ground. In addition to this work, a method for reducing the truncation error when calculating the planewave spectrum of an antenna is described.