This thesis includes the design, production and measurement of a wideband dualpolarized X-band aperture-coupled microstrip patch antenna. The wideband and dual-polarized operation is achieved through the use of H-shaped coupling slots. Therefore, the equivalent circuit modeling of a microstrip line fed H-shaped slot is also studied in this thesis. A step-by-step procedure is followed during the design process of the dual-polarized aperture-coupled microstrip antenna. First, an aperture-coupled microstrip antenna with a single rectangular slot, that exhibits a wideband characteristic for single polarization, is designed. Then, the design procedure is repeated for an antenna with H-shaped slot in order to satisfy the same specifications with a shorter slot. Finally, dual-polarized aperture-coupled microstrip antenna is designed. At this configuration, two H-shaped slots are used and they are placed orthogonal to each other. During the design process, the effects of antenna parameters on the input impedance characteristics of the antenna are investigated. These parametric analyses are done in CST Microwave Studio&reg / . The v designed dual-polarized wideband aperture-coupled microstrip antenna is manufactured. Simulation results and measurement results are compared. During the equivalent circuit modeling of an H-shaped slot fed by a microstrip line, an approach based on the reciprocity theorem is utilized. The method was originally proposed for rectangular shaped slots, in this thesis it is generalized for arbitrarily shaped slots. Software codes are developed in MATLAB to calculate the equivalent impedance of the slot.

Yes / A novel dual-polarized patch antenna for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications is presented. The antenna consists of a square patch and four capacitively coupled feeds to enhance the impedance bandwidth. Each feed is formed by a vertical isosceles trapezoidal patch and a horizontal isosceles triangular patch. The four feeds are connected to the microstrip lines that are printed on the bottom layer of the grounded FR4 substrate. Two tapered baluns are utilized to excite the antenna to achieve high isolation between the ports and reduce the cross-polarization levels. In order to increase the antenna gain and reduce the backward radiation, a compact surface mounted cavity is integrated with the antenna. The antenna prototype has achieved an impedance bandwidth of 112% at (|S11| ≤ -10 dB) whereas the coupling between the two ports is below -28 dB across the operating frequency range. The measured antenna gain varies from 3.91 to 10.2 dBi for port 1 and from 3.38 to 9.21 dBi for port 2, with a 3-dB gain bandwidth of 107%. / IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society

The recent growth in the ambit of modern wireless communication and in particular WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) systems has created a niche for novel designs that have the capacity to send and/or receive arbitrary orthogonal polarizations. The designs should also be able to support dual-band functionality, while maintaining a compact structure. The first aim of this dissertation was thus to develop a dual-band single radiating element that can cover the 2.4 GHz (2.4 – 2.484 GHz) band and the 5.2 GHz (5.15 – 5.85 GHz) band for the IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11a WLAN standards respectively. Dual-frequency elements such as stacked-, notched- and dichroic patches have been considered, but due to the size and the high cross-polarization levels associated with these designs, the design process was propelled towards various dipole and monopole configurations. The attributes of various designs were compared, where the double Rhombus antenna pregnant with dual-band and dual-polarization potential was used as basis in the development of the DBDP (Dual-Band Dual-Polarized) antenna design. The single-element design exhibited wide bandwidths, good end-fire radiation patterns and relatively high gain over the 2.4/5.2 GHz bands. A two-element configuration was also designed and tested, to firstly increase the gain of the configuration and secondly to facilitate the transformation of the dipole design into a dual-polarized configuration. The second aim of this dissertation was to develop a dual-polarized array, while making use of only two ports, each pertaining to a specific polarization and to implement the design on a single-dielectric-layer substrate. Most dual-polarized structures such as circular, square and annular microstrip antenna designs only support one band, where multi-dielectric-layer structures are the norm. The disadvantages associated with multi-layered designs, such as fabrication difficulties, high costs, high back lobes and the size of the arrays, further supported the notion of developing an alternative configuration. The second contribution was thus the orthogonal interleaving of the two-element array configurations, to address the paucity of single-dielectric-layer dual-band dual-polarized designs that can be implemented with only two ports. This design was first developed and simulated with the aid of the commercial software package CST Microwave Studio® and the results were later corroborated with the measured data obtained from the Compact Antenna Range at the University of Pretoria. AFRIKAANS : Die onlangse groei in die area van moderne draadlose kommunikasie en met spesifieke verwysing na DLAN (Draadlose Lokale Area Netwerk) stelsels, het ‘n nis vir nuwe ontwerpe geskep. Daar word van hierdie nuwe ontwerpe die kapasiteit verlang om verskeie ortogonale polarisasies te stuur en/of te ontvang in samewerking met dubbel-band eienskappe, terwyl ‘n kompakte struktuur nogsteeds aandag moet geniet. Die eerste doel met hierdie verhandeling was dus die ontwikkeling van ‘n dubbel-band enkel stralingselement wat instaat is om die 2.4 GHz (2.4 – 2.484 GHz) band en die 5.2 GHz (5.15 – 5.85 GHz) band wat as die IEEE 802.11b en die IEEE 802.11a DLAN standaarde respektiewelik bekend staan, te bedek. Dubbel-frekwensie elemente soos onder andere die gepakte-, merkkepie- en dichromatiese strook antenne was as moontlike oplossings ondersoek, maar die grootte en hoë kruispolarisasie wat gewoonlik met hierdie ontwerpe gepaard gaan, het die ontwerpsproses in die rigting van verskeie dipool en monopool konfigurasies gestoot. Die aantreklike eienskappe van die verskeie ontwerpe was met mekaar vergelyk, waar die dubbel Rhombus antenna, verwagtend met dubbel-band dubbel-polarisasie potensiaal, as basis vir die ontwikkeling van die DBDP (Dubbel-Band Dubbel-Polarisasie) antenna ontwerp gebruik is. Die enkelelementontwerp het wye bandwydtes, goeie direktiewe stralingspatrone en relatiewe hoë wins oor die 2.4/5.2 GHz bande geopenbaar. Die twee-element konfigurasies was ook ontwerp en getoets om eerstens die wins van die konfigurasie te verhoog en tweedens om die transformasie na ‘n dubbel-gepolariseerde konfigurasie te fassiliteer. Die tweede doel van hierdie verhandeling was om ‘n dubbel-gepolariseerde elementopstelling met net twee poorte te ontwikkel, waar elkeen verantwoordelik is vir ‘n spesifieke polarisasie, en te implementeer op ‘n enkel-diëlektriese-laag substraat. Die meeste dubble-polarisasiestrukture, soos onder andere die sirkulêre-, vierkantige- en ringvormige antenne ontwerpe, kan net een frekwensieband onderhou en word gewoonlik met behulp van meervoudige-diëlektriese-laagstrukture geimplementeer. Die negatiewe eienskappe soos onder andere die vervaardigingsmoeilikhede, hoë kostes, hoë teruglobbe en die grootte van die meervoudige-elementopstellings wat aan hierdie meervoudige-diëlektriese-laagontwerpe behoort, het verder die denkbeeld van ‘n alternatiewe konfigurasie bekragtig. Die tweede hoofbydrae was dus die ortogonale insleuteling van die twee-element meervoudige-elementopstelling konfigurasies om die geringheid van enkel-diëlektriese-laag dubbel-band dubbel-polarisasie ontwerpe, wat net met twee poorte geïmplementeer kan word, te adresseer. Hierdie ontwerp was eers met behulp van die kommersiële sagtewarepakket CST Microwave Studio® ontwikkel en gesimuleer, waarna die resultate bevestig was deur meetings by die Kompakte Antenna Meetbaan van die Universiteit van Pretoria. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

[ES] Esta tesis aborda temas de especial interés en el diseño de antenas en la banda de milimétricas. Hui en dia, implementar components passius per a operar en la banda de mil·limètriques i assegurar el contacte i l'alineament metàl·lic apropiat entre peces, resulta un desafiament complex. Habitualment les línies de transmissió i les guies d'ones metàl·liques són les solucions adoptades, però en el primer cas es presenten pèrdues al ser solucions impreses i en el segon cas un mal contacte metàl·lic comporta fugues de camp. Per tant, s'estan explorant nous conceptes que solucionen estos problemes. La tecnología Gap Waveguide (GW) resulta adecuada ya que no requiere de contactos metálicos. En los últimos años han surgido las agrupaciones de antenas basadas en la tecnología Gap Waveguide y son un candidato prometedor para satisfacer algunas de las necesidades mencionadas. La tecnología GW ha demostrado ser atractiva para dispositivos de milimétricas porque permite redes de distribución completamente metálicas de una manera más simple que las guías de onda convencionales. Por tanto, estas redes tienen muy bajas pérdidas pero además son simples de fabricar. Esto es posible gracias a la capacidad de las GW de confinar de forma segura la propagación de ondas electromagnéticas por medio de una estructura que no requiere de contacto. Durante la última década, se han hecho avances importantes en la tecnología GW y en la literatura se pueden encontrar un buen número de antenas basadas en GW. Esta tesis va un paso más allá en la contribución de este tipo de antenas. Aquí, no solo se presentan antenas con polarización lineal, como suelen ser las desarrolladas hasta ahora, sino también con polarización dual, circular y duales en banda. Estas aportaciones son especialmente atractivas dentro del campo de las comunicaciones por satélite en movimiento (SATCOM on-the-move). Además, se han explorado nuevas redes de distribución que permiten antenas planas más compactas, más ligeras. / [CAT] Esta tesi aborda temes d'especial interés en el disseny d'antenes en la banda de mil.limètriques. Hui en dia, implementar components passius per a operar en longituds d'onda tan xicotetes (de l'orde de mil.límetres) i assegurar el contacte i l'alineament metàl-lic apropiat entre peces, resulta un desafiament complex. Habitualment les línies de transmissió i les guia d'ones metàl.liques són les solucions adoptades, però en el primer cas es presenten pèrdues al ser solucions impreses i en el segon cas un mal contacte metàl.lic comporta fugues de camp. Per tant, s'estan explorant nous conceptes que solucionen estos problemes. La tecnologia Gap Waveguide (GW) resulta adequada ja que no requerix de contactes metàl.lics. En els últims anys han sorgit les agrupacions d'antena basades en la tecnologia Gap Waveguide i són un candidat prometedor per a satisfer algunes de les necessitats mencionades. La tecnologia GW ha demostrat ser atractiva per a dispositius de banda d'ones mil-limètriques perquè permet xarxes de distribució completament metàl-liques d'una manera més simple que les guies d'onda convencionals. Per tant estes xarxes tenen baixes pèrdues peró, a més, són simples de fabricar. Açò és possible gràcies a la capacitat de les GW de confinar de forma segura la propagació d'ones electromagnètiques per mitjà d'una estructura que no requerix de contacte. Durant l'última dècada, s'han fet avanços importants en la tecnologia GW i en la literatura es poden trobar un bon nombre d'antenes basades en GW. Esta tesi va un pas més enllà en la contribució d'este tipus d'antenes. Ací, no sols es presenten antenes amb polarització lineal com solen ser les desenrotllades fins ara, sinó també antenes amb polarització dual, circular i inclús antenes duals en banda. Estes aportacions són especialment atractives dins del camp de les comunicacions per satèl.lit en moviment (SATCOM on-the-move). A més també s'han explorat noves xarxes de distribució que permeten obtindre antenes planes més compactes, més lleugeres. / [EN] This thesis deals with topics of special interest regarding the design of antennas at the mm-wave band. Today, implementing passive components that operate in the mm-wave band and to ensure the appropriate metallic contact is challenging. Commonly, conventional planar transmission lines and hollow metallic waveguides are the usual solutions but they present high losses or they do not ensure a good metallic contact. So, new concepts must be explored. Gap Waveguides (GWs), result suitably since they do not require metallic contact for shielding. Antenna arrays in Gap Waveguide Technology (GW) emerges as one promising candidate to naturally meet some of the mentioned needs. GW technology has demonstrated to be effective for mm-wave band devices because it enables full-metal distribution networks in a much simpler way than conventional waveguides. Very low distribution losses can be achieved preserving at the same time the assembly simplicity of multilayer microstrip feeding networks. This unique feature is a consequence of gap waveguides ability to safely confine the electromagnetic wave propagation through a contactless structure. During the last decade, there have been important advances in GW technology and a good number of gap waveguide-based arrays can be found in the literature. This thesis goes a step further in the contribution to mm-wave gap waveguide antennas. Here, antennas with linear polarization as well as circular or dual polarization are proposed. Dual band antennas has also been explored. These contributions have been carried out with a focus on satellite communications on-the-move. In addition, new distribution networks have also been explored to obtain more compact, low-profile and lighter antennas. / Ferrando Rocher, M. (2018). Gap Waveguide Array Antennas and Corporate-Feed Networks for mm-Wave band Applications [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/115933 / TESIS

Phased array weather radar antennas with beam steering capabilities are suitable alternatives to weather radars with mechanically scanning reflector antennas. Dual-polarized phased-array weather radar antennas, however, demand careful assessment of the x-polar characteristics. The low x-pol radiation of polarimetric weather radar antennas is of significant importance for the proper classification and qualitative estimation of hydrometeors in illuminate volumes. Unfortunately, array antennas display changing x-pol contributions during the electronical beam steering process. Typically, the x-pol radiation will be substantially increased in the co-polar main beam direction but also in other angular directions. Consequently, it is a vital challenge to design arrays with low x-pol contribution during beam steering. In this dissertation a new phased-array weather radar concept is developed. The phased array system configuration can be used to substitute state-of-the-art weather radars with reflector antennas. Furthermore, a dense network of these phased-array radars can be used to substitute a network of high power weather radars, which are used nowadays. The research focus of this work is the development of a dual-polarized microstrip patch antenna with phased-array capability and very high polarization purity. In this regard, new graphical techniques are developed to investigate the causes and the reduction of the x-pol radiation of isolated (stand-alone) microstrip patch antennas. To further reduce the x-pol contribution of antennas, optimization methods have been investigated, evaluated and developed. For the first time in literature, differential-feed antenna arrays are compared to excitation optimized single-feed antenna arrays in their x-pol contribution in the boresight direction and during beam steering. In particular, two dual-polarized 4x8 antenna arrays have been developed and simulated by CST MWS, produced as multilayer PCB and verified at the compact antenna test range at RWTH Aachen. The results show that the x-pol contributions of arrays are significantly reduced for differentially-feed antenna arrays, even when beam steering is performed. During the azimuth scan of 120_ a record setting x-pol suppression of -45 dB and -36 dB could be measured for the horizontal and vertical polarization channels, respectively. / Wetterradarsysteme mit phasengesteuerten Antennen stellen eine echte Alternative zu Wetterradarsystemen mit mechanisch drehenden Reflektorantennen dar. Dual-polarisierte phasengesteuerte Antennen müssen jedoch sehr genau in ihrem Kreuzpolarisationsverhalten verifiziert werden, um für den Wetterradarbereich von Nutzen zu sein. Die Unterdrückung der kreuzpolaren Anteile von Radarantennen ist von fundamentaler Bedeutung, um Hydrometeore mit Hilfe von polarimetrischen Wetterradarsystemen klassifizieren und qualitativ bestimmen zu können. Die hohe Anforderung an Polarisationsreinheit ist mit aktuell erhältlichen Arraydesigns nur schwierig zu realisieren, da sich die Kreuzpolarisationsunterdrückung während des elektronischen Schwenks der Hauptkeule signifikant verschlechtert. Diese Dissertation stellt ein Wetterradar Systemkonzept mit phasengesteuerter Gruppenantenne vor, welches die aktuell genutzten Wetterradare mit Reflektorantennen ablösen könnte. Der Fokus der Arbeit wurde auf die Entwicklung einer Dual-polarimetrischen, polarisationsreinen und phasengesteuerten Mikrostreifenleiterantennen gelegt. Hierbei wurden neue grafische Verfahren entwickelt, die es ermöglichen, die Generierung der kreuzpolaren Anteile von isolierten Patchantennen (Einzelpatche) zu erklären und zu minimieren. Um die kreuzpolaren Anteile weiter herabzusetzen wurden Optimierungsverfahren für Arrayantennen erforscht, bewertet und neu entwickelt. Zum ersten Mal wurden differentiell gespeiste mit einzeln gespeisten Antennenarrays in ihrem Kreuzpolarisationsverhalten während des elektronischen Schwenks der Hauptkeule verglichen. Zwei Dual- polarimetrische 4x8 Antennenarrays (differentiell gespeist und mit optimierter Phasenansteuerung) wurden zu diesem Zweck mittels CST MWS entworfen, simuliert, als Multilagenplatine gefertigt und an der Antennentestanlage der RWTH Aachen vermessen. Die Resultate zeigen, dass die Kreuzpolarisationsanteile bei differentiell gespeisten Mikrostreifenleiterantennen in Gruppenkonfiguration, selbst beim elektronischen Schwenk der Hauptkeule, signifikant minimiert werden konnten. Für einen azimutalen Scanbereich von 120_ konnte eine exzellente Kreuzpolarisationsunterdrückung zwischen -45 dB und -36 dB messtechnisch für den horizontalen und vertikalen Polarisationskanal nachgewiesen werden.