Nous proposons d'explorer dans le cadre de la thèse des solutions originales permettant d'obtenir des caractéristiques de rayonnement peu dépendantes du support de l'antenne. Les antennes étudiées et conçues visent à être utilisées pour des applications GNSS et plus précisément pour des applications multi-bandes du GNSS. Nous les développerons donc en respectant un cahier des charges associé. Deux axes de recherche indépendants sont explorés. Le premier montre les propriétés naturelles d'une antenne composée de plusieurs structures rayonnantes. Nous associons ainsi une structure hélicoïdale équivalente à un dipôle magnétique et un plan métallique équivalent à un dipôle électrique. La taille et les performances de l'antenne ainsi réalisée sont comparables par bien des aspects aux antennes que l'on trouve actuellement dans le commerce pour les applications GNSS. L'antenne réalisée est une antenne mono-bande en polarisation rectiligne ; ce qui n'est pas en accord avec les spécifications de l'application envisagée. Pour compléter cette première étude et satisfaire les exigences d'applications GNSS multi-bandes, nous nous orientons vers une autre technologie qui est exposé dans le second axe. Dans le second axe, nous associons une antenne électrique et un plan réflecteur particulier : une Surface Haute Impédance. L'association de ces deux éléments permet en théorie de réduire l'épaisseur qu'aurait un dispositif classique composé d'une antenne électrique et d'un plan réflecteur métallique. Nous commençons donc par étudier la particularité du plan réflecteur choisi, c'est-à-dire la Surface Haute Impédance. Cette surface étant composé de motifs périodiques nous étudierons le motif qui permet d'obtenir les caractéristiques les plus proches de celles de l'application visée. Nous débutons par une étude en monobande suivi de l'étude d'un motif bi-bande. Le motif mono-bande conçu en simulation présente une très bonne bande-passante (13%) au vue de sa taille minimale (2,5mm). Le motif bi-bande réalisé par imbrication de motifs mono-bande permet d'obtenir en simulation des performances conformes aux attentes dans deux bandes GNSS choisies. L'étude de cette surface se poursuit par une phase de mesure. Le but de l'étude étant de pouvoir placer une antenne au-dessus de la surface fabriquée, une collection d'antennes sera développée afin de régler la surface haute impédance et dans le même temps de tester le dispositif complet. Ainsi dans un premier temps, nous utiliserons des dipôles pour tester et régler la Surface Haute Impédance. Dans cette partie le couplage entre l'antenne et la surface haute impédance placée en-dessous sera notamment étudié. Dans un deuxième temps, afin d'obtenir une polarisation circulaire nous utiliserons d'autres antennes supportant cette polarisation (dipôle croisé et spirale). Dans chaque phase de mesure, le réglage antenne et Surface Haute Impédance sera optimisé et divers paramètres de réglage seront identifiés. Pour les deux axes de recherche, ce sont non seulement le rayonnement que nous cherchons à maîtriser mais aussi la taille de la structure. Ainsi les structures réalisées sont les plus compactes possibles surtout en terme de finesse. Nous concluons sur les performances des antennes réalisées par rapport au cahier des charges et aux autres antennes existantes et exposons les perspectives du travail réalisé / In this thesis, original solutions are proposed for antennas not sensitive to their environment. These antennas are designed for GNSS applications and more precisely for multi-bands ones. So the solutions are developed keeping in mind the GNSS specifications. Two different research axis are discussed. The first one deals with the natural properties of an antenna composed of different radiating structures. So an helix structure is associated with a metallic plate. The specifications of this antenna are in line with the ones of commercial antennas. Nevertheless, this antenna is only one band and in linear polarization which is not conform to the GNSS specifications. To satisfy these specifications a second axis is developed. In this second axis an electric antenna is associated with a specific reflector : a High Impendance Surface. Theorically, this surface allows to place the antenna very close and so reduce the thickness of the whole structure without disturbing the radiation of the antenna. Firstly, the High Impendance Surface and more precisely its periodic patterns is studied. Both one band and dual-band pattern are designed. The one band pattern has a good bandwidth (13%) compared to its size (2,5mm). The dual-band pattern designed by pattern enclosing realized the GNSS specifications in simulation. This is followed by measures. The aim of the thesis is to place the antenna above the designed HIS so a lot of antennas are designed to test and tune the surface. Firstly dipoles are used to study the coupling effects and secondly circular polarized antenna are used to reach the GNSS specifications. For both axis, the radiation pattern and the size of the whole system is optimized. So the proposed solutions are the thinnest ones. To conclude the characteristics of the proposed structures are compared to specifications and to existing antennas and future work is proposed

[pt] Devido às propriedades de banda larga e polarização circular, as antenas espirais tornaram-se bastante atrativas para diversos serviços de telecomunicações modernos e móveis. Neste trabalho uma antena espiral tipo fenda apoiada em uma cavidade cilíndrica metálica foi analisada. Por causa de sua geometria complexa, optou-se por um método numérico híbrido, realizado através de uma implementação de elementos mistos do método dos elementos finitos - integral de fronteira. Baseado nesta formulação, um programa computacional foi desenvolvido. Um grande esforço foi realizado a fim de escrever o programa de maneira que o armazenamento e as necessidades computacionais fossem mínimos, boa parte conseguida pela aplicação das condições de contorno na superfície metálica. Com o objetivo de melhor explorar a geometria do problema, definiu-se uma malha de elementos finitos onde a parte que cabia a abertura foi dividida em quadriláteros enquanto que no restante da superfície, elementos triangulares foram utilizados. Repetiu-se então esta malha ao longo da altura da cavidade, de maneira que hexaedros e prismas formaram a malha final. Para cada espécie de elemento, funções de base vetoriais específicas foram aplicadas. A fim de verificar a precisão do algoritmo, o mesmo programa computacional foi utilizado na análise de uma antena tipo fenda retangular, também apoiada em uma cavidade cilíndrica metálica. / [en] Known for the properties of broadband and circular polarization, spiral antennas have become sufficiently attractive for services of modern and mobile telecommunications. In this work a cavity-backed slot spiral antenna was analyzed. Because of its complex geometry, it was chosen a hybrid numerical method, carried through an implementation of mixing elements of the finite elements - boundary integral method. Based in this formulation, a computer program was developed. A great effort was carried out in order to write the program thus the computational storage and necessities were minimum, good part obtained by application of the boundary conditions on the metallic surface. With the goal of better exploring the geometry of the problem, a mesh of finite elements was defined where the part that fit the aperture was divided into quadrilaterals, while that in the rest of the surface, triangular elements were used. By repeating this mesh along the height of the cavity, hexahedrals and prisms formed the final mesh. For each kind of element, specific vector base functions were applied. In order to verify the accuracy of the algorithm, the same computational program was used in the analysis of a cavity-backed slot rectangular antenna.

The angle of arrival estimation of multiple sources plays a vital role in the field of array signal processing as MIMO systems can be employed at both the transmitter and the receiver end and the system capacity, reliability and throughput can be significantly increased by using array signal processing. Almost all applications require accurate direction of arrival (DOA) estimation to localize the sources of the signals. Another important parameter of localization systems is the array geometry and sensor design which can be application specific and is used to estimate the DOA. In this work, various array geometries and arrival estimation algorithms are studied and then a new scheme for multiple source estimation is proposed and evaluated based on the performance of subspace and non-subspace decomposition methods. The proposed scheme has shown to outperform the conventional Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC) estimation and Bartlett estimation techniques. The new scheme has a better performance advantage at low and high signal to noise ratio values (SNRs). The research work also studies different array geometries for both single and multiple incident sources and proposes a geometry which is cost effective and efficient for 3, 4, and 5 antenna array elements. This research also considers the shape of the ground plane and its effects on the angle of arrival estimation and in addition it shows how the mutual couplings between the elements effect the overall estimation and how this error can be minimised by using a decoupling matrix. At the end, a novel miniaturised multi element reconfigurable antenna to represent the receiver base station is designed and tested. The antenna radiation patterns in the azimuth angle are almost omni-directional with linear polarisation. The antenna geometry is uniplanar printed logspiral with striplines feeding network and biased components to improve the impedance bandwidth. The antenna provides the benefit of small size, and re-configurability and is very well suited for the asset tracking applications.

The objectives of this research work are to investigate, design and implement circularly-polarized antennas to be used for handheld satellite mobile communication and wireless sensor networks. Several antennas such as Quadrifilar Spiral Antennas (QSAs), two arm Square Spiral and stripline or coaxially-fed microstrip patch antennas are developed and tested. These antennas are investigated and discussed to operate at L band (1.61-1.6214GHz) and ISM band (2.4835-2.5GHz) A substantial size reduction was achieved compared to conventional designs by introducing special modifications to the antenna geometries. Most of the antennas are designed to produce circularly-polarized broadside-beam except for wireless sensor network application a circularly-polarized conical-beam is considered. The polarization purity and Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of two dual-band antennas for satellite-mobile handsets next to the human head are investigated and discussed, using a hybrid computational method. A small distance between the head and the handset is chosen to highlight the effects of the relatively high-radiated power proposed from this particular antenna. A Genetic Algorithm in cooperation with an electromagnetic simulator has been introduced to provide fast, accurate and reliable solutions for antenna design structures. Circularly-polarized quadrifilar helical antenna handset and two air-dielectric microstrip antennas were studied. The capabilities of GA are shown as an efficient optimisation tool for selecting globally optimal parameters to be used in simulations with an electromagnetic antenna design code, seeking convergence to designated specifications. The results in terms of the antenna size and radiation performance are addressed, and compared to measurements and previously published data.

No / A compact-size asymmetrical linearly tapered slot antenna required for portable ultra-wideband (UWB) imaging systems is presented. The total antenna size is reduced compared with the conventional linearly tapered slot antenna by using a triangular slot on the left-hand side of the tapered-shaped radiator, whereas introducing a corrugated pattern of cuts on the right side. The antenna operates over a wide bandwidth extending from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz with a maximum gain of 8.5 dBi. Stable radiation patterns are observed across the operational bandwidth, with cross-polarization levels below 20 dB. The realized antenna structure occupies a volume of 35 x 36 x 0.8 mm3, and possesses the essential time domain fidelity needed for UWB imaging applications. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2013.

The objectives of this research work are to investigate, design and implement circularly-polarized antennas to be used for handheld satellite mobile communication and wireless sensor networks. Several antennas such as Quadrifilar Spiral Antennas (QSAs), two arm Square Spiral and stripline or coaxially-fed microstrip patch antennas are developed and tested. These antennas are investigated and discussed to operate at L band (1.61-1.6214GHz) and ISM band (2.4835-2.5GHz) A substantial size reduction was achieved compared to conventional designs by introducing special modifications to the antenna geometries. Most of the antennas are designed to produce circularly-polarized broadside-beam except for wireless sensor network application a circularly-polarized conical-beam is considered. The polarization purity and Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of two dual-band antennas for satellite-mobile handsets next to the human head are investigated and discussed, using a hybrid computational method. A small distance between the head and the handset is chosen to highlight the effects of the relatively high-radiated power proposed from this particular antenna. A Genetic Algorithm in cooperation with an electromagnetic simulator has been introduced to provide fast, accurate and reliable solutions for antenna design structures. Circularly-polarized quadrifilar helical antenna handset and two air-dielectric microstrip antennas were studied. The capabilities of GA are shown as an efficient optimisation tool for selecting globally optimal parameters to be used in simulations with an electromagnetic antenna design code, seeking convergence to designated specifications. The results in terms of the antenna size and radiation performance are addressed, and compared to measurements and previously published data.

The Archimedean spiral antenna is well-known for its broadband characteristics with circular polarization and has been investigated for several decades. Since their development in the late 1950's, establishing an analytical expression for the characteristics of spiral antenna has remained somewhat elusive. This has been studied qualitatively and evaluated using numerical and experimental techniques with some success, but many of these methods are not convenient in the design process since they do not impart any physical insight into the effect each design parameter has on the overall operation of the spiral antenna. This work examines the operation of spiral antennas and obtains a closed-form analytical solution by conformal mapping and transmission line model with high precision in a wide frequency band. Based on the analysis of spiral antenna, we propose two novel design processes for the stripline-fed Archimedean spiral antenna. This includes a stripline feed network integrated into one of the spiral arms and a broadband tapered impedance transformer that is conformal to the spiral topology for impedance matching the nominally-high input impedance of the spiral. A Dyson-style balun located at the center facilitates the transition between guided stripline and radiating spiral modes. Measured and simulated results for a probe-fed design operating from 2 GHz to over 20 GHz are in excellent agreements to illustrate the synthesis and performance of a demonstration antenna. The research in this work also provides the possibility to achieve conformal integration and planar structural multi-functionality for an Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) with band coverage across HF, UHF, and VHF. The proposed conformal mapping analysis can also be applied on periodic coplanar waveguides for integrated circuit applications.

This thesis describes design and experimental verification of three types of the wideband antenna Bow-tie antenna, Vivaldi antenna and Spiral antenna. The tracked parameters are bandwidth, input impedance, gain and directivity patterns. Next step is design of millimeter-wave horn antennas. Attention is turned to the proper construction of a wideband feeder of the horn. For the final antenna structure, a bow-tie dipole and a Vivaldi antenna were chosen. The antenna construction is aimed to provide a wide bandwidth on one hand and a high gain on the other hand.