The research provided in this thesis focuses on the development of the novel additively manufactured antennas using the additive 3-D and material inkjet printing fabrication as well as the conventional subtractive manufacturing by using milling machine for the compact Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable applications. The initial part of the work focuses on the different ways of fabrication of the additively manufactured antenna that includes Finite Deposition Method (FDM) and PolyJet 3-D printing technique for the substrate material fabrication. And the material inkjet printing for the conductive radiating antenna element fabrication. The document discusses the unconventional issue of the surface roughness in the 3-D printed substrates materials. The later part focuses on the designing and testing techniques for the compact electrically small antennas (ESA) for the compact IoT applications.

In the indoor environment, multipath fading causes the received signal amplitude to fluctuate rapidly over space and frequency. Multiple-in multiple-out (MIMO) systems overcome this phenomenon through the use of multiple antennas on transmitters and receivers. This establishes multiple independent MIMO sub-channels between antenna pairs, which allows a theoretical increase in capacity which is linear with the number of antennas, while requiring no additional power or bandwidth expenditure. The capacity increase is reliant upon MIMO sub-channels being well decorrelated. Decorrelation may be achieved by separating antennas in space. On devices where space is limited, an alternative approach is to use antennas with orthogonal polarisations, which may be positioned closer together. Existing literature states that the performance of polarisation MIMO systems is typically inferior to that of spatial MIMO systems under diversity applications, but can be superior in multiplexing applications. These statements are based on the analysis of a statistical channel model, using channel conditions assumed to be typical of an ideal polarisation MIMO system. There is little existing literature which examines how close these assumptions are to a practical polarisation MIMO channel, or whether the above statements remain true of practical systems. This thesis presents a novel end-to-end, predominantly deterministic approach to the modelling of polarisation MIMO systems. A bespoke MIMO channel model is used to estimate capacity and error rate under diversity and spatial multiplexing applications in the indoor environment. The parameters of the channel model are obtained deterministically from a ray launching propagation model, using antenna patterns of orthogonally polarised small antenna systems positioned in the indoor environment. The individual differences in the channel gains and K-factors of each sub-channel are accounted for. Correlation is accounted for using a full correlation matrix, rather than the Kronecker model. Particular attention is paid to mutual coupling of closely spaced antennas. Using this analysis, it is shown that for practical antennas and systems conditions of the polarisation MIMO channel may differ from those assumed in literature. The effect of this in terms of channel capacity and system bit error rate is directly determined and presented. Performance of polarisation MIMO systems, using co-located and spatially separate orthogonally polarised antennas, is compared to that of spatial MIMO systems, which use co-polar antennas with limited spatial separation. Additionally, comparison is made between compact polarisation MIMO systems which use orthogonal linear polarised antennas and those using orthogonal circular polarised antennas. Further analysis examines the significant effect of objects in the antenna near-field regions. The effects of the presence of a metal case on antenna performance are presented, before its impact on the channel conditions and ultimately the resultant MIMO performance is shown.

Recent technologies enable wireless communication devices to become physically smaller in size. Antenna size is obviously a major factor that limits miniaturization. In the past few years, new designs of low-profile antennas for handheld wireless devices have been developed. The major drawback of many low-profile antenna designs is their narrow impedance bandwidth. Furthermore, the market trend of personal wireless devices is moving toward a universal system that can be used anywhere and rapid expansion of the wireless communication industry has created a need for connectivity among various wireless devices using short-range wireless links in the Bluetooth operating band to get rid of the cable connections. This requires therefore multiple frequency band operation. In summary, physically small size, wide bandwidth, and high efficiency are the desired characteristics of antennas in mobile systems. This dissertation presents a comprehensive analysis of a new wide-bandwidth compact antenna, called WC J-pole antenna, covering 50 % impedance fractional bandwidth. A set of guidelines is also provided for a bandwidth-optimized design at any frequency. A few design variations of the proposed antenna are also presented for existing commercial wireless applications. Efficiency is perhaps the most important characteristic of small antennas for mobile systems. An extension of the Wheeler cap method to moderate-length and wideband antennas is developed to measure quickly efficiency. The dissertation also provides a review of human operator interaction with handset antennas. Since the proposed antenna is intended to be used in the proximity of human body and in a casing, coupling effects of human body and casing on the antenna characteristics and radio frequency (RF) energy absorption into the human body are investigated. / Ph. D.

The objective of this research is to realize compact and reconfigurable antennas for next generation Ultra Wide Band (UWB) and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) applications. The contributions of this research are, a methodology for designing compact UWB antennas, a compact WLAN prototype antenna with reconfigurable characteristics in both radiation pattern and frequency of operation, and compact UWB antennas with reconfigurable WLAN band rejection characteristics. For the completion of this dissertation, five research projects have been studied. First, a double exponentially tapered slot antenna with conformal shape, high gain, and consistent radiation patterns is implemented. The radiation pattern consistency results in minimum distortion for any transmitted pulse. The second and third projects involve an elliptical slot with a tuning uneven U-shaped stub and two cactus-shaped monopoles. The elliptical slot demonstrates omni-directional radiation patterns and compact size. As an improved iteration of the elliptical slot antenna, two cactus-shaped monopoles are implemented. The two prototypes occupy only 60% and 40%, respectively, of the area that the original elliptical slot occupies resulting in a significant size reduction, while maintaining omni-directional radiation patterns. Through the cactus-shaped monopoles some general design methodologies for UWB antennas are introduced and successfully applied. The fourth research topic introduced, concerns the study of compact elliptical UWB monopoles. Several prototypes of different geometrical characteristics were designed and tested. Broadband matching techniques and the integration of reconfigurable features on the elliptical radiator are investigated. For the reconfigurable UWB antenna, resonating elements are used to create a rejection band in the frequency range that is occupied by WLAN applications. The performance of several of the introduced slot and monopole antennas are tested when the antennas under detection are mounted and operate on non-planar surfaces. Finally, a reconfigurable annular slot antenna operating at the wireless local area network (WLAN) band is implemented. The proposed antenna demonstrates reconfigurable characteristics in both radiation pattern and return loss. All of the UWB antennas are fabricated on liquid crystal polymer (LCP) and can be easily integrated with active components on the same module using system on package (SoP) technology.

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

Ultra wideband (UWB) technology plays a significant role in wireless communication. The complex antenna transfer function (CATF) of an UWB antenna provides important information required for better channel designs and communication systems. In this dissertation the CATF of a Double ridge guide horn (DRGH) antenna is determined and used as a standard antenna for UWB measurements. Two methods were used: the two antenna method in an anechoic chamber and a modified gain-transfer method in a compact antenna test range (CATR). Measurements were performed with a vector network analyser (VNA) in the frequency domain, in the anechoic chamber and the CATR. The distance measurements required to calculate the CATF from the S-parameter measurements were performed in the time domain. The CATF of the standard antenna was determined using two identical antennas and then it was shown that a modified gain-transfer method can be used to determine the CATF of any unknown antenna in a CATR, using the standard antenna as a reference. Some of the challenges were to obtain the correct equations and measurement method to obtain the CATF in a CATR. The standard antenna was used to investigate uncertainty contributions for the measurements in the CATR. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

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.

<p>This thesis presents a study on built-in type low profile and low volume mobile phone antennas. In a coupling element based antenna, the chassis is the main radiator and the antenna elements are the exciters for the wave modes at low frequency. The main work of this thesis is to demonstrate and investigate the performance of the coupling element based antenna and study a variety of cases with different physical lengths and different physical heights. The investigation is done by using simulators. The performance is evaluated by analyzing the impedance bandwidth and the efficiency. For the study, antenna prototypes integrating miniaturized matching circuits were modeled. Two antenna structure prototypes covering five frequency bands were manufactured and measured. The Measured results are presented and compared with simulations. Finally, the performance of the coupling element based antenna is compared with planar inverter-F antenna (PIFA) and discussed.</p>

This thesis presents a study on built-in type low profile and low volume mobile phone antennas. In a coupling element based antenna, the chassis is the main radiator and the antenna elements are the exciters for the wave modes at low frequency. The main work of this thesis is to demonstrate and investigate the performance of the coupling element based antenna and study a variety of cases with different physical lengths and different physical heights. The investigation is done by using simulators. The performance is evaluated by analyzing the impedance bandwidth and the efficiency. For the study, antenna prototypes integrating miniaturized matching circuits were modeled. Two antenna structure prototypes covering five frequency bands were manufactured and measured. The Measured results are presented and compared with simulations. Finally, the performance of the coupling element based antenna is compared with planar inverter-F antenna (PIFA) and discussed.

Today, owners of small communicating device are interested in transmitting or receiving various multimedia data. By increasing the number of antennas at the transmitter and/or the receiver side of the wireless link, the diversity/Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) techniques can increase wireless channel capacity without the need for additional power or spectrum in rich scattering environments. However, due to the limited space of small mobile devices, the correlation coefficients between MIMO antenna elements are very high and the total efficiencies of MIMO elements degrade severely. Furthermore, the human body causes high losses on electromagnetic wave. During the applications, the presence of users may result in the significant reduction of the antenna total efficiencies and highly affects the correlations of MIMO antenna systems. The aims of this thesis are to investigate and enhance the MIMO/diversity performance of multiple antenna systems in the free space and the presence of users. The background and theory of multiple antenna systems are introduced briefly first. Several figures of merits are provided and discussed to evaluate the multiple antenna systems. The decoupling techniques are investigated in the multiple antenna systems operating at the higher frequencies (above 1.7 GHz) and with high radiation efficiency. The single, dual and wide band isolation enhancements are realized through the half-wavelength decoupling slot, quarter-wavelength decoupling slot with T-shaped impedance transformer, tree-like parasitic element with multiple resonances, as well as the different polarizations and radiation patterns of multiple antennas. In the lower bands (lower than 960 MHz), due to the low radiation efficiency and strong chassis mode, the work mainly focused on how to directly reduce the correlations and enlarge the total efficiency. A new mode of mutual scattering mode is introduced. By increasing the Q factors, the radiation patterns of multiple antennas are separated automatically to reduce the correlations. With the inter-element distance larger than a certain distance, a higher Q factor also improved the total efficiency apart from the low correlation. A wideband LTE MIMO antenna with multiple resonances is proposed in mobile terminals. The high Q factors required for the low correlation and high efficiencies in mutual scattering mode is reduced with another mode of diagonal antenna-chassis mode. Hence, the bandwidth of wideband LTE MIMO antenna with multiple resonances mentioned above can be further enlarged while maintaining the good MIMO/diversity performance. The user effects are studied in different MIMO antenna types, chassis lengths, frequencies, port phases and operating modes. Utilizing these usefully information, an adaptive quad-element MAS has been proposed to reduce the user effects and the some geranial rules not limited to the designed MAS have also been given. / <p>QC 20130121</p> / EU Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window TANDEM