Thesis (Ph.D.)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Manos M. Tentzeris; Committee Co-Chair: John Papapolymerou; Committee Member: Andrew F. Peterson; Committee Member: Chang-Ho Lee; Committee Member: John D. Cressler; Committee Member: Joy Laskar.

The continual increase of wireless technologies in the world has motivated the use of phased arrays to mitigate radio frequency interference (RFI). There are many methods of performing beamforming for RFI rejection, but they are traditionally physically large and complicated solutions. Phased arrays need to be shrunk and made cheaper for them to see widespread use. This work presents several compact phased array receivers for different applications. The first part of this thesis presents a software GPS processor for a digital beamforming GPS receiver. The receiver is small enough to be flown on drones and enables GPS signals to be processed and a user’s position to be determined. Using digital beamforming, it can operate even under poor conditions such as intentional jamming, RFI, and large multipath effects. Next, this work builds a frontend RF chain for a true time delay phased array receiver. The receiver uses analog true delay delay chips to mitigate radio frequency interference in sensitive instruments. True time delay allows for analog beamforming over a wide bandwidth, but compact true time delay solutions are new and untested. The receiver allows these solutions to be properly vetted in a full system. The chain uses novel compact wideband antennas for L-band frequencies and traditional low cost amplifiers and filters. The last section of this thesis updates the open-source CASPER project to fully support RF system-on-chips. CASPER is an open-source framework for radio astronomy instruments. It speeds up the design and implementation of radio astronomy instruments on compact platforms and makes them easier to interact with. This work expands the framework to use the transmit abilities of advanced RF system-on-chip platforms. With this expansion, full duplex systems such as communications and radar can now also use CASPER. A full loopback beamforming test built on CASPER demonstrates both transmit and receive beamforming.

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In recent years, the demand for compact handheld communication devices has grown significantly. Devices having internal antennas have appeared to fill this need. Antenna size is a major factor that limits device miniaturization. In the past few years, new designs based on the microstrip antennas (MSA) and planar inverted-F antennas have been used for handheld wireless devices because these antennas have low-profile geometry and can be embedded into the devices. New wireless applications requiring operation in more than one frequency band are emerging. Dual-band and tri-band phones have gained popularity because of the multiple frequency bands used for wireless applications. One prominent application is to include bluetooth, operating band at 2.4 GHz, for short-range wireless use. This thesis examines two antennas that are potential candidates for small and low-profile structures: microstrip antennas and planar inverted-F antennas. Two techniques for widening the antenna impedance bandwidth are examined by adding parasitic elements. Reducing antenna size generally degrades antenna performance. It is therefore important to also examine the fundamental limits and parameter tradeoffs involved in size reduction. In the handheld environment, antennas are mounted on a small ground plane. Ground plane size effects on antennas are investigated and the results from a thorough numerical study on the performance of a PIFA with various ground planes sizes and shapes is reported. Finally, a new wideband compact PIFA antenna (WC-PIFA) is proposed. Preliminary work is presented along with numerical and experimental results for various environments such as free space, plastic casing, and the proximity of a hand. This new antenna covers frequencies from 1700 MHz to 2500 MHz, which basically include the following operating bands: DCS-1800m PCS-1900, IMT-2000, ISM, and Bluetooth. / Master of Science

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.

L'évolution rapide dans les systèmes de communication sans fil nécessite plus de miniaturisation de divers composants électroniques en plus de l'élément majeur de la technologie sans fil : l'antenne. Dans ce cas, une antenne occupant un espace limité devrait être miniaturisée pour fonctionner aux bandes de communication souhaitées. Cependant, à mesure que la taille électrique de l'antenne diminue, ses performances se dégradent considérablement et sa bande passante, son efficacité et sa directivité sont limitées. Les techniques classiques de réduction de la taille avec chargement de matériau et mise en forme géométrique de l'antenne souffrent d'une bande passante étroite et d'une faible efficacité de rayonnement. D'autre part, les tentatives d'augmenter la directivité des petites antennes en utilisant des réseaux superdirectifs sont également associées à une faible efficacité de rayonnement bande passante très étroite. Pour pallier ces inconvénients, nous proposons de booster les performances des antennes compactes en utilisant des charges réactives embarquées. En plaçant correctement les charges (actives ou passives) à l'intérieur de l'antenne, il est possible de contrôler les courants pour améliorer de manière significative les performances de l'antenne en termes de bande passante et de directivité. Cependant, pour un succès des critères de chargement, il est obligatoire d'analyser les modes naturellement supportés par l'antenne étudiée. On les appelle les modes caractéristiques, qui fournissent des aperçus physiques profonds sur le comportement de l'antenne et ses modes de rayonnement. En combinant cette théorie avec l'algorithme d'optimisation, il devient possible de manipuler de manière optimale les courants à l'intérieur de l'antenne en utilisant des charges réactives pour obtenir des conceptions large bande, superdirectives et efficaces. / The rapid evolution in the wireless communication systems requires more miniaturization of various electronic components in addition to the major element of the wireless technology: the antenna. In this case, an antenna occupying a limited space should be miniaturized in order to operate at the desired communication bands. However, as the electrical size of the antenna decreases, its performance degrades dramatically and it becomes limited in bandwidth, efficiency, and directivity. Classical size reduction techniques with material loading and geometry shaping of the antenna suffer from narrow bandwidth and low radiation efficiency. On the other hand, attempts to increase the directivity of small antennas using superdirective arrays are also associated with low radiation efficiency and very narrow bandwidth. To overcome these drawbacks, we propose boosting the performance of compact antennas using embedded reactive loads. By properly placing loads (active or passive) inside the antenna, it is possible to control the currents to significantly enhance the antenna performance in terms of bandwidth and directivity. Yet, for a successful loading criteria, it is mandatory to analyze the modes that are naturally supported by the antenna under study. These are called the characteristic modes, which provide deep physical insights about the behaviour of the antenna and its radiating modes. By combining this theory with and optimization algorithm, it becomes possible to optimally manipulate the currents inside the antenna using reactive loads to achieve wideband, superdirective and efficient designs.

For laptop computers, the conventional internal antennas are usually used to operate in the WLAN system only, which can not provide sufficient and seamless services for wireless users. In order to overcome this problem, we propose some internal antennas having dual-/multi-network operation capability in this dissertation. Firstly, we present a combo antenna, which combines two shorted monopole antennas for operating in the WWAN/WLAN dual-network system. Secondly, we introduce a shorted monopole antenna through adding a parasitic element to enhance the impedance bandwidth for operating in the WLAN/WiMAX dual-network system. Thirdly, for achieving the compact-size antenna, we present a composite antenna which is composed of a ceramic chip and a printed radiating portion. Fourthly, we introduce a wideband shorted monopole antenna which can provide a wide bandwidth to cover the WPAN, WLAN, and WiMAX operations, and apply it to the MIMO system. Finally, we propose a coupling-type monopole antenna having multi-network operation capability and a compact size, which is about the smallest antenna for wideband operation in the laptop computer so far.

Wideband and dual band stacked microstrip patch antennas are investigated for the new wideband and dual band applications in the area of telecommunications. In this thesis, aperture-coupled stacked patch antennas are used to increase the bandwidth of the microstrip patch antenna. By this technique, antennas with 51% bandwidth at 6.1 GHz and 43% bandwidth at 8 GHz satisfying S11&lt / -15 dB are designed, manufactured and measured. A dual-band aperture coupled stacked microstrip patch antenna operating at 1.8 GHz with 3.8% bandwidth and at 2.4 GHz with 1.6% bandwidth is designed, produced and measured for mobile phone and WLAN applications. In addition, an aperture coupled stacked microstrip patch antenna which operates at PCS frequencies in 1.7-1.95 GHz band is designed. Dual and circularly polarized stacked aperture coupled microstrip patch antennas are also investigated. A triple band dual polarized aperture coupled stacked microstrip patch antenna is designed to operate at 900 MHz, at 1.21 GHZ and at 2.15 GHz. Mutual coupling between aperture coupled stacked microstrip patch antennas are examined and compared with the coupling of aperture coupled microstrip patch antennas