UHF SATCOM broadband CP antenna: moxon type bent-dipoles over a ground plane

In this paper, we investigate and compare two different antenna types for UHF SATCOM applications; proposed Moxon type (bent dipole) and conventional egg beater (loop) antennas in terms of antenna performance and physical size. Bent dipole and egg beater antennas are simulated using HFSS software. Prototype antenna for Moxon type is also fabricated and measured for its return loss using Agilent network analyzer and compared to that of an egg beater antenna. Antenna gains are also simulated. Simulation results show that Moxon type antenna has more impedance bandwidth than egg beater antenna with smaller dimensions and hence can be used for broadband SATCOM applications

Broadband circularly polarized antennas for UHF SATCOM

Novel circularly polarized (CP) antenna configurations derived from Moxon type antenna (bent dipole element over a ground plane) for broadband VHF SATCOM applications. A sequence of topologies starting from a single vertical element to two vertical elements of the Moxon arms, then widened strip arm elements were studied. Further, arms were widened to bow tie structures with bents at 900.for achieving broadband operation. Bow tie elements were further split and optimized at a certain angle to achieve wider bandwidth. The logic in this evolution was to obtain highest possible gain based on Fano-Chu limits, which suggests that higher gain can be achieved in an electrically small antenna with maximized metallization in the structure that fill the volume. Circular polarization is obtained by two Moxon based cross elements that are fed through a hybrid 900 quadrature coupler. For the antennas that are prototyped, return loss S11 measurements were performed, and gains are simulated using HFSS. For the band of 225-400 MHz, antenna gain varies between 8-12 dB, and S11 is measured to be below 10 dB. Fabricated antennas coupled to a hybrid coupler yielded excellent bandwidths, low cross-polarization and low back lobes on the finite ground planes

Broadband circularly polarized moxon based antennae for RFID and GPS

Abstract-Novel circularly polarized (CP) VHF SATCOM antenna which was based on Moxon antenna (bent dipole element over a ground plane) has been extended for RFID and GPS applications. A sequence of topologies starting from a single vertical element to two vertical elements of the Moxon arms, then widened strip arm elements were investigated to understand the effects on impedance match over the widened bandwidth. The logic in this evolution was to obtain maximized gain based on Fano-Chu limits, which suggests that more metallization in the radiating configuration that fill the volume would yield higher gain for electrically small antenna. Extending the width of the strip of the equivalent dipole elements lead to a wider bandwidth and improved cross-polarization ratio. Furthermore, splitting the tapered bow tie elements increased the volume filled with radiating elements leading to improved overall performance. Ultimately extended bends at the tip of the tapered sections parallel to the ground plane helped to improve overall performance. In overall, the antenna presented here produced lower physical height, higher gain, wider bandwidth, better crosspolarization and lower back lobe radiation compared to commercial counterparts such as an eggbeater currently used in SATCOM practice as well as similar antennas in RFID and GPS applications. Here, the concept is extended to cover RFID (850-1050 MHz) and GPS (centered at 1227 and 1575 MHz) bands leading to new applications at a significant cost and size reductions and much improved performance. Prototype antennas were built based on HFSS simulations yielded better than -25 dB return loss. During simulations attention was paid to identify the effects of individual antenna elements as an optimization parameter on the overall input impedance matching over the extended bandwidth. Simulated and measured results yielded higher than industrial counterpart antenna gain, bandwidth and cross-polarization for much reduced physical dimensions

A numerical study of oblique and inverted L wire antennas above stratified ground.

Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra

A novel design method for electromagnetic bandgap based waveguide filters with periodic dielectric loading

An extremely rapid, versatile prototyping methodology is developed for waveguide filters with periodic dielectric loading which enables direct dimensional synthesis of the unit cell starting from given design objectives. A prototype filter has been designed using a low dielectric constant material and built for the purposes of testing the feasibility of the proposed approach. Our numerical results are compared with an independent commercial software package and also with experimental measurements. Simulation results are also presented for a filter loaded high dielectric constant material. In both cases the results are in excellent agreement with the theory and demonstrate the validity and the applicability of the proposed method

Fabry-Perot Diaphragm Fiber Optic Sensor (DFOS) for Acoustic Detection

A diaphragm fiber optic sensor (DFOS) solely based on Fabry-Perot multiple beam interference has been designed and fabricated with micro-electric mechanical system (MEMS) technology. The silicon diaphragm with an embossed center was designed with an interference gap width kept accurately. The DFOS was verified to be a truly and purely Fabry-Perot device via a critical test. Parallel testing with a Piezoelectric (PZT) sensor showed that the DFOS had high sensitivity. The Fabry-Perot DFOS also demonstrated excellent performance in on-line monitoring of Partial Discharge (PD) in power transformers