Antennas and Front-End in GNSS

Antenna and front-end play a key role in global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers where multi-frequency and multi-constellation services are used simultaneously to produce high-precision position, navigation, and timing information. Being the first element on the receiver system, specifications on the antenna for multi-constellation GNSS applications can be challenging. Especially, integration of the antenna into the target platform, either mobile or stationary, may severely affect antenna performance. This is usually an issue for small-size antennas where measured stand-alone antenna performance in ideal conditions is usually not descriptive of actual performance on the platform. Furthermore, carrier phase tracking has become popular among algorithm developers to obtain high accuracy and anti-spoofing at the same time which demand minimal phase centre variation of the antenna within the intended GNSS band. Spoofing and jamming of GNSS receivers is a growing concern especially for aerial vehicles with ever-increasing applications of drones. These requirements demand different characteristics on the antenna and front-end than traditional applications. One of the most utilized forms of GNSS antenna is ceramic patch, due to its low height, low cost, and relatively good narrow band performance. Simulations of this particular antenna in terms of axial ratio and impedance bandwidths, axial ratio variation over elevation, and half-power beam width are carried out and discussed with comparison to its counterparts. Another critical part of the receiver is its front-end where huge amount of signal amplification with minimal distortion takes place. Long integration times (>1 ms) in GNSS signal processing also puts severe requirements on the software and temperature-compensated crystal oscillator. For mass production, the front-end should be implemented in the form of an integrated circuit. Front-end architectures from traditional superheterodyne to zero/low-intermediate frequency configurations are presented. Advantages and disadvantages of each configuration are outlined in view of multi-band and multi-standard GNSS receivers

Design of a Ku Band Planner Receive Array for DBS Reception Systems

The main objective of this chapter is to present to the readers a step‐by‐step design approach when designing antenna array. Subsequently, the chapter will proceed following an example design of a passive Ku band planner receive array antenna for direct broadcast from satellite (DBS) reception for mobile systems. First, an appropriate antenna topology capable of reaching our target goals will be selected and optimized to be the base array element. During the design process of the base element, some figures‐of‐merit will be proposed in order to make a comparative study with the designed antenna and previously published antenna structures. Subarrays of microstrip line feed antennas will be combined by waveguides in order to build a low‐loss feed network for the array antenna. The main question during the design of the feed network is: “How should one form the subarrays and their accompanying waveguide feed networks?” These sections will answer this question by formulating the subarray and array feed network loss as an optimization problem with constraints on the size and the weight of the array. In the concluding sections, measurements on realized antennas will show that the design exhibits a 16.5% relative bandwidth, covering the complete downlink band, and the designed antennas have a 28.4–31.3 dBi gain for both vertical and horizontal polarizations. Results of some field tests will be given and conclusions will be made in the final section

Glass Superstrate Nanoantennas for Infrared Energy Harvesting Applications

Several nanoantennas for infrared energy harvesting applications at 30 THz are studied. Contrary to usual antenna designs, we implemented glass superstrate as opposed to glass substrate for better antenna performance. We defined a figure of merit (FOM) which includes antenna fractional bandwidth, peak gain, and half-power beamwidth of the antenna under consideration. Three different antenna structures with glass superstrate and one of them with glass substrate are studied in detail. According to our FOM definition, the Archimedean balanced spiral antenna exhibited superior performance among other structures with less sensitivity to the incoming polarization of the electromagnetic wave

Resonance Fluorescence of Fused Silica by the Depopulation of the Ground State

Spectroscopically pure fused silica has been used in many applications ranging from optoelectronics and optical fibers to laser flash spectroscopy. Although ultraviolet light irradiated optical absorption spectra and coherence fluorescence of silicon dioxide have been studied in the past, we present discrete absorption and resonance coherent fluorescence line of silicon dioxide which were recorded photographically at 288.2 nm. This discrete fluorescence is observed at room temperature using high photon flux (1024 photon/pulse) excitation spectroscopy

Detection of Ammonia in Liquids Using Millimeter Wave Spectroscopy

Detection of ammonia plays a vital role for counter-bioterrorism applications. Using millimeter wave absorption measurements, ammonia dissolved in water solution is analyzed and compared to water-only solution. The inversion of ammonia molecule results in split rotational spectral lines and transitions of these lines can be detected. Two-port measurements were carried out with vector network analyzer and measurements revealed that ammonia presence can be identified, especially between 30–35 GHz

Thin Films Prepared from Nanometer Size TiO 2

Absorption of average 10 nm size TiO2 nanoparticles deposited on glass surfaces as a thin film using convective assembly technique and drop-casting is studied in the millimeter wave range from 26 GHz to 40 GHz. The millimeter wave responses of the fabricated samples were obtained using a vector network analyzer. Reflection properties of the prepared samples were also measured. Absorption and reflection of TiO2 nanoparticles were more pronounced between 35 GHz and 40 GHz compared to glass-only sample

Absorption and Fluorescence Spectroscopy of 1,2 : 3,4-Dibenzanthracene

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compound, 1,2 : 3,4-dibenzanthracene, is spectroscopically analyzed in ethanol. Ultraviolet absorption spectra were taken and fluorescence measurements were performed. From absorption and emission spectra, Stokes' lines were clearly discernible and these shifts were recorded. Being a carcinogenic compound, the detection of 1,2 : 3,4-dibenzanthracene presence in the environment as a pollutant with adverse genotoxic effects is vital

Optical Energy Transfer Mechanisms: From Naphthalene to Biacetyl in Liquids and from Pyrazine to Biacetyl

Optical energy transfer from naphthalene to biacetyl in liquids at room temperature is studied. Electronically excited naphthalene with 200–260 nm ultraviolet (UV) light emits photons in its emission band and the emitted photons are absorbed by biacetyl, which, in turn, excites biacetyl phosphorescence. The resulting phosphorescence is very stable with emission peak at 545 nm for different excitation wavelengths from 200 to 260 nm. Similar optical energy transfer is also observed from pyrazine to biacetyl. The sensitization of biacetyl by several aromatic donors has been investigated in detail. An aromatic donor, pyrazine, is raised to its first excited singlet state by absorption of ultraviolet radiation. Excitation wavelengths were selected in the first - band of pyrazine. Intersystem crossing in pyrazine is sufficiently fast to give a triplet yield of almost unity as determined by the biacetyl method. The optical excess energy in the biacetyl will be released as light, which is sensitized fluorescence. Biacetyl is the simplest molecule among a wide range of -dicarbonyl compounds, which is important for photophysics and photochemistry applications