Antenna for ultra-wideband communications

Virginia Tech researchers have developed a compact ultra-wideband antenna for a range of home, motor vehicle, medical and military applications.

The antenna has achieved a near optimal performance for size and bandwidth, according to inventor Taeyoung Yang.

Yang, an electrical and computer engineering PhD student with the Wireless@Virginia Tech group, presented the theory and design for making an ultra-wideband antenna as close as possible to the theoretical limit on antenna size and performance at the XXIX General Assembly of the International Union of Radio Science in Chicago.

Ultra-wideband antennas are designed for low-energy, short-range transmission of lots of data.

The antenna has a range of uses including wireless transmission of data from a mobile phone or digital camcorder to a computer and wireless transmission from a DVD to a high-definition television.

There are also complex and critical applications for such technology, said Yang.

Examples are pulsed radar systems to prevent collisions between cars, medical imaging systems to detect tumours and military applications, such as unmanned aircraft.

“To our best knowledge, our invented antenna is the world’s smallest with more than a 10:1 bandwidth. It has more than 95% efficiency for signal transmission, and a fairly constant omnidirectional radiation pattern,” said Yang.

The inventors’ strategy to reduce the size and increase the adaptability of the antenna was to configure it as a structure that can be printed on the inner side of the protective housing, which can be light plastic.

“The required material expense is low, the fabrication process is simple and it is versatile for mounting on curved surfaces,” said Yang.

Co-inventors are electrical and computer engineering professors WA Davis and WL Stutzman.

Yang received the best paper award from Commission B (fields and waves) at the 2008 General Assembly of the International Union of Radio Science. He has received a number of awards for his research and is a 2008 Torgersen Graduate Student Research Excellence Award Recipient at Virginia Tech.