Ultra Wideband Signals and Systems in Communication Engineering

The field of flexible antennas is witnessing an exponential growth due to the demand for wearable devices, Internet of Things (IoT) framework, point of care devices, personalized medicine platform, 5G technology, wireless sensor networks, and communication devices with a smaller form factor to name a few. The choice of non-rigid antennas is application specific and depends on the type of substrate, materials used, processing techniques, antenna performance, and the surrounding environment. There are numerous design innovations, new materials and material properties, intriguing fabrication methods, and niche applications. This review article focuses on the need for flexible antennas, materials, and processes used for fabricating the antennas, various material properties influencing antenna performance, and specific biomedical applications accompanied by the design considerations. After a comprehensive treatment of the above-mentioned topics, the article will focus on inherent challenges and future prospects of flexible antennas. Finally, an insight into the application of flexible antenna on future wireless solutions is discussed.

Flexible Antennas: A Review.

In this paper, we have presented the simulation results of a rectangular microstrip patch antenna at terahertz (THz) frequency ranging from 0.7 to 0.85 THz. THz electromagnetic wave can permit more densely packed communication links with increased security of communication transmission. The simulated results such as gain, radiation efficiency and 10 dB impedance bandwidth of rectangular microstrip patch antenna at THz frequencies without shorting post configuration are 3.497 dB, 55.71% and 17.76%, respectively, whereas with shorting post configuration, corresponding parameters are 3.502 dB, 55.88% and 17.27%. The simulation has been performed by using CST Microwave Studio, which is a commercially available electromagnetic simulator based on the method of finite difference time domain technique.

Rectangular Microstirp Patch Antenna Design at THz Frequency for Short Distance Wireless Communication Systems

The demand for wearable technologies has grown tremendously in recent years. Wearable antennas are used for various applications, in many cases within the context of wireless body area networks (WBAN). In WBAN, the presence of the human body poses a significant challenge to the wearable antennas. Specifically, such requirements are required to be considered on a priority basis in the wearable antennas, such as structural deformation, precision, and accuracy in fabrication methods and their size. Various researchers are active in this field and, accordingly, some significant progress has been achieved recently. This article attempts to critically review the wearable antennas especially in light of new materials and fabrication methods, and novel designs, such as miniaturized button antennas and miniaturized single and multi-band antennas, and their unique smart applications in WBAN. Finally, the conclusion has been drawn with respect to some future directions.

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/11/10/888/pdf

Recent Advances of Wearable Antennas in Materials, Fabrication Methods, Designs, and Their Applications: State-of-the-Art

Wearable antennas have received a great deal of popularity in recent years owing to their enticing characteristics and opportunities to realize lightweight, compact, low-cost, and versatile wireless communications and environments. These antennas must be conformal, and they must be built using lightweight materials and constructed in a low-profile configuration when mounted on various areas of the human body. These antennas ought to be able to function close to the human body with limited deterioration. These criteria render the layout of wearable antennas demanding, particularly when considering factors such as investigating the usability of textile substrates, high conductive materials during fabrication processes, and the effect of body binding scenarios on the performance of the design. Although there are minor differences in magnitude based on the implementations, several of these problems occur in the body-worn deployment sense. This study addresses the numerous problems and obstacles in the production of wearable antennas, their variety of materials, and the techniques of manufacturing alongside with bending scheme. This is accompanied by a summary of creative features and their respective approaches to address these problems recently raised by work in this area by the science community. Â© 2020. All Rights Reserved.

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Recent Advances in Wearable Antenna Technologies: A Review

A review paper concerning wide-band and ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas used for wireless communication purposes in terms of the materials as well as a numerical analysis is presented. These antennas which are taken into account are listed as wide-band microstrip antenna, wide-band monopole antenna over a plate, wide-slot UWB antenna, stacked patch UWB antenna, taper slot (TSA) UWB antenna, metamaterial (MTM) structure UWB antennas, elliptical printed monopole UWB antenna, and flexible wearable UWB antenna. The antennas’ performance is compared based on their size and how they can be applicable for portable communication device applications. This review paper furnishes a proper direction to select varieties of figures in terms of impedance bandwidth, gain, directivity, dimensions, time domain characteristics, and materials affecting these antenna’s characteristics.

/pdf/ultra-wideband-antennas-for-wireless-communication-ce0j6biyt7.pdf

Ultra-Wideband Antennas for Wireless Communication Applications

This paper presents a metamaterial-based flexible wearable ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna for breast imaging and wireless body area network (WBAN) applications. The wearable antenna is required to be a planar and low-profile structure using flexible materials. The proposed antenna comprises two layers of denim (10 × 10 mm2) and felt (10 × 15 mm2). The antenna was integrated with six metamaterial unit cells using a modified grain rice shape within a split ring resonator to enhance the bandwidth, gain, and directivity and reduce the specific absorption rate value to less than 2 W/kg. The proposed antenna operates within a broad bandwidth range (6.5 GHz–35 GHz) with the maximum gain and directivity of 8.85 dBi and 10 dBi, respectively, and a radiation efficiency of more than 70% over its operating frequency band. The results verified good agreement between the simulation and measurement of the proposed technique in detecting an existing tumor with a diameter of 4 mm from any location inside the breast. The results convincingly proved the capability of the proposed wearable UWB antenna system for both WBAN and breast imaging applications.

/pdf/metamaterial-based-wearable-flexible-elliptical-uwb-antenna-48zab6dpmg.pdf

Metamaterial-based wearable flexible elliptical UWB antenna for WBAN and breast imaging applications

This article presents the design of a droplet shape ultra-wide band antenna for imaging of wood. The proposed antenna is designed on PTFE substrate with a dielectric constant of 2.55, loss tangent of 0.001- and 2.4-mm thickness. The antenna is loaded by a stub to resonate at lower band frequency, strip loading at the back, and a chamfered ground to increase the bandwidth. Despite having miniaturized dimensions of 15 mm × 15 mm, it shows better results compared to recent studies. The simulation results depict a good ultra-wide bandwidth from 3.26 GHz to 20 GHz, and 21.5–25 GHz; Besides, the proposed antenna has two bands at 1.25–1.35 GHz and 1.7–1.81 GHz. In addition to that, the antenna achieved a maximum gain of 5.69 dB and directivity of 7.3 dBi. The measurement results of S-parameters transmitted and received signals performed in air, plywood, and high-density wood show a good agreement with the simulated results. In addition, the measured results illustrate a good isolation and uniform illumination among arrays as well as the received signals’ shapes do not change in different environments, but only the amplitude. Hence, the proposed antenna seems to be adequate for microwave imaging of wood.

Near-field and far-field investigation of miniaturized UWB antenna for imaging of wood

This paper presents the design of an elliptical shape ultra-wide band antenna for imaging of wood. The antenna is constructed comprising an elliptical shape of patch loaded by a stub to resonate at lower bands, strip loading at the back, and chamfered ground. Despite having miniaturized dimensions of 20 mm × 20 mm, the proposed antenna shows better results compared to recent studies. The simulation results depict a good ultra-wide bandwidth from 2.68 to 16 GHz, and 18.2–20 GHz. Besides, the proposed antenna has two low-frequency bands at 0.89–0.92 and 1.52–1.62 GHz, maximum gain of 5.48 dB, and maximum directivity of 6.9 dBi. The measurement outcomes are performed in air, plywood, and high-density wood and show a good agreement with the simulated results done using electromagnetic simulator CST. In addition to that, the measurement results of S-parameters, transmitted and received signals show a good agreement with the simulated results. Besides, the measured results illustrate a good isolation and uniform illumination among arrays as well as the received signals' shapes do not change in different environments, but only the amplitude. Hence, the proposed antenna seems to be adequate for microwave imaging of wood.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/BA6E4576583B5D57BCC158D760610C71/S1759078719000588a.pdf/div-class-title-ultra-wideband-elliptical-patch-antenna-for-microwave-imaging-of-wood-div.pdf

Ultra-wideband elliptical patch antenna for microwave imaging of wood

The increasing needs of free licensed frequency bands like Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and 5G for underwater communications required more bandwidth (BW) with higher data transferring rate. Microwaves produce a higher transferring rate of data, and their associated devices are smaller in comparison with sonar and ultrasonic. Thus, transceivers should have broad BW to cover more of a frequency band, especially from ultra-wideband (UWB) systems, which show potential outcomes. However, previous designs of similar work for underwater communications were very complicated, uneasy to fabricate, and large. Therefore, to overcome these shortcomings, a novel compact elliptical UWB antenna is designed to resonate from 1.3 to 7.2 GHz. It is invented from a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) layer with a dielectric constant of 2.55 mm and a thickness of 0.8 mm. The proposed antenna shows higher gain and radiation efficiency and stability throughout the working band when compared to recent similarly reported designs, even at a smaller size. The characteristics of the functioning antenna are investigated through fluid mediums of fresh-water, seawater, distilled water, and Debye model water. Later, its channel capacity, bit rate error, and data rate are evaluated. The results demonstrated that the antenna offers compact, easier fabrication with better UWB characteristics for underwater 5G communications.

Adam R. H. Alhawari

Papers

Ultra-Wideband Antennas for Wireless Communication Applications

Metamaterial-based wearable flexible elliptical UWB antenna for WBAN and breast imaging applications

Near-field and far-field investigation of miniaturized UWB antenna for imaging of wood

Ultra-wideband elliptical patch antenna for microwave imaging of wood

Compact Elliptical UWB Antenna for Underwater Wireless Communications