Direct Antenna Modulation: A Novel Pathway in Developing High Efficiency Bandwidth Electrically Small Antennas
Speaker: Jean Paul (JP) Santos
Affiliation: Ph.D. Candidate
Via Zoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/97093553429?pwd=bTFzL09GYVhCbU5NbXQyZktvcEtrdz09
Abstract: The increasing need to improve bandwidth and efficiency in antennas is a continuous topic of research in RF systems. However, when it comes to physical platforms that are electrically small relative to the desired frequency of operation, balancing miniaturization, bandwidth, and efficiency is both challenging and often counterintuitive. To overcome these challenges, our work proposes utilizing a Direct Antenna Modulated (DAM) electrically small antenna (ESA). Here, we propose using efficiency-bandwidth product in theoretically analyzing and in measuring the improvement of DAM over a conventional capacitively loaded loop antenna (CLLA). To quantify the benefits of DAM, a prototyped antenna with DAM (0.0275λ x 0.0251λ) was designed and successfully transmits a Binary-Frequency Shift Keying (BFSK) signal centered at 75 MHz. Though transistor parasitics reduce the possible efficiency-bandwidth product improvement, β, of DAM, measurements show the key importance of maintaining proper switching synchronization to achieve system bandwidths beyond the antenna’s impedance bandwidth. The DAM system achieves significant measured efficiency-bandwidth product improvement, β, up to 5 over bit rates of 700 kbps to 7 Mbps.
Moreover, we also investigate the power handling of DAM, through theoretical and circuit analysis, verified through far-field measurements. We discover that because of the topology proposed within the work, our BFSK DAM system allows power transmit levels of up to 40 dBm. And finally, to improve the spectral efficiency of DAM, another prototyped antenna, 0.018λ x 0.02λ, was designed to transmit a 4FSK signal. The results show that such a topology provides a roadmap in attaining even higher modulation orders, thus, higher spectral efficiency.
Biography: Jean Paul (JP) Santos earned a B.S. (summa cum laude) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Utah in 2013 and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA in 2015. His research includes time-varying electromagnetics, electrically small antennas, wireless communications, and radar. During his time at UCLA, he was awarded the Eugene Cota V. Robles Fellowship, Tau Beta Pi Lynnworth Fellowship, as well as the prestigious Science for Mathematics and Research for Transformation Fellowship (SMART) from the U.S. Department of Defense. He was also the inaugural champion of the 2015 UCLA Graduate School Grad Slam Masters and Doctoral Research Showcase, the recipient of the Distinguished Masters Thesis Award in Physical and Wave Electronics as well as the UCLA Edward K. Rice Outstanding Master’s Student. In 2015, he was a student paper competition finalist in the 2015 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Conference for his research in antenna arrays for Direct-to-Earth communications in Mars rovers. JP is also an RF engineer for the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) in Point Mugu, CA while also currently serving as the UCLA Graduate Student Association (GSA) President advocating on behalf of UCLA’s 13,000+ graduate and professional student body’s needs. JP is also an adjunct professor in the Physical Sciences Department in Santa Monica College.
For more information, contact Prof. Yuanxun Ethan Wang (ywang@ee.ucla.edu)
Date/Time:
Date(s) - Mar 17, 2021
8:00 am - 10:00 am
Location:
Via Zoom Only
No location, Los Angeles
Map Unavailable