An electrically small multi-port loop antenna for direction of arrival estimation

Direction of arrival (DoA) estimation or direction finding (DF) requires multiple sensors to determine the direction from which an incoming signal originates. These antennas are often loops or dipoles oriented in a manner such as to obtain as much information about the incoming signal as possible. For direction finding at frequencies with larger wavelengths, the size of the array can become quite large. In order to reduce the size of the array, electrically small elements may be used. Furthermore, a reduction in the number of necessary elements can help to accomplish the goal of miniaturization. The proposed antenna uses both of these methods, a reduction in size and a reduction in the necessary number of elements. A multi-port loop antenna is capable of operating in two distinct, orthogonal modes - a loop mode and a dipole mode. The mode in which the antenna operates depends on the phase of the signal at each port. Because each element effectively serves as two distinct sensors, the number of elements in an DoA array is reduced by a factor of two. This thesis demonstrates that an array of these antennas accomplishes azimuthal DoA estimation with 18 degree maximum error and an average error of 4.3 degrees.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical & Computer Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Scott, Robert

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bernhard, Jennifer T.

• Direction of Arrival
• Direction Finding
• Multi-Port Loop Antenna
• Electrically Small

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2014 Robert Scott

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/49439

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/49439