Analysis and Design of a Broadband Antenna for Software Defined Radio

This work presents the design and analysis of a broadband antenna capable of achieving an instantaneous 3:1 VSWR bandwidth and omnidirectional radiation coverage spanning a bandwidth greater than 20:1. The antenna is designed to accommodate the very large bandwidth requirements of software-defined radios and to minimize the effective volume of the overall design. The antenna is composed of a vertical radiating element over a wound plane, and utilizes a tuning strap to improve the impedance bandwidth over the frequency range in which the antenna is considered electrically small. Measurements demonstrate a 3:1 VSWR impedance bandwidth from 30 MHz to 6 GHz while maintaining a relatively omnidirectional radiation pattern over the majority of this bandwidth. Equivalent circuit model and analytical model are developed to calculate the input impedance of the antenna over different spectrums. A model of the tuning mechanism is also analyzed along with a discussion of the antenna's efficiency.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Zhang, Zhuohui

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jennifer Bernhard

• Engineering, Electronics and Electrical

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3301258

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/81073