scholarly journals Low-Cost Beamforming Concept for the Control of Radiation Patterns of Antenna Arrays Installed onto UAVs

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 4265
Author(s):  
Leonardo C. dos Santos ◽  
Edson R. Schlosser ◽  
Marcos V. T. Heckler

This paper presents a low-cost architecture that allows for beamforming with antenna arrays installed onto unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Beam switching is proposed to improve the antenna gain towards the ground station with two three-element arrays installed below the wings of the UAV. The electromagnetic modeling of the complete structure (UAV and integrated antennas) was performed with commercial electromagnetic simulator Ansys HFSS. The radiation patterns were synthesized with particle swarm optimization (PSO). By employing lumped surface-mount device (SMD) components and switches, the design of the feeder to deliver proper excitation coefficients to the antennas is presented, and its performance was assessed by simulations. The proposed approach is demonstrated to be very effective with low-cost production.

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea D'alessandro ◽  
Roberto Caso ◽  
Marcos R. Pino ◽  
Paolo Nepa

An overview on compact Planar Inverted-F Antennas (PIFAs) that are suitable for monitor-equipped devices is presented. In particular, high efficiency PIFAs (without any dielectric layer) with a percentage bandwidth (%BW) greater than 59% (470–862 MHz DVB-T band) are considered. In this context, two PIFA configurations are reviewed, where a dual-band feature has been obtained, in the 3300–3800 MHz (14% percentage bandwidth) WiMAX and 2400–2484 MHz (2.7% percentage bandwidth) WLAN IEEE 802.11b,g frequency bands, respectively, to also guarantee web access to on-demand services. The two PIFAs fill an overall volume of  mm3and  mm3, respectively. They are composed of a series of branches, properly dimensioned and separated to generate the required resonances. Finally, to show the extreme flexibility of the previous two configurations, a novel dual-band L-shape PIFA has been designed. A reflection coefficient less than −6 dB and −10 dB and an antenna gain of around 2 dBi and 6.3 dBi have been obtained in the 470–862 MHz DVB-T band and the 2400–2484 MHz WLAN band, respectively. The L-shape PIFA prototype can be obtained by properly cutting and folding a single metal sheet, thus resulting in a relatively low-cost and mechanically robust antenna configuration.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 1762
Author(s):  
Yuki Gao ◽  
Maryam Ravan ◽  
Reza K. Amineh

The use of non-metallic pipes and composite components that are low-cost, durable, light-weight, and resilient to corrosion is growing rapidly in various industrial sectors such as oil and gas industries in the form of non-metallic composite pipes. While these components are still prone to damages, traditional non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques such as eddy current technique and magnetic flux leakage technique cannot be utilized for inspection of these components. Microwave imaging can fill this gap as a favorable technique to perform inspection of non-metallic pipes. Holographic microwave imaging techniques are fast and robust and have been successfully employed in applications such as airport security screening and underground imaging. Here, we extend the use of holographic microwave imaging to inspection of multiple concentric pipes. To increase the speed of data acquisition, we utilize antenna arrays along the azimuthal direction in a cylindrical setup. A parametric study and demonstration of the performance of the proposed imaging system will be provided.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-52
Author(s):  
Folasade Dahunsi ◽  
Oluwasina Aderinwale ◽  
Abayomi Adesida ◽  
Abiola Alayande ◽  
J. Ojo ◽  
...  

Satellite communication is a wireless means of transmission of intelligible signals/information. When properly utilized it will bring about a great and positive development on the economic growth of any nation. The Federal Government of Nigeria made a giant step in the communication sector by launching five satellites into space: NigeriaSat-1, NigComSat- 1, NigeriaSat-2r, NigeriaSat-X and NigComSat-1R. With adequate spatial information, informed decisions can be made by stakeholders and adequate steps taken to ensure the growth of the nation. Demand for training capacity building in space technology is increasing. Unfortunately, space technology is a relatively expensive field with ongoing research for affordable training approaches. This paper presents methods of building capacity by developing Demo Satellites that receive telemetry data with radiofrequency and internet of things communication protocol. Web Dashboard was developed for remote monitoring of ground station and for exploring mobility in data communication, Localization was achieved to also track the Demo Satellites and the ground station in real-time. It is shown that the implementation of a low-cost capacity building programme is not only possible but a goal that should be aimed at. Multiple segments in the design of the schematics produced can be reused. It presents a pioneer satellite constellation prototype that displays the capabilities of a satellite in solving some of the country’s challenges and creating awareness on space research and its trends.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Om Prakash Acharya ◽  
Amalendu Patnaik ◽  
Sachendra N. Sinha

Antenna array pattern nulling is desirable in order to suppress the interfering signals. But in large antenna arrays, there is always a possibility of failure of some elements, which may degrade the radiation pattern with an increase in side lobe level (SLL) and removal of the nulls from desired position. In this paper a correction procedure is introduced based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) which maintains the nulling performance of the failed antenna array. Considering the faulty elements as nonradiating elements, PSO reoptimizes the weights of the remaining radiating elements to reshape the pattern. Simulation results for a Chebyshev array with imposed single, multiple, and broad nulls with failed antenna array are presented.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
D.D. Devisasi Kala ◽  
D. Thiripura Sundari

PurposeOptimization involves changing the input parameters of a process that is experimented with different conditions to obtain the maximum or minimum result. Increasing interest is shown by antenna researchers in finding the optimum solution for designing complex antenna arrays which are possible by optimization techniques.Design/methodology/approachDesign of antenna array is a significant electro-magnetic problem of optimization in the current era. The philosophy of optimization is to find the best solution among several available alternatives. In an antenna array, energy is wasted due to side lobe levels which can be reduced by various optimization techniques. Currently, developing optimization techniques applicable for various types of antenna arrays is focused on by researchers.FindingsIn the paper, different optimization algorithms for reducing the side lobe level of the antenna array are presented. Specifically, genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), ant colony optimization (ACO), cuckoo search algorithm (CSA), invasive weed optimization (IWO), whale optimization algorithm (WOA), fruitfly optimization algorithm (FOA), firefly algorithm (FA), cat swarm optimization (CSO), dragonfly algorithm (DA), enhanced firefly algorithm (EFA) and bat flower pollinator (BFP) are the most popular optimization techniques. Various metrics such as gain enhancement, reduction of side lobe, speed of convergence and the directivity of these algorithms are discussed. Faster convergence is provided by the GA which is used for genetic operator randomization. GA provides improved efficiency of computation with the extreme optimal result as well as outperforming other algorithms of optimization in finding the best solution.Originality/valueThe originality of the paper includes a study that reveals the usage of the different antennas and their importance in various applications.


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