volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

Antenna gain is an important metric for most modern communication systems. The most common method for determining antenna gain is to produce an incident plane wave using a reference antenna and measure the received power at the antenna of interest. By measuring the received power several wavelengths away in an isolated environment, such as an anechoic chamber, the gain of an electrically small antenna, dimension less than one wavelength, can be determined. This and other similar methods work well for frequencies above 2 GHz, but lower frequency measurements can be logistically challenging and expensive due to the large facilities required and the lack of readily available broadband absorber materials. This work presents a new method for determining antenna gain using a transmission-line-based near-field S-parameter measurement in a waveguide. To provide evidence for the proposed method, two monopole antennas are modeled over an infinite ground plane using full-wave electromagnetics, and both are experimentally measured within a waveguide. Good agreement was found between the model and measurement, providing evidence of the validity of the method.

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Dr. Jeramy Marsh

Dr. Ryan S. Westafer