Antennas and Propagation for Wireless Communications – Spring 2016

Wednesdays, March 23, 30, April 13, 20, 27, May 4, 11, 18

Decision (Run/Cancel) Date for this Course is Friday, March 11, 2016

Payment received by March 8

IEEE Members $425
Non-members $455

Payment received after March 8

IEEE Members $455
Non-members $475

Phone 781-245-5405
email sec.boston@ieee.org
Fax 781-245-5406

Make Checks payable to:
IEEE Boston Section
One Centre Street, Suite 203
Wakefield, MA 01880

Speaker: Dr. Steven best, MITRE Corporation

Summary: This course provides participants with comprehensive coverage of a wide variety of antenna and propagation topics. The course provides an understanding of basic antenna property definitions, antenna design fundamentals and considerations, numerous antenna types and RF propagation fundamentals. The course also provides an overview of how antenna properties and propagation characteristics affect communication system performance. Topics covered include fundamental antenna performance properties, antenna specifications and data sheets, basic antenna types, elementary antennas, electrically small antennas, wireless device antennas, medical device antennas, low profile antennas, aperture and reflector antennas, circular polarized antennas, antenna arrays, propagation channel characteristics, antenna diversity and MIMO, and an overview of different antennas used in today’s wireless communication systems and markets.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completing the course, the participant will be able to:
• Understand the concepts associated with antenna performance, operation and classification.
• Understand, evaluate and define antenna performance specifications.
• Describe and understand a broad spectrum of antenna types.
• Illustrate antenna operating principles with a factual knowledge of antenna theory.
• Understand the basic performance trade-offs associated with antenna design.
• Understand how to design basic antenna elements.
• Understand basic principles associated with the implementation of antenna arrays.
• Understand and describe how antenna performance and the RF propagation environment impact wireless communication system performance.
• Understand the basic types of antennas that are used in today’s wireless communications markets.

Target Audience: Anyone working within the field of general RF systems, wireless, cellular and microwave systems will benefit from this comprehensive coverage of antenna properties and design. The course is well suited for design engineers and program managers who require an understanding of antenna principles and design concepts. Basic mathematical and computing skills are a prerequisite for this course. An electrical engineering background or equivalent practical experience is recommended but not required.

Outline:

Part 1:
Basic RF Concepts
• Review of fundamental RF Concepts • Basic design and performance requirements of a wireless communication system
Basic Antenna Concepts
• Definitions of basic antenna properties: impedance, VSWR, bandwidth, directivity, gain, radiation patterns, polarization, etc.
Types of Antennas
• Resonant antennas • Traveling wave antennas • Frequency Independent antennas • Aperture antennas • Phased arrays • Electrically small antennas • Circularly polarized antennas
Classification of Antenna Types
• By frequency • By size • By directivity
Fundamental Antenna Elements
• The monopole • The dipole • The loop • The folded dipole • The slot
Microstrip Antennas
• Element types • Microstrip element design • Design trade-offs • Designing and 802.11 microstrip patch
Baluns
Ground Plane Considerations
• Vertically polarized antennas • horizontally polarized antennas • The impact of the surrounding environment on antenna performance

Part 2:
Circularly Polarized Antennas
• Achieving circular polarization • The helix antenna • The crossed dipole antenna • The microstrip patch • The quadrifilar helix
Aperture Antennas
• Aperture design concepts • The horn antenna • The reflector antenna • The corner reflector Impedance Matching
• Impedance matching networks
Broadband Antennas
• Monopole configurations • Feed considerations • Dipole configurations • Bandwidth improvement techniques
Frequency Independent Antennas
• The log-periodic antenna • The spiral antenna
Electrically Small Antennas
• Impedance, bandwidth and quality factor of antennas • Defining electrically small • Fundamental performance limitations • The small dipole • The small loop • Design and Optimization of small antennas

Part 3:
Antenna Arrays
• Fundamental array theory • Types of antenna arrays • Feed network design considerations • Beam steering and shaping concepts • Performance trade-offs • Microstrip patch arrays • Dipole element arrays
Friis Equation and Link Budget
• The communication link • Understanding and calculating path loss • Receiver Sensitivity and antenna noise figure • Link budget calculations
Receiving Properties of Antenna
• How does an antenna capture power • Aperture area and efficiency • Coupling between antennas
Fractal Antennas
• Fractal antenna types • Performance properties of fractal antennas
RFID Antennas
• RFID system basics • Performance properties of RFID antennas
Ultra Wideband (UWB) Antennas
• Time domain considerations in antenna design • Antenna performance requirements in UWB systems
Low Profile Antennas
• The inverted L and inverted F antennas • The planar inverted F antenna (PIFA)
Device Integrated Antennas
• Antennas commonly used in wireless device applications

Part 4:
Propagation Channel Considerations
• RF path loss • Reflection, multipath and fading • Noise and interference • Polarization distortion • Diversity implementation • MIMO
Types of Antennas used in Communications Systems
• Wireless base station antennas • Wireless handset and portable device antennas • GPS antennas • HF, UHF and VHF communication antennas • Earth station and satellite communication antennas
Numerical Modeling of Antennas
• Software packages • Comparison with measurements
Antenna Design and Simulation Examples Using Commercial Antenna Design Software

Steven R. Best is a Senior Principal Sensor Systems Engineer with the MITRE Corporation in Bedford, MA. He received the B.Sc.Eng and the Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 1983 and 1988, respectively, from the University of New Brunswick in Canada. Dr. Best has over 28 years of experience in business management and antenna design engineering in both military and commercial markets. Prior to joining MITRE, Dr. Best was with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Hanscom AFB, where his research interests included electrically small antennas, wideband radiating elements, conformal antennas, antenna arrays and communications antennas. Prior to joining AFRL, he was President of Cushcraft Corporation in Manchester, NH from 1997 to 2002. He was Director of Engineering at Cushcraft from 1996 to 1997. Prior to joining Cushcraft, he was co-founder and Vice President and General Manager of Parisi Antenna Systems from 1993 through 1996. He was Vice President and General Manager of D&M/Chu Technology, Inc. (formerly Chu Associates) from 1990 – 1993. He joined Chu Associates as a Senior Electrical Engineer in 1987.

Dr. Best is the author or co-author of 3 book chapters and over 100 papers in various journal, conference and industry publications. He frequently presents a three-day short course for the wireless industry titled “Antennas and Propagation for Wireless Communication”, he is the author of a CD-ROM series on antenna theory and design, and he has presented several Webinars on antenna topics. He has also authored an IEEE Expert Now module on electrically small antennas. Dr. Best is a former Distinguished Lecturer for IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S), a former member of the AP-S AdCom, a former Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, and Senior Past Chair of the IEEE Boston Section. He is also a former Editor-in-Chief for AP-S Electronic Communications. Dr Best is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Past-President of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society.