Jeffery T. Williams

Microstrip patch designs that do not excite surface waves

Two variations of a circular microstrip patch design are presented which excite very little surface wave power. Both of the designs are based on the principle that a ring of magnetic current in a substrate (which models the patches) will not excite the dominant TM/sub 0/ surface wave if the radius of the ring is a particular critical value. Numerical results for radiation efficiency and radiated field strength from a ring of magnetic current are shown to verify this basic design principle. The proposed patch designs are chosen to have a radius equal to this critical value, while maintaining resonance at the design frequency. The designs excite very little surface-wave power, and thus have smoother radiation patterns when mounted on finite-size ground planes, due to reduced surface-wave diffraction. They also have reduced mutual coupling, due to the reduced surface-wave excitation. Measured results for radiation patterns and field strength within the substrate are presented to verify the theoretical concepts. >

2-D periodic leaky-wave antennas-part I: metal patch design

The far-field radiation characteristics of a two-dimensional (2-D) periodic leaky-wave antenna (LWA) constructed from a periodic array of metal patches on a grounded dielectric substrate is investigated. A simple dipole source is used as the excitation. Reciprocity together with a periodic spectral-domain method of moments is used to calculate the far-field pattern. Design rules for the scan angle, the substrate dielectric constant, and the periodicity are provided. Finally, a comparison of the 2-D periodic LWA and a dielectric-layer LWA is given to show the similar performance of the two antennas.

Coplanar waveguide excitation of dielectric resonator antennas

The circuit and radiation properties of a cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna excited by a coplanar waveguide feed are investigated. The coupling between the feed and the radiator was measured as a function of the position, dielectric constant, and height of the cylinder. The radiation patterns and resonant frequencies were also measured. These measured results are found to be in good agreement with theoretical calculations. >

General formulas for 2-D leaky-wave antennas

General formulas for a two-dimensional (2-D) leaky-wave antenna (LWA) are obtained, which are applicable to any general class of 2-D leaky-wave antenna that consists of a partially reflecting surface that is mounted on top of a grounded substrate, and excited by a simple source. Closed-form expressions are obtained for the radiated fields, the field peak values in the E- and H-planes, the beamwidths in the E- and H-planes, and the pattern bandwidth. The formulas are obtained from a simple transverse equivalent network model of the structure. An accurate formula for the substrate thickness necessary to give a beam at any desired angle is also obtained.

Mutual coupling between reduced surface-wave microstrip antennas

An investigation of the mutual coupling between reduced surface-wave microstrip antennas is presented and compared with that for conventional microstrip antennas. Numerical results are presented from a theoretical analysis of the mutual coupling along with confirming experimental results. It is shown that for electrically thin substrates, the space-wave coupling, not the surface-wave coupling, is predominant for typical element spacing, for both the conventional and reduced surface-wave antennas. In addition, the mutual coupling behavior is examined using an asymptotic analysis, which demonstrates how the coupling falls off much faster with patch separation for reduced surface wave antennas compared to conventional microstrip patch antennas.

2-D periodic leaky-wave Antennas-part II: slot design

The far-field radiation patterns of a two-dimensional (2-D) periodic slot leaky-wave antenna (LWA) are studied. The antenna consists of a two-dimensional periodic array of slots in a conducting plane that is printed on top of a grounded dielectric slab. The antenna is excited by a simple source such as a dipole inside the slab. Reciprocity along with the spectral-domain method is used to calculate the far-field pattern, and the radiation characteristics of the structure are investigated. A comparison between the present periodic slot LWA and a 2-D periodic patch LWA discussed in Part I is given to show the advantages of the slot antenna for certain applications. The slot LWA can achieve high directivity patterns, and a circularly-polarized version of the antenna can achieve good circular-polarization at broadside.

Computational aspects of finite element modeling in EEG source localization

A comparison is made of two different implementations of the finite element method (FEM) for calculating the potential due to dipole sources in electroencephalography (EEG). In one formulation (the direct method) the total potential is the unknown that is solved for and the dipole source is directly incorporated into the model. In the second formulation (the subtraction method) the unknown is the difference between the total potential and the potential due to the same dipole in an infinite region of homogeneous conductivity, corresponding to the region where the dipole is located. Both methods have the same FEM system matrix. However, the subtraction method requires an additional calculation of flux integrations along the edges of the elements in the computation of the right-hand side (RHS) vector. It is shown that the subtraction method is usually more accurate in the forward modeling, provided the flux integrations are computed accurately. Errors in calculating the flux integrations may result in large errors in the forward solution due to the ill-conditioned nature of the FEM system matrix caused by the Neumann boundary condition. To minimize the errors, closed-form expressions for the flux integrations are used for both linear and quadratic triangular elements. It is also found that FEM forward modeling errors may cause false extrema in the least-square objective function obtained from the boundary potential, near boundaries between media of differing conductivity. Multiple initial guesses help eliminate the possibility of the solution getting trapped in these false extrema.

The dependence of the input impedance on feed position of probe and microstrip line-fed patch antennas

The impedance of a rectangular patch antenna fed by an inset microstrip transmission line was measured for various feed positions. The dependence found was then compared to theoretical predictions both for this geometry and for the similar case of an inset coaxial probe feed.

Effect of conductivity uncertainties and modeling errors on EEG source localization using a 2-D model

This paper presents a sensitivity study electroencephalography-based source localization due errors in the head-tissue conductivities and to errors in modeling the conductivity variation inside the brain and scalp. The study is conducted using a two-dimensional (2-D) finite element model obtained from a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of a head cross section. The effect of uncertainty in the following tissues is studied: white matter, gray matter, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), skull, and fat. The distribution of source location errors, assuming a single-dipole source model, is examined in detail for different dipole locations over the entire brain region. We also present a detailed analysis of the effect of conductivity on source localization for a four-layer cylinder model and a four-layer sphere model. These two simple models provide insight into how the effect of conductivity on boundary potential translates into source location errors; and also how errors in a 2-D model compare to errors in a three-dimensional model. Results presented in this paper clearly point to the following conclusion: unless the conductivities of the head tissues and the distribution of these tissues throughout the head are modeled accurately, the goal of achieving localization accuracy to within a few millimeters is unattainable.

A New Planar Dual-Band GPS Antenna Designed for Reduced Susceptibility to Low-Angle Multipath

A new Global Positioning System (GPS) microstrip patch antenna designed for dual-band (LI /L2) operation is introduced. The antenna design is based on the reduced-surface-wave (RSW) concept and, as a result, is much less susceptible to low-angle multipath interference effects than some of the more commonly-used high-precision GPS antennas. In this paper, the radiation characteristics of this new design was compared to a dual- band choke-ring and a dual-band pinwheel antenna. In addition to having the advantages typically associated with microstrip patch antennas, this planar dual-band antenna lacks the design complications associated with the frequently-used stacked-patch method for realizing dual-band microstrip antenna performance. Thus, the simplicity of the design, together with the reduced horizon and backside radiation levels and excellent circular polarization characteristics indicate that this new antenna design is a promising candidate for dual-band, high-precision applications.