Date of Award

8-2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering (MSECE)

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Dimitrios Peroulis

Committee Chair

Dimitrios Peroulis

Committee Member 1

David Love

Committee Member 2

Kevin Webb

Committee Member 3

Michael D. Zoltowski

Abstract

Developing antennas with enhanced gain has always been an important pursuit within the antenna community, as a higher gain leads to an increase in the received power for any given wireless link. In general, when a higher gain is needed for an application, only certain types of antennas can be used. The goal of this thesis project was to develop a method for increasing the gain of antennas that already exist by applying modifications to them, expanding the design flexibility for wireless applications. In this thesis, a novel method for increasing the gain of microstrip patch antennas by synthesizing specialized multi-branch feed networks is developed and verified experimentally. A full theoretical foundation based on cavity modal and radiation analysis is discussed followed by a detailed explanation of the feed network design, which culminates in the presentation of a start-to-finish full design workflow using MATLAB and ANSYS HFSS simulation. Four prototypes that were designed using this methodology are also presented, along with results that demonstrate the method’s efficacy as well as its tradeoffs. In addition, the MATLAB codes used in the design process are given, allowing the thesis to be used as a design guide.

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