Active ring antenna with tunable local oscillator

Abstract

In this paper research on active integrated antennas is reported. Those active integrated antennas are able to send and receive modulated data with very simple hardware. For this purpose an existing microstrip antenna design is examined and further adapted and improved. The adapted antenna is hence integrated into the design of a receiver with a tunable local oscillator (LO). The necessary hardware for this tunable LO is also presented. The frequency is selected by means of a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) based on a PLL (Phase Locked Loop). A 60 dB amplifier is additionally placed at the output of the antenna. The antenna described in this paper can be used to send and receive different types of modulated data, for a wide range of applications.