Directive, electrically-small UWB antennas

Abstract

This paper presents a variety of directive, electrically-small ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna designs. Employing a multipole-synthesis design methodology yields stable patterns with directivity of +4.7dBi or more across multiple decade bandwidths. The antenna may be thought of as an electrically-short, resistively-terminated transmission line. Open field testing of a 3m prototype antenna yields confirmation of NEC-derived performance predictions. The proposed antenna design is particularly well-suited for use as a receive antenna at HF frequencies or lower, where antenna loss cancels out high levels of atmospheric noise without impacting received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).