Multifunction Compact Vehicular Antennas: A New Generation of Antenna Designs and Structures Based o

The Design of multifunction vehicular antennas for military and commercial mobile distributed networks poses major challenges with regard to the antenna size, radiation efficiency, fabrication cost, etc. This Small Business Innovation Research project proposes a new class of compact vehicular antennas based on novel composite materials. The proposed antenna has a dual slot aperture overlaid by a planar lens with a synthetically graded index profile. Recent developments in material processing technology has made it possible to synthesize low-loss composite lenses with quite arbitrary index profiles. Small antenna size and high radiation efficiency are achieved through optimization of the lens index profile, antenna layout and feed structure. The proposed project will involve both simulation and experimental validation of the proposed antenna design. BENEFITS: The proposed antenna will have a major impact on low-cost, high-performance military and commercial vehicular wireless communications with immediate applications in radio, cellular phone and PCS.