Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.3
2.6
Journals
Electronics
Special Issues
RF/Microwave Antenna, Circuit, and System Design for UAV Applications
share announcement

RF/Microwave Antenna, Circuit, and System Design for UAV Applications

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Microwave and Wireless Communications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 21545

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Wang-Sang Lee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Antenna & RF/Microwave System Lab., Department of Electronic Engineering Gyeongsang National University (GNU), Jinju 660-701, Republic of Korea
Interests: RF/microwave antenna, circuit, and system analysis & design; near- and far-field wireless power transfer & communications systems; ID sensing, monitoring, and positioning using RFID/IoT sensors for smart manufacturing; electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, filtering, cabling, grounding for EMC; applied RF/microwave engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications have been gradually expanding from military use to commercial service due to remote control and autonomous flight. UAVs have lots of potential for our real life because it can conduct remote sensing and monitoring, communications relay, weather observation, disaster relief, and so on. In order to perform intelligent missions, it is essential that UAVs communicate with a ground base station, satellite or another vehicle. Due to the characteristics of the operating environment in UAVs, RF/Microwave antenna and system technologies with a compact size, light weight, aerodynamic structure, and wide-beam coverage are required. In this special issue, we invite researchers to submit their original research or review articles that are concerned with recent advances in antennas, circuits, and systems for UAV applications.  Potential topics include, but are not limited to: 

  • Antennas with reconfigurable feeding networks
  • Anti-drone Microwave Technologies
  • Design of RF/Microwave antennas, circuits, and systems
  • Directional omni-directional tracking antennas for UAVs
  • Dual-band/broadband/wideband antenna and systems
  • Low-profile/lightweight/aerodynamic antennas and array
  • Multi-polarized antennas
  • Wireless power and data transfer of UAVs
  • UAV antenna and microwave communications
  • UAV applications

Prof. Dr. Wang-Sang Lee
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Anti-drone Microwave Technologies
  • RF/Microwave antenna and system design for UAVs
  • Wireless power and data transfer of UAVs
  • UAV tracking antennas
  • UAV antennas
  • UAV applications

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

8 pages, 24236 KiB  
Article
Mutual Coupling Reduction between Finite Spaced Planar Antenna Elements Using Modified Ground Structure
by Muhammad Shahzad Sadiq, Cunjun Ruan, Hamza Nawaz, M. Ali Babar Abbasi and Symeon Nikolaou
Electronics 2021, 10(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10010019 - 25 Dec 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3611
Abstract
In this paper, a modified ground structure capable of reducing mutual coupling to provide isolation between adjacent antenna elements is presented. The proposed modified ground structure is a combination of a strategically located ground slot, asymmetric partial ground and a substrate-integrated pin wall. [...] Read more.
In this paper, a modified ground structure capable of reducing mutual coupling to provide isolation between adjacent antenna elements is presented. The proposed modified ground structure is a combination of a strategically located ground slot, asymmetric partial ground and a substrate-integrated pin wall. The use of the modified ground structure causes a more than 28 dB (measured value) mutual coupling reduction. The modified ground structure has been optimized and validated with a finite spaced planar 2 × 1 antenna array operating at 4.16 GHz, intended for unmanned aerial vehicle radar altimeter applications. The patch antennas built with the MGS exhibit high gain (greater than 6 dBi throughout the operational band), along with inter-element coupling as low as −65 dB. Mutual coupling reduction at lower contours is beneficial for altimeter applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RF/Microwave Antenna, Circuit, and System Design for UAV Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 4250 KiB  
Article
Beam-Reconfigurable Multi-Antenna System with Beam-Combining Technology for UAV-to-Everything Communications
by Yu-Seong Choi, Jeong-Su Park and Wang-Sang Lee
Electronics 2020, 9(6), 980; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9060980 - 12 Jun 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6051
Abstract
This paper proposes a beam-reconfigurable antenna for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with wide beam coverage by applying beam-combining technology to multiple antennas with different beam patterns. The proposed multi-antenna system consists of a circular patch antenna and a low-profile printed meandered monopole antenna. [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a beam-reconfigurable antenna for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with wide beam coverage by applying beam-combining technology to multiple antennas with different beam patterns. The proposed multi-antenna system consists of a circular patch antenna and a low-profile printed meandered monopole antenna. For beam combining, a coplanar waveguide with ground (CPW-G) structure feeding network is proposed, and it consists of two input ports, a 90° hybrid coupler, a microstrip 90° phase delay line, and a single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch. It performs the role of power distribution and phase adjustment, and synthesizes the broad-side beam of the monopole antenna and the end-fire beam of the patch antenna to form the directive broadside beams in four different directions. The proposed antenna system operates at 5–5.5 GHz which covers both UAV ground control frequencies (5.03–5.09 GHz) and UAV mission frequencies (5.091–5.150 GHz). The peak gain, total efficiency, and half-power beamwidth (HPBW) of the antenna system are approximately 5.8 dBi, 76%, 145° in the elevation plane, and 360° in the azimuth plane respectively. Its electrical size and weight are λ 0 × λ 0 × 0.21 λ 0 at 5.09 GHz and 19.2 g, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RF/Microwave Antenna, Circuit, and System Design for UAV Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 469 KiB  
Article
Joint Design and Performance Analysis of a Full-Duplex UAV Legitimate Surveillance System
by Yi Shen, Zhiwen Pan, Nan Liu and Xiaohu You
Electronics 2020, 9(3), 407; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9030407 - 28 Feb 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2697
Abstract
In this paper, we propose a legitimate surveillance system, where a full-duplex unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) legitimate monitor with simultaneous passive surveilling and active jamming is deployed to monitor a suspicious communication link between a dubious pair on the ground. Two different scenarios [...] Read more.
In this paper, we propose a legitimate surveillance system, where a full-duplex unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) legitimate monitor with simultaneous passive surveilling and active jamming is deployed to monitor a suspicious communication link between a dubious pair on the ground. Two different scenarios for the UAV, single-input single-output (SISO) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), are studied. Three low-complexity linear beamforming schemes, transmit zero-forcing (TZF)/maximum ratio combing (MRC), maximum ratio transmission (MRT)/receive zero-forcing (RZF), and maximum ratio transmission (MRT)/maximum ratio combing (MRC) are considered for MIMO UAV. The surveilling non-outage probability is derived and analyzed, and optimal jamming power is obtained. Simulation and numerical results are used to validate the derivation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RF/Microwave Antenna, Circuit, and System Design for UAV Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 5366 KiB  
Article
Compact Switched-Beam Array Antenna with a Butler Matrix and a Folded Ground Structure
by Young-Jun Kim, Ye-Bon Kim, Hyun-Jun Dong, Yong Soo Cho and Han Lim Lee
Electronics 2020, 9(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9010002 - 18 Dec 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5369
Abstract
A compact switched-beam array antenna, based on a switched Butler matrix with four folded ground antennas, is presented for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications. The folded ground structure, including a slotted patch radiator surrounded by multiple air-gapped ground layers, is adopted to maximize [...] Read more.
A compact switched-beam array antenna, based on a switched Butler matrix with four folded ground antennas, is presented for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications. The folded ground structure, including a slotted patch radiator surrounded by multiple air-gapped ground layers, is adopted to maximize compactness. The extra ground layers provide extra capacitive coupling around the patch antenna, resulting in a down-shift of resonant frequency and a reduction in the antenna size. Also, to optimize aerial operation with a wider beam coverage, the 1 × 4 array is integrated with a switched Butler matrix controlled by a microcontroller unit (MCU). The choice of the Butler matrix reduces the complexity of beamforming circuitry and avoids the use of high-cost phase shifters requiring extra control-bit signals. Further, the array antenna is optimized for high isolation among the antenna ports and a minimal UAV body effect. Then, the proposed structure was verified at 1.96 GHz for test purposes only, and the array size, excluding the antenna case, was 2.16λo × 0.54λo × 0.07λo. The measured 10 dB impedance bandwidth for all antenna elements in the array was always better than 3.4%, and the isolation among the antenna ports was also better than 19 dB. The measured peak gain, excluding the loss of the switched Butler module, was about 9.98 dBi, on average. Lastly, the measured peak scan angles were observed at −39°, −17°, 9° and 31° according to switching modes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RF/Microwave Antenna, Circuit, and System Design for UAV Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

8 pages, 2091 KiB  
Article
High-Performance Compact Multi-Mode UWB Filter using High-Temperature Superconductivity
by Liguo Zhou, Zhihe Long, Hang Wu, Hui Li and Tianliang Zhang
Electronics 2019, 8(12), 1473; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8121473 - 4 Dec 2019
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2409
Abstract
A high-performance miniaturized multi-mode ultra-wide band (UWB) filter is proposed in this paper. The simple compact quintuple-mode resonator is constructed by loading three sets of open stubs on a modified conventional triple-mode resonator. Even and odd mode analytical methods are applied to analyze [...] Read more.
A high-performance miniaturized multi-mode ultra-wide band (UWB) filter is proposed in this paper. The simple compact quintuple-mode resonator is constructed by loading three sets of open stubs on a modified conventional triple-mode resonator. Even and odd mode analytical methods are applied to analyze it. In addition, the function of each part of the filter is studied in cases of weak/strong coupling. In order to further improve the insertion loss, selectivity and out-of-band suppression, the designed filter is finally fabricated on double-sided YBCO/MgO/YBCO high-temperature superconducting (HTS) film. The test results show that the HTS UWB filter has excellent performance, and the simulation results are in good agreement with the test ones. The 3-dB bandwidth covers 3.6 ~ 13.2 GHz. The maximum insertion loss in the band was only 0.32 dB, and the reflection was better than –15.1 dB. The band-edge roll-off rate was 56 dB/GHz and the upper stopband with 20 dB rejection extended to 20.7 GHz. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue RF/Microwave Antenna, Circuit, and System Design for UAV Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-5
Back to TopTop