Alan J. Fenn

The definitive volume of recent innovations in antenna technology developed for a wide variety of system applications at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Antenna technology plays a key role in enabling next-generation sensing and communications for ground-based, airborne, and spaceborne systems across a wide spectrum of frequencies and applications. Advances in RF microelectronics, commercial high-volume manufacturing and packaging, high-fidelity modeling and simulation tools, and affordable high-speed digital signal processing offer new options for next-generation antenna systems. Perspectives in Antenna Technology, edited by Jeffrey Herd, Alan Fenn, and David Conway, describes a variety of antenna research and development projects from MIT Lincoln Laboratory over the past fifteen years. In addition to highlighting current systems applications for the new antenna technologies, the book provides a modern perspective on the evolution of antenna technology at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The contributors are all from Lincoln Laboratory. Developments covered include those aimed at reducing the cost of phased array antennas by leveraging high-volume printed circuit board manufacturing and highly integrated packaging techniques; novel solutions to enable ultra-lightweight deployable antennas for space and airborne applications; vector sensor arrays; two unique imaging radar systems--a video-rate microwave imaging system for person-borne concealed threat detection and a system capable of ultrawideband imaging of satellites; simultaneous transmit and receive (STAR) antennas; a variety of novel wideband array antennas, including dual-polarized stepped-notch arrays and coupled dipole arrays; and several types of custom millimeter wave (mmWave) antennas.

This book focuses on details of antenna technology that can have broad applications in radar and communications. Most of the material in this book derives from Alan Fenn's 40 years of experience and research at MIT Lincoln Labs, and contains a large portion of previously unpublished information and real-world results. It covers the design, fabrication, modeling, simulation and testing of 11 antenna types, including dual-polarized wideband v-dipole antennas, dual-polarized four-quad loop/dipole antennas, and monocone/loop antennas. A background in electromagnetic field theory, radar and communication would be helpful, but prior knowledge of antennas is not essential to understand the content of this book. The first chapter introduces EM and antenna theory in great mathematical details and provides examples of important derivations and equations, and the following section elaborates on the fundamentals of phased array antennas and the formulation of the method of moments. This will provide the reader with a solid foundation for understanding the antenna design presented later in the book.