Antennas and Microwave Structures

Our research on antennas for mobile communications includes multiband antennas, multiple antennas for MIMO applications, ultra wideband (UWB) antennas, semi-smart base station antennas, and antennas and radio propagation for body-centric wireless communications. In the area of steering techniques for antenna arrays for modern communication systems, our researchers investigate effects of controlling radiation patterns of antennas using liquid metals and optically controlled organic semiconductors .

As well as having high quality antenna measurement facilities, the group undertakes research into microwave and millimetre-wave antenna metrology. This research is focused on the major antenna measurement facilities of the Antenna Measurement Laboratory, consisting of:

  • two compact antenna test range operating from 5 GHz to 300 GHz;
  • fully-screened anechoic chamber for mobile communications antenna applications (750 MHz to 5 GHz);
  • NSI Planar near-field range operating to 100 GHz;
  • A 9 m x 3 m x 3 m anechoic chamber for feed measurements and general measurement use;
  • A NSI-700S-360 Spherical Near Field antenna measurement system housed in a purpose built anechoic chamber 4.4m long, 3.1m wide and 3.1m high and operating at frequencies up to 500 GHz.

Our research also extends to tackling challenges relevant to the congested areas of the spectrum, into the millimetre wave, Extremely High Frequency (EHF) bands. These bands not only offer less congested spectrum space, but also the opportunity for significantly more compact systems due to the short wavelengths. However, the short wavelengths present a challenge to designers, due to the increased absorption and reduced propagation range at these high frequencies. To alleviate the propagation problems, research is being carried out into reconfigurable systems which have high gain and are able to intelligently alter the propagation direction to steer the beam around obstacles.

Radiation Focusing of Lens 3D Printed Antenna
Radiation Focusing of Lens 3D Printed Antenna 
Multilayer Reflectarray Structure Multilayer Reflecter Array Structure