Low-Profile and Wideband Surface-Wave Antenna of Conical Beam for UAV Applications
Changzhou Hua, Jinjian Liu, Yi Yu, Wang Ren, Zhongxiang Shen
Abstract
This letter proposes a low-profile and wide-band conical-beam surface-wave antenna for UAV applications. The compact antenna consists of a grounded dielectric conical frustum and a wide-band feeding structure at its center. By using an inverted-cone feeding probe and a gear-shaped parasitic patch, cylindrical surface waves are excited to produce conical radiation patterns over an ultra-wide frequency range. A prototype of the proposed antenna of only 6 mm thickness is designed, fabricated, and measured. Measured results demonstrate that the designed surface-wave antenna has an impedance bandwidth of 93.9% from 6.38 to 17.67 GHz with peak gains varying from 3.6 to 8.2 dBi and conical-beam radiation with low cross-polarization. Due to its extremely low profile, wide bandwidth, and omnidirectional coverage, our proposed antenna can be potentially useful for communication and radar systems mounted on the surface of airplanes and unmanned aerial vehicles.