Effects of Printed UWB Antenna Miniaturization on Pulse Fidelity and Pattern Stability

A printed full-size UWB antenna and its two miniaturized configurations are presented. By modifying the monopole and the ground plane, 49% and 77% reductions in antenna area are realized, respectively. An investigation is carried out to examine the effect of antenna miniaturization on pulse fidelity and pattern stability. The far-field electric field waveforms and frequency-domain correlation patterns of the three antennas are presented and compared. The results indicate that the pulse fidelity factor (PFF) and pattern stability factor (PSF) have been improved by the proper miniaturization procedure. It is demonstrated that the improvements of the fidelity factor is 21% in the azimuth plane and 4% in the elevation plane. Moreover, the compact antenna also demonstrates 6.7% and 1.1% enhancement of PSF in the azimuth and elevation planes, respectively. Furthermore, the reduction in antenna size does not cause noticeable negative effects on impedance matching.