Automated Microcontroller Tester For The Characteristics Calculation In Microwaves Antennas

This paper combines the fields of radiofrequency (RF) electronics and automated tuning using a microcontroller in order to optimize the process by continuous adjustment of the parameters. We propose an experimental setup composed of several RF stages, parts of a radio communication chain, a control system implemented on ATMEGA 328p microcontroller that uses 3 digital ports to generate PWM control signals and an analog input port to read the value used for the optimization process. The idea finds its usefulness in testing new antenna technologies and can be used for automated testing of the emission or reception efficiency. The test equipment consists of 2 antennas that communicate with each other using radio waves and can be considered as coupled by a waveguide that isn’t uniform. In this case the improper tuning of the wave guide with the other components of the communication chain generates power losses due to reflections and damage to the equipment. Because tuning depends on the reflection coefficient that is influenced by the component’s impedances, any transmission line has a certain propagation structure at a given frequency. In this paper we propose the inspection of a transmitter/receiver chain in the context of controlled variation by a microcontroller of the frequency and power of transmission under certain tolerable limits. Graphs with the obtained results are presented.