Platform‐Integrated Antenna System Design Using Characteristic Modes

In recent years, there are many attempts to address the platform‐installed antenna system designs by using the characteristic mode (CM) theory. The early works illustrate that the CM theory may provide a new perspective to investigate the platform‐integrated antenna system designs. In this chapter, an advanced systematic procedure for platform‐integrated antenna system designs using the characteristic modes of the platforms is fully described. Attractive features of this approach, including the clear physical meanings, the design efficiency (radiating pattern synthesis and feeding designs), the improved antenna performances (gain, efficiency, and impedance matching), and the low profile or even platform‐embedded configurations, will be demonstrated through two design cases: HF band electrically small unmanned aerial vehicle antenna system designs and HF band shipboard antenna system designs. Both designs are experimentally verified in their corresponding scaled models. Practical implementations of these designs in full model are also discussed.