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Education - European School of Antennas |
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The European School of Antennas (ESoA), is a new model of
geographically distributed post graduate school supported by the
European Union through the Antenna Center of Excellence (ACE) and the
Marie Curie Actions. The school is constituted by a highly qualified
integrated set of advanced one-week courses, distributed in the most
accredited European antenna research centers. 100 among the best
European teachers present lectures in antennas and propagation. The
courses are repeated every two years updating the content.
The general objectives of the School are:
- strengthening the European excellence on antennas
- completing
the individual PhD curricula of students in Electrical and Information
Engineering by offering interaction with the best trainers in Europe
- increasing the link between European Universities and Industries in antenna research and development
- facilitating
the interchange of ideas among early stage researchers and teachers,
thus increasing the future mobility and synergy.
The school is furnished with a centralized WEB support and it is
coordinated so that the courses have the same format and apply common
basic rules for exams and credits.
Further information and data on ESoA is available here
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» All Courses
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All Courses
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Items in this section:
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| COMPLETED Courses: |
COMPLETED : Analysis of planar and conformal antennas
27/02/2006 - 03/03/2006
This course will first cover the theoretical aspect of the analysis and design of planar and conformal antennas. The first half of the course will cover moment method analysis of microstrip patch antennas on planar grounded substrates. The second half will cover analysis methods for antennas embedded in multilayer structures of planar, circular cylindrical and spherical types. Responsibles: J. Mosig - juan.mosig@epfl.ch ; P-S Kildal - simon@elmagn.chalmers.se
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COMPLETED : Antennas for Space Applications
27/03/2006 - 31/03/2006
The aim of the course is to give an overview of design approaches, constraints and technical solutions for Space Antennas, addressing both theoretical and technological issues. The course will focus on main space applications such as telecommunication, earth observation and science but will also address other uses of antennas for space. The lectures will cover radiofrequency, mechanical and thermal design, material technology and test aspects, ending with a visit to ESTEC satellite and antenna test facilities.
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COMPLETED : Ultra Wideband Antennas
03/04/2006 - 07/04/2006
The topics adressed are Ultrawideband (UWB) system aspects with a special focus on ultra wideband antennas. This includes the characterization and the design of a large variety of UWB antennas. The course embeds the antennas in state of the art UWB systems for communication applications including transmitter and receiver structures as well as radar sensors and systems.
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COMPLETED : Advanced Mathematics for Antenna Analysis
08/05/2006 - 12/05/2006
The objective of this course is to explain the mathematical methods used in computational antenna analysis and to provide students with mathematical background necessary for advanced antenna engineering and electromagnetic software development. This course can also serve as a mathematical introduction to other ESoA courses.
The course will cover different approaches to solving wave equations, various wave representations, and mathematical theorems used to simplify the original electromagnetic problem. In this sense, the aim of this course is to help students gain a deeper understanding of which field representation is suited for a given complex electromagnetic problem.
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COMPLETED : Propagation in mobile communications
05/06/2006 - 09/06/2006
Wireless mobile communications is continuously adapting to new areas and services. Wireless systems are on the one hand well-established technologies like TV, FM, GSM or UMTS and on the other hand upcoming systems like WLAN, WAN, PAN and hot spots. For their planning and development a profound understanding of the propagation channel is essential. New technologies like Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems and ultra-wideband (UWB) techniques are more and more integrated in wireless communications. The course participants will be instructed in basics of propagation effects and propagation channel modelling. Tools, like GTD, UTD and ray-tracing for the efficient system characterisation of future wireless data, video and audio/speech transmission will be presented. State of the art wave propagation models for the relevant scenarios are further topics. Emphasis is placed on MIMO techniques and UWB
systems. MIMO tech-niques can increase the channel capacity considerably. UWB systems in the frequency range from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz reclaim the spectrum in coexistence with present systems. The application of these new techniques and systems requires the consideration of the whole system. By the combined treatment of the RF front end, antennas and propagation channel this course teaches system competence. Channel characterisations by delay spread, Doppler spread, angular spread and so on are presented. The
course includes theory as well as tutorials and ends with an exam for those requiring ECTS points.
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COMPLETED : Antennas for mobile communications
19/06/2006 - 23/06/2006
The objective of this course is to provide a basic overview of antennas used for new systems of mobile communications and to discuss related topics. Course will include following topics: small antennas, propagation aspects, antenna education and research, base stations and smart antennas, application of characteristic modes for antenna design and practical aspects of antenna design for mobile communication devices.
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COMPLETED : European undergraduate and PhD education in electromagnetics
21/06/2006 - 23/06/2006
The conference has been canceled and will be organized in an alternate date. Thank you for your understanding
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COMPLETED : Antenna measurements
26/06/2006 - 30/06/2006
The course introduces to the problematic of antenna measurement, focusing on modern methods. The course begins with the description of the typical antenna measurement systems like open fields and anechoic chambers with: spherical (including Fresnel zone), cylindrical and planar near field measurements and compact range systems. Emphasis will be given in the course to spherical, which constitute the perhaps most accurate technique for experimental characterization of antennas. These techniques form the basis for the DTU- ESA Spherical Near- Field Antenna Test Facility located at the Technical University of Denmark and the LEHA antenna measurement ranges located at UPM. Lectures on spherical wave measurements will be given by DTU. The second part of the course will consist in the modern antenna measurement systems: CHALMERS will explain the measurement procedures in reverberation chamber (that simulates effectively a uniform multi-path propagation environment, and it is useful to measure total radiated power and receiver sensitivity of mobile phones and other wireless or mobile terminals -GSM, CDMA, DECT, Bluetooth, UMTS- diversity gain of diversity antennas and channel capacity of MIMO antenna systems). SATIMO will explain its STARGATE system as an example of spherical near field system. Holographic techniques for Millimetre and sub-millimetre antenna measurement will be explained. The course will be completed with some experimental practices in UPM installations: practices in spherical, planar and cylindrical system, compact range system, Fresnel zone measurements and propagation characterization of a MIMO system with a MIMO test-bed developed at UPM.
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COMPLETED : Active antennas
18/09/2006 - 22/09/2006
Active integrated antennas are the bringing together of antennas and wireless front-ends to create a new generation of compact and low cost wireless modules, that can be inserted directly into baseband systems to reduce RF design effort. Although the topic has been around for over a decade, it is still relatively new in that highly integrated modules are only now beginning to be seen in production. There is thus a lot of value in the topic and this course in preparing students for exciting careers either in research or development of integrated systems.
The course consists of three parts. Firstly the lectures cover the basic principles and techniques for active integrated antenna design. This includes a brief review of antenna models, active circuit modelling and then combined or hybrid modelling. In this part the interaction of the non-linear device and the radiating structure will be examined. A number of applications such as amplifying antennas, oscillating antennas, integrated mixer antennas and grid architectures will be described. The relatively new topic of reconfigurable antennas will then be presented in detail. Secondly these lectures will be supplemented by exercises, involving CAD using commercial software. Finally some simple examples will be constructed and measured and the results compared with the simulations. The topics will include:-
Introduction: capabilities, limitations and design issues for active integrated antennas.
Printed antenna models for AIA design
Active circuit modelling for AIA design
AIA Modelling: advantages and disadvantages of various strategies for combining circuit and EM analysis
Merging circuit functions into antenna structures: examples
Key performance parameters and measurement issues for AIAs
Integrated oscillating antennas / spatial oscillators/Integrated mixing antennas/Integrated amplifying antennas/Grid structures
Review and Comparison of AIA Configurations and Technologies
Reconfigurability in antenna engineering
Basics of antenna diversity
Active antennas for polarization & pattern diversity
Frequency reconfiguration
MEMS-based reconfigurable antennas
Biasing techniques
Reconfigurability for UWB applications
Reconfigurability for on-body communications
Integration of high efficiency power amplifiers with antennas
Linear Transmitter Architectures in AIAs
Hands on CAD session
CAD exercises and examples of AIA hardware for testing
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COMPLETED : Frequency domain techniques for antenna analysis
02/10/2006 - 06/10/2006
The course aims to give the student an appreciation of the uses and limitations of frequency domain computational techniques applied to scattering and antenna problems. The module gives the student a thorough background in the methodology of these techniques from a fundamental standpoint, while giving a grasp of the practical applications. Emphasis will be given to the practical problems encountered in the implementation of these techniques, and more particularly on the integral techniques (convergence, singularities, etc.). Differential techniques will be introduced as a mean of comparison, but will be not be treated in depth. Simple problems are considered to give an understanding of how the choices made in designing the algorithms translate into the real strengths and limitations of the software.
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COMPLETED : Cooperative communications and distributed antennas
16/10/2006 - 20/10/2006
Cooperative communications systems improve the capacity of wireless communications by allowing cooperation between nodes at the physical layer level. It is possible to use cooperation to implement distributed antenna arrays, which allow the utilization of multiple antenna techniques that can provide the benefits of multiple antennas to single antenna terminals The objective of this course is to provide the fundamental tools to understand, analyze, and design cooperative communications systems in general, and distributed array configurations in particular.
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COMPLETED : Time domain techniques for antenna analysis
20/11/2006 - 24/11/2006
The objective of this course is to provide background on Time Domain numerical techniques. Emphasis will be done on two powerful tools: the well-known FDTD (Finite-Difference-Time-Domain) method and the TLM (Transmission Line Matrix) method. The lecturers are experienced researchers having contributed to numerous improvements done these last twenty years to enhance the ability of these two techniques to resolve challenging problems, particularly in the field of antenna analysis, design and optimization. A state of the art will then be available through the various topics addressed in the academic lectures completed with practical training.
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COMPLETED : Antenna Synthesis
26/03/2007 - 30/03/2007
The course is divided in two main parts. The first one covers the general aspects of the antenna synthesis problem, with the aim of providing a sound and unitary mathematical framework and discussing the most relevant characteristics of the main classes of optimization algorithms exploited in antennas’ design. In the light of the above framework, the second part is devoted to specific topics in array and reflector antennas synthesis, selected for their practical and/or theoretical relevance. The course closes with a panel discussion on emerging technologies and future trends.
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COMPLETED : Industrial Antenna Design
23/04/2007 - 27/04/2007
The design of antennas for commercial applications like mobile phones, laptop computers, WLAN mobile devices and routers, etc. is driven by many more issues in addition to the antenna concept. In such industrial projects the antenna design is one part in the whole chain of development. Therefore the antenna designer has to collaborate with teams from many other disciplines like mechanical design, aesthetical design, compliance testing, etc. in order to arrive at a good product. During the design of the product, the antenna designer should be able to anticipate the influence of possible changes in the product specifications and be flexible to adapt his antenna concept to the next design step.
This course on “Industrial Antenna Design” aims on preparing the participants for this kind of work. The course will cover lectures, practical work and team based project work using state of the art design tools and applications.
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COMPLETED : Phased Arrays and Reflectarrays
07/05/2007 - 11/05/2007
The course, which will be given by speakers belonging to key players in this field both in the industrial and academic environment, will be articulated over five days. The first three days of lectures will be devoted to phased array, and the next two to reflectarrays.
The lectures about phased arrays will offer to the attendees both the basics of the array analysis and design and a wide panoramic of systems under production and new generation of systems presented directly by some of the largest companies in Europe. Several fields of applications will be reviewed during the course, ranging from advanced arrays for space applications to complex radar systems for military and civil applications. The most advanced EM modelling techniques for such complex problems will also be presented highlighting the connection to the real problems and real systems that antenna engineers have to face in their "everyday" working environment.
The last two days will be focused on basic theory, applications and new trends in reflectarray antennas. Basic theory for the analysis and design of reflectarrays will be presented, with special emphasis on the Method of Moments (MoM) and Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) techniques applied to the analysis of periodic and truncated periodic structures in a multilayer environment. Lectures will be presented for the treatment of beam reconfigurability implemented by adding switches or varactors at element or subarray level, but with lower degree of complexity than in phased arrays. Lecturers will also be given about synthesis techniques for contoured beam and multi-beam reflectarrays and active reflectarrays. Theoretical and experimental results will be presented for some representative applications, as satellite DBS antennas and LMDS base station antennas.
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COMPLETED : Antenna Measurements for Millimeter and Submillimeter Wavelengths
21/05/2007 - 25/05/2007
Testing of large (high-gain) satellite antennas at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths is a difficult task. The classical far-field method has two major obstacles at mm and submm wavelengths: impractically large measurement distance and high atmospheric loss.
The near-field scanning method has been used up to 650 GHz. The applied near-field methods give useful information only on the main beam and its vicinity, because the field-sampling is typically very sparse.
Reflector-based compact antenna test range (CATR) measurements have been carried out up to 500 GHz. Recently, also hologram-based CATR measurements have been carried out at 650 GHz.
This short course discusses the techniques and limitations of the various test methods, and introduces the participants to the planar near-field scanning and hologram-based CATR as well as to antenna pattern correction techniques also through laboratory demonstrations/exercises.
The participants have a choice to study a related specific topic prior to the short course, write a brief report and present that to other participants during the course.
The lectures include the following: introduction, mm- and submm-wave instrumentation, near-field scanning, near-field to far-field transformation, compact antenna test range (CATR), CATR based on reflectors, CATR based on a lens, CATR based on a hologram, site definition, hologram design and fabrication, construction of a hologram based CATR, quiet-zone testing, antenna testing in a hologram based CATR, antenna pattern correction techniques, future developments.
The laboratory demonstrations (exercises) include the following:
- measurement of a horn antenna
- scanning of near-field – computation of the far-field pattern
- antenna measurement in a hologram CATR
- elimination of disturbing scatterer effect in a CATR – application of the APC method
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COMPLETED : Compact Antennas
04/06/2007 - 08/06/2007
The course deals with the modeling and design principles of small antennas for communications in mobile environments with emphasis on wideband, multiband and multi-element antenna geometries. The course includes the theoretical background, design principles, implementation aspects and measurement methods. The fundamental radiation principles and limits will be presented and discussed. The main analytical and numerical techniques will also be studied. The basic and the most successful models will be presented and studied. As a special case the principles of the fractal geometries and its application to the design of miniaturized and self-complementary antennas and devices will be presented. Specific constraints for wideband (UWB) and multiantenna designs will be addressed. Finally small antenna measurement techniques will be reviewed and the particular problems linked to terminal antenna measurement will be discussed.
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COMPLETED : Microwave and Millimeter Wave Antenna Design
18/06/2007 - 22/06/2007
The course is divided into two parts. The first part (13 Hours) provides the student with a large overview on planar antennas applications, physical principles and technology. Emphasis is put on technological aspects (microstrip, microtechnologies,…) and specific field of applications (Satellite antennas, mobile phones, base stations,…). The structures and parametric studies presented in the course are validated by CAD softwares (HFSS, Ansoft Designer, …) and might be re-used by the student for further developments. This course also provides the required details to design microstrip antenna and highlights the most pressing issues in telecommunication area, including broadbanding, circular polarization, and active microstrip antennas in particular. Special design challenges, ranging from dual polarization, high bandwidth, and surface wave mitigation, to choosing the proper substrate, and shaping an antenna to achieve desired results are covered.
The second part (15 Hours) is devoted to millimeter wave antennas and describes the main features and specificities of millimeter wave frequency domain such as: technological and realization difficulties, antenna measurements, need to characterize the dielectric materials, etc. The students will also see other types of mm-wave antennas and arrays than the printed antennas, including lenses, reflectors, leaky-waves, dielectric resonators, dielectric rods, Gaussian Beam Antennas, EBG antennas, etc. Finally, the civilian, military and automotive application of mm-wave antennas will be presented. The course is accompanied with measurements in mm-wave anechoic chamber and impedance measurements on VNA (Vector Network Analysers). For the lab and simulation parts, the attendees will be divided in groups of small number. The number of students for the lab activities are limited to 12.
"Registration:
Please follow the on-line procedure by clicking on the 'Register to this Course' button
and then download, fill and send the registration form contained in the folder
'PAYMENT FORM' (see below)."
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COMPLETED : Advanced Spherical Near-Field Antenna Measurement Techniques
02/07/2007 - 06/07/2007
Spherical near-field antennna measurements constitute the most accurate technique for experimental characterization of the radiation of antennas. This technique is the foundation for the DTU-ESA Spherical Near-Field Antenna Test Facility located at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and operated in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA).
This course will provide the participants with a theoretical understanding as well as a practical experience in spherical near-field antenna measurements and also include the topic of antenna diagnostics. The theory will deal with the spherical vector wave functions and the expansion of radiated fields in terms of such functions. Aslo the scattering matrix description of antennas will be introduced. This leads to the formulation of the transmission formula for spherical near-field measurements and the solution procedure for this will then be treated. In addition, the theory of dual-port probes for spherical near-field measurements will be dealt with. The practical experience is obtained through several exercises in the DTU-ESA Facility. This includes all phases of measurements such as mechanical alignment of measurement system, mounting and alignment of antennas, setting-up of automated measurement program, probe calibration measurement, antenna measurement, near-field to far-field transformation, and data analysis. The theory of antenna diagnostics for spherical near-field measurements will be treated and this will be used in analyzing the extreme near-field of the antennas measured during the exercises. The teaching will take the form of lectures, assignments, and exercises.
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COMPLETED : MIMO Communication Systems and Antennas
27/08/2007 - 31/08/2007
This course deals with MIMO communication systems in terms of signal processing and resource allocation and antennas for such systems, in particular small antennas for MIMO terminals. The course will feature lectures as well as computer exercises and real-world hands-on laboratories.
The course consists of three parts, computer based antenna-design and evaluation, signal processing laboratory on a real MIMO testbed, and talks on signal-processing and resource allocation in multi-user MIMO systems.
The antenna-design part of the course will provide a brief overview of design principles for small antennas for mobile communications systems. This includes the theoretical background, design principles, implementation aspects, and measurement methods for wideband multi-element (especially
MIMO) terminal antennas. In the laboratory work, participants will gain hands-on experience using the HUT measurement-based antenna testbed MEBAT.
The MEBAT testbed allows characterizing the performance of a multi-element terminal antenna in real propagation environments that were previously measured at HUT. The students will design antennas with modern SW tools and assess their efficiency, MEG, and realistic MIMO performance with computational methods.
The signal processing laboratory will be done on the real-time multi-user MIMO test-bed (MUMS) of KTH. The participants will be given insight into the operation of the test-bed. They will also do laboratories on the test-bed where they will change parameters in a spatially multiplexing application and inteprete the results.
The talks on signal-processing and resource allocation in MIMO systems will be on various aspects of link and system-level issues of MIMO systems such as space-time coding, spatial multiplexing, resource allocation and channel models. This part of the course will also include computer-based exercises and will feature several speakers.
The participants should have a basic knowledge of antenna design and characteristics. They should also have an understanding of modulation and smart antennas.
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COMPLETED : Advanced Computational EM for Antenna Analysis
10/09/2007 - 14/09/2007
This course addresses frequency-domain computational techniques for the analysis of “serious” antenna problems. The challenges come from the need to apply computational electromagnetics to real-life antenna virtual prototyping, antenna farms, and antenna siting. This involves structures that have complex geometries and very fine details (that are key to predict their performance), or that are electrically large, or both.
The course starts with a review of the conventional Integral-Equation, Method of Moments (MoM) approach; it examines its limits and addresses a number of topics that allow to extend its applicability to presently challenging antenna problems.
While addressing advanced topics, it is structured so as to give attendees a practical understanding of problems, the techniques to address them, and of how to implement them when "back at home".
Course highlights include fast iterative methods (like the Fast Multiple Method, FMM), higher-order basis functions, iteration-free compressive methods, dense-mesh problems and remedies, and multi-resolution.
While this course is the natural companion of the 2006 Florence ACE course on Frequency domain techniques for antenna analysis, attendance to that course is not at all required or assumed for this course.
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COMPLETED : Artificial EBG Surfaces and Metamaterials for Antennas: Bandgaps, cloaks, miniaturization, gain enhancement
29/10/2007 - 02/11/2007
In recent years there has been significant research on synthesizing new materials that can enable new and better antennas. These metamaterials are designed by making use of periodic structures, and often it is the surface characteristics of them that are of interest, in particular in antenna design. Special attention has been given to designing surfaces with high surface impedance in order to obtain an artificial magnetic conductor. These surfaces turn out to have frequency bands (bandgaps) inside which no surface waves can propagate along the surface, and they are therefore also referred to as electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) surfaces. This “stop” characteristic of the EBG surface makes it similar to the transversely corrugated surface that already in 1987 was the basis for introducing a concept of soft and hard surfaces, based on a terminology used in acoustics and diffraction theory. The EBG surface is equivalent to a soft surface. During 2006 metamaterials were used to design RF cloaks for making objects invisible to EM waves. The invention got attention in media due to the pictorial resemblance with Harry Potter’s cloak. Similar cloaks were realized already in 1996 by making use of the “go” characteristics of the hard surface. During this course the background and theory of ideal magnetic conductors and soft and hard surfaces will be explained, as well as how to implement these theoretical models in existing software based on numerical methods such as GO, UTD, FDTD, FEM and moment method. The course covers also how magnetic conductors and soft and hard surfaces can be practically realized, and how to analyze them without having to model each detail of the periodic structure. The limitations of the different analysis models as well as of the surface realizations themselves will be discussed with particular attention to diffraction effects, dispersion, surface waves, leaky waves, and bandgap properties. The work will be presented in relation to specific applications such as: ground planes, low-profile antennas, miniaturization, reduction of coupling, removal of parallel-plate noise in multilayer circuit boards, reduction of far out sidelobes, directivity enhancement, high-efficiency hard horns, quasi-TEM waveguides, compact horn antennas, reduction of blockage from cylindrical objects, grid amplifiers, and infinite array simulators.
This short course has been developed in cooperation with the Metamorphose Network of Excellence.
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COMPLETED : Analysis of planar and conformal antennas
04/02/2008 - 08/02/2008
This course covers the theoretical aspect of the analysis and design of planar and conformal antennas. The first half of the course deals with the fundamentals of the mathematical and electromagnetic models being used for the analysis of printed antennas. The static and quasistatic cases are first discussed as a very useful introduction to the full-wave (dynamic) formulation. The second half of the course covers analysis methods for antennas embedded in multilayer structures of planar, circular cylindrical and spherical types, with real life applications.
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COMPLETED : Antennas for Space Applications
10/03/2008 - 14/03/2008
The aim of the course is to give an overview of design approaches, constraints and technical solutions for Space Antennas, addressing both theoretical and technological issues. The course will focus on main space applications such as telecommunication, earth observation and science but will also address other uses of antennas for space. The lectures will cover radiofrequency, mechanical and thermal design, material technology and test aspects, ending with a visit to ESTEC satellite and antenna test facilities.
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COMPLETED : Ultra Wideband Antennas
07/04/2008 - 11/04/2008
This tutorial will present an insight into design, evaluation and measurement procedures for ultra wideband (UWB) antennas as well as into the characteristics of the UWB radio channel. State of the art topics regarding UWB systems in the fields of communications, Radar and sensor networks will be discussed. Lectures will be complemented with laboratory exercises including the measurement of transient antenna properties in the time domain, UWB wave propagation modelling, and the design and numerical optimization of UWB antennas.
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COMPLETED : Traveling-Wave Antennas
21/04/2008 - 24/04/2008
The Course offers lectures on different concepts, realizations, and applications of Traveling-Wave Antennas, a class of antennas that use a traveling wave on a guiding structure as the main radiating mechanism. The Course aims to give a complete knowledge of the basic physical mechanisms involved, of the various suitable design techniques, and of the possible applications of traveling-wave radiating structures.
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COMPLETED : Advanced Mathematics for Antenna Analysis
05/05/2008 - 09/05/2008
The objective of this course is to explain the mathematical methods used in computational antenna analysis and to provide students with mathematical background necessary for advanced antenna engineering and electromagnetic software development. This course can also serve as a mathematical introduction to other ESoA courses. The course will cover different approaches to solving wave equations, various wave representations, and mathematical theorems used to simplify the original electromagnetic problem. In this sense, the aim of this course is to help students gain a deeper understanding of which field representation is suited for a given complex electromagnetic problem.
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COMPLETED : Wave Propagation in Mobile Communications
09/06/2008 - 13/06/2008
Wireless mobile communications is continuously adapting to new areas and services. After wide area networks, like TV and FM, mobile communications, e.g. GSM and UMTS, were topics for wave propagation modelling and network planning for the last 15 years. Presently and in the near future micro-cells, pico-cells and femto-cells, like WLAN, WAN, PAN, BAN and hot spots are for planning ahead. For these new systems profound knowledge of indoor and urban wave propagation, Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems, ultra-wideband (UWB) techniques as well as RF system level characterisation are essential. This course will introduce to these topics. The participants will be instructed in basics of propagation effects and propagation channel modelling. Tools, like GTD, UTD and ray-tracing for the efficient system characterisation of future wireless data, video and audio/speech transmission will be presented. State of the art wave propagation models for the relevant scenarios are further topics. Emphasis is placed on MIMO techniques and UWB systems. MIMO techniques can increase the channel capacity considerably. UWB systems in the frequency range from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz reclaim the spectrum in coexistence with present systems. Upcoming is also the mobile to mobile communications (C2C), which requires a specifically adjusted problem treatment. The application of these new techniques and systems requires the consideration of the whole system. Channel characterisations by delay spread, Doppler spread, angular spread and so on are presented. By the combined treatment of the RF front-end, antennas and propagation channel this course teaches system competence. The course includes theory as well as tutorials and ends with an exam for those requiring ECTS points.
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COMPLETED : Antennas for Mobile Communications
16/06/2008 - 20/06/2008
European school of antennas - Prague - 2009
Antennas for mobile communication – 1st version of programme
Registration:
9:00, main entry of the Faculty of electrical Engineering CTU in Prague
Technicka 2. Prague 6
Every day programme (small changes and names of the lecturers can occur)
9:00 –12:00, 13:00-17:00
Lectures in room 80 (ground floor)
Computer laboratory no.823, 8th floor, block B2 (Department of Electromagnetic Field)
Open area test site blocks B1,B2 roof
Anechoic chamber no.624, 6th floor, block B2 (Department of Electromagnetic Field)
Microwave laboratory no.626, 6th floor, block B2 (Department of Electromagnetic Field)
Monday UPC Barcelona (Prof. Jofre)
Antennas wireless systems
Small antennas
Antenna feeding
Exercises and simulation in computer labs
Tuesday (UPV Valencia, prof. Ferrando, Dr. Daviu)
Introduction to the theory of characteristic modes
Physical interpretation of characteristic modes
Analysis of antennas using characteristic modes
Application of characteristic modes in antenna design
Modeling in computer labs
Wednesday (CTU in Prague prof. Mazánek)
Propagation aspects for mobile communication
Modeling for mobile communication – computer labs
Modeling of small antennas – computer labs
Measurement of small antennas in anechoic chamber
Small antennas for medical application
Thursday (Dr. Martines-Vasques, IMST Germany)
Introduction and historical review
Design consideration
Antenna characterization
Small antennas and state of art
Future trends
Practical aspect and design flow
Friday (UMP Madrid, prof. Sierra)
Introduction into smart antennas
State of the art of smart antennas
Base station and smart antennas
Smart antennas - system aspects
European school of antennas - Prague - 2009
Antennas for mobile communication – 1st version of programme
Registration:
9:00, main entry of the Faculty of electrical Engineering CTU in Prague
Technicka 2. Prague 6
Every day programme (small changes and names of the lecturers can occur)
9:00 –12:00, 13:00-17:00
Lectures in room 80 (ground floor)
Computer laboratory no.823, 8th floor, block B2 (Department of Electromagnetic Field)
Open area test site blocks B1,B2 roof
Anechoic chamber no.624, 6th floor, block B2 (Department of Electromagnetic Field)
Microwave laboratory no.626, 6th floor, block B2 (Department of Electromagnetic Field)
Monday UPC Barcelona (Prof. Jofre)
Antennas wireless systems
Small antennas
Antenna feeding
Exercises and simulation in computer labs
Tuesday (UPV Valencia, prof. Ferrando, Dr. Daviu)
Introduction to the theory of characteristic modes
Physical interpretation of characteristic modes
Analysis of antennas using characteristic modes
Application of characteristic modes in antenna design
Modeling in computer labs
Wednesday (CTU in Prague prof. Mazánek)
Propagation aspects for mobile communication
Modeling for mobile communication – computer labs
Modeling of small antennas – computer labs
Measurement of small antennas in anechoic chamber
Small antennas for medical application
Thursday (Dr. Martines-Vasques, IMST Germany)
Introduction and historical review
Design consideration
Antenna characterization
Small antennas and state of art
Future trends
Practical aspect and design flow
Friday (UMP Madrid, prof. Sierra)
Introduction into smart antennas
State of the art of smart antennas
Base station and smart antennas
Smart antennas - system aspects
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COMPLETED : Antenna Measurements
23/06/2008 - 27/06/2008
The course introduces to the problematic of antenna measurement, focusing on modern methods. The course begins with the description of the typical antenna measurement systems like open fields and anechoic chambers with: spherical (including Fresnel zone), cylindrical and planar near field measurements and compact range systems. Emphasis will be given in the course to spherical, which constitute the perhaps most accurate technique for experimental characterization of antennas. These techniques form the basis for the DTU- ESA Spherical Near- Field Antenna Test Facility located at the Technical University of Denmark and the LEHA antenna measurement ranges located at UPM. Lectures on spherical wave measurements will be given by DTU. The second part of the course will consist in the modern antenna measurement systems: CHALMERS will explain the measurement procedures in reverberation chamber (that simulates effectively a uniform multi-path propagation environment, and it is useful to measure total radiated power and receiver sensitivity of mobile phones and other wireless or mobile terminals -GSM, CDMA, DECT, Bluetooth, UMTS- diversity gain of diversity antennas and channel capacity of MIMO antenna systems). SATIMO will explain its STARGATE system as an example of spherical near field system. Holographic techniques for Millimetre and sub-millimetre antenna measurement will be explained. The course will be completed with some experimental practices in UPM installations: practices in spherical, planar and cylindrical system, compact range system, Fresnel zone measurements and propagation characterization of a MIMO system with a MIMO test-bed developed at UPM.
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COMPLETED : Active Antennas
08/09/2008 - 12/09/2008
Active integrated antennas are the bringing together of antennas and wireless front-ends to create a new generation of compact and low cost wireless modules, that can be inserted directly into baseband systems to reduce RF design effort. Although the topic has been around for over a decade, it is still relatively new in that highly integrated modules are only now beginning to be seen in production. There is thus a lot of value in the topic and this course in preparing students for exciting careers either in research or development of integrated systems.
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COMPLETED : Reflector and Lens Antennas
15/09/2008 - 19/09/2008
Hans-Henrik Viskum will present design and analysis techniques for reflector antennas, based on his more than 20 years of experience in the spacecraft industry. TICRA is recognized as the world-leader of commercial reflector antenna software, which will serve to illustrate the presentation by means of examples.
Per-Simon Kildal will contribute to the course with reflector and feed antenna designs and design methods that have been described in more than 30 journal articles and several patents, by him and his coworkers. The lectures will cover: cylindrical reflector and line feed for EISCAT, small L-band reflector with beam-forming ring feed for satellite terminal, dual reflector feed system for radio telescope in Arecibo, hat feed for radio link antenna, and recent decade bandwidth Eleven feed for radio telescopes and satellite communications.
Marianna Ivashina will contribute to the course with antenna designs and design methods that have been described in 30 papers by her and her coworkers. The lectures will cover: design of a wide-band Focal Plane Array (FPA); effects of strong array element coupling on system analysis and optimization; Vivaldi element FPA system as a practical demonstrator of the innovative FPA technology for New Generation Radio Telescopes.
Ronan Sauleau will review the lens antenna technologies and applications for millimeter and sub-millimeter wave applications. The lectures will cover: 1) the analysis, the synthesis and the optimization of dielectric focusing systems using HF and full-wave techniques 2) the design of homogeneous / multi-shell, axis-symmetric / arbitrarily-shaped lenses (integrated lens antennas, dielectric lenses, dome antennas).
Stefano Maci will present high frequency methods used to analyze reflection, diffraction and scattering from reflector antenna surfaces, such as geometrical optics, geometrical theory of diffraction, incremental theory of diffraction, and shadow boundary integral techniques.
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COMPLETED : Time Domain Techniques for Antenna Analysis
13/10/2008 - 17/10/2008
The objective of this course is to provide background on various Time Domain numerical techniques that were proved, during the last two decade, to be very efficient to resolve challenging problems, particularly in the field of antenna analysis: FDTD (Finite-Difference-Time-Domain), FIT-TD (Finite Integral Technique), FEM-TD (Finite Element Method), MoM-TD (Method of Moment) and TLM (Transmission Line Matrix). Fundamentals will then be available through 20 hours academic lecture addressed by experienced researchers. They were completed with 20 hours practical training using three different softwares known as the world market leaders in time domain simulation: EMPIRE from IMST, MICROWAVE STUDIO and MICROSTRIPES from CST.
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COMPLETED : Antennas and Propagation for Body-Centric Wireless Communication
20/04/2009 - 24/04/2009
The European School of Antennas (ESoA) presents a course on Antennas & Propagation for Body-Centric Wireless Communication. The course addresses the main issues related to body-centric wireless communications from antennas and radio propagation prospective including measurement techniques, statistical analysis, analytical and numerical studies and system-related aspects of such communication networks.The course will introduce the current state-of-the-art and potential development in the area including challenges and theoretical limitations. Concepts such as diversity antennas, MIMO systems, UWB communications, etc. will be covered in this course with relation to theoretical and practical aspects.
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COMPLETED : Industrial Antenna Design
04/05/2009 - 08/05/2009
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COMPLETED : Antenna Measurements at Millimetre and Sub-Millimetre Wavelengths
11/05/2009 - 15/05/2009
Testing of large (high-gain) satellite antennas at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths is a difficult task. The classical far-field method has two major obstacles at mm and submm wavelengths: impractically large measurement distance and high atmospheric loss.
This short course discusses the techniques and limitations of the various test methods, and introduces the participants to the planar near-field scanning and compact antenna test range (CATR) as well as to antenna pattern correction techniques also through laboratory demonstrations/exercises.
The lectures include the following: introduction, mm- and submm-wave instrumentation, near-field scanning, near-field to far-field transformation, compact antenna test range (CATR), CATR based on reflectors, a lens, or a hologram, site definition, construction of a hologram based CATR, quiet-zone testing and antenna testing in a CATR, antenna pattern correction techniques, future developments.
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COMPLETED : Antenna Project Management
18/05/2009 - 21/05/2009
The aim of this course is to provide the students with the required background to efficiently cope with the technical management of an antenna project. The technical key steps of a project, starting from a customer's needs, to the final antenna design and testing will be approached. The students will learn how to clarify the requirements of a customer, make trade offs, look for additional information like standards, propagation channels, telecommunication theory and link budgets to establish the antenna specifications, and finally propose the best antenna system to fulfill those requirements. All this, of course keeping an eye on the budget and the timeframe of the project. Topics treated include a review of antennas and systems and their characteristics, but also a review of the relevant telecommunication theory and an introduction to project management, from the industrial point of view.
The course is aimed to PhD students and Postdocs, but is open to whoever is interested. It will have two legs : a theoretical approach in the mornings, were topics essential to the efficient lead of an antenna project are approached, and practical guided group work in the afternoons, were the students will go through all the phases of a project. In these practical session, each group will be given an industrial antenna problem, linked for instance to wireless application in the automotive sector, or to future telecommunication platforms. The initial requirement will be quite general, and the groups will during the week refine these requirements to come up with specifications and potential solutions.
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COMPLETED : Terahertz Technology
25/05/2009 - 29/05/2009
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COMPLETED : Antenna Synthesis
08/06/2009 - 12/06/2009
The course is divided in two main parts.
The first one covers the general aspects of the antenna synthesis problem, with the aim of providing a sound and unitary mathematical framework and discussing the most relevant characteristics of the main classes of optimization algorithms exploited in antennas’ design.
In the light of the above framework, the second part is devoted to specific topics in array antennas synthesis, selected for their practical and/or theoretical relevance.
Guided numerical exercises with brief presentations of the results are also foreseen.
Summary:
The synthesis problem
General formulation of the synthesis problem: external and internal synthesis.
Mathematical formulation of the synthesis problem. The role of design and physical constraints. Ill-posedness, field properties and degrees of freedom. The trapping problem. A general framework for the synthesis problem: the intersection approach. Antenna synthesis and channel capacity.
Optimization algorithms
Local and global optimization algorithms. Evolutionary algorithms. Mixed algorithms.
Topics in antenna synthesis
Convex and non convex problems. Sum and difference patterns synthesis. Shaped beams synthesis. Non conventional arrays. Reflectarrays. Beam forming networks and active arrays.
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COMPLETED : Advanced Spherical Near-Field Antenna Measurements Techniques
29/06/2009 - 03/07/2009
In this course the participants will acquire a theoretical understanding of spherical near-field measurements as well as a practical experience in performing such measurements. The course takes place at the DTU-ESA Spherical Near-Field Antenna Test Facility - that constitutes an external reference laboratory for the European Space Agency (ESA) operated by the Technical University of Denmark.
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COMPLETED : Compact Antennas
06/07/2009 - 10/07/2009
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COMPLETED : ARTIC Industrial Training (AIT): Antenna Research and Technology for the Intelligent Car
07/09/2009 - 11/09/2009
The prime intention of the ARTIC Industrial Training (AIT) is the dissemination of knowledge on vehicular communication systems and antenna technology (AM/FM-Radio, TV, DVB-T, GSM/UMTS, GPS, C2C, V2V, .....)
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COMPLETED : Cooperative Communications and Distributed Antennas
28/09/2009 - 02/10/2009
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COMPLETED : Frequency Domain Techniques for Antennas Analysis
05/10/2009 - 09/10/2009
The course aims to give the student an appreciation of the uses and limitations of frequency domain computational techniques applied to scattering and antenna problems. The module gives the student a thorough background in the methodology of these techniques from a fundamental standpoint, while giving a grasp of the practical applications. Emphasis will be given to the practical problems encountered in the implementation of these techniques, and more particularly on the integral techniques (convergence, singularities, etc.). Differential techniques will be introduced as a mean of comparison, but will be not be treated in depth. Simple problems are considered to give an understanding of how the choices made in designing the algorithms translate into the real strengths and limitations of the software.
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COMPLETED : Artificial EBG Surfaces and Metamaterial for Antennas
26/10/2009 - 30/10/2009
In recent years there has been significant research on synthesizing new materials that can enable new and better antennas. These metamaterials are designed by making use of periodic structures, and often it is the surface characteristics of them that are of interest, in particular in antenna design. Special attention has been given to designing surfaces with high surface impedance in order to obtain an artificial magnetic conductor. These surfaces turn out to have frequency bands (bandgaps) inside which no surface waves can propagate along the surface, and they are therefore also referred to as electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) surfaces. This “stop” characteristic of the EBG surface makes it similar to the transversely corrugated surface that already in 1987 was the basis for introducing a concept of soft and hard surfaces, based on a terminology used in acoustics and diffraction theory. The EBG surface is equivalent to a soft surface. During 2006 metamaterials were used to design RF cloaks for making objects invisible to EM waves. The invention got attention in media due to the pictorial resemblance with Harry Potter’s cloak. Similar cloaks were realized already in 1996 by making use of the “go” characteristics of the hard surface. During this course the background and theory of ideal magnetic conductors and soft and hard surfaces will be explained, as well as how to implement these theoretical models in existing software based on numerical methods such as GO, UTD, FDTD, FEM and moment method. The course covers also how magnetic conductors and soft and hard surfaces can be practically realized, and how to analyze them without having to model each detail of the periodic structure. The limitations of the different analysis models as well as of the surface realizations themselves will be discussed with particular attention to diffraction effects, dispersion, surface waves, leaky waves, local quasi-TEM gap waves, and bandgap properties. The work will be presented in relation to specific applications such as: ground planes, low-profile antennas, miniaturization, reduction of coupling, removal of parallel-plate noise in multilayer circuit boards, gap waveguides for millimetre waves, waveguide slot arrays, reduction of far out sidelobes, directivity enhancement, high-efficiency hard horns, quasi-TEM waveguides, compact horn antennas, reduction of blockage from cylindrical objects, grid amplifiers, and infinite array simulators.
See detailed program in pdf file below.
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