A Novel MIMO Six Element Vector Antenna for Direction of Arrival Estimation in Radar Systems Applications

This thesis research is dedicated to the design, implementation and system analysis of a six element vector antenna. In wireless communications, there is an increasing need to continuously provide higher bandwidth to satisfy the needs of existing and emerging applications. Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) systems are based on the use of multiple antennas that exploit spatial or polarization or radiation pattern diversities to increase the capacity of the communication channels. In sensing applications, the accurate determination of the direction of arrival of a signal is typically performed using arrays of scalar sensors or phased array antennas. Phased array antenna accuracy is proportional to the size of the array so that higher accuracy requires larger real estate and may become quite expensive, while scalar sensors have their limitations such as blind spots. However, from a theoretical viewpoint by simultaneously measuring at the same location all the components of the electromagnetic field the accuracy in the determination of the DOA should increase, compared to the use of scalar sensor arrays. The simultaneous measurements of the components of the electromagnetic field requires a vector antenna. The novelty of this thesis is the description of a new cube vector antenna to address both the needs of sensing and wireless communications applications or any other application that might benefit from higher bandwidth and the detection of the polarization of a signal.