Technologies for Reconfigurable antennas Used in Satellite and Terrastrial inks (TRUST)

用于公共安全和国防应用的电信系统需要在各种协议和频率下运行。这是通过软件无线电实现的。目前，为了充分利用现有无线电设备的潜力，允许在广泛频率范围内的频道之间快速切换的可重构天线是不可用的。在卫星通信方面，需要研制能够在轨道上调整其地球覆盖范围的可重构天线，以适应市场变化。目前用于重新调整天线波束的方法具有有限的灵活性。该研究的总体目标是研究实现电子可重构天线的可行性，该天线具有以下期望特性：在实际发射功率水平下工作的能力，波束转向和整形的灵活性，返回工作频率的能力，在不同温度条件下工作的能力以及低于毫秒的重构时间。为了实现这一目标，我们将研究可调元件在恶劣条件下（高功率和变温度）的特性，以确定其局限性。必须开发和验证减轻性能下降的方法。同时，将设计并实现可重构天线原型，以增强设计方法的鲁棒性。这些原型将允许对所提议概念的性能和局限性进行评估。

Telecommunication systems used in public safety and defence applications need to operate with a variety of protocols and frequencies. This is realized by using software defined radio. Currently, reconfigurable antennas allowing fast switching between channels over a broad range of frequencies in order to exploit the full potential of existing radio equipment are not available. In satellite communications, there is a need to develop reconfigurable antennas capable to adapt their Earth coverage while in orbit in order to adapt to the market changes. Current methods used to realign the antenna beam offer limited flexibility. The general objective of the proposed research is to investigate the feasibility of implementing electronically reconfigurable antennas with the following desired characteristics: capability to operate under realistic transmit power levels, flexibility for beam steering and shaping, capability of retuning the frequency of operation, capability to operate under varying temperature conditions and reconfiguration time inferior to the millisecond.To accomplish this, we will investigate the characteristics of tunable components under severe conditions (high power and varying temperature) to determine their limitations. Approaches to mitigate the performance degradation will have to be developed and validated. Concurrently, reconfigurable antenna prototypes demonstrating the enhanced robustness of the design method will be designed and implemented. These prototypes will allow assessment of performance and limitations of the proposed concepts.