Course Content
This course deals with advanced antenna and propagation channel concepts for multipleantenna-based and millimeter-wave-based communications. With the commercial launch of the Fifth Generation of Mobile Radio Networks (5G) in 2020, antenna engineers need more than ever to be aware of physical layer strategies that are currently considered to reach the expected performance. With techniques such as MIMO and millimeter-wave communications, new challenges arise and antenna engineers cannot afford anymore to be only expert in electromagnetics, but do also require skills regarding propagation channel, digital modulations, and coding aspects. New communications schemes use advanced signal processing and coding techniques in order to exploit as much as possible the propagation channel to maximize some metrics such as the capacity. The antenna being a part of the channel, its properties influence the overall performance, and knowledge of physical layer features is therefore of utmost importance in the antenna design. This course addresses important theoretical concepts in the field of antennas and propagation in the context of 5G communications. The first unit of the course introduces physical layer aspects that have to be considered while designing antenna solutions. The second unit tackles MIMO aspects and how antenna performance should be specifically assessed accordingly. The third unit illustrates some specific issues related to vehicular and ehealth applications. The fourth unit introduces the challenges faced while using millimeterwaves for communications. This unit IV also addresses in detail two advanced antenna technologies, namely, leaky-wave antennas and Substrate-Integrated-Waveguide-based antennas. It is to be noted that theoretical concept in this course are not limited to 5G communications and are therefore useful to any antenna engineer.
Text / References
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