Ultrawideband Antennas: Growth and Evolution

Narrowband antennas fail to radiate short pulses of nano- or picosecond length over the broader band of frequencies. Therefore, Ultrawideband (UWB) technology has gained momentum over the past couple of years as it utilizes a wide range of frequencies, typically between 3.1-10.6 GHz. UWB antennas have been utilized for various applications such as ground-penetrating radars, disaster management through detection of unexploded mines, medical diagnostics, and commercial applications ranging from USB dongles to detection of cracks in highways and bridges. In the first section of the manuscript, UWB technology is detailed with its importance for future wireless communications systems. In the next section various types of UWB antennas and their design methodology are reviewed, and their important characteristics are highlighted. In section four the concept of a UWB notch antenna is presented. Here various methods to obtain the notch, such as slots, parasitic resonators, metamaterials, and filters are discussed in detail. In addition, various types of important notch antenna design with their technical specifications, advantages, and disadvantages are presented. Finally, the need of reconfigurable UWB notch antennas is discussed in the next section. Here various insight to the design of frequency reconfigurable notch antennas is discussed and presented. Overall, this article aims to showcase the beginnings of UWB technology, the reason for the emergence of notching in specific frequency bands, and ultimately the need for reconfiguring UWB antennas along with their usage.