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Review
. 2021 Aug 23;21(16):5662.
doi: 10.3390/s21165662.

The Recent Advancement in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Tracking Antenna: A Review

Anabi Hilary Kelechi  1 , Mohammed H Alsharif  2 , Damilare Abdulbasit Oluwole  1 , Philip Achimugu  3 , Osichinaka Ubadike  1 , Jamel Nebhen  4 , Atayero Aaron-Anthony  5 , Peerapong Uthansakul  6
Affiliations
Review

The Recent Advancement in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Tracking Antenna: A Review

Anabi Hilary Kelechi et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) antenna tracking system is an electromechanical component designed to track and steer the signal beams from the ground control station (GCS) to the airborne platform for optimum signal alignment. In a tracking system, an antenna continuously tracks a moving target and records their position. A UAV tracking antenna system is susceptible to signal loss if omnidirectional antenna is deployed as the preferred design. Therefore, to achieve longer UAV distance communication, there is a need for directional high gain antenna. From design principle, directional antennas are known to focus their signal energy in a particular direction viewed from their radiation pattern which is concentrated in a particular azimuth direction. Unfortunately, a directional antenna is limited by angle, thus, it must always be directed to the target. The other limitation of a UAV mechanical beam steering system is that the system is expensive to maintain and with low reliability. To solve this problem, we are proposing the use of MIMO technology as a readily available technology for UAV beyond line of sight technology. Although UAV antenna tracking is domiciled in the mechanical beam steering arrangement, this study shows that this native technology could be usurped by MIMO beam forming.

Keywords: MIMO technology; UAV; antenna array; azimuth angle; beam steering; elevation angle; range; tracking antenna system.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
UAV market outlook [13].
Figure 2
Figure 2
A UAV tracking antenna system.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The major types of antenna discussed.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Biconical antenna.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Yagi–Uda antenna [55].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Helical antenna [59].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Corner reflector antenna [60].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Bowtie antenna [60].
Figure 9
Figure 9
Log-periodic dipole array antenna [72].
Figure 10
Figure 10
Vivaldi antenna [81].
Figure 11
Figure 11
Azimuth angle.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Monopulse UAV tracking [114].
Figure 13
Figure 13
MIMO classification.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Receive diversity in MIMO.
Figure 15
Figure 15
Schematic presentation of spatial MIMO.
Figure 16
Figure 16
Schematic Diagram of Transmit MIMO beamforming.
Figure 17
Figure 17
A four-sector beam-forming antenna for UAV tracking.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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