IEEE AP-SIEEE Antennas and Propagation Society
Distinguished Lecturer Program

Miniaturization of Ultra-wideband Antennas
IEEE AP Distinguished Lecturer

Dr Zhi Ning Chen
Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore

Chair & Organizer : Prof. Masahiko Nishimoto, IEEE AP-S Fukuoka Chapter
Time & Venue: 14:30-16:00pm 8th May. 2009, Faculty of Eng. Research Building 1F,
Kumamoto University Kurokami South Campus
http://www.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/e/aboutKU/visitorinfo/kurokami.html (No.42)

This talk briefly introduces design challenges of ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas. An outlined of special design
considerations are presented from a systems point of view, followed by some state-of-the-art solutions. Then, theminiaturization technology of UWB antennas is addressed. The planar designs are highlighted due to their unique merits andwide adoption in applications. First, the ground plane dependence of the antenna performance in small antenna design isaddressed. Using a newly developed technique, the dependence of small antenna performance on system ground plane isalleviated. A design example is used to elaborate the mechanism of the method. Based on this concept, the antenna withfurther reduced size is designed to fit the size of wireless USB dongle. Furthermore, an innovative compact diversity UWB
antenna shows the advantage of ground-independence small antenna in diversity applications. Last, a UWB antenna integrated
with bandpass filter is proposed to reduce the overall size of devices by using the concept of co-design. In the end of the talk,the trend of UWB antenna R&D is offered according to application and market demands.
Dr Zhi Ning Chen received his BEng, MEng, PhD, and DoE degrees all in Electrical Engineering from Institute ofCommunications Engineering, China and University of Tsukuba, Japan, respectively. During 1988-1995, heworked as Teaching Assistant, Lecturer, Postdoctoral Fellow and later Associate Professor at Institute ofCommunications Engineering and Southeast University, China. During 1995-1997, he joined in City University ofHong Kong, China as Research Assistant, later Research Fellow. In 1997, he conducted his research at Universityof Tsukuba, Japan as JSPS Fellow. In 2001 and 2004, he visited University of Tsukuba under JSPS Fellowship
Program (senior level). In 2004, he worked at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, USA as Academic Visitor. Since
1999, he has worked with Institute for Infocomm Research as Member of Technical Staff (MTS) and later Principal
MTS. He is currently appointed as Principal Scientist and Head for RF & Optical Department as well as PIs for
multiple academic and industry projects. He is concurrently holding the adjunct/guest professorships at Southeast
University, Nanjing University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and National University of Singapore. He has also been Technical Advisorof Compex Systems (listed) since 2006.
Dr Chen has organized many international technical events as general chairs, technical program committee chairs. He founded IEEEInternational Workshop on Antenna Technology (iWAT) in 2005, which has become one of the most important international antennaevents. He has delivered invited talks, keynote speeches and short courses at many international events. He is serving several international
journals as Editor, Associate Editors, Guest Editors, and Reviewers. Dr Chen has published more than 230 journal and conference papers.
He has authored and edited the books entitled “Broadband Planar Antennas”, “UWB Wireless Communication” and “Antennas forPortable Devices” all published by John Wiley & Sons as well as “Antennas for Base-stations in Wireless Communications” (to bepublished in 2009). He also contributed to the books of “UWB Antennas and Propagation for Communications, Radar, and Imaging”
published by John Wiley & Sons and “Antenna Engineering Handbook” published by McGraw Hill. He is the co-/inventor of more than 20
granted and filed patents. Several of his antenna designs have been licensed to industry for production. His current research interest
includes applied electromagnetics, antennas, and bio-electromagnetics.
Dr. Chen is a Fellow of the IEEE for his contribution to small and broadband antennas for wireless applications and IEEE Antennas
and Propagation Society Distinguished Lecturer. (more information can be found at www1.i2r.a-star.edu.sg/~chenzn)