IDEA #62J48M DUAL TONE MODULATED ANTENNA. 24A0026

[0001] The present disclosure relates to electrically small antennas (ESAs) and, more specifically, to a system and method for operating an ESA as a dual tone modulated antenna. [0002] Electrically small antennas (ESAs) are significantly shorter than the wavelength of the signals it is designed for. An ESA typically takes the form of a small loop or patch and is therefore advantageous to use when space is at a premium. Due to the fundamental tradeoff between antenna size (i.e., antenna radius), antenna wavelength and antenna bandwidth, ESAs are typically narrow band antennas. This tradeoff limits a communication data rate for the ESA, especially in a range of high frequency (HF) (about 30 MHz to about 300 MHz) and very high frequency (VHF) (about 300 MHz to about 3000 MHz). For various uses, it is desirable to have antennas as small as possible. Therefore, there is a need to operate an ESA that maintains a suitable communication bandwidth and efficiency. The radiation efficiency of ESAs is also lower compared to larger antennas due to higher losses in the small structure. As mentioned in [0002], ESAs are typically narrowband antennas (they exhibit high Q-factors), thus offering a limited efficiency-bandwidth product. The proposed dual-tone modulation technique can be leveraged to enhance the efficiency-bandwidth product. This would enhance communication data rates, reliability, and coverage.