SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Special operations (SO) are often conducted at great distances from the supporting operational bases and depend critically on situational awareness to perform precision strikes and achieve scalable lethal or nonlethal effects. To accomplish this, the SOF warrior must have the smallest yet most effective antenna that can be integrated with his uniform and which can facilitate maintenance of UHF SATCOM and/or MUOS communications links during the mission. A highly miniaturized microstrip patch antenna using magneto-dielectric (M-D) substrates with complex permittivity(ε)>1 and complex permeability (μ) >1 is proposed. At the end of Phase 1 JEM will produce an optimal M-D patch antenna design operating in 225MHz-400MHz SATCOM band that is highly miniaturized antenna design (proposed volume 4.5” square and 1.5” deep) with an expected weight of approximately 0.5 lbs using a combination JEM’s artificial M-D substrate and lightweight artificial dielectric technology.
