Miniature Metamaterial Antennas Project Announced

By Doug Lung
published


Metamaterials are back in the news.

Professor Hossein Mosallaei, a professor at Northeastern University is working to make antennas smaller and more efficient. Mosallaei and his team were recently awarded a three-year, $490,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research in support of this project.

"Our goal is to develop a new antenna that allows for very quick data transmission over any distance, long or short, while keeping it as small as possible," Mosallaei said. "Whether they will help doctors diagnose patients earlier, or help to monitor the world around us more efficiently, the technological capabilities of these tiny antennas will bring about a new era in improved wireless communications."

I described metamaterials in my February article Metamaterials Boost Antenna Efficiency.

As I noted last month, this technology could produce miniature high-band VHF antennas that are as small or smaller than today's typical mobile UHF antenna design, and which would work as UHF antennas. It is encouraging to see more research on these antennas.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.