Hung Luyen, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, is looking at ways to develop multifunctional high-frequency (HF) antennas capable of supporting robust full-duplex operation for simultaneously sending and receiving information.

HF radio remains critical in military operations due to its ability to transmit voice and data over short- and long-range distances without relying on supporting infrastructure like GPS, satellites, or cellular networks. However, due to large wavelength of electromagnetic waves at the HF band and the large near-field region of HF antennas, interference problems in existing HF antenna systems are very complex and dynamic and can make a full-duplex operation extremely challenging.

"By developing a robust full duplex operation, the Navy would be able to send and receive important information at the same time as opposed to how it’s currently done with a half-duplex operation," said Luyen. "In a half-duplex operation, the receiver is blanked during transmit windows, which potentially results in serious loss of important information."

The project is funded by a $300,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research and aims to develop adaptive matching and decoupling networks (AMDNs) for use in multi-functional HF antenna systems with two or more radiating elements, enabling the full-duplex operation. AMDNs allow multi-functional HF systems to dynamically adapt to a changing antenna environment, perform beam steering, and perform multiple transmit and receive functions while effectively isolating the transmit and receive channels. Such systems would improve the Navy’s capabilities in various applications ranging from electronic support and electronic attack to beyond-line-of-sight communications and over-the-horizon radar systems.

"The developed HF antenna systems can be implemented on Navy ships, on grounded stations, or on assault amphibious vehicles moving through different terrains to support robust and resilient communication for military purposes," he said.