A.A. Sudakov, P.Y. Chesnokov

Ultra-wideband (UWB) technique was born in XIX century when A.S. Popov invents the world-s first radio transceiver. Nowadays UWB signal is the signal which has relative bandwidth more than 0,2 or absolute bandwidth more than 500 MHz. For emitting this signal it is necessary to use UWB antenna. Thus since invention of first radio transceiver progress in UWB antennas is close related with progress in apparatus technique. Historically the first UWB antennas are Lodge-s bi-conical dipole (bow-tie dipole) and monopole antenna, which use ground plane as second conductor. The most advanced antenna at early stage was coaxial horn antenna of Lindenblad. Lindenblad has improved dipole with coaxial screen in middle part of antenna by adding smooth impedance transition for bandwidth increasing. In the middle of last century engineers was researched conical horn and horn with rectangular profile. These antennas are well known now. Design of horn antennas compare with other antenna type allow to get high direction. They are used in applications, which require large signal bandwidth. In 1968 Stohr suggested to use volume elliptical monopole and dipole. Such kind of construction is a prototype of planar UWB antenna, which is well known today. Although current antennas have excellent technical parameters but new requirements to antennas are need to be considered. Nowadays UWB devices are used more often so it is necessary to increase production efficiency i.e. design cheapness and production simplicity. Microminiaturization tendencies put requirement to antenna compactness. Exactly these requirements are main requirements for modern UWB antenna research process. Well known bow-tie Lodge-s antenna is satisfy of these requirements. Similarly, Masters has proposed to use triangular dipole. Lately this antenna was named "diamond" dipole and was widely used in UWB systems. Dipole-and-horn Krylov-s antenna is modification of King-s horn. Antenna was designed as combination of microstrip surface mount disc emitter and metal reflector as part of round horn. Such antenna allows getting nearly the same electromagnetic field distribution in aperture as field in conic horn antenna with more height. At the same parameters Krylov-s antenna has height in several times less than King-s horn. This revue shows historical way of UWB antennas progress starting from begin and until present time. During this time, tendencies in UWB antennas design were changed. At the beginning, engineers try to improve technical parameters of antennas like efficiency and emitting directions. Lately development efforts concentrate at production efficiently and antenna size. Production efficiency includes simple construction and production cheapness. It may be achieved transition from 3D antenna to 2D antenna design (planar antennas). Cheapness may be achieved by changing materials for antenna. For example, metal parts may be changed on plastic with metal covering. Similar tendencies will be dominate in the future. It is clear that because of total commercialization of UWB devices not technical antenna parameters have not less importance than technical parameters. Often small antenna size is more important than antenna gain, bandwidth or other technical parameters.