The effect of frequency-dependent radiation pattern on UWB antenna performance

Energy gain is the time-domain analogy to traditional frequency-domain power gain and thus is very appropriate for the characterization of ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas. However, the effects of frequency-dependent antenna radiation patterns on UWB system performance can be obfuscated by consideration of the energy pattern only. Here using a combination of energy gain and fidelity patterns we demonstrate, for the first time, the interplay between pulse width, source impedance, and system performance for a representative, low-gain UWB antenna: a biconical dipole.