Abstract: The present invention provides a fragmented aperture antenna. The antenna includes a planar layer having a plurality of conductive and substantially non-conductive areas. Each area has a periphery that extends along a grid of first and second sets of parallel lines so that each area comprises one or more contiguous elements defined by the parallel lines. The locations of the conducting materials in the fragmented aperture antenna are determined by a multi-stage optimization procedure that tailors the performance of the antenna to a particular application. The resulting configuration and arrangement of conductive and substantially non-conductive areas enable communication of electromagnetic energy wirelessly in a specific direction to the planar layer when an electrical connection is made to at least one of the conductive areas.

Abstract: A photonic bandgap antenna (PBA) (10') utilizes a periodic bandgap material (PBM), which is essentially a dielectric, to transmit, receive, or communicate electromagnetic radiation encoded with information. Further, a photonic bandgap transmission line (PBTL) (10") can also be constructed with the PBM. Because the PBA (10') and PBTL (10") do not utilize metal, the PBA (10') and PBTL (10") can be used in harsh environments, such as those characterized by high temperature and/or high pressure, and can be easily built into a dielectric structure such as a building wall or roof. Further, the PBA (10') and PBTL (10") inhibit scattering by incident electromagnetic radiation at frequencies outside those electromagnetic frequencies in the bandgap range associated with the PBM.