SBIR-STTR Award

A Search Engine for Antenna Design
Award last edited on: 9/2/2010

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
NSF
Total Award Amount
$620,000
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
-----

Principal Investigator
Derek Linden

Company Information

X5 Systems Inc

MS 23-11 NASA Research Park
Mountain View, CA 94035
   (650) 335-2802
   info@x5systems.com
   www.x5systems.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 18
County: Santa Clara

Phase I

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase I year
2009
Phase I Amount
$100,000
This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project seeks to demonstrate feasibility of a software tool employing advanced search algorithms applied to antenna design and optimization. Current methods of designing and optimizing antennas by hand are time and labor intensive, address limited complexity, and require significant expertise. Genetic algorithm (GA) optimization has been shown to find effective antenna design solutions that would not ordinarily be found through engineering intuition. If the current effort is successful, the core of a new software tool to demonstrate the feasibility of a highly-automated design approach, where useful antennas can be generated without requiring significant guidance: the user simply enters design requirements (e.g., RF performance, dimensions, cost), and an automated optimization produces one or more compliant designs will be demonstrated. This approach promises to improve the performance and economics of future antenna applications for many industry and government customers

Phase II

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase II year
2010
Phase II Amount
$520,000
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project seeks to develop and launch a software tool that applies advanced AI algorithms to antenna design and optimization. Manual antenna design and optimization methods are time- and labor-intensive, limit complexity, and require significant expertise. Genetic algorithm (GA) optimization has demonstrated success at quickly finding effective antenna design solutions not ordinarily found through engineering intuition. To harness the power of these search algorithms currently, an engineer must be an expert in both GAs and Electromagnetics. In Phase I, feasibility of a highly-automated design approach where useful antennas can be generated without requiring significant guidance was demonstrated: the user simply inputs design requirements (e.g., RF performance, dimensions, etc.), and an automated optimization produces compliant designs. If successful, this technology promises to improve the performance and economics of future antenna applications for commercial and government customers. The world is in the midst of an explosion in the number of new wireless, mobile, and RF systems - all of which rely on one or more antennas. Yet antenna design has changed little in the past two decades, with large up-front costs and slow, inefficient trial-and-error methods. X5 Systems is attempting to bring to market a next generation way to design antennas: one that is faster, better, cheaper. The commercial potential of the proposed software system encompasses application areas of interest to companies in mobile and wireless, RFID, and consumer electronics, as well as government agencies - especially applications that have exacting performance, schedule, and cost requirements