One antenna working as receiver and transmitter

antennaimpedance

I want to know, if an antenna which transmits and receives the reflected signal can be modeled as an impedance.
For example, the antenna is coupled to a Collpits oscillator and sends out an electromagnetic wave which is reflected by, for simplicity, a wall of a conductor. So it receives something which superimposes the sent signal.
Can this configuration be modeled as an impedance?

The idea is to model this configuration as a "kind of lossy transmission line" where a transmission line (tl) has a certain impedance depending on its length.

If so, the impedance varies with the distance of the reflecting wall and tunes the oscillator to a slightly different frequency, which is what I want to find out about.
The goal is to have a function of frequency vs. distance.

I can simulate the S-Parameters of the antenna (not done yet), if this is helpful for you to know.

Edit:
Today I simulated the antenna and the software returns Z-Values and S-Parameters that vary over exciting-frequency and distance of the reflector.
So it shows, that the antenna can be modeled as a complex impedance which varies with distance of the reflector. So we can use this impedance shift to tune the oscillator by putting it into the feedback loop.
But:
As said above the impedance varies also with frequency. So imagine we change the distance of the reflector and get a different impedance, then the oscillator changes its frequency which also changes the impedance. So we have a self-backcoupling massively non-linear equation and I don't know how to get around this problem.
Am I at least on the right track? Is there a way of solving this interrelatedness?

Best Answer

If you want frequency proportional to range of wall, consider using an FM continuous wave (FMCW) or linear FM homodyne (LFMH) radar. LFMH and FMCW are almost synonyms. Transmit and receive occur (or can occur) simultaneously. The transmit waveform consists of a linear frequency ramp. The TX and RX are mixed, and the difference frequency is selected using a low-pass filter. When there is a single dominant radar target (such as a wall) the difference frequency is basically a sine wave with frequency proportional to range.

This is one of the simplest types of radar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous-wave_radar#Modulated_continuous-wave http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/FrequencyModulatedContinuousWaveFMCWRadar/