In this paper, the bandwidth of a bowtie antenna is improved to meet the requirements of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) applications that need a fractional bandwidth greater than 100% and are able to operate at low frequencies. This was done using several modification steps, which were the use of Antipodal technique for its advantages in reducing the complexity of the feeder network to achieve good matching with a standard 50-Ω SMA connector, bending the four corners of the arms, and adding a triangular slot in each arm. The simulation was carried out using CST Microwave Studio to study the effect of each modification step on improving the bandwidth. The simulation results of the new antenna achieved a fractional bandwidth of 138% within the frequency range (1-5.45) GHz at the values of return loss (S 11 ≤ −10 dB). The new antenna was also fabricated, and the return loss was measured and showed a good agreement with the simulation results.

Software-Defined Radio (SDR) approaches for rapid prototyping of radio systems using reconfigurable hardware platforms offer significant advantages over traditional analog and hardwarecentered methods. In particular, time and cost savings can be achieved by reusing tested design artefacts; this translates to supporting various features and functionalities, such as updating and upgrading through reprogramming, without the need to replace the hardware on which they are implemented. This opens the doors to the possibility of realizing multi-band and multi-functional wireless devices. Progress in the SDR field has led to the escalation of protocol development and a wide spectrum of applications, with more emphasis on programmability, flexibility, portability, and energy efficiency, in Mobile technology, Wi-Fi, and M2M communication. Consequently, SDR has earned a lot of attention and great significance to both academia and industry. SDR designers intend to simplify the realization of communication protocols while enabling researchers to experiment with prototypes on deployed networks. This Research is a survey of the state-of-the art SDR platforms and development tools in the context of wireless communication which presented an overview of SDR architecture and its basic components; and discussed the significant design trends and development tools. In addition, we reviewed available SDR platforms with an analytical comparison based on a set of metrics as a guide to developers. Finally, we offered some predictable future Directions for SDR Researches