Title: U-Slot microstrip patch antenna array for dual band operation in next generation wireless sensor network

Authors: Muhsin Ali; Bilal A. Khawaja; Muhammed Mustaqim; Munir A. Tarar

Addresses: Electronic and Power Engineering (EPE) Department, PN-Engineering College, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Habib-Rehmatullah Road, Karachi, Pakistan ' Electronic and Power Engineering (EPE) Department, PN-Engineering College, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Habib-Rehmatullah Road, Karachi, Pakistan ' Electronic and Power Engineering (EPE) Department, PN-Engineering College, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Habib-Rehmatullah Road, Karachi, Pakistan ' School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), H-12, Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract: This paper demonstrates the design, fabrication and characterisation of a dual-frequency antenna array for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The proposed design is a dual-band coaxial-fed 2 × 2 array rectangular U-Slot microstrip-patch antenna. It works on frequency bands of 2.1 GHz and 3.5 GHz. The targeted applications are the future high-speed WSNs based communication standards utilising MIMO to increase data-rates and that operate in 1-5 GHz frequency range. The initial design and simulation is performed in ADS Momentum using Rogers TMM3 substrate (εr = 3.27 and h = 6.35 mm). Later, this substrate is replaced by RT/Duroid 5880 because of the rare availability of the former. Good measured results are achieved in terms of return-loss and bandwidth. The maximum obtained gain for 2 × 2 U-slot rectangular patch antenna array is 11 dBi. Substrate losses are also taken into account during simulation. Simple design procedure and optimisation techniques are also discussed to design a single element dual-band patch antenna.

Keywords: WSNs; wireless sensor networks; IEEE 802.15.4; U-slot patch antenna; dual-band operation; long-term evolution; LTE; MIMO; multiple input multiple output; optimisation; dual-frequency antenna array; simulation; return loss; bandwidth.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSNET.2013.059078

International Journal of Sensor Networks, 2013 Vol.14 No.4, pp.218 - 225

Received: 30 Aug 2013
Accepted: 01 Sep 2013
Published online: 03 Feb 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article

 

Return to top