Compact asymmetric coplanar strip fed Dual Band Antenna for WLAN applications

Deepu.V, Sujith.R , Binu paul and P. Mohanan Centre for Research in Electromagnetics and Antennas Department of electronics, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala, India Email: deepuv@cusat.ac.in

Abstract
A compact asymmetric coplanar strip fed F shaped monopole antenna for dual band applications is presented. The antenna exhibits a dual band from 2.22 GHz to 2.54 GHz and from 4.94 GHz to 5.80 GHz covering the 2.4/5.2 GHz WLAN and HIPERLAN2 bands. The dual band nature of the antenna is due to the various current paths excited in the F shaped structure. The uniplanar antenna structure has a compact dimension of 22 mm x 19 mm when printed on a substrate of dielectric constant 4.4 and height 1.6 mm. The antenna exhibits nearly omni directional radiation characteristics and moderate gain in the entire operating bands. The uniplanar nature, simple feeding technique and compact structure make it easy for modular design. The design is validated with experimental and simulated results.

1. Introduction
The enormous use of wirefree devices for data transfer has created a wide demand for antennas working in the WLAN frequencies. Different types of WLAN antennas compatable to various user requirements have been reported. Kuo et al [1] proposed a double T monopole antenna comprising of stacked monopoles for 2.4/5.2 band applications using a microstrip feed. Jan et al [2] proposed a dual band antenna using a shorted inverted L shaped parasite. Compared to the above designs uniplanar antennas have added advantages of easy integration with active circuits. Many types of uniplanar antennas [3-5] have been reported in literature. In this paper an asymmetric coplanar strip (ACS) fed dual band monopole antenna is presented. The antenna comprises of an ACS feed structure and a F shaped patch. Ansoft HFSS is used for the simulation and analysis of the structure. The antenna resonates with a wide band from 2.22 GHz to 2.54 GHz and from 4.94 GHz to 5.80 GHz covering the 2.4/5.2 GHz WLAN and HIPERLAN2 bands. Details of antenna design and experimental results are provided.

2. Antenna Design
The geometry of the antenna is shown in figure 1.The antenna is printed on one side of a FR4 substrate of dielectric constant 4.4 and height 1.6 mm. The antenna structure comprises of the ACS feed and an F shaped radiating structure .The dimensions of the antenna are optimized using Ansoft HFSS. The width of the ground plane (LM) and that of the signal strip (AS1) of the ACS feed are chosen from standard design equations. The signal is fed across S1 and S2. The length of the inverted L (ABCDEFJ) is taken to be around a quarter of the free space wavelength corresponding to 2.4 GHz. A small strip (FGHI) is then attached to the above monopole to obtain another resonance. The resonant frequency of the strip is determined by the total length of the strip (HI) and its height (IJ) above the
18mm B E 17mm F I A J 5mm C 4mm
Return Loss (dB)
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Frequency (GHz)

Fig.1. Geometry of the proposed dual band antenna.

Fig.2.Return loss characteristics of the antenna.

ground and the resonant frequency is found to be equal to a quarter of the resonant length at 5.2 GHz.

3. Results and discussion

The measured and simulated reflection characteristics of the prototype antenna is shown in figure2.It can be seen that the Experimental results are in agreement with that of the simulated results. The 2:1 VSWR band width of the antenna is from 2.22 GHz to 2.54 GHz and from 4.94 GHz to 5.80 GHz. The surface current distribution in the antenna at 2.32 and 5.26 GHz are shown in figures 3(a) and 3(b). It can be seen that the lower resonance is due to the inverted L structure (ABCDEFJ)(3.a.) and the higher resonance is due to the length JIH(3.b).It can be seen that the strip GFED acts as an inductive stub for the higher resonant frequency thereby improving the matching corresponding to higher frequency whose impedance was found to be capacitive otherwise.

Fig.3.a Current distribution at 2.32 GHz

Fig.3.b Current distribution at 5.26 GHz

The Principal E and H plane patterns of the antenna for the two bands are shown in figures 4 and 5.A near omni directional pattern is obtained in both the bands. It is found that the antenna is polarized along the X axis for the first band and along the Y axis for the second band .The measured gain of antenna is found to be equal to 1.9 dBi at 2.32 GHz and 1.7 dBi at 5.26 GHz.

90 120 60
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Fig.4.a E plane pattern at 2.32 GHz.

Fig.4.b. H plane pattern at 2.32 GHz.

90 120 60 120

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180 -50 H co_5.26 H _X_5.26 -40 -30 -20 -10 0

E co _5.26 E _X 5.26 210 330 210

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Fig.5.a E plane pattern at 5.26 GHz.

Fig.5.b. H plane pattern at5.26 GHz.

4. Conclusion
An asymmetric coplanar strip fed dual band monopole antenna for dual band applications is presented. The antenna has an uniplanar structure and compact dimensions of 22 mm x 19 mm x 1.6 mm on substrate of dielectric constant 4.4. Near omni directional radiation characteristics with moderate gain make it an ideal choice for wireless applications

5. Acknowledgments
The authors thankfully acknowledge DRDO, Govt. of India, DST, Govt of India and KGCSTE, Govt of Kerala for providing financial assistance

6. References
1. Yen-Liang Kuo and Kin-Lu Wong, Printed Double-T Monopole Antenna for 2.4/5.2 GHz Dual Band WLAN Operations, IEEE Transaction on antennas and propagation, Vol 51,No.9, September 2003, pp. 2187-2191 2. Jen-Yea Jan and Liang-Chih Tseng, Small Planar Monopole Antenna With a Shorted Parasitic Inverted-L Wire for Wireless Communications in the 2.4-5.2,and 5.8- GHz Bands, IEEE Transaction on antennas and propagation, Vol 52 ,No.7, July 2004, pp. 1903-1905 3.Chih- Ming Su, Hong-Twu Chen and Kin-Lu Wong, Printed dual-band dipole antenna with U-slotted arms for 2.4/5.2 GHz WLAN operation, Electronic Letters,Vol.38,No.22, 24th October 2002, pp. 1308-1309 4. C.-M. Wu, Dual-band CPW-fed cross-slot monopole antenna for WLAN operation,IET Microwave Antennas Propagation, Vol.1,No.2, April-2007,pp. 542-546. 5.Deepu.V,Rohith K. Raj, Manoj Joseph, Suma M.N, and P.Mohanan, Compact Asymmetric Coplanr Strip Fed Monopole Antenna for Multiband Application, IEEE Transaction on antennas and propagation, Vol 55,No.8, August 2007, pp. 2351-2357