IJECT VOL. 3, ISSUe 1, JAN.

- MARcH 2012

ISSN : 2230-7109 (Online) | ISSN : 2230-9543 (Print)

A Novel BiQuad Antenna for 2.4GHz Wireless Link Application : A Proposed Design
1 1 2

Dept. of ECE, SBBSIET, Jalandhar, Punjab, India Dept. of ECE, DAVIET, Jalandhar, Punjab, India
We use 4nec2 RF simulation software for modeling and Simulation. fig. 2, shows the antenna model prepared in 4nec2.

Bhupinder Singh, 2Amandeep Singh

Abstract An ISM Band (2.4GHz) Design for a Biquad Antenna with Reflector base is presented for satisfying the ISM Band point-topoint link Applications in this paper. This proposed design can be used for Reception as well as Transmission in Wi-Fis, WLAN, Bluetooth and even Zigbee links. The proposed antenna consists of two squares of the same size of 14 wavelength as a radiating element and a metallic plate or grid as reflector. This antenna has a beam width of about 70 degrees and a gain in the order of 1012 dBi. A Prototype of this Antenna is designed and constructed. Parametric study is performed to understand the characterstics of the proposed antenna. Almost good antenna performances such as radiation patterns and antenna gains over the operating bands have been observed and simulated peak gain of the antenna is 10.7 dBi at 2439MHz. The simulated return loss is -35dB, whereas simulated SWR is 1.036 over the operating bands. Keywords Biquad, Bluetooth, Standalone, Feeder, ISM Band, Wi-Fi, WLAN, Zigbee I. Introduction The Biquad antenna is simple to build and offers good directivity and gain for Point-to-Point communications [1]. It consists of two squares of the same size of 14 wavelength as a radiating element and a metallic plate or grid as reflector. This antenna has a beam width of about 70 degrees and a gain in the order of 10-12 dBi. It can be used as stand-alone antenna or as feeder for a Parabolic Dish [2]. The polarization is such that looking at the antenna from the front, if the squares are placed side by side the polarization is vertical. The element is made from a length of 2mm thick copper wire, bent into the appropriate shape. Note that the length of each side should be close to 31 mm as possible, when measured from center to center of the wire [4-5]. The Details of the proposed antenna design are described in the paper, and simulated results are presented and discussed in the following sections. II. Proposed Antenna Design The geometry of the main radiating element is shown in fig. 1. The proposed antenna elements are made from 2mm thick copper wire bent into appropriate shape as shown in fig. 1. We used Single-sided Copper clad Board of 2mm thickness for making the Reflector Base of my prototype whose size is 12376.8mm. But FR-4 PCB board will perform better as compared to mine.

Fig. 2: Wire Frame Model Prepared in 4nec2 We used a threaded female RF Jack that is inserted through a hole in the exact middle position of copper-clad reflector board from the rear and bolted. The main central pin of jack is extended to attain a length of 15.37mm.The main feed point of biquad element [6], is soldered on it, whereas a stub of same 2mm thickness, 15.37mm long copper wire is used as return feed. A 50ohm coaxial cable with male type RF connector on one side can be easily connected to our prototype by inserting it into female RF jack. Simulation showed that adding sides to the reflector could significantly reduce the sidelobes. These sides were slightly higher than the antenna, when it was mounted to the reflector. This reduction in side-lobe power produced approximately a 2dBi increase in output power, when compared to a version with no sides. The sides were tack soldered in place, and then the corners were seam soldered as shown in fig. 3. The height of the Biquad element from reflector surface is kept equal to /8 i.e 15.37mm for achieving nearly 50ohm impedance. This value is optimized by hit & trial method manually, as 4nec2 does not contain any optimization feature.

Fig. 1: Geometry of Main Radiating Element

Fig. 3: Actual Antenna details

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ISSN : 2230-7109 (Online) | ISSN : 2230-9543 (Print)

IJECT VOL. 3, ISSUe 1, JAN. - MARcH 2012

III. Simulation and Actual Results The simulated parametric study results and return losses for the proposed Biquad antenna are obtained.

Fig. 6: Actual Return Loss of Prototype The snapshots of Prototype from Front and Rear are shown in fig. 8 & fig. 9, respectively. Actually no side planes were used in first prototype. They were added later to increase the antenna gain further [7]. As shown in actual the prototype is compact & portable. It can be easily connected to the transceivers with any 50 Ohm Coaxial cable. We use female RF Jack and Male RF Connector which are easily available and economical.

Fig. 4: Simulated Current Distribution of Proposed Antenna The current distribution of the proposed antenna using 4nec2 simulator is shown in fig. 4 and the simulated Radiation Patterns of the proposed antenna are shown in fig. 5. The Proposed Antenna has a beamwidth of 70 degree. The simulated return losses and SWR are presented for the optimized set of antenna parameters.

Fig. 7: Actual SWR of Prototype

Fig. 5: Antenna Pattern The value of simulated Return loss on desired frequency band is -35dB, whereas SWR is 1.036. The Following graphs belongs to the tests performed on the actual prototype. The actual results of Authors Prototype are shown in fig. 6 & fig. 7, that are satisfying. The actual Return Loss of prototype is found - 41dB, where as SWR is 1.06. Fig. 8: Front View

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INTERNATiONAL JOURNAL OF ELECTRONiCS & COMMUNiCATiON TECHNOLOGY 175

IJECT VOL. 3, ISSUe 1, JAN. - MARcH 2012

ISSN : 2230-7109 (Online) | ISSN : 2230-9543 (Print)

Fig. 9: Rear View IV. Conclusion An ISM band Biquad antenna is proposed. The various parameters of the Proposed antenna are optimized through simulation. Prototype of the proposed antenna has been designed, simulated and fabricated. The BiQuad antenna is probably the best overall because of its compact size, Simplicity, ease of use and 14dB gain properties [8]. This antenna would be easily mountable on the dash board or in the Window of a vehicle. An radome can be used here to protect the Antenna from Environmental Hazards, But it should be made from such materials that do not effect Antenna performances. Also it may be possible to use the same Antenna for any 2.4GHz Link Applications like WiFi, WLAN and Bluetooth interception. A 2nd Prototype for 1.2GHz application is also fabricated & Tested based on similar Design. References [1] H. E. King, I. L. Wong,An Experimental Study of a BalunFed Open-Sleeve Dipole in Front of a Metallic Reflector, Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions, Vol. 20, pp. 201-204. March 1972. [2] Kuo, Y.L., Wong, K.L.,Printed double-T monopole antenna for 2.4/5.2 GHz dual-band WLAN operations, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., 51, (9), pp. 21872192, 2003. [3] Xiaoqin Liu, Gang Wang, Xin Lai,Double-Sided BowTie Antenna for 2G/3G/WiFi and Mobile WiMAX, 2008 IEEE. [4] John D. Kraus,Antennas, McGraw-HILL, International Editions. [5] C. A. Balanis,Antenna Theory, Analysis and Design, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1997. [6] Stutzmann, Warren L., Thiele, Garry A.,Antenna Theory and Design, 2nd Ed., New York: John Wiley Sons. 1998. [7] Milligan, T. A.,Modern Antenna Design, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2005. [8] [Online] Available: http://www.martybugs.net/wireless/ biquad/#bg

Er. Amandeep Singh, received his Engineering degree in ECE in the year of 2003 from IEI India, Kolkata University, Kolkata. He obtained M.Tech., degree in ECE in the year 2009 from GNDEC, Ludhiana, India. Now he is pursuing PhD from Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering & Technology, Longowal, Sangrur, in the field of Antenna Designing & Soft computing. He has been working as an Assistant Professor in the department of Electronics and Communication Engineering in DAV Institute of Engineering And Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, India. He has 8 years of teaching experience. He got involved and worked in various committees in the college. Er. Bhupinder Singh, received his Engineering degree in ECE in the year of 2005 from IITT college of Engineering, Punjab. He is pursuing his M.Tech. degree in ECE from DAV Institute of Engineering And Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, India. His research interest is Antenna Designing. He has been working as an Assistant Professor in the department of Electronics and Communication Engineering in Sant Baba Bhag Singh Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, India. He has 5 years of teaching experience. He got involved in various technical activities in the college.

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