Fractal Antennas

Almost all the printed antennas can be realized in fractal form to derive the advantages of
compact and multi-band nature of fractals. The antenna elements may include
monopoles, dipoles, printed wires and patches in the microstrip, slot and CPW
configurations. Arrays based on fractal antenna elements are found to possess several
desirable properties lie low side-lobe levels, scanning without grating lobes, and multi-
band performance. !inally, the reconfigurable systems based on fractal elements and
arrays are found to be ideal candidates.
Printed wire fractal antennas
Printed patch antennas
Fractal Arrays
Fractal Antenna Analysis Techniques
The fractal antennas may be analyzed using the numerical techni"ues described in
Chapter #. The most common techni"ues used for this purpose are$ method of moments,
finite element methods, and !%T%. The number of unnowns for a fractal antenna
increases as the order of the fractal increases. Therefore, use of computational techni"ues
only becomes prohibitively costly. The modeling techni"ues may be preferred to reduce
the cost of analysis at the e&pense of accuracy. Combination of models and
computational techni"ue may be used to optimize the cost of analysis. Two important
models for the analysis of fractals have been proposed. The iterative networ model '(-
#), and segmentation with multiport-networ model '*) have been used successfully. +n
addition, characteristic mode analysis has also been employed',). The fractal antenna
geometry consists of a number of geometrical shapes which are similar to each other but
scaled differently. The similarity of shapes gives rise to similar current distributions and
also similar individual --matrices. This feature is useful in reducing the computational
cost for the analysis of these antennas. .o. enhancement techni"ue based on multilevel
matri& decomposition has been proposed to develop recursive algorithm '/).
Iterative Network Model
-ince the fractal geometry is obtained from the repeated application of iterative function
system 0+!-1, an iterative networ model has been developed to predict the behavior of
fractal antennas '(). 2et us consider !ig.(( for the analysis of -ierpinsi gaset. +t is the
building bloc3generator of the fractal and consists of three identical triangles touching
each other. 4ach of the triangles may be described by the #-port --matri&. 5ecause of the
symmetry and reciprocity property of the e"uilateral triangle, its --matri& is characterized
completely by two parameters

and

as given below '()

' ) S



1
1

1
1
]
0(1
+n order to determine the --matri& of the geometry in !ig.( the interconnection between
the triangles A,5, and C need to be taen into account. This may be achieved using the
multi-port connection method of Chapter 6. !or this purpose, the --matri& is first
converted into the 7-matri&. This determines the --matri& of the building bloc or
generator, ' )
ABC
S .
!ig.($ 8enerator of the -ierpinsi gaset and its networ model
The ne&t stage of the -ierpinsi gaset, !ig. /0c1, may be modeled similarly e&cept that
the blocs' )
A
S , ' )
B
S , and ' )
C
S in !ig.( should be replaced by ' )
ABC
S . This iterative
process may be continued indefinitely to obtain the --matri& of the fractal. The model of
the fractal described in terms of the iterative application of the matri& of the generator is
called the iterative networ model '(). The iterative procedure of the model leads to the
following e&pression for the --matri& of the gaset after the 0n9(1
th
stage
( ( (
( ( ( (
( ( (
' )
n n n
n n n n
n n n
S



+ + +
+ + + +
+ + +
1
1

1
1
]
061
where the parameters
( n9(
and
n

+
are related to the previous set
n
and
n

as follows '()
( )
6
6
(
6
6
(
(
(
n
n n
n
n n
n
n n n
n

+
_
+

,
+
_
+ +

,
0#a1
' )
A
S
' )
B
S
' )
C
S
A
5
C
(
(
6
6
#
#
( )
6
6
(
6
(
(
(
n
n n
n
n
n
n n n
n

+
_
+

_
+ +

,
0#b1
The model has also been applied to the -ierpinsi gaset in which the initiator is a
triangle with flare angle of #:
o
or ;:
o
'().
The application of the iterative networ model to the -ierpinsi carpet fractal re"uires
certain modifications in the implementation of the model because the -tage ( fractal
which consists of < smaller s"uares have continuous boundaries between them unlie the
triangles in a gaset which are touching each other at the ape& only. The initiator, s"uare
patch of !ig. /0a1, is described by a multi-port networ with a number of ports on each of
the four sides. We have shown , ports on each side of the s"uare in !ig. 60a1. -ince the
initiator is a multi-port component, and the generator consists of the union of < such
components, it is convenient to obtain the matri& description of the generator if the
initiator is described in terms of its 7-matri&. The multi-port connection method of
Chapter 6 may be used to combine the 7-matrices of various initiators. A representation
of this process is given in !ig.60b1. !or !ig. 60c1, ' )
Gen
Z of the < generators are combined
to obtain the 7-matri& for the ne&t stage of the fractal. +t may be noted from !ig.6 that the
number of ports and therefore the size of the 7-matri& increases as the order of fractal
increases. +t may be noted that the model neglects the coupling between various
constituents of the fractal.
0a1 0b1 0c1
!ig.6$ -chematic of the iterative networ model for the -ierpinsi carpet.
0a1 .ulti-port 7-matri& of the initiator, 0b1 -egmentation method and the
multi-port connection method used to obtain 7-matri& of the fractal
' ) Z
'7)
'7)
+nitiator
Config.
' )
Gen
Z
8enerator
config.
' )
Gen
Z
' )
Gen
Z
(
st
order
config
generator, 0c1 +terative approach of 0b1 used to obtain 7-matri& for the ne&t
stage of the carpet fractal.
The --matri& of the initiator still needs to be determined. Any symmetric, reciprocal
three-port networ could be used to model the initiator. 5ased on the observation that
current distribution in the triangles is limited to the edges only, a lossy transmission line
model has been used in '(). The initiator, therefore, has been modeled as a symmetrical
=->unction of lossy lines as shown in !ig.#. The length of the transmission lines is
determined by the height of the gaset h, the number of iterations, and the flare angle of
the triangle '(). The characteristic impedance of the transmission lines was empirically
ad>usted to
:
,Z
, where
:
Z
is the reference impedance. The high value of line impedance
signifies very thin layer of current on the edges of the triangle.
!ig.#$ -ymmetrical =->unction transmission line model
laid on the initiator of -ierpinsi gaset
The input reflection coefficient
in

of the *
th
order -ierpinsi gaset shown in !ig. * was
computed using the iterative networ model and compared with the measurements '). The
height of the gaset h was <.; cm and it was fabricated on a substrate with
6.,
r

and
thicness (*.*mm. The conductor, dielectric and radiation losses of the antenna were
lumped in the form of ? of the patch, was assumed to be (:. The feed port was fed by a
coa&ial line as shown in the figure and the rest of the ports were terminated in loads
determined as
6
L
h
f
c
_

,
The resistive loads partly compensate for the higher losses at the lower fre"uencies while
presenting open circuit at higher fre"uencies '). Comparison between the measured and
modeled
in

is shown in !ig.,. The comparison is found to be good for the multiple

resonant fre"uencies of the gaset.
(
6
#
:
Z
!ig.*$ *
th
order -ierpinsi gaspet studied to validat the iterative networ model ')
!ig.,$ Comparison of the computed and measured input
reflection coefficient of the gaset shown in !ig.*.
@oi '*) has used segmentation multiport networ model e&tended this approach to
-ierpinsi carpet antenna with 458 ground plane to realize a higher bandwidth and
improved radiation patterns.
'() C. Puente 5aliarda, et al.,A An iterative model for fractal antennas$ Application to the
-ierpinsi gaset antennaA, I!!! "rans# Antennas Propa$#% vol# &'% 6:::, pp. B(#-B(<.
'6) C. 5or>a, C. Puente, and A. .edina, C+terative networ model to predict the behaviour
of a -ierpinsi fractal networA, !lectron# Lett#% vol# (&% (;;<, pp. (**#-(**,.
'#) C. 5or>a, and C. Puente, C+terative networ models to predict the performance of
-ierpinsi fractal antennas and networsA, )*** I!!! Antennas and Propa$# Sy+p#% pp.
/,6-/,,.
'*) 5.-2. @oi, CA modified contour integral analysis for -ierpinsi fractal carpet antenna
with and without electromagnetic band gap ground planeA, I!!! "rans# Antennas
Propa$#% vol# ,-% 6::*, pp. (6</-(6;#.
',) W. Wu, 5.-7. Wang, and W. -hao, CCharacteristic mode analysis of planar fractal
antennaA, -.., I!!! Antennas and Propa$# Sy+p#% pp. 6,<-6/(.
'/) D. Parron, D. Eomeu, D... Eius, and D.E. .osig, C.ethod of moments enhancement
techni"ue for the analysis of -ierpinsi pre-fractal antennasA, I!!! "rans# Antennas
Propa$#% vol# ,)% 6::#, pp. (<B6-(<B/..
PBG, Fractals and UWB Antennas
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