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Reduced-Size Antennas

For
Mobile Computing

By
Konstanty Bialkowski

The School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering


University of Queensland
Brisbane, Australia

Submitted for the degree of Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)


in the division of Electrical Engineering

October 18th 2002


Konstanty Bialkowski
77 Ironbark Road
Chapel Hill, Brisbane
Qld 4069, Australia

18th October 2002


Professor Simon Kaplan
Head of School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering
University of Queensland
St. Lucia, QLD 4072

Dear Professor Kaplan,

In accordance with the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Engineering


(Honours) in the division of Electrical Engineering at the University of Queensland, I
hereby submit for your consideration the thesis titled: “Reduced-Size Antennas for
Mobile Computing”. This work was performed under supervision of Dr Adam Postula.

I declare that the work submitted in this thesis is my own, except as acknowledged in
the text and has not been previously submitted for a degree at The University of
Queensland or any other institution.

Yours sincerely,

Konstanty Bialkowski
Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr Adam Postula, for providing me with an interesting
topic of reduced size antennas for mobile computing. His valuable advice has guided me to
the successful completion of this thesis.

I am also grateful to Mr. Eddie Tsai for his advice and support with regard to developing and
testing some of the planar antennas considered in thesis.

Thanks also go to Mr. Russel Clarke, the microwave lab supervisor, for setting up the
measurement system and for providing access to software packages ADS2002 Momentum
and PCAAD.

I would also like to express my gratitude to my family for encouragement and support during
my studies at the University of Queensland.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 1


Table of Contents

Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................................... 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS......................................................................................................... 2
TABLE OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. 3
TABLE OF EQUATIONS ............................................................................................................. 4
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... 4
1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 6
1.1. AIMS OF THE THESIS ................................................................................................ 10
1.2. THESIS ORGANIZATION .............................................................................................. 10
1.3. PURPOSE OF MOBILE COMMUNICATION .................................................................... 12
1.4. STANDARDS FOR WIRELESS COMPUTING .................................................................. 12
1.5. ROLE OF THE ANTENNA IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION .............................................. 14
1.5.1. Antenna Size Reduction Effects ........................................................................ 16
1.6. DIVERSITY TECHNIQUES ........................................................................................... 17
1.6.1. Application of Diversity to Mobile Computing ................................................ 20
2. ANTENNAS FOR PORTABLE MOBILE DEVICES ............................................... 21
2.1. REDUCING SIZE OF PLANAR ANTENNAS .................................................................... 22
3. DESIGN AND EM SIMULATIONS OF PLANAR ANTENNAS............................. 27
3.1. NON ADAPTIVE ANTENNA DESIGNS .......................................................................... 27
3.1.1. Ordinary Patch Antenna .................................................................................. 27
3.1.2. Shorted Patch (λ/4) .......................................................................................... 30
3.1.3. Folded Shorted Patch Antenna ........................................................................ 32
3.1.4. Planar Inverted F Antenna (PIFA) .................................................................. 33
3.1.5. Ericsson PIFA .................................................................................................. 34
3.1.6. Smart Clothing IFA .......................................................................................... 38
3.1.7. Dual Band Smart Clothing IFA........................................................................ 42
3.1.8. F Shaped Monopole ......................................................................................... 45
3.1.9. CPW Feed Patch Antenna................................................................................ 49
3.2. PLANAR SLOT ANTENNAS ......................................................................................... 51
3.2.1. Circular Slot Antenna....................................................................................... 51
3.3. ANTENNAS WITH SWITCHED DIVERSITY ................................................................... 58
3.3.1. Switch Polarization Circular Slot Antenna...................................................... 59
3.3.2. Dual Ring Slot Antenna (with Switched Pattern)............................................. 63
3.3.3. Non-Planar Switched Diversity Antennas........................................................ 67
4. EXPERIMENTAL TESTING ...................................................................................... 68
4.1. DESIGNING ANTENNAS ON NEW SUBSTRATES............................................................ 68
4.2. ADAPTIVE SWITCHING ALGORITHMS ........................................................................ 71
4.3. BLUETOOTH MODULES ............................................................................................. 73
4.4. BLUETOOTH PROTOCOLS ........................................................................................... 75
4.5. EXPERIMENTS WITH ERICSSON BLUETOOTH MODULES ............................................. 78
5. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 81
6. FUTURE DIRECTIONS ............................................................................................... 84

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 2


Table of Contents

7. REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 85
APPENDIX 1 .......................................................................................................................... 89
SIMULATION TOOL: MOMENTUM .......................................................................................... 89
ABOUT ANTENNA CHARACTERISTICS ................................................................................... 92
Polarization...................................................................................................................... 92
Radiation Intensity ........................................................................................................... 94
Radiated Power ................................................................................................................ 94
Effective Angle.................................................................................................................. 94
Directivity......................................................................................................................... 94
Gain.................................................................................................................................. 94
Efficiency.......................................................................................................................... 95
Effective Area ................................................................................................................... 95

Table of Figures
Figure 1: Growth of cellular phone market in user numbers ..................................................... 6
Figure 2: Multi-path effect illustrating the possible multiple signals received........................ 17
Figure 3: Experimental Data for received signal in typical Indoor Environment [15] ............ 18
Figure 4: Typical Handsets (cellular/satellite communications) with Monopole Antennas .... 21
Figure 5: Probe Fed Patch Antenna.......................................................................................... 21
Figure 6: Typical feeding methods for a patch antenna ........................................................... 23
Figure 7: Configurations of patch antennas: using a shorted wall and/or a shorting pin......... 24
Figure 8: 2-Layer Folded Patch Antenna ................................................................................. 25
Figure 9: Configuration of Inverted F Antenna (used in Ericsson Bluetooth Modules).......... 26
Figure 10: Ordinary Patch Antenna (λ/2) ................................................................................ 27
Figure 11: Polar and Rectangular Plots of Radiation Pattern for a Patch Antenna.................. 29
Figure 12: Shorted Patch Antenna (λ/4) .................................................................................. 30
Figure 13: Shorted Patch Antenna Current Plot, Radiation Pattern, and S parameters ........... 32
Figure 14: Shorted Patch with a Shorting PIN......................................................................... 33
Figure 15: Ericsson Planar Inverted ‘F’ Antenna (PIFA): configuration and photograph....... 34
Figure 16: Substrate Properties for Ericsson PIFA .................................................................. 35
Figure 17: Ericsson PIFA S Parameter Plots ........................................................................... 35
Figure 18: Ericsson PIFA Current Plot .................................................................................... 36
Figure 19: Ericsson PIFA Far Field Radiation Pattern Plots (in 2D)....................................... 36
Figure 20: Ericsson PIFA Far Field Radiation Pattern (in 3D)................................................ 37
Figure 21: Configuration of IFA for Smart Clothing............................................................... 38
Figure 22: Substrate and Metallisation Layers of Smart Clothing IFA ................................... 39
Figure 23: Smart Clothing IFA S Parameter Plots................................................................... 39
Figure 24: Smart Clothing IFA Current Distribution Plot ....................................................... 40
Figure 25: Smart Clothing IFA Far Field Radiation Pattern (2D) ........................................... 40
Figure 26: Smart Clothing IFA Far Field Radiation Pattern (3D) ........................................... 41
Figure 27: Configuration of Dual Band Smart Clothing IFA .................................................. 42
Figure 28: Dual Band IFA S Parameter Plots .......................................................................... 43
Figure 29: Current Distribution on Dual Band IFA ................................................................. 43
Figure 30: Dual Band IFA Far Field Radiation Plots (in 2D).................................................. 44
Figure 31: Dual Band IFA Far Field Radiation Pattern at 2.45GHz........................................ 44
Figure 32: Typical Configuration of F Shaped Monopole....................................................... 45

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 3


Table of Contents

Figure 33: Substrate Properties for F Shaped Monopole ......................................................... 46


Figure 34: F Shaped Monopole S Parameter Plot .................................................................... 46
Figure 35: F Shaped Monopole Current Distribution Plot....................................................... 47
Figure 36: F Shaped Monopole Far Field Radiation Plots (2D) .............................................. 47
Figure 37: F Shaped Monopole Far Field Radiation Plot (3D)................................................ 48
Figure 38: Shorted PIN and Coplanar Waveguide Configurations of Patch Antenna ............. 49
Figure 39: Substrate Properties for Coplanar waveguide patch antenna ................................. 49
Figure 40: S Parameter Plots for CPW Feed Antenna ............................................................. 49
Figure 41: Current Distribution and 3D Far-Field Radiation Pattern ...................................... 50
Figure 42:Layout of Single Slot Ring Antenna (Linear Feed)................................................. 51
Figure 43: Substrate Layers for Single Slot Ring Antenna (Linear Feed) ............................... 52
Figure 44: Single Slot Ring Antenna S Parameter Plots.......................................................... 53
Figure 45: Slot Ring Antenna (Slot Feed) Current Distribution .............................................. 53
Figure 46: Slot Ring Antenna (Slot Feed) Far Field Radiation Pattern in 2D ......................... 54
Figure 47: Slot Ring Antenna (Slot Feed) Far Field Radiation Pattern in 3D ......................... 54
Figure 48: Layout of Single Slot Ring Antenna (Single Circular Polarization Feed).............. 56
Figure 49: Principles of Feeding Method to obtain CP Single Slot Antenna and Photo ......... 56
Figure 50: Single Slot Ring (CP Feed) S Parameter Plots ....................................................... 57
Figure 51: Single Slot Antenna (CP Feed) Far-field radiation Plot (in 2D) ............................ 57
Figure 52: Current and Far-field radiation plot (in 3D) ........................................................... 58
Figure 53: Switched Single Slot Antenna offering Linear and Circular Polarization.............. 59
Figure 54: Switched Single Slot Antenna (Circular Polarization) ........................................... 60
Figure 55: Switched single slot antenna (circular polarization) far-field radiation pattern ..... 61
Figure 56: Layout of Dual Slot Ring Antenna ......................................................................... 63
Figure 57: Useful Switching States for Dual Slot Ring Antenna............................................. 64
Figure 58: Far Field Radiation Pattern (3D) for Dual Slot-ring in ‘1-0’ and ‘0-1’ configuration
.......................................................................................................................................... 65
Figure 59: Far Field Radiation Pattern (3D) for Dual Slot-ring in ‘0-0’ configuration ........... 65
Figure 60: S Parameter Plots for Dual Slot Ring in various configurations ............................ 66
Figure 61: Configuration of the Dual Loop Antenna............................................................... 67
Figure 62: Configuration of the annular slot antenna with monopolar at its centre................. 67
Figure 63: Flexible IFA Layout ............................................................................................... 69
Figure 64: Single Slot (Circular Polarization Feed) Antenna .................................................. 69
Figure 65: Single Slot Antenna with Perturbations (Switched Polarization)........................... 70
Figure 66: Dual Slot Ring Pattern Diversity Antenna.............................................................. 70
Figure 67: Locating “Smart” Antenna Characteristics............................................................. 72
Figure 68: Ericsson Description of Bluetooth Stack options ................................................... 76
Figure 69: Bluetooth Link Monitor Software Graphical User Interface .................................. 79

Table of Equations
Equation 1: Friis Transmission Formula.................................................................................. 14
Equation 2: Relationship between Effective Aperture and Directivity of an Antenna ............ 16

List of Tables
Table 1: Ericsson PIFA Summary............................................................................................ 38
Table 2: Smart Clothing IFA Summary ................................................................................... 41
Table 3: Dual Band Smart Clothing IFA Summary................................................................. 45

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 4


Table of Contents

Table 4: F Shape Monopole Summary..................................................................................... 48


Table 5: CWP Antenna Summary............................................................................................ 50
Table 6: Single Slot Antenna (Linear and Circular Feed) Summary ....................................... 58
Table 7: Performance of Polarization-Switched Circular Slot Antenna .................................. 62
Table 8: Dual Slot Ring – Pattern Switching Antenna Summary ............................................ 66
Table 9: Optional and Mandatory Bluetooth Features in Bluetooth 1.1 Standard................... 74

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 5


Chapter 1: Introduction

1. Introduction
The last decade has witnessed a very rapid expansion of wireless communications both in new
research developments and commercial deployments. The main cause of this rapid expansion
has been the considerable advancements in the field of digital communications, which had
been accelerated by the transfer of military sector technologies to the commercial sector in the
1990’s.
In comparison with its analogue counter part, digital communications has a greater immunity
against noise and interference and provides greater security of information, through
encryption. These features assisted the rapid growth of the 2nd and 3rd generations of cellular
phone systems, as shown in Figure 1[1].

Figure 1: Growth of cellular phone market in user numbers

The worldwide success of cellular voice communications has triggered an interest in applying
radio communication technologies to other areas. One of them is wireless (or mobile)
computing. In general, wireless computing concerns interlinking of computers or other
electronic devices without using wires. In addition to functions such as storing, accessing, and
exchanging information, traditionally handled by wired systems, wireless computers have a
great potential to offer many new services. These, for example, can include accessing lecture
or tutorial materials at a wireless access point in a university environment, monitoring
location and health of a patient in a hospital environment, monitoring the movement of
objects and persons inside buildings, plants or offices.

In order to achieve wireless communication between computers, different parts of


electromagnetic spectrum can be used for transmission over the air. For example, infrared
(IR) or light frequencies can be used to this purpose. Unfortunately, the use of such

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 6


Chapter 1: Introduction

frequencies requires a free-of obstacles space between a transmitter and a receiver. In


practice, such line-of-sight conditions for a mobile environment occur only over very short
distances (in the order of 1 meter). This explains why IR devices are mostly used in indoor
environments. In addition, laser communication over several kilometres can also be
accomplished. However, similarly, as IR, this requires free of obstacles pathway between a
transmitter and a receiver and a very subtle alignment of the two being at stationary positions.

In order to achieve a non-line of sight communication, a lower range of electromagnetic


spectrum, namely radio frequencies can be used. An application of a particular radio
frequency band depends on specifications of the communication range and the bandwidth of
the information-carrying signal. Lower range of radio frequencies is able to cover larger
distances. However, this is at the expense of a narrower bandwidth for the signal carrying the
message. This is viewed as a disadvantage. Other shortcomings of low RF frequencies are
associated with the size of antennas, which are required to launch a radio signal from an RF
circuit into a free space. In order for a traditional antenna (such as a dipole antenna) to
function efficiently, its size needs to be about half free-space wavelength. As at the frequency
of 1GHz, the free space half-wavelength corresponds to 15cm, it becomes apparent that
microwaves and millimetre-waves, utilizing the frequency spectrum above 1GHz (with free-
space wavelength smaller than 30cm), can offer a reduction in size of radiating elements. The
same frequencies can also offer substantial bandwidth for the information-carrying signal. For
example, if it is assumed that a radio transducer operates over a 10% bandwidth, a 100MHz
BW for a 1GHz carrier frequency system is theoretically obtainable.

The design and development of wireless computers requires that a specific frequency band is
available for use. In general, the radio frequency spectrum is not a free-of-charge commodity
and international and national bodies govern its use. One, such reason behind this, is to
prevent unnecessary interference, which could be responsible for blockage of useful services
by unwelcome or irresponsible users. The other reason is so that particular frequency bands
can be allocated to specific services. Due to the importance of some offered services, a given
frequency band, treated as commodity, may be worth of billions of dollars when auctioned by
a government to competing bidders (companies).

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 7


Chapter 1: Introduction

The granted frequency band can be utilized in many locations using the principle of space
division. This is possible due to the property that the density of power carried by radio waves
decays rapidly with a distance from the source that generates it. As a result, new transmitters
can use locations at which the power density of a previous transmitter drops to a sufficiently
small value. The new transmitter will not create interference with the other transmitters, even
though they are transmitting within the same frequency band. This feature of re-utilization of
a given radio spectrum has extensively been explored in many wireless terrestrial and satellite
system. A typical example of this is the cellular phone system.

However, irrespective of location, the use of most of radio bands requires permission.

Fortunately, there are free bands that can be used for commercial, industrial, and personal use
without the need to pay fees or to obtain a license. These free bands, called ISM - Industrial
Scientific and Medical are 'free to use' internationally. The two examples of such bands,
which are already utilized for wireless computing, include 2.45GHz and 5GHz (5.2-5.8GHz).

Many applications of mobile computers require them to be of reduced size. This is to have
them unobtrusive in operation, and portable for the human user.

This requirement faces many challenges. First of all, reducing the size of a mobile
communication device requires a low power transmitter due to the use of small size batteries.
This requirement works unfavourably against the quality of communication as estimated by
the famous Shannon’s formula relating the Signal to Interference plus Noise ratio (SIN) to the
capacity of the communication channel [8]. Lowering the value of S decreases the value of
this ratio. As a result, the use of low power transceivers requires considering new means to
combat a hostile wireless communications environment.

One possible solution to this problem is to increase the bandwidth of a communication


channel. This idea complies with the Shannon’s law, which states that the capacity of the
system (and its immunity against interference and noise) can be improved by increasing the
bandwidth of an information-carrying signal (a message). This option is considered by
introducing Ultra Wideband communication systems. In practice, this solution faces a
challenge from the point of view of designing broadband antennas of small size compatible

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 8


Chapter 1: Introduction

with a small size mobile computer. Such difficulty is especially faced at low RF frequencies.
As a result, in order to overcome problems faced by low power RF transmitters, new solutions
need to be found.

Increasing the SIN ratio to obtain reliable communication does not need to be achieved only
by increasing power of a transmitter. This can also be achieved by maximizing the received
power of useful signal and by minimizing the received power of an undesired signal
(interference), all which can be accomplished at the receiver. In the first instance applying
suitable coding techniques, which would discriminate against interfering signals, can attain
this task. This approach is used in the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems [8].
The coding works well against interference as well as against multi-path propagation, as
replicas of the desired signal (due to reflections, scattering and refractions), when delayed, are
treated as interference.

To see benefits of the CDMA technique, the spreading codes need to be synchronized with
the modulated desired signal. To achieve this, a search-and-track procedure is performed. In
the search procedure, the spreading code is gradually shifted so the output signal being a
correlation of the received signal and a given code reaches a specific threshold level.
Acquiring a sufficiently strong signal is a pre-requisite for successful synchronization.
Obtaining such conditions can be improved with the use of a suitable antenna system.

The movement and change of orientation of a mobile device causes variations of pattern and
polarization of the transmitted wave. This can result in polarization and pattern mismatch at
the receiving antenna resulting in a very weak received signal. This situation can be countered
by adapting the pattern and polarization of the receiving antenna.

The above considerations indicate that an adaptive antenna system maximizing the signal
reception from a desired user while minimizing the signal from undesired users (interferers)
can be vital to aid the coding techniques to improve the quality of communication between
mobile computers.

From a practical point of view, when integrating an adaptive antenna system with a mobile
computer, the antenna system needs to be of reduced size and be equipped in a suitable signal

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 9


Chapter 1: Introduction

algorithm deciding about radiation pattern. Such an adaptive antenna system including a
signal-processing algorithm is alternatively termed as ”Smart Antenna”.

An investigation of reduced-size antenna elements and integrating them with an RF


transceiver is the subject of investigations presented in this thesis.

1.1. AIMS of the thesis


This thesis aims are to analyse and design reduced size antenna elements, which when used
with an RF transceiver can allow for adapting radiation pattern to achieve best
communication between a master and slave mobile computers.

In order to obtain results of practical value, the project concentrates on antenna elements
suitable for operation at 2.45GHz band. The choice of this band is governed by the fact that it
is an ISM band, which does not require permission for performing experimental tests. The
other reason is that such antennas can be integrated with many standard communication
devices that operate in this band such as IEEE802.11b standard and Bluetooth. In particular,
Bluetooth modules and the associated software are available at a reasonable price from many
manufacturers and hence experimenting with them is affordable as the part of a fourth-year
BE thesis project.

1.2. Thesis organization


The thesis is organized in the following manner. The thesis begins with the purpose of mobile
communications and standards for wireless computing. Next, the role of antenna in wireless
systems is explained. A basic communication link formula is introduced and the role of
different antenna parameters in this formula is explained.

In order to combat adverse effects of signal fading, which occurs due to reflection, scattering,
refraction, and a change of orientation of transmitting or receiving antenna, diversity
techniques are introduced and described. Suitability of different diversity techniques for use
with mobile computers is assessed.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 10


Chapter 1: Introduction

Next, a number of planar antennas for use with mobile computers are presented. Of particular
interest are reduced-size planar antennas. An evolution of size reduction techniques is
explained on example of a microstrip patch antenna. The use of a short-circuited wall, a
shorting pin and a folding of the antenna surface are considered. The performances of
standard and reduced-size microstrip patch are assessed using antenna simulation software
packages such as PCAAD [14] and Momentum in the ADS suite [16]. The results concern
input impedance, radiation patterns, directivity, and gain.

In the next step, a reduced size printed monopole antenna of Inverted F type is described and
simulated. The performances of this antenna and its derivatives developed using thick and
thin substrates in single and dual band applications are presented.

The last type of antenna element considered in this thesis is a circular slot antenna. The design
of this antenna for linear and circular polarization is explained.

Having covered the topic of planar antenna elements, examples of array antennas for use with
mobile computers are introduced and described. A particular attention is paid to
configurations offering switched diversity. One concerns a circular slot antenna system with
pattern diversity and the other one deals with a circular slot antenna with switched
polarization diversity. The performance of these antennas is assessed through simulations.

Examples of other types of antennas, including a monopole and a slot, and two orthogonal
loops, which offer diversity, are also briefly covered.

The last part of the thesis is concerned with investigations how switched diversity antennas
can be integrated with Bluetooth. To this purpose an experiment using two PCs operating
under Linux with Bluetooth Stack, BlueZ incorporated with Bluetooth modules, the Ericsson
ROK modules and the CSR BlueCode2 modules, is described.

The thesis finishes with conclusions on the presented work. Future directions of the
undertaken research are also briefly covered.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 11


Chapter 1: Introduction

1.3. Purpose of Mobile Communication


In recent times, there has been a strong trend in merging communications and computers
using wireless means. This trend has been due to many applications, which require computing
devices to be mobile, versatile and connected at all times. The wireless standards described in
the next section encompass many of the wireless computing uses for mobile communication.
The main application is a consumer market. However, other uses concern educational,
industrial, and medical applications. For example, in schools or universities, there is a great
need of accessing different resources (library, lectures or tutorials) and this would be handy to
accomplish using wireless means. In a hospital, wireless checking can allow the patient to
move around, instead of being fixed to one place, where adequate monitoring equipment
exist. At an industrial workplace, monitoring can involve tracking of individual objects
needed for assembly while avoiding the clutter of wires.

1.4. Standards for Wireless Computing


There have been many standards introduced for use in wireless computing. These are put into
3 main categories: Personal Area Networking (PAN), Local Area Networking (LAN), and
Wide-area/Metropolitan area networks (WAN/MAN).

The main difference between the LAN and PAN groups are that PAN, is usually for handheld
devices, unlike LAN.

Examples of wireless computer standards brought out by the IEEE comprise [39]:
- Bluetooth (802.15) [PAN] 2.45GHz
- WLAN (802.11b) [LAN] 2.45GHz
- WLAN (802.11a) [LAN] 5.2GHz
- Hyper LAN [LAN/WAN] 5GHz
- Wireless MAN 802.16 [WAN/MAN] 2-10GHz, 15-66GHz UWB

Most of them rely on the use of microwave band transceivers and spread spectrum techniques
(SS techniques). The SS techniques employ signals occupying bandwidth many times greater
than the bandwidth of a message signal. The result of spreading the message signal is that the
communication system is immune to spurious noise and interference, as predicted by
Shannon’s formula.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 12


Chapter 1: Introduction

Each of the above-specified groups has different demands on the type of antenna used.
WAN/MAN standards are made for less mobile computing entities, whereas LAN and PAN
are made for more mobile devices. This requirement opens flexibility with regard to radiation
pattern and polarization of antennas.

The Bluetooth Standard, which is of particular interest in the present thesis, includes the
following specifications [36]:

Frequency of Operation: 2.45GHz ISM Band (Specifically 2.40 - 2.4835GHz)


Bands: 78 bands of 1MHz
Guard Band: 2MHz lower side, 3.5MHz upper side.

Transmission Power: 3 types: (class, max power, nominal power, min power)
Class 1 - 100mW (20dBm) - N/A - 1mW
Class 2 - 25mW (4 dBm) - 1mW (0 dBm) N/A
Class 3 - 1mW (0 dBm)- N/A - N/A

Modulation Characteristics:
GMSK BT=0.5
Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS)

Communication with: 1-7 other 'slaves' devices

The bandwidth of this band is 83.5MHz, of which 78MHz is used (subtracting guard-bands).
This means the 'Q' factor is 3.1-3.4%. (Quite narrow band).

Amongst many Bluetooth specifications, of particular interest in this thesis project is Channel
Quality Driven data rate, which allows the Bluetooth stack or application to decide how to
work around channel quality problems. Such feature is not a mandatory part of the Bluetooth
module at this time, however the upper-range-Bluetooth-modules support this (such as CSR).
Evidence [38] seems to suggest that this feature is to become a mandatory feature in the next
Bluetooth standard.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 13


Chapter 1: Introduction

For the purposes of this thesis, a working prototype is needed, which can detect the “level of
quality”. By monitoring error rates and round trip delay, a level of quality can be inferred.

1.5. Role of the Antenna in Mobile Communication


The basic role of antenna in a wireless computing system is to act as a conversion device to
enable a modulated signal generated by a transceiver to propagate in the air.

The communication link between a transmitter and a receiver for the Line-of-Sight
communication is described by the Friis Power Transmission Formula [3], [7], [9]

Prec λ 2
= Gr Gt ( ) Ft (θ t ,φt ) Fr (θ r ,φr ) LP
Pt 4πR

Equation 1: Friis Transmission Formula

where
•Gt and Gr are gains of transmitting and receiving antennas,
•Ft and Fr are normalized radiation intensities (patterns),
•λ is the wavelength
•R is the distance between the two antennas
•Lp is the polarization mismatch factor

This formula shows that in order to obtain the maximum power transfer, antennas have to be
properly aligned and polarization matched.
The meaning of the above antenna parameters is explained as follows.

Radiation pattern: An antenna radiation pattern is a graphical representation of the radiation


properties of the antenna. The radiation pattern is determined in far-field region as function of
space or directional coordinates [3], [7].

Radiation properties include power flux density, radiation intensity, field strength, and
polarization. Two- or three-dimensional spatial distribution of radiated energy as a function of
the observer’s position along a path of constant radius is of the main interest.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 14


Chapter 1: Introduction

Radiation pattern of an antenna consists of various parts referred to as lobes, which can be
classified as major, minor, side, and back lobes. The main beam (or major lobe) contains the
direction of maximum radiation. A minor lobe is any lobe other than the major lobe. A side
lobe is a radiation lobe that is in direction different to the direction of the major lobe and is
usually adjacent to the main beam. A back lobe is referred to as the radiation lobe that is 180o
away from the main beam. The level of side lobes is expressed as a ratio of the power density
in the minor lobe to that of the major lobe.

Beamwidth: Must not be mixed up with bandwidth and is defined by the two points that for
example define the half-power level (down 3dB) drop from maximum. There are some
variations of definitions of beamwidth such as 10dB or first null beamwidth.

Directivity and gain: These two are co-related and defined as follows. Directivity is the ratio
of maximum power density (occurring in a particular direction) to the total radiated power
divided by 4π. In other words, directivity is the ratio of maximum power density (occurring in
a particular direction) to the power density produces by a hypothetical isotropic antenna.

Gain is the ratio of maximum power density (occurring in a particular direction) to the total
input power divided by 4π. If the total power radiated is equal to the total power delivered to
the antenna then directivity and gain are equal. In practical situations, the total radiated power
is smaller than the total power delivered and hence gain is smaller than directivity. The ratio
of gain and directivity is related to antenna efficiency. The causes of reduced efficiency are
conductive and dielectric losses and antenna input impedance mismatch to the load or
generator.

Bandwidth: The bandwidth of an antenna is the range of frequencies over which a given
parameter such as VSWR, return loss (RL), gain, or polarization (for example circular
polarization), is within the prescribed limits. Often the BW is understood as impedance
bandwidth and is given, as range of frequencies over which VSWR is smaller than 2 or RL is
greater than 10dB.

Polarization mismatch factor: In a mobile environment, the position of the transmitter and
receiver with respect to each other is not fixed and hence the antenna patterns can be

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 15


Chapter 1: Introduction

mismatched. This mismatch can also concern polarization. Other reasons for having the
pattern or polarization mismatch can be due to the transmitted signal undergoing changes due
to reflection and refraction. The measure of polarization mismatch is given by the factor LP in
Equation 1. For linearly polarized antennas it is given as cos(ψ), where ψ is the angle between
the two linear polarization vectors.

In many mobile systems, (such as a cellular phone system), vertical polarization is selected
for both base stations and mobile users. This choice allows mobile users to move freely
around the base station in any direction without affecting the quality of communication link,
as the polarization of the receiver can be preserved irrespective of the mobile user position.
This is true under the line-of-sight condition. However, in non-line of sight situations, due to
reflection, refraction and scattering a considerable amount of signal power may go into an
orthogonal (horizontal) polarization. If a receiving antenna system responds to both co-polar
and cross-polar polarization, a significant amount of transmitted power can be recovered. This
explains an interest in antennas of fixed radiation pattern having both co-polar and cross-polar
components.

1.5.1. Antenna Size Reduction Effects


As the mobile computer manufacturers have a particular interest in minimizing the size of a
mobile computer module, it is important to assess the effect of reducing the size of antenna on
its performance.

One can easily deduce that when the antenna size is reduced its gain becomes smaller. This is
because the effective aperture (related to the physical aperture) is reduced, as revealed by the
following relationship between antenna’s gain and its effective aperture [7], [9]:

Relationship between antenna effective aperture Ae, directivity D and efficiency ξ is given by


G = ξD = ξAe
λ2

Equation 2: Relationship between Effective Aperture and Directivity of an Antenna

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 16


Chapter 1: Introduction

In addition to smaller directivity, radiation efficiency of reduced-size antennas also becomes


reduced. The reason is that an antenna being formed by an imperfect electric conductor
features conducting losses, which become more pronounced for small size antennas. This is
evident using an equivalent circuit of small antenna [3], [9]. In this circuit, the radiation and
loss mechanism are represented as the radiation resistance, Rrad, connected in series with the
loss resistance, Rloss. The circuit also comprises series reactance, Xant, for frequencies off
resonant frequency. The load connected to the antenna is represented by impedance
ZL=RL+jXL.

For standard small antennas, such as a short monopole or dipole, the radiation resistance
becomes small and comparable with the loss resistance. As a result, radiation efficiency
defined as a ratio of power radiated to the total power delivered to the antenna becomes small
for small radiating elements [33].
It becomes apparent that while assessing performance of reduced-size antennas, it is
important to evaluate their radiation efficiency. In practice, so called Wheeler Cap method is
used to assess radiation efficiency of small antennas [28], [34].

1.6. Diversity Techniques


A typical mobile environment features signals travelling straight between a transmitter and a
receiver, as well the signals reflected off objects/walls, diffracted or attenuated by different
obstacles. The combination of these signals results in a total received signal whose amplitude
rapidly fluctuates [1], [8]. This effect is known as the multi-path effect. It is illustrated in
Figure 2.

Figure 2: Multi-path effect illustrating the possible multiple signals received

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 17


Chapter 1: Introduction

The effect of multi-path propagation in typical indoor environment for vertical and horizontal
polarized signals is illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Experimental Data for received signal in typical Indoor Environment [15]

The figure reveals that a signal of given polarization undergoes rapid fading due to multi-path
propagation. However, when the signals of the two polarizations (vertical and horizontal) are
compared it can be seen that the fading occurs at different time instants. This indicates that if
the receiving system has a choice between the two signals, the effects of fading can be
minimized.

The techniques utilizing uncorrelated signals to improve the quality of communication link
are named diversity techniques [4], [8].

In general, diversity involves receiving a signal on multiple communication branches, which


can include time, frequency, space, polarization, pattern or field (Note that there are diversity
schemes such MIMO- Multiple Input Multiple Output, which utilize both transmission and
reception of signals on multiple branches. However, these are not considered here).

In order to maximize the benefits, each branch must have little correlation with other branches
and signal appearing in different branches must have an approximately equal mean value (on
average of equal magnitude). By assuming such conditions, it is reasonable to expect that if
the signal is interrupted in one branch, the other branch may offer an error free transmission.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 18


Chapter 1: Introduction

The resulting diversity schemes include:


- Time Diversity
- Frequency Diversity
- Space Diversity
- Polarization Diversity
- Pattern Diversity, and
- Field Diversity

The meaning of each of the above diversity schemes is explained briefly as follows.

Time Diversity involves transmitting data at different times. This type of diversity is, for
example, applied by interleaving data at the transmitter and then by de-interleaving it at the
receiver. Due to signal fading parts of a data packet can be damaged. However applying an
error correction to the de-interleaved packet can repair it.

Frequency Diversity involves transmitting signals on different frequencies and is in spread


spectrum techniques, such as Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) technique.

The principle of frequency diversity is based on reasoning that when the signal undergoes
fading at one frequency it is less likely that it will fade at other frequencies. So transmitting
data on different frequencies can help repair the damaged data in a similar way as in the
interleaving/de-interleaving coding scheme.

The remaining schemes of diversity are implemented in the antenna part of the
communication system and such diversity schemes are named antenna diversity schemes.
These diversity schemes are of particular interest in this thesis.

Space Diversity is the most common form of (Antenna) Diversity Technique employed to
minimize the effects of signal communication impairment due to propagation. It involves
receiving a signal from different spatial directions and is realized by separating antenna
elements by a considerable distance of several wavelengths. Due to this spacing requirement,
it is realized at a base station, where such distances between antenna elements can be offered.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 19


Chapter 1: Introduction

Polarization Diversity is another common form of antenna diversity scheme. When an


electromagnetic wave carrying the message signal is reflected from an object it may undergo
polarization change. This adverse effect can be minimized by introducing an antenna of cross-
polar polarization.

In practice, this can be accomplished by introducing dual-polarized antennas. Such antennas


can be realized using the same antenna with two orthogonal feeding arrangements. In this
case, a large separation, such as is required in the space diversity system, is not necessary and
therefore this scheme can take place both at a base station and at a mobile unit.

Pattern and Field Diversity is an alternative to Space and Polarization diversity. The pattern
diversity involves changing the radiation pattern of a receiving antenna to achieve a better
quality signal reception. Field diversity usually requires different antenna elements, for
example, a vertical monopole to receive the electric field component and a loop orthogonal to
the monopole to receive the magnetic field component.

1.6.1. Application of Diversity to Mobile Computing


Not all of the diversity schemes presented above are suitable for use with mobile computing.
For example, space diversity requiring large space between antenna elements can hardly be
adapted for mobile computing.

The diversity techniques, which are feasible to realize with mobile devices include:
polarization diversity, pattern diversity, and field diversity. This is because they require only a
small area for their realization. Essentially, the required area is approximately the same as for
a single antenna.

To obtain full benefits of diversity for mobile computing they need to be implemented at the
receiver.

To perform the function of diversity the receiver will require some sort of RF switching. This
can be realized using PIN diodes or transistors. Such devices are very small and the area they
take is much smaller than the one occupied by antennas.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 20


Chapter 2: Antenna Design

2. Antennas for Portable Mobile Devices


Most of antennas suitable for use with mobile communication devices are of wire type [5]. A
monopole is one example.

Figure 4: Typical Handsets (cellular/satellite communications) with Monopole Antennas

When positioned vertically, the monopole produces a vertical polarization, which is


independent of rotation of mobile users. However, it is difficult to integrate it with a
transceiver. Its other disadvantage is that due to its external location making it prone to
damage.

New trends in antennas for portable transceivers concern internal antennas, which can be
integrated with the RF part of transceiver. Due to rather a small area taken by the transceiver,
the requirement is that such internal antennas be small while featuring electric properties
similar to a monopole wire antenna.

Figure 5: Probe Fed Patch Antenna


A lot of research on internal antennas has concerned a probe fed patch antenna (see Figure 5).
The reason for choosing a microstrip patch antenna is that it can be made conformal to a
given body or surface and can be easily integrated with RF components.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 21


Chapter 2: Antenna Design

Unfortunately, the standard patch antenna operating in its dominant mode requires a half-
wavelength size. For a 1GHz system, this corresponds to the size of 15cm/√εr, where εr is
relative permittivity of substrate. At the ISM band of 2.45GHz (such as used by Bluetooth), a
half-wavelength patch antenna developed on a dielectric substrate with relative permittivity of
2.2 is about 4.1cm long and about 2-4cm in width. If used in its standard (non-reduced size)
form such antenna would take almost all the area of a Bluetooth (or equivalent) transceiver.

An unacceptable size of a conventional micro-strip antenna has triggered many research


activities in reduced-size antennas. The results produced in this area are reported in the next
section.

2.1. Reducing Size of Planar Antennas


A conducting patch on dielectric substrate supported by a conducting ground plane forms an
ordinary patch antenna. In general, the patch can be of an arbitrary shape. However, the most
popular shapes are rectangular and circular [4]. The operation of a rectangular shaped patch is
easiest to explain and hence it is discussed here.

The region between the patch and the ground plane forms a cavity resonator, which resonates
at discrete frequencies. Of usual interest, are a fundamental resonant frequency and the
corresponding EM field distribution named mode. The fundamental or dominant mode
corresponds to the lowest resonant frequency. Such mode is established in a section of micro-
strip line of half-wavelength length with two ends being open-circuited. At resonance, an
average (over one period) electric energy is equal to magnetic energy. As the resonator
formed by the patch and the ground plane is not fully closed, there is power leakage in free
space, which causes radiation. Due to imperfect conductors and dielectrics forming the patch
resonator power losses inside the resonator also occur.

For the dominant resonating mode, the radiation due to radiating is in the direction
perpendicular to the patch surface so that the resulting beam pattern is normal to the surface
of the patch.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 22


Chapter 2: Antenna Design

In order to continuously radiate, the patch is fed from a transmission line from which power is
delivered. Typical feed methods involve a coaxial probe, proximity coupled line, or EM
coupled line via a slot in a ground plane (aperture-coupling).

Figure 6: Typical feeding methods for a patch antenna

The choice of location and size of a probe or the length and position of section of
transmission line is responsible for impedance match between a feed-line and a patch
resonator. The impedance match defines the quality of power transfer from the feed-line to the
radiating element.

Due to the resonant nature of the patch, the impedance bandwidth, typically defined as the
range of frequency over which return loss is greater than 10dB or VSWR is smaller than 2, is
narrow. This bandwidth is inversely proportional to the Q factor of the patch resonator. When
the Q factor is decreased, the impedance bandwidth is increased. Thus, it becomes apparent
that to improve an operational bandwidth of the patch antenna its Q factor needs to be
decreased.

The most common method to improve operational bandwidth of a patch antenna is by


increasing its height above the ground plane. This is because increasing height decreases Q of
the patch resonator (more power is leaked through the radiating edges). However, for the
probe feed increasing the patch height causes an increase in the value of probe’s inductance.
This inductance is responsible for the probe’s impedance mismatch. To compensate for an
increased value of inductance a capacitive reactance has to be introduced. Practical methods
to achieve that include capacitive loading of the tip of the probe [10] or the use of an open
stub by creating an L-shaped probe [32].

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 23


Chapter 2: Antenna Design

Other methods of improving impedance bandwidth involve the use of multiple resonators.
This is, for example, done using a stacked patch configuration. Two or more patches stacked
vertically cause a multi resonance. By using different sizes of the patches, different resonant
frequencies are introduced. When they are close together, the effect is equivalent to increasing
an operational bandwidth of the entire patch antenna structure.

Unfortunately, none of the above feeding methods reduces the size of the patch antenna.

The first step to reduce the area occupied by a patch antenna is to create a different type of
cavity resonator. For example, by shorting one radiating edge and by leaving the other one
open, the patch will resonate when its overall size is about quarter-wavelength, as in an ideal
case, a quarter wave transmission line short-circuited at one end and open-circuited at the
other end forms a resonator.

In this new configuration, an open-circuited side of a short-circuited in its one end quarter-
wavelength micro-strip patch is responsible for radiation. In practice, shorting the other end is
achieved using a shorting wall or conducting pins [29].

(a) (b)
Figure 7: Configurations of patch antennas: using a shorted wall and/or a shorting pin

A more significant size reduction can be achieved by introducing a shorting pin closely
located to the feed probe [27], [29]. Variations of this configuration are employed in other
types of reduced-size antennas (such as planar IFA). Hence, it is important to explain how this
antenna operates. The required explanation has been given in [30].

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 24


Chapter 2: Antenna Design

A shorted pin patch (such as the one shown in Figure 7(b)) operates as the combination of two
antenna elements, a patch, and a half of a folded dipole. The feeding probe, a part of the patch
surface, and the pin forms the dipole’s structure. The patch radiates in direction normal to its
surface (z-direction in Figure 7). However, the dipole radiates in direction perpendicular to its
axis (and thus its radiation is in the xy-plane in Figure 7). This secondary radiation is
responsible for a cross-polar radiation of the pin-shorted patch. In mobile communication
applications, the existence of the cross-polar component is not a bad thing and in fact, it is
viewed as beneficial as it can allow for receiving a signal when an incident wave is
mismatched with the co-polar pattern of the receiving antenna.

The shorting pin is responsible for forming a large current density in the region close to the
feed and the pin. If the pin employs poor conducting connection between the patch and the
ground then considerable losses occur due to the flow of large density current through the
equivalent resistor. As a result, antenna's radiation efficiency becomes reduced.

In order to keep the patch's size small and to increase bandwidth a folded patch structure can
be formed, as shown in Figure 8. In this case, the conductor of the patch forms two layers
stacked vertically [27]. Using this method the patches projected length can be reduced to one
eight-wavelength.

Figure 8: 2-Layer Folded Patch Antenna

An alternative to a reduced patch antenna is a reduced-size monopole. The technique for


reducing its size is similar to that used for the probe-fed patch with a shorted pin. An example

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 25


Chapter 2: Antenna Design

of the planar reduced-size monopole is a printed Inverted F Antenna, abbreviated as IFA [18],
shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9: Configuration of Inverted F Antenna (used in Ericsson Bluetooth Modules)

Similarly as the shorted-pin patch, this antenna is composed of two parts: an original radiator,
a printed monopole, and a printed folded dipole. The combination of the two is an antenna in
the shape of inverted letter F.

This antenna is fed from a half-ground plane to one of the legs of letter F while the other leg
is connected to the half ground plane. The remaining part is the printed monopole part, which
is responsible for the prime (co-polar) radiation. Similarly as in the shorted-pin patch, the
folded dipole is responsible for the residual radiation, which contributes to the cross-polar
pattern. An Inverted F antenna can be located on the same board as the RF transceiver. In fact,
this arrangement is used in Ericsson Bluetooth module, which is investigated in this thesis.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 26


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

3. Design and EM Simulations of Planar


Antennas
The following section is concerned with design and electromagnetic field simulations of
variety of planar antennas being the subject of investigations performed as part of this thesis.
Considerations commence with an ordinary patch. It is shown that this antenna can be
designed using simple guidelines and unsophisticated antenna CAD tools. Next, patch
antennas of reduced size are introduced and simulated. In this case, more sophisticated CAD
tools are utilized. The size reduction principles for a patch antenna are applied to a printed
monopole. As an example, an Inverted F antenna is introduced and simulated. Next,
derivatives of inverted F antenna are considered.

3.1. Non adaptive Antenna Designs


3.1.1. Ordinary Patch Antenna

λ/2)
Figure 10: Ordinary Patch Antenna (λ

Here, a probe-fed rectangular patch configuration is investigated. The patch is fed from a
coaxial line by extending its inner conductor from the ground plane to the patch. In order to
obtain a resonance its length is assumed approximately half-wavelength. Its width can be
smaller or greater than half-wavelength and can be varied to obtain best power transfer
between the feed and the patch. The wavelength can be approximately determined from the
following expression λ=300/fGHz/√εr [mm]. The physical length of the patch is slightly
smaller than the determined half-wavelength (150/fGHz/√εr [mm].) and can be estimated as
150/fGHz/√εr [mm]- 2t, where t is the substrate thickness. This is because of the fringe effect of
the radiating edges. For a small value of t, only a small correction is required.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 27


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

The location of the probe determines the input impedance of the patch antenna. At the
radiating edge of the patch, this impedance is very large. This is because at this location, the
surface current flowing on the patch is zero and this situation resembles an open circuit. To
obtain a smaller value of the input impedance, the probe needs to be located closer to the
patch centre, as shown in Figure 10.

In the first approximation, this location can be selected as 1/3 of the patch length from the
radiating edge (d=50/fGHz/√εr [mm]). Determining an exact position to obtain 50 ohm input
impedance requires the use of a suitable electromagnetic model. Such models are available in
the antenna design and simulation software named PCAAD [14]. For the probe fed micro-
strip patch antenna, there are two (Carver and cavity) models available in PCAAD to estimate
dimensions of the patch and location of the probe.

For example, for operation at 2.45GHz and for dielectric substrate of relative permittivity of
εr= 2.2, tanδ =0.001 and thickness 0.76mm, the length is estimated as L= 150/fGHz/√εr [mm]-
2t=150/2.45/√2.2-2*0.76 [mm]= 41.27-1.52=39.75mm. The probe location from the edge is
chosen as d=13.75mm.

Determining an exact location d requires iterations, which are done by re-running PCAAD (or
other CAD software).

By assuming L=39.7mm, w=30mm, the resonant frequency estimated by PCAAD Carver


model is f=2.483GHz. The selected probe location d= 13.75mm produces input resistance of
88ohm, while d=15.3mm produces 51Ohm. The BW is 0.9%, efficiency 79%, and directivity
of 7.1dB.

From these results, it is seen that the presented simple procedure for estimating parameters of
the rectangular patch works relatively well.

In addition to estimating the resonant frequency, input impedance, and gain, PCAAD [14] is
also able to provide radiation patterns of the patch. These are produced as 2D plots in E
(cross-section of the radiation pattern along the electric field vector) and H plane of the patch.
Polar or rectangular formats can be chosen for plotting these field patterns.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 28


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

A typical radiation pattern of a patch antenna in polar and rectangular plot formats obtained
using PCAAD is shown in Figure 11.

-30 -20 -10 0

Figure 11: Polar and Rectangular Plots of Radiation Pattern for a Patch Antenna

For the assumed dimensions and electric parameters, the designed patch antenna has a very
small operational bandwidth (BW).

Increasing the substrate thickness can improve BW and this can be verified using PCAAD.
By doubling the substrate thickness to t=1.52mm, and by using L=38.2mm, and w=30mm the
resonant frequency is f=2.55GHz, and d=14.5mm offers input impedance of 50ohm. The
operational bandwidth is increased to 1.8%. Radiation efficiency becomes 92.5% and
directivity 7.1dB.

The last design achieved using the Carver model can be verified using the Cavity model, also
available in PCAAD. The following results are produced: f=2.58GHz, BW=2.1%, efficiency
95%, directivity 6.9dB and input impedance of 50ohm at 2.58GHz for d=12.5mm.

By comparing the results produced by the Carver model and the Cavity model small
discrepancies between the results for f, BW, D, and d are observed. Such discrepancies are
expected, as the two models are approximate.

It becomes apparent that in order to have better estimation of performance of a rectangular


patch antenna more sophisticated CAD software has to be used. An application of another

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 29


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

CAD package is also forced by the fact that PCAAD restricts its analysis to an ordinary patch
antenna. Therefore, it is unsuitable to provide the design of derivatives of a patch antenna,
such as a shorted-patch antenna.

In this project, Momentum being the part of ADS2002 of Agilent Technologies has been
selected to perform analysis and design tasks of many reduced-size planar antennas. The
information concerning the principles and use of Momentum is included in Appendix 1.

λ/4)
3.1.2. Shorted Patch (λ

λ/4)
Figure 12: Shorted Patch Antenna (λ

The first step to reduce the size of an ordinary patch antenna is to short circuit one of its
radiating edges. However to create resonance, the patch length has to be reduced to about half
of the original non-shorted size.

In practice, the short circuit can be accomplished by introducing a conducting plate (wall)
between the patch and the ground plane or by using circular posts between the edge of patch
and the ground plane. When air dielectric is used, the two short-circuiting methods are
feasible. However, when a dielectric substrate is not air, posts or pins are preferred, for
practical reasons.

Exact dimensions of short-circuited (λ/4) patch including position of the feed probe have to
be worked out using full-wave EM software such as Momentum. This software allows
producing the antenna parameters such as input impedance, radiation pattern, and gain, as
functions of frequency.
However, some basic behaviour of the short-circuited patch can be predicted even without
calculations.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 30


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

It can be expected that due to the use of one short-circuited end, the radiation pattern will be
slightly squinted from bore sight direction (the direction perpendicular to the patch surface),
as only one patch edge is responsible for radiation. Also due to the reduction of physical size
of this antenna, its aperture and hence the directivity (and gain) becomes smaller than of an
ordinary patch, as predicted by Equation 2. For the same substrate thickness, the input
impedance bandwidth should be expected to be comparable with the bandwidth of the
ordinary patch.

In order to increase operational bandwidth of this antenna its height needs to be increased. To
compensate for the increased probe inductance, the short-circuited side can be utilized with
some advantage.

As mentioned earlier, increasing the height of the patch will lead to increasing cross-polar
radiation pattern due to an increased radiation of probe, which radiates in direction
perpendicular to its axis.

The results for the short-circuited (λ/4) patch are presented in the following figures.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 31


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 13: Shorted Patch Antenna Current Plot, Radiation Pattern, and S parameters

In general, the results agree with those presented in [27].

3.1.3. Folded Shorted Patch Antenna


Reducing the size of an ordinary patch to a quarter-wavelength is done by cutting half of the
half-wavelength patch and creating a short circuit in one of its radiating ends.

One can envisage that the projection area of the patch can be further reduced if the patch is
short-circuited at one of its ends and also uses a shorting pin in vicinity of the feeding probe.
The configuration of this antenna is shown in Figure 14.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 32


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 14: Shorted Patch with a Shorting PIN

Due to further size reduction, gain of this patch antenna is further reduced in comparison with
λ/2 and λ/4 patch antennas. This can be confirmed by performing Momentum simulations.

3.1.4. Planar Inverted F Antenna (PIFA)


In contrast to the standard patch antenna, which requires the patch and the ground to be
located in different planes, a Planar Inverted F Antenna (or PIFA) (Figure 9) uses a printed
monopole and a ground plane in one plane. In this antenna, the monopole is positioned
parallel to the ground plane edge, and two strips (perpendicular to the monopole and the
ground edge) form a feed and a short circuit to the ground plane.

The configuration of IFA resembles a shorted pin patch (Figure 14), however accomplished in
one plane. The feed strip is equivalent to the probe feed in the patch antenna and the shorting
strip can be thought of as the shorting pin. The straight part of this monopole antenna is
responsible for primary radiation and therefore is equivalent to the micro-strip patch.
Similarly as in the pin-shorted patch, the shorted strip of an IFA is responsible for reducing its
size.

The area taken by an IFA is reduced in comparison with a patch antenna. However, the
conducting half-ground plane required for its operation takes extra space. Fortunately, the
ground can be used to accommodate RF and signal processing chips when used with a
transceiver (as shown in the Ericsson Bluetooth module in the next section of this thesis). Due
to this reason, an IFA can be considered a truly reduced size planar antenna.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 33


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

An analysis of such an antenna element should produce characteristics similar to the pin-
shorted patch antenna. Due to similarity with the shorted-pin patch, the radiation of IFA is
expected to have co-polar pattern due to the monopole and the cross-polar pattern due to the
folded dipole formed by the feed, a section of monopole and the strip shorted to the ground.

The design of this antenna element is not trivial and hence it has to be assisted with a CAD
tool such as Momentum. The following sections report on simulation results for a basic IFA
antenna and its derivatives.

The simulated antennas include Ericsson PIFA (the one used in the Ericsson Bluetooth
module), an IFA for use with clothing (smart clothing IFA) [18], a dual frequency IFA [18],
an F shaped monopole antenna [19].

This section also includes the information how Momentum is set-up to perform EM
simulations. The information concerning antenna characteristics generated by Momentum is
shown in Appendix 1.

3.1.5. Ericsson PIFA

Figure 15: Ericsson Planar Inverted ‘F’ Antenna (PIFA): configuration and photograph

The dimensions of this antenna were taken from direct measurements of the Ericsson
Bluetooth module available in this project. One unknown in this case was a relative dielectric
constant of substrate εr, which supported both IFA antenna and the RF circuit. An initial guess
was that εr would be in the range of 2.4 to 3.5.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 34


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Because there is only one substrate Layer in this antenna structure, only one layer in
Momentum is used for simulations. In the Substrate Properties, the structure is inputted, as
shown in Figure 16.

Figure 16: Substrate Properties for Ericsson PIFA

In order to achieve a good result for return loss at 2.45GHz the following dimensions were
assumed:
T = 1.2mm [thickness of substrate], E = 3.10 [relative dielectric permittivity], L1=27mm
[length of main arm], L2=5.5mm [length of feed lines], W=1mm [width of all antenna
sections].

Figure 17: Ericsson PIFA S Parameter Plots

The S parameter plot shows a 10dB bandwidth of a little over 100MHz (2.49-2.6GHz), which
is sufficient for the Bluetooth specifications. The simulated Input Impedance plot in the Smith
Chart format indicates that this antenna can be further tuned to obtain input impedance points
closer to the Smith Chart centre.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 35


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

When looking at the current distribution, it can be seen that the maximum current density is
in between the feed line and the ground connection. It is important for this area to be free of
imperfections such as can be caused by poor soldering. Since soldering is only needed at the
ports, the ground plane “port” location needs to be made distant from the area of large current
density.

Figure 18: Ericsson PIFA Current Plot

Figure 19: Ericsson PIFA Far Field Radiation Pattern Plots (in 2D)

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 36


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

The radiation pattern plots in 2-D and 3-D formats are accompanied by other valuable
information concerning parameters such as antenna gain and efficiency. The meaning of
different antenna parameters generated by Momentum is explained in Appendix.

Figure 20: Ericsson PIFA Far Field Radiation Pattern (in 3D)

The 2D and 3D radiation plots show that this antenna features both co- and cross-polarization
components. The existence of cross-polar component with regard to co-polar linear
polarization component is emphasised in the axial ratio plot in the Linear Polarization plot
summary in Figure 19. As mentioned earlier, this is a useful feature in mobile environment in
situations when the transmit antenna is rotated and its co-polar pattern becomes mismatched
with the receive antenna. In such a case, the cross-polar pattern becomes responsible for
maintaining the communication link.

From the information provided by Momentum, it can be seen that printed IFA features
reduced efficiency (about 75%). Due to the reduced size, this antenna features small gain (of
about 0dB).

In addition to simulations of the final design, a parameter study of the Ericsson IFA was
undertaken. With respect to Figure 15, the widths of the arms of the antenna were found to
impact on the impedance, and hence on overall performance. In terms of lengths, it was found
that the length of the main arm was most sensitive. The arms connecting this main arm to the
ground plane and feeding port were not that sensitive.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 37


Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Summary Table
Characteristic Value/Comments
Frequency of operation 2.45GHz
High-level cross-polar radiation pattern? Yes
Adaptive characteristics/switching? No
Size in mm 26x6
Size in terms of free space wavelength (λ0) 0.21λ0 x 0.05λ0
Number of metallisation layers 1
Relative dielectric constant (εr) 3.1
Substrate Thickness (t) 1.1mm
10dB Return Loss Bandwidth 100MHz
Table 1: Ericsson PIFA Summary

3.1.6. Smart Clothing IFA

Figure 21: Configuration of IFA for Smart Clothing

The Smart Clothing IFA is a PIFA antenna, which can be included in clothing. This new
application of IFA requires it to be developed on thin and flexible substrate so it can be
embedded into different types of clothing such as shirts, jackets, or jumpers. The
configuration shown in Figure 21 uses 0.237mm thick dielectric of relative dielectric
permittivity of 2.45. The width of the conducting strip forming this antenna is constant and
chosen for 50ohm characteristic impedance operation.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

In order to simulate such an antenna, two layers of conductor need to be drawn upon. An
additional layer is required to add the shorting pin to the design. This is done in the ‘via’
layer. The substrate layout of the Smart Clothing IFA is shown in Figure 22.

Figure 22: Substrate and Metallisation Layers of Smart Clothing IFA

Figure 23: Smart Clothing IFA S Parameter Plots

The S parameter plot shows a 10dB RL bandwidth of about 300MHz (2.3-2.6GHz). This
encompasses the complete Bluetooth band at 2.45GHz and that this antenna is well suited for
this application.

When looking at the current distribution, the maximum current density is in antenna section
between the feed line and the ground point. Therefore, this ‘bend’ must be free of
imperfections.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 24: Smart Clothing IFA Current Distribution Plot

Figure 25: Smart Clothing IFA Far Field Radiation Pattern (2D)

The 2D and 3D radiation plots show that this antenna is good for receiving both co- and
cross-polarized signals. The efficiency of this antenna is relatively low in the range of 50%.
Directivity stays just above 0dB. However, its gain drops to negative values due to poor
radiation efficiency.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 26: Smart Clothing IFA Far Field Radiation Pattern (3D)

The shape of the far-field radiation pattern matches the Ericsson PIFA, as expected due to
layout similarities.

The S parameter plot shows that at the centre frequency the impedance of the antenna is very
close to 50Ohms. For the purposes of use with Bluetooth or IEEE802.11b, this antenna can be
considered as well matched to a 50Ohm system.

Summary Table
Characteristic Value/Comments
Frequency of operation ~2.45GHz
High-level cross-polar radiation pattern? Yes
Adaptive characteristics/switching? No
Size in mm 25x25
Size in terms of free space wavelength (λ0) 0.20λ0 x 0.20λ0
Metallisation layers 2 (+Shorting PIN through dielectric)
Relative dielectric constant (εr) 2.45
Substrate thickness 0.236mm
10dB RL bandwidth 300MHz
Table 2: Smart Clothing IFA Summary

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

3.1.7. Dual Band Smart Clothing IFA

Figure 27: Configuration of Dual Band Smart Clothing IFA

In some particular applications, mobile computers may require to operate both at 2.45GHz
and 5GHz frequency bands. Two separate antennas, one working at 2.45GHz and the other
one working at 5GHz can fulfil such requirement. However, this approach although
straightforward maybe not acceptable, as the use of two antennas requires two separate
feeding points. Also, the use of two antenna elements requires an extra area to accommodate
them. Such an extra area is not easily achievable in small size portable wireless devices.

Fortunately, a simple modification to the previously described IFA antenna can provide its
dual band operation.

The configuration of the dual band IFA is shown in Figure 27. The width of the conducting
strip forming this antenna is selected for 50ohm operation. There are two ‘arms’ in the
proposed antenna, the upper (smaller) arm is for the higher frequency (5.2 GHz), the length to
be analysed is the length up as well as the length across the full length of this arm is around
15mm. The arm, which resembles a normal IFA, is for the lower frequency (2.45GHz), and is
around 33mm in length. The analysis and simulation is similar to the previous IFA, same
layers, and general layout.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 28: Dual Band IFA S Parameter Plots

The S parameter plot (εr =3.29, t=0.236mm) reveals a 10dB RL bandwidth of a little over
300MHz in the lower band (2-2.3GHz). There is also a good impedance match at frequency
of 5.8GHz. Further tuning would be required to make this antenna work for Bluetooth and
IEEE802.11a standards.

The performance of this antenna in terms of distribution of current density and radiation
pattern is shown in the following figures.

Figure 29: Current Distribution on Dual Band IFA

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

When looking at the current distribution, the maximum amount of current is in the antenna
section between the feed line and the ground point. Therefore, this ‘bend’ must be free of
imperfections as they may be responsible for reducing radiation efficiency.

Figure 30: Dual Band IFA Far Field Radiation Plots (in 2D)

Figure 31: Dual Band IFA Far Field Radiation Pattern at 2.45GHz

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

The data generated by Momentum at 2.45GHz indicates that this antenna has high radiation
efficiency in the order of 100%, thus directivity and gain are equal. By comparing this
performance with a single band IFA, it can be seen that this configuration offers better
performance in terms of radiation efficiency.

The 2D and 3D radiation plots show that this antenna is good for both co- and cross-
polarization operation. There is one lobe in both the cross and co player patterns. The shape of
the radiation pattern at 2.45GHz differs from the Ericsson PIFA pattern.

Summary Table
Characteristic Value/Comments
Frequency of operation ~2.45GHz, ~5.2GHz
High-level cross-polar radiation pattern? Yes
Adaptive characteristics/switching? No
Size in mm 25x25
Size in terms of free space wavelength (λ0) 0.20λ0 x 0.20λ0
Metallisation layers 2 (+Shorting PIN through dielectric)
Relative dielectric constant (εr) 2.45
Substrate thickness 0.236mm
10dB RL bandwidth 300MHz
Table 3: Dual Band Smart Clothing IFA Summary

3.1.8. F Shaped Monopole

Figure 32: Typical Configuration of F Shaped Monopole

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

The ‘F’ shape monopole antenna is similar in its appearance to the PIFA. However, its feed
point is in a different location. Secondly, in this design, the ground plane exists as a separate
layer. The antenna element itself has no ground plane below it.

The characteristics of this antenna are similar to two bent monopoles connected together.
Through the proper choice of dimensions of these monopoles, dual-band operation of this
antenna can be established.

In order to simulate such an antenna, two layers of conductor need to be drawn upon. The two
layers are one for the ground plane, and another for the antenna plane. The substrate
configuration including metallisation is as follows:

Figure 33: Substrate Properties for F Shaped Monopole

Figure 34: F Shaped Monopole S Parameter Plot

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

The S parameter plot (εr=4.4, t=0.8mm) has a 10dB RL bandwidth of about 150MHz (1.75-
2GHz) and the 5GHz band is not tuned perfectly. Further tuning is required to make this
antenna useful for Bluetooth and IEEE802.11a.

Figure 35: F Shaped Monopole Current Distribution Plot

Figure 36: F Shaped Monopole Far Field Radiation Plots (2D)


The above data indicates that the simulated Monopole F antenna features large cross-polar
component, which is useful in mobile environment. At the same time it exhibits reduced
radiation efficiency in the order of 65%.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 37: F Shaped Monopole Far Field Radiation Plot (3D)


The 3D radiation pattern shows similarities with IFA.
Summary Table
Characteristic Value/Comments
Frequency of Operation ~2.45GHz + ~5.2GHz
High-level cross-polar radiation pattern? Yes
Adaptive Characteristics/Switching? No
Size in mm 13x19
Size in terms of λ0 at 2.45GHz 0.10λ0 x 0.155λ0
Metallisation layers 2
Relative dielectric constant 4.4
Substrate Thickness 0.8mm
10dB RL Bandwidth 150MHz, N/A
Table 4: F Shape Monopole Summary

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

3.1.9. CPW Feed Patch Antenna

(a)
(b)
Figure 38: Shorted PIN and Coplanar Waveguide Configurations of Patch Antenna

An alternative (to IFA) implementation of a shorted-pin patch antenna (Figure 38 (a)) is a


coplanar waveguide patch antenna (CWPA), shown in Figure 38 (b).

Here, only a 1GHz design of CWPA is investigated, as dimensions of this antenna are
borrowed from reference [20]. After suitable scaling, this antenna can operate at 2.45GHz.

Substrate Layout used in Momentum is as shown in Figure 39. The Momentum simulated
results are presented in Figure 40 and Figure 41.

Figure 39: Substrate Properties for Coplanar waveguide patch antenna

Figure 40: S Parameter Plots for CPW Feed Antenna

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 41: Current Distribution and 3D Far-Field Radiation Pattern

Similarly, as in a shorted-pin patch antenna or PIFA, large current densities appear close to
the shorting element.

The radiation occurs with regard to both sides of the antenna surface. The two parts of 3D
pattern are similar to the radiation pattern of an ordinary patch antenna. The RL bandwidth is
relatively narrow, being 20MHz at 1GHz. It can be increased to 40MHz by optimising
dimensions of the antenna element. This result would be equivalent to having bandwidth of
100MHz at 2.45GHz.

The performance of CWPA is summarized in the following table.


Characteristic Value/Comments
Frequency of Operation ~1GHz
High-level cross-polar radiation pattern? Yes
Adaptive Characteristics/Switching? No
Size in mm 70x70
Size in terms of λ0 at 1GHz 0.23λ0 x 0.23λ0
Metallisation layers 1
Relative dielectric constant 3.29
Substrate thickness Air Substrate
10dB RL bandwidth 20MHz
Table 5: CWP Antenna Summary

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

3.2. Planar Slot Antennas


In order to perform field diversity an antenna element/s have to couple to two types of field,
one to the electric field, and the other one to the magnetic field.

The antenna elements, which couple to the electric field have already been introduced and
they comprise patch antennas (including their variations such as a shorted and folded patch),
and monopole antennas (with variations such as IFA).

An antenna element producing coupling to the magnetic field are loop type antennas, of
which a circular wire loop antenna is one example. Its derivative is a circular slot antenna,
which is considered next.

3.2.1. Circular Slot Antenna


A circular slot developed on a one-side metal-coated dielectric substrate forms a circular slot
antenna. In order to radiate the slot has to resonate. The first resonance of this antenna occurs
when the slot perimeter is approximately one wavelength. The effective dielectric constant for
slot can be estimated as εeff=(1+εr)/2. By doing this, it is assumed that energy is equally stored
in air and dielectric substrate supporting the slot. For this condition to hold, the substrate has
to be sufficiently thick. Hence the wavelength in the slot can be estimated as λ≈λ0/sqrt(εeff).
Therefore, for this antenna to radiate the diameter 2r has to be selected as 2r≈λ/π≈λ0/sqrt(εeff).

Figure 42:Layout of Single Slot Ring Antenna (Linear Feed)

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Similarly as any other type of antenna, the circular slot antenna requires a suitable feeding
mechanism. An open circuited micro-strip line deposited on the uncoated side of substrate can
form the feed, as shown in Figure 42. Dimensions of the circular slot antenna shown in Figure
42 are chosen for operation at 2.45 GHz. The relative dielectric constant of 2.45 was assumed.

Using the formula 2r≈λ/π≈λ0/sqrt(εeff), an estimated diameter is 29.7mm, which is close to


28mm obtained using Momentum simulations, shown in Figure 42.

The electromagnetic coupling between the microstrip line and the slot takes place at their
overlap. A straight section of slot is attached to the circular ring slot to form a microstrip to
slot transition. The length of the open circuited microstrip line stub and the shape and length
of slot stub are adjusted to obtain 50Ohm input impedance.

The substrate and metallisation layers used in Momentum are shown in Figure 43.

Figure 43: Substrate Layers for Single Slot Ring Antenna (Linear Feed)

For this antenna, the results produced by Momentum are shown in the following diagrams.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 44: Single Slot Ring Antenna S Parameter Plots

The chosen dimensions provide a good impedance match of this antenna to a 50Ohm
microstrip line at about 2.45GHz. The current density plot indicates high current density at the
coupling junction between the microstrip line and the slot.

Figure 45: Slot Ring Antenna (Slot Feed) Current Distribution

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

The antenna produces high purity co-polar (linear polarization) pattern. The cross-polar
components are much smaller than the co-polar component, as observed in Linear
Polarization and Absolute Fields (θ and φ components). Radiation efficiency is quite high in
the order of 98%.

Figure 46: Slot Ring Antenna (Slot Feed) Far Field Radiation Pattern in 2D

The 3D pattern is a standard donut shape pattern, as expected for a magnetic dipole type
antenna of which the circular slot antenna is one example.

Figure 47: Slot Ring Antenna (Slot Feed) Far Field Radiation Pattern in 3D

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

In an indoor environment, a circularly polarized slot antenna may be preferred over a linearly
polarized variety. The reason is that when a circularly polarized wave is reflected (from walls
or other objects) it changes the sense of circular polarization (for example from right-hand to
left-hand). As a result, a CP antenna can discriminate against the signals that are reflected. As
a result, only the reception of line-of-sight signals can be dominant.

There are different methods to obtain a circularly polarized element. These are divided into
single feed (with perturbations) and dual feed (with an external polarizer) methods. A single
feed method exploits perturbations of a circular slot, which are positioned at an angle of 45°
with respect to the feed. The perturbations being in the form of cuts are responsible of
launching two modes, which are in quadrature (90° out of phase). This method of
accomplishing circular polarization is usually narrow band. The frequency range, over which
an antenna offers a reasonably good quality circular polarization is termed as polarization
bandwidth. As the circular polarization diverges to an elliptical polarization, the polarization
BW is defined as a range of frequencies over which an axial ratio (of polarization ellipse)
does not exceed a specified value of, for example, 3dB.

For the CP antenna with perturbation segments, the impedance bandwidth usually exceeds the
polarization bandwidth. Also, these two bands may appear shifted with respect to each other.
Finding antenna dimensions producing 3dB axial ratio band overlapping 10 dB RL band may
be a cumbersome task.

An alternative method to produce circular polarization is via the use of two orthogonal feeds
(separated by 90°) with signals differing by ±90°. Obtaining a phase difference of 90°
requires an external device, for example, in the form of a quadrature hybrid (such as a 3dB
branch-line coupler) or a 2-way divider with its one output arm being longer producing a 90°
phase shift. If the two feeding point feature high isolation (in the range of 20dB), attaching
good quality quadrature hybrid automatically results in a high quality CP antenna.

The use of a quadrature hybrid with a suitable switching system allows for introducing +90°
or -90° phase shift and the corresponding two circular polarizations are left and right-hand. In
this case, the switching is done between the two input ports of the hybrid. The remaining two
output ports are connected to the orthogonal ports of the antenna. The resulting polarization
BW is greater than offered by the perturbation method. However, this is obtained at the

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

expense of employing an extra component (a quadrature hybrid or a power divider), which


usually takes an extra space for its implementation.

Figure 48 and Figure 49 show a method of producing circular polarization for circular slot
antenna using a single feed structure [25]. The significance of this configuration is that it
produces a relatively large RL bandwidth.

Figure 48: Layout of Single Slot Ring Antenna (Single Circular Polarization Feed)

Figure 49: Principles of Feeding Method to obtain CP Single Slot Antenna and Photo

The simulation results for this antenna element are shown in the following figures.

The antenna shows good return loss performance at 2.45GHz. However, its CP performance
is best at lower frequencies. At such frequencies, Absolute Fields in Figure 50 reveal very
good axial ratio performance.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 50: Single Slot Ring (CP Feed) S Parameter Plots

Figure 51: Single Slot Antenna (CP Feed) Far-field radiation Plot (in 2D)

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 52: Current and Far-field radiation plot (in 3D)

Summary Table for Both (LP and CP) Single Slot Antennas
Characteristic LP CP
Frequency of Operation ~2.45GHz ~2.45GHz
High-level cross-polar radiation No Yes, when not tuned
pattern? properly
Adaptive Characteristics/Switching? No No
Size in mm 35x35 50x41
Size in terms of λ0 at 2.45GHz 0.29λ0 x 0.29λ0 0.41λ0 x 0.33λ0,
No of metallisation layers 2 2
Relative dielectric constant 2.45 2.45
Substrate thickness (T) in mm 0.787 0.787
10dB RL bandwidth 200MHz 150MHz
Table 6: Single Slot Antenna (Linear and Circular Feed) Summary

3.3. Antennas with Switched Diversity


Fixed pattern/polarization antennas described in the previous sections require manual
adjustment to obtain an optimal communication link. This is feasible when the polarization
and direction of arrival do not change rapidly with time.

In a mobile environment, this is not the case, as the changes in the direction from which the
waves arrive as well as their polarization can vary fast. These rapid changes make manual
adapting of a receiving antenna infeasible. To properly respond to quick changes, a fast
electronic system and a fast signal processing algorithm is required.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

The basic antenna elements described in the previous sections can be made into an adaptive
antenna by applying switching circuits.

Simulations of selected configurations that enable switched polarization or switched pattern


are presented next.

3.3.1. Switch Polarization Circular Slot Antenna


Figure 53 shows a single circular slot antenna capable of obtaining both linear and circular
polarization modes of operation. The entire structure of this antenna system is planar
including switching elements in the form of p-I-n diodes. In an ideal case, the forward biased
p-I-n should represent a perfect short circuit while in reverse bias state it represents a perfect
open circuit [11]. In practice, when forward based, a p-I-n diode represents small impedance,
while when reverse biased it represents large impedance.

The antenna’s dimensions chosen here are for operation at 2.45GHz and hence this antenna
can be made readily compatible with Bluetooth (or IEEE 802.11b) transceiver modules.

Figure 53: Switched Single Slot Antenna offering Linear and Circular Polarization

The structure includes a circular slot, perturbation segments, a microstrip line, a microstrip to
slotline transition and two p-I-n diodes with biasing circuits to which voltage sources are
applied. The diodes are positioned across the slots in the perturbation segments.

When the two diodes are short-circuited, the antenna operates in its LP mode. This is because
the perturbation segments become short-circuited and the antenna is equivalent to that without

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

perturbation segments. When the diodes are off, the perturbation segments are included and
the circular slot antenna is perturbed to excite circular polarization (CP).

In Figure 53, the perturbation segments are located at +45° and +225°. Additional
perturbation segments can be placed at -45° and +135°. Using a suitable switching sequence,
this new antenna is capable of producing LP, RHCP, and LHCP polarization modes. In the LP
mode, the p-I-n diodes are assumed to represent perfect open circuits and therefore the
perturbation segments are omitted during simulations. In the CP mode, the p-I-n diodes are
assumed to operate as perfect short circuits and therefore the perturbation segments are
included in simulations, as shown in Figure 53.

Figure 54 shows the results for return loss for CP mode of operation. As can be seen in this
figure, the antenna features a very good RL performance.

Figure 54: Switched Single Slot Antenna (Circular Polarization)


Figure 55 shows simulation results for the CP mode of operation (when perturbation segments
are included). By looking at Absolute Fields, it can be seen that the magnitudes of θ and φ
components are reasonably close for some ranges and the phase difference is close to ±90°
providing reasonable value for axial ratio.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 55: Switched single slot antenna (circular polarization) far-field radiation pattern

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

To obtain better quality CP, the antenna requires further tuning. This is achieved by changing
antenna dimensions and re-running Momentum.

The following table summarizes performances of switched polarization circular slot antenna
for LP and CP modes.

Characteristic Linear Mode Circular Mode


Frequency of Operation 2.45GHz
High-level cross-polar radiation No Yes (depends on
pattern? tuning)
Adaptive Characteristics/Switching? Yes
Size in mm 37x37
Size in terms of λ0 at 1GHz 0.30λ0 x0.30λ0
No of metallisation layers 2
Relative dielectric constant 2.45
Substrate thickness (T) in mm 0.787
10dB RL bandwidth 200MHz 250MHz
Table 7: Performance of Polarization-Switched Circular Slot Antenna

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

3.3.2. Dual Ring Slot Antenna (with Switched Pattern)


Two circular slot antenna elements and suitable switching system can be employed to
generate a variable radiation pattern. Figure 56 shows a dual circular ring antenna system,
which offers switched pattern capability.

Figure 56: Layout of Dual Slot Ring Antenna

As seen in this figure, the antenna system uses one microstrip line feed and a two-way power
divider, which in turn forms a feeding network for two circular slot antennas. The end of each
feed is connected to a p-I-n diode whose other terminal is connected to a ground using a via-
hole arrangement. The on and off states of the two p-I-n diodes offer a total of four states of
which only three states (when one or two diodes are open-circuited) are useful for operating
the antenna system. This is explained as follows.

When one of the two p-I-n diodes is in its open circuit state, the micro-strip stub to which it is
connected becomes open circuited. In this case, an approximately quarter-wavelength open-
circuited stub enables power transfer from the feed to the slot.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

When a p-I-n diode is forward biased, the micro-strip stub to which it is connected becomes
shorted. The quarter-wavelength short-circuited stub creates an open circuit at the point of
overlap between the slot antenna and the feed and this condition results in no power transfer
from the feed to this antenna element. Also, from the circuit theory point of view, the virtual
open-circuit created at one arm of the two-way power divider means that the other antenna
element almost does not affect the input impedance of the active antenna element. From the
radiation pattern point of view, the deactivated slot antenna creates a passive reflecting
antenna element. This arrangement is similar to that in the Yagi antenna formed by a driven
element and a reflector. Without the reflector, the circular slot produces a radiation pattern
with maximum in the direction perpendicular to the loop. However, due to the presence of
reflector (the deactivated slot antenna) the pattern becomes squinted from the normal
direction.

From the above considerations, it becomes apparent that the useful modes of operation are:
either left or right antenna elements are active (either one of the diodes is open-circuited) or
both antenna elements are active (the two diodes are open-circuited). It has to be noted that
when the two antenna elements are active the main beam is in the direction normal to the
surface of the two loop antennas. The mechanism for activating the three useful modes is
illustrated in Figure 57.

ON OFF OFF OFF OFF ON

Figure 57: Useful Switching States for Dual Slot Ring Antenna

Figure 58 and Figure 59 show the results for the input impedance and radiation patterns
corresponding to the three modes of operation of the dual slot ring antenna system.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 58: Far Field Radiation Pattern (3D) for Dual Slot-ring in ‘1-0’ and ‘0-1’
configuration

Figure 59: Far Field Radiation Pattern (3D) for Dual Slot-ring in ‘0-0’ configuration

The properties of the antenna for Off-On and On-Off configurations are very similar. The
difference is only in the orientation of the radiation pattern (15 degrees to the right or left).
The results for the input impedance and return loss are presented in Figure 60.

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

Figure 60: S Parameter Plots for Dual Slot Ring in various configurations
The input impedance of the simulated antenna is well tuned, as observed in the above-
presented Smith charts. For the Off-Off configuration, the impedance match is of slightly
worse quality.

The performance of this antenna is summarised in the following table.

Characteristic Off-Off On-off Off-On


Frequency of Operation 2.45GHz
High-level cross-polar radiation pattern? No Yes?
Adaptive Characteristics/Switching? Yes, Pattern Diversity
Mode Description Straight -15 deg +15 deg
Size in mm 70x40
Size in terms of λ0 at 1GHz 0.57λ0 x 0.33λ0
No of metallisation layers 2 + 1 Via
Relative dielectric constant 2.45
Substrate thickness (T) in mm 0.787
10dB RL bandwidth 160MHz 150MHz 150MHz
Table 8: Dual Slot Ring – Pattern Switching Antenna Summary

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Chapter 3: Design and EM Simulation of Planar Antennas

3.3.3. Non-Planar Switched Diversity Antennas


For the sake of completeness, it is worthwhile to provide examples of small antennas of non-
planar shape, which can offer switched pattern or polarization.

In [24], Motorola researchers proposed the use of two orthogonal loop antennas, one loop
sensing a vertically polarized signal and the other one intercepting a horizontally polarized
signal. Associated with the two loops is an RF switching system, which offers impedance
match of the antenna in its two modes of operation.

Figure 61: Configuration of the Dual Loop Antenna

An alternative arrangement of non-planar antenna with switched diversity was proposed in


[22]. This antenna system includes a monopole and a circular slot.

Figure 62: Configuration of the annular slot antenna with monopolar at its centre

The information concerning the design and performances of the antenna systems can be found
at [24] and [22].

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Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

4. Experimental Testing
4.1. Designing Antennas on new substrates
All of the planar antennas that have been simulated so far using Momentum can easily be
developed using the layout capability of ADS2002. The only requirement is availability of
substrates. The substrates available to the present project included Ultralam of 0.254mm,
0.508mm and 0.878mm thickness. The relative dielectric constant of this dielectric material is
between 2.4 and 2.6, and typically 2.45.

Using the above substrate parameters, the following antenna elements and arrays were
designed for operation at 2.45GHz: a Flexible PIFA, CP Single Feed Circular Slot,
Polarization Switched Circular Slot, and Dual Slot with Pattern Diversity antenna.

It has to be noted that the selected substrate boards are thin and their relative dielectric
constant is low. The two investigated antenna varieties, an inverted F antenna and a circular
slot antenna, do not use a conducting ground plane to back them. Hence, it is expected that
dimensions of IFA and the circular slot should not be greatly affected by the change of the
dielectric constant assumed in earlier simulations. The reason is that the energy coupled to
two sides of these antenna structures is mostly stored in the air and only little portion is stored
in the dielectric. However, the dimensions of microstrip lines, which feed these antenna
elements, are affected by the changes in dielectric substrate constant and thickness. The
reason is that for a microstrip line a significant portion of power is carried within a dielectric
substrate between the strip and the ground plane. As a result, the lengths of the micro-strip
line sections have to be scaled according to the square root of the effective dielectric constant,
which in turn depends on the width of the line and substrate thickness. To achieve the same
input impedance, the microstrip line width needs to be scaled using the formula for
characteristic impedance. This formula takes into account the effective dielectric constant as
well as the width of the strip and the thickness of the substrate.

The above considerations form a guideline to adjusting dimensions of the IFA and circular
slot antenna elements using the above-assumed substrate parameters. Final dimensions of
these antennas were obtained by running Momentum in an iterative manner until satisfactory
results for the input impedance/return loss were achieved.

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Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

Once the results for return loss become satisfactory, the layout of antenna structure drawn for
simulations can be used for a photo-etching process that leads to the practical development of
the antenna. To complete these antennas for testing, an SMA coaxial connector has to be
soldered to connect it to testing equipment.

The dimensions of the chosen antennas for operation at 2.45GHz, as obtained by using
Momentum, are shown next.

a. Flexible IFA on Ultralam 0.254mm thick substrate.

Figure 63: Flexible IFA Layout


b. A CP circular slot antenna with a single feed on Ultralam 0.508mm thick substrate

Figure 64: Single Slot (Circular Polarization Feed) Antenna

c. A circular slot antenna with perturbation segments Ultralam of 0.508mm thickness for
possible use with a switched polarization antenna system.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 69


Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

Figure 65: Single Slot Antenna with Perturbations (Switched Polarization)


d. A switched pattern dual circular slot antenna on Ultralam of 0.878mm thickness.

Figure 66: Dual Slot Ring Pattern Diversity Antenna

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 70


Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

4.2. Adaptive Switching Algorithms


An adaptive antenna system comprises a number of antenna elements, a complex weight
system, and a signal-processing algorithm, which decides what values of weights have to be
applied to the signals received or transmitted by individual elements to form a radiation
pattern.

In the adaptive antenna literature, most of considerations are devoted to receiving antenna
systems.

The signal weighting system can be accomplished at the RF or IF level. The RF level
combining involves forming complex signals weights by utilizing power dividing/combining
networks and phase or time delay circuits.

An alternative method is to perform the signal weighting procedure at the IF level. This
assumption requires that the conversion from RF to IF stages preserves information about
magnitude and phase of a complex signal. Whilst in the IF domain, the beam-forming task
can be accomplished using digital signal processing techniques.

If the system comprises a large number of antenna elements, the adaptive power combining
method can be quite expensive and time consuming.

The alternative and less expensive (in terms of hardware and processing time) is an adaptive
RF switching antenna system. It may concern switching between different modes of operation
of a single element or multiples of identical or different types of elements. Switching between
different modes assumes that when one mode is in use the other mode(s) are unavailable. The
predictive algorithms for such a method, involve a 'search and select' technique. The first task
in this technique includes sweeping through all available modes, and record data on a
characteristic that is to be used for switching. After sweeping, a mode providing best signal
quality is selected. When the mode's signal quality degrades, another search is performed.

An alternative switching strategy is based on exclusion principles and is best suited to an


antenna system with only two modes of operation. The two modes are required to offer an

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 71


Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

opposite performance. In this case, the switching decision is very simple: when signal in one
mode of operation becomes degraded, it is expected that the second mode will offer a signal
with improved quality and thus the receiver switches to the second mode.

In all the predictive techniques, some sort of measure of quality of signal is required, which is
the basis for performing the decision of switching. Commonly used characteristics to measure
signal quality are signal power and bit error rate. In a prediction technique, a given threshold
of such a characteristic is used to decide when a given mode is unusable.

It must also be noted that, in some cases all modes of the antenna may become unusable, due
to the communicating transceiver being out of range, or out of power. In such cases, all modes
of the antenna will be on the wrong side of the threshold. This is another case, which the
algorithm needs to take into account.

The choice of what exact algorithm to use also depends on what means are available in the RF
module, which is chosen for operation. With regard to Bluetooth, there are three basic options
when selecting where to implement the software for the smart/adaptive antenna solution.
These are shown in Figure 67.

Figure 67: Locating “Smart” Antenna Characteristics

Option 1 of Figure 67 is useful in a 2-transceiver situation, as the antenna can track maximum
power. This option is not suitable for a protocol that can talk to multiple other devices, as the
antenna needs to track multiple signals.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 72


Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

Option 2 of this figure is best suited to a fully embedded design. It only modifies the lower
layers of the protocol stack. In these layers, counters to monitor packet errors can be
monitored for bit error rates (BER), and real-time characteristics are known for switching
algorithms to use. Modifying such layers for Bluetooth is only available to the manufacturers
of hardware modules. Therefore, option 3 is the most feasible choice for the software
controlling the smart characteristics of an antenna.

In Option 3, error rates are monitored. If there is a HCI command on the selected Bluetooth
module, this task is simple. However, if there is no way to explicitly read BER or signal
power, an error monitor can be added, which transmits an 'error query' packet every x packets.
This error packet can have a specific sequence number and have known structure (for both
sides of the communication link of interest). When the packet is not received correctly, it is a
known error. If the number of such ‘marked errors’ per given amount of time exceeds some
threshold, the operation mode is switched. Applying such a technique is best suited to 2 mode
diversity antennas.

4.3. Bluetooth Modules


From the point of view of integrating an antenna with a wireless system, which in the present
case is Bluetooth, it is important to perform a technical assessment of the modules available
on the market.

For truly mobile applications, features that promote power saving and allow upper protocol
layers to read quality characteristics, are important.

Bluetooth modules are made by a large number of companies, the more prominent ones
include: CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio), Ericsson, and Texas Instruments.

Most Bluetooth modules implement the lower Bluetooth protocol layers, and allow for the
upper layer to be implemented as needed on another chip or host. Communication between
these two chips is done by the Bluetooth HCI specification, or Host Controller Interface layer.
Through this layer, it is simple to use a Bluetooth module independently of the software being
made for it, as the HCI is standard among different Bluetooth Modules. However, there are
some features that are optional in the Bluetooth Specification, or special extensions, which

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 73


Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

may be Bluetooth Module dependent. Therefore depending on how useful these features are
for a given application, certain Bluetooth modules may not be suitable. In Table 9, a feature
list of possibly important Bluetooth features is shown. Although this information is provided
by CSR [43], it must be noted that CSR BlueCore2, contain one of the most complete
Bluetooth implementations.

Feature Comments
Broadcast Encryption When not supported allows ‘eavesdropping’
Channel Quality Driven Data Rate As of May 2002, CSR was only module to
support this
Fixed PIN
Hold Mode/Park Mode/Power Control Important for Power Saving
Role Switch Needed for Access Points
RSSI
SCO
Seven Slaves Required by Bluetooth standard
Sniff Mode
Full Industrial Temperature Range
Unit Key
Secure DFU
Table 9: Optional and Mandatory Bluetooth Features in Bluetooth 1.1 Standard

One popular feature among Bluetooth modules is a single chip solution. This means that all of
the lower layers of the Bluetooth system are implemented in one chip. For the Bluetooth
application developer this means minimal space is used to add Bluetooth support.

A useful feature provided by CSR is Channel Quality Driven Data Rate (CQDDR), which is a
mechanism, which allows the upper layers to solve range or constant interference issues.
According to CSR, such a feature is to become a mandatory part of the Bluetooth 1.1
specification. This feature gives access to packet and BER statistics.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 74


Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

4.4. Bluetooth Protocols


Being an Open Standard, Bluetooth provides all specifications of how Bluetooth devices
should operate. Being open, this means that products made by different manufacturers can co-
operate with each other.

Unlike some networking protocols, Bluetooth also includes "profiles", a comprehensive set of
application level applications for use with Bluetooth. These include Bluetooth audio support,
Bluetooth Personal area networking (PAN), Bluetooth Network Encapsulation Protocol
(BNEP), Hands free Profile (HFP), Fax, Printing [37].

Such profiles are very important in an ad-hoc networking environment, if a new device such
as a microphone comes into a Bluetooth network, that wants to send audio information to
other Bluetooth devices, it is important for there to be a common audio transfer profile. Other
devices that need to listen to the audio produced can use a standard “profile” to receive audio
information from the Bluetooth microphone. More sophisticated profiles include Dial Up
Networking, Fax, and Printing profiles.

Profiles are discovered through a common gateway called the service discovery protocol. In
this, each profile is thought of as a 'service', and there is a common protocol to negotiate the
initiation of such a profile.

A Mobile Bluetooth device could be used to browse the Bluetooth neighbourhood to find
LAN access points in a building. This can all be done ad-hoc because of the standardization
of service discovery and access profiles.

In the Bluetooth Standard, there are two ways to implement a Bluetooth Stack; one is to use a
single processor for the entire Bluetooth Stack (typically for extremely small embedded
applications). A more common solution is to split the Bluetooth stack into two hosts or
processors, one with the lower layers of the stack (almost an ASIC chip), and one with the
upper layers. The layout of such set-ups is shown in Figure 68.

The lower layer is usually implemented in a single chip solution, and is typically held in a
Bluetooth module. Many manufacturers create Bluetooth modules for the purpose of making

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 75


Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

any product a Bluetooth compatible product with little extra cost to the production budget
[43].

In order to communicate between the upper layer and lower layers, a special layer called HCI
[44] is introduced in the Bluetooth Standard. This HCI protocol is designed in such a way that
standard Bluetooth features can be accessed independently of the Bluetooth module being
used.

Applications Applications

AT
AT

OBEX
OBEX

TCP/IP TCP/IP

Com.
Com.

PPP PPP

TCS RFComm SDP TCS RFComm SDP

L2CAP L2CAP
HCI HCI

Audio Link Manager (LM) Audio Link Manager (LM)

Baseband Baseband

Bluetooth Radio Bluetooth Radio

Two processor solution One processor solu

Figure 68: Ericsson Description of Bluetooth Stack options

The upper layers of the stack are usually implemented in software (including firmware). The
upper layers can be simple enough so that only a simple 8-bit microprocessor can be used.

For firmware solutions, usually custom solutions are made - i.e. no standard stack is used.
For software-solutions, there are many standard Bluetooth stacks available. Some
manufacturers of Bluetooth modules provide a custom proprietary Bluetooth stack for use
with their Bluetooth modules. Such stacks are always able to make use of all the features
provided by the Bluetooth module. Extensions to the inner workings of such stacks are not
possible, as usually special licensing is required.

A much better stack family, are the open-source ones. These Bluetooth stacks are made to
work with a large-range of Bluetooth modules, supporting most of the features documented in
the Bluetooth Specification. On the Linux operating system, there exist three major Bluetooth

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 76


Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

stacks. The first of them is OpenBT [41], by Axis. This Bluetooth stack was the first to
declare itself open, and supported a wide variety of Bluetooth modules. The second is BlueZ
[40], by Qualcomm. The Bluetooth stack was developed under closed conditions, and was
released to the public on 3rd May 2001. It soon became the official Bluetooth stack for Linux.
It supports the most Bluetooth modules, under a variety of system ports (USB, serial etc).

Nokia also has created a Bluetooth Stack called Affix [42], which works with a smaller
variety of modules. It was mainly created as to interface to its Bluetooth enabled mobile
phone range for users, which use Linux as their primary operating system.

The Bluetooth stack usually consists of a kernel level driver, which can interface with the
Bluetooth module and application level software wanting to use Bluetooth. BlueZ also
consists of a series of libraries and example applications, such as ‘ping’ for L2CAP, and some
Bluetooth scanning utilities.

The final objective of designing and developing reduced size antennas with switched
diversity, which has been undertaken in this project, is to integrate them with transceiver
modules operating at 2.45GHz band and perform communication tests.

For the purposes of testing communication link, two types of Bluetooth modules were
considered, CSR BlueCore2 and Ericsson ROK. These Bluetooth modules are supported by
BlueZ, the selected Bluetooth stack for this project.

The Ericsson ROK Bluetooth can be connected to a PC using USB cable, which is available
with these modules. It has to be noted that the circuit boards supporting the Ericsson ROK
modules include printed Inverted F antennas, which are integrated with RF and signal
processing chips of these modules. The CSR BlueCode2 modules do not include antenna
elements. Instead, their RF input/output port is equipped in a coaxial connector to which an
antenna with a compatible coaxial connector can be connected. The problem with the CSR
BlueCode2 modules is that they are a part of another CSR Bluetooth system and they cannot
be directly connected to PC.
Due to this reason, at this stage, experiments were only conducted with the Ericsson ROK
Bluetooth modules.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 77


Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

4.5. Experiments with Ericsson Bluetooth Modules


In order to achieve communication between two PCs equipped in the Ericsson ROK
Bluetooth modules a 2.4.x (or above) series Linux kernel is required. In this project, Linux
Kernel version 2.4.19 was used. The version of the Bluetooth Stack, BlueZ was version 2.2
(August 2002).

After setting up all the required drivers and libraries for use with Bluetooth, the first step was
to do a 'scan' for neighbouring Bluetooth modules. The output of this was the 'Bluetooth
MAC' address and a string describing the name of the Bluetooth stack on the remote device.
Once a 'Bluetooth MAC' address of another Bluetooth device was found, this address could be
used to establish a TCP over Bluetooth Link, or just an L2CAP link.

By using the connectionless protocols of Bluetooth such as L2CAP [44], errors are prevalent
in communication. Any packets, which have significant errors, are dropped, and due to the
protocol being connectionless, little or no attempt is made to re-transmit the packet. By
knowing, which packets are dropped the link-quality can be made measurable.

As a basis for such a test, the l2ping program from the sample Bluetooth applications in
BlueZ was used. This application was then adapted into an automated quality-testing tool.

For a given distance between the two Bluetooth modules communication errors can be
purposely introduced by rotating one of the modules so antennas can be pattern or
polarization mismatched. A status of number of errors in the communication link can then be
outputted. The relevant screenshot is presented in Figure 69.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 78


Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

Figure 69: Bluetooth Link Monitor Software Graphical User Interface

By recording the results for different antenna orientations, the worst and best antenna
orientation patterns can be determined.

One problem incurred with the planned experiment is due to the option of variable output
power offered by the used Bluetooth modules. The Ericsson ROK Bluetooth modules utilize a
protocol, which increases output power of the transmitting module when the communication
quality worsens.

In such a situation, the only option was be to significantly increase the distance between the
two modules or for a fixed distance purposely introduce attenuating material so that the
transmitting module would operate at the maximum output power. In such a case, the results
concerning missing packets due to antennas pattern or polarization mismatch could become
meaningful.

Choosing between two modes of operation (pattern or polarization: (i) match and (ii)
mismatch) could provide assessment of benefits of antenna diversity using suitable branches
of diversity.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 79


Chapter 4: Experimental Testing

The experiment was started with each Bluetooth module placed about 3 metres away in an
indoor environment. Also attenuating material, including aluminium foil and blocks of wood
were used, to emulate a larger distance required for this set-up. The tests concerned horizontal
and vertical orientations of the modules.

As the experiment was performed indoors, multi-path propagation effects were noted. These
were due to signal reflections from walls and floors. The multi-path effect was evidenced by
the varying error rate when small changes in distance between the transmitter and the receiver
were made when both antennas were polarization matched (both placed horizontally or
vertically). This effect was pronounced by a sudden burst of error packets and/or lost packets.

For the same location, when the receiving module’s orientation was changed to the
complementary one, improvement in the communication location for the same distance was
noted. This result confirmed the findings of Motorola [15], which were earlier presented in
section 2 of this thesis.

If the Ericsson ROK Bluetooth module were equipped with the circular slot antenna with
varying polarization, as designed in section 3, the multi-path problem would be rectified using
electronic means by switching to the complementary polarization.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 80


Chapter 5: Discussion

5. Discussion

The presented thesis has been concerned with an analysis and design of reduced size antenna
elements and arrays for use with mobile computers.

The antennas investigated here have been divided into two categories: antenna elements with
fixed radiation pattern and antennas with variable radiation pattern.

While considering antenna elements with fixed radiation pattern, a special emphasis has been
put on identifying elements featuring large-cross-polarization field components. The reason is
that such antennas when operated in standalone configurations are capable of receiving a
signal even though it polarization can be mismatched to the co-polar pattern of a receiving
antenna.

The other category of antennas concerns antenna elements and arrays, which offer pattern
variable radiation pattern shape or polarization. Due to these features, they can offer pattern or
polarization diversity to achieve best communication link between mobile computers.

In order to obtain results of practical value, the project has concentrated on antenna elements
suitable for operation at an ISM band of 2.45GHz. Marginally, the other ISM band at 5GHz
has also been considered. These bands do not require permission for performing experimental
tests. The other reason is that the designed antennas can be integrated with many standard
communication devices that operate in the ISM bands. Bluetooth, IEEE802.11b and
IEEE802.11a are typical examples which exploit 2.45GHz and 5GHz bands. In particular,
Bluetooth modules and the associated software are available at a reasonable price from many
manufacturers and hence experimenting with them has been affordable as part of a fourth-year
BE thesis project.

Before launching the design and simulations of antenna elements, the thesis has provided an
explanation of purpose of mobile communication. Next, standards for wireless computing
have been introduced. Following that, the role of antenna in wireless systems has explained.
To this purpose, the Friis power transmission formula has been introduced and the role of
different antenna parameters in this formula has been explained.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 81


Chapter 5: Discussion

In order to mitigate adverse effects of multi-path propagation, antenna diversity techniques


have been brought in. Polarization and pattern diversities have been recommended as suitable
multi-path mitigation techniques for use with portable wireless communication devices. The
reason is that these techniques do not require large spacing between antenna elements for their
realization. With regard to mobile computing, the importance of reducing size of antenna
elements has been emphasised.

A number of planar antennas suitable for use with mobile computers have been introduced
and discussed. An evolution of size reduction techniques has been explained using a
microstrip patch antenna as an example. The use of a short-circuited wall, a shorting pin and a
folding of the antenna surface, have been indicating and means of reducing the size of a
microstrip patch. The performance of standard and reduced-size microstrip patch elements has
been assessed using antenna simulation software packages PCAAD [14] and Momentum [16].
The investigated parameters have included input impedance, radiation patterns, directivity,
and gain.

It has been emphasised that reducing the size of microstrip patch leads to reducing its
directivity and gain, which affect the link performance. Another shortcoming of reduced size
patches is reduced efficiency. It has been stated that introducing shorting pins or walls for
reducing antenna size as well as the use of a finite ground plane results in appearance of
increased cross-polar radiation. The appearance of the cross-polar field can be advantageous
in mobile environment. This is because if the transmitted wave is mismatched to a co-polar
pattern of a receiving antenna, the cross-polar pattern takes over to receive it.

While designing reduced-size antenna elements, the main goal has concerned achieving the
specified return loss bandwidth and obtaining good radiation efficiency.

Following the investigations of standard and reduced size patch antennas, in the next step, an
assessment of reduced size printed monopole antenna of Inverted F type has been undertaken.
The performances of this antenna and its derivatives, developed using thick and thin
substrates, in single and dual band applications have been analysed using Momentum. By
discussing the results for IFA, similarities with a shorted pin patch antenna have been

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 82


Chapter 5: Discussion

identified. In particular, it has been emphasized that similarly as a shorted-pin patch, this
antenna element features a large cross-polar field component.

The other type of planar antenna element offering a reasonable integration with a mobile
computer, which has been investigated here, is a circular slot antenna. The design of this
antenna for linear and circular polarization has been demonstrated using Momentum.

Having accomplished the analysis and design of single elements, examples of switched type
elements and array antennas for use with mobile computers have been introduced and
described. A particular attention has been paid to antenna configurations offering switched
polarization or switched pattern diversity. One presented example has concerned a circular
slot antenna with polarization diversity and the other one has been a dual circular slot antenna
offering switched pattern diversity. The performances of these arrays have been assessed
through Momentum simulations, in which RF switches have been assumed to operate in an
ideal manner.

The last part of the thesis has been concerned with implementing switched diversity schemes
using Bluetooth devices. To this purpose, preliminary experiments using two PCs operating
under Linux 2.4.19 with BlueZ 2.2 and incorporating, the Ericsson ROK Bluetooth modules
have been undertaken.

In these experiments, the quality of communication link between the two Bluetooth modules
for their different orientations has been assessed. The quality of link has been assessed
through the count of erroneous packets of data. This is a direct result of multi-path
propagation creating deep nulls in the signal strength in an indoor environment. It has been
found that for the same position of the receiving unit, different results are obtained for two
complimentary (horizontal and vertical) orientations. Such finding provides the reason for
using polarization diversity to mitigate adverse effects of multi-path propagation.

At the same time, these findings underline the importance of the undertaken work concerning
an analysis and design of reduced-size antenna elements offering polarization or pattern
diversity.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 83


Chapter 6: Future Directions

6. Future Directions

The aims of this thesis, concerning the analysis and design of reduced-size antennas for
mobile computing, have been fully fulfilled.

Most of the planar antenna elements and arrays analysed as part of this thesis project using
Momentum, feature good performance, which justifies their practical development. Using
ADS2002 layout capability, these antennas can be developed using photo-etching techniques.

In fact, such task has already been undertaken. However, the results for the developed
antennas are not presented here.
To be tested as part of a mobile computing system, such antennas have to be connected to
the CSR BlueCore2 modules offering coaxial connection of these new antennas. These
modules have not been experimented with in the present stage of the project.

This part of the project can be continued by other students, or alternatively will be undertaken
as a part of higher degree by the present author.

Continuation of the work commenced in this thesis project is of great importance to the
mobile computing equipment manufacturers such as Thomson Multimedia or Motorola, as
evidenced by their work in references [21], [22], [23], [24], and [25], which have been quoted
in this thesis.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 84


References

7. References

[1] ARC Group, Future Mobile Handsets 2000

[2] B. Sklar, Fading Channels, Ch. 4 in L.C. Godara, Editor, Handbook of Antennas in
Wireless Communications, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2002.

[3] J. Bernhard and E. Michielssen, Antenna Parameters, Various Generic Antennas and
Feed Systems, and Available Software, ch. 5 in L.C. Godara, Editor, Handbook of
Antennas in Wireless Communications, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2002.

[4] T.K. Sarkar, A. R. Djordevic and B. M. Kolundzija, Method of Moments Applied to


Antennas, in L.C. Godara, Editor, Handbook of Antennas in Wireless
Communications, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2002.

[5] A. Z. Elsherbeni, C-W. P. Huang and C. Smith, Handheld Antennas, ch. 12 in L.C.
Godara, Editor, Handbook of Antennas in Wireless Communications, CRC Press,
Boca Raton, 2002.

[6] D. M. Pozar, D. H. Schaubert, Microstrip Antennas : The Analysis and Design of


Microstrip Antennas and Arrays, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
New York, 1995.

[7] C.A. Balanis, Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design, 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons,
New York, 1997.

[8] T.S. Rappaport, Wireless Communications: Principles & Practice, Prentice Hall,
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 1999.

[9] F. Ulaby, Fundamentals of Applied Electromagnetics, Prentice-Hall International,


1997 (chapter 9).

[10] K.F. Lee and J.S. Dahele, Characteristics of Microstrip Patch Antennas and Some
Methods of Improving Frequency Agility and Bandwidth, in J.R. James and P.S. Hall,
Editors, Handbook of Microstrip Antennas, Peter Peregrinus on behalf of the
Institution of Electrical Engineers, 1989.

[11] D.M. Pozar, Microwave Engineering, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1998. (ch. 7.0
Power Dividers and Directional Couplers, ch. 10.3, PIN Diode Control Circuits).

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 85


References

[12] K.F. Lee and J.S. Dahele, Characteristics of Microstrip Patch Antennas and Some
Methods of Improving Frequency Agility and Bandwidth, ch. 3 in J.R. James and P.S.
Hall, Editors, Handbook of Microstrip Antennas, Peter Peregrinus on behalf of the
Institution of Electrical Engineers, 1989.

[13] M. Haneishi and Y. Suzuki, Circular Polarization and Bandwidth, ch. 4 in J.R. James
and P.S. Hall, Editors, Handbook of Microstrip Antennas, Peter Peregrinus on behalf
of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, 1989.

[14] D.M. Pozar, PCAAD (Personal Computer Aided Antenna Design), Sept. 1999,
Version 4.0.

[15] U. Navsariwala et al., PPT presentation of ”Switched Polarization Dual Loop Antenna
for 2.4GHz ISM Band”, Proc. 2002 IEEE Symposium on Antennas and Propagation
Digest, San Antonio, Texas, June 16-21,2002.

[16] Advanced Design System 2002 including Momentum, Agilent Technologies

[17] R.L Li et al., “Novell Small Folded Shorted-Patch Antennas”, Proc. 2002 IEEE
Symposium on Antennas and Propagation Digest, San Antonio, Texas, June 16-21.

[18] P. Salonen et al., “Development of an S-band Flexible Antenna for Smart Clothing”,
Proc. 2002 IEEE Symposium on Antennas and Propagation Digest, San Antonio,
Texas, June 16-21.

[19] S. Yeh et al., ”Dual-Band Shaped Monopole Antenna for 2.4/5.2 GHz WLAN
Application”, Proc. 2002 IEEE Symposium on Antennas and Propagation Digest, San
Antonio, Texas, June 16-21

[20] C. Decroze et al., “Single Feed Dual Mode Wire Patch Antenna” Proc. 2002 IEEE
Symposium on Antennas and Propagation Digest, San Antonio, Texas, June 16-21.

[21] G. Villemaud, “Low Cost, Isotropic Coverage, Resonant Antenna with Compact 3-D
Shape”, Proc. 2002 IEEE Symposium on Antennas and Propagation Digest, San
Antonio, Texas, June 16-21.

[22] F. Thudor, “An Extremely Compact Pattern Diversity Antenna for WLAN”, Proc.
2002 IEEE Symposium on Antennas and Propagation Digest, San Antonio, Texas,
June 16-21.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 86


References

[23] N. Boisbouvier et al., ”A Compact Radiation Pattern Diversity Antenna for WLAN”,
Proc. 2002 IEEE Symposium on Antennas and Propagation Digest, San Antonio,
Texas, June 16-21, 2002.

[24] U. Navsariwala et al., ”Switched Polarization Dual Loop Antenna for 2.4GHz ISM
Band”, Proc. 2002 IEEE Symposium on Antennas and Propagation Digest, San
Antonio, Texas, June 16-21, 2002.

[25] P. Minard and A Louzir, “A new wide frequency band feeding technique of Angular
Slot Antenna”, Proc. 2002 IEEE Symposium on Antennas and Propagation Digest,
San Antonio, Texas, June 16-21, 2002.

[26] M.K. Fries et al.,”Slot-Antenna with Switchable Polarization”, Proc. 2002 IEEE
Symposium on Antennas and Propagation Digest, San Antonio, Texas, June 16-21.

[27] H.K. Kan, Small Printed Antennas for Wireless Communication Handset Terminals,
PhD thesis, RMIT University, November 2001.

[28] R. Chair, Miniature Wideband Patch Antennas, Ph.D. thesis, City University of Hong
Kong, May 2002.

[29] G.A. Kyriacou and J.N. Sahalos, “Analysis of a Probe-Fed Short-Circuited Microstrip
Antenna”, IEEE Trans. Vehicular Techn., vol. 45, No.3, pp.427-430, Aug. 1996.

[30] Y.L. Chow and K.L. Wan, Miniaturizing Patch Antenna by


Adding a Shorting Pin Near the Feed Probe – A Folded
Monopole Equivalent”, Proc. IEEE Antennas Propagation Symp. 2002.

[31] M. Sanad, “Effect of the Shorting Posts on Short Circuit Microstrip Antennas”, Proc.
IEEE Antennas Propagation Symp. pp. 794-797, 1994.

[32] Y.X. Guo et al., “L-Probe Proximity-Fed Short-Circuited Patch Antennas”,


Electronics Letters, vol. 35, No.24, pp. 2069-2070, Nov. 1999.

[33] A. Wheeler, “Small Antennas”, IEEE Trans. Antennas and Propagation, vol.23,No.4,
pp. 462-469, July 1975.

[34] A. Wheeler, “The Radiation Sphere Around a Small Antenna”, Proc. IRE, vol. 47, No.
8, pp.1325-1331, 1959.

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 87


References

[35] M. Muramoto et al., ”Radiation Efficiency Measurement of a Small Antenna Using


the Wheeler Method,” Electronics and Communication in Japan, Part I, vol. 79, No.6,
pp.93-100,1996.

[36] Bluetooth V1.1 Core Specifications,


http://www.bluetooth.org/docs/Bluetooth_V11_Core_22Feb01.pdf

[37] Bluetooth V1.1 Profile Specifications (Online).


http://www.bluetooth.org/docs/Bluetooth_V11_Profiles_22Feb01.pdf

[38] CSR BlueCore2 Manual, http://www.csr.com/

[39] IEEE Standards Online, 802.* http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/

[40] BlueZ Open Source Bluetooth Stack (By Qualcomm), http://bluez.sourceforge.net/

[41] OpenBT Open Source Bluetooth Stack (By Axis), http://openbt.sourceforge.net/

[42] Affix Open Source Bluetooth Stack (By Nokia), http://affix.sourceforge.net/

[43] Introduction to BlueCore2.PDF, CSR Features Roundup

[44] Ericsson Bluetooth Application Kit – Presentations: Building Blocks.pdf

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 88


Appendix 1: Momentum

Appendix 1
Simulation Tool: Momentum
A number of antennas considered in this thesis project were simulated using commercial
software package Momentum. Momentum is an electromagnetic simulation package, which is
a part of the Agilent Advanced Design System 2002 (ADS2002). It is able to analyse
microwave multi-layer planar structure starting with basic transmission lines such as micro-
strip line, strip-line, slot-line, and coplanar waveguide. For these structures, it handles vias
and air bridges, which connect different circuit topologies or layers. As it considers
electromagnetic fields in different layers including an air above substrates, it is suitable for
simulating electromagnetic radiation problems. In one case, it can be useful to estimate
undesired radiation losses within microwave planar circuits due to spurious radiation. In the
other case, which is considered here, it can be used to analyse planar antennas embedded in
multi-layered dielectrics.

For all of these structures, Momentum is able to obtain the distribution of currents flowing on
different conducting parts. It is also able to obtain radiation pattern, which is presented in 2-D
and 3-D formats.

The Momentum simulation engine is based on Moment of Methods solution of a multi-layer


dielectric structure, interleaved with conducting surfaces, which can be connected using vias.

Momentum has an extra advantage, in comparison with many other EM simulation packages,
which are available on the market, in that it features automatic meshing capability. Also, it
allows for optimisation of given geometric parameters for a specified goal function. The goal
function can include parameters that are evaluated by Momentum simulations. For example,
these can be scattering matrix parameters (S parameters), which are evaluated as a function of
frequency.

For achieving fast results, Momentum uses adaptive frequency sampling.

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Appendix 1: Momentum

There are a few restrictions on what sort of antennas can be simulated in this piece of
software. Firstly, only antennas that can be expressed as a series of layers are simulated. This
means that printed antennas are very well suited to this software.
The other type of structure that is supported by Momentum is the wave-guide structure.
Although this can be used to study some (non-planar) types of antenna structures, this
capability is not relevant to the present project, and hence it will not be described here.

In order to perform simulations of planar multi-layer antennas, which are studied in the
project, the following steps are used.

Firstly, a set of layers with a set of dielectric constants is defined. Next, metallisation layers
are assigned to where a substrate interfaces with another. The metallisation layer can be a
‘strip’; meaning that what is drawn on this layer is what the metallisation should be; or 'slot',
meaning that the parts drawn are where no metallisation is. In addition, metallisation within a
layer is defined as a 'via' layer.

Once the substrate properties are defined, Momentum calculates the Green's functions for the
substrate layers for a specified frequency range. These calculations are stored in a database,
and used later on in the simulation process.

The metallisation layers can be drawn before or after substrate functions are calculated. This
can be done with a variety of shape and line tools, which are available in Momentum.
Rectangular and circular shaped mitralizations are the easiest to draw. However, by
combining, splitting and cutting shapes, more complicated shapes such as arcs, rings and
circle can also be generated.

Once all of the metallisation layers have been drawn, ports must be added to the circuit. The
usual ports used include differential ports (with reference to a ground plane), and match
terminated ports.

When the circuit is ready, an S (scattering matrix) parameter simulation with regard to the
specified ports of the circuit can be performed. Momentum considers a number of different
types of ports (internal, microstrip feed). They are used to inject power to the circuit.

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Appendix 1: Momentum

When performing simulations the maximum and minimum frequencies must be entered. Also,
a maximum number of frequencies to be calculated have to be selected. However, the actual
number of frequencies calculated might differ, as during the 'adaptive' frequency sweep type,
S-parameter data points are fitted to a rational fitting model.

The simulation process involves meshing the circuit structures, use of Greens functions and
determining the currents. Once the currents are calculated, S-parameters based on the currents
values are determined. The other type of data that results from the Momentum simulations are
the fields.

The simulations are completed provided that the calculation process converges.

The results to view are current distributions, scattering parameters, and far-fields.

The time taken by simulations depends on the size of the circuit, and the specifications of the
computer (such as its processing power, clock frequency and RAM) being used. It must be
noted that there is no real limit on the size of the circuit being simulated.
Also, if an actual 'ground plane' layer is being used in the substrate properties, the ground
plane being simulated is an infinite ground plane. This can be changed, by using a
metallisation layer as a ground plane, or by defining a box to surround the circuit.

The S parameter results are viewed in the data display window. The formats for viewing S
parameters include Magnitude and Phase graph or a Smith chart. From the point of view of
the antenna analysis, S-parameters concern the return loss data for the input port of a single
antenna element or coupling/isolation if at least two antenna elements are considered.

The other information about the antenna performance can be obtained by using the Far-Field
Radiation Analysis or Visualization. In Visualization, current plots (and animations) can be
obtained from any analysed circuit. The distribution of current flow is shown on a 3D image
of the circuit. The frequency being displayed can be selected from one of the calculated
frequencies.

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Appendix 1: Momentum

The Far-Field Radiation Analysis can output to a 2D display, or 3D. In the 2D display, a
series of 4 plots is shown, with co and cross-polar graphs of each. The plot formats include
circular polarization plots, Linear Polarization Plots, Absolute Fields and Power.

In the 3D radiation plot, the results of the co and cross-polar components are combined into a
3D field. This plot can be freely rotated to see all of the radiation pattern features.

About Antenna Characteristics


Based on the radiation fields, polarization and other antenna characteristics such as gain,
directivity, and radiated power can be derived.
Polarization
The far-field can be decomposed in several ways. You can work with the basic decomposition

in ( , ). However, with linear polarized antennas, it is sometimes more convenient to


decompose the far-fields into (Eco, Ecross) which is a decomposition based on an antenna
measurement set-up. For circular polarized antennas, a decomposition into left and right hand
polarized field components (Elhp, Erhp) is most appropriate. Below you can find how the
different components are related to each other.

is the characteristic impedance of the open half sphere under consideration.


The fields can be normalized with respect to

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Appendix 1: Momentum

Circular Polarization
Below is shown how the left hand and right hand circular polarized field components are
derived. From those, the circular polarization axial ratio (ARcp) can be calculated. The axial
ratio describes how well the antenna is circular polarized. If its amplitude equals one, the
fields are perfectly circularly polarized. It becomes infinite when the fields are linearly
polarized.

Linear Polarization
Below, the equations to decompose the far-fields into a co and cross polarized field are given

( is the co polarization angle). From those, a "linear polarization axial ratio" (ARlp) can be
derived. This value illustrates how well the antenna is linearly polarized. It equals to one
when perfect linear polarization is observed and becomes infinite for a perfect circular
polarized antenna.

Figure 8-1. Co polarization angle

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Appendix 1: Momentum

Radiation Intensity
The radiation intensity in a certain direction, in watts per steradian, is given by:

For a certain direction, the radiation intensity will be maximal and equals:

Radiated Power
The total power radiated by the antenna, in Watts, is represented by:

Effective Angle
This parameter is the solid angle through which all power emanating from the antenna would
flow if the maximum radiation intensity is constant for all angles over the beam area. It is
measured in steradians and is represented by:

Directivity
Directivity is dimensionless and is represented by:

The maximum directivity is given by:

Gain
The gain of the antenna is represented by:

where Pinj is the real power, in watts, injected into the circuit.
The maximum gain is given by:

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Appendix 1: Momentum

Efficiency
The efficiency is given by:

Effective Area
The effective area, in square meters, of the antenna circuit is given by:

Reduced-Size Antennas for Mobile Computing 95

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