Computational analysis of a dual-port semi-circular patch antenna
combined with Koch curve fractals for UWB systems
Abstract
In this manuscript, a two-port semi-circular patch antenna with Koch
curve fractals is presented as a suitable candidate for portable UWB
communication systems. The proposed fractal array is engraved on a 1.57
mm thick FR-4 substrate with an overall array size of 30.5 × 47 × 1.64
mm3. The upper substrate layer consists of two microstrip-line fed
semi-circular patches combined with two Koch curve fractals (optimized
up to 2nd order of iteration) separated by a distance of λ/2. To
mitigate the effect of mutual coupling between the radiating elements,
the lower substrate layer consists of a reduced ground plane with a
funnel-shaped decoupling structure. To achieve a high degree of
isolation (S21/S12 ≤ -16.8 dB) between the ports of the proposed array,
two rectangular and L-shaped slots (mirror images of each other) are
etched from the upper surface of the reduced ground. The design and
simulation of the proposed antenna array is implemented in CST MWS’18.
The optimized fractal array covers the simulated frequency band from
4.395-10.184 GHz with a fractional bandwidth of 79.4 % (at a center
frequency of 5.789 GHz) and provides a peak radiation efficiency of
88.8% (at 6.2 GHz frequency). The antenna diversity performance is
analyzed in terms of envelope correlation coefficient (ECC ≤ 0.0021),
diversity gain (DG ≥ 9.989), mean effective gain (MEG ≥ -3.7 dB),
channel capacity loss (CCL ≤ 0.4 bits/s/Hz) and total active reflection
coefficient (TARC ≤ -10 dB). The experimentally measured S-parameter
results show a good match with the simulated ones.