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(B1) MOTL 2019 - Haider Raad PDF
(B1) MOTL 2019 - Haider Raad PDF
DOI: 10.1002/mop.31645
RESEARCH ARTICLE
A Yagi-Uda antenna array for on. Obviously, the successful deployment of such applications
depends on a reliable integrated wireless module.
conformal IoT and wireless Furthermore, Radio Frequency (RF) wireless charging
systems are attracting more attention recently due to their
charging applications envisioned advantages for IoT applications.1 Such systems
would also be of great benefit in situations where the deploy-
ment of wired power networks is logistically impractical
Haider Raad
and/or costly. However, the efficiency of the power transfer in
RF charging systems is generally less than that of the conven-
Department of Physics, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio tional (induction-based) systems. The efficiency suffers fur-
Correspondence ther if only a single antenna element is used for power
Haider Raad, Department of Physics, Xavier University, 3800 Victory transmission. Fortunately, the transfer efficiency can be
Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45207, USA. improved by utilizing antenna arrays.
Email: raadh@xavier.edu
In fact, diversity antenna arrays have been proven to be a
feasible solution to the performance degradation due to mul-
Abstract tipath fading in indoor Multiple Input Multiple Output
In this article, a flexible Yagi-Uda antenna array is pre- (MIMO) wireless communication systems, given that the
sented. The array comprises 4 radiating elements and radiating elements of such arrays are maintained highly
operates at 5 GHz. The design is aimed at integration uncorrelated.2 In Oliveri and Massa,3 an antenna array was
within Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO)-based utilized to enhance the power transfer efficiency by altering
Internet of Things (IoT) and wireless charging platforms the gain factors of the individual radiators. Another advan-
that require mechanical flexibility. The array elements are tage of using antenna arrays is their capability of steering the
positioned back to back in a cross fashion to achieve a pat- power to a specific point in space.4 In Visser,5 a linearly ori-
tern diversity utilizing the end-fire radiation characteristics ented antenna array was presented to concentrate the power
of such high gain antennas. This technique in turn reduces to a desired location in space. This is carried out by transmit-
the mutual coupling between the array elements which is ting a pulse-like signal from each separate element with
crucial to the performance of MIMO systems. Each single defined time delays to achieve energy concentration at a sin-
element is printed on a 50.8 μm Kapton Polyimide sub- gle point. The focused energy at that point in space has a
strate and consists of a driven (fed) element and three par- local maximum; however, other maxima may also take place
asitic directors. The simulated and measured scattering at other points due to realization constraints.
parameters show that the proposed array achieves a rea- More recently, we have witnessed an increased research
sonable impedance bandwidth and isolation performance activity aimed at the development of flexible electronics in
(S12 < −31 dB) at resonance. response to the market analysis which indicates a growing
need for light-weight, compact, and wearable devices.6 Con-
KEYWORDS
sequently, integrating flexible antenna arrays with such
diversity, flexible electronics, internet of things, multiple input multiple devices is eventually needed for advanced wireless plat-
output, wireless charging, Yagi-Uda antennas forms. Several antenna designs focused on maximizing the
isolation and impedance bandwidths of the radiating struc-
tures have been reported in the literature.7–10 In Wong
et al.,7 a wide-band monopole-based antenna array operating
in the 2.3-7.7 GHz frequency range has been reported where
1 | INTRODUCTION two bent slits are utilized to reduce the mutual coupling; S12
> −18 from 2.4 to 6.55 GHz is resulted. In See and Chen,8 a
The expanding market of the Internet of Things (IoT) calls for compact Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) diversity antenna geared
additional types of electronic components and communication toward portable devices was presented. The design covers
technologies for a broad spectrum of applications including the lower UWB range only (3.1-5 GHz). Although in Imran
home automation, smart cities and vehicles, telehealth, and so and Panagamuwa,10 a beam switching planar parasitic array
Microw Opt Technol Lett. 2019;61:633–637. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/mop © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 633
634 RAAD
FIGURE 3 Simulated and measured reflection coefficients of the printed Yagi-Uda antenna array
a loss tangent of 0.002 (Figure 1). A piece of clear flexible 3 | RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
vinyl with a dielectric constant of 4 and a thickness of
0.45 mm is firmly adhered underneath the L-shaped driven
3.1 | Scattering parameters
element of the front side to provide capacitance between the
front half of the driven element and the back half and partial The array’s scattering parameters were obtained using a Key-
ground plane structures shown in the left of Figure 2A. The sight Field Fox N9914A RF Network Analyzer with a
size of the vinyl piece is 34 × 18 mm. The back half and 10 MHz-6.5 GHz frequency range, and compared with the
ground plane structure is then adhered underneath the vinyl simulated results from CST Microwave Studio. As can be
piece. It is worth mentioning that a conductive ink based on seen from the reflection coefficient graph in Figure 3, the sim-
sliver nanoparticles is deposited via a specialized cartridge ulated S11 exhibits a −10 dB impedance bandwidth of about
over the Kapton substrate by a Dimatix DMP Fujifilm 2831 370 MHz and resonates at 5 GHz with 38.2 dB return loss.
inkjet material printer.14 This process is then followed by The measured S11 expresses a 620 MHz −10 dB impedance
thermal annealing at the heated platen of the material printer bandwidth with a 34.1 dB return loss. A minor shift of <1%
for 4 hours at 50 C followed by 3 hours inside an industrial is observed in the resonance frequency; however, the rela-
oven at 100 C. tively large bandwidth compensates for this encountered shift.
FIGURE 4 Simulated and measured transmission coefficients of the printed Yagi-Uda antenna array
636 RAAD
5 | CONCLUSION
and three parasitic directors. The measured scattering param- [8] See TSP, Chen ZN. An ultrawideband diversity antenna. IEEE
eters show that the proposed array achieves a reasonable Trans Antennas Propagat. 2009;57(6):1597-1605.
impedance bandwidth and isolation performance of 31 dB or [9] Yoon HK, Yoon YJ, Kim H, Lee CH. Flexible ultra-wideband
better across the −10 dB impedance bandwidth. The array’s polarisation diversity antenna with band-notch function. IET
Microw Antennas Propag. 2011;5(12):1463-1470.
isolation performance along with its flexible and thin profile
suggests that it would be a reasonable candidate for integra- [10] Imran Z, Panagamuwa C, Beam-switching planar parasitic
antenna array. Proceedings of 2014 I.E. Loughborough Antennas
tion within flexible, conformal, or wearable devices in IoT
and Propagat. Conference (LAPC 2014); November 10–11, 2014;
and wireless charging applications. It is also evident from Loughborough, Great Britain, pp. 160-164.
the array’s radiation characteristics that it would be suitable
[11] http://www.cst.com
for applications that require beam switching.
[12] Khaleel HR, Al-Rizzo HM, Abbosh A, Abushamleh S. Printed
Yagi-Uda array for MIMO Systems. IEEE Antennas and Propa-
O R C ID gat Society International Symposium (APSURSI), Orlando, FL.
Haider Raad https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1124-1753 2013;2013:1802-1803.
[13] Dupont Kapton Polyimide specification sheet, www2.dupont.
com/kapton.
R E F E REN CE S
[14] http://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/industrial inkjet print heads/
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