Abstract
The Swedish Institute of Computer Science Parasitic Interference Directional Antenna (SPIDA) is an electrically switched directional antenna that uses switched beamforming techniques to shape the antenna radiation pattern focusing the transmitted power in a given direction, increasing the maximum gain, and simultaneously reducing interference in other directions. This work extends the use of the SPIDA antenna, showing that using multiple director elements results in an improved performance in terms of maximum gain, narrower Half Power Beamwidth (HPBW), and a lower module of the S11 parameter. Measurements show that using three directors improves the maximum gain about 1.4 dB (6.8 dBi for the single director element antenna against 8.2 dBi for the antenna with three directors); the input impedance matching was also improved, obtaining a module of S11 parameter of -9.8 dB at the central frequency (fc = 2.4525 GHz) against -7.5 dB for the antenna with a single director element. Finally, new intermediate directions of transmission can be achieved by using two successive director elements, where the power is focused in the bisectrix of the angle formed by the two directors. This converts a six-sector antenna like the SPIDA into a twelve-sector antenna without changing the hardware.
Highlights
In the last decades lots of new applications have emerged thanks to the availability of small devices capable of wireless communications, which allows sensing, processing, and communicating multiple physical variables or interacting with the physical world with a very low power consumption
Several works explored the use of Science Parasitic Interference Directional Antenna (SPIDA) antennas for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs); initial efforts were in the antenna design itself [6], focusing, later, on solving problems not present in omnidirectional antennas, such as direction mismatch between main lobes of neighbor nodes during discovery phase
The E plane was only measured in five points near 0∘, as this is the area of interest for the WSN applications that we are considering, where all nodes are placed almost in the same horizontal plane
Summary
In the last decades lots of new applications have emerged thanks to the availability of small devices capable of wireless communications, which allows sensing, processing, and communicating multiple physical variables or interacting with the physical world with a very low power consumption. Improving the antenna may provide better gain and SNR without increasing the overall irradiated power or may extend the battery lifetime, if the output power is reduced, keeping the distance range and the received signal strength Another advantage of improving the antenna is that it may reduce the interference with other nodes by concentrating the radiated power in a certain direction, reducing the congestion that is known to be a common problem in multihop WSNs [1]. The simulation stage, the building, and characterization of a SPIDA antenna in the 2.4 GHz ISM band are described During this process the use of multiple director elements to enable a complete new set of beam patterns for this antenna was explored.
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