Performance limits of 433 MHz quarter-wave monopole antennas due to grounding dimension and conductivity
Author(s)
Li, Jinfeng
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Among antennas for Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM band) applications at 433 MHz, quarter-wave
monopole is a reasonably good trade-off between size, gain, and cost. The electrical performance of the monopole
is largely dependent on the quality of the ground plane (size and conductivity), which exhibits a practical limit on
the achievable gain as most industrial user environments can provide only a finite ground plane of finite electrical
conductivity. Establishing traceability in understanding the performance degradation due to such limits due to the
grounding dimension and conductivity is becoming mandatory. To this end, this work leverages universal
MATLAB in place of off-the-shelf software (HFSS or CST) for the quarter-wave monopole antenna simulation at
433 MHz parametrised with the ground plane’s dimension with respect to the wavelength (λ). Results indicate that
by enlarging the ground plane’s size from 0.14 λ to 14 λ, the gain (directivity for PEC) from the 3D radiation pattern
rises from 1.79 dBi, then starts levelling off at 6.7 dBi (5.78 λ), until saturating at 7.49 dBi (13 λ). The radiation
efficiency and gain of various grounding conductivity scenarios (e.g., gold, aluminium, steel) are also quantified to
inform antenna designers and engineers for commercial, industrial, defence and space applications.
monopole is a reasonably good trade-off between size, gain, and cost. The electrical performance of the monopole
is largely dependent on the quality of the ground plane (size and conductivity), which exhibits a practical limit on
the achievable gain as most industrial user environments can provide only a finite ground plane of finite electrical
conductivity. Establishing traceability in understanding the performance degradation due to such limits due to the
grounding dimension and conductivity is becoming mandatory. To this end, this work leverages universal
MATLAB in place of off-the-shelf software (HFSS or CST) for the quarter-wave monopole antenna simulation at
433 MHz parametrised with the ground plane’s dimension with respect to the wavelength (λ). Results indicate that
by enlarging the ground plane’s size from 0.14 λ to 14 λ, the gain (directivity for PEC) from the 3D radiation pattern
rises from 1.79 dBi, then starts levelling off at 6.7 dBi (5.78 λ), until saturating at 7.49 dBi (13 λ). The radiation
efficiency and gain of various grounding conductivity scenarios (e.g., gold, aluminium, steel) are also quantified to
inform antenna designers and engineers for commercial, industrial, defence and space applications.
Date Issued
2022-07-01
Date Acceptance
2022-06-14
Citation
Annals of Emerging Technologies in Computing, 2022, 6 (3), pp.1-10
ISSN
2516-0281
Publisher
International Association for Educators and Researchers (IAER)
Start Page
1
End Page
10
Journal / Book Title
Annals of Emerging Technologies in Computing
Volume
6
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
License URL
Identifier
https://aetic.theiaer.org/archive/v6/v6n3/p1.html
Publication Status
Published