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A compact linearly polarized UHF PIFA with foam support (PPL, 440 MHz)

Authors: Kulkarni, Boisse, Makarov, Leslie

Abstract

Preliminary work on the design of a low-cost linearly-polarized broadband PIFA operating in the UHF band (440 MHz) is presented.

Extensive simulations using Ansoft HFSS are performed in order to model and optimize the antenna performance. High-density

polystyrene foam is employed as a dielectric substrate/support for all antenna prototypes. The metal sheets are made of copper foil.

To minimize the antenna dimensions, a tapered patch with slots and capacitive loading is used. The fabricated antennas have the

measured bandwidth of about 60MHz (14%) and are centered at 440 MHz. Change in antenna performance close to the human body

is briefly discussed.

Reports

1. Basic PIFA design DOC

2. Phase variation of PIFA DOC

3. Reduced PIFA design PDF

4 PIFA close to human body DOC

Conference papers/presentations

1. ACES 2006 submitted PDF

2. AP-S 2006 submitted PDF