Fabrication and characterization of a directional SPIDA antenna for wireless sensor networks

This paper presents the simulation, fabrication and complete characterization of a 2.4 GHz directional antenna designed for Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) nodes, named SPIDA. The use of this kind of antennas empowers the performance of sensor nodes, as they increase the communication range without compromising the power consumption. The antenna was simulated and the results were compared with measurements, obtaining a gain of 6.8 dBi. Also future optimization options for this antenna are discussed, including the use of switched beamforming.