Compact and Small Planar Monopole Antenna With Symmetrical L- and U-Shaped Slots for WLAN/WiMAX Applications

A small and compact triple-band microstrip-fed printed monopole antenna for Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is presented. The proposed antenna consists of a rectangular radiating patch with L- and U-shaped slots and ground plane. A parametric study on the lengths of the U- and L-shaped slots of the proposed antenna is provided to obtain the required operational frequency bands-namely, WLAN (2.4/5.2/5.8 GHz) and WiMAX (2.5/3.5/5.5 GHz). The proposed antenna is small (15 × 15 × 1.6 mm
³
) when compared to previously well-known double- and triple-band monopole antennas. The simulation and measurement results show that the designed antenna is capable of operating over the 2.25-2.85, 3.4-4.15, and 4.45-8 GHz frequency bands while rejecting frequency ranges between these three bands. Omnidirectional radiation pattern and acceptable antenna gain are achieved over the operating bands.