2.5 GHz Meshed Inset-Fed Patch Antenna

Optically transparent antennas have gained interest over the last 20 years for applications in the automotive, consumer electronics, and space industries. Previous research on transparent mesh antennas has not fully discussed the resonance frequency shift that occurs when compared to a solid antenna of identical dimensions. The shift in resonance is introduced from the added inductance and decreased capacitance inherent in a meshed conductor. This paper presents the origin of the resonance frequency shift, as well a design approach to compensate for the shift. The proposed design decreases the length of the meshed patch by about 4% to increase the operating frequency to match that of the solid design. The antenna patterns are presented with peak realized gain at 3.1 dBi for the solid antenna and 2.95 dBi for the meshed antenna. In addition, it is shown that the mesh antenna had a front-to-back ratio 7 dB lower than the solid antenna due to the perforations in the ground plane.