A compact, symmetric branched chain monopole for dual wide band operation

A novel design of a dual wide band branched chain monopole is presented and discussed. The antenna has a unique design consisting of a U shape with a center strip fed by a 50Ω microstrip line with the integration of branched chains in the appropriate places to achieve dual band operation. The antenna is low profile and has overall dimensions 42mm × 40mm, which is compact in size for portable applications. The simulated results show that the antenna operates at (1.2GHz-2.9GHz) and (5.1GHz-6.1GHz) which includes the following applications: DCS(1.71-1.88GHz)/PCS(1.85-1.99GHz)/UMTS(1.92-2.17GHz) cellular bands, the 2.4/5.2/5.8GHz WLAN bands and finally the 2.5/5.5GHz WiMAX bands. The symmetrical geometric structure of the antenna provides omnidirectional radiation patterns. The design criteria of this antenna as well as the outcome of the experimental results are presented in this paper. The antenna is fabricated and the return loss measured using a vector network analyzer. The measured and simulated results are in good agreement.