Quasi-Yagi microstrip dipole antenna with circular arc parasitic elements for wireless sensing networks

In this paper, a Quasi-Yagi microstrip dipole antenna with circular arc parasitic elements for wireless sensing networks is presented. With the aim of being employed in a multi-sector base-station (BS) of a Wireless Sensing Network (WSN), the proposed antenna is designed and optimised to operate in the 2.4 GHz ISM band. Specific project requirements, such as: operating frequency, gain, half power beam-width (HPBW) and, consequently, Field of View (FOV) are taken into consideration when dimensioning the antenna. After proper design optimization, carried out with the aid of a full wave electromagnetic solver (CST Microwave Studio), an antenna prototype has been fabricated and experimentally characterized inside an anechoic chamber. From the measurement results obtained with the prototype, the antenna yields to a realised gain of 8.6 dBi, an HPBW of 64°and 42°in the azimuth and elevation planes, respectively, and a back-to-front ratio of 16.4 dB, at 2.44 GHz. The measurement results are proved to be in good agreement with the simulation ones.