A Novel Miniaturized Log-Periodic Vee-Dipole Antenna Based on 2-D-Folded Structure for UltraWideband (UWB) Applications

This communication presents a miniaturized log-periodic vee-dipole array (LPVDA) that incorporates 2-D-folded Vee-dipole structures for a compact and efficient design. Utilizing Vee bending and miniaturization techniques based on curved current paths, the proposed design achieves a reduction of over 50% in element size compared to conventional log-periodic dipole arrays (LPDAs), while maintaining stable polarization characteristics and consistent radiation patterns. The optimization of element spacing and the exploitation of coupling effects further enhance the active voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) performance across the array. A $10\times 26$ slant-polarized LPVDA array was fabricated and tested, operating within the 0.38–2 GHz frequency range with ±15° azimuth scanning capability. The measured active VSWR is below 2 over most of the frequency band, with a maximum of 3. Experimental results confirm that the introduction of the Vee structure not only improves miniaturization efficiency but also introduces an additional design parameter, making it well-suited for cost-effective wideband antenna systems, especially for applications with large element spacing and sparse array optimization requirements.