Performance analysis of rectangular, triangular and E-shaped microstrip patch antenna arrays for wireless sensor networks

Generally wireless sensor nodes have been using omni-directional antennas to broadcast data. But these antennas are not very efficient as they suffer from poor spatial reuse, high collisions, decreased throughput and are not energy efficient. Usage of directional antennas which radiate in a particular direction is more efficient as it can lead to significant energy savings. They reduce beamwidth by concentrating power in a certain direction. In this paper, the performance of conventional omni-directional quarter wave monopole antenna, rectangular patch antenna array, triangular patch antenna array and E-shaped patch antenna array are compared. The antenna arrays have been designed, simulated and tested. The antenna arrays designed are fabricated and then are mounted on a sensor node. The performance analysis in terms of power consumption, received signal strength and packet delivery ratio is performed for individual antenna arrays.