A dual band omni-directional antenna for WAVE and Wi-Fi

Vehicles of today are increasingly being networked via various available networking technologies. IEEE 802.11p advocates Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communication via Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE) between vehicles in the frequency range of 5.9 GHz. Also, IEEE 802.11j proposes the usage of 4.9 GHz frequency range for Wi-Fi. This paper proposes a dual band antenna that is capable of operating in both the WAVE and Wi-Fi bands. This proposed antenna is expected to be simple, easy-to-produce and inexpensive; it can be a cost-effective alternative to use of multiple directional antennas for vehicles. The choice of microstrip patch antenna technology with defected ground structure (DGS) was driven by cost considerations and ease of bulk manufacturing. This omni-directional antenna is expected to be fitted in a central location in the vehicle to avoid requirement of two or more directional antennas. The proposed antenna is characterized by popular antenna design software Ansoft HFSS.