An Additively Manufactured 3-D Antenna-in-Package With Quasi-Isotropic Radiation for Marine Animals Monitoring System

A low-cost and additively manufactured three-dimensional (3-D) antenna-in-package with quasi-isotropic radiation is proposed for a marine animals monitoring system. The antenna is based on a meandered dipole folded as a split-ring resonator structure, which can generate simultaneously a pair of orthogonal electric and magnetic dipoles, thus providing a quasi-isotropic radiation pattern. The antenna (integrated with a balun) has been inkjet-printed on a 3-D-printed buoyant cone structure, which acts also as the system package to house the electronics and the battery. The antenna designed at 2.4 GHz is electrically small, with a ka = 0.49, and has a bandwidth of 70 MHz (2.9%). The measured gain deviation of the antenna (maximum to minimum) is near 3 dB in bandwidth, thus qualifying it as a quasi-isotropic antenna. Field tests of the antenna in the active state (integrated with the electronics) confirm a reliable communication range of 240 m in any direction in the azimuthal plane.