Omnidirectional Antenna Diversity System for High-Speed Onboard Communication

Abstract

In this article, an omnidirectional dual-polarized antenna with synergetic electromagnetic and aerodynamic properties is propounded for high-speed diversity systems. The propounded antenna comprises a probe-fed cavity for horizontally polarized radiation and a microstrip-fed slot for vertical polarization. Double-layer metasurfaces are properly designed as artificial magnetic conductor boundaries with direct metal-mountable onboard installation and compact sizes. An attached wedge-shaped block is utilized for windage reduction in hydrodynamics. The propounded antenna is fabricated for design verification, and the experimental results agree well with the simulated ones. For vertical polarization, the operating bandwidth is in the range of 2.37–2.55 GHz, and the realized gain variation in the azimuthal radiation pattern is 3.67 decibels (dB). While an impedance bandwidth in the range of 2.45–2.47 GHz and a gain variation of 3.71 dB are also achieved for horizontal polarization. A port isolation more than 33 dB is obtained in a compact volume of 0.247λ0 × 0.345λ0 × 0.074λ0, where λ0 represents the wavelength in vacuum at the center frequency, wherein the wedge-shaped block is included. The propounded diversity antenna has electromagnetic and aerodynamic merits, and exhibits an excellent potential for high-speed onboard communication.

Keywords

• Antenna diversity system
• Aerodynamics
• Electromagnetics
• Omnidirectional radiation
• High-speed onboard communication