Compact differential-fed planar filtering antennas

Abstract

This paper proposes novel low-profile differential-fed planar antennas with embedded sharp frequency selectively. The antennas are compact and easy to integrate with differential devices without matching baluns. The antenna design is formulated as a topology optimization problem, where requirements on impedance bandwidth, directivity, and filtering are used as the design objectives. The optimized antennas operate over the frequency band 6.0-8.5 GHz. The antennas have reflection coefficients below -15 dB, cross-polarization levels below -42 dB, a maximum gain of 6.0 ± 0.5 dB, and a uniform directivity over more than 130° beamwidth angle in the frequency band of interest. In addition, the antennas exhibit sharp roll-off between the operational band and frequencies around the 5.8GHz WiFi band and the 10 GHz X-band. One antenna has been fabricated with a good match between simulation and measurement results.