Fractal Antenna
Fractal Antenna
Fractal Antenna
Fractal Antennas
By
Ali Abdulnabi
Zaidoun Raad
Zahraa Abdulameer
Mohannad Omar
Fatima Waheed
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Self-Similarity: The antenna structure is iteratively constructed by
repeating a specific pattern at various scales. Common fractal shapes used
in antenna design include the Sierpinski triangle, Koch curve, and
Minkowski Island.
Miniaturization: Fractal antennas are known for their compact size.
Their self-similar design allows for a reduction in the physical size while
maintaining or improving performance.
Multiband Operation: Due to their non-resonant nature, fractal antennas
can operate efficiently over a wide range of frequencies, making them
suitable for multiband applications.
Resonance: Even though fractal antennas are non-resonant as a whole,
individual segments or iterations within the fractal structure may exhibit
resonance at specific frequencies.
4- Applications
Fractal antennas find applications in various fields, including:
Wireless Communication: Fractal antennas are used in mobile phones,
wireless routers, and other wireless communication devices to support
multiple frequency bands and improve signal reception.
Satellite Communication: They are utilized in satellite communication
systems for their wideband and multiband capabilities.
Radar Systems: Fractal antennas are employed in radar systems for their
ability to operate across a wide frequency spectrum.
Medical Imaging: In the medical field, fractal antennas are used in
applications like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for multiband signal
reception.
Astronomy: Fractal antennas have applications in radio astronomy,
where they can be used to detect signals from various celestial sources.
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5- Common Designs
A- The KOCH Structure
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D- The SIERPINSKI Carpet
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Generation of fractals: The process of generation of fractals can be
explained by the following procedures.
Here, c is any given complex number. This generates a set of points which
can diverge or converge over an orbit. This entirely depends on the
constant used in the transformation. While it is diverging, the process of
generating next set should progress until the convergence is achieved. The
convergence typically allows the points to move inward. Now the fractal
is said to be completely formed.
B- Iterated Function System (IFS)
These geometrical based rules are used to replace specific portion or
region repeatedly to produce fractal shapes, also known as Multiple
Reduction Copy Machine (MRCM). Some examples of such fractals are
Sierpinski carpet, Sierpinski triangle, Koch curve, Peano curve, etc. This
technique uses recursive transformations and relations.
The IFS initially refer to a set of transfer functions which acts as a basis
of iteration. As the iteration progresses, the corresponding condensation
set is filled with solutions, which is a fractal geometry. After successive
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iterations with the application of IFS, the respective outcome is said to be
self-similar. Many examples of fractal-shaped antennas are created
following this process.
C- L-Systems
Growing processes can be modelled by an alphabet-based method
proposed by A. Lindenmayer in 1968. Such method is known as L-system,
and is useful to create some fractals, such as those based on Hilbert and
Peano curves.
D- Random
The trajectories of non-deterministic functions are used to produce the so-
called random fractals. These functions are guided by heavy tails and
random nature. Levy flights, Brownian motion, and Brownian tree are
some examples of random fractals. Random arrays were first investigated
and random fractals generated by electrochemical deposition have been
analyzed to design multiband antennas.
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As will be shown in the subsequent section the Bandwidth Percentage of
this antenna turns out to be 40.421% which in turns qualifies it to be a
narrowband antenna. But before proceeding into the design details,
simulation results and the conclusion drawn thereof, a brief discussion
about pros and cons of narrow-band is presented. The principal demerit
associated with narrowband is that because of lower bandwidth, for high
speed communication of data, it becomes a very uphill task. Also, the
installation cost and size of narrowband modules is higher than that of
wideband ones. However, its more than compensated in its merits. It‟s
very helpful in realising stability of long range communications. The
associated transmission spectrum‟s carrier purity is also quite high. It
therefore helps in efficiently managing a lot of radio devices operational
at the same time within the same frequency range, i.e. high efficiency in
usage of radio waves is achieved within the same range of frequency.
Thus, for sites with multiple devices which are radiocontrolled, it
becomes ideal especially in industrial plants and construction sites.
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Design Parameters:
The proposed design is composed of a rectangular patch element,
subjected to Giuseppe Peanu fractal slots which in turn form the basis for
a Sierpinski Circular slot arrangement, on a dielectric layer beneath which
lies the ground plane which again is a combination of a rectangular patch
and a circular segment whose diameter is same as the substrate width, i.e.
12.5 mm. The substrate is low cost fiberglass 1.6 mm thick with . The
Ground consists of a rectangular patch 3mm X 25mm.
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N.B: Taking the centre of the substrate as the origin, rest of the
coordinates are determined. The entire patch is fed with a 50-ohm micro
strip feed line with dimensions 9mm X 3mm. The first fractal is devised
using the Giuseppe Peanu design whose steps of generation in case of
single line, are as under.
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The patch that remains is again subjected to Sierpinski carpet through
etching out of 9 circles of which the central one is of radius 2 mm and the
rest 8 are in form of a rectangles edges and are of radius 1mm each. The
design is then simulated through the CST microwave studio over a
frequency range of 2 GHz to 14 GHz. The return loss plot, S11 parameter
graph is shown as under.
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Figure 10: The Surface Current plot at different Instances
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Figure 12: Radiation Patterns
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