Fractal Antenna

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 14

University of Technology

Department of Electrical Engineering

Fractal Antennas

By
Ali Abdulnabi
Zaidoun Raad
Zahraa Abdulameer
Mohannad Omar
Fatima Waheed

M.Sc. Students in Electronics and


Communications Engineering
1- Introduction
Fractal antennas are a fascinating innovation in the field of antenna
design. Traditional antennas, such as dipole or monopole antennas, are
typically resonant structures designed for a specific frequency. In contrast,
fractal antennas are non-resonant and exhibit self-similarity at different
scales, making them versatile in terms of operating frequencies and
compact in size. This report explores the concept, design principles,
advantages, and applications of fractal antennas.
2- Concept of Fractal Antennas
Fractal antennas are based on the concept of fractals, which are geometric
shapes or structures that exhibit self-similarity, meaning they look similar
at different scales. In antenna design, this self-similarity is exploited to
create structures that can efficiently radiate or receive electromagnetic
waves at multiple frequencies. The fundamental idea is to generate a
larger antenna structure by recursively adding smaller copies of itself.

Figure 1: Fractal Antenna


3- Design Principles
The design principles of fractal antennas involve several key concepts:

1
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.

2
5- Common Designs
A- The KOCH Structure

Figure 2: The KOCH Structure

B- The KOCH Snowflake

Figure 3: The KOCH Snowflake

C- The SIERPINSKI Triangle

Figure 4: The SIERPINSKI Triangle

3
D- The SIERPINSKI Carpet

Figure 5: The SIERPINSKI Triangle

6- Demonstration of Fractal Geometry

What is a fractal? Following B. Mandelbrot’s definition “a set for which


the Hausdor–Besicovitch dimension strictly exceeds the topological
dimension”. The topological dimension is a dimension which we use to
experience. For example, the topological dimension of a point, line,
surface, and volume is 0, 1, 2, and 3, respectively. From an engineering
perspective, the box-counting dimension can used instead of the Hausdor
–Besicovitch dimension, being the box-counting easy to compute. This
dimensional aspect of fractals is however beyond the scope of the paper.
Some fractals feature copies of the whole structure at small scales. This
property is called self-similarity, and it is useful to design multiband
antennas. The Sierpinski triangle is one of the most known self-similar
fractals. Some other fractals fill the space, as is the case of space-filling
curves, that make them attractive to design small-antennas. The Hilbert
curve is one example of a space-filling curve which has been used to
design small antennas.

4
Generation of fractals: The process of generation of fractals can be
explained by the following procedures.

A- Recursive Relation Based


In the spatial domain, a recurrence relation is defined to produce these
types of fractals in a complex plane. Some examples of such fractals are
Mandelbrot set, Julia set, Lyapunov fractal, etc. This is also known as
escape-time method of generating fractals. This technique uses recursive
mathematical equations.
Let us define a transformation function in a complex plane.

H = f(X), where f(X) = z2 + c

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
5
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.

7- Narrow Band Fractal Antenna


7.1 Introduction
This chapter presents the design and analysis of a Fractal hybrid
showcasing narrowband behaviour. The design consists of a Giuseppe
Peanu fractal that constitutes the base on which another fractal geometry,
Sierpinski geometry is implemented. The patch as a whole is on top of the
FR4 substrate of dielectric constant 4.4. The choice of FR4 is based
primarily on its ease of availability and lower cost associated. Beneath the
substrate lies a ground which itself is a combination of rectangular patch
and a circular segment. The antenna exhibits narrowband characteristic.
For an antenna to be designated as a narrow-band one, the impedance
bandwidth must be less than 50%, i.e.

6
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.

7.2 Antenna Design


In this section, the details regarding the antenna‟s design are provided
followed by the results of the simulations that were carried out

7
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.

Figure 6: (a) Front View (b) Back View

8
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.

Figure 7: Steps involved in the generation of Giuseppe Peanu Fractal

In case of the proposed design, a rectangular patch of dimensions 25mm


X 16mm is subjected to the Giuseppe Peanu iteration over the length and
the breadth taking the notch length to be one third of the total length of
the side and width to be 1 mm.

Figure 8: Generation of Giuseppe Peanu fractal over rectangular patch

9
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.

Figure 9: S11 plot

As is visible from the graph and calculated thereafter the difference


between the high cut off frequency and the low cut off frequency turns
out to be 1.3614 GHz which when divided by 3.368 GHz gives the
impedance bandwidth percentage.
(1.3614/3.368)*100% = 40.421% < 50%

10
Figure 10: The Surface Current plot at different Instances

Figure 11: Realized Gain

11
Figure 12: Radiation Patterns

Figure 13: E and H plane graphs


12
References

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_(radio)
2. K. Fujimoto and J. James, Mobile Antenna Systems Handbook.
Artech House, 1994
3. W. Beynon, “Marconi, Radio waves and the Ionosphere,” Radio
Science, vol. vol.10, no.7,pp. 657–664, July, 1975.
4. Choukiker, Yogesh Kumar (2013) “Investigations on some compact
wideband fractal antennas” PhD thesis
5. Agrawal, Sonu (2013) Design and Analysis of Hexagonal Shaped
Fractal Antennas. MTech thesis
6. Zhi Ning Chen and Michael Y. W. Chia, “Broadband Planar Antennas,
Design and Applications,” John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
7. K. L. Wong, Planar Antennas for Wireless Communications. Wiley
Interscience, 2000
8. A. F. Peterson, S. L. Ray, and R. Mittra, Computational Methods for
Electromagnetics. IEEE Press Series on Electromagnetic Wave Theory,
1997.
9. E. K. Miller, L. Medgyesi Mitschang, and E. H. Newman,
Computational Electromagnetics: Frequency-Domain Method of
Moments. IEEE Press, 1992
10. W. C. Chew, J. Jin, E. Michielssen, and J. Song, Fast and

13

You might also like