Designing FSS for wireless propagation control within buildings

This paper reports some of the findings in a collaborative project between the Universities of Kent and Manchester in the UK and Auckland in New Zealand. An objective of the work has been to establish how to create FSS capable of influencing signal strength within buildings, especially if the FSS panel is small with respect to the total wall area, and also finite with respect to wavelength. Results are given illustrating the effects of truncating FSS to electrically small size and mounting the arrays in apertures in conducting screens. The roll-off is modified by using dual layer designs. Element sizes are reduced by the use of convoluted patterns and possible methods for the realistic fabrication of FSS suitable for the building industry are discussed. Finally, an initial study is reported from Auckland where FSS panels in apertures have been introduced in a small screened room.