A compact self-packaged patch antenna with non-planar complimentary split ring resonator loading

A self-packaged folded patch antenna in a rectangular waveguide shape is greatly reduced in size by loading a complimentary split ring resonator (CSRR) on the edge of its ground plane. The dimensions of the proposed antenna are 15mm×15mm×20mm, showing 72% volume reduction compared to one without CSRR loading at the same radiation frequency of 2.4GHz. Impedance matching between the patch and the feeding line is obtained by adjusting the gap between two edges of the folded patch not necessitating an additional impedance matching circuit. Also, the inside cavity surrounded and packaged by the folded patch is electromagnetically well shielded from the external circuit. This antenna offers a quasi-omni-directional radiation pattern. All those features make the proposed antenna very suitable for a compact sensor network application. To our knowledge, this is the first report a non-planar CSRR applied to antenna size reduction.