Integrated coplanar antennas for short range link at 868 MHz

This paper presents a study which takes place in the ALLIGATOR (All Integrated Metering) project directed by the EURIMUS funding and managed by Schlumberger RMS division. The objective of this project is to develop innovative technologies allowing utilities to improve the global management of energy resources (gas, water, heat, electricity) by means of wireless metering, helping them to reduce their operation cost and to provide better services to end users. Thus, a compact and low cost RF communication module, which can be attached to any base meter has to be designed. The module itself integrates batteries, sensors, data processing, RF stages and the antenna. After a presentation of the mechanical and electromagnetic constraints imposed by the chosen technology, the antenna design is described, and proposed solutions thoroughly investigated, both from the theoretical (FDTD simulation) and experimental point of view.