New compact broadband GSM/UMTS/LTE antenna realised by 3D printing

The 3D printing technology is advancing at a staggering rate in the modern manufacturing industry. For the antenna engineering, this technology can offer possibilities to manufacture complex shaped three-dimensional antennas with more powerful features and then respond to the more and more demanded requirements. In this paper, we present a new compact and broadband monopole antenna with an omnidirectional radiation pattern for mobile communications. This antenna has been designed by an optimization process, simulated using a commercial tool and then manufactured by means 3D printing method. The measured return loss of the 3D printed antenna prototype shows a good agreement with the simulation results. A wide impedance bandwidth is obtained for mobile communications covering GSM, UMTS and LTE bands respecting the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) norms (3:1 VSWR). The maximum gain of the manufactured prototype reaches 5dB with an average radiation efficiency of about 65%. The radiation pattern is omnidirectional over the entire operating frequency band. The designed antenna presents a reduced size and good performances which make it very promising for mobile communications. Hence, 3D printing can be used as an alternative method for fabricating complex shaped three-dimensional antennas.