A simple dual-band microstrip-fed printed antenna for WLAN applications

A novel microstrip-fed dual-band printed antenna for wireless local area network (WLAN) is presented. The antenna comprises a rectangular and a circular radiating element, which generate two resonant modes to cover 2.4/5.2/5.8 GHz WLAN bands. The design was experimentally verified by constructing the antenna on a FR4 (epsiv_r = 4.4) dielectric substrate (47 mm times26 mm times0.76 mm) and measuring its impedance and radiation characteristics at both the bands. The measured 10 dB return loss (VSWR 2:1) bandwidth in the 2.4 GHz band is 550 MHz (2.1-2.65 GHz) and it covers the bandwidth required for 2.4 GHz WLAN. The 5.2/5.8 GHz resonant mode has a bandwidth of 950 MHz (5.15-6.1 GHz) covering 5.2/5.8 GHz WLAN bands. A rigorous experimental evaluation confirmed that the dual-band printed antenna maintained good radiation characteristics with minimum cross-polarisation levels.