Isolation enhancement of metamaterial structure MIMO antenna for WiMAX/WLAN/ITU band applications

The μ-negative metamaterial (MNG) two-element MIMO antenna design was proposed in this article for WiMAX (2.5–2.8 GHz), WLAN (3.2–5.9 GHz), and ITU band (8.15−8.25 GHz) applications. The first design of the MIMO antenna operates at 2.7 and 4.9 GHz frequencies. In order to reduce the mutual coupling, a defective ground structure is used. For further isolation improvement, an MNG unit cell is placed in between the two radiating elements at a distance of 10 mm. The designed antenna elements have better than −23 dB coupling isolation between the two radiating elements. Moreover, with MNG an additional frequency of 8.2 GHz is obtained, which is useful for ITU band applications. The proposed antenna bandwidth is expanded by 19% in the lower operational band, 20% in the second operational band, and 32% in the higher frequency band with the MNG unit cell. From the analysis, the proposed antenna is suitable for WiMAX/WLAN/ITU band applications because of its low enveloped correlation coefficient, and highest directive gain and low mutual coupling between the radiating components. The proposed antenna was simulated, fabricated, and measured with the help of the Schwarz ZVL vector network analyzer and anechoic chamber. Both measured and simulated results are highly accurate and highly recommended for WiMAX/WLAN/ITU bands.

Miniaturized Dual-Band Dual-Mode Microstrip Patch Antenna with Defected Ground Structure for Wearable Applications

This work presents the performance of a miniaturized dual-band dual-mode microstrip patch antenna with Defected Ground Structure (DGS) at 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz on the stacked substrate configuration in the order of FR-4 – PDMS- FR-4. The antenna offers a promising solution for wearable applications in the ISM bands. The first substrate is a flexible Flame Retardant 4 (FR-4) and the other substrate is a highly flexible Polydimethyl Siloxane (PDMS). The size of the antenna was reduced from 50 × 50 mm2 to 30 × 30 mm2, by introducing DGS on the ground plane. A single U-slot on the rectangular radiating patch was introduced to produce the upper resonant frequency of 5.8 GHz while the existing square patch is to generate the lower resonant frequency of 2.45 GHz. The simulations on the dual-band dual-mode microstrip patch antenna shows the reflection coefficient, S11 at 2.45 GHz is -17.848 dB with a bandwidth of 278.8 MHz and -13.779 dB with a bandwidth of 273 MHz at 5.8 GHz. A unidirectional radiation pattern observed in the E-plane shows that the antenna could be applied for off-body communication while an omnidirectional radiation pattern in the H-plane showed that the antenna can be used for on-body communication. Bending investigation were performed for the antenna over a vacuum cylinder with varying diameters of 50 mm, 60 mm, 70 mm, 80 mm, 90 mm, 100 mm and 120 mm in the CST MWS® software. From the graph of reflection coefficients, the performance of the antenna were not affected in bending condition. The SAR simulations showed that the SAR limits obey the guidelines as stipulated by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) for 1 mW of input power. The 2.45 GHz SAR limit for 1 g of human tissue is 0.09007 W/kg (FCC standard: < 1.6 W/kg) while for 10 g is 0.01867 W/kg (ICNIRP standard: < 2 W/kg). For 5.8 GHz, the SAR limit for 1 g of human tissue is 0.115 W/kg and for 10 g is 0.03517 W/kg. Based on the performance of the antenna in bending condition and the SAR limits, it is safe to conclude that the antenna can be used for wearable applications at 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz of the ISM bands.

Calculation of Building Heat Losses through Slab-on-Ground Structures Based on Soil Temperature Measured In Situ

The article aims to assess the effects of soil temperature measured in situ on the heat loss analyses of a building. Numerical analyses and in situ measurements of soil temperature profiles for real conditions under a residential building (profile I) in Poland and under the area outside the building (profile II) were performed. Based on the measurement results, a proprietary geometric model of the partition was proposed. The heat flux and heat flow results obtained for reliable models are 4.9% and 6.9% higher compared to a model based on a typical meteorological year for the wall–foundation system and 10.0% and 10.1% higher for the slab-on-ground structure for profile I. The adoption of temperatures from the area outside the building as the boundary condition (profile II) results in greater differences between the obtained results. The difference in heat flow obtained in the numerical analyses for profiles I and II is about 2 W/m2, both for the wall–foundation system and for the slab-on-ground structure calculations. The adoption of temperatures for the ground outside the building led to overestimation in the heat flux calculations, this being due to lower temperatures in these particular layers of the ground.