CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT
Design/Simulation of a Planar Inverted-F Antenna
Today's mobile devices often serve different frequency bands with multiple antennas optimized for performance and
designed for the smallest possible footprint. To address these concerns, engineers at CommScope implemented an
inverted-F antenna (IFA) for sub-1GHz band mobile communications using a combination of antenna theory, circuit analysis,
and EM simulation.
IFA Design
The specifications for the mechanical dimensions of the IFA severely limited the available space for the antenna.
Consequently, difficult tradeoffs from the theoretical design had to be made regarding antenna gain, efficiency, and
broadband performance. An IFA design places the feed from the ground plane to the upper arm that runs parallel to the
ground plane. The upper arm of the IFA has a length that is roughly a quarter of a wavelength.
The planar structure of the antenna is well-suited to use AWR AXIEM EM analysis to optimize the in-band return loss perfor-
mance of the antenna (Figure 1). The current distribution of the antenna is comparable to those demonstrated in theoretical
background material. The maximum current is at the intersection between the short and open stubs. The minimum current is
located at the open end of the resonator and the skin effect is at the edges. The network synthesis option in AWR Microwave
Office software was used to develop an impedance matching network for the antenna operating at LTE Band 13.
Figure 1: The antenna response can be tuned by adjusting the length of the resonator
Conclusion
The capabilities of AWR Microwave Office software combined with the speed of the AWR AXIEM EM analysis helped the
CommScope team cut the number of various prototype design spins and delivered a first-time-right solution for the given
problems. The software detected the influence of the mechanical tradeoffs and helped the team compensate for those
problems during the simulation phase.
Read the full Design and Simulation of a Planar Inverted-F Antenna customer spotlight.
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