Wireless communication in outdoor environment is influenced by different living and nonliving creatures in the earth's atmosphere. These influences are based on the interaction of EM (Electromagnetic) waves emitted from antennas in communication systems. This research work focuses on analyzing the role of different plant species on antenna characteristics in outdoor wireless communication. The influence of different plant species on communication system is analyzed by using the fieldfox analyzer N9915A and microstrip antenna operating at 2.45 GHz. The variation in return loss of the microstrip antenna when placed nearer to a group of selected 25 plant species is analysed and the obtained return loss is compared with the return loss of antenna in free space. The relative change in return loss of antenna when tested with different species in free space is between 2.8 % to 73.68 %. From the analysis, it could be concluded that up to 73.68% loss in antenna characteristics can be brought in with the influence of certain species. The performance of the wireless communication system is dependent on the antenna performance which is influenced by the variation in return loss when coming in contact with different materials in the near field. This experimental investigation for analysing the influence of different plant species on wireless communication is analysed and observed that the pigmentation, water content and mass density have an indirect influence on the antenna characteristics in wireless communication system.
INDEX TERMSAntenna; electromagnetic (EM); electromagnetic radiation (EMR); outdoor environment; plants; wireless communication I. INTRODUCTION Wireless communication technology plays an inevitable role in communication systems. The physical medium where it communicate is the free space environment through Electromagnetic (EM) waves [1]. It can communicate over different distances based on the preferred technologies of operation band on different electromagnetic signals. These signals can be categorized based on the frequency of operation [2]. RF communication can be made possible using electromagnetic signals of frequency ranging from 3 KHz to 300 GHz where the microwave frequency exist within this range, ie., from 300 MHz to 300 GHz [3]. These EM signals have the capability to penetrate through the objects and communicate over large distance and is possible through antennas that exist in the communication system [4]. The performance of all communication systems including the RF and microwave, is dependent on the operational frequency, amount of the power transmitted from the antenna at the transmitted end, height, size and type of the antenna [5]-[7]. So, the antennas that exist in the wireless communication system have a significant role for achieving efficient communication [8]-[11]. The design and performance of antenna at specified frequency have a significant role in maintaining the signal strength, transmission and reception quality of EM signal, range of the signals and directional capability, for r...
