Directivity Evaluation of PCB Antennas in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

PCB antennas present some excellent characteristics for low power communications, typically used in wireless sensor networks, such as low profile, low weight, compactness, durability, and versatility to suit several applications. However, these antennas tend to be chosen by the module manufacturer rather than the chips, and due to design constraints, it can lead to suboptimal placement within the communication module. To address this issue, this article presents a technique to evaluate the positioning and orientation of these antennas to aid network designers in properly deploying PCB antennas integrated into communication modules.