Folded meander line antenna for wireless M‐Bus in the VHF and UHF bands

Abstract

The first dual-band printed monopole antenna for Wireless M-Bus and M2M applications with operation in the VHF and lower UHF band is presented. The antenna operates at 169 MHz and 433 MHz. The miniaturisation of the proposed compact antenna is based on a doublesided meandering structure offering an easily controlled large frequency-ratio. The antenna is offering high total efficiency and gain in both bands. Measured and simulated results are reported.Introduction: In recent years, intelligent metering systems for the measurement of water, gas, heat, and electricity consumption have attracted increased attention enabling competitive and efficient commercial solutions.The Wireless M-Bus standard (EN13757-4:2013) [1] which defines the radio frequency link between a smart consumption meter and the data collecting device, is widely used in Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) applications. Wireless M-Bus was originally designated to operate in the 868 MHz band, allowing good propagation conditions with compact and efficient designs. The emphasis on the demand for harmonised frequency bands for several existing and new applications led the Electronic Communication Committee (ECC) [2] to reconsider the use of the 169 MHz and 433 MHz bands. The two new entrant bands which were added to the wM-Bus specification, introduce a narrow band channel (75 kHz) with a maximum EIRP of +27 dBm, providing longer range solutions than at 868 MHz.In a smart metering grid, smart devices are generally located inside buildings, and communicate with data collectors which are positioned on the rooftop or on street lamps. Due to the poor indoor propagation conditions, limited available power and the increase in path loss with frequency, technologies above 1 GHz are unsuitable. The choice of operating frequencies in the 169 MHz and 433 MHz bands is necessary to provide satisfactory indoor reception, overcoming the high building penetration losses, increasing battery lifetime and the power link budget.The size of a typical metering device is around 150 × 150 mm². This space must house the electronic components, battery and the integrated antenna. The limited available antenna space intensifies the challenge of trading antenna dimensions for performance. A variety of different antenna types for smart metering devices are commercially available which operate only in 169 MHz. Normal mode helical monopoles [3] are common with an average size of 14.2 mm × 160 mm (diameter × height) and a reported gain of -1 dBi, but no ground plane specified. These monopole types are still too large and high profile for integration.Chip antennas [4] are compact sized (25 mm × 5 mm × 0.8 mm) and suitable to meet the limited space requirements, but the poor gain (-17.6 dBi) makes them an unattractive solution. In the data sheet [5] a shorted helical monopole antenna for smart metering is proposed with dimensions of 44 mm × 35 mm (diameter × height), a gain of -8 dBi and bandwidth of 8 MHz. The efficiency is not reported and the antenna is located on a ground pla...

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