A Compact, Band-Notched Ultra-Wideband Fully-Recessed Antenna With Pattern Diversity for V2X Communications

In this paper, a compact, band-notched ultra-wideband (UWB) fully-recessed antenna with pattern diversity is proposed and demonstrated for vehicle-to-X communications. The antenna is composed of a multi-port central radiator fully embedded inside a bowl-shaped ground structure with a flush top. The multi-port central radiator consists of a top circular plate, four split-quarter conical monopoles, four vertically- and horizontally-orientated strips, a central metallic cylinder, and a bottom cylinder. Moreover, four F-shaped monopoles are loaded to the multi-port central radiator for producing two narrow notched bands. The integrated antenna achieves a form factor of 0.23 lambda(3)(L) , where lambda(L) is the free space wavelength at the lowest working frequency. The proposed antenna was fabricated and characterized, achieving a measured S-11 < -10 dB band ranging from 1.7 to 6 GHz with two stopbands at around 2.5 and 5.15 GHz for all four ports. Moreover, the measured mutual coupling is smaller than -15 dB, while the envelope correlation coefficients (ECCs) are below 0.1 between different input ports. A vertically-polarized (VP) omni-directional pattern can be supported when all four ports are excited simultaneously, whereas four directional patterns pointing towards different directions in the azimuthal plane can be realized when the four ports are excited individually. The demonstrated antenna is a promising candidate in multiple-input multiple-output communication systems for a wide variety of platforms.