Characteristic Mode Analysis Based Highly Flexible Antenna For Millimeter Wave Wireless Applications

The millimeter wave spectrum fulfills the demand for higher data rates with low latency. Moreover, futuristic wearable gadgets demand flexible antennas operating at these frequencies, such that they can easily be accommodated. Therefore, the article focuses on designing a compact and highly flexible antenna with the aid of characteristic mode analysis (CMA). A thin polyimide substrate of 0.1 mm thickness is used to maintain flexibility. The overall antenna profile is 0.61λ0×0.61λ0\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$0.61{\lambda }_{0} \times 0.61{\lambda }_{0}$$\end{document}. The design evolves through four stages, where, in each stage, the solution to the surface current through eigenvalue leads to significant modes. The final stage design generated Mode 2 fundamental mode at 30.5 GHz along with contributing Modes 3 and 5 with a bandwidth range of 28-31.5 GHz. Further, the design is simulated using electromagnetic simulation software, and the prototype is fabricated. The simulated and measured reflection coefficient |S11| > 10 dB in 28.72-32 GHz and 28.9-31.75 GHz. The CMA analyzed, simulated, and measured gain is 4.82 and 5.6 dBi, respectively. The proposed antenna has a stable response for conformal orientations along the x and y-axis. The antenna has resulted in bidirectional radiation in the XZ plane with simulated and measured half-power-beam-width (HPBW) of 58° and 54°. In the YZ plane, it resulted in omnidirectional radiation. The simulated and measured results are in good agreement. The article also performs the link budget analysis. It suggested that the antenna can communicate 100 Mbps of data to a distance of 100 m and 1 Gbps of data up to 70 m. Thus, the proposed antenna structure is suitable for wearable, IoT, and other 5G wireless applications.