Compact Patch Antenna Design for Outdoor RF Energy Harvesting in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, two compact patch antenna designs for a new application - outdoor RF energy harvesting in powering a wireless soil sensor network - are presented. The first design is a low-profile folded shorted patch antenna (FSPA), with a small ground plane and wide impedance bandwidth. The second design is a novel FSPA structure with four pairs of slot embedded into its ground plane. Performance of both antennas was first simulated using CST Microwave Studio. Antenna prototypes were then fabricated and tested in the anechoic chamber and in their actual operating environment - an outdoor field. It was found that the FSPA with slotted ground plane achieved a comparable impedance bandwidth to the first design, with an overall size reduction of 29%. Simulations were also carried out to investigate the effects of different design parameters on the performance of the proposed slotted ground plane FSPA.

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