Progress In Electromagnetics Research C, Vol.

140, 151-161, 2024

(Received 31 October 2023, Accepted 10 January 2024, Scheduled 23 January 2024)

An Ultra-Wideband Antenna Based on Left-Handed Materials

for IoT Applications

Jincheng Xue1 , Ao Ni2 , Lanzheng Liu1 , Zhuopeng Wang1 , and Xia Wang3, *
1 College of Electronic and Information Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
2 College of Ocean Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
3 Electrical Information Department, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Jinan, China

ABSTRACT: In this paper, a new UWB antenna for the Internet of Things (IoT) based on a left-handed structure is designed. The antenna
utilizes a microstrip feeder and consists of a new complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) equipped with a three-stage double rect-
angular electromagnetic resonator (RER) to form the main radiator with left-handed characteristics. It also includes a double L-shaped
parasitic patch and a slotted ground. The dimensions of the antenna are 0.42 × 0.42 × 0.013λ30 . It covers the frequency band of 1.70–
3.34 GHz (65.1%), which includes the communication frequency bands used by IoT antennas. The antenna exhibits good directional
patterns within this frequency band. The measured peak gain is 5.49 dBi, making it suitable for applications in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee
technology, and other fields.

1. INTRODUCTION system for cognitive radio was proposed, integrated with a

ith the rapid development of IoT and modern communi- slot line-based MIMO antenna and a quadrupole half-ring
W cation technologies, the design requirements for anten-
nas in IoT applications are becoming increasingly demanding.
UWB MIMO antenna system on the same substrate [6]. The
antenna covers a frequency range of 1.48–4.56 GHz, suitable
Due to the fundamental limitations associated with small elec- for UWB-MIMO systems.
trical antennas, finding the optimal antenna design for any wire- Left-handed metamaterials have received widespread atten-
less system remains a challenge for researchers [1]. Ultra- tion in antenna design due to their unique electromagnetic prop-
wideband (UWB) is one of the leading wireless technologies in erties. Left-handed metamaterials can reduce antenna resonant
antenna design, with its advantages of low transmitting power frequency, resulting in miniaturization [7, 8], increase antenna
and strong penetration making it suitable for a variety of ap- bandwidth [9–13], gain [14, 15], and improve antenna radiation
plications. Compared to other bandwidths, UWB can main- efficiency [16, 17]. In [18], a composite metamaterial consist-
tain relatively low power consumption, and its large bandwidth ing of an inner open-ring resonator and an outer closed-ring
makes it suitable for short-range, high-bandwidth communica- resonator was proposed, achieving dual-band operation in the
tion in most radio frequency spectra. frequency ranges of 2.595–2.654 GHz and 3.185–4.245 GHz
Ultra-wideband short-range wireless communication sys- through two resonant modes. A wheel-shaped metamaterial
tems have the advantages of effectively reducing spectrum was proposed, with linearly polarized patches placed on the
resource occupation, low cost, and stable matching, making metasurface to achieve circular polarization [19]. In [20], a
UWB antennas increasingly popular among researchers [2]. novel three-layer annular metamaterial absorber (MA) was pro-
In [3], a UWB MIMO antenna was designed using two open posed and arranged into a double-ring structure, effectively re-
L-shaped slot antenna elements. The antenna achieved an ducing the radar cross section inside the band.
impedance bandwidth of over 3.1–10.6 GHz, making it suitable The purpose of the paper is to design a UWB antenna with
for portable UWB applications. In [4], a novel shovel-shaped left-handed structure characteristics. The authors achieve this
UWB antenna with three notches was designed, using a by loading a three-stage double RERs into the CSRR to form the
hooked defect ground and a loading semi-octagonal resonant main radiator of the antenna. This structure enables the antenna
ring to achieve three notched frequency bands, resulting in to have left-handed radiation characteristics. The ground slot
an impedance bandwidth of 2.9–13 GHz. In [5], researchers not only reduces the reflection interference of the ground to the
designed a UWB antenna for medical microwave imaging antenna, but also increases the matching degree of the antenna
(MWI) applications. The butterfly-shaped antenna’s cross arms to ensure the left-handed characteristics of the antenna. The
were connected perpendicularly to a UWB balun, achieving designed antenna operates within the frequency range of 1.70–
UWB performance from 1 to 6 GHz. This makes the antenna 3.34 GHz, which covers the 1800 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and
suitable for more precise, multi-frequency MWI systems and other bands commonly used in the IoT applications. The paper
can be used in UWB-MWI hybrid systems. A UWB antenna validates the effectiveness and usability of the antenna through
physical tests.
* Corresponding author: Xia Wang ([email protected]).

doi:10.2528/PIERC23103103 151 Published by THE ELECTROMAGNETIC ACADEMY

 Xue et al.

FIGURE 1. Schematic diagram of left-hand structure.

FIGURE 2. Schematic diagram of antenna dimensions.

TABLE 1. Size parameters of left-handed metamaterial structure.

Parameters Value/mm Parameters Value/mm Parameters Value/mm

W1 26 W4 4 L7 4
L1 40 L4 18 D1 2
W2 4 W5 14 D2 1
L2 22 L5 18 D3 1
W3 6 W6 1
L3 24 L6 6

2. LEFT-HANDED STRUCTURE DESIGN the structure undergo changes around 2 GHz within the work-
ing bandwidth.
It is correct that the paper proposes a novel left-handed struc- This section describes the analysis and optimization of the
ture. The structure consists of a reverse opening ring loaded equivalent circuit model for the left-handed structure using ad-
inside the opening ring to form the complementary split ring vanced design system (ADS). Figure 4 presents the equiva-
resonator (CSRR). Inside the CSRR, a three-stage double rect- lent circuit diagram obtained through the ADS assignment op-
angular electromagnetic resonator (RER) is loaded to create a timization of each component. The component assignments
new left-handed structure. This structure is printed on an FR4 are provided in Table 2. The three ring circuits of the equiv-
medium substrate. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the alent circuit respectively represent the three-layer structure of
left-handed structure. The size data for the left-handed struc- the antenna, in which L1 –L6 and C1 –C6 are the capacitors and
ture are provided in Table 1. The port settings of the left-handed inductors introduced in the RER; C7 , C9 , and C10 are the cou-
structure simulation model are shown in Figure 3(a): the upper pling capacitors generated between the RER and the inner and
and lower parts are prefect H; the left and right parts are wave outer opening rings; L8 –L12 are the ring inductors generated
port; and the front and rear parts are prefect E. This is done by the inner and outer opening rings; C8 and C11 are capaci-
so that the electric field is parallel to the patch, and the mag- tors generated at the opening of two open rings. Additionally,
netic field is perpendicular to the patch, which can simulate the Figure 5 displays the amplitude and phase characteristics ob-
periodic structure. The left-handed structure was simulated on tained through the simulation of the equivalent circuit model in
a 1.6 mm thick FR-4 substrate. The results, as shown in Fig- ADS. The analysis reveals that the equivalent circuit model ex-
ure 3(b), demonstrate that the amplitude and phase of S11 of hibits two phase break points at 2 GHz, which aligns with the

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Progress In Electromagnetics Research C, Vol. 140, 151-161, 2024

(a) (b)

FIGURE 3. Left-handed structure, (a) simulation model, (b) simulation result.

TABLE 2. Equivalent circuit element assignment.

Parameters Value Parameters Value Parameters Value

C1 1 pF C9 1.1 pF L6 1 nH
C2 1 pF C10 1.1 pF L7 1.2 nH
C3 1 pF C11 0.01 pF L8 1.5 nH
C4 1 pF L1 1 nH L9 0.55 nH
C5 1 pF L2 1 nH L10 0.55 nH
C6 1 pF L3 1 nH L11 3 nH
C7 15 pF L4 1 nH L12 3 nH
C8 1.6 pF L5 1 nH L13 4.5 nH

phase characteristics observed in the electromagnetic simula- shows the equivalent permittivity, equivalent permeability, re-
tion of the left-handed structure. fractive index, and wave impedance after parameter inversion.
The equivalent electromagnetic parameters of the left- As can be seen from Figure 6, the equivalent permittivity of the
handed metamaterial structure can be obtained by inversion left-handed metamaterial structure is negative in 1.7–3.55 GHz,
of the S-parameter, and its equivalent permittivity, effective including all operating bandwidths; the equivalent permeability
permeability, and wave impedance can be obtained. The is negative in 1.9–2.74 GHz; and the refractive index is nega-
parameter inversion algorithm [21] can be expressed as tive in 1.8–3.32 GHz, realizing the left-handed characteristic in
the operating bandwidths.
ne
ε = (1)
z
µ = ne z (2) 3. ANTENNA DESIGN

1 1−S112 2
+S21 2πu The antenna was designed on an FR-4 dielectric substrate with
ne = cos−1 + (3) a thickness of 1.6 mm, a dielectric constant of 4.4, and a loss
kh 2S 21 kd
tangent of 0.02. Figure 7 illustrates the configuration and ge-
√
2 ometry of the antenna, which includes an entire radiator with
(1+S11 ) −S212
z = ± 2 (4) a simple feeder, a double “L” type parasitic patch, and left-
(1−S11 ) −S212
handed characteristics (as shown in Figure 1), a substrate, and
a slotted ground. In the figure, the blue represents the upper
where ε is the effective dielectric constant; ne is the effective antenna radiation structure, the yellow represents the ground,
refractive index; z is the wave impedance; µ is the effective per- and the green represents the slot. The specific size parameters
meability; k is the wave number; h is the thickness of metama- of the antenna are listed in Table 3.
terial; S11 and S21 are scattering parameters; u is an integer that c
represents the branch of the inverse cosine function. Figure 6 Wg = 0.083 · √ (5)
f 0 εr

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FIGURE 4. Equivalent circuit diagram of left-handed structure.

FIGURE 5. Simulation result of in ADS.

TABLE 3. Antenna size parameters (unit: mm).

Parameters Unit/mm Parameters Unit/mm

W 50 Wg 18
L 50 Lg 17
Ws 30 Ws 1
Ls 44 Ls 9
D4 1.1

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(a) (b)

(c) (d)

FIGURE 6. S-parameter inversion. (a) Equivalent permittivity. (b) Equivalent permeability. (c) Refractive index. (d) Impedance.

FIGURE 7. Antenna structure.

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FIGURE 8. Antenna design process.

(a) (b)

FIGURE 9. Antenna performance comparison (a) impedance bandwidth (b) gain.

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Progress In Electromagnetics Research C, Vol. 140, 151-161, 2024

(a) (b)

FIGURE 10. Influence of parameter Ls on antenna performance (a) impedance bandwidth (b) gain.

(a) (b)

FIGURE 11. Influence of parameter D4 on antenna performance (a) impedance bandwidth (b) gain.

FIGURE 12. Antenna physical diagram.

c
Lg = √ (6) respectively. c is the speed of light in vacuum, f0 the resonant
2f0 εr frequency of the antenna, and εr the effective dielectric con-
Formulas (5) and(6) are the relationship between the width and stant of the substrate.
length of the feeder and the resonant frequency of the antenna,

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(a) (b)

FIGURE 13. Simulated and measured results. (a) S11 . (b) Gain, efficiency.

(a) (b)

FIGURE 14. Simulated and measured results of radiation pattern. (a) 1.88 GHz, (b) 2.7 GHz.

The antenna design is depicted in Figure 8. To begin, we by a notable gain increase. Subsequently, we introduced a
designed a monopole open loop antenna, referred to as Antenna reverse-opening ring and a three-stage double rectangular
1, which is fed through a microstrip feeder. In the next step, electromagnetic radiator at the core of the monopole antenna.
we modified the ground by adding slots to create Antenna 2. Together, they created a left-handed structure and increased
Subsequently, we incorporated complementary open rings and the impedance bandwidth of the antenna. The impedance
a three-stage double rectangular electromagnetic resonator to bandwidth was expanded to 1.69–3.19 GHz, and the gain in the
fashion Antenna 3. The ultimate Antenna 4 was realized by lower band increased by approximately 2 dBi. Certainly, the
introducing parasitic double L-shaped patches on both sides of inclusion of double “L” shaped patches as parasitic elements
the feeder. Figure 9 illustrates the performance characteristics on both sides of the feeder in Antenna 4 significantly influences
of these four antennas at various stages of the design process. the antenna’s electromagnetic characteristics. By strategically
As observed in Figure 9, Antenna 1 exhibited poor adjusting the position and size of these parasitic patches, the
impedance matching, generating only a single resonance impedance bandwidth of the antenna experiences a notable
point at 2 GHz. Antenna 2, with a ground square slot, was expansion. As a result, the final antenna impedance bandwidth
designed. This led to a reduction in the impact of multipath reaches 1.7–3.34 GHz, indicating a substantial enhancement
interference, enhancing the signal quality and reliability, and over the initial design. Moreover, the gain of Antenna 4
significantly improving antenna matching. Antenna 2 extended experiences a remarkable improvement of approximately 5 dBi
the operating bandwidth from 1.68 to 2.96 GHz, accompanied in comparison to the performance of Antenna 1.

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(a) (b)

(c) (d)

FIGURE 15. Cross-polarization, (a) E-plane at 1.88 GHz, (b) H-plane at 1.88 GHz, (c) E-plane at 2.7 GHz, (d) H-plane at 1.88 GHz.

4. PARAMETRIC RESEARCH impedance bandwidth of a higher frequency band begins to be

lost, and the gain change is not obvious, so Ws = 30 mm is
Figures 10 and 11 show that changing the width (Ws ) and length selected. These values provided the desired impedance band-
(Ls ) of the square slot has a significant impact on the antenna’s width and gain, indicating that this combination of Ls and Ws
performance. This is expected because the ground square slot meets the antenna design objectives.
is an integral part of the antenna structure, and its dimensions
influence how the antenna radiates and receives electromag-
netic waves. Alterations in Ls and Ws can affect not only the 5. SIMULATION AND MEASUREMENT
antenna’s radiation but also the interference and reflection of The S11 , gain, and radiation efficiency of the antenna were de-
electromagnetic waves by the ground. This, in turn, affects the termined through electromagnetic simulation software. Sub-
overall electromagnetic characteristics of the antenna. sequently, the designed antenna was fabricated and rigorously
We investigated a range of values for Ls and Ws . The length tested, corroborating the simulation results. In Figure 12,
Ls varied between 42 mm and 45 mm, while the width Ws we present actual images of the antenna from both the front
ranged from 28 mm to 32 mm. As can be seen in Figure 10, and back. In Figure 13(a), a comparison is made between
when Ls continues to increase, the antenna impedance band- the simulated and measured S11 parameters of the antenna.
width and gain are slightly increased. When Ls reaches 45 mm, The measured impedance bandwidth ranges from 1.61 GHz to
the antenna impedance matching becomes worse, and the band- 3.60 GHz. Compared with the simulation value, the band-
width begins to narrow, so Ls = 44 mm is selected. As can width is slightly increased, and the antenna matching degree
be seen from Figure 11, with the increase of Ws , the antenna is stronger. This observation suggests a high degree of align-
impedance bandwidth becomes larger, and the resonance be- ment between the design expectations and the real-world per-
gins to move forward. When the bandwidth is 31 mm, the formance of the antenna. Moreover, when evaluating the gain

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TABLE 4. Performance comparison between this design and other antennas.

Overall dimension S11 < −10 dB Gain −10 dB

Reference
(λ30 ) (GHz) (dBi) Bandwidth (%)
[22] 0.23 × 0.23 × 0.04 0.896–0.958 2.4 6.7
[23] 0.7 × 0.47 × 0.084 1.62–2.78 6 52.7
[24] 0.28 × 0.28 × 0.042 2.42–2.5 1.2 2.4
2.3–2.53/
[25] 0.75 × 0.75 × 0.027 4.88/4.73 9.6/12.4
5.63–5.95
This work 0.42 × 0.42 × 0.013 1.70–3.34 5.49 65.1

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