MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA FOR IMPROVED WI-FI RECEPTION

A rectangular microstrip patch antenna (RMPA) is designed to operate at the Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band (2.4GHz) used in Wi-Fi network communication. The calculated dimensions of the antenna are used to design a model on Advanced Design System (ADS), a microwave simulator. Impedance matching at 50Ω is achieved by using the inset feed method. Final antenna dimensions obtained after simulation and optimization are implemented on an FR-4 substrate. The RMPA has a resonant frequency of 2.42GHz at a return loss of -25.08dB over a bandwidth of 80MHz with a Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) of 1.17. These measurements represent deviations of 0.83%, 13.9%, 100% and 9.75% respectively from simulation results.Far field analysis show a gain of 3.23dBi and directivity of 6.4dBi. An improvement of 31.15% was recorded on received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measured on a personal computer for a particular access point, AP.