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fractalIsland

Minkowski's loop fractal antenna

Since R2019a

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Description

The fractalIsland object creates a Minkowski's loop fractal antenna. These fractal antennas are used in mobile phone and Wi-Fi® communications.

A fractal antenna uses a self-similar design to maximize the length or increase the perimeter of a material that transmits or receives electromagnetic radiation within a given volume or area. The main advantage of fractal antennas is that they are compact, which is an important requirement for small and complex circuits. Fractal antennas also have more input impedance or resistance due to increased length or perimeter.

All fractal antennas are printed structures that are etched on a dielectric substrate.

Creation

Syntax

ant = fractalIsland
ant = fractalIsland(Name,Value)

Description

example

ant = fractalIsland creates a Minkowski's loop fractal antenna. The default fractal is centered at the origin, and the number of iterations is set to 2. The length of the fractal is for an operating frequency of 6 GHz.

example

ant = fractalIsland(Name,Value) sets properties using one or more name-value pairs. For example, ant = fractalIsland('NumIterations',4) creates a Minkowski's loop with four iterations.

Properties

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Number of iterations performed on the fractal antenna, specified as a scalar integer.

Example: 'NumIterations',4

Example: ant.NumIterations = 4

Data Types: double

Length of the fractal island along the x-axis, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 'Length',0.5000

Example: ant.Length = 0.5000

Data Types: double

Width of the fractal island along the y-axis, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 'Width',0.0050

Example: ant.Width = 0.0050

Data Types: double

Width of the feeding strip line, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 'StripLineWidth',3.0000e-04

Example: ant.StripLineWidth = 3.0000e-04

Data Types: double

Length of the slot along the x-axis, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 'SlotLength',0.0050

Example: ant.SlotLength = 0.0050

Data Types: double

Width of the slot along the y-axis, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 'SlotWidth',0.0050

Example: ant.SlotWidth = 0.0050

Data Types: double

Height of the fractal above the ground plane along the z-axis, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 'Height',0.0034

Example: ant.Height = 0.0034

Data Types: double

Type of dielectric material used as a substrate, specified as a dielectric object. For more information, see dielectric.

Example: d = dielectric('FR4'); ant = fractalIsland('Substrate',d)

Example: d = dielectric('FR4'); ant = fractalIsland; ant.Substrate = d;

Data Types: string | char

Length of the ground plane, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 'GroundPlaneLength',0.0550

Example: ant.GroundPlaneLength = 0.0550

Data Types: double

Width of the ground plane, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 'GroundPlaneWidth',0.0550

Example: ant.GroundPlaneWidth = 0.0550

Data Types: double

Signed distance of the fractal center from the origin, specified as a two-element real-valued vector with each element unit in meters.

Example: 'FractalCenterOffset',[0 0.080]

Example: ant.FractalCenterOffset = [0 0.080]

Data Types: double

Type of the metal used as a conductor, specified as a metal material object. You can choose any metal from the MetalCatalog or specify a metal of your choice. For more information, see metal. For more information on metal conductor meshing, see Meshing.

Example: m = metal('Copper'); 'Conductor',m

Example: m = metal('Copper'); ant.Conductor = m

Lumped elements added to the antenna feed, specified as a lumped element object. You can add a load anywhere on the surface of the antenna. By default, the load is at the origin. For more information, see lumpedElement.

Example: 'Load',lumpedelement. lumpedelement is the object for the load created using lumpedElement.

Example: ant.Load = lumpedElement('Impedance',75)

Tilt angle of the antenna, specified as a scalar or vector with each element unit in degrees. For more information, see Rotate Antennas and Arrays.

Example: Tilt=90

Example: Tilt=[90 90],TiltAxis=[0 1 0;0 1 1] tilts the antenna at 90 degrees about the two axes defined by the vectors.

Note

The wireStack antenna object only accepts the dot method to change its properties.

Data Types: double

Tilt axis of the antenna, specified as:

  • Three-element vector of Cartesian coordinates in meters. In this case, each coordinate in the vector starts at the origin and lies along the specified points on the X-, Y-, and Z-axes.

  • Two points in space, each specified as three-element vectors of Cartesian coordinates. In this case, the antenna rotates around the line joining the two points in space.

  • A string input describing simple rotations around one of the principal axes, 'X', 'Y', or 'Z'.

For more information, see Rotate Antennas and Arrays.

Example: TiltAxis=[0 1 0]

Example: TiltAxis=[0 0 0;0 1 0]

Example: TiltAxis = 'Z'

Data Types: double

Object Functions

showDisplay antenna, array structures or shapes
axialRatioAxial ratio of antenna
beamwidthBeamwidth of antenna
chargeCharge distribution on antenna or array surface
currentCurrent distribution on antenna or array surface
designDesign prototype antenna or arrays for resonance around specified frequency
efficiencyRadiation efficiency of antenna
EHfieldsElectric and magnetic fields of antennas; Embedded electric and magnetic fields of antenna element in arrays
impedanceInput impedance of antenna; scan impedance of array
meshMesh properties of metal, dielectric antenna, or array structure
meshconfigChange mesh mode of antenna structure
optimizeOptimize antenna or array using SADEA optimizer
patternRadiation pattern and phase of antenna or array; Embedded pattern of antenna element in array
patternAzimuthAzimuth pattern of antenna or array
patternElevationElevation pattern of antenna or array
rcsCalculate and plot radar cross section (RCS) of platform, antenna, or array
returnLossReturn loss of antenna; scan return loss of array
sparametersCalculate S-parameter for antenna and antenna array objects
vswrVoltage standing wave ratio of antenna

Examples

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Open Live Script

Create and view a Minkowski's loop fractal antenna with default property values. 

ant = fractalIsland
ant = 
  fractalIsland with properties:

          NumIterations: 2
                 Length: 0.0295
                  Width: 0.0295
         StripLineWidth: 6.0000e-04
             SlotLength: 0.0040
              SlotWidth: 0.0040
                 Height: 0.0016
              Substrate: [1x1 dielectric]
      GroundPlaneLength: 0.0500
       GroundPlaneWidth: 0.0300
    FractalCenterOffset: [0 0]
              Conductor: [1x1 metal]
                   Tilt: 0
               TiltAxis: [1 0 0]
                   Load: [1x1 lumpedElement]


show(ant)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with title fractalIsland antenna element, xlabel x (mm), ylabel y (mm) contains 4 objects of type patch, surface. These objects represent PEC, feed.

Open Live Script

Create and view a Minkowski's loop fractal antenna on FR4 substrate. 

ant = fractalIsland('Substrate',dielectric('FR4'));
show(ant)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with title fractalIsland antenna element, xlabel x (mm), ylabel y (mm) contains 5 objects of type patch, surface. These objects represent PEC, feed, FR4.

Plot the radiation pattern of the antenna at a frequency of 6 GHz.

pattern(ant,6e9)

Figure contains an axes object and other objects of type uicontrol. The axes object contains 5 objects of type patch, surface. This object represents FR4.

Version History

Introduced in R2019a

See Also

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