Design and analysis of sub-1 GHz antenna for non-standalone vehicular communication

Abstract This paper presents a low-profile antenna that operates in the sub-1 GHz and intelligent transportation system (ITS) bands for vehicular communications. The antenna consists of a square patch and a full ground plane, which provide structural stability, reduce cross-polarized radiation, and prevent deformations. The proposed antenna features fan-shaped slots in the square patch in the first and third quadrants, while the second and fourth quadrants use slotted rectangular rings to limit current flow. The antenna operates at frequencies of 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 850 MHz, 900 MHz, and 5.9 GHz, which are useful for dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and cellular-vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communications. The designed automotive antenna has gain values of 0.76 dBi, 0.94 dBi, 1.1 dBi, 1.4 dBi, and 8 dBi in the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 850 MHz, 900 MHz, and 5.9 GHz bands, respectively. While higher frequencies concentrate on data heavy and low latency systems, the sub-1 GHz band offers long range and stable communication for automotive applications. Also, the proposed antenna is placed on the CAD model of the car, and an on-vehicle analysis is performed. On-vehicle testing promises that the designed antenna provides stable and dependable connectivity for vehicular communication applications.