High gain modified Vivaldi vehicular antenna for IoV communications in 5G network

While targeting the sixth generation (6G) wireless communication which incorporates mainly the Internet of Things (IoT), the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) becomes a vital component to be implemented. A vehicular antenna is designed by using the modified design of the Vivaldi antenna that can cover all the frequency bands for the long-term evolution (LTE) and the mid-band fifth-generation (5G) wireless systems (ranging from 3.3 GHz to 6.5 GHz). The proposed design is optimized by analyzing the effect of the variation in the dimensions of the antenna, changing the position of the taper, the rectangular slot dimensions and the diameter of the circular slot etc. The presented automotive antenna operates at four frequency bands ranging from 3.62 GHz - 4.03 GHz (410 MHz), 4.17 GHz-5.38 GHz (1210 MHz), 5.57 GHz-6.16 GHz (590 MHz) and from 6.23 GHz - 6.64 GHz (410 MHz) with the minimum reflection coefficient of -39 dB, -39.06 dB, -50.42 dB and -12.45 dB, respectively. The proposed antenna offers the high gain of 7.6 dB, 6.7 dB, 9.3 dB and 7.4 dB for the four bands of the operating spectrum, respectively. The analysis of the reflection and radiation characteristics of the antenna when placed on the vehicle confirms the suitability of an antenna for the smart vehicle to vehicle communications.