Wideband Omnidirectional Antenna Featuring Small Azimuthal Gain Variation

Wideband omnidirectional antennas are essential components in radio monitoring and communication systems, enabling the reception of signals from all directions over a wide bandwidth. This paper presents a novel wideband omnidirectional antenna design that achieves a 1-dB gain variation across its azimuthal plane within a bandwidth of 1.8 GHz to 7.77 GHz. The antenna's exceptional performance is attributed to two flower-bud-shaped monopoles that, through pattern superposition, generate a wideband omnidirectional radiation pattern. Analysis shows that the use of a circular ground plane also reduces the azimuthal gain variation. Additionally, an embedded matching structure integrated into the antenna's base enhances the impedance bandwidth without compromising its compact size. Analytical investigations demonstrate that the matching structure effectively behaves as a five-order LC circuit, explaining its wideband matching capabilities. Furthermore, structural modifications effectively reduce side lobe levels, ensuring minimal interference. Experimental measurements corroborate the antenna's omnidirectional radiation pattern and confirm that the azimuthal gain variation remains within 1-dB throughout its bandwidth, while maintaining an S11 below -10 dB from 1.8 GHz to 7.7 GHz. The antenna's bandwidth overlaps with the spectrum intensively used in mobile communication technologies, such as LTE, Bluetooth, and IEEE 802.11be, as well as radiolocation applications, making it a promising choice for unmanned aerial vehicles conducting communication and radio monitoring missions.