Normal‐mode planar meander‐line antenna array with bidirectional broadside radiation pattern

Abstract In this letter, a normal‐mode planar bidirectional broadside antenna array with the merits of high gain, broadband, low aerodynamic drag, and high assembly robustness is proposed. First, the bidirectional antenna array is implemented based on a novel design strategy. The expected radiation field generated by currents along the same direction is superimposed while the unexpected radiation field is offset due to the out‐of‐phase currents, achieving a normal‐mode high‐gain bidirectional pattern. Then, the bidirectional antenna array is designed with two metallic meander lines, featuring low aerodynamic drag and cost‐efficiency. Moreover, a simple feed structure using an impedance transformer parallel strip line is adopted for a wide bandwidth. Besides, the bidirectional antenna array exhibits a stable impedance when the array scale increases. The stable impedance is also observed when the antenna array is bent to different angles, ensuring ease of installation and high assembly robustness. To validate the design strategy, a prototype with an aperture length of 5.8 λ at 2.4 GHz is fabricated. The proposed antenna array is designed to operate from 2.2 to 2.6 GHz, with a maximum gain of 13 dBi around the center of frequency, which can be a promising candidate in long and narrow communication scenarios.