Design and Optimization of Low Power Microstrip Patch Antennas for Enhanced Short-Range Wireless Communications

Microstrip patch antennas have become pivotal in modern wireless communication due to theircompactness, light weight, and ease of integration. This study presents the design and optimizationof a low-power, slotted microstrip patch antenna operating at 2.4 GHz within the ISM band,particularly suited for short-range wireless communication systems such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,NFC, and IoT devices. Employing a Rogers RT 5880 substrate (εr=2.2, tanδ=0.0009), the designintroduces strategically positioned slots to enhance critical antenna parameters includingimpedance matching, VSWR, gain, and directivity. Using CST Studio Suite for electromagneticsimulation, significant performance improvements were demonstrated. Specifically, the slottedantenna achieved an exceptionally low reflection coefficient (S11) of -53.698 dB at a resonantfrequency of 2.3848 GHz, with a Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) of 1.0041, indicatingsuperior impedance matching. The resulting antenna provided optimized performance metrics: again of approximately 7.284 dBi and directivity of 7.953 dBi, signifying highly efficient radiationcharacteristics. The findings confirm that integrating slots into microstrip patch antennas notablyenhances antenna performance, making this design particularly advantageous for low-powerapplications in dense wireless environments.