A cross-shaped Microstrip patch antenna for Wi-Fi, Wi-Max and 5G Applications

The proposed antenna consists of a cross-shaped patch placed on a square foam substrate with a dielectric constant of 1.56. Through multiple design iterations, the antenna structure was optimized to achieve enhanced impedance matching and resonance characteristics. The antenna resonates at two different frequencies 3.39 GHz and 4.78 GHz, which make it suitable for WLAN and Wi-MAX applications. The antenna comfortably covers key WLAN bands, including IEEE 802.11a b/g (2.4 GHz, and 5 GHz WLAN), n40 (2.3 GHz), n41 (2.5 GHz), n79 (4.4–5 GHz), and WIMAX (2.5–2.8 GHz). The appropriately sized antenna provides radiation across two separate bands: a lower band ranging from 2.1 to 3.69 GHz and a higher band from 4.5 to 5.08 GHz, with peak gains of 3.44 dB and 3.53 dB, respectively. The antenna achieves high efficiency, exceeding 90% within the 2.5–5.5 GHz range, while maintaining a stable radiation pattern and demonstrating increasing gain at higher frequencies. Experimental validation of the fabricated prototype closely aligns with simulated results, confirming its reliability.