On the 5G Communications: Fractal-Shaped Antennas for PPDR Applications

In this study, one method of using antennas based on fractals to cover few kinds of public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) communications was presented. Dedicated antenna forms, necessary for antenna design by 5G implementation, were enhanced to suit the requirements of specific applications. Employing fractal-shaped antennas have allowed us to accomplish all these actions, which request compact, conformal, and broadband high performance devices. Antennas derived from Koch’s curve fractals are studied. In order to implement PPDR communications in 5G technology, frequency bandwidths of importance have been carefully selected and properly included in the antenna developments under MATLAB environment. Important information necessary for antenna designers, such as 360 degrees directivity at various frequencies, the impedance (resistance and reactance) along the bandwidth of interest, as well as voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) along the bandwidth of interest for dipole, one-iteration, and two-iteration Koch’s curves, respectively, have been obtained. The characteristic of directivity at selected frequencies is also highlighted. In order to maximize antenna parameters, this study has successfully proposed using fractal antennas, objects that use self-similarity property of fractals for optimum operation in several frequency ranges. For the studied antennas, we have obtained the following results regarding the maximum gains in dBi (which is the unit of the ratio between the gains of the antenna compared to the gain of an isotropic antenna). For the dipole antennas, the gains are 2.73 dBi and 4.76 dBi at 460 MHz and 770 MHz, respectively. The gains for one-iteration fractal Koch antenna are 6.91 dBi and 4.51 dBi at 460 MHz and 770 MHz, respectively, and finally, for two-iteration fractal Koch antenna, the gains are 4.91 dBi and 3.28 dBi at 460 MHz and 770 MHz, respectively. Moreover, the impedance along the bandwidth is approximately 360 Ohms for two-iteration fractal Koch antenna, 180 Ohms for one-iteration fractal Koch antenna, and 140 Ohms for dipole antenna, respectively.