Dual-band Shorted Patch Antenna with Significant Size Reduction using a Meander Slot

A design technique for a dual-band broadside antenna element with significant size reduction compared with the related lambda/2 slotted patch antenna is presented. By introducing a meander slot and shorting components, the area of the antenna element is reduced by a factor of approximately 7 with considerable flexibility in the desired frequency ratio of the two operating bands and without use of high-permittivity dielectrics. Starting with patch antenna elements previously discussed in the literature, the evolution leading to our final design is outlined which provides good insight into how the proposed antenna element functions as well as how to tune it for custom applications.