Generation of highly azimuthal symmetric conical beam using the planar uniform circular array antenna for vehicular communication

This paper presents a novel approach to generating conical-shaped radiation patterns by utilizing the orbital angular momentum property of electromagnetic waves. Unlike the existing conical beam antennas, the proposed uniform circular array (UCA) uses circular polarization (CP) patches as array elements for generating a conical radiation pattern with high azimuthal symmetry. The UCA is designed at 5.9 GHz with eight-CP antenna elements rotated and positioned at 45∘\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$45^{\circ }$$\end{document} in a clockwise direction with a uniform feed network. As proof of concept, the designed UCA structure is fabricated on an FR4 substrate of 140 mm ×\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\times$$\end{document} 150 mm in size and tested experimentally. The measurements confirm that the designed UCA possesses conical radiation pattern with high azimuthal symmetry at 5.9 GHz. Due to high azimuthal symmetry in the generated conical-shaped radiation pattern, the proposed UCA antenna could be advantageous for numerous wireless and vehicular communication applications.