Design of an ultrawideband ring patch using coplanar waveguide technology for underground mining communications

In this paper, we present a new ultra wideband (UWB) antenna for UWB applications in underground mining environments. The proposed antenna is designed to operate from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. It consists of a ring patch with a single layer metallic structure. The antenna is a printed-circuit patch using coplanar waveguide technology (CPW). The shape and the dimensions of the antenna are optimized to achieve a bandwidth of 124% and hence cover a frequency range from 2.8 GHz to 12 GHz. Experimental investigations are presented, and the obtained results confirm the antenna performances. With such characteristics, the antenna may find application in underground mining communications.