A Dual-Band Circularly Polarized Hexagonal Ring Antenna for Handheld RFID Readers

In this paper, a compact, lightweight, low-profile dual-band circularly polarized antenna is presented for handheld radio frequency identification (RFID) readers. The proposed antenna consists of two concentric hexagonal rings and a feed network printed on different layers of the dielectric substrate. The antenna configuration exploits a stacked-coupled technique for gain enhancement and single-port feeding for easy manufacturing. The center frequencies of the two resonating bands are 0.92 GHz (UHF) and 2.45 GHz (ISM). The antenna exhibits circular polarization characteristics in both the resonating bands, therefore encountering the losses due to polarization mismatch and increasing the tag detection reliability. A prototype of the proposed RFID antenna is simulated and fabricated, and experimental results are in close agreement. The peak antenna gain is 3.3 dB and 5 dB in the UHF and ISM bands, respectively. The overall size of the RFID antenna is 80 mm x 80 mm x 7.76 mm.

Automated summary

This paper presents a compact, lightweight, low-profile dual-band circularly polarized antenna for handheld RFID readers. The antenna design and manufacturing process are optimized for enhanced gain and easy production. Experimental results confirm the performance of the antenna prototype.