Design of Directional Antennas for Wireless Sensor Networks and the Internet of Things Experiments

The use of directional antennas (DAs) in wireless sensor networks (WSN) and Internet of Things (IoT) applications has been proposed widely in the literature. However, testbed setup for experimental validation is challenging due to the unavailability of a DA module for WSNs. In this letter, a DA is designed using a 2.4-GHz patch antenna and conducting cavity mesh. The dimensions and design of the mesh are optimized using CST Studio Suite SE. The simulated results show the beamwidth of the directional antenna is 60
$^\circ$
, and its directivity is 9.43. Further, a DA is made experimentally with commonly available 2.4-GHz WSN modules by combining them with a conducting cavity. The experimental measurements of the radiation pattern confirm the simulated results.