Circularly Polarized Antenna with Isoflux pattern for Space IoT applications

This paper presents the design of a circularly polarized iso-flux antenna for IoT from space application at 868MHz. The structure is based on a tri-fillar helix configuration. Compare with classical solution, this new configuration can provide up to 2dB more gain at 30° of elevation.

I. Introduction

Wireless communication based on low earth orbit (LEO) satellite is gaining interest for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In the last decade, new waveforms have been introduced to combine the long communication range with the ultra-low power consumption, which is usually defined as Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN). Moreover, several IoT use cases require connection in remote and isolated areas without any available wireless network. The LEO satellite technology is a clear enabler to deploy a worldwide IoT connectivity [1]. More than 20 companies have started projects to deploy a constellation of CubeSats dedicated to IoT communications for worldwide communication. As an example, Lacuna Space is using a LP-WAN protocol and 860-930MHz ISM band to combine satellite and terrestrial network [2].