Design and performance analysis of compact Microstrip Patch Antenna (MPA) for wireless fidelity communication

Abstract The growing demand for compact, low-cost antennas in wireless communication systems necessitates designs that have balanced performance with miniaturization. This paper presents a rectangular microstrip patch antenna optimized for 2.4 GHz Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) communication applications using HFSS. FR4 substrate is used to design the antenna to prioritize cost-effectiveness and compactness. The antenna achieves 2.416 GHz resonant frequency and 2.45 GHz with Defected Ground Structure (DGS), exhibiting exceptional impedance matching where the return loss is -21.97 dB without DGS and − 15.098 dB with DGS, and the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) is 1.17 without DGS and 1.42 with DGS. The design demonstrates radiation efficiencies of 46.42% without DGS and 52.07% with DGS. The simulation results show that the gain increases from 2.0086 dB to 2.44767 dB with DGS, which makes the antenna viable for short-range wireless communication where size constraints outweigh the need for high directivity. The use of DGS increases the gain of the antenna by 21.86%. The simulated bandwidths of 48.7 MHz without DGS and 44 MHz with DGS at -10 dB ensure coverage of essential Wi-Fi channels, and parametric studies reveal opportunities for future enhancement through substrate optimization and parasitic elements. The findings highlight the trade-offs inherent in low-profile antenna design and provide a foundation for future material-driven optimizations to improve gain and efficiency. The designed patch antenna is a promising work for incorporation into cost-sensitive, compact wireless devices, and the proposed antenna addresses the growing demand for miniaturized solutions in IoT and Wi-Fi applications.