Optimum design of a printed 2.45GHz end-fire dipole array

A new printed 2.45GHz end-fire strip dipole array is designed by using an optimization method based the maximization of power transmission efficiency. A testing dipole is introduced in the far-field region in the direction of the array axis in which the radiation needs to be enhanced. The power transmission efficiency between the array and the testing antenna is then maximized, producing an optimized distribution of excitations for the dipole array. A feeding network is then fabricated to realize the optimized excitations. For a four-element array, the again is found to be 9.5dB and the front-to-back ratio is 13dB.