Inverted F Type Antenna Design for the Cattle Activity and Estrus Detection Sensor Module

Abstract

In this paper, an inverted F type antenna (IFA) for ZigBee communication of a sensor board has been designed and optimized, and it replaces the chip antenna on an RF (Radio Frequency) module that is not performing well enough for the ZigBee communication. The sensor board detects cattle behavior and identifies the breeding (estrus) period and transmits the data to the main station by the RF (Radio Frequency) module and IFA antenna. The proposed and optimized TRx (transmitting/receiving) IFA antenna of the ZigBee communication module has a return loss of −19 dB and a gain of 1.6 dB at 2.45 GHz. The size is about 2.5 × 0.5 cm in width and vertical length, and the height is 0.55 cm. The strength of signals with the chip antenna and the IFA antenna have been measured and compared. There is about a 20 dB enhancement with the IFA antenna compared to the chip antenna. The antenna is designed and applied to the RF transmission and reception (TRx) module. This antenna and sensor module can be applied to livestock in general as well as cattle.