Fractal Antennas: Fractal Geometry and Wireless Networks

Overview

Objectives/Goals Through our project, we wanted to measure the effectiveness of increasing the number of iterations of a fractal in a fractal antenna and the wireless signal reception strength as a result. We believe that fractal iteration and signal strength have a direct and linear relationship. Methods/Materials We have built 6 iterations of a fractal antenna from aluminum foil. We tested each of their signal strengths by connecting them wirelessly to a router, and measured the signal strength using a computer program on a Linux OS laptop. Results Our data shows that increasing the fractal iteration by one, on average, increased the wireless reception strength by approximately 1-2 decibel-milliwatts. Though, the wireless router did fluctuate leading to a somewhat substantial margin of error. Conclusions/Discussion Drawing from the gathered data, we have learned that increasing the number of iterations increases signal strength tremendously since decibel milliwatts are a logarithmic unit. It did not support our hypothesis that the relationship would be linear; the relationship is direct and exponential. Though the data did have a somewhat substantial margin of error, we believe that the amount of data gathered offsets the error.

Competition history

• CSEF 2013 Electronics & Electromagnetics · Entry S0910

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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