Omnidirectional Antenna for Smart Railway Crossings

Abstract

The article deals with the design of an antenna subsystem for a system which increases the security of railway crossings. Specifically, it is a design of a planar antenna array composed of several planar dipoles. The design procedure of a planar dipole is discussed. The article describes the design of this antenna subsystem, including its protective cover and input connector. The proposed antenna system has omnidirectional characteristics in the horizontal plane. This is necessary to achieve an even signal coverage around the railway warning device. In the vertical plane, the antenna array has a beamwidth of 20 degrees, which allows an increase of system gain. Finally, several samples of the designed antenna subsystems were produced and their parameters were verified by measurements.