This paper presents a new compact end-fire antenna for ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) applications. The antenna has two meandered dipole drivers. A folded reflector and a rectangular reflector are demonstrated. The advantage of the end-fire antenna with meander dipole drivers compared to the conventional quasi-Yagi antenna is a reduction in the length of the driver, which allows closer space for RFID reader. The end-fire antenna is fabricated on a FR4 printed circuit board (PCB), the dimension of the antenna is 81×58 mm2. The measured bandwidth is around 25 MHz (905-930 MHz) under the condition of VSWR less than 2. The maximum gain of the end-fire antenna is 3.2 dB. The advantages of the new antenna element are that it is more compact than conventional design and it is suitable for fabrication on low-cost, low dielectric constant materials. The antenna configuration, design, simulated and measured results have been well discussed. A good agreement is obtained between the simulated and experimental results. This new compact end-fire antenna is desirable for RFID reader applications.
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