A Flexible Coplanar Waveguide-Fed Slot–Loaded Antenna for Wideband Vehicle–to–Everything Communications on Curved Automotive Environments

Abstract

This paper presents a design of flexible coplanar waveguide–fed slot-loaded antenna for wideband vehicle-to-everything communications in curved automotive environments. The proposed design incorporates strategically placed slots in both patch and ground planes to enhance impedance matching and bandwidth characteristics. Experimental results demonstrate an operational bandwidth from 2.44 to 7.26 GHz (99.38% fractional bandwidth) with stable radiation patterns, achieving gains between 3.45–4.6 dBi and maintaining 90% total efficiency across the band. The antenna's conformal capabilities are validated through fabrication and measurement, showing strong agreement with simulation results. Practical implementation is demonstrated via a careful integration on a vehicle wing mirror, with far-field performance analyzed using Ansys Savant tool. The compact 32 × 32 × 0.1 mm³ design exhibits excellent mechanical flexibility while meeting the demanding requirements of modern vehicular communication systems.

Cite this article as: S. Virothu, R. Boddu, J., S. Varma and J. S. Roy, "A flexible coplanar waveguide-fed slot–loaded antenna for wideband vehicle–to–everything communications on curved automotive environments," Electrica, 26, 0266, 2026. doi: 10.5152/electrica.2026.25266.