Improvement of Channel Capacity of MIMO Communication Using Yagi-Uda Planar Antennas with a Propagation Path through a PVC Pipe Wall

Abstract

This study investigates the improvement of the channel capacity of 5-GHz-band multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication using microwave-guided modes propagating along a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe wall for a buried pipe inspection robot. We design a planar Yagi-Uda antenna to reduce transmission losses in communication with PVC pipe walls as propagation paths. Coupling efficiency between the antenna and a PVC pipe is improved by attaching a PVC adapter with the same curvature as the PVC pipe's inner wall to the Yagi-Uda antenna to eliminate any gap between the antenna and the inner wall of the PVC pipe. The use of a planar Yagi-Uda antenna with a PVC adaptor decreases the transmission loss of a 5-GHz-band microwave signal propagating along a 1-m-lomg straight PVC pipe wall by 7 dB compared to a dipole antenna. The channel capacity of a 2 × 2 MIMO system using planar Yagi-Uda antennas is more than twice that of the system using dipole antennas.