research article analysis of a compact wideband slotted antenna for ku band...

Research ArticleAnalysis of a Compact Wideband Slotted Antenna forKu Band Applications

M. R. Ahsan,1,2 M. Habib Ullah,1,2 F. Mansor,1 N. Misran,1,2 and T. Islam2

1 Department of Electrical Electronic and System Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment,Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

2 Institute of Space Science (ANGKASA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

Correspondence should be addressed to M. R. Ahsan; [email protected]

Received 11 October 2013; Accepted 31 October 2013; Published 10 April 2014

Academic Editor: Mandeep Singh Jit Singh

Copyright © 2014 M. R. Ahsan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The design procedure and physical module of a compact wideband patch antenna for Ku band application are presented inthis paper. Finite element method based on 3D electromagnetic field solver has been utilized for the designing and analyzingprocess of proposed microstrip line fed modified 𝐸-𝐻 shaped electrically small patch antenna. After successful completion of thedesign process through various simulations, the proposed antenna has been fabricated on printed circuit board (PCB) and itscharacteristics have been studied. The parameters of the proposed antenna prototype have been measured in standard far-fieldrectangular shape anechoic measurement compartment. It is apparent from the measured antenna parameters that the proposedantenna achieved almost stable variation of radiation pattern over the entire operational band with 1380MHz of −10 dB return lossbandwidth. The maximum gain of 7.8 dBi and 89.97% average efficiency within the operating band from 17.15GHz to 18.53GHzensure the suitability of the proposed antenna for Ku band applications.

1. Introduction

In conjunction with the growing development of wirel-ess communication, wideband antennas have become asignificant component where the increasing demands ofantenna terminals are integrated in one compact modulefor wide range of application [1]. The planar patch antennascan achieve wide bandwidth along with its simple designstructure, compact size, low profile, ease integration, andfabrication process, for which it is a favorable candidate forwideband applications in the field of wireless communication[2]. Advances in wireless communications have introducedtremendous demands in the antenna technology. It also pavedthe way for wide usage of mobile phones in modern societyresulting in mounting concerns surrounding its harmfulradiation [3]. In recent times, several types of planar antennashave been introduced and studied by many researchers dueto their excellent properties [4]. Extensive analysis of thereview process finds monopole antennas of various geomet-rical shapes as, for example, triangular [5], pentagonal [6],

hexagonal [7], elliptical [8], ring/split ring [9], annular ring[10], circular disc [11], modified English alphabet [12–15], andthe dipole antenna configuration like bow-tie antennas [16].

Furthermore, a considerable research concentration hasbeen given intomicrostrip patch antennas. A 79×38mm2 𝐸-𝐻 shaped 𝐿-probe microstrip patch antenna has been intro-duced and achieved bandwidth 440MHz with peak gain9.5 dBi [17], a 58 × 58mm2 wideband dual-polarized patchantenna has been proposed and obtained 1.03GHz band-width with 9.3 dBi gain [18], and 12 × 16mm2 ultrawidebandantenna with dual-notched band characteristics has beenoffered and achieved 8.3 GHz bandwidth with 3.8 dBi max-imum gain [19]. Nonetheless, there is still scope of researcheffort to be given to improve gain, efficiency, and bandwidthalongside with the miniaturization of overall antenna size.

In this study, a 20 × 14mm2 modified 𝐸-𝐻 shaped com-pact printed antenna has been proposed and achieved lowphysical planar profile, adequate impedance bandwidth, andalmost steady radiation pattern. The proposed slotted planar

Hindawi Publishing CorporationInternational Journal of Antennas and PropagationVolume 2014, Article ID 423495, 6 pageshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/423495

2 International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

patch antenna comprises of microstrip line fed modified 𝐸-𝐻 shaped radiating patch and ground plane. To attain thedesired resonance frequency, the patch length, cutting slots,and feeding position have been adjusted accordingly throughparametric analysis during simulation process. Measuredreturn loss, radiation pattern, gain, radiation efficiency, andimpedance characteristics are presented and discussed. Themeasured results show good impedance matching at theoperating band with reduced radiation loss which makes theproposed antenna apposite for Ku band application.

2. Designing Antenna Module

Theproposedmodified 𝐸-𝐻 shapedmicrostrip line fed patchantenna is designed and studied by employing finite elementmethod based commercially available 3D electromagneticfield solver, namely, HFSS. The design configuration startswith 20mm (1.18𝜆) long and 14mm (0.82𝜆) planar modified𝐸-𝐻 shape radiating patch. In the proposed antenna design,𝜆 is corresponding to the wavelength at the center frequency17.75GHz.Themodified𝐸-𝐻profile is attained by cutting twoslots from rectangular shape. Since the antenna performancecriteria depend on the overall size of the radiating patch,it is figured out by using mathematical model. In terms ofdetermining bandwidth and resonance frequency, the lengthof the radiating element has influential effect other than thewidth.

The analytical study shows that the width of the patchhas insignificant effect on obtaining resonance and throughmathematical modeling the patch width for desired fre-quency can be calculated by utilizing the already establi-shed mathematical equations [21]. The available equationsare applicable for conventional rectangular radiating patch;however, the geometric shape and dimension of the proposedantenna have been achieved by modifying, testing, andrunning the method:

𝑊 =𝑐

2𝑓𝑜

√𝜀𝑟+ 1

2, (1)

𝐿 =𝑐

2𝑓𝑜√𝜀𝑟

− 2Δ𝑙. (2)

The usual symbol 𝑊 is the width and 𝐿 is the lengthof the radiating patch in (1) and (2), respectively; whereas𝑐 is the speed of light, 𝑓

𝑜is the center frequency, 𝜀

𝑟is the

relative dielectric constant, andΔ𝑙 is the change in length.Theeffective dielectric constant 𝜀eff can be formulated as

𝜀eff =1

2(𝜀𝑟+ 1) +1

2(𝜀𝑟− 1)√(1 +

10ℎ

𝑊), (3)

where ℎ denotes the thickness of the substrate used.Because of the effect of fringing field surrounding the

radiating patch, the electrical dimension of the antenna seemsto be bigger than the physical dimension. The change of

W1

W2

W3

W4

W5

W0

W6

L0

L1

Feed

L2

L3

L4

L5

L6

Figure 1: Geometry and configuration of the proposed antenna.

Table 1: Design specification of the proposed antenna.

Parameter Value (mm)𝐿0 20𝐿1 9𝐿2 9𝐿3 4𝐿4 0.25𝐿5 0.25𝐿6 4𝑊0 14𝑊1 2𝑊2 2𝑊3 1𝑊4 9𝑊5 9𝑊6 1

length ofΔ𝑙 due to the effect of fringing field can be presentedby the following:

Δ𝑙 = 0.412ℎ(𝜀𝑒+ 0.3) [𝑤/ℎ + 0.8]

(𝜀𝑒− 0.258) [𝑤/ℎ + 0.8]

. (4)

The dimension of the microstrip line is optimized thro-ugh design and simulation to obtain enhanced impedancematching over the operating frequency bands. The designingprocess of the antenna is started with the estimating of theoverall dimension of radiating patch which is chosen to beof inverted A shape that is responsible for providing compactsize of the antenna.

The parametric study has been conducted on width andlength of 2 slots. Four combinations 𝑊3 = 𝑊6 × 𝐿3 = 𝐿6

International Journal of Antennas and Propagation 3

(a) (b)

Figure 2: Prototype of the proposed antenna. (a) Radiating patch. (b) Ground plane.

R1

L

C1 R2C2Port

Figure 3: RLC equivalent circuit model of the proposed antenna.

(1 × 4, 1 × 2, 2 × 4, and 2 × 2) of slot dimension have beenconsidered. From the analysis, the lowest return loss valueand the widest bandwidth obtained from slot dimension 1×4have been clearly seen. The microstrip feed line with 2 ×1mm2 dimension is placed at the center of 𝑌-axis to achieve50 ohm impedance characteristics.The detailed antenna con-figuration is tabulated in Table 1. The detailed geometricalconfiguration of the proposed antenna is exhibited in Figure 1.The proposed antenna is fabricated on widely available,inexpensive, durable FR4 substrate (thickness = 1.6mm,relative permittivity = 4.6, and loss tangent = 0.02) using in-house PCB prototyping machine. The modified 𝐸-𝐻 slottedrectangular radiating patch is fed by microstrip line whichis terminated through a subminiature A (SMA) connectorfor measurement purpose. The fabricated prototype of theproposed modified 𝐸-𝐻 slotted patch antenna is displayed inFigure 2.

3. Equivalent Circuit Model

For equivalent circuit configurations such as the C- and Π-network topologies, for which the circuit branch functionsare uniquely given in terms of the associated network param-eters, each branch can be separately augmented by paralleland series branch elements. The 𝑍 parameter responses ofthis antenna are obtained using IE3D EM simulator basedon method of moments (MoM) and from equivalent circuitmodeling using only single augmentation. The approximateequivalent RLC circuit of the proposed antenna is presentedin Figure 3, where 𝑅1 = 343.358Ω, 𝑅2 = 852.207Ω, 𝐶1 =

Proposed antenna in measurement

Turn table

Absorbers

Reference antenna

Figure 4: Illustration of the anechoic measurement chamber.

0.00566 pF, 𝐶2 = 0.2191 pF, and 𝐿 = 0.0835 nH. Without thepresence of inductor𝐿, the equivalent circuit with the lumpedparameters poses the characteristics of a high pass filter. Theinduction element 𝐿 plays a vital role in determining theresonant frequency.

4. Experimental Results and Analysis

To validate the performance of the proposed planar antenna,a prototype has been fabricated and measured in a standardfar-field testing environment. A rectangular shape anechoicmeasurement chamber footprint of 5.5 × 4.5m2 and 4mheight has been used to measure the result parameters ofthe proposed antenna prototype. The distance between thereference antenna and the antenna under test is 3 meters. Adouble ridge guide horn antenna has been used as referenceantenna. Figure 4 presents the photographic view of the ane-choic measurement chamber. The wall, ceiling, and floor ofthe chamber are covered by pyramidal shaped foam absorberwhich has less than −60 dB reflectivity at normal incidence.A 360∘ revolving table (diameter = 1.2 meter) is used to rotatethe test antenna at 1 rpm rotational speed connected by 10-meter microwave coaxial cable to the controllers.


17.00 19.0018.7518.5018.2518.0017.7517.5017.25

0

Frequency (GHz)

Retu

rn lo

ss (d

B)

−10

−15

−20

−25

−5

−30

−35

−40

1 × 4

2 × 4

1 × 2

2 × 2

Figure 5: Return loss analysis of the antenna with four differentdimensions of𝑊3 = 𝑊6 × 𝐿3 = 𝐿6.

MeasuredSimulated

17.00 19.0018.7518.5018.2518.0017.7517.5017.25

0

Frequency (GHz)

Retu

rn lo

ss (d

B)

−10

−15

−20

−25

−5

−30

−35

−40

−20dB at 17.75GHz

Figure 6: Simulated and measured return loss of the proposedantenna.

The parametric study has been conducted on width andlength of two cutting slots. Four combinations𝑊3 = 𝑊6 ×𝐿3 = 𝐿6 (1 × 4, 1 × 2, 2 × 4, and 2 × 2) of slot dimension havebeen considered. Figure 5 illustrates the simulated return lossof the proposed antenna for four different slot dimensions.From the analysis, it can be clearly concluded that the slotdimension of 1 × 4mm2 has achieved the lowest return lossvalue and the widest bandwidth among four combinations.

The simulated and measured return loss of the proposedantenna prototype is shown in Figure 6. It is clearly visible thatthe measured bandwidth is achieved at 1380MHz (17.15 GHzto 18.53GHz) defined by less than −10 dB return loss. Topportion of Figure 7 presents the antenna efficiency andthe bottom part shows the achieved gain of the proposedantenna.The gain of 4.8 dBi and 90% efficiencywere achieved

86420

Effici

ency

(%)

100

95

90

85

80

Gai

n (d

Bi)

GainEfficiency

−2

−4

−6

90% at 17.75GHz

4.68dBi at 17.75GHz

17.00 19.0018.7518.5018.2518.0017.7517.5017.25Frequency (GHz)

Figure 7: Achieved gain and efficiency of the proposed antenna.

80

60

40

20

0

Impe

danc

e (O

hm)

ImReal

17.00 19.0018.7518.5018.2518.0017.7517.5017.25Frequency (GHz)

−20

−40

−60

Figure 8: Input impedance over the radiating patch of the proposedantenna.

at the resonance 17.75GHz. The average gain and efficiencyobtained in the entire operating band from 17.25GHz to18.25GHz are 3.89 dBi and 89.2%, respectively. The inputimpedance (real and imaginary part) of the proposed antennais illustrated in Figure 8. It is apparent from the figure that thereal part of the input impedance tends to remain as close asthe 50Ω line and over the entire operating band.

Figure 9 represents the simulated andmeasured radiationpatterns in 𝐸-𝐻 plane for the proposed antenna. It isnoticeable that the cross polar effect is much lesser thancopolar in both cases of simulated and measured radiationpattern which is preferred. The measured cross polarizationvalue is not more than −13 dB in both 𝐸 and 𝐻 plane. Thevery nearly steady radiation pattern guaranteed the antennato be a competitive candidate for future use. A comparativeanalysis between the proposedmodified 𝐸-𝐻 slotted antenna

International Journal of Antennas and Propagation 5

00

30

60

90

120

150

180210

240

270

300

330

−40

−30

−20

−10

Simulated copolar Measured copolarSimulated X-polar Measured X-polar

E-plane radiation pattern at 17.75GHz

(a)

00

30

60

90

120

150

180210

240

270

300

330

Simulated copolarSimulated X-polar

Measured copolarMeasured X-polar

−40

−30

−20

−10

H-plane radiation pattern at 17.75GHz

(b)

Figure 9: Simulated and measured radiation pattern. (a) 𝐸-plane and (b)𝐻-plane of the proposed antenna.

Table 2: Comparison of the proposed antenna with some recentlyreported antennas.

Author Dimension Bandwidth GainProposed 20 × 14mm2 1.38GHz 7.8 dBi[20] 80 × 12mm2 1.62GHz 7.8 dBi[4] 40 × 40mm2 950MHz 7.6 dBi[2] 15 × 15mm2 870MHz 6.2 dBi

and some recently available antennas for Ku band applicationis presented in Table 2. By analyzing the tabulated data,it can be spotted that the proposed antenna has achievedbroader bandwidth and higher gain with comparativelysmaller dimension.

5. Conclusion

A 20 × 14mm2 modified 𝐸-𝐻 shaped microstrip line fedwideband planar patch antenna has been designed, fabri-cated, and measured in 5.5 × 4.5 × 4m3 anechoic antennameasurement chamber.The operating bandwidth of 1.38GHz(ranging from 17.15 GHz to 18.53GHz) and 8 dBi peak gainwith efficiency more than 90% have been achieved.The inputimpedance and symmetric radiation pattern are presentedand examined. Comparison between the proposed antennaand some existing antennas based on the applications andsubstrate material similarity is tabulated for analysis. Thecomparison result shows that proposed antenna has achievedwider bandwidth, better gain, and efficiency with compara-tively smaller overall dimension than some of the reportedantennas.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interestsregarding the publication of this paper.

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