DESIGN OF MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA FOR C-BAND APPLICATIONS

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Communication between humans was first by sound through voice. With the desire for slightly more
distance communication came, devices such as drums, then, visual methods such as signal flags and
smoke signals were used. These optical communication devices, of course, utilized the light portion
of the electromagnetic spectrum. It has been only very recent in human history that the
electromagnetic spectrum, outside the visible region, has been employed for communication, through
the use of radio. One of humankind’s greatest natural resources is the electromagnetic spectrum and
the antenna has been instrumental in harnessing this resource.

1.1 Aim and Objectives

The aim of the thesis is to design and fabricate an inset-fed rectangular Microstrip Patch Antenna and
to study the effect of antenna dimensions Length (L) , Width (W) and substrate parameters relative
Dielectric constant (εr), substrate thickness (t) on the Radiation parameters .

1.2 Overview of Microstrip Antenna

A microstrip antenna consists of conducting patch on a ground plane separated by dielectric

substrate. This concept was undeveloped until the revolution in electronic circuit miniaturization and
large-scale integration in 1970. After that many authors have described the radiation from the ground
plane by a dielectric substrate for different configurations. The early work of Munson on micro strip
antennas for use as a low profile flush mounted antennas on rockets and missiles showed that this
was a practical concept for use in many antenna system problems. Various mathematical models
were developed for this antenna and its applications were extended to many other fields. The number
of papers, articles published in the journals for the last ten years, on these antennas shows the
importance gained by them. The micro strip antennas are the present day antenna designer’s choice.

Low dielectric constant substrates are generally preferred for maximum radiation. The conducting
patch can take any shape but rectangular and circular configurations are the most commonly used
configuration. Other configurations are complex to analyze and require heavy numerical
computations. A microstrip antenna is characterized by its Length, Width, Input impedance, and
Gain and Radiation Patterns. Various parameters of the microstrip antenna and its design
considerations were discussed in the subsequent chapters. The length of the antenna is nearly half
wavelength in the dielectric; it is a very critical parameter, which governs the resonant frequency of
the antenna. There are no hard and fast rules to find the width of the patch.

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1.3 Waves on Microstrip

The mechanisms of transmission and radiation in a microstrip can be understood by considering a

point current source (Hertz dipole) located on top of the grounded dielectric substrate (fig. 1.1) This
source radiates electromagnetic waves. Depending on the direction toward which waves are
transmitted, they fall within three distinct categories, each of which exhibits different behavior.

1.3.1 Surface Waves

The waves transmitted slightly downward, having elevation angles ζ between π/2and π - arcsin
(1/√εr), meet the ground plane, which reflects them, and then meet the dielectric-to-air boundary,
which also reflects them (total reflection condition). The magnitude of the field amplitudes builds up
for some particular incidence angles that leads to the excitation of a discrete set of surface wave
modes; which are similar to the modes in metallic waveguide.

The fields remain mostly trapped within the dielectric, decaying exponentially above the interface
(fig1.2). The vector α, pointing upward, indicates the direction of largest attenuation. The wave
propagates horizontally along β, with little absorption in good quality dielectric. With two directions
of α and β orthogonal to each other, the wave is a non-uniform plane wave. Surface waves spread out
in cylindrical fashion around the excitation point, with field amplitudes decreasing with distance (r),
say1/r, more slowly than space waves. The same guiding mechanism provides propagation within
optical fibers.

Surface waves take up some part of the signal’s energy, which does not reach the intended user. The
signal’s amplitude is thus reduced, contributing to an apparent attenuation or a decrease in antenna
efficiency.

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Additionally, surface waves also introduce spurious coupling between different circuit or antenna
elements. This effect severely degrades the performance of microstrip filters because the parasitic
interaction reduces the isolation in the stop bands.

In large periodic phased arrays, the effect of surface wave coupling becomes particularly obnoxious,
and the array can neither transmit nor receive when it is pointed at some particular directions (blind
spots). This is due to a resonance phenomenon, when the surface waves excite in synchronism the
Floquet modes of the periodic structure. Surface waves reaching the outer boundaries of an open
microstrip structure are reflected and diffracted by the edges. The diffracted waves provide an
additional contribution to radiation, degrading the antenna pattern by raising the side lobe and the
cross polarization levels. Surface wave effects are mostly negative, for circuits and for antennas, so
their excitation should be suppressed if possible.

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1.3.2 Leaky Waves

Waves directed more sharply downward, with ζ angles between π - arcsin (1/√εr) and π, are also
reflected by the ground plane but only partially by the dielectric-to-air boundary. They
progressively leak from the substrate into the air (Fig 1.3), hence their name laky waves, and
eventually contribute to radiation. The leaky waves are also non-uniform plane waves for which the
attenuation direction α points downward, which may appear to be rather odd; the amplitude of the
waves increases as one moves away from the dielectric surface. This apparent paradox is easily
understood by looking at the figure 1.3; actually, the field amplitude increases as one move away
from the substrate because the wave radiates from a point where the signal amplitude is larger.
Since the structure is finite, this apparent divergent behavior can only exist locally, and the wave
vanishes abruptly as one crosses the trajectory of the first ray in the figure.

In more complex structures made with several layers of different dielectrics, leaky waves can be
used to increase the apparent antenna size and thus provide a larger gain. This occurs for favorable
stacking arrangements and at a particular frequency. Conversely, leaky waves are not excited in
some other multilayer structures.

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1.3.3 Guided Waves

When realizing printed circuits, one locally adds a metal layer on top of the substrate, which modifies
the geometry, introducing an additional reflecting boundary. Waves directed into the dielectric located
under the upper conductor bounce back and forth on the metal boundaries, which form a parallel plate
waveguide. The waves in the metallic guide can only exist for some particular values of the angle of
incidence, forming a discrete set of waveguide modes. The guided waves provide the normal operation
of all transmission lines and circuits, in which the electromagnetic fields are mostly concentrated in the
volume below the upper conductor. On the other hand, this buildup of electromagnetic energy is not
favorable for patch antennas, which behave like resonators with a limited frequency bandwidth.

1.4 Antenna Characteristics

An antenna is a device that is made to efficiently radiate and receive radiated electromagnetic
waves. There are several important antenna characteristics that should be considered when
choosing an antenna for your application as follows:

Radiation Pattern : It is defined as the spatial distribution of quantity that characterizes the
electromagnetic field generated by an antenna. The field intensity of the propagating wave
decreases by 1/R with distance R from the source.

Radiation Intensity : It is the power radiated per unit solid angle.

Aperture: The aperture of an antenna is the area that captures energy from a passing radio wave.
For a dish antenna, it is not surprising that the aperture is the size of the reflector, and for a horn,
the aperture is the area of the mouth of the horn.

Directivity: The directivity of an antenna is the ratio of radiation intensity in a given direction to
the average radiation intensity, i.e. total radiated power/4π. If the direction is not specified, the
direction of the maximum radiation is implied. The directivity is an indication of the directional
properties of the antenna. It does this by comparing the field intensity at any point to that of an
isotropic radiator. The directivity is a dimensionless quantity and is usually expressed in decibel.

Gain: The gain of the antenna is defined as the ratio of the radiation intensity in given direction to
the radiation intensity that would be obtained if the power accepted by the antenna were
isotropically. Here again if the direction is not specified, the direction of maximum radiation is
implied. It is also a dimensionless quantity, expressed in decibels.

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The directivity is based on radiated power, whereas the gain is based on input power, the gain is
related to the directivity through

G = ηeD

Where εe is the antenna efficiency and takes into account losses due to mismatch at the antenna
terminals and dielectric and conduction losses. For perfectly matched lossless antenna, its gain and
directivity are equal.

Antenna Temperature : Every object with a physical temperature above absolute zero radiates
energy. The amount of energy radiated is usually represented by equivalent temperature T B also
known brightness temperature. It is defined as

TB(Ө,φ )= € (Ө,φ) Tm= (1- |Ѓ|2)Tm

Where,

TB(Ө,φ ) = Brightness temperature

€ = Emissivity

Tm = Molecular temperature

Ѓ(Ө,φ ) = Reflection coefficient of the surface for the Polarization of the wave.

Since the value of emissivity are 0 ≤ € ≤ 1 ,the maximum value of brightness temperature i equal to
molecular temperature. This brightness temperature emitted by different sources is intercepted by
antennas and it appears at their terminals as an antenna temperature.

Effective length : The effective length represents the antenna in its transmitting and receiving
modes and it is particularly useful in relating the open circuit voltage Voc of receiving antennas.
This relation can be expressed as

Voc= E i x Le

Where,

Voc = open-circuit voltage at antenna terminals.

Ei = incident electric field.

Le = vector effective length.

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Antenna Equivalent Areas : These equivalent areas are used to describe the power capturing
characteristics of the antenna when a wave impinges on it. The different antenna equivalent areas
are scattering area, loss area, capture area.

The scattering area is defined as the equivalent area when multiplied by the incident power density
is equal to the scattered or reradiated power. The loss area is defined as the equivalent area when
multiplied by the incident power density leads to the power dissipated as heat through load. The
capture area is defined as the equivalent area when multiplied by the incident power density leads
to the total captured, collected or intercepted by the antenna.

In general

Capture area=Effective area+ scattering area+ loss area

Antenna Efficiency : The total efficiency E0 is used to take into account losses at the input
terminals and within the structure of the antenna such losses may be due to reflections because of
the mismatch between the transmission line and the antenna and I 2R losses due to the conductors
and dielectric.
In general overall efficiency can be written as

E0 = Er Ec Ed

E0 = Total efficiency.

Er = Reflection efficiency.

Ec = Conduction efficiency.

Ed = Dielectric efficiency.

Input impedance: The input impedance of an antenna is impedance presented by an antenna at its
terminals. The antenna impedance ZA can be expressed as,

ZA= RA + j XA Ω

Where RA is the antenna resistance in ohms and X A is the antenna reactance in [Link]
radiation resistance is expressed as

RA= Rr + RL Ω

Where Rr is the radiation resistance and RL is the loss resistance. The radiation resistance is
associated with the radiation of real power. For a lossless antenna, the input resistance reduces to

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the radiation resistance. The input impedance is also the ratio of the voltage to current at its
terminal or the ratio of the appropriate electric and magnetic fields at a point.

Polarization : The polarization of a wave is the locus of the tip of the electric field vector as a
function of time. For linearly polarized wave, the locus is straight line; it is circle for a circularly
polarized wave and an ellipse for elliptically polarized wave.
Depending upon how the antenna is orientated physically determines it's polarization an antenna
erected vertically is said to be "vertically polarized" while an antenna erected horizontally is said
(not so surprising) to be "horizontally polarized". Other specialized antennas exist with "cross
polarization", having both vertical and horizontal components and we can have "circular
polarization".

Bandwidth :The bandwidth of an antenna is defined as the range of frequencies within which the
performance of an antenna conforms to a specific standard with respect to some characteristic. It is
expressed as the ratio of the upper to lower frequencies of acceptable operation for broadband
antennas. For narrowband antennas, the band width is usually expressed as a percentage of the
frequency difference over the center frequency.

Standing Waves : The reflected waves from the interface create, along with the traveling waves
from the source toward the antenna, constructive and destructive interference patterns, referred to
as standing waves, inside the transmission line which represent pockets of energy concentration and
storage, typical resonant devices.

1.5 Types of antenna

There are several types of antenna. Few of them are discussed below:

Wire Antenna

It is the simple antenna which is very much familiar to the layman because it can be seen virtually
everywhere- on automobiles, buildings, ships, aircraft etc. There are various shapes of wire antenna
such as a straight wire (dipoles), loop, and helix.

Fig1.4 A view of wire antenna

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Aperture antenna

It may be more familiar to the layman today than past because of the increasing demand for more
sophisticated forms of antenna and utilization of higher frequencies. It is very useful for aircraft and
spacecraft because it can be very conveniently flush-mounted on the skin of the aircraft or
spacecraft. This type of antenna is shown in Fig 1.5.

Fig1.5 A view of aperture antenna

Microstrip antenna

Microstrip antenna is a low cost, thin profile, light weight antenna in which a conducting metal is
patched on the grounded substrate. It is discussed in more detail in next section.

Fig 1.6 A View of Microstrip Antenna

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Array antenna

Many applications require radiation characteristics that may not be achievable by a single element.
It may, however, be possible that an aggregate element in an electrical and geometrical arrangement
(an array) will result in desired radiation characteristics. This type of antenna is known as array
antenna.

Fig1.7 A view of array antenna

Reflector antenna

Because of the need to communicate over great distances, sophisticated forms of antenna have to be
used in order to transmit and receive signals that have to travel millions of miles. Such type of
antenna is used as reflector antenna.

Fig1.8 A view of reflector antenna

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Horn antenna

The Horn Antenna combines several ideal characteristics: it is extremely broad-band, has calculable
aperture efficiency, and the back and side lobes are so minimal that scarcely any thermal energy is
picked up from the ground. This type of antenna is used as a feed element for large radio
astronomy, satellite tracking and communication dishes found installed throughout the world.

Fig 1.9 A view of Horn antenna

1.6 Equivalent diagram of an antenna

A transmission-line Thevenin equivalent of the antenna system is shown in figure below. Source is
represented by an ideal generator, the transmission line is represented by a line with characteristics
impedance Zs, and antenna is represented by a load ZL where,

ZL= RL+ j XL

The load resistance RL is used to represent the conduction and dielectric losses associated with
antenna structure while Rr referred to as the radiation resistance, is used to represent radiation by
the antenna. The reactance XL is used to represent the imaginary part of the impedance associated
with radiation by the antenna.

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Taking into account the internal impedance of the source and neglecting line and reflection
(mismatch) losses, maximum power is delivered to the antenna under conjugate matching.

Fig 1.10 Equivalent diagram of antenna

1.7 S-parameters of Antenna

Scattering Parameters, also called S-parameters are important in microwave design because they
are easier to measure and to work with at high frequencies than other kinds of two port parameters.
They are conceptually simple, analytically convenient and capable of providing detailed insight into
a measurement and modeling problem. However, it must kept in mind that -like all other two port
parameters.

S-parameters are linear by default. I.e. they represent the linear behavior of the two ports.

S-parameters are defined as:

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Note: ai , bi and Sij are effective values and not peak values of the corresponding sine functions.

This means that S-parameters do relate traveling waves (power) to a two port’s reflection and
transmission behavior. Since the two port is imbedded in a characteristic impedance of Z0, these
'waves' can be interpreted in terms of normalized voltage or current amplitudes.

1.7.1 Interpretation of s-parameters value.

S11 and S22

Value Interpretation

-1 All voltage amplitude towards the two port are

inverted and reflected(0Ω)

0 Impedance matching , no reflection at all(50 Ω)

1 Voltage amplitude are reflected(∞Ω)

Table 1.1 Interpretation of s-parameters value. S11 and S22

The magnitude of S11 and S22 is always less than 1. Otherwise, it would represent a negative ohmic
value. On the other hand, the magnitude of S21 (transfer characteristics) respectively S12 (reverse)
can exceed the value of 1 in the case of active amplification. Also, S 21 and S12 can be positive and
negative. If they are negative, there is a phase shift.

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S12 and S21

Value Interpretation

0 No signal transmission at all.

0-1 Input signal is damped in the Z0

(characteristics impedance) environment.

1 Unity gain signal transmission in the Z0

environment.

>1 Input signal is amplified in Z0 environment.

Table 1.2 Interpretation of s-parameters value. S12 and S21

The numbering convention for S-parameters is that the first number following the S is the port at
which energy emerges, and the second number is the port at which energy enters. So, S21 is a
measure of power emerging from Port 2 as a result of applying an RF stimulus to Port 1.

1.8 Organization of the Thesis

An introduction to microstrip antennas was given in Chapter II. Apart from the advantages and
disadvantages, the various feeding techniques and models of analysis were listed.

Chapter III deals with the Radiation Parameters and the choice of substrate. The theory of radiation,
various parameters and design aspects were discussed. All possible substrates for the design of
microstrip antenna with their dielectric constant and permittivity are given.

Chapter IV gives the information regarding the functioning of the CST Software and about the
simulation performance which will be used for cross verification of results for designed antennas.

Chapter V provides the design and development of microstrip antenna.

Chapter VI gives the simulation setup and the various results like the Return Loss, VSWR and the
Far Field Patterns for the designed microstrip antenna.

Chapter VII gives the Conclusion to this project and also suggests the future scope of work.

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CHAPTER 2

MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA

Microstrip antennas are attractive due to their light weight, conformability and low cost. These
antennas can be integrated with printed strip-line feed networks and active devices. This is a
relatively new area of antenna engineering. The radiation properties of micro strip structures
have been known since the mid 1950’s.

The application of this type of antennas started in early 1970’s when conformal antennas were
required for missiles. Rectangular and circular micro strip resonant patches have been used
extensively in a variety of array configurations. A major contributing factor for recent advances
of microstrip antennas is the current revolution in electronic circuit miniaturization brought
about by developments in large scale integration. As conventional antennas are often bulky and
costly part of an electronic system, micro strip antennas based on photolithographic technology
are seen as an engineering breakthrough.

2.1 Introduction

In its most fundamental form, a Microstrip Patch antenna consists of a radiating patch on one
side of a dielectric substrate which has a ground plane on the other side as shown in Figure 2.1.
The patch is generally made of conducting material such as copper or gold and can take any
possible shape. The radiating patch and the feed lines are usually photo etched on the dielectric
substrate.

Figure 2.1 Structure of a Microstrip Patch Antenna

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In order to simplify analysis and performance prediction, the patch is generally square,
rectangular, circular, triangular, and elliptical or some other common shape as shown in Figure
2.2. For a rectangular patch, the length L of the patch is usually 0.3333λ o< L < 0.5 λo, where λo
is the free-space wavelength. The patch is selected to be very thin such that t << λ o (where t is
the patch thickness). The height h of the dielectric substrate is usually 0.003 λo≤h≤0.05 λo. The
dielectric constant of the substrate (εr) is typically in the range 2.2 ≤ εr≤ 12.

Figure 2.2 Common shapes of microstrip patch elements

Microstrip patch antennas radiate primarily because of the fringing fields between the patch edge
and the ground plane. For good antenna performance, a thick dielectric substrate having a low
dielectric constant is desirable since this provides better efficiency, larger bandwidth and better
radiation. However, such a configuration leads to a larger antenna size. In order to design a
compact Microstrip patch antenna, substrates with higher dielectric constants must be used which
are less efficient and result in narrower bandwidth. Hence a trade-off must be realized between
the antenna dimensions and antenna performance.

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2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages

Microstrip patch antennas are increasing in popularity for use in wireless applications due to
their low-profile structure. Therefore they are extremely compatible for embedded antennas in
handheld wireless devices such as cellular phones, pagers etc... The telemetry and
communication antennas on missiles need to be thin and conformal and are often in the form of
Microstrip patch antennas. Another area where they have been used successfully is in Satellite
communication. Some of their principal advantages are given below:

• Light weight and low volume.

• Low profile planar configuration which can be easily made conformal to host surface.
• Low fabrication cost, hence can be manufactured in large quantities.
• Supports both, linear as well as circular polarization.
• Can be easily integrated with microwave integrated circuits (MICs).
• Capable of dual and triple frequency operations.
• Mechanically robust when mounted on rigid surfaces.

Microstrip patch antennas suffer from more drawbacks as compared to conventional antennas. Some
of their major disadvantages are given below:

• Narrow bandwidth
• Low efficiency
• Low Gain
• Extraneous radiation from feeds and junctions
• Poor end fire radiator except tapered slot antennas
• Low power handling capacity.
• Surface wave excitation

Microstrip patch antennas have a very high antenna quality factor (Q). It represents the losses
associated with the antenna where a large Q leads to narrow bandwidth and low efficiency. Q
can be reduced by increasing the thickness of the dielectric substrate. But as the thickness
increases, an increasing fraction of the total power delivered by the source goes into a surface
wave. This surface wave contribution can be counted as an unwanted power loss since it is
ultimately scattered at the dielectric bends and causes degradation of the antenna characteristics.
Other problems such as lower gain and lower power handling capacity can be overcome by using
an array configuration for the elements.

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2.3 Feed Techniques

Microstrip patch antennas can be fed by a variety of methods. These methods can be classified
into two categories- contacting and non-contacting. In the contacting method, the RF power is
fed directly to the radiating patch using a connecting element such as a microstrip line. In the
non-contacting scheme, electromagnetic field coupling is done to transfer power between the
microstrip line and the radiating patch. The four most popular feed techniques used are the
microstrip line, coaxial probe (both contacting schemes), aperture coupling and proximity
coupling (both non-contacting schemes).

2.3.1 Microstrip Line Feed

In this type of feed technique, a conducting strip is connected directly to the edge of the
Microstrip patch as shown in Figure 2.3. The conducting strip is smaller in width as compared to
the patch and this kind of feed arrangement has the advantage that the feed can be etched on the
same substrate to provide a planar structure.

Figure 2.3 Microstrip Line Feed

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The purpose of the inset cut in the patch is to match the impedance of the feed line to the patch
without the need for any additional matching element. This is achieved by properly controlling the
inset position. Hence this is an easy feeding scheme, since it provides ease of fabrication and
simplicity in modeling as well as impedance matching. However as the thickness of the dielectric
substrate being used, increases, surface waves and spurious feed radiation also increases, which
hampers the bandwidth of the antenna. The feed radiation also leads to undesired cross polarized
radiation.

2.3.2 Coaxial Feed

The Coaxial feed or probe feed is a very common technique used for feeding Microstrip patch
antennas. As seen from Figure 2.4, the inner conductor of the coaxial connector extends through the
dielectric and is soldered to the radiating patch, while the outer conductor is connected to the ground
plane.

Figure 2.4 Probe fed Rectangular Microstrip Patch Antenna

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The main advantage of this type of feeding scheme is that the feed can be placed at any desired
location inside the patch in order to match with its input impedance. This feed method is easy to
fabricate and has low spurious radiation. However, a major disadvantage is that it provides narrow
bandwidth and is difficult to model since a hole has to be drilled in the substrate and the connector
protrudes outside the ground plane, thus not making it completely planar for thick substrates
(h > 0.02λo). Also, for thicker substrates, the increased probe length makes the input impedance
more inductive, leading to matching problems. It is seen above that for a thick dielectric substrate,
which provides broad bandwidth, the microstrip line feed and the coaxial feed suffer from numerous
disadvantages. The non-contacting feed techniques which have been discussed below, solve these
issues.

2.3.3 Aperture Coupled Feed

In this type of feed technique, the radiating patch and the microstrip feed line are separated by the
ground plane as shown in Figure 2.5. Coupling between the patch and the feed line is made through a
slot or an aperture in the ground plane.

Figure 2.5 Aperture-coupled feed

The coupling aperture is usually centered under the patch, leading to lower cross-polarization due to
symmetry of the configuration. The amount of coupling from the feed line to the patch is determined
by the shape, size and location of the aperture. Since the ground plane separates the patch and the
feed line, spurious radiation is minimized. Generally, a high dielectric material is used for

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bottom substrate and a thick, low dielectric constant material is used for the top substrate to optimize
radiation from the patch. The major disadvantage of this feed technique is that it is difficult to
fabricate due to multiple layers, which also increases the antenna thickness. This feeding scheme also
provides narrow bandwidth.

2.3.4 Proximity Coupled Feed

This type of feed technique is also called as the electromagnetic coupling scheme. As shown in
Figure 2.6, two dielectric substrates are used such that the feed line is between the two substrates and
the radiating patch is on top of the upper substrate. The main advantage of this feed technique is that
it eliminates spurious feed radiation and provides very high bandwidth (as high as 13%) , due to
overall increase in the thickness of the microstrip patch antenna. This scheme also provides choices
between two different dielectric media, one for the patch and one for the feed line to optimize the
individual performances.

Figure 2.6 Proximity-coupled Feed

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Matching can be achieved by controlling the length of the feed line and the width-to-line ratio of the
patch. The major disadvantage of this feed scheme is that it is difficult to fabricate because of the two
dielectric layers which need proper alignment. Also, there is an increase in the overall thickness of the
antenna.

Table 2.1 below summarizes the characteristics of the different feed techniques.

Coaxial Radiating Nonradiating Gap Inset Proximity Aperture CPW Feed

Probe Edge Edge Cpoupled Feed Coupled Coupled
Characteristics Feed Coupled Coupled
(Nonplanar) (Coplanar) (Coplanar) (Coplanar) (Coplanar) (Planar) (Planar) (Planar)

Spurious
Feed More Less Less More More More More Less
Radiation

Polarization Purity Poor Good Poor Poor Poor Poor Excellent Good

Fabrication Ease Solder Easy Easy Easy Easy Alignment Alignment Alignment
Reqd. Reqd. Reqd. Reqd.

Reliability Poor Better Better Better Better Good Good Good

Impedence Easy Poor Easy Easy Easy Easy Easy Easy

Matching

BW 2-5% 9-12% 2-5% 2-5% 2-5% 13%(30) 21%(33) 3%(39,40)

(at matching)

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2.4 Methods of Analysis

The preferred models for the analysis of Microstrip patch antennas are the transmissionline model,
cavity model, and full wave model (which include primarily integral equations/Moment Method).
The transmission line model is the simplest of all and it gives good physical insight but it is less
accurate. The cavity model is more accurate and gives good physical insight but is complex in
nature. The full wave models are extremely accurate, versatile and can treat single elements, finite
and infinite arrays, stacked elements, arbitrary shaped elements and coupling. These give less insight
as compared to the two models mentioned above and are far more complex in nature.

2.4.1 Transmission Line Model

This model represents the microstrip antenna by two slots of width W and height h, separated by a
transmission line of length L. The microstrip is essentially a non-homogeneous line of two
dielectrics, typically the substrate and air.

Figure 2.7 Microstrip Line Figure 2.8 Electric Field Lines

Hence, as seen from Figure 2.8, most of the electric field lines reside in the substrate and parts of
some lines in air. As a result, this transmission line cannot support pure transverse-electric-magnetic
(TEM) mode of transmission, since the phase velocities would be different in the air and the
substrate. Instead, the dominant mode of propagation would be the quasi-TEM mode.

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Hence an effective dielectric constant (εreff) must be obtained in order to account for the fringing and
the wave propagation in the line. The value of εreff is slightly less then εr because the fringing fields
around the periphery of the patch are not confined in the dielectric substrate but are also spread in the
air as shown in Figure 3.8 above. The expression for ε reff is given by Balanis as:

Where εreff = Effective dielectric constant

εr = Dielectric constant of substrate
h = Height of dielectric substrate
W = Width of the patch

Consider Figure 2.9 below, which shows a rectangular microstrip patch antenna of length L, width W
resting on a substrate of height h. The co-ordinate axis is selected such that the length is along the x
direction, width is along the y direction and the height is along the z direction.

Figure 2.9 Microstrip Patch Antennas

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In order to operate in the fundamental TM10 mode, the length of the patch must be slightly less than
λ/2 where λ is the wavelength in the dielectric medium and is equal to λ o/√εreff where λo is the free
space wavelength. The TM10 mode implies that the field varies one λ/2 cycle along the length, and
there is no variation along the width of the patch. In the Figure 2.10 shown below, the microstrip
patch antenna is represented by two slots, separated by a transmission line of length L and open
circuited at both the ends. Along the width of the patch, the voltage is maximum and current is
minimum due to the open ends. The fields at the edges can be resolved into normal and tangential
components with respect to the ground plane.

Figure 2.10 Top View of Antenna Figure 2.11 Side View of Antenna

It is seen from Figure 2.11 that the normal components of the electric field at the two edges along the
width are in opposite directions and thus out of phase since the patch is λ/2 long and hence they
cancel each other in the broadside direction. The tangential components (seen in Figure 2.11), which
are in phase, means that the resulting fields combine to give maximum radiated field normal to the
surface of the structure. Hence the edges along the width can be represented as two radiating slots,
which are λ/2 apart and excited in phase and radiating in the half space above the ground plane. The
fringing fields along the width can be modeled as radiating slots and electrically the patch of the
microstrip antenna looks greater than its physical dimensions. The dimensions of the patch along its
length have now been extended on each end by a distance ∆L, which is given empirically by
Hammerstad as:

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2.4.2 Cavity Model

Although the transmission line model discussed in the previous section is easy to use, it has some
inherent disadvantages. Specifically, it is useful for patches of rectangular design and it ignores field
variations along the radiating edges. These disadvantages can be overcome by using the cavity
model. A brief overview of this model is given below.

In this model, the interior region of the dielectric substrate is modeled as a cavity bounded by electric
walls on the top and bottom. The basis for this assumption is the following observations for thin
substrates (h << λ) .

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• Since the substrate is thin, the fields in the interior region do not vary much in the z
direction, i.e. normal to the patch.
• The electric field is z directed only, and the magnetic field has only the transverse
components Hx and Hy in the region bounded by the patch metallization and the ground plane.

This observation provides for the electric walls at the top and the bottom.

Figure 2.12 Charge distribution and current density creation on the microstrip patch

Consider Figure 2.12 shown above. When the microstrip patch is provided power, a charge
distribution is seen on the upper and lower surfaces of the patch and at the bottom of the ground
plane. This charge distribution is controlled by two mechanisms-an attractive mechanism and a
repulsive mechanism . The attractive mechanism is between the opposite charges on the bottom side
of the patch and the ground plane, which helps in keeping the charge concentration intact at the
bottom of the patch. The repulsive mechanism is between the like charges on the bottom surface of
the patch, which causes pushing of some charges from the bottom, to the top of the patch. As a result
of this charge movement, currents flow at the top and bottom surface of the patch. The cavity model
assumes that the height to width ratio (i.e. height of substrate and width of the patch) is very small
and as a result of this the attractive mechanism dominates and causes most of the charge
concentration and the current to be below the patch surface. Much less current would flow on the top
surface of the patch and as the height to width ratio further decreases, the current on the top surface
of the patch would be almost equal to zero, which would not allow the creation of any tangential
magnetic field components to the patch edges. Hence, the four sidewalls could be modeled as
perfectly magnetic conducting surfaces. This implies that the magnetic fields and the electric field
distribution beneath the patch would not be disturbed. However, in practice, a finite width to height
ratio would be there and this would not make the tangential magnetic fields to be completely zero,
but they being very small, the side walls could be approximated to be perfectly magnetic conducting.
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Since the walls of the cavity, as well as the material within it are lossless, the cavity would not
radiate and its input impedance would be purely reactive. Hence, in order to account for radiation
and a loss mechanism, one must introduce a radiation resistance RR and a loss resistance RL. A lossy
cavity would now represent an antenna and the loss is taken into account by the effective loss
tangent δeff which is given as:

Thus, the above equation describes the total effective loss tangent for the microstrip patch antenna.

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CHAPTER 3

RECTANGULAR PATCH ANTENNA

3.1 Introduction

Microstrip antennas are among the most widely used types of antennas in the microwave frequency
range, and they are often used in the millimeter-wave frequency range as well. (Below approximately
1 GHz, the size of a microstrip antenna is usually too large to be practical, and other types of
antennas such as wire antennas dominate). Also called patch antennas, microstrip patch antennas
consist of a metallic patch of metal that is on top of a grounded dielectric substrate of thickness h,
with relative permittivity and permeability εr and μr as shown in Figure 3.1 (usually μr=1). The
metallic patch may be of various shapes, with rectangular and circular being the most common, as
shown in Figure 3.1.

Fig. 3.1 Rectangular & Circular Patch Antenna

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Most of the discussion in this section will be limited to the rectangular patch, although the basic
principles are the same for the circular patch. (Many of the CAD formulas presented will apply
approximately for the circular patch if the circular patch is modeled as a square patch of the same
area.)

Various methods may be used to feed the patch, as discussed below. One advantage of the microstrip
antenna is that it is usually low profile, in the sense that the substrate is fairly thin. If the substrate is
thin enough, the antenna actually becomes “conformal,” meaning that the substrate can be bent to
conform to a curved surface (e.g., a cylindrical structure). A typical substrate thickness is about 0.02
λ0. The metallic patch is usually fabricated by a photolithographic etching process or a mechanical
milling process, making the construction relatively easy and inexpensive (the cost is mainly that of
the substrate material). Other advantages include the fact that the microstrip antenna is usually
lightweight (for thin substrates) and durable.
Disadvantages of the microstrip antenna include the fact that it is usually narrowband, with
bandwidths of a few percent being typical. Some methods for enhancing bandwidth are discussed
later, however. Also, the radiation efficiency of the patch antenna tends to be lower than some other
types of antennas, with efficiencies between 70% and 90% being typical.

3.2 Basic Principles of Operation

The metallic patch essentially creates a resonant cavity, where the patch is the top of the cavity, the
ground plane is the bottom of the cavity, and the edges of the patch form the sides of the cavity. The
edges of the patch act approximately as an open-circuit boundary condition. Hence, the patch acts
approximately as a cavity with perfect electric conductor on the top and bottom surfaces, and a
perfect “magnetic conductor” on the sides. This point of view is very useful in analyzing the patch
antenna, as well as in understanding its behavior. Inside the patch cavity the electric field is
essentially z directed and independent of the z coordinate. Hence, the patch cavity modes are
described by a double index (m, n). For the (m, n) cavity mode of the rectangular patch the electric
field has the form

Where L is the patch length and W is the patch width. The patch is usually operated in the (1, 0)
mode, so that L is the resonant dimension, and the field is essentially constant in the y direction.

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For this mode the patch may be regarded as a wide microstrip line of width W, having a resonant
length L that is approximately one-half wavelength in the dielectric. The current is maximum at the
centre of the patch, x = L/2, while the electric field is maximum at the two “radiating” edges; x = 0
and x = L. The width W is usually chosen to be larger than the length (W = 1.5 L is typical) to
maximize the bandwidth, since the bandwidth is proportional to the width. (The width should be kept
less than twice the length, however, to avoid excitation of the (0,2) mode.)

At first glance, it might appear that the microstrip antenna will not be an effective radiator when the
substrate is electrically thin, since the patch current in (2) will be effectively shorted by the close
proximity to the ground plane. If the modal amplitude A10 were constant, the strength of the radiated
field would in fact be proportional to h. However, the Q of the cavity increases as h decreases (the
radiation Q is inversely proportional to h). Hence, the amplitude A10 of the modal field at resonance
is inversely proportional to h. Hence, the strength of the radiated field from a resonant patch is
essentially independent of h, if losses are ignored. The resonant input resistance will likewise be
nearly independent of h. This explains why a patch antenna can be an effective radiator even for very
thin substrates, although the bandwidth will be small.

3.3 Resonant Frequency

The resonance frequency for the (1, 0) mode is given by

Where c is the speed of light in vacuum. To account for the fringing of the cavity fields at the edges
of the patch, the length, the effective length ,Le is chosen as

Le= L + 2ΔL
The Hammerstad formula for the fringing extension is

Where

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3.4 Radiation Patterns

The radiation field of the microstrip antenna may be determined using either an “electric current
model” or a “magnetic current model”. In the electric current model, the current in (2) is used
directly to find the far-field radiation pattern. Figure 3.2a shows the electric current for the (1, 0)
patch mode. If the substrate is neglected (replaced by air) for the calculation of the radiation pattern,
the pattern may be found directly from image theory. If the substrate is accounted for, and is assumed
infinite, the reciprocity method may be used to determine the far-field pattern .

(a) Electric Current for (1,0) patch (b) Magnetic Current for (1,0) patch

Fig. 3.2 Electric & Magnetic Current Distribution

In the magnetic current model, the equivalence principle is used to replace the patch by a magnetic
surface current that flows on the perimeter of the patch. The magnetic surface current is given by

Where E is the electric field of the cavity mode at the edge of the patch and n is the outward pointing
unit-normal vector at the patch boundary. Figure 3b shows the magnetic current for the (1, 0) patch
mode. The far-field pattern may once again be determined by image theory or reciprocity, depending
on whether the substrate is neglected or not . The dominant part of the radiation field comes from the
“radiating edges” at x = 0 and x = L. The two non-radiating edges do not affect the pattern in the
principle planes (the E plane at φ = 0 and the H plane at φ = π/2), and have a small effect for other
planes.

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It can be shown that the electric and magnetic current models yield exactly the same result for the
far-field pattern, provided the pattern of each current is calculated in the presence of the substrate at
the resonant frequency of the patch cavity mode . If the substrate is neglected, the agreement is only
approximate, with the largest difference being near the horizon.

According to the electric current model, accounting for the infinite substrate, the far-field pattern is
given by

Where
kx = k0 sinθ cosφ ky = k0 sinθ sinφ

h
and Ei is the far-field pattern of an infinitesimal (Hertzian) unit-amplitude x- directed electric dipole
at the centre of the patch.
This pattern is given by

h
Eθ (r,θ,φ) = E0cosφG(θ)
h
Eφ (r,θ,φ) = −E0sinφF (θ)

Where

And

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The radiation patterns (E- and H-plane) for a rectangular patch antenna on an infinite substrate of
permittivity εr = 2.2 and thickness h /λ0= 0.02 are shown in Figure 3.4. The patch is resonant with
W / L = 1.5. Note that the E-plane pattern is broader than the H-plane pattern. The directivity is
approximately 6 dB.

Fig. 3.3 Radiation Pattern (E & H plane)

3.5 Radiation Efficiency

The radiation efficiency of the patch antenna is affected not only by conductor and dielectric losses,
but also by surface-wave excitation - since the dominant TM0 mode of the grounded substrate will
be excited by the patch. As the substrate thickness decreases, the effect of the conductor and
dielectric losses becomes more severe, limiting the efficiency. On the other hand, as the substrate
thickness increases, the surface-wave power increases, thus limiting the efficiency. Surface-wave
excitation is undesirable for other reasons as well, since surface waves contribute to mutual coupling
between elements in an array, and also cause undesirable edge diffraction at the edges of the ground
plane or substrate, which often contributes to distortions in the pattern and to back radiation. For an
air (or foam) substrate there is no surface-wave excitation.

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In this case, higher efficiency is obtained by making the substrate thicker, to minimize conductor and
dielectric losses (making the substrate too thick may lead to difficulty in matching, however, as
discussed above). For a substrate with a moderate relative permittivity such as ε r = 2.2, the efficiency
will be maximum when the substrate thickness is approximately λ0 = 0.02. The radiation efficiency
is defined as

Where P sp is the power radiated into space, and the total input power P total is given as the sum of
Pc - the power dissipated by conductor loss, Pd- the power dissipated by dielectric loss, and
Psw - the surface-wave power. The efficiency may also be expressed in terms of the corresponding Q
factors as

Where

The dielectric and conductor Q factors are given by

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Where tanδd is the loss tangent of the substrate and Rs is the surface resistance of the patch and
ground plane metal at radian frequency ω =2π f, given by

where δ is the conductivity of the metal.

The space-wave Q factor is given approximately as

Where

=
with a2= − 0.16605, a4 0.00761, and c2 = - 0.0914153.

The surface-wave Q factor is related to the space-wave Q factor as

sw
where er is the radiation efficiency accounting only for surface-wave loss.
This efficiency may be accurately approximated by using the radiation efficiency of an infinitesimal
dipole on the substrate layer , giving

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A plot of radiation efficiency for a resonant rectangular patch antenna with W/L=1.5 on a substrate of
relative permittivity εr = 2.2 or εr = 10.8 is shown in Figure 2.5. The conductivity of the copper patch
7
and ground plane is assumed to be δ = 3.0×10 [S/m] and the dielectric loss tangent is taken as
tanδd = 0.001. The resonance frequency is 5.0 GHz. (The result is plotted versus normalized
(electrical) thickness of the substrate, which does not involve frequency.

Fig.3.4 Radiation Efficiency for a rectangular patch Antenna

However, a specified frequency is necessary to determine conductor loss.) For h / λ0 < 0.02, the
conductor and dielectric losses dominate, while for h /λ0 < 0.02, the surface-wave losses dominate.
(If there were no conductor or dielectric losses, the efficiency would approach 100% as the substrate
thickness approaches zero.)

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3.6 Bandwidth

The bandwidth increases as the substrate thickness increases (the bandwidth is directly proportional
to h if conductor, dielectric, and surface-wave losses are ignored). However, increasing the substrate
thickness lowers the Q of the cavity, which increases spurious radiation from the feed, as well as
from higher-order modes in the patch cavity. Also, the patch typically becomes difficult to match as
the substrate thickness increases beyond a certain point (typically about 0.05 λ 0). This is especially
true when feeding with a coaxial probe, since a thicker substrate results in a larger probe inductance
appearing in series with the patch impedance. However, in recent years considerable effort has been
spent to improve the bandwidth of the microstrip antenna, in part by using alternative feeding
schemes. The aperture-coupled feed of Figure 2.2c is one scheme that overcomes the problem of
probe inductance, at the cost of increased complexity .

Lowering the substrate permittivity also increases the bandwidth of the patch antenna. However, this
has the disadvantage of making the patch larger. Also, because the Q of the patch cavity is lowered,
there will usually be increased radiation from higher-order modes, degrading the polarization purity
of the radiation.
By using a combination of aperture-coupled feeding and a low-permittivity foam substrate,
bandwidths exceeding 25% have been obtained. The use of stacked patches (a parasitic patch located
above the primary driven patch) can also be used to increase bandwidth even further, by increasing
the effective height of the structure and by creating a double-tuned resonance effect.

A CAD formula for the bandwidth (defined by SWR < 2.0) is

Where the terms have been defined in the previous section on radiation efficiency. The result should
be multiplied by 100 to get percent bandwidth. Note that neglecting conductor and dielectric loss
yields a bandwidth that is proportional to the substrate thickness h.

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Fig. 3.5 Calculated & Measured Bandwidth

Figure 3.5 shows calculated and measured bandwidth for the same patch in Figure 2.5. It is seen that
bandwidth is improved by using a lower substrate permittivity, and by making the substrate thicker.

3.7 Input Impedence

A variety of approximate models have been proposed for the calculation of input impedance for a
probe-fed patch. These include the transmission line method, the cavity model, and the spectral-
domain method. These models usually work well for thin substrates, typically giving reliable results
for h / λ0 < 0.02. Commercial simulation tools using FDTD, FEM, or MoM can be used to
accurately predict the input impedance for any substrate thickness. The cavity model has the
advantage of allowing for a simple physical CAD model of the patch to be developed, as shown in
Figure 3.6

Fig. 3.6 Equivalent Circuit of Patch Antenna

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In this model the patch cavity is modelled as a parallel RLC circuit, while the probe inductance is
modelled as a series inductor. The input impedance of this circuit is approximately described by

where f0 is the resonance frequency, R is the input resistance at the resonance of the RLC circuit
(where the input resistance of the patch is maximum), Q = Qtotal is the quality factor of the patch
cavity , and Xf=ωLp is the feed (probe) reactance of the coaxial probe. A CAD formula for the input
resistance R is

where the input resistance at the edge is

A CAD formula for the feed reactance due to the probe is

where γ = 0.577216 is Euler’s constant.

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Fig. 3.7(a)

Fig. 3.7 (b)

Fig. 3.7 Comparison of input Impedances

Figure 3.8 shows a comparison of the input impedance obtained from the simple CAD model (30)
with that obtained by a more accurate cavity model analysis. At the resonance frequency, the
substrate thickness is approximately 0.024λ0. Near the resonance frequency, the simple CAD model
gives results that agree quite well with the cavity model.

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3.8 Improving Performance

Much research has been devoted to improving the performance characteristics of the microstrip
antenna. To improve bandwidth, the use of thick low-permittivity (e.g., foam) substrates can give
significant improvement. To overcome the probe inductance associated with thicker substrates, the
use of capacitive-coupled feeds such as the top-loaded probe or the L-shaped probe shown in Figure
3.9a and Figure 3.9b may be used. Alternatively, the aperture coupled fed shown in Figure 3.9c may
be used, which also has the advantage of eliminating spurious probe radiation. To increase the
bandwidth even further, a stacked patch arrangement may be used, in which a parasitic patch is
stacked above the driven patch. This may be done using either a probe feed or, to obtain even higher
bandwidths, using an aperture-coupled feed (Figure 3.9c).

(a) Top Loading Probe Feeding

(b) L- Probe Feeding

(c) Aperture Coupled Feeding

Fig. 3.8 Feed Types

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The bandwidth enhancement is largely due to the existence of a double resonance, and to some extent,
to the fact that one of the radiators is further from the ground plane. Bandwidths as large as one octave
(2:1 frequency band) have been obtained with such an arrangement. By using a diplexer feed to split
the feeding signal into two separate branches, and feeding two aperture-coupled stacked patches with
different centre frequencies, bandwidths of 4:1 have been obtained. Parasitic patches may also be
placed on the same substrate as the driven patch, surrounding the driven patch. A pair of parasitic
patches may be coupled to the radiating edges, the non-radiating edges, or all four edges. This planar
arrangement saves vertical height and allows for easier fabrication, allows the substrate area occupied
by the antenna is larger, and there may be more variation of the radiation pattern across the frequency
band since the current distribution on the different patches changes with frequency. Broad banding
may also be achieved through the use of slots cut into the patch, as in the “U-slot” patch design. This
has the advantage of not requiring multiple layers or increasing the size of the patch as with parasitic
elements.
Another variation of the microstrip antenna that has been introduced recently is the “reduced surface
wave” microstrip antenna shown in Figure 3.10 .

Fig. 3.9 Reduced surface wave microstrip antenna

This design is a variation of a circular patch, with an inner ring of vias that creates short-circuit inner
boundary. By properly selecting the outer radius, the patch excites very little surface-wave field, and also
only a small amount of lateral (horizontally propagating) radiation. The inner short-circuit boundary is used
to adjust the dimensions of the patch cavity (between the inner and outer boundaries) to make the patch
resonant. The reduced surface-wave and lateral radiation result in less edge diffraction from the edges of the
supporting ground plane, giving smoother patterns in the front-side region and less radiation in the backside
region. Also, there is less mutual coupling between pairs of such antennas, especially as the separation
increases.

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3.9 Linear Polarization

Antenna Polarization is a very important parameter when choosing and installing an antenna. It helps
to have a good grasp of all the aspects of this subject. Most communications systems use either
vertical, horizontal or circular polarization. Knowing the difference between polarizations and how
to maximize their benefit is very important to the antenna user.

A linear polarized antenna radiates wholly in one plane containing the direction of propagation. In a
circular polarized antenna, the plane of polarization rotates in a circle making one complete
revolution during one period of the wave. An antenna is said to be vertically polarized (linear) when
its electric field is perpendicular to the Earth's surface.

A circular polarized wave radiates energy in both the horizontal and vertical planes and all planes in
between. The difference, if any, between the maximum and the minimum peaks as the antenna is
rotated through all angles, is called the axial ratio or ellipticity and is usually specified in decibels
(dB). If the axial ratio is near 0 dB, the antenna is said to be circular polarized. If the axial ratio is
greater than 1-2 dB, the polarization is often referred to as elliptical.

3.9.1 Important Considerations

Polarization is an important design consideration. The polarization of each antenna in a system

should be properly aligned. Maximum signal strength between stations occurs when both stations are
using identical polarization.

On line-of-sight (LOS) paths, it is most important that the polarization of the antennas at both ends of
the path use the same polarization. In a linearly polarized system, a misalignment of polarization of
45 degrees will degrade the signal up to 3 dB and if misaligned 90 degrees the attenuation can be 20
dB or more. Likewise, in a circular polarized system, both antennas must have the same sense. If not,
an additional loss of 20 dB or more will be incurred.

Linearly polarized antennas will work with circularly polarized antennas and vice versa. However,
there will be up to a 3 dB loss in signal strength. In weak signal situations, this loss of signal may
impair communications. Cross polarization is another consideration. It happens when unwanted
radiation is present from a polarization which is different from the polarization in which the antenna
was intended to radiate. For example, a vertical antenna may radiate some horizontal polarization
and vice versa. However, this is seldom a problem unless there is noise or strong signals nearby.

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3.9.2 Typical Applications

Vertical polarization is most often used when it is desired to radiate a radio signal in all directions
such as widely distributed mobile units. Vertical polarization also works well in the suburbs or out in
the country, especially where hills are present. As a result, nowadays most two-way Earth to Earth
communications in the frequency range above 30 MHz use vertical polarization.

Horizontal polarization is used to broadcast television in the USA. Some say that horizontal
polarization was originally chosen because there was an advantage to not have TV reception
interfered with by vertically polarized stations such as mobile radio. Also, man made radio noise is
predominantly vertically polarized and the use of horizontal polarization would provide some
discrimination against interference from noise.

3.9.3 Other Considerations

If your antenna is to be located on an existing tower or building with other antennas in the vicinity,
try to separate the antennas as far as possible from each other. In the UHF range, increasing
separation even a few extra feet may significantly improve performance from problems such as
desensitization.

When setting up your own exclusive communications link, it may be wise to first test the link with
vertical and then horizontal polarization to see which yields the best performance (if any). If there are
any reflections in the area, especially from structures or towers, one polarization may outperform the
other.

On another note, when radio waves strike a smooth reflective surface, they may incur a 180 degree
phase shift, a phenomenon known as specular or mirror image reflection. The reflected signal may
then destructively or constructively affect the direct LOS signal. Circular polarization has been used
to an advantage in these situations since the reflected wave would have a different sense than the
direct wave and block the fading from these reflections.

3.9.4 Diversity Reception

Even if the polarizations are matched, other factors may affect the strength of the signal. The most
common are long and short term fading. Long term fading results from changes in the weather (such
as barometric pressure or precipitation) or when a mobile station moves behind hills or buildings.
Short term fading is often referred to as "multipath" fading since it results from reflected signals
interfering with the LOS signal.

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Some of this fading phenomenon can be decreased by the use of diversity reception. This type of
system usually employs dual antennas and receivers with some kind of "voting" system to choose the
busiest signal. However, for best results, the antennas should be at least 20 wavelengths apart so that
the signals are no longer correlated. This would be 20-25 feet at 880 MHz, quite a structural
problem. Nowadays we are inundated with mobile radios and cellular telephones.

Fig 3.10 Linear Polarization

The polarization on handheld units is often random depending on how they are held by the user. This
has led to new studies which have found that polarization diversity can be an advantage. The most
important break through in this area is that the antennas at the base station do not have to be
separated physically as described above. They can be collocated as long as they are orthogonal and
well isolated from each other. Only time will tell if these systems are truly cost effective.

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CHAPTER 4

CST SOFTWARE

CST MICROWAVE STUDIO®(CST MWS) is a specialist tool for the 3D EM simulation of high
frequency components. CST MWS' unparalleled performance making it first choice in technology
leading R&D departments.

4.1Computer Simulation Technology

CST MWS enables the fast and accurate analysis of high frequency (HF) devices such as antennas,
filters, couplers, planar and multi-layer structures and SI and EMC effects. Exceptionally user
friendly, CST MWS quickly gives you an insight into the EM behavior of your high frequency
designs.

CST promotes Complete Technology for 3D EM. Users of our software are given great flexibility in
tackling a wide application range through the variety of available solver technologies. Beside the
flagship module, the broadly applicable Time Domain solver and the Frequency Domain solver, CST
MWS offers furthersolver modules for specific applications. Filters for the import of specific CAD
files and the extraction of SPICE parameters enhance design possibilities and save time. In addition,
CST MWS can be embedded in various industry standard workflows through the CST user interface.
CST MICROWAVE STUDIO® is seen by an increasing number of engineers as an industry
standard development tool.

4.1.1 History

CST was founded in 1992 by Thomas Weiland. In the early years the focus was on the development
and marketing of the MAFIA software package, where MAFIA stands for "solving MAxwell's
equations using the Finite Integration Algorithm". MAFIA was widely used by research labs, and
especially applied to the design of particle accelerators. MAFIA, a UNIX-based software, employed
the Finite Integration Technique(FIT), introduced by Weiland in 1977.[3] FIT - also referred to as
Finite Integration Algorithm or Finite Integral Method (FIM) - is a very general approach to
discretizing Maxwell's equations, that can be applied in time domain and in frequency domain.
The most important milestone in company history was the introduction of the Microsoft Windows-
based software CST MICROWAVE STUDIO. It featured the proprietary "Perfect Boundary
Approximation (PBA)", an extension to FIT that provided users with a conformal explicit time
domain method for the simulation of electromagnetic fields.
In 1999 the affiliate company CST of America, Inc. was founded in Boston. CST of Korea, Inc.
followed 2001 in Seoul.

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2003 saw the first installment of the "CST University Publication Award", which draws contributions
from university institutes worldwide, and underlines the growing importance of simulation in
research.
Since 2005 CST promotes the "Complete Technology" approach. The goal is to enable users to select
from different state of the art simulation methods the most appropriate while staying in one user
interface. Available methods currently include FIT, Finite Element Method, Method of
Moments, MLFMM, Transmission-line matrix method.
2008 CST was incorporated as Aktiengesellschaft. The same year the electromagnetic simulation
branch of Flomerics, Plc. with their products MicroStripes and Flo/EMC was acquired. In 2009 CST
acquired SimLab Software GmbH, a Munich software company with expertice on cable harness and
PCB simulation.
2012 CST introduced a new method for the efficient simulation of systems and component
assemblies: System Assembly and Modeling (SAM).

4.1.2 Simulation Performance

Product design cycles are tight, and there are many hurdles to be crossed between the concept and
the final product. Simulation offers benefits throughout the design process, but to stay at the cutting
edge, engineers, designers and researchers need their simulation results fast while maintaining
excellent accuracy. Performance is a combination of these two factors – speed and accuracy.

To make CST STUDIO SUITE as useful as possible, CST devotes a substantial amount of
development time to improving the performance of our products and optimizing the solver
technology. Thanks to the co-operation with Intel, CST products can take full advantage the power
and speed of the latest generation of processors. For more information, please see the Intel/CST
solution profile.

Innovations such as the PERFECT BOUNDARY APPROXIMATION (PBA), the THIN SHEET
TECHNIQUE (TST) and True Geometry Adaptation improve the efficiency of the flagship time
domain and frequency solvers by improving their accuracy without compromising on speed. For
models that are difficult to solve with these solvers, CST also offers a range of other technologies
which offer excellent performance for certain types of simulation, such as the asymptotic and integral
equation solvers for very large problems and the fast resonant solver for high-Q structures.

Performance is not just about raw power, however. Usability also plays a key role in helping users
achieve their goals by streamlining the simulation workflow and allowing it to slot more easily into
the product design process. To that end, CST also works to ensure that CST STUDIO SUITE is as
user-friendly as possible. The Ribbon-based user interface guides the user through the simulation
process, and the Project Wizard tool suggests the most suitable configuration and solver type for a
fast, accurate simulation.

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CHAPTER 5

MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA DESIGN

In this chapter, the procedure for designing a rectangular microstrip patch antenna is explained. Next,
a compact rectangular microstrip patch antenna is designed for use in cellular phones. Finally, the
results obtained from the simulations are demonstrated.

5.1 Design Specifications

The three essential parameters for the design of a Rectangular Microstrip Patch Antenna:

 Frequency of operation (fo): The resonant frequency of the antenna must be selected
appropriately. The Mobile Communication Systems uses the frequency range from 2100-5600
MHz. Hence the antenna designed must be able to operate in this frequency range. The resonant
frequency selected for my design is 2.4 GHz.
 Dielectric constant of the substrate (εr): The dielectric material selected for our design is FR
Lossy material which has a dielectric constant of 4.3. A substrate with a high dielectric constant
has been selected since it reduces the dimensions of the antenna.
 Height of dielectric substrate (h): For the microstrip patch antenna to be used in cellular phones, it
is essential that the antenna is not bulky. Hence, the height of the dielectric substrate is selected as
2 mm.

Hence, the essential parameters for the design are:

• fo = 4.36 GHz
• εr = 4.3
• h = 2 mm

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5.2 Design Procedure

The overall design steps for designing the Microstrip patch antenna in CST microwave studio
involves-

[Link] of the dimension of the patch antenna, substrate, ground plane, effective dielectric
constant, impedance etc.

2. Inputting the parameter obtained into the CST microwave studio, draw the substrate,, ground
plane, patch antenna, gap between the patch and microstrip feed and microstrip feed.

3. Simulation and Optimization.

There are four essential parameters which are need to calculated. They are:

1. The operating frequency (f0).

2. Dielectric constant of substrate (εr).

3. The height of the dielectric substrate (hs)

The other parameters are:

[Link] width of the patch (W).

[Link] Length of the patch (L).

There are a lot of methods for analyzing the microstrip patch antenna:

[Link] Transmission Line model.

[Link] Cavity Model.

[Link] of Moments(MoM).

[Link] Transmission Line equations

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To design the microstrip feed line (inset-fed):

By using the above equations the parameters are calculated.

Parameters Mm
W 60
L 60
Hp 0.035
Hg 0.1
Hs 2
Table5.1 Parameters calculated

The frequency range 0 GHz to 8 GHz.

Step 1: Calculation of the Width (W):

The width of the Microstrip patch antenna is given as:

Substituting c = 3.00e+008 m/s, εr = 4.3and fo = 4.6 GHz, we get:

W = 0.060 m = 60 mm

Step 2: Calculation of Effective dielectric constant (εreff):

The effective dielectric constant is:

Substituting εr = 4.3, W = 60 mm and h = 2 mm we get:

εreff = 2.3368

Step 3: Calculation of the Effective length ( Leff):

The effective length is:

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Substituting εreff = 2.3368, c = 3.00e+008 m/s and fo = 4.6 GHz we get:

Leff = 0.06081 m = 60.81 mm

Step 4: Calculation of the length extension (∆L):

The length extension is:

Substituting εreff = 2.3668, W =60 mm and h = 2 mm we get:

∆L = 0.81 mm

Step 5: Calculation of actual length of patch (L):

The actual length is obtained by:

Substituting Leff = 60.81 mm and ∆L = 0.81 mm we get:

L = 60 mm

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5.3 Construction Of Rectangular Patch Microstrip Antenna

[Link] the option create new project ->microwave studio->planar(patch)->click on next button until
the window is open as show below in fig 5.1 and fig 5.2.

Fig 5.1

Fig 5.2

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[Link] the Time Domain and also the units for the parameters as shown in fig 5.3 and fig 5.4 and
select to finish the template as shown in fig 5.5.

Fig 5.3 Fig 5.4

Fig 5.5

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[Link] the ground plane using copper(annealed) material with the dimensions as shown in fig 5.6
and substrate using FR-4(lossy)material as shown in fig5.7.

Fig 5.6 Fig 5.7

[Link] construct the remaining bricks as shown in the below figures fig 5.8, fig 5.9, fig5.10
and fig 5.11.

Fig 5.8 Fig 5.9

Fig 5.10 Fig 5.11

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4. Waveguide port creation is then [Link] frequency is given by selecting simulation-

>frequency->enter maximum and minium frequencies as shown in fig 5.12. The field monitor
are declared and the fields here are considered are E and farfields. The simulation is done ny
using transient solver.

Fig 5.12 Field Monitor

5. The outputs of the simulation are explained in the next chapter.

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CHAPTER 6

SIMULATION SETUP AND RESULTS

The software used to model and simulate the Microstrip Patch Antenna is Computer Simulation
Technology. CST MICROWAVE STUDIO®(CST MWS) is a specialist tool for the 3D EM
simulation of high frequency components. The performance of the proposed antenna is shown in
this chapter.
Various paramneters are used to analyze the performance of antenna [Link] consider Return
Loss,VSWR(Voltage Standing Wave Ratio) and Far Field Patterns for this purpose.

6.1 S-Parameters and Return Loss (RL)

S-Parameters describe the input-output relation between the ports or terminals in an electrical
[Link] inset feed used is designed to have an inset depth of 0.035 mm, feed-line width of 2
mm and feed path length of 48 mm. A frequency range of 0-8 GHz is selected.

The center frequency is selected as the one at which the return loss is minimum. As described in
chapter 2, the bandwidth can be calculated from the return loss (RL) plot. A RL of -39.42 dB is
obtained as shown in the fig 6.1.

Fig 6.1 Return Loss of the proposed antenna at frequency 4.36 GHz

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6.2 VSWR(Voltage Standing Wave Ratio)

The most common case for measuring and examining VSWR is when installing and tuning
transmitting antennas. When a transmitter is connected to an antenna by a feed line, the impedance of
the antenna and feed line must match exactly for maximum energy transfer from the feed line to the
antenna to be possible. When an antenna and feed line do not have matching impedances, some of the
electrical energy cannot be transferred from the feed line to the antenna. Energy not transferred to the
antenna is reflected back towards the transmitter. It is the interaction of these reflected waves with
forward waves which causes standing wave patterns.

Matching the impedance of the antenna to the impedance of the feed line is typically done using
an antenna tuner. The tuner can be installed between the transmitter and the feed line, or between
the feed line and the antenna. Both installation methods will allow the transmitter to operate at a
low VSWR. Ideally, VSWR must lie in the range of 1-2 which is achieved in figure 6.2 for the
frequency 4.36 GHz, near the operating frequency value.

Fig 6.2 VSWR of proposed antenna at a frequency 4.36 GHz

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6.3 Far Field Pattern

Far field pattern refers to the directional (angular) dependence of the strength of the radio
waves from the [Link] give the details regarding the directivity and at which frequency
we are [Link] simulated results of far feld pattern of the proposed antenna is shown in
fig 6.3 which are 3D plots.

Fig 6.3 3-Dimensional plot of far field pattern at frequency 4.36GHz

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6.4 Polar Plots

Polar Plots are nothing but showing the far field patterns in 2D plots. It gives the details
regarding the main lobe level ,main lobe direction and the side lobe level and the angular width
(3db).

Fig 6.4 Polar Plot of far field pattern of proposed antenna at frequency 4.36GHz

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6.5 Axial Ratio

Axial Ratio is the ratio of peak value in the major lobe direction to peak value in the minor
Lobedirection. Axial ratio which is the ratio of the major axis to the minor axis of the
polarization ellipse where the resulting pattern is an oscillating pattern is obtained as in Fig 6.5.

FIG 6.5 Axial Ratio of the proposed antenna at frequency 4.36 GHz

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CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

CONCLUSION

The main objective of this project “Design of Microstrip Patch Antenna for C-Band
Appplications” is to design a microstrip patch antenna that operates at 4.36GHz frequency.

The microstrip patch antenna is designed using the FR-4 (lossy) substrate and copper (annealed)
metal as ground making the design cost effective. The main purpose of this project is to enhance
the performance of the patch antenna.

The proposed antenna has a return loss of -39.427 dB at operating frequency 4.36 [Link]
directivity of proposed antenna is 7.166 dBi at operationg fruqency of 4.36 [Link] the VSWR
is 1.021 which is satisfactory.

The return loss of microstrip patch antenna has been reduced to the maximum possible level so
that the signal can travel more efficiently without any loss in the system .This proposed antenna
can be used in mobiles

Finally, the optimum dimension of the microstrip patch antenna on FR-4(lossy) substrate for C-
band Mobile applications has been investigated. The performance properties are analyzed for the
optimized dimensions and the proposed antenna works well at the required 4.36GHz frequency
band.

FUTURE SCOPE

Experimental verification of the fabricated patch will be carried out in future. This proposed
antenna can be implemented for various operating frequencies so that the return loss can be
improved and thus it can be also be used for radar and other tracking applications . Antenna
performance can also be analyzed by using different structure of patches and feeding techniques.
This proposed antenna can also be improved for further UWB Applications also.

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REFERENCES

[1] R. Garg, P. Bhartia, I. Bahl, and A. Ittipiboon, Microstrip Antenna Design Handbook, Artech
House, 2000.
[2] K. F. Lee, Ed., Advances in Microstrip and Printed Antennas, John Wiley, 1997.
[3] D. M. Pozar and D. H. Schaubert, Microstrip Antennas: The Analysis and Design of
Microstrip Antennas and Arrays, IEEE Press, 1995.
[4] F. E. Gardiol, “Broadband Patch Antennas,” Artech House.
[5] S K Behera, “Novel Tuned Rectangular Patch Antenna As a Load for Phase Power
Combining” Ph.D Thesis, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
[6] D. R. Jackson and J. T. Williams, “A comparison of CAD models for radiation from
rectangular microstrip patches,” Intl. Journal of Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Computer
Aided Design, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 236-248, April 1991.
[7] D. R. Jackson, S. A. Long, J. T. Williams, and V. B. Davis, “Computer- aided design of
rectangular microstrip antennas”, ch. 5 of Advances in Microstrip and Printed Antennas, K. F.
Lee, Editor, John Wiley, 1997.
[8] D. M. Pozar, “A reciprocity method of analysis for printed slot and slot- coupled microstrip
antennas,” IEEE Trans. Antennas and Propagation, vol. AP-34, pp. 1439-1446, Dec. 1986.
[9] C. A. Balanis, “Antenna Theory, Analysis and Design,” John Wiley & Sons, New York,
1997.
[10] H. Pues and A Van de Capelle, “Accurate transmission-line model for the rectangular
microstrip antenna,” Proc. IEE, vol. 131, pt. H, no. 6, pp. 334-340, Dec. 1984.
[11] W. F. Richards, Y. T. Lo, and D. D. Harrison, “An improved theory of microstrip antennas
with applications,” IEEE Trans. Antennas and
Propagation, vol. AP-29, pp, 38-46, Jan. 1981.

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