2013 IEEE International Conference on Emerging Trends in Computing, Communication and Nanotechnology (ICECCN 2013)

547

Design and Characterization of Corporate Feed

Rectangular Microstrip Patch Array Antenna

P.Subbulakshmi R.Rajkumar
Dept of Electronics and Communication Engineering Dept of Electronics and Communication Engineering
RVS Faculty of Engineering Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Engineering College
Coimbatore, India Perambalur, India
[email protected] [email protected]

Abstract— The modern mobile communication systems Conventional microstrip antennas in general have a
requires high gain, large bandwidth and minimal size antenna’s conducting patch printed on a grounded microwave substrate,
that are capable of providing better performance over a wide and have the attractive features of low profile, light weight,
range of frequency spectrum. This requirement leads to the easy fabrication, and conformability to mounting hosts.
design of Microstrip patch antenna. This paper proposes the However, microstrip antennas inherently have a narrow
design of 4-Element microstrip patch antenna array which uses bandwidth and bandwidth enhancement is usually demanded
the corporate feed technique for excitation. Low dielectric for practical applications.
constant substrates are generally preferred for maximum
radiation. Thus it prefers Taconic as a dielectric substrate. In addition, applications in present-day mobile
Desired patch antenna design is initially simulated by using high communication systems usually require size reduction and
frequency simulation software SONNET and FEKO and patch bandwidth enhancement are becoming major design
antenna is designed as per requirements. Antenna dimensions considerations for practical applications of microstrip antennas.
such as Length (L), Width (W) and substrate Dielectric Constant Various parameters of the microstrip antennae and their design
(İr) and parameters like Return Loss, Gain and Impedance are considerations are discussed in subsequent sections. Section II
calculated using high frequency simulation software. The explains the structure of microstrip patch antenna and section
antenna has been designed for the range 9-11 GHz. Hence this III includes different feeding techniques for the excitation of
antenna is highly suitable for X-band applications.
microstrip patch antenna. Section IV is about the design
Keywords— Corporate Feed, Microstrip Patch Antenna, Patch
procedures for Microstrip patch antenna using corporate feed
Parameters, SONNET, Taconic substrate technique. Section V deals with the simulation set up with
results and discussions in addition to the analysis of a
comparative performance. Section VI gives conclusion and
I. INTRODUCTION anticipated future work.
Communication between humans was first by sound
through voice. It has been only very recent in human history II. MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA
that the electromagnetic spectrum, outside the visible region
has been employed for communication, through the use of In recent years the area of microstrip antenna has seen
radio. One of humankind’s greatest natural resources is the many inventive works and is one of the most dynamic fields in
electromagnetic spectrum and the antenna has been communication field. For simplify analysis and performance
instrumental in harnessing this resource. prediction, the patch is generally square, rectangular, circular,
triangular, and elliptical or some other common. Among these
Microstrip patch antennas (also just called patch antennas) the rectangular and circular patches are the most extensively
are among the most common antenna types in use today, used patches [3].
particularly in the popular frequency range of 1 to 6GHz. This
type of antenna had its first intense development in the 1970s, Although there are many variations on patch antenna
as communication systems became common at frequencies design, the basic configuration is shown in Figure 1, where L is
where its size and performance were very useful. At the same then length (relative to the feed point) and W is the width. In
time, its flat profile and reduced weight, compared to parabolic the simplest configuration, L = W = Ȝeff /2, or an electrical one-
reflectors and other antenna options, made it attractive for half wavelength, including the shortening effect of the
airborne and spacecraft applications. More recently, those same dielectric constant (İr) of the material between the patch and
properties, with additional size reduction using high dielectric the conducting surface (substrate) below [1].
constant materials, have made patch antennas common in Microstrip patch antennas consist of very thin metallic strip
handsets, GPS receivers and other mass-produced wireless (patch) placed on ground plane where the thickness of the
products [1]. metallic strip is restricted by t << Ȝ0 and the height is restricted

978-1-4673-5036-5/13/$31.00 © 2013 IEEE

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548

Fig. 2. Microstrip Line Feed

Fig. 1. Microstrip Patch Antenna
Hence this is an easy feeding scheme, since it provides
ease of fabrication and simplicity in modeling as well as
by 0.0003Ȝ0 < h < 0.05Ȝ0 and their dielectric constants are
impedance matching. However as the thickness of the
usually in the range of 2.2 < İr <12 [2].
dielectric substrate being used, increases, surface waves and
spurious feed radiation also increases, which hampers the
III. MICROSTRIP ARRAY ANTENNA’S AND FEED NETWORKS bandwidth of the antenna [5]. The feed radiation also leads to
Microstrip antennas are used not only as single element but undesired cross polarized radiation.
also very popular in arrays [4]. Antenna arrays are used to scan
the beam of an antenna system, to increase the directivity, gain B. Coaxial Feed
and enhance various other functions which would be difficult The Coaxial feed or probe feed is a very common technique
with single element antenna. Microstrip patch antennas can be used for feeding Microstrip patch antennas. As seen from Fig.
fed by a variety of methods. These methods can be classified 3 the inner conductor of the coaxial connector extends through
into two categories - Contacting and Non-Contacting. In the the dielectric and is soldered to the radiating patch, while the
contacting method, the RF power is fed directly to the radiating outer conductor is connected to the ground plane. The main
patch using a connecting element such as a microstrip line. In advantage of this type of feeding scheme is that the feed can be
the non-contacting scheme, electromagnetic field coupling is placed at any desired location within the patch area in order to
done to transfer power between the microstrip line and the match its input impedance. This feed method is easy to
radiating patch. The four most popular feed techniques used for fabricate and has low spurious radiation. For a thick dielectric
the microstrip patch are Edge feed and Pin feed, both of which substrate, this scheme is especially suitable for broad
are contacting schemes and other two are aperture coupling and bandwidth applications. The pin fed technique, thus becomes
proximity coupling, both of which are non-contacting schemes. natural choice for the Wi-MAX applications of patch antennae
In the microstrip array, elements can be fed by a single line or used for compact and mobile devices.
multiple lines in a feed network arrangement [5], [6]. Feeding
methods are classified as,
• Microstrip Line Feed
• Coaxial Feed
• Aperture Feed
• Proximity Feed
• Series feed network
• Corporate feed network

A. 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 Fig. 2.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 [5], [7].
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 [3]. This is achieved by
properly controlling the inset position. Fig. 3. Microstrip Pin Feed

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C. Microstrip Series Feed Network IV. DESIGN CONSIDERATION FOR PATCH ANTENNA
There are three important parameters which are to be
considered carefully for the designing a rectangular microstrip
patch antennae for mobile devices.
• Frequency of operation (f0): The antenna has been
designed for the range 9-11 GHz; hence this antenna is
highly suitable for X-band applications. The default
resonant frequency chosen for this research design
simulation is 10GHz.
• Dielectric constant of the substrate (İr): The dielectric
material chosen for this design is Taconic which has
Fig. 4. Microstrip Series Feed Network dielectric constant of 2.2.

A series feed microstrip array, as shown in Fig. 4, is • Height of dielectric substrate (h): For the Microstrip patch
formed by interconnecting all the elements with high antennae to be used in cellular phones, it is essential that
impedance transmission line and feeding the power at the the antennae are kept light and compact [9]. Hence, the
first element. Here two successive patch elements are height of the dielectric substrate is is chosen as 2.87 mm.
matched by using quarter wavelength transformer method. By substituting C = 3×108 m/s, İr = 2.2 and f0 = 10 GHz,
Since, the feed arrangement is compact so the line losses we can easily determine the values of antenna dimensions.
associated with this type of array are lower than those of the
corporate feed type [6]. A. Design Procedure
The main limitation of the series feed arrays is the large
variation of the impedance and beam-pointing direction over 1. Calculation of Width (W)
a band of frequencies.
The width of the patch element (W) is given by
(1)
D. Microstrip Corporate Feed Network C
Another popular microstrip antenna feeding system is the
W=
corporate feeding. Corporate feed arrays are general and 2 f o εr + 1
versatile. This method has more control of the feed of each 2
element and is ideal for scanning phased arrays, multi beam 2. Calculation of Effective dielectric constant ( İreff )
arrays. The phase of each element can be controlled using

εreff = εr2+ 1 + εr2− 1 ª«1 + 12 wh º»

1/ 2
phase shifters while amplitude can be adjusted using either
amplifiers or attenuators [5], [8]. The corporate feed network (2)
is used to provide power splits of 2n (i.e. n = 2; 4; 8; 16; ¬ ¼
etc.). This is accomplished by using either tapered lines or 3. Calculation of the Effective length
using quarter wavelength impedance transformers [4], [6].
Here, in the Fig. 5, the patch elements are connected by C
using the quarter wavelength impedance transformer method. Leff = (3)
2 fo εreff
4. Calculation of the length extension

§W ·
(εreff + 0.3)¨ + 0.264 ¸
©h ¹ (4)
ΔL = 0.412h
§W ·
(εreff − 0.258)¨ + 0.8 ¸
©h ¹
5. The actual length (L) of patch

L = Leff − 2ΔL (5)

By using above mathematical computation equation, the

patch parameters have been designed for the Taconic
substrate. The results are summarized in table 1. Table 1
Fig. 5. 4-elements corporate feed microstrip array antenna represents the patch width and patch length obtained for
Taconic substrates.

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TABLE I a) Return Loss

Microstrip Patch Parameters
Microstrip
Patch
Parameters Patch Element f0 = 10GHz, İr=2.2,
Measures h=2.87mm

W Patch Width 0.012m or 12 mm

İreff Effective Dielectric Constant 2.78

Leff Effective Length 8.9 mm

ǻL Length Extension 1.2887 mm

L Actual Length 6.3 mm

V. SIMULATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Fig. 7. Return loss for four patch array antenna
The software used to simulate the microstrip patch antenna
is high frequency simulation software FEKO Suite 6.1 Version The resonance frequency of the designed antenna is 9-
for calculating various parameters. The design was then 11GHz. Fig. 7 demonstrates that return loss is -6.8dB at
simulated on SONNET 3D Planar High-frequency 8.45GHz. The bandwidth can be determined from the Return
Electromagnetic software. The model was designed to match Loss (RL).
50 ohm of the corporate feed. Fig. 6 shows the Corporate fed
microstrip patch antennae designed using FEKO suite 6.0
version. b) Impedance
Most microwave applications are designed with an input
A. FEKO Suite impedance of 50ȍ, so matching the antenna to 50ȍ is our
desire. The following are the impedance plot. The below
figure shows the value of impedance is 65ȍ.

Fig. 6. 4-Element microstrip patch array

Antenna using FEKO suite Fig. 8. Impedance for four patch array antenna

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551

c) Gain A. Return Loss

Fig. 11. Return loss for four patch array antenna

Fig. 9. Gain for four patch array antenna
The resonance frequency of the designed antenna is 9-
Generally the gain should be above 6dB which will be 11GHz. Fig. 11 demonstrates that return loss is -6.8dB at
achieved when we use array of antenna. The figure below 8.45GHz. The bandwidth can be determined from the Return
shows the radiation pattern for four patch array antenna. Thus Loss (RL).
the gain obtained is 6.8 dB.
B. Gain
TABLE II.
The figure below shows the radiation pattern for four
Microstrip
Patch Microstrip Patch Parameters element microstrip patch array antenna. Thus the gain
Parameters obtained is 20dB which is high and good when compare to the
from FEKO Obtained Values gain obtained from FEKO Simulation.
Patch Parameters
Software

F Frequency (Hz) 8.475 Hz

Gain Gain (dB) 6.8 dB

Return Loss Return Loss (dB) -6.8 dB

B. SONNET Suite Simulation Software

The microstrip patch antenna array design was then
simulated on SONNET 3D Planar High-frequency
Electromagnetic software with same design specifications.
Fig. 12. Gain for four patch array antenna

TABLE III.

Microstrip
Patch Microstrip Patch Parameters
Parameters
from SONNET Obtained Values
Patch Parameters
Software

F Frequency (Hz) 9.8 Hz

Gain Gain (dB) 20 dB

Fig. 10. Four patch array antenna Return Loss Return Loss (dB) -14 dB

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C. Comparative Study [10] Kashwan K R, IEEE Member, Rajeshkumar V, Gunasekaran T and

Shankar Kumar K R., “Design and Characterization of Pin Fed
We have studied that corporate feed Microstrip patch Microstrip Patch Antennae” in International Conference on Fuzzy
Systems and Knowledge Discovery (FSKD) – 2011.
antenna gives gain of 20dB at a frequency of 9.8GHz and less
return loss when it is simulated using Sonnet software. The
simulated values are given in Table II. Previously the desired
antenna design was simulated using FEKO Lite simulator. The
simulated results are given in Table I. It shows that it gives
gain of 6.8dB at a frequency of 8.475GHz which less when
compare to simulated values from SONNET simulator. Each
simulator divides the patch differently for computation of
antenna dimensions and measurements. May be due to this,
results from SONNET simulator have better performance.

VI. CONCLUSION
A method of comparative simulation between FEKO
Simulator and SONNET high frequency simulation software is
proposed. These designed antennas are simple, minimal size
and high efficiency for the applications in GHz frequency
ranges. There acceptable parametric outcomes such like the
Return Loss, Gain and Efficiency for the corporate feed patch
antenna is tabulated in Table 4. From the comparative study of
different analysis of corporate feeding technique, it is
concluded that microstrip antenna simulated using SONNET
Suite provides a bandwidth enhancement of around 20dB. And
also it has achieved the best return losses at the desired
frequency region, which is at 9.8 GHz. In future, the work will
be carried out for antenna’s with different feeding techniques.

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