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EE463 Project Report

Aydın Uzun
2015401210

I. A BSTRACT B. Simple Geometry

In this project, a rectangular microstrip patch antenna is Microstrip antennas, as shown on Figure 2, consist of a very
designed using HFSS software and simulated on computer, thin metallic strip (patch) placed a small fraction of a wavelength(
fabricated in the laboratory at Bogazici University and finally usually 0.003 λ0 ≤ h ≤ 0.05 λ0 ) above a ground plane. For a
simulated using Vector Network Analyzer(VNA). The designed rectangular patch, the length L of the element is usually λ0 /3
antenna has a resonating frequency of 1.8 GHz which is appli- < L < λ0 /2.
cable to GSM (Global System for Mobile communications). One For good antenna performance thick substrates whose dielectric
can see the GSM frequency bands used in Turkey by different constant is lower is more preferable because they provide better
network providers. The design is made on FR-4 Epoxy dielectric efficiency, larger bandwidth but at the expense of larger element
material with dielectric constant εr = 4.4 and thickness 1.6mm. size. I used FR4 epoxy material with εr = 4.4 in my design
this material is mostly used in antenna designs because of its
lower cost. A RT/duroid with εr = 2.2 would definitely give better
results.
The radiating patch may be square, rectangular, thin strip
(dipole), circular, elliptical, triangular, or any other configuration.
Rectangular patches are most common ones because of ease of
analysis and fabrication, so I used a rectangular patch in my
design.

Fig. 1: GSM frequnecy bands in Turkey

II. I NTRODUCTION Fig. 2: Microstrip antenna geometry

Microstrip antennas are low profile, conformable to planar and
nonplanar surfaces, simple and inexpensive to manufacture using
modern printed-circuit technology, mechanically robust when C. Feeding Techniques
mounted on rigid surfaces and when the particular patch shape There are many configurations that can be used to feed mi-
and mode are selected, they are very versatile in terms of resonant crostrip antennas. The four most popular are the microstrip line,
frequency, polarization, pattern, and impedance. coaxial probe, aperture coupling, and proximity coupling.
Major operational disadvantages of microstrip antennas are their The microstrip feed line is a conducting strip, usually of much
low efficiency, low power, high Q and very narrow frequency smaller width compared to the patch.The microstrip line feed is
bandwidth. But in some applications, such as in government one of the easiest to fabricate, and simple to match, using quarter-
security systems, narrow bandwidths are desirable. wave transform method.
However, there are a lot of methods to increase bandwidth of
the designed antenna, such as increasing the height of the sub-
strate or the the dielectricity constant of the substrate. However, as IV. D ESIGN
the height increases, surface waves are introduced which usually A. Analysis method
are not desirable. The surface waves degrade the antenna pattern
The most popular models are the transmission-line and cavity
and polarization characteristics. Surface waves can be eliminated,
models. The transmission-line model is the easiest of all, it gives
while maintaining large bandwidths, by using cavities.
good physical insight, but is less accurate. Compared to the
transmission-line model, the cavity model is more accurate but at
III. BACKGROUND the same time more complex. I decided to use transmission-line
model to analyse my design.
A. History
Microstrip antenna was first introduced in the 1950s. However,
the technology of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) was later intro- B. Transmission Line Model
duced in 1970s.Therefore, from that time microstrip antennas Basically the transmission-line model represents the microstrip
had become a very common antenna having wide range of antenna by two slots, separated by a low-impedance Zc transmis-
applications due to their advantages. sion line of length L.
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1) Fringing effects: Because the dimensions of the patch are

finite along the length and width, the fields at the edges of the
patch undergo fringing. This is illustrated along the length in
Figure 3.a. The same applies along the width. The amount of
fringing is a function of the dimensions of the patch and the
height of the substrate. (See eqaution 1.)
For a microstrip line typical electric field lines are shown in
Figure 3.a. This is a nonhomogeneous line of two dielectrics;
typically the substrate and air. As can be seen, most of the electric
field lines reside in the substrate and parts of some lines exist in
air. Since some of the waves travel in the substrate and some in
air, an effective dielectric constant εreff is introduced to account
for fringing and the wave propagation in the line. It is defined as
the dielectric constant of the uniform dielectric material so that Fig. 4: Antenna geometry using microstrip line feed and λ /4
the line of Figure 3.b has identical electrical characteristics. transformer

(εr + 1) (εr − 1) h −1
εreff = + × [1 + 12 ] 2 (1) 1) Calculate width of the antenna: For an efficient radiator, a
2 2 W practical width that leads to good radiation efficiencies is
r
1 2
W= √ × (5)
2( f )r ε0 µ0 εr + 1
Using this formula I calculated the width of the rectangular patch
antenna as
W = 5.1cm
2) Calculate effective dielectric constant of the microstrip
(a) Electric field lines (b) Definition of εreff antenna: Using the given formula (1) effective dielectric constant
is calculated as
Fig. 3: Considering fringing effects εreff = 3.48
3) Calculate the extension of the length: W and εreff was
2) Effective Length, Resonant Frequency, and Effective Width: calculated. Using the given formula (2) the extension of the length
Because of the fringing effects, electrically the patch of the ∆L is calculated.
microstrip antenna looks greater than its physical dimensions. ∆L = 6.69mm
For the xy-plane, this is demonstrated in Figure 4 where the 4) Calculate the the actual length of the patch: The actual
dimensions of the patch along its length have been extended on length of the patch can now be determined with the equation
each end by a distance ∆L, which is a function of the effective
dielectric constant εreff and the width-to-height ratio. A very 1
L= √ √ − 2∆L (6)
popular and practical approximate relation for the normalized 2( f )r εreff ε0 µ0
extension of the length is L = 3.128cm
5) Calculate the resonant input impedance: The resonant input
(εreff + 0.3) × ( Wh + 0.264)
∆L/h = 0.412 × (2) impedance of the antenna can be calculated with the formula
(εreff − 0.258) × ( Wh + 0.8)
1
Since the length of the patch has been extended by δ L on each Zin = Rin = (7)
2G1
side, the effective length of the patch is now where
W 1
Leff = L + 2∆L (3) G1 = × (1 − × (k0 h)2 ) (8)
120λ0 24
1
For the dominant T M010 mode, the resonant frequency of the when λh < 10 . Using this formula Zin is calculated as 199 Ω.
0
microstrip antenna is a function of its length. Usually it is given This concludes the design procedures required for the mi-
by crostrip patch portion of the antenna design. The next portion
1 of the design involves the quarter-transform matching section,
( f )010 = √ √ (4)
2L εr ε0 µ0 where the input impedance of the patch will be matched to the
characteristic impedance of the transmission line.
6) Calculate the length of the λ /4 microstrip section: With
C. Proposed antenna geometry
the formula
On figure 4, one can see the antenna geometry my design based 1
lλ /4 = √ √ (9)
on. 4 fr εreff ε0 µ0
the length of the λ /4 microstrip section is calcuated as 2.23
cm.
D. Antenna parameters calculation
7) Calculate the characteristic impedance of a transmission
The task is to design a 1.8 Ghz microstrip patch antenna on line of length λ /4 : Recall the formula for the input impedance
a 1.60 mm substrate with a dielectric constant of 4.4 which is of a transmission line of length L with characteristic impedance
applicable to GSM and we have to match the input impedance of Z0 and connected to a load with impedance ZA .(See figure 5.a)
the patch to the 50 Ω characteristic impedance of the feed line An interesting thing happens when the length of the line is
using the quarter-wave transform method. Therefore our known a quarter of a wavelength.(See Figure 5.b). Using the formula
parameters are on Figure 5.b the characteristic impedance of quarter-wavelength
( f )r = 1.8Ghz εr = 4.4 and h = 1.6mm transmission line is calcualated as Z0,quarter = 99.75 Ω
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(a) Matching model

(b) special case when the length of
the line is a quarter of a wavelength
Fig. 5: Transmission line model
Fig. 7: Antenna geometry using microstrip line feed and λ /4
transformer
8) Calculate the width of the λ /4 microstrip section: Using
the formula
2 εr − 1 0.61
wλ /4 = h ×(B−1−ln(2B−1)+ ×(ln(B−1)+0.39− ))
π 2εr εr
(10)
where
120(π)2
B= √ (11)
2Z0,quarter εr
the width of the λ /4 microstrip section is calculated as 0.633
mm.
9) Calculate the feed width: Using the formula
2 εr − 1 0.61 Fig. 8: first simulation
wfeed = h ×(B−1−ln(2B−1)+ ×(ln(B−1)+0.39− ))
π 2εr εr
(12)
where 1) Decide the length of the antenna: After simulation with the
120(π)2 calculated parameters (See Figure 8.) I noticed that the resonant
B= √ (13) frequency of this antenna is not at 1.8 Ghz. Therefore my first
2 ∗ 50 ∗ εr
parametric analysis was on the length of the patch (patchY
the feed width is calculated as 3.06 mm. dimension on Figure 6). (See Figure 9.)

This concludes the design portion of the quarter-wavelength

matching section of the microstrip patch antenna. We have de-
signed the complete microstrip patch antenna and corresponding
matching network. The calculated parameters can be seen on
Table 1.
Parameter Value
Antenna Width 5.1 cm
Antenna Length 3.128 cm
λ /4 section width 0.633 mm
λ /4 section length 2.23 mm
feed width 3.06 mm
feed length arbitrary

TABLE I: Calculated parameters

Fig. 9: second simulation

From Figure 9 I noticed that the length of the patch antenna

E. Antenna designed using HFSS should lie between 3.8 cm and 3.9 cm. Then I decided to run a
Using the built-in model in HFSS (See Figure 6) and the simulation for patchY variables between 3.8 cm and 3.9 cm and
parameters I calculated I created a microstrip patch antenna then pick the most accurate one.
whose model can be seen on Figure 7. From Figure 10 I noticed that the most accurate result I get
is when length of the antenna is 3.86 cm. I changed the length
parameter of the antenna from 3.128 cm to 3.86 cm.
A takeaway from this step will be the fact that the resonant
frequency of the antenna is highly dependent on the length of the
antenna, as the formula (4) on page 2 indicates.
2) Decide the width of the antenna: At this step I run a
simulation on the width of the patch.( See Figure 11) The best
result is when the width of the patch is 5 cm. I changed the width
parameter of the antenna from 5.1 cm to 5 cm.
Fig. 6: Built-in microstrip patch antenna geometry in antenna 3) Decide the length of the λ /4 microstrip section: At this
toolbox of HFSS step I run a simulation on the length of the λ /4 microstrip
section.( See Figure 12) The best result is when the length of
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Fig. 10: third simulation

Fig. 13: sixth simulation

Fig. 11: fourth simulation

Fig. 14: seventh simulation

the λ /4 microstrip section is 2.23 cm. There’s no need to change
this parameter.
V. S IMULATIONS
The final parameters can be seen on Figure 15. The final

Fig. 12: fifth simulation Fig. 15: parameters

4) Decide the width of the λ /4 microstrip section: At this step simulation results can be seen on Figures 16 to 19.
I run a simulation on the width of the λ /4 microstrip section.(
See Figure 13) The widest bandwidth at -10 dB is when the width
of the λ /4 microstrip section is 1.6 mm. Therefore I changed the
width parameter of λ /4 section from 0.633 mm to 1.6 mm.
A takeaway from this step will be the fact that the bandwidth
of the antenna at -10 dB and the deepest point on the return-loss
graph are highly dependent on the width of the λ /4 microstrip
section.
5) Decide the width of the edge feed: At this step I run a
simulation on the width of the edge feed.( See Figure 14) The
bandwidth at -10 dB does not change in a drastic way as it was Fig. 16: Return Loss
when we changed the width of the λ /4 section. I noticed that the
result is already satisfactory when the width of the edge feed is The deepest point on return loss table is approximately at -
0.3 cm. In order to handle with more accurate numbers I changed 21.5 dB. The bandwidth at -10 dB is approximately 37.6 Mhz
the width parameter of the antenna from 3.06mm to 3 mm. covering the band between frequencies 1.78 Ghz and 1.82 Ghz.
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Fig. 19: 2D Gain

Fig. 17: Input Impedance

Fig. 20: Fabricated Antenna

Fig. 18: 3D Gain

and decreasing the dielectricity constant of the substrate would

VI. FABRICATION increase the bandwidth of the designed antenna. But that was
The Microstrip Patch Antenna dimensions obtained from commercially not possible in my case. Introducing a cavity to
the simulation are used to fabricate the antenna. The antenna my designed antenna would also increase the frequency band.
is fabricated using Etching Technique. For this particular
design, an SMA connector can simply be soldered onto the edge
of the feed line to introduce signals to and from the patch antenna.

The Fabricated antenna can be seen on Figure 20.

VII. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS

The return loss for the fabricated antenna can be measured on
a network Analyzer. The result can be seen on Figure 21. The
resonant frequency is 1.974 Ghz and the bandwith at -10 dB is
approximately 55 Mhz covering the band between the frequencies
1.945 Ghz and 2.0 Ghz.

A. Comparison of Simulation Results and Experimental Results

The simulated results and experimental results do not overlap.
Some possible reasons for this case may be the fact that, in
simulation the program uses perfect material and substrate. The
substrate I used was FR4-epoxy which have the dielectric constant
4.4 in the ideal case. But in reality we don’t have to chance to
measure the dielectric constant of the substrate. It is also very
likely that the thickness of the substrate is not equal to 1.6 mm
as the computer aided tool assumed. In addition to that I do
not simulate my antenna in an anechoic chamber which means
that the reflection phenomena occurs. This influences my results
highly.

VIII. C ONCLUSION
In this project a microstrip patch antenna is successfully
designed at a resonant frequency of 1.8 GHz and fabricated at
a resonant frequency of 1.974 Ghz. My task was to design an
antenna which is applicable to GSM. In Turkey GSM 1800 covers
the frequency band between 1.71 and 1.88 Ghz. The simulated
antenna does not cover this range, because the patch antenna
has some limitations. Increasing the height of the substrate
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Fig. 21: Output of VNA