See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/325929391

Design of IRNSS/ NavIC L5 Band Patch Antenna

Conference Paper · June 2018

CITATIONS READS
5 3,706

5 authors, including:

Dibyajyoti Mukherjee Nayan Kr Sadhu

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi University of Burdwan
23 PUBLICATIONS 90 CITATIONS 2 PUBLICATIONS 5 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Subham Chowdhury Anindya Bose

Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research University of Burdwan
17 PUBLICATIONS 11 CITATIONS 121 PUBLICATIONS 622 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Anindya Bose on 23 August 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 MDCCT 2018, IETE, Burdwan University
22-23 June, 2018, (pp. 92-95)
ISBN: 978-81-88391-55-4

Design of IRNSS/ NavIC L5 Band Patch Antenna

Dibyajyoti Mukherjee, Nayan Kumar Sadhu, Subham Chowdhury, Anindya Bose and T Sarkar
Radionics Laboratory, Department of Physics, The University of Burdwan, Burdwan 713104, India
[email protected]

Abstract
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) or Navigation using Indian Constellation (NavIC) is
now in operation that calls for development of cost-effective antennas. This paper describes the
development of a circularly polarized microstrip patch antenna for IRNSS signal reception. The circularly
polarized patch antenna has been designed at 1176.45 MHz with 28 MHz bandwidth to use the IRNSS
L5signal. The microstrip patch antenna uses probe feed configuration for simple antenna structure.
Simulation, fabrication and measurements for the design has been made using dielectric laminates FR4 (r
o
= 4.4). The antenna axial ratio bandwidth (< 3 dB) of the proposed antenna is obtained around 210 .

Introduction

IRNSS/ NavIC is an independent, indigenously developed, regional satellite navigation system established and
controlled by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).Based on various considerations a 7-satellite
constellation consisting of 4 Geosynchronous and 3 Geostationary satellites is developed, those are in operation
now[1].IRNSS satellites transmit signals in1176.45 MHz (L5band) with a bandwidth of 24 MHz(1164.45 –
1188.45 MHz) and in 2492.028 MHz (S-Band) with a bandwidth of 16.5 MHz (2483.50 – 25000.00 MHz) [2].
Use of S-Band signals is new in case of IRNSS in comparison to other Global/ Regional Navigation Systems
(GNSS/ RNSS) where predominantly L-Band signals are used.ISRO has developed an IRNSS-GPS-SBAS (IGS)
receiver and IRNSS-compatible receivers are also being available in market from other receiver/ chip set
manufacturers. In case of other manufacturers, IRNSS signal reception is restricted to L5 signal only. Researches
have been initiated and carried out for design and development of IRNSS-receiver antenna [2]. Microstrip patch
antennas are widely used in compact, light-weight, and low-cost wireless applications. Due to its light weight, it
is widely used in L-band multi location-based data collection processes. In this paper, work has been carried out
though simulation, fabrication and analysis of the fabricated sample of an IRNSS microstrip antenna in L5 band.

Antenna Design

In this work, the patch antenna suitable for IRNSS applications at1176.45 MHz is designed using FR4 substrate
with thickness of 1.58 mm, relative dielectric permittivity εr =4.4, and loss tangent (tan) of 0.0012. The geometry
of the patch antenna is rectangular with its dimensions as shown in Figure 1. The characteristic impedance of the
transmission line is 50 Ω. The antenna design has been carried out by finite element methods (FEM) commercial
simulation software.
L= 71mm

W= 59mm
Figure 1: Conner truncated rectangular patch antenna design for IRNSS L5 signal (a) CAD model design,
(b) Fabricated patch antenna using FR4 substrate.

Corner truncated rectangular microstrip patch antenna exhibits circularly polarized behavior of the electric field
vector. This corner truncation helps the antenna to produced two orthogonally degenerate modes of operation for
circular polarization [3]. The simulation has been carried out using FEM based Ansoft HFSS software (student
version) and then the fabrication is done using manual etching process by ferric chloride solution in the laboratory.
The feed location for the patch has been optimized for orthogonal mode generation and good matching with the
50Ω feed line. Reflection coefficient of the fabricated antenna (Fig 1(b)) was measured using Vector Network

92
 MDCCT 2018
22-23 June, 2018, , IETE, Burdwan University

Analyzer (HP 8722C 50 MHz- 40 GHz), this being one of the major features of the antenna. Comparison of
simulated and measured reflection coefficients (S11) is shown in Figure 2.

-5

-10
S11 (dB) Measured

-15 Simulated

-20

-25
1.1 1.15 Frequency(GHz)
1.2 1.25 1.3
Figure 2: Comparison of simulated and measured S11of the fabricated patch antenna

From Figure 2 it may be that the antenna is resonating at 1176.45 MHz having S11 of -22.63 dB which represents
a good response of the antenna. The Figure also indicates that the fabricated antenna is closely matched with the
simulation one and its impedance bandwidth is around 28MHz, that is suitable for IRNSS operations in L5 band
having bandwidth of 24 MHz Figure 3 shows the VSWR and SMITH chart measurement of this antenna made
using VNA (HP 8722C 50 MHz- 40 GHz).The measured VSWR is 1.15 which represents good standing wave
ration of the antenna. From the Smith Chart measurement, it is seen that the antenna is matched perfectly with the
input transmission line having characteristic impedance of 50 Ω.

(b)
(a)
Figure 3: (a) VSWR and (b) Smith chart measurements of the fabricated patch antenna

Circular Polarization and Axial ratio

As per requirement of the antenna for IRNSS signals, the antenna should be circularly polarized, and its orientation
should be right hand circular. In any circularly polarized antenna, the polarization vector rotates in right or left-
hand direction with time as per the design. Simulation has been carried out for measuring the axial ratio, because
it is an important parameter to characterize a circularly polarized antenna. The Axial Ratio (AR) is defined as the
ratio between the minor and major axis of the polarization ellipse [4]. For a circularly polarized antenna, the closer
the axial ratio to 0 dB, better is the circular polarized antenna behavior. Generally AR<3 dB is considered to be a
good choice for obtaining satisfactory circularly polarized antenna characteristics. Figure 4 presents the simulation
results and shows that the axial ratio bandwidth is 2100considering the 3dB axial ratio.

There are different techniques for measuring the axial ratio of the antenna [5][6]. For accurate axial ratio
measurement, full anechoic chamber facilities with standard antennas are required. In our case, due to non-
availability of the facilities, we have measured the co and cross-polarization levels of the fabricated antenna using
a linearly polarized monopole antenna in different angles. Figure 5 shows the measured co and cross polarization
values for the fabricated antenna.

93
 MDCCT 2018
22-23 June, 2018, , IETE, Burdwan University

35
30

Axial Ratio (dB)

25
20
15
10
5
0
-210 -180 -150 -120 -90 -60 -30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210
Rotation Angle (degree)
Figure 4: Axial ratio of the antenna

Figure 5: Co and cross polarization measurement of the fabricated circularly polarized antenna

The co and cross polarized radiation pattern levels differ nearly by 6 dB and it confirms the circular polarization
of the fabricated antenna and supports the design. Figure 5 confirms that the fabricated antenna has orthogonal
electric field component and the antenna can receive signals from any orientation, which is a pre-requisite for any
GNSS/ RNSS antenna.

Right Hand Circular Polarization

Circularly polarized signal may be of two types depending on the direction of rotation vector- left hand circularly
polarized (LHCP) and right hand polarized (RHCP). One can easily find its rotation direction of a circularly
polarized signal from the surface current distribution pattern of the antenna. Figure 6 shows the surface current
distribution pattern along with the rotation direction and it may be seen that the antenna is right hand circularly
polarized, suitable for receiving IRNSS signal.

Figure 6: Simulated surface current distribution pattern of the antenna

94
 MDCCT 2018
22-23 June, 2018, , IETE, Burdwan University

Conclusion and future works

In this paper, a right hand circularly polarized patch antenna is designed and fabricated with operating frequency
of 1176.45 MHz with 28 MHz bandwidth, which may be suitable for reception of IRNSS L5 band. The simulation
and measurement suggest the performance to closely match the requirements. The Axial ratio bandwidth obtained
at around 210o considering <3 dB axial ratio.The fabricated antenna exhibits a good impedance matching in L5
band. This patch antenna exhibits good radiation characteristics, axial ration with low fabrication cost and is of
light weight. Further works include choice of suitable LNAs and to use the antenna for real-time operation of
GNSS receiver modules in L5 band. A successful implementation would be useful for implementation of compact,
cost-effective IRNSS/ NavIC receivers for application development.

Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge Radionics Laboratory, Department of Physics, The University of Burdwan for the
measurement facility for this experiment. One of the authors (AB) acknowledges Space Application Centre
(SAC), ISRO, Ahmedabad for financial support (Project Code: NGP-28).

References
[1] List of Navigation Satellites, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), https://www.isro.gov.in/spacecraft/list-of-navigation-
satellites
[2] IRNSS SIS ICD FOR STANDARD POSITIONING SERVICE VERSION 1.0, ISRO, BANGLORE, June 2014
[3] S. Gao, Q. Luo, and F. Zhu, Circularly Polarized Antennas. UK: Wiley, 2014, ch. 1.
[4] H. Al-Saedi, J. K. Ali, W. M. Abdel-Wahab, S. Gigoyan, and S. Safavi-Naeini, “A dual circularly polarized patch antenna for broadband
millimeter wave (MMW) communication systems,” 2016 IEEEAntennasPropag. Soc. Int. Symp. APSURSI 2016 - Proc., no. 1, pp.593–
594, 2016.
[5] A. Deshmukh, S. A. Shaikh, A. A. Desai, K. A. Lele, and S.Nagarbowdi, “Design of Notch Cut Circularly Polarized Circular Microstrip
Antenna”, Proc. - 2015 5th Int. Conf. Adv. Comput.Commun. ICACC 2015, pp. 266–269, 2016.
[6] Adam. Z. Narbudowicz, “Advanced Circularly Polarized Microstrip Patch Antenna” , Dublin Institute of Technology, July 2013.
[7] Samuel Y. Liao, “Microwave devices and circuits”, 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, United States, 1999.

95

View publication stats