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Performance Analysis of Rectangular Patch Antenna for Different Substrate

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Article · January 2014

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 ISSN 2321 – 2004
ISSN 2321 – 5526

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONICS, INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL ENGINEERING
Vol. 2, Issue 1, January 2014

Performance Analysis of Rectangular Patch

Antenna for Different Substrate Heights
Vivek Hanumante1, Panchatapa Bhattacharjee2, Sahadev Roy3, Pinaki Chakraborty4, Santanu Maity5
Student, Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, NIT Arunachal Pradesh, Yupia, India1, 2
HOD, Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, NIT Arunachal Pradesh, Yupia, India3
Astt. Dean (R&D), Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, NIT Arunachal Pradesh, Yupia, India4
Astt. Professor, Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, NIT Arunachal Pradesh, Yupia, India5
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected]

Abstract: Height of the dielectric substrate material for a microstrip patch antenna is utterly important in terms of
controlling bandwidth as well as surface wave. In this paper we have presented a comparative study of effect of height in
the performance parameters of Rectangular Shaped Microstrip Patch antenna. The antennas were simulated for purpose of
the application of wireless LAN for resonance frequency 2.45GHz. Five antennas with different heights were designed
using same dielectric substrate material with relative permittivity of 2.84 for the analysis of their performances. Coaxial
Probe-feed methods are used for feeding techniques. This paper along with the comparison of performance parameters like
VSWR, Reflection coefficient, Bandwidth, Impedance, Mismatch loss, Directivity, Gain and Field, also presents the effect
of substrate height in design parameters like width, length, feed point location, ground dimension for each patch antenna.
This study was carried out by using FEKO, Electromagnetic solver software which uses Method of Moments (MoM)
technique.

Keywords: Microstrip, Fringing field, Reflection coefficient, VSWR, FEKO

electrical length (vitually) of patch than physical length
I. INTRODUCTION [2,3].
In this paper basic structure of Microstrip patch antenna
was taken under design consideration. A microstrip patch II. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS OF PATCH ANTENNA
antenna consists of a conducting patch of any planar or non- Microstrip antennas are also referred to as patch antennas
planar geometry on one side of a dielectric substrate with a because of the radiating elements photo-etched (patches) on
ground plane on other side. It is a printed resonant antenna the dielectric substrate. This radiating patch may be square,
that is very popularly required for wireless links of narrow- rectangular, circular, elliptical, triangular, and any other
band microwave because of its semi-hemispherical configuration. In this work, rectangular microstrip patch
coverage. Microstrip Patch antennas are low cost, low antennas are taken under consideration. The patch
profile, light weight, mechanically robust, easy to fabricate dimensions of rectangular microstrip antennas are usually
and analyse. Compact size, radiation pattern and selective designed to maximize the pattern so that it is normal to the
range of resonance frequency draw major attractions. The patch. The rectangular microstrip antennas are made of a
microstrip antenna radiates a relatively broad beam rectangular patch with dimensions width, W, and length, L,
broadside to the plane of the substrate. Thus the microstrip over a ground plane with its width Wg, length Lg and
antenna has a very low profile, and can be fabricated using substrate thickness h and dielectric constants εr of the
printed circuit (photolithographic) techniques. This implies dielectric material.
that the antenna can be made conformable, and potentially at
low cost [1]. The feeding method that has been considered A. Frequency of Operation (𝑓𝑜 )
is pin feed using a coaxial probe. Pin-fed patch on a finite The antennas were designed for the application of
substrate includes pin offset which gives the best impedance wireless LAN that uses frequency of 2.45GHz as per IEEE
match to a 50Ω system at length equals to approximately 802.11 standards. The resonant frequency selected for design
one-half wavelength of microstrip transmission line. One is 2.45GHz for wireless LAN network.
important consideration in designing microstrip patch
antenna is the fringing fields. Fringing field is a function of B. Selection of Dielectric material
effective dielectric constant. Along the width of patch, Selection of dielectric material is based on the following
fringing fields can be modeled as radiating slots, increasing parameters:
 Relative Dielectric Constant εr or permittivity

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ISSN 2321 – 5526

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONICS, INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL ENGINEERING
Vol. 2, Issue 1, January 2014

 Height of the substrate material h F. Table Captions

 Loss Tangent, tan δ Tables must be numbered using uppercase Roman
Selection of dielectric material with appropriate dielectric numerals. Table captions must be centred and in 8 pt
constant is important as it has a major role in antenna Regular font with Small Caps. Captions with table numbers
performance. It directly affects gain, bandwidth, shift in must be placed before their associated tables, as shown in
operating frequency, radiation loss [4]. Also dielectric Table 1.
constant controls the fringing field which is the main cause
of radiation in microstrip patch antenna. The lower will be G. Calculation of Ground Dimensions
εr, the wider will be the fringes which in turns results into The ground dimension for the antenna can be calculated
the better radiation and also increased bandwidth and as below:
efficiency. Hence a dielectric material Nylon (610) with Width of the ground is given as: Wg = W + 6h
dielectric constant 2.84 and a loss tangent 12e-3 was used. Length of ground is given as: Lg = L + 6h.
The height of the substrate is important in terms of
controlling bandwidth and surface waves [5]. Height for the H. Feeding Technique & Location
substrate is also responsible for inductive impedance. Based The most common technique Coaxial-probe feeding was
on these considerations dielectric material with height 2.54, used for Microstrip patch antennas. This feeding scheme is
3.81, 4.75, 5.08 and 6.35 were taken into account to include advantageous in terms of free and desired placement
a wide variety of heights into this study. location in order to match with the input impedance [7]. The
impedance match will depend on its feed point location on
C. Calculation of Width (W) the patch. An improved impedance match results in improve
For an effective radiator, practical width that leads to performance like increase the bandwidth and less return
good radiation efficiencies is given by [6]: loss.Hence the feed point locations in order to match 50 ohm
𝑐𝑜 2 impedance were calculated using the following equation [8]:
𝑊= Along the width of patch:
2𝑓𝑜 1 + 𝜀𝑟 𝑊
𝑋𝑓 =
Where c0 is the free-space velocity of light i.e. 3×10¬8 m/s 2
and εr is the dielectric constant of material. Calculated width Along the length of patch:
for different dielectric material has been given in the Table1. 𝑌𝑓 = 𝑌0 − 𝑑𝐿
𝐿 50
D. Calculation of Effective Dielectric Constant εreff Where 𝑌0 = cos −1
𝜋 𝑍0
The value of effective dielectric constant is less than Z0= 50 ∗ 𝑍𝐼𝑁
dielectric constant of the substrate, because of the fringing
𝜀𝑟 2 𝐿
fields is not confined in dielectric substrate around the 𝑍𝐼𝑁 = 90 ∗ ( )2
periphery of the patch only, but is also spread in the air. The 𝜀𝑟 − 1 𝑊
This equation gives an approximation and can be
value of this effective dielectric constant is given by [7]:
−1 considered the starting point, however to work out the exact
𝜀𝑟 + 1 𝜀𝑟 − 1 ℎ 2
co-ordinates for best match of impedance it is a very much
𝜀𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓 = + 1 + 12
2 2 𝑊 iterative process. But for the sake of comparative study we
Where h and W are the height and width of substrate have assumed this location to be final location for the feed
material for an antenna respectively. point.
E. Calculation of Length (L)
The length of the patch determines the resonance
frequency thus it is a critical factor for narrowband patch.
Since it is not possible to accurately account the fringing
field the results are not definite. Below is the equation to
calculate the length of the patch.
𝑐𝑜
𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑓 = − 2𝑑𝐿
2𝑓𝑜 𝜀𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓
Where dL is the length extension because of fringing
field, which can be calculated as follow:
𝑊
𝜀𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓 + 0.3 + 0.264
𝑑𝐿 = 0.412ℎ ℎ
𝑊
𝜀𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓 − 0.258 + 0.8
ℎ
Fig. 1. Upper view of model of Microstrip patch antenna

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ISSN 2321 – 5526

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONICS, INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL ENGINEERING
Vol. 2, Issue 1, January 2014

I. Comparison of Design Parameters height allows surface waves to travel within the
Based on the techniques mentioned in previous section for substrate.
calculation of design parameters, the patch width and length,  VSWR, Reflection-coefficient and impedance
width and length of ground and feed location were increases with increase in height.
calculated. The table below shows the comparison of those  Half power beam width decreases with increase in the
design parameters. height of the dielectric substrate. This can be
TABLE I exploited in case of requirement of directivity.
Design parameters for different substrate materials TABLE III
Comparison of performance parameters
DESIGN HEIGHTS OF THE SUBSTRATE(mm)
PARAMETER
S 2.54 3.81 4.75 5.08 6.35 HEIGHTS OF THE SUBSTRATES (mm)
PERFORMANCE
RELATIVE
PARAMETERS
PERMITIVIT 2.84 2.84 2.84 2.84 2.84 2.54 3.81 4.75 5.08 6.35
Y
LOSS
12e-3 12e-3 12e-3 12e-3 12e-3 RESONANCE
TANGENT
PATCH FREQUENCY 2.29224 2.33573 2.35224 2.34525 2.37575
WIDTH (GHz)
44.18 44.18 44.18 44.18 44.18
(mm)
GAIN ( dBi ) 3.36453 3.99538 4.2138 4.27716 4.47657
PATCH
LENGTH 35.2568 34.496 33.88 33.667 32.7996
(mm) IMPEDENCE
48.4472 58.5511 49.9828 54.8093 67.8197
(Ω)
GROUND
WIDTH 59.42 67.04 72.68 74.66 82.28 VSWR
(mm) (ABSOLUTE 1.06336 1.11352 1.0555 1.36558 1.83228
VALUE)
GROUND
LENGTH 50.4968 57.356 62.38 64.147 70.8996 REFLECTION
(mm) COEFFICIENT -30.255 -25.399 -31.372 -16.219 -10.637
FEED (dB)
(22.09, (22.09, (22.09, (22.09, (22.09,5. -3 dB
LOCATION
9.16) 7.24) 6.55) 6.31) 36) BANDWIDTH 223.327 370.387 440.586 391.516 416.17
(mm)
(MHz)
-10 dB
Observing the Table 1, it can be noted that with the BANDWIDTH 73.660 119.320 139.668 112.564 53.537
increase in dielectric constant the size of the antenna (MHz)
reduces. This very well validated the previously established -3 dB HALF
concepts. Some other important conclusions have been POWER BEAM 88.404 83.850 80.926 80.172 76.967
based on the simulation results also have been discussed in WIDTH (Deg)
the next section.
The graphs of the simulation results shown below depict the
III. RESULTS variation in performance parameters for different heights of
The simulation results for all the antennas have been substrate material.
tabulated. Table II presents the performance parameters of
antennas for different heights of dielectric substrate
materials.
Some general observations from the comparative results
in Table II are:
 With increase in the height of the dielectric substrate
the resonance frequency shifts towards the desired
operating frequency.
 Gain increases that with increase in the height of the
dielectric substrate.
 Bandwidth increases up to the height of 4.75mm then
decreases. Increase in bandwidth can be understood
with the concept that more height acquired in space
results into increased bandwidth, but further increase
in height results into decrease in bandwidth as more Fig. 2. Magnitude of Reflection Coefficient (in dB)

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 ISSN 2321 – 2004
ISSN 2321 – 5526

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONICS, INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL ENGINEERING
Vol. 2, Issue 1, January 2014

Fig. 6. Polar plot

Fig. 3. Absolute value of VSWR IV. CONCLUSION

Generalized observation of the results obtained by the
simulation of co-axial fed rectangular shaped microstrip
patch antenna can help us to draw some conclusions
regarding the tradeoff and design parameters. Increasing the
height of the dielectric substrate is advantageous in
increasing the bandwidth of microstrip antenna, which is
desirable in compact antenna application. However
increasing height of the dielectric substrate also results in
expansion of the size of antenna, increased return loss and
VSWR. But substrate with greater height can be used to
achieve better directivity.

REFERENCES
[1] D.M. Pozar, “Microstrip Antennas”, Proc. IEEE, Vol. 80, pp.79-91,
January, 1992
[2] Amit Kumar et al., “Bandwidth Enhancing technique in the
Designing of Wireless Microstrip Patch Antenna”, International
Journal of Review in Electronics & Communication Engineering,
Fig. 4. Gain of the different antennas Volume 1 - Issue 2, June 2013, PP 28-31.
[3] S.S.Yavalkar et al, “Comparative Analysis of Bandwidth
Enhancement of Microstrip Patch Antenna using Various
Geometries,” IOSR Journal of Electronics and Communication
Engineering (IOSR-JECE), Volume 3, Issue 4 (Sep-Oct. 2012), PP
15-18
[4] Vivek Hanumante, Sahadev Roy; “Comparative Study of Microstrip
Patch Antenna Using Different Dielectric Materials,” 9th
International Conference On Microwaves, Antenna, Propagation &
Remote Sensing ICMARS-2013
[5] Indrasen Singh et al, Int. J. Comp. Tech. Appl., Vol 2 (5), 1595-1599
[6] S.S. Yavalkar et al., “Parametric Study For Rectangular Microstrip
Patch Antennas”, IOSR Journal of Electronics and Communication
Engineering (IOSR-JECE), Volume 5, Issue 2 (Mar. - Apr. 2013), PP
49-53
[7] A. Sahaya Anselin Nisha et al, “Design and Analysis of Multiband
Hybrid Coupled Octagonal Microstrip Antenna for Wireless
Applications” Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering
and Technology 5(1): 275-279, 2013
[8] A.B. Mutiyara, R. Refianti, Rachmansyah; “Design of Microstrip
Antenna for Wireless Communication at 2.4 GHz”; Journal of
Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, Vol. 33 No.2, 184-
Fig. 5. -3dB bandwidth of antennas with different heights 192, 30th November 2011.

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