2023 2nd International Conference on Vision Towards Emerging Trends in Communication and Networking Technologies (ViTECoN) | 979-8-3503-4798-2/23/$31.

00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/VITECON58111.2023.10157849

Design and Testing of Vivaldi Antenna for UWB

Applications
Abhinav Singh† , Tanishka Nair† ,Shivashish Roy† , Ashish Srivastava‡ , Vikrant Verma†
† MIT Academy of Engineering, Alandi (D), Pune, MS, INDIA
‡ National Institute of Technology (NIT), Patna, Bihar, INDIA

† Email: [email protected]
‡ [email protected]
† [email protected]

Abstract—A Vivaldi antenna used for Ultrawideband (UWB) of frequencies. Due to the fact that Ultrawideband (UWB)
purposes has been proposed in this paper. This design’s primary technique makes use of a broad range of frequencies, typically
goal is to maximize the bandwidth so as to meet the requirements between 3.1 and 10.6 GHz. UWB uses very little power,
of a ultrawideband antenna. FR-4 substrate with an epsilon
value of 4.3 has been employed to create the proposed antenna but its enormous bandwidth (500MHz) makes it suitable for
and these developments have been simulated. The antenna is transmitting large amounts of data [4]. Ultra-wideband (UWB)
energized using a wideband microstrip-to-slot transition feeding antennas are growing in appeal and use in both existing
mechanism. With physical dimensions of 94.82 mm × 75.00 mm and new wireless communication systems as a result of two
× 1.74 mm and a working bandwidth of 2.75 to 7.11 GHz for the main factors. First off, the need for wireless transmission
simulation and 2.4 to 6.5 GHz for the fabricated antenna, the
suggested antenna is also small enough to be easily incorporated rates and UWB features like high data rates, low power
into a UWB devices or systems. consumption, and low prices has increased since the Federal
Index Terms—UWB, Vivaldi antenna, Tapered Slot Antenna Communications Commission (FCC) formally announced the
rule for UWB technology in 2002. This has significantly ex-
I. I NTRODUCTION pedited research and development on UWB antennas. Second,
The increasing demand for high-speed data transfer and because of the various problems that can arise with antennas
communication systems has led to the development of ultraw- when they’re used in portable devices, designing them may
ideband (UWB) technology, which utilizes a broad frequency become more difficult as more wireless features and operating
range to transmit large amounts of data over short distances. To bands are demanded. If one UWB antenna is utilized instead
take full advantage of this technology, efficient and effective of numerous narrow-band antennas, the number of antennae
UWB antennas are required [1] [2]. In this paper, the design may be efficiently decreased [5]. Communications systems,
and testing of a Vivaldi antenna tailored for UWB applications RADAR, microwave imaging, remote sensing systems, GPR,
has been presented. The Vivaldi antenna is a popular choice and medical applications are just a few of the many appli-
for UWB applications due to its directional radiation pattern cations for wideband antennas. [6] [7]. Wideband antennas,
and wide bandwidth. [3] The design process and simulation however, have also demonstrated their value in broadband
results as well as testing results to verify the design have communication, replacing the requirement for several antennas
been presented. Furthermore, the testing methodology and the for a range of applications thanks to advantages including
measured results of the antenna’s performance, such as its S11, low complexity, less power consumption, as well as a more
VSWR and radiation pattern have been shown. The outcomes compact footprint. [8]. For UWB systems, an antenna that
show that the Vivaldi antenna is a promising solution for can concurrently receive on all frequencies is required. As
UWB applications, with low sidelobes, and a broad frequency a result, throughout the whole band, antenna behaviour and
range. This paper provides valuable insights into the design performance must be uniform and predictable. A directional
and testing of UWB antennas, which can contribute to the antenna is large and has a high gain, while an omni-directional
development of more efficient and reliable UWB systems. antenna is larger and has a wider field of vision. Examples of
The work is organised into three sections that cover the directional antennas include bow-tie antenna, horn antenna etc.
UWB concept, design of the suggested antenna, and pertinent Antennas can be categorized as magnetic or electric as well.
findings. Dipoles and most horns are examples of electric antennas.
These antennas are distinguished by powerful electric fields
A. Ultra-Wideband Antenna that are present nearby. Slots and loops can be found in
Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a wireless technique with systems magnetic antennas. Intense magnetic fields close to the antenna
having huge absolute and/or big relative bandwidth.Other are a characteristic of these antennas [4]. Examples include,
antennas are unable to transmit short pulses over a wider range the Vivaldi antenna, bow-tie antenna, and spiral antenna.

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B. Vivaldi Antenna radiating into the empty space at the aperture. The circle at the
The Vivaldi antenna was demonstrated for the first time end of the slot line acts as a cavity which aids in increasing
by PJ Gibson in 1979. [9]. It is a slot line that gradually gain. Cavity radius is around one-sixth of minimum operating
tapers down and flares out in either an exponential or linear frequency [6]. The flare width and the flare height should
shape. Eventually, low dielectric substrate was added, and the be approximately λ/2 of the minimum operating frequency.
input mechanism’s shorting holes were removed to improve The width of the flare also affects the impedance whereas the
performance [10] [11]. A slot line with an edge separation height of the flare affects the beamwidth. Utilizing a radial
greater than λ/2, where λ is the wavelength, is advantageous stub, which has a radius of about one-sixth of the wavelength
to the Vivaldi antenna [12]. A dielectric plate with metalized at the lowest operating frequency, allows us to increase the
surfaces is used to make a Vivaldi antenna. A circular space is bandwidth while also having an impact on the impedance [6].
excited by a microstrip line that terminates in a sector-shaped The following equation can be used to describe the exponential
part of the feeding line. An exponential pattern is reached by profile of the proposed Vivaldi antenna [17].
the energy from the circular resonant area via a symmetrical y = serx (2)
slot line [13] [14]. It belongs to the group of traveling antennas
with a wide bandwidth. This antenna is suitable for creating a Electromagnetic energy steadily climbs the tapered profile
compact handheld device as it is a 2D structure and is simple to after being coupled to the gap from the microstrip line at a
connect with radiating or transmitting components on a single taper rate of r. The electromagnetic energy begins to release
circuit board [15]. Three different forms of Vivaldi antennas, and finally discharges into the empty space at the aperture
can be roughly categorized—the classic Vivaldi antenna, the as the tapering progressively grows. Because of how internal
antipodal Vivaldi antenna, and the balanced Vivaldi antenna waves propagate, the Vivaldi antenna falls under the category
[16]. In this study, the design and analysis elements are of a travelling wave antenna. The upper border between the
based on the balanced Vivaldi antenna form. The findings flares has a wide mouth aperture of 75 mm due to a tapering
obtained using CST demonstrate that the planned antenna has rate of 0.09537. The feeding mechanism is electromagnetically
an impedance bandwidth of 2.75 to 7.11 GHz and an observed coupled and is used to transfer the energy to the slot.
peak gain (simulated) of 6.311 dBi at 3.5 GHz.
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. The
suggested antenna design is described in Part II. Part III covers
modelling and experimental findings, followed by antenna
parameter analysis. Section IV has final observations.
II. A NTENNA D ESIGN
This section describes the geometrical layout of a wideband
compact Vivaldi antenna with a microstrip line fed tapered
slot. It is a Vivaldi antenna with double-sided corrugated ta-
pering. On the substrate’s top, there are two symmetrical slots
with exponential taper. The substrate for the antenna is made
of FR-4 dielectric material, which has a relative permittivity
of 4.3, loss tangent of about 0.02, and a thickness of 1.5 mm.
The two tapered slots are connected via the feeding technique
known as microstrip line feeding. The Vivaldi antenna’s overall Fig. 1. Top view of proposed antenna
dimensions (L × W) are 94.82 mm × 75.00 mm. The radiating
patch is made from a copper plate that is 0.035 mm thick. To
design the antenna there are certain basic guidelines that one
can take into consideration. To determine the dimensions of
the antenna we can use the following equation.
c
λ= (1)
f
Here, λ denotes the wavelength, c denotes the speed of light
and f denotes the minimum operating frequency of the antenna.
This will give us the necessary fractions of wavelength (λ, λ/2,
λ/4, etc.) which will be further required to get the values of
the other relevant dimensions. The slot length is approximately
λ/4 of the minimum wavelength [6]. The flare (curve) acts
as a guiding structure to the wave, the electromagnetic wave Fig. 2. Bottom view of proposed antenna
begins to spread as the tapering gradually widens, eventually

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 TABLE I the frequency range. For all of the UWB spectrum, it operates
T HE P ROPOSED V IVALDI A NTENNA’ S D IMENSIONS within reasonable boundaries.
c) Gain: The ability of an antenna to emit more or less
Parameter Dimensions (in mm)
in any specific direction as contrasted to a conceptual antenna
Slot Length 36.8
is known as antenna gain. An antenna would emit evenly in
Tapering Length 38 all directions if its radiation pattern were precisely sphere-
Slot Width 1 shaped. Although it doesn’t exist in reality, such an antenna
Feed Line Width 2 is theoretically referred to as an isotropic antenna. Comparing
Substrate Height 1.5 the gain of actual antennas is done using its mathematical
Substrate Length 94.82
model, though. A transmitter with a power output (gain) of 3
dB will result in a power output that is 3 dB more (or twice as
Substrate Width 75
much) than that of an id isotropic antenna receiving the same
Cavity Radius 6.25 input power. Consider the fact that a lossless antenna would
Radial Stub Radius 6.25 have an efficiency of 0 dB (or 100%). Similar to a transmit
Angle of Radial Stub 80° antenna, a receive antenna would receive 3 dB higher power
than an isotropic, lossless antenna if it had a 3 dB gain in
a specific direction. Gain is related to the directivity through
III. R ESULTS the antenna efficiency. The directivity shows in which direction
the antenna will radiate whereas the gain tells us how much
A. Simulation Results power will be radiated in that particular direction. The amount
a) S11 (reflection coefficient) and return loss: S- of power radiated in that particular direction is determined by
parameters are used to define how ports (or terminals) interact the efficiency of the antenna. For an ideal antenna with no
with each other as inputs and outputs in an electrical system. losses the efficiency will be one and gain will be equal to
It displays the amount of power that the antenna reflects. the directivity. The simulated result illustrated in the figure
The transmission line’s and the antenna’s different impedances demonstrates that the gain for the proposed antenna is 6.26
cause the return loss to occur. It is undesirable for the return dBi.
loss to be smaller because this results in less energy entering d) Radiation Pattern: Antenna radiation patterns are the
the antenna. We mostly consider the S11 parameter when various forms that the radiation energy, which is present in
building antennas. The antenna does not radiate anything when both transmitter and receiver antennas, can take. An antenna
S11 = 0 dB; it only reflects the power. When the antenna radiation pattern is the term used to describe the distribution
receives 3 dB of power, the reflected power is -7 dB if S11 = of radiation energy with respect to the direction of electro-
-10 dB. This received power is lost by the antenna as radiation magnetic wave departure. The radiation property of greatest
or absorption. Given the prevalence of low-loss antennas, the importance is the spatial distribution of radiated energy in two
bulk of the power applied to the antenna should be transmitted. or three dimensions depending on the observer’s location along
A really good antenna is one whose S11 is less than -20 dB; a surface or path with a constant radius. For the simulated
acceptable matching is generally regarded as being at or below antenna, figure 3 shows the H-plane radiation patterns. The
-10 dB. The simulation results for the antenna suggest that the x-y plane in the following figure is the E-plane, and the x-z
antenna has a S11 below -10 dB for the frequency range of plane is the H-plane. The radiation patterns’ 3dB lobe widths
2.75 - 7 GHz. range from 90 to 120 degrees.
b) VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio): A standing
wave is created when an antenna’s reflected wave combines
with the wave that was incident. The VSWR is the ratio
between this resultant wave’s greatest and minimum value.
An antenna’s impedance matching efficiency with respect to
the radio or transmission line to which it is linked is measured
numerically by VSWR. The Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) is
another name for the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR)
(SWR). The VSWR is determined by the reflection coefficient,
which details the power reflected from the antenna. The
VSWR for antennas is often a positive number. The antenna is
better suited to the transmission line and receives more power
when the VSWR is reduced. In this instance, the minimal
VSWR is 1, and no power is reflected from the antenna.
The simulation results suggest that the VSWR curve for this
antenna is less than 2 over the frequency range of 2.75GHz
to 7 GHz, and that VSWR is less than 1.5 for the bulk of Fig. 3. Radiation pattern (H-Plane) of simulated antenna

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B. Implementation
To verify that the antenna performs as predicted, measure-
ments must be taken after fabrication. This section covers the
process of constructing and testing of the proposed the antenna
as well as the results obtained from testing the antenna,
which include measurements of its return loss, bandwidth and
radiation pattern.The antenna was made from a double sided
copper clad board with FR-4 serving as the substrate,with
dielectric constant of 4.3 and the substrate thickness being
1.5mm. The final dimensions of the antenna are 94.82 mm
× 75.00 mm × 1.74 mm. Figure 4 shows us the final design
of the antenna which was fabricated and tested.Fig. 6(a), and
Fig. 6 (b) respectively show us the top and bottom sides of
the antenna.
Fig. 6. Return loss of tested antenna compared to simulation.

Figure 7 shows the VSWR of the suggested antenna compared

to that of the of the VSWR of the simulated antenna. The
VSWR stays around 1.5 for the bulk of the frequency range.

Fig. 4. Fabricated Vivaldi antenna (a) top, (b) bottom view.

To quantify return loss, a vector network analyzer (VNA)

called the Agilent N5247A is employed. The antenna’s ra-
diation pattern is measured in an anechoic chamber. Figure 5
shows us the antenna installed in the anechoic chamber.

Fig. 7. VSWR of tested antenna compared to simulation.

Figures 8 and 9 show the observed radiation patterns at 1.8

GHz, 4 GHz, and 6.8 GHz in the E and H planes, respectively.
The subsequent graphs similarly imply that there are few to
no sidelobes, maintaining the directional nature.

Fig. 5. Testing of fabricated Vivaldi antenna in an anechoic chamber (a) front,

(b) back view.

The suggested antenna’s measured return loss plot, covering a

frequency range of 2 to 7 GHz where |S11| ⩽ -10 dB. is shown
in figure 6.The implemented antenna has its return loss below
-10 dB from 2.4 - 6.5 GHz. In this frequency band, the antenna
will operate at its peak efficiency. The simulation results and
the implementation results have both been compared, and it Fig. 8. Radiation pattern of fabricated antenna (E-plane).
can be said that they are fairly comparable to one another.

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