CHAPTER‐3
Chapter3
Designing theory of multiband antenna
3. Introduction
In this work, an antenna for mobile phone is designed. This design is based
on Planar Inverted‐F antenna (PIFA). For this purpose, different shape antennas
are studied and designed. Then a new design has been formed. Introduction of
Planar Inverted Antennas has been covered in chapter‐1. Following section will
describe the derivation of PIFA, different techniques for size reduction and
bandwidth enhancement.
3.1 The Derivation of the PIFA [35]
The inverted‐F (IFA) family of antennas presents a popular alternative for
low profile omni‐directional applications. The basis for the planar inverted‐F
antenna originated from the inverted‐L antenna (ILA) (Figure 3.1). The inverted‐L
antenna is an end‐feed short monopole with a horizontal wire element placed on
top that acts as a capacitive load.
This antenna is essentially a microstrip coaxial connection with the inner
conductor in free space and bent at a right angle in such a way that the inner
conductor end forms a horizontal element that is parallel with the ground plane.
The outer conductor is extended to form the ground plane. The resulting structure
possesses a short monopole element as a vertical element and a wire horizontal
element, which is attached to the end of the monopole.
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Figure 3.1 The InvertedL Antenna.
The inverted‐L antenna is an attractive alternative because of its simple
layout. The design is uncomplicated and can be easily manufactured with low cost
materials. Additionally, many of the electrical characteristics of the inverted‐L are
similar to those of the well understood short monopole.
The radiation pattern of the inverted‐L is nearly identical to that of the
short monopole. A z‐directed short monopole produces a pattern that is omni‐
directional and maximum in the azimuth plane and has nulls at θ = 0°, 180° (along
the z‐axis). The inverted‐L oriented with its radiating element in the z‐direction
will also have a pattern that is omni‐directional in the azimuth plane. The inverted‐
L however has an additional E‐component due to the horizontal arm. The non‐zero
currents along the horizontal arm cause the radiation pattern in the azimuth plane
to deviate slightly from omni‐directional. The input impedance of the inverted‐L is
similar to that of the short monopole: low resistance (RILA) and high reactance
(XILA). Low order approximations for the input resistance and reactance of the
inverted‐L are [22]:
⎛ 2π
2 2
⎞ ⎛ h ⎞ a
RILA = 40 ⎜ h⎟ ⎜1 − ⎟ T = 1 − (3.1)
⎝ λ ⎠ ⎝ h+L⎠ h
⎛ h ⎞⎡ h T 3h ⎤
−60h ⎜ 2 − ⎟⎢ LaT − La − ⎥
⎝ h+L⎠ ⎢ 3h 1 20a 4 + 3 4 ⎥ (3.2)
X ILA = log − − +
(h + L) k ⎢ L2 a + 9h 2 + 4 ⎥
2
a 3 9h h2
⎢ L 2
+ ⎥
⎣ ⎦
a
4
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CHAPTER‐3
Where, L is the length of the horizontal loading section, h is the height of the
2π
radiating section, a is the radius of the antenna, k = is the wave
λ
a
number, La = L + a and T = 1 − .
h
Complete closed form derivations for both the input resistance and
reactance can be found in [22]. Equations (3.1) and (3.2) are plotted in Figure 3.2.
As can be seen from Figure 3.2, the relatively low resistance and high reactance for
useful antenna dimensions make the inverted‐L difficult to impedance match to
typical feed lines.
Figure 3.2 InvertedL antenna input resistance and reactance from eqn. (3.1)
and (3.2) [35].
As the height of the vertical element is restricted to only a fraction of a
wavelength, the ILA has a very low profile structure. The horizontal element is
normally set to a quarter of a wavelength. As a result, the ILA has low impedance
with a magnitude similar to a short monopole. In order to increase the impedance
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CHAPTER‐3
of the ILA, another inverted‐L element must be incorporated into the original
antenna, with one end of the inverted‐L element connected to the bend of the
original ILA and the other end shorted to the ground plane. The new antenna now
appears to have an inverted‐F configuration: hence the name inverted‐F antenna
(IFA). The inverted‐F is a variation on the inverted‐L that modifies the input
impedance to be nearly resistive and thus provides reduced mismatch loss. The
inverted‐F antenna is known as a “shunt‐driven inverted‐L antenna‐transmission
line with an open end".
Figure 3.3 The InvertedF Antenna [35]
This additional inverted‐L segment adds a convenient tuning option to the
original inverted‐L antenna and greatly increases the antenna usability. The
location of the feed point, S, along the length of the upper element provides the
impedance tuning mechanism. The input impedance behavior of the inverted‐F
antenna is similar to that of a transmission line antenna of length (H +L) with its
feed located at the tap point, S.
This feature of the IFA allows any additional matching circuitry of the ILA to
be discarded, resulting in the IFA being a more practical antenna. Despite its
relatively simple design, the design of an optimal IFA is not unique. Variations in
the height of the radiator, the length of the horizontal element as well as the tap
point all impact the electrical performance characteristics of the IFA.
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CHAPTER‐3
The low profile of the IFA, as well as its performance with two polarizations
facilitates the antenna for urban environmental use, especially in conjunction with
mobile applications.
One major drawback of the IFA is the lack of bandwidth. This issue can be
resolved by converting the horizontal wire element into a plate. The resulting
antenna, shown in Figure 3.4, is referred to as the planar inverted‐F antenna
(PIFA).
Figure 3.4 The Planar InvertedF antenna (PIFA) [35].
The compact size of the PIFA makes it a suitable candidate. This
unobtrusive design makes it ideally suited for mobile and handheld situations and
complies with our low profile design goal. Accidental damage to the antenna via
unintentional contact with other objects is avoided. The size and aspect ratio of the
top radiating plate, the height of the plate above the ground plane, the size and
position of the ground strap and the feed point location all have considerable
impact on the electrical performance of the antenna.
Additionally, the PIFA offers very high radiation efficiency and sufficient
bandwidth in a compact antenna. A bandwidth of 10% can be realized with the
PIFA.
The design variables for this antenna are the height, width, and length of
the top plate, the width and location of shorting plate, and the location of the feed
wire.
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CHAPTER‐3
3.1.1 PIFA Dimensions
The size of the PIFA radiating top plate can be calculated approximately
using [35]:
λcenter = 4( L + W ) (3.3)
Where, L and W are the length and width of the plate, respectively. The
resonant frequency is also influenced by the aspect ratio of the top plate (W/L).
The width of the grounding strap, S, in relation to the width of the radiating top
plate is also particularly important in determining the radiating behavior of the
PIFA. Figure 3.5, shows how the current flow on the surface of the top plate varies,
with different top plate and grounding strap configurations.
Figure 3.5 Surface current on PIFA top plate for various top plate aspect
ratios and grounding strip widths [35].
In general, a greater top plate aspect ratio will result in a lower the
resonant frequency for a given grounding strap width. For an aspect ratio of W/L >
1, there is an inflection point in the resonant frequency when W‐S = L and the
resonant frequency begins to increase with increasing aspect ratio. As seen in
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CHAPTER‐3
Figure 3.5, the current on the planar element generally flows to the open‐circuit
edge on the long side of the top plate when W‐ S < L. When W‐S > L, the current
flows to the open circuit edge along the short side of the top plate.
The inflection point in the resonant frequency is attributed to this change in
current flow. The inflection point can be seen clearly in the case of W = L and
where S << W, the current flows almost equally along the both the W and L
dimensions.
Like the resonant frequency of the PIFA, the relative impedance bandwidth
is affected by the design of the structure. The height of the radiating top plate, H ,
and the width of the grounding strap, have the greatest influence on the bandwidth
of the PIFA. In general, the bandwidth increases with increasing top plate height.
However, as the height of the top plate approaches the magnitude of L = W, the
height begins to influence the resonant frequency. When the grounding strap
width is very small, S << W, the resonant frequency is given by:
λcenter = 4( L + W + H ) (3.4)
The width of the grounding strap similarly affects the bandwidth. The
limiting case, where the grounding strap is the same width as the top plate, the
bandwidth of the PIFA is greatest. This case corresponds to the operation of a
short circuited microstrip antenna.
The PIFA with a W/L = 2.0 and H/λ0 = 0.053 has a relative bandwidth of
10%. As the width of the grounding strap decreases, the relative bandwidth of the
PIFA decreases. The bandwidth of a PIFA with the grounding strap width much
less than the width of the top plate (S/W≤0.1) can be reduced to below 1%.
There are several procedures available for designing PIFAs and many
different PIFA layouts may satisfy the same design criteria.
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CHAPTER‐3
3.2 Some Points to be Considered, while Designing
Mobile Phone Antenna:
1. Antenna size should be small
2. Operating bandwidth should be wider
3. Radiation efficiency should be higher
4. Less power consumption
Many of the techniques are used to improve the performance of the
antenna. Some of these techniques are for size reduction, some for bandwidth
enhancement, and some for improving efficiency and power consumption. At a
time, the one technique used to improve one constrain, can degrade the other one.
So we have to take a good trade off between the various constrains for better
performance. This work is focused to form geometry of reduced size and the wider
bandwidth, with less power consumption. The techniques used for size reduction
and bandwidth enhancement will be discussed in the following section.
3.3 Antenna Size Reduction Techniques [1]:
The miniaturization of the microstrip antenna can be achieved using
several approaches:
3.3.1 Employing a Dielectric Material of Higher
Permittivity
From equation (1.1), it is found that the radiating patch of the microstrip
1
antenna has a resonant length approximately proportional to , and the use of a
εr
dielectric substrate with a larger permittivity thus can result in a smaller physical
antenna length at a fixed operating frequency. But higher ε r increases the surface
wave effect which leads poor performance. i.e., low radiation efficiency and lower
bandwidth.
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CHAPTER‐3
The high dielectric constant of the substrate is not very appropriate for our
purpose. Therefore, the method based on capacitive loading, and the method that
involves slots for longer current path along the patch edges have been chosen for
bandwidth improvement.
3.3.2 Capacitive Loading of the Patch Structure (Radius of
shorting pin> radius of feed probe)
Another technique for size reduction is the use of an edge‐shorted patch
(Reduces the resonant frequency). The shorting pin located close to the feed point
results in a significant reduction in overall patch size. The typical RLC circuit used
to describe a probe feed patch is loaded with a parallel LC circuit. The shorting pin
effect on the input impedance of the antenna can be represented by the LC
combination.
“When shorting pin is located near the feeding point, a strong capacitive
coupling or loading is produced due to which surface electrical current path is
increased. This results in cancelling the inductive nature of a patch below
resonance. Therefore, the amount of capacitive loading induced determines the
ultimate reduction in size”. It makes a microstrip antenna act as a quarter‐
wavelength structure and thus can reduce the antenna’s physical length by half at a
fixed operating frequency. When a shorting plate (Figure. 3.6(b)) or a shorting pin
(Figure. 3.6(c)) is used instead of a shorting wall (Figure. 3.6(a)), further
reductions in both the antenna’s fundamental resonant frequency and size can be
obtained. However, with the use a dielectric substrate with larger permittivity and
overall size reduction at a fixed operating frequency, the impedance bandwidth of
a microstrip antenna is usually decreased.
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CHAPTER‐3
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 3.6 Configurations of a rectangular patch antenna with (a) a shorting
wall, (b) a shorting plate or partial shorting wall and (c) a shorting pin [1].
With the shorting pin technique, the antenna size reduction is mainly due to
the shifting of the null‐voltage point at the center of the rectangular patch (excited
at TM01 mode) and the circular patch (at TM11 mode) to their respective patch
edges, which makes the shorted patches resonate at a much lower frequency. So,
size is reduced and the reduction in size is limited by the distance between null‐
voltage point in the patch and the patch edge.
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CHAPTER‐3
There is also a significant dependency of resonant frequency on shorting
pin position. Also, in order to get a good matching condition, the feed position is
placed closer to the shorting pin. When the feed position is away from the shorting
pin, the resonant input resistance quickly increases.
3.3.3 Meandering of Radiating Patch
Meandering the excited patch surface current paths, in the antenna’s
radiating patch, is also an effective method for achieving a lowered fundamental
resonant frequency for the microstrip antenna. For the case of a rectangular
radiating patch, the meandering can be achieved by inserting several narrow slits
at the patch’s non‐radiating edges. It can be seen in Figure 3‐7 that the excited
patch’s surface currents are effectively meandered, leading to a greatly lengthened
current path for a fixed patch linear dimension. This behavior results in a greatly
lowered antenna fundamental resonant frequency, and thus a large antenna size
reduction at a fixed operating frequency can be obtained.
Figure 3.7 Surface current distributions for meandered rectangular
microstrip patches with meandering slits [1].
If we use shorting pin and meandering in conjunction with: The shorting
pin makes the patch resonate at a much lower frequency and the narrow slots
meander the patch, which increases the effective electrical length of patch.
These two factors effectively reduce the required size for an antenna
operated at a given frequency. With increasing slot length, the resonant frequency
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CHAPTER‐3
of the meandered patch decreases. But slot width has relatively little effect on the
resonant frequency.
Slots in patch produce additional capacitive reactance, while shorting pin
with probe contribute inductive reactance.
3.3.4 Use of Inverted UShaped or Folded Patch Antenna
Surface current lengthening for a fixed patch projection area, can also be
obtained by using an inverted U‐shaped patch [Figure 3.8(a)], a folded patch
[Figure 3.8(b)]. With these microstrip patches, the resonant frequency can be
greatly lowered compared to a regular single‐layer microstrip antenna with the
same projection area. Note that the resonant frequency is greatly lowered due to
the bending of the patch surface current paths along the antenna’s resonant or
excitation direction.
(a)
(b)
Figure 3.8 Geometries of stacked shorted patch antennas (a) Ushaped
patch (b) folded patch [1].
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CHAPTER‐3
3.3.5 Use of Lumped Elements
Size of antenna can be reduced by using lumped elements in the antenna
structure. These change the current distribution on the patch and can lower the
resonant frequency.
Figure 3.9 Geometry of a compact broadband microstrip antenna with chip
resistor loading [1].
3.4 Bandwidth Enhancement Techniques [1]:
The bandwidth enhancement of the microstrip antenna can be achieved by
using several approaches. Problem of achieving a wide impedance bandwidth
(greater than or about 10% suitable for present day cellular communication
system) for a compact microstrip antenna is becoming an important topic in
microstrip antenna design. Broadband operation has been achieved with the use of
two stacked shorted patches.
The main relationships among various parameters having influence on
bandwidth are follows [25]:
fu − fl 1
Bandwidth = ∞ (3.5)
fr Q
L
Q= (3.6)
R C
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CHAPTER‐3
Q∞ 1 S (3.7)
where, fu and fl are upper and lower frequency of bandwidth, fr is resonant
frequency, Q is quality factor, R is loss component of antenna, L is inductive
component of antenna, C is capacitive component of antenna, S is volume of
antenna.
The most frequently used method to broaden the bandwidth is to raise the
height of the shorting plane i.e.; increase the volume. Bandwidth is affected very
much by the size of the ground plane. By varying the size of the ground plane, the
bandwidth of a PIFA can be adjusted. For example, reducing the ground plane can
effectively broaden the bandwidth of the antenna system. Several slits at the
ground plane edges can be inserted to reduce the quality factor of the structure
(and to increase the bandwidth). Bandwidth enhancement of a PIFA can also be
achieved by several efficient approaches, namely using dual resonance by
additional patch that is adding capacitive load, loading dielectric with high
permittivity, attaching chip resistor that is increasing loss term. In the following
section all these techniques are discussed in detail.
3.4.1 Increasing the Height (h) of Substrate
By increasing the height of the substrate, bandwidth can be extended (up‐to
about 35%). Impedance bandwidth of PIFA is inversely proportional to the quality
factor Q that is defined for a resonator [25]:
Q = Energy Stored / Energy dissipated
Substrates with high dielectric constant (εr) tend to store energy more than
radiate it. This is equivalent by modeling the PIFA as a lossy capacitor with high εr,
thus leading to high Q value and obviously reducing the bandwidth. Similarly when
the substrate thickness is increased the inverse proportionality of thickness to the
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CHAPTER‐3
capacitance (as C= ε[Link]/h) decreases the energy stored in the PIFA and the Q
factor also. In summary, the increase in height and decrease of εr can be used to
increase the bandwidth of the PIFA.
Figure 3.10 shows the effect of substrate thickness on impedance
bandwidth and efficiency for two values of dielectric constants. While the
bandwidth increases monotonically with thickness, a decrease in the ε r value
increases the bandwidth.
Figure 3.10 Effect of substrate thickness on impedance bandwidth and
efficiency, for two dielectric constants [34].
3.4.2 Use of Chip Resistor of Low Resistance (usually on the
order of 1Ω resistor is connected between patch & ground
plate)
As we know that bandwidth is inversely proportional to the quality factor
(Q). Moreover, owing to the introduced small ohmic loss of the chip resistor, the
quality factor of the microstrip antenna is greatly lowered. So bandwidth is
increased.
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CHAPTER‐3
Figure 3.11 Geometry of a chipresistorloaded rectangular microstrip
antenna with a probe feed [1].
Resistor should be placed at the edge opposite to the feed for maximum
resonant frequency reduction. Antenna gain is reduced due to above technique.
Bandwidth can be enhanced by considering the effect of the chassis dimension. If
chassis resonates at the operating frequency of the antenna element, the
bandwidth of the antenna‐chassis combination will improve considerably.
3.4.3 Using two (or more) Stacked Shorted Patches
By using two (or more) stacked shorted patches and making both patches
radiate at as equally as possible and having a radiation quality factor as low as
possible, one can obtain enhanced impedance bandwidth for a fixed antenna
volume.
(a)
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CHAPTER‐3
(b)
Figure 3.12 Shorting wall (a) Offset shorting wall (b) A common
shorting wall [1].
3.5 Some other Parameters, to be Considered in PIFA
Designing:
3.5.1 Resonant Frequency
The resonant frequency of PIFA can be approximated with [25]:
L + W = λ /4 (refer figure 3.4) (3.8)
When, S/W=1 then W + H = λ /4
When, S=0 then L + W + H = λ /4
The resonant frequency of the PIFA is proportional to the effective length of
the current distribution. The introduction of an open slot reduces the frequency,
due to the fact that there are currents flowing at the edge of the shaped slot,
therefore a capacitive loaded slot reduces the frequency and thus the antenna
dimensions drastically. The same principle of making slots in the planar element
can be applied for dual frequency operation as well. Changes in the width of the
planar element can also affect the determination of the resonant frequency. The
width of the short circuit plate of the PIFA plays a very important role in governing
its resonant frequency. Resonant frequency decreases with the decrease in short
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CHAPTER‐3
circuit plate width, S. Unlike micro‐strip antennas that are conventionally made of
half wavelength dimensions, PIFA’s are made of just quarter wavelength.
Analyzing the resonant frequency and the bandwidth characteristics of the
antenna can be easily done by determining the site of the feed point, at which the
minimum reflection coefficient is to be obtained.
3.5.2 Radiation Pattern
The radiation pattern of the PIFA is the relative distribution of radiated
power as a function of direction in space. In the usual case the radiation pattern is
determined in the far‐field region and is represented as a function of directional
coordinates. Radiation properties include power flux density, field strength, phase,
and polarization.
3.5.3 Electric Field Distribution
The dominant component of the electric field Ez is equal to zero at the
short‐circuit plate while the intensity of this field at the opposite edge of the planar
element is significantly large. For fields Ex and Ey, there is pointing part, which
corresponds to the feed source. This means that the electric lines of force are
directed from feed source to the ground plane. When the width of the short circuit
plate is narrower than the planar element, the electric fields Ex and Ey start
generating at all open circuit edges of the planar element. These fringing fields are
the radiating sources in PIFA.
3.5.4 Current Distribution
PIFA has very large current flows on the undersurface of the planar element
and the ground plane compared to the field on the upper surface of the element.
Due to this behavior PIFA is on of the best candidate when is talking about the
influence of the external objects that affect the antenna characteristics (e.g. mobile
operator’s hand/head). PIFA surface current distribution varies for different
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CHAPTER‐3
widths of short‐circuit plates. The maximum current distribution is close to the
short pin and decreases away from it. The ground surface waves can produce
spurious radiations or couple energy at discontinuities, leading to distortions in
the main pattern, or unwanted loss of power. The surface wave effects can be
controlled by the use of photonic band gap structures or simply by choosing air as
the dielectric. This solves the limitation of poor efficiency as well along with
certain degree of bandwidth enhancement.
3.5.5 Ground Plane Effects
It is assumed that a large ground plane is used for antenna designing. A
detailed study on the effects of operating the PIFA in a reduced ground plane
environment is presented in [20]. The size of the ground plane plays an important
role in the behavior of the PIFA.
The resonant frequency, input impedance, bandwidth and gain are all
impacted when the PIFA is operated over a finite size ground plane. The resonant
frequency for a PIFA with a fixed top element and grounding strap size tends to
remain fairly constant for large ground plane sizes. As the ground plane size is
reduced, the value of the resonant frequency oscillates around the value for the
infinite ground plane case until the ground plane size reaches about 0.2λ in length.
At that point, the resonant frequency is highly dependent on the size of the ground
plane and it increases linearly with decreasing ground plane size.
The relative bandwidth of the PIFA increases with increasing ground plane
size. As in the center frequency case, the relative bandwidth oscillates around the
value of the infinite ground plane case. However, the PIFA relative bandwidth
exhibits a stronger dependence on ground plane size than the center frequency
does for larger ground planes. It is reported in [20] that a ground plane size of at
least 0.8 λ is required to achieve the desired 8% impedance bandwidth of the
Cellular band.
The gain of the PIFA is influenced by the size of the ground plane as well.
The gain of the PIFA increases with increasing ground plane size. It then reaches a
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CHAPTER‐3
local maximum around 0.9 λ and begins to oscillate to the infinite ground plane
case of nearly 5 dB. To achieve the desired 3 dB in gain for the Cellular band, a
ground plane of at least 0.5 λ is required [20, 21].
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