CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
[Link]
In the process of design and analysis of microstrip patch antenna for multi
frequency application, a proper planning is important to achieve the objective of the
project.
The aim of this project is to design and develop a compact microstrip patch
antenna for WiMAX, fixed service satellite C band applications. The development
of this project consists oftwoparts, software and hardware, the software part contains
designing and simulating the antenna while the hardware part comprises fabrication
and measuring the antenna.
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3.2 Procedures of Development of the Project
The work flow process is shown on Figure 3.1 comprising several tasks that
are assigned in completing the project. Initially, the work implemented more to the
understanding of the basic principle of Rectangular Microstrip Patch Antenna
(RMPA).
3.3Theoretical study and Design specification
This phase is planning, organizing and analysing of the flow of the design
while also calculating the antenna dimensions, selecting the appropriate substrate,
investigating the parameters effects on the performance of the antenna and the
feeding technique of the antenna.
There arethreeessential parameters forthe design of a conventional
rectangular microstrip patch [Link], these three parameter are the frequency
(fo), permittivity (εr) and the height of the substrate (h), therefore it’s been chosen
these values as below.
fo = 2.5GHZ
εr=4.3
h=1.60mm
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3.3.1 Calculating Antenna Dimensions
The width of microstrip antenna is given by using :
c
W ………………………………………………………………. (3.1)
r 1
2 fo
2
Substituting c=3x108 m/s,εr=4.3 and fo=2.5 GHz, weget:
W = 30.00 mm
Step2: CalculationofEffectivedielectric constant (εreff):
The effectivedielectric constant can be calculated
……………………………………….. (3.2)
Substitutingεr=4.3,W=30 mmand h =1.6mmweget:
εreff= 3.9443
Step3: CalculationoftheEffectivelength (Leff):
The effectivelength is given :
…………………………………………………………... (3.3)
Substitutingεreff=3.9443,c=3x108 m/s and fo =3 GHzweget:
Leff= 25mm
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Step4: Calculationofthelength extension(∆L):
Thelength extension can be calculated:
………………………………... (3.4)
Substitutingεreff=3.9443,W=30 mm and h =1.60 mmweget:
∆L= 0.73mm
Step5: Calculationofactual length of patch(L):
The actual length is obtained:
…………………………………………………………… .(3.5)
SubstitutingLeff=25.00 mmand ∆L=0.73 mmweget:
L= 24mm
The overall calculated values are shown in Table 3.1 below.
Table 3.1: Dimensions of single patch rectangular antenna
Parameter Value Frequency
(mm) operation (GHZ)
w 30.00 2.50
l 24.00
thicknes 0.035
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3.3.2Choosing for Feeding Technique
There are many different feeding techniques for microstrip patch antenna as
discussed in Chapter 2. Therefore, coaxial feed is selected as the feeding technique of
the microstrip patch antenna. But in most cases of the simulation results a wave
guard port is used as the feeding technique. However, for fabrication a coaxial feed is
required to do the measurement.
The feed point location is crucial so the position of the coaxial cable can be
obtained [17]. Table 3.2 shows the location of the inset feed.
Zc Rin cos2 ( L Y 0)
Where Zc= Desired impedance (50 ohm)
Rin = Radiating edge impedance
Yo = Inset feed point distance.
Table 3.2: Inset feed of single patch rectangular antenna
Inset feed point distance, Yo 5.58mm
3.3.3 Choosing for Suitable Substrate
Photo etching fabrication process has made microstrip patch antenna more
common to be printed on a dielectric substrate. This process is cheap and widely
available [18]. The purpose of this investigation is to study the effects of substrate
permittivity and thickness on the performance characteristics of the antenna. Good
selections of these parameters will yield superior performance and reduced
optimization cycles. In this project, different substrates are used for the simulation
and their effects on the performance of the antenna are analysed in chapter 4.
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3.4DesignofSingleBand AntennaOperatingat2.5 GHzforWIMAXApplications.
Thesinglebandmicrostrippatchantennaresonatingat2.5GHzforWLANapplicati
onscanbe designedusingthefollowingspecification:
Table3.3:SingleBandPatchAntennaSpecificationsResonatingat2.5GHz
Variable Value
Resonating frequency 2.5GHz
Dielectric constantofthesubstrate 4.3
Heightofthesubstrate 1.60mm
Ahighdielectricconstantwillresultinasmallerpatch sizebutthiswill
generallyreducesbandwidthefficiencyandmighthave difficultyin
fabricatingaverysmallpatchsizeantenna.
3.4.1AntennaDesign
[Link]
ons oftherectangularpatcharewidthWpis30mm andlengthLpis24mmcalculatedusing
[Link]
constant4.3andheight
[Link]
salong thepositiveydirectionis5.58mm.
0 Simulated…
-5
Return Loss (dB)
-10
-15
-20
-25
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8
Frequency (GHz)
Figure3.2SimulatedReturnLossofMSAResonatingat2.5GHz
Thedesigned antenna gives animpedanceof 50.75
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ohmswhereasforpracticalapplications impedanceof
[Link] thebestimpedancethusantennais
perfectlymatched.
Figure3.3SmithChartofMSAResonatingat2.5GHz
Figure3.4SimulatedGainat2.5GHz
Thesimulatedresultsofvariousparametersoftheabovedesignedantennaaresummarized
inthe
[Link]
practicalWiMAXapplications.
Table3.4 SummaryofParameterValuesofDesigned Antennaat2.5GHz
Parameters Values
Operating frequency 2.5GHz
Returnloss -23dB
Impedance 50.75ohms
VSWR 1.06
Bandwidth 92 MHz
Directivity 5.73dBi
Gain 3.15dB
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3.5DesignofTripleBand Antennausing Semi Ellipse Shape at one Edge of the
Patch.
For this design multiband frequency perfomance, the inroduction of semi
ellipse to the patch have been chosen because its easier and only has to do some
basic modification on the ordinary coplanar microstrip antenna.
The dimensions of this design consists of rectangular patch of lengh (L) and
width (W) combined with ellipse of dimension semi major axis (a) and semi minor
axis (b). The dimensions are shown in Table 3.5
Table 3.5: Parameters of the compact antenna
L 27.00 mm
W 26.00 mm
a 13.00 mm
X0,y0 10.2,4.17
Figure 3.5: Simulated S11 for patch antenna with semi ellipse at the top of the patch.
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Figure 3.5 (a) Figure 3.5 (b)
Figure 3.5 (c)
Figure3.6SimulatedGain of the antenna at2.65GHz, 3.67GHz, 6.55GHz respectively.
Thesimulatedresultsofvariousparametersoftheabovedesignedantennaaresummarized
inthe
[Link]
practicalfixed service satellite and microwave C applications.
Table3.6SummaryofParameterValuesofDesigned Triple band Antenna
Resonating Return
frequency loss Bandwidth Directivity Gain
(MHz) VSWR (dBi) (dB)
fr(GHz) (dB)
2.65 -33 61 1.2 4.3 3.8
3.67 -31 57 1.2 3.8 2.3
6.55 -29 105 1.1 7.8 6.4
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3.6 Fabrication of Antenna Elements
The fabrication process is carried out at Advanced Printed Circuit Board
Design Laboratory. Various techniques are available for fabrication of microstrip
patch antenna. A simple and low cost method will be used in this work to fabricate.
Fabrication consists [Link],UVexposure,
[Link] thefabricationprocessis
showninFigure 3.7.
Figure3.6Fabricationprocessflowchart.
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3.6.1 Antenna Layout Printing
The antenna simulation that has been done in the CST Microwave Studio was
been exported to the AutoCAD software. This is to ensure the fabrication process can
be done.
3.6.2 Lamination and UV Light Process
The dry film was cut according to the size of the FR4 board. Then, the film was
placed on the board to continue with the lamination process. The lamination process
has been done by the lamination machine.
3.6.3 Developing Process
The board was then put into the developing machine. The developing machine was
used to remove the dry film from the board.
3.6.4 Etching Process
This process was done after the photo resist layer was removed from the board. The
etching process was done by the etching machine. This process is to ensure unwanted
copper layer has been removed, leaving only the needed antenna design.
3.6.5 Stripping Process
The stripping process was the last process. This process was done to remove the
entire dry film and it was done by the stripping machine.
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3.6.6 Soldering Process
After the fabrication process in the laboratory, the coaxial connector was soldered to
the fabricated antenna. It was soldered based on the feed location that has been made.
This is to ensure the measurement process can be done. Finally, the fabricated triple
band antenna is shown in figure 3.8 below.
Figure 3.8Fabricated proposed antenna
3.7 Measurement and Comparative Analysis
Network Analyser is used to measure the antenna parameters, by comparing
the result will be obtain by using CST Microwave Studio simulator software.
Figure 3.9ZVB 14 Vector Network Analyzer
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3.8Chapter Summary
In the methodology phase, the implementation of the design of conventional and
multiband compact microstrip patch antenna is presented in this chapter. Coaxial
feed is chosen for the feeding technique of the antenna. Single band and triple band
antenna design parameters are shown and simulated in CST [Link] results
obtained are analysed in the next chapter to attain the effectiveness of compact
multiband microstrip antenna.