High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS)

Tutorial

Prepared by
Dr. Otman El Mrabet
IETR, UMR CNRS 6164, INSA, 20 avenue Butte des Cosmes 35043 Rennes, FRANCE

2005 - 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... III
HIGH FREQUENCY STRUCTURE SIMULAOR (HFSS)................................................ IV
CHAPTER ONE THE DIPOLE ANTENNA ........................................................................1
CHAPTER TWO THE RECTANGULAR PATCH ANTENNA......................................22
CHAPTER THREE PROBE FEED PATCH ANTENNA .................................................34
CHAPTER FOUR THE TRIANGULAR MICROSTRIP ANTENNA............................48
PROJECTS

ii

Introduction
Wireless communications have progressed very rapidly in recent years, and many
mobile units are becoming smaller and smaller. To meet the miniaturization
requirement, the antennas employed in mobile terminals must have their dimensions
reduced accordingly. Planar antennas, such as microstrip and printed antennas have
the attractive features of low profile, small size, and conformability to mounting
hosts and are very promising candidates for satisfying this design consideration. For
this reason, compact, broadband and wideband design technique for planar antennas
have been attracted much attention from antenna researchers. Very recently,
especially after the year 2000, many novel planar antenna designs to satisfy specific
bandwidth specifications of present day mobile cellular communication systems
including the global system for mobile communication (GSM; 890 960 MHz), the
digital communication system (DCS; 1710 1880 MHz), the personal communication
system (PCS; 1850 1990 MHz), and the universal mobile telecommunication system
(UMTS; 1920 2170 MHz), have been developed and published in the open
literature.
Planar antennas are also very attractive for applications in communication devices
for wireless local area network (WLAN) systems in the 2.4 GHz (2400 2484 MHz)
and 5.2 GHz (5150 5350 MHz) bands.
The aim of this tutorial is to show you how to use HFSS to design planar antennas for
wireless communications. Therefore, we have chosen four antennas types; dipole
antenna, the rectangular patch antenna, probe feed patch antenna and triangular
microstrip antenna. At the end, we will propose some projects.

iii

High Frequency Simulator Structure (HFSS)

HFSS is a high performance full wave electromagnetic (EM) field simulator for
arbitrary 3D volumetric passive device modelling that takes advantage of the
familiar Microsoft Windows graphical user interface. It integrates simulation,
visualization, solid modelling, and automation in an easy to learn environment
where solutions to your 3D EM problems are quickly and accurate obtained. Ansoft
HFSS employs the Finite Element Method (FEM), adaptive meshing, and brilliant
graphics to give you unparalleled performance and insight to all of your 3D EM
problems. Ansoft HFSS can be used to calculate parameters such as S-Parameters,
Resonant Frequency, and Fields. Typical uses include:

Package Modelling BGA, QFP, Flip-Chip

PCB Board Modelling Power/ Ground planes, Mesh Grid Grounds,

Backplanes

Silicon/GaAs-Spiral Inductors, Transformers

EMC/EMI Mobile Communications Patches, Dipoles, Horns, Conformal

Cell Phone Antennas, Quadrafilar Helix, Specific Absorption Rate ( SAR),
Infinite Arrays, Radar Section (RCS), Frequency Selective Surface (FSS)

Connectors Coax, SFP/XFP, Backplane, Transitions

Waveguide Filters, Resonators, Transitions, Couplers

Filters Cavity Filters, Microstrip, Dielectric

HFSS is an interactive simulation system whose basic mesh element is a

tetrahedron. This allows you to solve any arbitrary 3D geometry, especially

iv

those with complex curves and shapes, in a fraction of the time it would take
using other techniques.

The name HFSS stands for High Frequency Strucutre Simulator. Ansoft
pioneered the use of the Finite Element Method (FEM) for EM simulation by
developing / implementing technologies such as tangential vector finite
elements, adaptive meshing, and Adaptive Lancozos - pade Sweep (ALPS).
Today, HFSS continues to lead the industry with innovations such as Modes
to Nodes and Full wave Spice.

Ansoft HFSS has evolved over a period of years with input from many users
and industries. In industry, Ansoft HFSS is the tool of choice for High
productivity research, development, and virtual prototyping.

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

Chapter one - The Dipole Antenna

I Introduction
The monopole and dipole antennas are commonly used for broadcasting, cellular
phones, and wireless communications due to their omnidirective property. Thus in
this tutorial, a dipole antenna will be constructed and analyzed using the HFSS
simulator. The example will illustrate both the simplicity and power of HFSS through
construction and simulation of this antenna structure. The following notes will
provide a brief summary of goals.
General navigation of software menus, toolbars, and quick keys.
Variable assignment.
Overview of commands used to create structures.
Proper design and implementation of boundaries.
Analysis Setup.
Report Creation and options.

1- Starting HFSS
- Click the microsoft Dmarrer button, Select Programs, and select Ansoft, HFSS
9.2 program group. Click HFSS 9.2.
- Or Double click on the HFSS 9.2 icon on the Windows Desktop.
HFSS 9.lnk

2- Creating the Project

First launch the HFSS Simulator.

Project manager

1
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

From the Project Manager window. Right-Click the project file and select Save As
from the sub menu.

Name the file dipole and Click Save.

Note: Before click on Enregistrer, always create a personal folder to store all
HFSS projects.

3- Working with geometries

To begin working with geometries.
-

you must insert an HFSS design. Right-Click the project file and select Insert
> Insert HFSS Design from the menu.

2
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

Or click on

The Dipole Antenna

from the toolbars.

Due to the nature of this design we will use Driven Modal as the solution type.
From the HFSS menu select Solution Type and Driven Modal.

3
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

The units are chosen as mm by choosing the heading 3D modeler and Units from the
menu.

HFSS relies on variables for any parameterization / optimization within the project.
Variables also hold many other benefits which will make them necessary for all
projects.

Fixed Ratios (length, width, height) are easily maintained using variables.
Optimetrics use variables to optimize the design according to user-defined
criteria.
All dimensions can be quickly changed in one window as opposed to altering
each object individually.

Click the HFSS heading and select Design Properties at the bottom of the menu.

4
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

This will open the variable table. Add all variables shown below by selecting Add. Be
sure to include units as needed.

The final variable table should looks like

5
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

4- Drawing the Dipole

We will start to by creating the dipole element using the Draw Cylinder button
from the toolbar.

By default the proprieties dialog will appear after you have finished drawing an
object. The position and size of objects can be modified from the dialog.

6
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

Double click

7
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

Follow the format above for structure size. Give the name dip1 to this object. Assign
the material PEC and click OK. PEC (Perfect Electric Conductor) will create ideal
conditions for the element.
The next step is to build the symmetric of dip1. To do that, Right -Click the drawing
area and select Edit -> Duplicate -> Around Axis.

The dipole structure is illustrated below:

8
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

5- Creating the port

In the section you will create a Lumped Gap Source. This will provide an excitation
to the dipole structure. Begin by selecting the YZ plane from the toolbar. Using the
3D toolbar, click Draw Rectangle and place two arbitrary points within the model
area.
Select YZ plane
Draw rectangle

Enter the following information

9
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

Double Click

Enter the information below

With the source geometry in place, the user must provide an excitation. A lumped port
will be used for the dipole model. This excitation is commonly used when the far field
region is of primary interest. In the project explorer, right-click Excitation -> Assign
-> Lumped Port.

Name the port source and leave the default values for impedance.

10
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

Click Next and enter the following:

Using the mouse, position the cursor to the bottom-center of the port. Ansoft's snap
feature should place the pointer when the user approaches the center of any object.
Left-click to define the origin of the E-field vector. Move the cursor to the top-center
of the port. Left-click to terminate the E-field vector. Click finish to complete the port
excitation.

Note: In case you find some difficulties for drawing the lumped port, you can redraw
the rectangular plane, affect the lumped port, then resize the rectangular plane.

11
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

6- Radiation Boundary
In this section, a radiation boundary is created so that far field information may be
extracted from the structure. To obtain the best result, a cylindrical air boundary is
defined with a distance of /4. From the toolbar, select Draw Cylinder.

Enter the following information:

12
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

With the geometry complete, the actual radiation boundary may now be assigned.
From the 3D toolbar select face from the drop down window as shown below.

Click

and select all faces as follow:

With all faces selected, right-click the Boundary icon in the object explorer and select
Boundary -> Assign -> Radiation.

13
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

Leave the default name Rad1 and click OK.

7- Solution Setup
In this section a solution must be defined to display the desired data. We are primarily
interested in the frequency response of the structure. We will also explore HFSS's
ability to calculate general antenna parameters such as directivity, radiation resistance,
radiation efficiency, etc... .
From the project explorer, select Analysis -> Add Solution Setup.

Enter the following. Click ok when complete.

14
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

To view the frequency response of the structure, a frequency sweep must be defined.
From the project explorer select Setup1 -> Add Sweep.

Enter the following

15
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

8- Structure Analysis
At this point, the user should be ready to analyze the structure. Before running the
analysis, always verify the project by selecting
is correct the user should see:

from the 3D toolbar. If everything

Analyze the structure by clicking

9- Create Reports
16
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

After completion of the analysis, we will create a report to display both the resonant
frequency and also the radiation pattern. Click on the heading HFSS and select
Results -> Create Reports.

Choose the following in the Create Report window:

Select the following highlighted parameters and click Add Trace to load the options
into the Trace window.

17
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

Click Done when complete.

The graph is displayed below:

HFSS has the ability to compute antenna parameters automatically. In order to

produce the calculations, the user must define an infinite sphere for far field
calculations. Right-click the Radiation icon in the project manager window and
18
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

select Insert Far Field Setup -> Infinite Sphere.

Accept all default parameters and click Done. Right-click Infinite Sphere1 ->
Compute Antenna Parameters... from the project explorer as shown:

Select all defaults and results are displayed as follows:

Next, the far field will be plotted. Create Reports as previously shown. Modify the
following:
19
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

Enter the following:

Select the Mag and enter the following:

20
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Dipole Antenna

Select Add Trace and click Done when complete. The radiation pattern is displayed
below:

21
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

Chapter Two - The Rectangular Patch Antenna

I Introduction
The objective of this chapter is to show you how to create, simulate and analyze a
microstrip patch antenna resonating at a frequency of 7.5 GHz as shown in Fig.1.
28.1 mm

12.45 mm

Patch

16 mm
32 mm

Feed Line

8 mm

Y
A (0, 0,0)

X
Top View

W=2.46 mm

H=0.794 mm

r = 2.2

Ground Plane
Cross View

Fig.1 Rectangular Patch Antenna

22
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

II Creating the Rectangular Patch

According to the first chapter, you can create and save a project.
1 Substrate
To draw the Substrate, click
following data as shown below.

on the toolbar. Then draw a box by filling the

23
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

2 Feed Line
To draw the Feed Line, click
following data as shown below.

on the toolbar. Then draw a box by filling the

3 Patch
To draw the Patch , click
data as shown below.

on the toolbar. Then draw a box by filling the following

24
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

We know that the Patch and Feed line should be one object. So, we need to unite
them. Note that both objects are of the same material. Click on both objects that you
need to unite, i.e. Patch and Feed_line in the history tree. Click on one and hold the
CTRL key and click on the other. Right Click Edit > Boolean > Unite. The two
objects are united now.

25
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

4 Ground Plane
To draw the Ground Plane, click
following data as shown below.

on the toolbar. Then draw a box by filling the

26
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

5 Assign Excitation
The excitation is a waveguide port at the beginning of the microstrip line. The
reference plane of this port is located directly at the beginning of the radiating plane.
Antennas are excited through the port. To draw the Port, click
on the toolbar.
Then draw a rectangle by filling the following data as shown below.
Choose the object Port from history tree, right-click and assign excitation. In our case,
it is waveport. Click waveport, name it as your preference, then click Next, now
define your integration line. Normally, integration line is defined from the bottom
middle point to the upper middle point. Keep other values as default. Click Finish.

A pop up will come up

27
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

Then click suivant and choose new line

Draw the lumped port,

28
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

6 Assign Boundary
Now the model has been created, we need to assign boundary conditions. In HFSS,
radiation boundaries are used to simulate open problems that allow waves to radiate
infinitely far into space. HFSS absorbs the wave at the radiation boundary, essentially
ballooning the boundary infinitely far away from the structure. In our case, our ABC
(Absorbing Boundary condition) is an air box.
To draw the Air Box, click
on the toolbar. Then draw a box by filling the
following data as shown below.

Now select boundary, right click > Assign Boundary > radiation

29
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

7 Analysis Setup
Finally, you have your model ready to run. Now you need to identify your analysis
setup.
To create an analysis setup, select the menu item HFSS > Analysis Setup > Add
Solution Setup. In the Solution Setup window, click the general tab, Solution
frequency is 7.5 GHz, Maximum Number of Passes is 20 and Maximum Delta S per
Pass is 0.02.
8 ADD Frequency Sweep
To add a frequency sweep, select the menu item HFSS > Analysis Setup > Add
Sweep. Select Solution Setup: Setup1. Click OK button. Then Edit Sweep Window.
Sweep Type: Fast, Frequency Setup Type: Linear Count, Start: 5 GHz, Stop: 10 GHz,
Count: 500. Click OK button.
9 Model Validation
To validate the model, select the menu HFSS > Validation Check. Click the Close
button. To view any errors or warnings messages, use the Message Manager.

30
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

10 Analyze
To start the solution process, select the menu item HFSS > Analyze.
Or click on the icon

11- Solution Data

Note: The Solution Data window can be also displayed by right-click on the Setup1
under analysis on the HFSS design tree. Note also that the default view is Profile.
Select the Convergence tab.

The simulation will stop as soon as the results converge, which is at pass 14.
12- Create Reports
To create a report, select Results > Create Report.

31
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

Set Report Type to Modal S Parameters, Display Type to Rectangular then click OK
button.

In the Traces Window, set Solution to Setup1: Adaptive1. In the Y tab, set Category
to S Parameter, Quantity to S (waveport, waveport), Function to dB and click Add
Trace button. Click Done button. Note that you can create any type of report it all
depends on what you want to analyze specifically.

The antenna is resonating around 7.5 GHz.

Note: More accurate results could be achieved by zooming in the simulation between
7.00 GHz and 8.00 GHz. (Change the Start and Stop values to 7 GHz and 8 GHz,
respectively then run simulation again).
Moreover, we notice that Zin at 7.5 GHz is 88.05 . To view Zin, go to
Results<Solution Data click on Z Matrix and drag the frequency menu to 7.5
GHz and read the Magnitude of the input impedance.

32
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication & System UFR

The Rectangular Patch Antenna

12- Radiation Pattern

Create infinite sphere. Then go to Results< Create Report. When the new window
pops up change the Report Type to Far Field and Display type to 3D Polar Plot.
Click Add Trace then Ok.

33
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

Chapter Three Probe Feed Patch Antenna

I Introduction
This third chapter is intended to show you how to create, simulate and analyze a
Probe Feed Patch Antenna (Fig.1) using the Ansoft HFSS. The main aim of this
chapter is to show how to create a coax cable probe.
10 cm

4 cm

3cm
9 cm

Y
X

Top View

r = 2.2

H=0.32 cm
Ground Plane

Cross View

Fig.1 Probe Feed Patch Antenna

34
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

II Getting Started
By now, you can launch
probe_Feed_Patch_Antenna.

HFSS,

opening

project

and

name

it

Then set the solution type:

-

select the menu item HFSS > Solution Type

choose Driven Terminal
click Ok button

To set the units

-

select the menu item 3D Modeler > Units

select Units: cm
click ok button

III Creating the Probe Feed Patch Antenna

1 Substrate
To draw the Substrate, click
following data as shown below.

on the toolbar. Then draw a box by filling the

35
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

2 Patch
on the toolbar. Then draw rectangle by filling the
To draw the Patch , click
following data as shown below.

36
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

Then assign a perfect E boundary to the patch. Select Patch, double click, select
Assign Boundary > Perfect E

3 Ground Plane
To draw the Ground Plane, click
the following data as shown below.

on the toolbar. Then draw rectangle by filling

37
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

Then assign a perfect E boundary to the patch. Select Ground, double click, and
select Assign Boundary > Perfect E

4 Coax Cable
The antenna is excited using a coax cable port. This port is located under the patch.
9 To draw the coax cable port, we start by drawing the infinite ground Cut Out
as shown below.

38
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

Then select the Ground & Cut_Out, right click, select Edit > Boolean > Substract
9 Create the coax.
So to create the coax, select the menu item Draw > Cylinder, then enter the data as
described below

39
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

9 Create the Coax Pin

So Select the menu item Draw > Cylinder, then enter the data as described below

9 Create the Wave port

To create a circle that represents the port:
Select the menu item Draw > Circle, then enter the data as shown below

40
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

To assign wave port excitation, select Port 1, then go to menu item HFSS >
Excitations > Assign > Wave port

9 Create the Probe

To create the probe, select the menu item Draw > Cylinder, then enter the data as
shown below

41
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

5 Assign Boundary
To draw the Air Box, click
following data as shown below.

on the toolbar. Then draw a box by filling the

Now select Box 1, right click > Assign Boundary > radiation
42
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

6 Analysis Setup
Finally, you have your model ready to run. Now you need to identify your analysis
setup.
To create an analysis setup, select the menu item HFSS > Analysis Setup > Add
Solution Setup. In the Solution Setup window, click the general tab, Solution
frequency is 2.55 GHz, Maximum Number of Passes is 20 and Maximum Delta S per
Pass is 0.02.
7 ADD Frequency Sweep
To add a frequency sweep, select the menu item HFSS > Analysis Setup > Add
Sweep. Select Solution Setup: Setup1. Click OK button. Then Edit Sweep Window.
Sweep Type: Fast, Frequency Setup Type: Linear Count, Start: 1 GHz, Stop: 3 GHz,
Count: 200. Click OK button.
8 Model Validation
To validate the model, select the menu HFSS > Validation Check. Click the Close
button. To view any errors or warnings messages, use the Message Manager.

9 Analyze
To start the solution process, select the menu item HFSS > Analyze.
Or click on the icon

10- Solution Data

Note: The Solution Data window can be also displayed by right-click on the Setup1
under analysis on the HFSS design tree. Note also that the default view is Profile.
Select the Convergence tab.

43
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

The simulation will stop as soon as the results converge, which is at pass 10.
11- Create Reports
To create a report, select Results > Create Report.

Set Report Type to Modal S Parameters, Display Type to Rectangular then click OK
button.

In the Traces Window, set Solution to Setup1: Adaptive1. In the Y tab, set Category
to S Parameter, Quantity to S (waveport, waveport), Function to dB and click Add
Trace button. Click Done button. Note that you can create any type of report it all
depends on what you want to analyze specifically.
44
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

12- Radiation Pattern

To create a 2D polar far field plot go to Results > create Report. When the new
window pops up change the Report Type to Far Field and Display type to Radiation
Pattern then click OK.

45
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

46
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Probe Feed Patch Antenna

47
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication
System
& UFR
Triangular
Microstrip Antenna
Shyh-Tirng
Fang and
Kin-Lu
Wong, "A DUAL-FREQUENCY
EQUILATERAL-TRIANGULAR
MICROSTRIP ANTENNA WITH A PAIR OF NARROW SLOTS," MICROWAVE AND
OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Vol. 23, No. 2, October 20 1999.

Chapter Four Triangular Microstrip Antenna

I Introduction
This fourth chapter is intended to show you how to create, simulate and analyze a
complex antenna such as dual frequency equilateral triangular antenna with a pair of
narrow slots (Figure 4.1) using the Ansoft HFSS. The main aim of this chapter is to
show how to create complicated drawing.

Figure 4.1 Geometry of the dual frequency equilateral triangular antenna with
a pair of narrow slots
II Getting Started
By now, you can launch
Triangular_Antenna.

HFSS,

opening

project

and

name

it

Then set the solution type:

-

select the menu item HFSS > Solution Type

choose Driven Terminal
click Ok button

48
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

To set the units

-

select the menu item 3D Modeler > Units

select Units: mm
click ok button

III Dual frequency equilateral triangular antenna with a pair of narrow slots
1 Substrate
To draw the Substrate, click
following data as shown below.

on the toolbar. Then draw a box by filling the

49
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

2 Triangular Patch
Since there isnt a triangular icon that allow us to draw triangular shapes. So to draw
it, we must first begin by drawing a rectangular patch.
To draw the Patch, click
on the toolbar. Then draw rectangle by filling the
following data as shown below.

50
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

We start to draw a poly line to form a triangular shape as shown above by clicking on
this icon

on the toolbar.

Then start to enter the point positions (P1, P2, and P3).
Then select the Patch & Polyline1, right click, select Edit > Boolean > Substract

51
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

Now, we start to another a second Polyline

Then enter the appropriate point positions of the Polyline 2, when you finished select
the Patch & Polyline2, right click, select Edit > Boolean > Substract

52
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

Assign a perfect E boundary to the patch. Select Patch, double click, select Assign
Boundary > Perfect E

3 Ground Plane
To draw the Ground Plane, click
the following data as shown below.

on the toolbar. Then draw rectangle by filling

53
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

Then assign a perfect E boundary to the patch. Select Ground, double click, and
select Assign Boundary > Perfect E

54
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

4 Coax Cable
The antenna is excited using a coax cable port. This port is located under the patch.
9 To draw the coax cable port, we start by drawing the infinite ground Cut Out
as shown below.

Then select the Ground & Cut_Out, right click, select Edit > Boolean > Substract
9 Create the coax.
So to create the coax, select the menu item Draw > Cylinder, then enter the data as
described below

55
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

9 Create the Coax Pin

So Select the menu item Draw > Cylinder, then enter the data as described below

56
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

9 Create the Wave port

To create a circle that represents the port:
Select the menu item Draw > Circle, then enter the data as shown below

57
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

To assign wave port excitation, select Port 1, then go to menu item HFSS >
Excitations > Assign > Wave port

9 Create the Probe

To create the probe, select the menu item Draw > Cylinder, then enter the data as
shown below

58
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

5 Assign Boundary
To draw the Air Box, click
following data as shown below.

on the toolbar. Then draw a box by filling the

59
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

Now select Box 1, right click > Assign Boundary > radiation
The final antenna should like as follow

6 Analysis Setup
Finally, you have your model ready to run. Now you need to identify your analysis
setup.
To create an analysis setup, select the menu item HFSS > Analysis Setup > Add
Solution Setup. In the Solution Setup window, click the general tab, Solution
frequency is 1.8 GHz, Maximum Number of Passes is 20 and Maximum Delta S per
Pass is 0.02.
7 ADD Frequency Sweep
60
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

To add a frequency sweep, select the menu item HFSS > Analysis Setup > Add
Sweep. Select Solution Setup: Setup1. Click OK button. Then Edit Sweep Window.
Sweep Type: Fast, Frequency Setup Type: Linear Count, Start: 1 GHz, Stop: 3 GHz,
Count: 200. Click OK button.
8 Model Validation
To validate the model, select the menu HFSS > Validation Check. Click the Close
button. To view any errors or warnings messages, use the Message Manager.

9 Analyze
To start the solution process, select the menu item HFSS > Analyze.
Or click on the icon

10- Solution Data

Note: The Solution Data window can be also displayed by right-click on the Setup1
under analysis on the HFSS design tree. Note also that the default view is Profile.
Select the Convergence tab.

61
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

The simulation will stop as soon as the results converge, which is at pass 10.
11- Create Reports
To create a report, select Results > Create Report.

Set Report Type to Modal S Parameters, Display Type to Rectangular then click OK
button.

In the Traces Window, set Solution to Setup1: Adaptive1. In the Y tab, set Category
to S Parameter, Quantity to S (waveport, waveport), Function to dB and click Add
62
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

Telecommunication System & UFR

Triangular Microstrip Antenna

Trace button. Click Done button. Note that you can create any type of report it all
depends on what you want to analyze specifically.

63
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi

2005 - 2006

64500752
A DUAL-FREQUENCY
EQUILATERAL-TRIANGULAR
MICROSTRIP ANTENNA WITH A PAIR
OF NARROW SLOTS
Shyh-Tirng Fang1 and Kin-Lu Wong1
1
Department of Electrical Engineering
National Sun Yat-Sen University
Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Recei ed 6 April 1999
ABSTRACT: A new design of a slot-loaded equilateral-triangular
microstrip antenna for dual-frequency operation is presented. Results
show that, by loading a pair of narrow slots centered in the triangular
patch and oriented parallel to the patchs center line, a single-feed
dual-frequency operation can be achie ed. The two operating frequencies
are associated with the perturbed TM10 - and TM2 0 -modes of the triangular microstrip antenna, and the two frequencies are of the same polarization planes and similar broadside radiation characteristics. Also, by
controlling the length of the slots and the spacing between the two slots,
the frequency ratio of the two frequencies is tunable within a range of
about 1.351.5. 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt
Technol Lett 23: 8284, 1999.
Key words: microstrip antenna; dual-frequency operation
1. INTRODUCTION

The technique of loading a pair of narrow slots close to and

parallel to the patchs radiating edges for achieving single-feed
dual-frequency operation has been applied to microstrip antennas with a rectangular patch w1, 2x, a meandered rectangular patch w3x, and a bow-tie patch w4x. The two operating
frequencies of such dual-frequency slot-loaded microstrip
antennas are of the same polarization planes and similar
broadside radiation patterns. For these reported designs,
various tunable frequency-ratio ranges for the two operating
frequencies are also obtained. For the case with a rectangular
patch, the tunable range is typical within 1.62.0 w1, 2x, while
for the cases with a meandered rectangular patch and a
bow-tie patch, the tunable ranges are about 1.82.4 w3x and
2.03.0 w4x, respectively. As for obtaining dual-frequency operation with a frequency ratio less than 1.6, a modified
structure of such a slot-loaded microstrip antenna has also
been reported w1x in which two additional microstrip resonant
stubs are loaded and placed on the back of the rectangular
patch antenna and connected to the rectangular patch through
vias in the ground plane. For this case, the structure of such a
design becomes complicated, and the antennas total dimensions also increase, which makes a larger real estate required
for employing such an antenna. In this paper, we demonstrate that, by applying the dual-frequency design method
with a pair of narrow slots w14x to an equilateral-triangular
microstrip antenna, and placing the pair of slots centered in
the triangular patch and oriented in parallel to the center
line of the patch, a single-layer, single-feed dual-frequency
operation with a lower frequency ratio can be obtained. The
frequency ratio between the two operating frequencies can
be controlled by the length of the slots and the spacing
between the two slots. Details of the proposed antenna
design and experimental results of the obtained dualfrequency performances are presented and discussed.
2. ANTENNA DESIGN

The geometry of the proposed dual-frequency antenna with

a pair of narrow slots is shown in Figure 1. The equilateral-

82

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 23, No. 2, October 20 1999

Figure 2 Measured return loss versus frequency for various spacings between the two slots; r s 4.4, h s 1.6 mm, L s 50 mm,
l s 23 mm, ground-plane size s 75 mm = 75 mm

Figure 1 Geometry of the proposed slot-loaded equilateral-triangular microstrip antenna for single-feed dual-frequency operation

triangular patch has a side length of L, and is printed on a

substrate of thickness h and relative permittivity r . Two
narrow slots of length l and width 1 mm l 4 1 mm. are
placed symmetrically with respect to the center line x-axis.
of the triangular patch. The two slots are also at a distance
1 mm away from the bottom edge of the triangular patch, and
have a spacing of S. With the present design, the first two
broadside-radiation modes, TM 10 and TM 20 w5x, of the equilateral-triangular microstrip antenna are perturbed, and their
corresponding patch surface current paths are both lengthened. However, since the two slots are placed in parallel to
the center line of the patch, the perturbation effects on the
TM 10-mode are relatively much smaller than on the TM 20mode, which leads to a slight lowering in the resonant frequency f 10 of the TM 10-mode and, conversely, a significant
lowering in the resonant frequency f 20 of the TM 20-mode.
This behavior makes possible a lower frequency ratio for
the present dual-frequency design. Also, it is found that the
two perturbed resonant modes can be excited with good
impedance matching by using a single probe feed placed in
the patchs center line, with a distance d p away from the
bottom edge of the patch.
3. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The proposed dual-frequency antenna with various parameters of the two slots has been implemented and studied.
Figure 2 shows the typical results of the measured return loss
for the case with various spacings between the two slots. In

this case, the side length of the patch is selected to be 50 mm,

and the length l . of the two slots is fixed to be 23 mm. First
note that, from the excited patch surface current densities,
results obtained from the IE3DTM simulation, the first two
resonant modes are identified to be associated with the
TM 10- and TM 20-modes of the simple triangular microstrip
antenna without slots; that is, the two operating modes in the
present design can be treated as the perturbed TM 10- and
TM 20-modes. The resonant frequencies of these two modes
are here denoted as f 1 and f 2 . The corresponding dualfrequency performances of f 1 and f 2 are also listed in Table 1 for comparison. It is seen that f 1 is slightly lowered
compared to f 10 about 1870 MHz. in the simple triangular
microstrip antenna. Conversely, f 2 is significantly decreased
when compared to f 20 about 3730 MHz. in the simple
triangular microstrip antenna. This behavior agrees with
the prediction mentioned earlier, and a low frequency
ratio f 2rf 1 . of about 1.4 is obtained for the case shown in
Figure 2.
Figure 3 shows the measured return loss for the case with
various slot lengths, with a fixed spacing between the two
slots S s 18 mm.. The corresponding results are also listed
in Table 1. In this case, the frequency ratio is varied from
about 1.4 to 1.45, and this implies that the frequency ratio is
more sensitive to the variation in the spacing between the
two slots than in the slot length. In addition to the cases
studied in Figures 2 and 3, some other cases with different
slot lengths and spacings are also constructed and measured.
The results are shown in Table 1. In general, by controlling
the length of the slots and the spacing between the two
slots, the present proposed antenna can have a tunable
frequency-ratio range of about 1.351.5. This tunable range

TABLE 1 Dual-Frequency Performances for the Proposed Antennas Studied in Figures 2 and 3; The Operating Bandwidth (BW)
is Determined from 10 dB Return Loss
l mm.

S mm.

d p mm.

f 1 MHz., BW %.

f 2 MHz., BW %.

f 2rf 1

17
19
21
23
23
23
30

22
18
18
18
16
14
10

20.4
19.6
18.7
18.0
19.0
19.8
21.2

1838, 1.41
1836, 1.47
1800, 1.62
1754, 1.65
1802, 1.78
1844, 1.84
1740, 1.92

2743, 1.27
2674, 1.31
2572, 1.40
2486, 1.53
2552, 1.65
2580, 1.71
2365, 1.73

1.492
1.456
1.429
1.417
1.416
1.399
1.359

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 23, No. 2, October 20 1999

83

4. K.L. Wong and W.S. Chen, Slot-loaded bow-tie microstrip antenna for dual-frequency operation, Electron Lett 34 1998.,
17131714.
5. K.F. Lee, K.M. Luk, and J.S. Dahele, Characteristics of the
equilateral triangular patch antenna, IEEE Trans Antennas Propagat 36 1988., 15101518.
1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
CCC 0895-2477r99

Figure 3 Measured return loss versus frequency for various slot

lengths of the two slots; r s 4.4, h s 1.6 mm, L s 50 mm, S s
18 mm, ground-plane size s 75 mm = 75 mm

Figure 4 Measured E-plane xz plane. and H-plane yz plane.

radiation patterns for the proposed antenna; r s 4.4, h s 1.6 mm,
L s 50 mm, l s 23 mm, S s 18 mm, d p s 18 mm. a. f s 1754
MHz. b. f s 2486 MHz

is lower than those obtained in similar designs with a pair of

narrow slots w14x. Radiation patterns of the proposed dualfrequency antenna are also measured. Figure 4 plots the
typical measured radiation patterns at the two operating
frequencies for the case with l s 23 mm and S s 18 mm.
Similar broadside radiation characteristics and same polarization planes for the two frequencies are observed. Good
cross-polarization radiation is also seen.
4. CONCLUSIONS

Dual-frequency operation of a single-feed equilateral-triangular microstrip antenna with a pair of narrow slots has been
demonstrated. By controlling the length of the slots and the
spacing between the two slots, the two operating frequencies
can have various frequency ratios ranging from about 1.35 to
1.5, which is lower than those obtained in similar designs with
a pair of narrow slots w14x. This makes the present proposed
antenna suitable for applications where dual-frequency operation with a lower frequency ratio is required.
REFERENCES
1. S. Maci, G. Biffi Gentili, P. Piazzesi, and C. Salvador, Dual-band
slot-loaded patch antenna, Proc Inst Elect Eng 142 1995.,
225232.
2. S. Maci, G. Biffi Gentili, and G. Avitabile, Single-layer dual
frequency patch antenna, Electron Lett 29 1993., 14411443.
3. J.H. Lu and K.L. Wong, Slot-loaded, meandered rectangular microstrip antenna with compact dual-frequency operation, Electron
Lett 34 1998., 10481050.

84

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 23, No. 2, October 20 1999

w x