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Design and simulation based studies of a dual band u-slot patch antenna for
WLAN application

Conference Paper · January 2012

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Design and Simulation Based Studies of a Dual Band
U-slot Patch Antenna for WLAN Application
Md. Nazmul Hasan*, Syed Waqar Shah*, Mohammad Inayatullah Babar*, Zeeshan Sabir*
*
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, Pakistan
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract— Three different designs of a dual band patch antenna have length L and width W of the patch as found from the
have been investigated in this paper. By using u-slot patch following equations neglecting the fringing effect [1],
geometry dual band operation has been obtained. The patch
antenna has been designed and simulated in CST Microwave
Studio. By studying the antenna parametrically, it has been = (1)
2 √
observed in CST Microwave Studio how the antenna
characteristics vary with the variation of its different
parameters. This observation has provided us sufficient insight to 2
optimize the antenna parameters to meet the design = (2)
requirements. The proposed designs of the antenna operate in 2 +1
3.65 GHz band which is common to all three designs but the
second operating band is different. By varying the u-slot where, c is the free-space speed of light.
broadness the second frequency band can be shifted from 5.25 A basic single band rectangular patch antenna can be
GHz to 5.76 GHz. Moreover, it can be brought to 2.45 GHz band
modified into a multiband antenna by introducing slots in the
by carefully adjusting the parameters of the antenna. The gain
and directivity in 3.65 GHz band of one of the three designs have patch. The shapes and position of the slot play an important
been improved in other two designs. The gain has been improved role in determining the resonance frequency. The slot shapes
from 3.73 dB to 6.6 dB and the directivity from 6.44 dBi to 7.55 like C, E, F, H, L, V, U and many others are well known.
dBi in 3.65 GHz band. The operating frequencies of the proposed Sometimes, more than one slot of different shapes is used in
designs fall in IEEE802.11a (5.20 GHz and 5.775 GHz), the same patch for desired performance. The u-slot was
IEEE802.11b (2.45 GHz) and IEEE802.11y (3.675 GHz) introduced in a paper published in 1995 and the antenna
standards which would allow WLAN operation. This patch showed wideband behaviour and was linearly polarized [2].
antenna has been intended to be used in portable devices that Although the initial investigations of u-slot patch antenna
demand miniaturized constituent parts.
were based on air and foam substrate, later it was found that
the antenna retained its wideband characteristic when material
Keywords— Patch antenna, u-slot, dual band, gain, directivity. substrate was used instead of air and foam substrate [3], [4].
Initially, u-slot was regarded as a mean of achieving only
I. INTRODUCTION wideband characteristic rather than multiband characteristic of
The use of multiband antennas in portable devices like the patch antenna. Interestingly, subsequent researches
mobile phone, laptop, gaming console etc. is inevitable now-a- revealed that wideband characteristic can be modified to
days. Due to the concept of miniaturization the size of these multiband characteristic by intelligent placement of u-slot,
devices is shrinking rapidly. Consequently, the antennas must thereby perturbing the surface current flow in the patch [5],
become smaller to fit inside them. This paper aims at [6], [7]. Not only the band characteristic but also the
presenting three miniaturized dual band u-slot patch antennas polarization characteristic can be altered by manipulating u-
for WLAN application. The paper also confirms the technique slot. The antennas investigated in [8] and [9] exhibited
of shifting resonance frequency by varying the u-slot circular polarization. Moreover, u-slot patch antenna with
broadness. Besides, the gain and directivity have been reconfigurable polarization has been reported recently [10]. In
improved in two designs of the patch antenna. Apart from it, that paper, PIN diodes have been used to change the length of
emphasis has been given to the miniaturization. At the end, the u-slot arms, which alters the polarization state of the
the balance between the dimension and performance of the antenna and it can switch between linear and circular
antenna has been carefully established by parametric study. polarization. Besides, the antenna can also switch between
For brevity, the results of parametric study have been omitted right hand and left hand circular polarization. All these
in this paper. researches have unveiled different interesting aspects of u-slot
A simple patch antenna with basic rectangular patch patch antenna. It is now well established fact that by using u-
geometry operates in a single frequency band. A patch slot patch geometry multiband characteristic can be obtained.
antenna intended to operate at a centre resonance frequency fr Therefore, u-slot patch geometry is now regarded as a general
mounted on a substrate having dielectric constant εr would template which can be customized to best suit the

ISBN 978-89-5519-163-9 997 Feb. 19~22, 2012 ICACT2012

requirements. The proposed antennas in this paper are three Otherwise antenna characteristics would change to a great
specific cases of the dual band characteristic of a general u- extent.
slot patch antenna template.
After intense parametric study and numerous simulations,
three different designs of the dual band u-slot patch antenna
named as Antenna A, B and C have been accomplished.
Antenna A operates in 3.65 GHz (3.55−3.74 GHz) and 5.25
GHz (5.10−5.40 GHz) bands. Antenna B operates in 3.65
GHz (3.55−3.74 GHz) and 5.76 GHz (5.60−5.92 GHz) bands
while Antenna C operates in 2.45 GHz (2.39−2.51 GHz) and
3.65 GHz (3.60−3.70 GHz) bands. All the operating bands of
the designs have sufficient bandwidth to cover
IEEE802.11a/b/y standards. The patch antennas proposed in
this paper can find applications in portable devices supporting
IEEE802.11a IEEE802.11b and IEEE802.11y standards.
These standards are used for WLAN operation. Interestingly,
the enhancement of IEEE802.11 standards using directional
antennas has been reported recently [11], [12], [13].
Figure 1. U-slot patch antenna with dimensional variables
II. ANTENNA DESIGN
A u-slot patch antenna on foam substrate was reported to
exhibit dual band characteristic [14]. But using foam as the
substrate of the patch antenna is not convenient at all.
Therefore, material substrates are better choice. Another u-slot
patch antenna on a microwave substrate exhibited broad-band
characteristic [3]. The dimension of the ground plane in that
paper was 120 mm  100 mm, which is dimensionally large
Figure 2. Coaxial probe feeding method
for mobile devices.
In this paper, the value of dielectric constant (εr) of the Table 1 lists the values of the parameters of the proposed
substrate in Antenna A and B is εr=2.2 and in Antenna C patch antennas. All the dimensions are in mm except the
εr=4.3. The substrate thickness (h) is 4.5 mm. The substrate dielectric constant (εr) which is unitless. Three different
thickness (h) has been kept constant in all designs while the designs of the proposed u-slot patch antenna, named as
dielectric constant (εr) has been varied. The length and the Antenna A, B and C, have been investigated in this paper.
width of the substrate are kept twice the length (L) and the
width (W) of the patch. A ground plane having equal length TABLE 1. PARAMETERS OF THE PROPOSED ANTENNAS
and width of the substrate is used at the bottom of the antenna.
Both the patch and the ground plane are made of electrically Designs εr h d L W Ls Ws Bs F
conducting material, preferably copper. The ground plane Antenna 2.2 4.5 4.81 21.5 26.5 8.5 12 1.25 8.5
acts as a reflector of electromagnetic wave. The use of full A
ground plane ensures that the most of electromagnetic wave Antenna 2.2 4.5 4.81 21.5 26.5 8.5 12 2 8.5
being impinged on the conducting metal ground plane is B
reflected back. The use of full ground plane creates a
directional radiation pattern while the use of partial ground Antenna 4.3 4.5 5 24.5 26.5 8.5 12 1.2 8.5
plane would have created an omnidirectional radiation pattern. C
Coaxial probe feeding method has been used to feed the
antenna. A coaxial cable with characteristic impedance of 50 It is worth mentioning here that the optimum values of the
Ω, which matches to the input impedance of the patch antenna, parameters of the proposed antennas have been obtained by
has been used. The use of coaxial probe introduces inductance intense parametric study, which is basically based on
which is cancelled by the capacitance introduced by u-slot. simulation. Most of the significant characteristics of the u-slot
The u-slot patch antenna with dimensional variables is shown patch antenna have been firmly established by several
in Figure 1. The feeding mechanism of the proposed antenna experimental and simulation studies conducted by many
is illustrated in Figure 2. The inner conductor of SMA researchers across the world. But no empirical formula of its
connector is soldered to the patch and the outer conductor of design has been reported yet. Though empirical formulas for
SMA connector to the ground plane. The substrate is to be electrically thin substrates have been provided in a paper [4],
drilled carefully by a thin drilling bit to facilitate the insertion design formulas for thick substrates are yet to be discovered.
of the inner conductor of SMA connector. Drilling must be The proposed antennas in this paper have thick substrate with
done in appropriate feeding position as indicated in Figure 1. a thickness of 4.5 mm as seen from Table 1.

ISBN 978-89-5519-163-9 998 Feb. 19~22, 2012 ICACT2012

 III. SIMULATION RESULTS The return loss in 3.65 GHz of Antenna B is 18.68 dB
Simulations of the proposed antennas have been performed which also indicates a good impedance matching. Though the
in CST Microwave Studio (version 2010), a commercial return loss curve of Antenna B merely crosses 10 dB in 5.76
electromagnetic simulation software. Its simulation tool is GHz, the bandwidth of 5.76 GHz band is sufficient to
based on FIT (Finite Integration Technique). Numerous accommodate the bandwidth required for IEEE802.11a
simulations have been performed to confirm the results. Table standard. After calculation the bandwidth of 5.76 GHz band
2 shows some important results of the different designs of the comes out to be (5.92  5.60) GHz = 320 MHz.
proposed antennas. For brevity, only relevant results have By varying the u-slot broadness (Bs), the second resonance
been presented in this paper. frequency of the u-slot patch antenna can be shifted from 5.25
GHz band to 5.76 GHz band. It can also be shifted to 2.45
TABLE 2. SIMULATION RESULTS OF THE PROPOSED ANTENNAS GHz band as in the case of Antenna C. It should be noted that
Results Antenna A Antenna B Antenna C the first resonance frequency i.e. 3.65 GHz remains fixed in
all three designs. The placement of u-slot disturbs the surface
Resonance 3.65 GHz 3.65 GHz 2.45 GHz current in the patch, thus creating another band apart from the
Frequencies (−20.34 dB) (−18.68 dB) (−21.35dB) band created by the outer dimensions of the patch. The shift of
(|S11| dB) 5.25 GHz 5.76 GHz 3.65 GHz resonance occurs due to the altered electrical path travelled by
(−23.37 dB) (−13.17 dB) (−21.25 dB) the surface current when the u-slot broadness (Bs) is varied.
VSWR 1.21 1.26 1.18
The parameter S11 is also known as reflection coefficient,
(Resonance (3.65 GHz) (3.65 GHz) (2.45 GHz) generally denoted by Γ. It is a complex number having
Frequency) 1.13 1.56 1.18 magnitude and phase angle. Knowing the magnitude of Γ can
(5.25 GHz) (5.76 GHz) (3.65 GHz) be useful because the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR)
can be calculated using it by the following equation [15],
Gain 6.62 dB 6.66 dB 5.28 dB
(Resonance (3.65 GHz) (3.65 GHz) (2.45 GHz) 1 + |Γ| 1 + | |
Frequency) 6.34 dB 6.44 dB 3.73 dB = = (3)
(5.25 GHz) (5.76 GHz) (3.65 GHz) 1 − |Γ| 1 − | |

Directivity 7.55 dBi 7.55 dBi 6.24 dBi

Figure 4 illustrates the VSWR plot of the proposed
(Resonance (3.65 GHz) (3.65 GHz) (2.45 GHz)
antennas. As expected, Antenna B has the largest VSWR
Frequency) 7.49 dBi 7.61 dBi 6.44 dBi
value 1.56 at 5.76 GHz because of inferior impedance
(5.25 GHz) (5.76 GHz) (3.65 GHz)
matching as compared to the other two designs. The VSWR
values of Antenna A and C are quite decent. Notice that the
The return loss plot of the antennas is illustrated in Figure 3. VSWR value at 3.65 GHz in all the designs does not show
Each sharp dip of the curve crossing 10 dB is representing a much variation. Its values at 3.65 GHz are 1.21, 1.26 and 1.18
frequency band. Both Antenna A and C have good impedance in Antenna A, B and C respectively.
matching because their return loss is less than 20 dB in all
resonance frequencies. Antenna A Antenna B Antenna C
15
14
Antenna A Antenna B Antenna C
13
12
0
11
10
-5
9
VSWR
|S11|, dB

8
-10
7
6
-15 5
4
-20 3
2
-25 1
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 0
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Frequency, GHz
Frequency, GHz
Figure 3. Return loss plot of the proposed antennas Figure 4. VSWR vs. frequency plot of the proposed antennas

ISBN 978-89-5519-163-9 999 Feb. 19~22, 2012 ICACT2012

 The gain and directivity plots are shown in Figure 5 and The polar radiation patterns of Antenna A, B and C are
Figure 6 respectively. The values of these two quantities are shown in Figure 7, Figure 8 and Figure 9 respectively. These
lower in Antenna C and they have been improved in Antenna figures basically illustrate the power patterns plotted between
A and B. Although the directivity has improved slightly form θ, the elevation angle of spherical coordinate system and the
6.44 dBi to 7.55 dBi, the gain has improved significantly from power field. The polar patterns in these figures are shown in
3.73 dB to 6.6 dB in 3.65 GHz band. Four parameters, namely the elevation plane i.e. ɸ=90, where ɸ is the azimuth angle of
substrate dielectric constant (εr), distance of the u-slot form spherical coordinate system.
lower edge of the patch (d), length of the patch (L) and u-slot The proposed antennas are directional in nature and
broadness (Bs) were varied to accomplish this improvement. maximum radiation occurs at the top of the patch. The main
Basically, lowering the substrate dielectric constant (εr) from lobe containing the maximum power is pointed above the
4.3 in Antenna C to 2.2 in Antenna A and B is a significant patch. The precise direction of the main lobe has been
reason of this improvement. As expected, further significant provided below each plot. It has been indicated by the thick
improvement can be made by using air or foam substrate purple line in the polar plots. The 3 dB angular width, also
whose dielectric constant (εr) is 1. But as mentioned earlier, known as half power beamwidth, in the elevation plane is
using air or foam substrate is not convenient for practical mentioned under each polar plot. It is indicated as the angle
patch antenna design. between the two thin blue lines in the polar plots. As the
directivity of the antenna increases, the half power beamwidth
decreases. Therefore, the main lobe of the antenna becomes
Antenna A Antenna B Antenna C
narrower. All the antennas have good radiation pattern as seen
7
from the polar plots.
6

4
Gain, dB

3
2

1
0

-1
-2
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 2 2
θ vs. Power Field (dBW/m ) θ vs. Power Field (dBW/m )
Frequency, GHz Main lobe direction = 0 Main lobe direction = −12
Angular Width (3 dB) = 83.1 Angular Width (3 dB) = 76.3
Figure 5. Gain vs. frequency plot of the proposed antennas (a) (b)

Figure 7. Polar radiation pattern of antenna A (a) 3.65 GHz (b) 5.25 GHz
Antenna A Antenna B Antenna C
8

6
Directivity, dBi

1 2 2
θ vs. Power Field (dBW/m ) θ vs. Power Field (dBW/m )
0 Main lobe direction = 1 Main lobe direction = −11
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 Angular Width (3 dB) = 83.3 Angular Width (3 dB) = 75.4
(a) (b)
Frequency, GHz

Figure 6. Directivity vs. frequency plot of the proposed antennas Figure 8. Polar radiation pattern of antenna B (a) 3.65 GHz (b) 5.76 GHz

ISBN 978-89-5519-163-9 1000 Feb. 19~22, 2012 ICACT2012

 characteristics as pointed out in this paper. Even though this
paper presents simulation based results, the use of CST
Microwave Studio software for simulation ensures that there
would not be large discrepancies between the simulated and
measured results in case the proposed antennas are fabricated
and measured. Being a powerful and commercial software,
CST Microwave Studio is capable of delivering accurate
simulation results. Besides, numerous simulations have been
performed to confirm the results and the accuracy settings of
the software have been carefully set up to minimize the
approximation errors.
2 2
θ vs. Power Field (dBW/m ) θ vs. Power Field (dBW/m )
Main lobe direction = 1 Main lobe direction = −12 REFERENCES
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[2] T. Huynh, K. F. Lee, "Single-layer single-patch wideband microstrip
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rectangular patch antenna on a microwave substrate", IEEE Trans.
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ISBN 978-89-5519-163-9 1001 Feb. 19~22, 2012 ICACT2012

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