1131 ACES JOURNAL, Vol. 33, No.

10, October 2018

Design and Implementation of a Quad Element Patch Antenna at 5.8 GHz

Mohammad R. Sobhani 1, Negar Majidi 2, and Şehabeddin T. Imeci 3

1
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2W3, Canada
[email protected]
2
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Özyeğin University, Istanbul, Çekmeköy 34794, Turkey
[email protected]
3
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
International University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo 71210, Bosnia and Herzegovina
[email protected]

Abstract ─ This paper presents simulation and microwave band frequencies. The small features of these
experimental verification of a quad microstrip patch devices and feasibility of fabrication on the same
antenna that operates at 5.8 GHz. Sonnet antenna design electrical board, increases the demand of patch antennas
software was used to simulate the performance of the for of grid sensor and energy harvesting applications too,
antenna. To reduce the design’s complexity and the as providing the energy to a sensor operating in harsh
computational load, the antenna and the feeding lines environment is important [4-7].
were simulated separately. An optimization was done for Literately, when the microstrip patch antenna is
each subpart to get the optimum desired results. Finally, excited, the electrical charges are accumulated at the
all the subparts were merged and the final structure was edges of the patches. These electrical charges make
simulated to check the performance. A prototype of the curved fringing fields and therefore these fields at the
antenna was fabricated on a double-sided PCB substrate edges of the microstrip antenna generate electromagnetic
(relative permittivity=10.2, thickness=1.28 mm) using a radiation [8, 9]. Therefore, the parameters such as
PCB milling machine. The S11 of -14 dB and -18.8 dB frequency, input impedance and gain of the antenna
and maximum gain of 6.2 dB and 4.2 dB were obtained, depend on the geometrical shape and the feeding type as
from the simulation and experimental measurements, well as the physical properties of the substrate [10].
respectively. The frequency band of 5.8 GHz is especially
important for high speed Wi-Fi routers, FPV (First
Index Terms ─ 2x2 Microstrip Patch Antenna, 5.8 GHz Person View) applications like remote controlling and
Antenna, Quad Microstrip Patch Antenna. online streaming where the transmitter could be placed
in a remotely controlled device where antennas with
I. INTRODUCTION smaller dimensions and profile are desirable.
An antenna is a transducer that converts voltage and This paper represents a designed and fabricated
current on a transmission line into an electromagnetic antenna to operate at 5.8 GHz, optimizing all the
wave and to transmit and receive data wirelessly. geometrical shape and feeding lines of a 2x2 array. For
Antennas are a crucial component of all types of wireless the antenna, the architecture presented in [11, 12] was
devices and technologies that we use everyday and used where a 2x2 array of microstrip patch antennas
almost everywhere. were simulated. The shape and feeding lines were
Nowadays, microstrip patch antennas are frequently changed and redesigned to operate the antenna at 5.8
used in telecommunication products like Wireless Local GHz. An inset-fed feeding method was chosen which
Area Networks (WLAN), cellphones, Global Positioning provides an effortless way of impedance control [13-15].
Systems (GPS), and in many other technologies due to
their low cost, low profile, light weight, and easiness of II. DESIGN CONSEDIRATION
fabrication and integration [1-3]. Because the size of the The design of the antenna array was started by
microstrip antennas are directly related to wavelength choosing the suitable patch shape of the antenna. The
of resonance frequencies they are typically used at rectangular patch shape antenna was chosen because it

Submitted On: September 29, 2018

Accepted On: October 12, 2018 1054-4887 © ACES
SOBHANI, MAJIDI, IMECI: QUAD ELEMENT PATCH ANTENNA AT 5.8 GHZ 1132

simplifies the analysis and numerical calculations. The The last optimization was done to adjust the
single path antenna was designed with input impedance dimensions of the whole antenna to reach the lowest
of 100 Ohm on a substrate with high εr of 10.2 and reflection coefficient as much as possible. The final
thickness of 1.28 mm (ROGERS, RO3010) to operate at dimensions of the antenna are shown in Table 1. Figure
5.8 GHz. The single patch antenna was simulated in 2 shows the fabricated antenna using drilling machine.
SONNET and the inset feed’s parameters were adjusted
to obtain lowest input reflection coefficient as much as
possible.
As a start point, the patches were simulated with
inset feeds. The simulations were started with known
theoretical equations for the rectangular single patch
antenna. The dimensions and the feed lines were
optimized using Sonnet Suite. Then 4 of these single
patch antennas were combined through feed lines and the
central input via. A 100 mm thick of air layer was added
during the Sonnet simulations such that the whole antenna
was placed in a 100 x 400 x 300 mm insulation box.
Separately, the feed line for an array of 2 by 2
antennas was simulated where 100 Ohm resistors were
connected to end of the lines. Finally, all the components
were merged and connected to each other and the (a)
parameters were swept to get the lowest S11. Figure 1
shows the geometry of the 2x2 microstrip patch antenna
that was designed in this paper.

(b)

Fig. 2. Prototype of the designed antenna on the RO3010

substrate using drilling machine: (a) front view and (b)
back view.
Fig. 1. Proposed 2x2 microstrip patch antenna with via Table 1: Dimensions of the proposed antenna
feeding. The antenna was put inside a box with multiple
Uppercase Dimensions (mm)
times of the antenna’s exact size (box size of 400 x 300
mm and air height of 100 mm on top of it). W = 10.5
Rectangular patch
L = 7.5
The input port of the antenna was a via placed at the G=1
center as shown in the Fig. 1. The input was coupled to Inset feed Lf = 1.5
the antenna patches through a 2 stage Binomial feeding Wc = 1
line to achieve good impedance matching. Dimensions Quarter_L1 = 5.2
of the patch antennas were calculated using analytical Quarter_W1 = 1
equations and then few optimizations were done to get Microstrip feed line Quarter_L2 = 5.6
the optimum dimensions. In order to reduce the proposed Quarter_W2 = 4.4
antenna size, a substrate with high εr of 10.2 with thickness In = 2.8
of 1.28 (ROGERS, RO3010) was used for the simulations Vertic. gap = 12.6
Other parameters
and the prototype. Horiz. gap = 15.5
1133 ACES JOURNAL, Vol. 33, No. 10, October 2018

III. RESULTS
Based on the results obtained from simulations
by SONNET, the maximum gain of 6.2 dB on the side
lobes, and the input reflection coefficient of -14 dB
were achieved at the operation frequency of 5.8 GHz.
Obtaining these satisfying results from the simulations
made the fabrication to start for prototype antenna.
The antenna was fabricated on the specified substrate
(ROGERS, RO3010) as shown in Fig. 2. A 50 Ohm
female socket was soldered from back side of the antenna.
The antenna was sent to another facility to perform the
practical measurements by an expert. The measurements
for the prototype antenna and the simulation results are
shown in Fig. 3. There is a good agreement between the
measurements and the simulations. However, the slightly
differences can be attributed to the inaccuracies during Fig. 4. Current density of the antenna operating at 5.8
the fabrication and measurement process. The used GHz in JXY Magnitude (Amps/Meter).
substrate has a soft dielectric layer and it is not good to
be fabricated by drilling machine. IV. CONCLUSION
In this work, a 2x2 microstrip patch antenna was
designed and fabricated at 5.8 GHz that only occupies
2.7 cm by 3.6 cm. The design was done somehow to
obtain the low S11 as much as possible. The measured
gain of 4.2 dB and S11 of -18.8 dB were obtained for
the antenna. There is a good agreement between results
obtained by measurements and simulations. However,
the slight differences between the simulation and
measurements are due to the inaccuracy of the drilling
machine that was used to build the antenna. Inaccuracy
in the directivity gain may come from slightly shifted
(a) mounting of the antenna on the chunk. Also, from
fabricated errors which introduces nonsymmetric shapes
to the array.
To keep the computational load as low as possible,
only a few parameters were contributed in the parameters
sweep. However, the results can be further optimized
by using high performance workstations to execute the
sequential optimization algorithms and manipulation of
all possible parameters to obtain the optimum dimensions.
Also, a precise antenna can be fabricated using
laser-based fabrication methods. This will further reduce
(b) the error of fabrication and prevent of dielectric layers
peeling off.
Fig. 3. Comparison of measurement and simulation
results: (a) directivity gain of the antenna and (b) input ACKNOWLEDGMENT
reflection coefficients. The authors would like to thank Mert Karaca from
Ozyegin University who has assisted us during the antenna
A simulation for the current density over the antenna fabrication, and Omer Yilmaz and Fatma Zengin from
patches also was done as illustrated in Fig. 4. The TUBITAK for performing the practical measurements.
microstrip patch antennas emit electromagnetic waves at
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of a 2x2 microstrip patch antenna array for the B.Sc. degree in Electronics and
WLAN/MIMO application,” 2009 International Communications Engineering from
Conference on Emerging Trends in Electronic and Yildiz Technical University, Istan-
Photonic Devices & Systems (ELECTRO-2009), bul, Turkey in 1993, and the
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Computer and Information Science, July 2013. ersity, Istanbul Turkey in 2014, respectively. Imeci was
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