Arrays of Patch Antenna using Log Periodic Property

Megha Dadel
1
, Shweta Srivastava
2



1
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering,

Birla Institute of Technology Ext. Centre, Patna, Bihar, India
manasimoon@gmail.com

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering,
Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India-835215
shwetasri_76@rediffmail.com




Abstract: Inset fed rectangular and triangular microstrip
arrays have been designed using log periodic property
for three and five elements. The antenna elements and
the feeding network have been designed using Matlab
programs. The simulation, fabrication and testing of the
arrays have been carried out. The results are compared
showing better frequency independent behavior by the
five element array which is also proved by the
experimental results.

Keywords-log periodic antenna; rectangular patch antenna;
triangular patch; array antennas;

I. INTRODUCTION
A microstrip patch antenna is a narrowband, wide-
beam antenna fabricated by etching the antenna element
pattern in metal trace bonded to an insulating dielectric
substrate with a continuous metal layer bonded to the
opposite side of the substrate which forms the ground
plane[1] .
Patch arrays can provide much higher gain than a
single patch at a little additional cost; matching and phase
adjustment can be performed with printed microstrip feed
structures. It is relatively easy to print an array of patches on
a single large substrate using lithographic techniques. The
ability to create high gain arrays in a low-profile antenna is
one reason that patch arrays are common on airplanes and in
other military applications[2].
In this paper three element and five element log
periodic antennas using inset fed rectangular and triangular
microstrip patches have been analyzed and a comparison
between them have been done to get an optimum frequency
independent antenna.

II. THEORETICAL DESIGN

Log-Periodic antenna has a structural geometry such
that its impedance and radiation characteristics repeat
periodically as the logarithm of frequency. Because of its
operation in multi octave bandwidths, it is also called a
frequency independent antenna. The geometry of a
frequency independent antenna is a multiplicity of adjoining
cells.

The dimensions are scaled relative to the adjacent patch by
a factor which remains constant throughout. The mth and
the (m+1)th cells are related to each other by the
equation[3,4]:

m
m
m
m
m
m
I
I
W
W
L
L
1 1 1 + + +
= = =
(1)

Where, L,W,I and are the patch length, the width, the
inset and the scale factor respectively. The value of scale
factor lies between 0.7 and 0.98. In the present endeavour,
is taken to be 0.9 [5].

Taking the logarithm,

|
.
|

\
|
=
+

1
ln ) ln( ) ln(
1 m m
f f
m=1,2,3,.. (2)
Hence, the performance of the array repeats or is periodic
in the ln(f) domain. The width of the feed line has been
calculated. The various relations that have been used to
calculate the widths of the feed line are shown below[6]:

} / 4 1
/ ln{
2
2
1
u
u F Z
re
o
o
+
+ =

(3)

where,
h W u
u F
o
/
120
) / 666 . 30 ( exp{ ) 6 2 ( 6
7528 . 0
1
=
=
+ =



and
ab
r r
re
u

|
.
|

\
|
+

+
+
=
10
1
2
1
2
1

(4)
where,
2011 IEEE International RF and Microwave Conference (RFM 2011), 12th - 14th December 2011, Seremban, Malaysia
978-1-4577-1631-7/$26.00 2011 Crown 363

|
.
|

\
|
+ +

+
|
.
|

\
|
+
+ =
3
4
2
4
1 . 18
1 ln
7 . 18
1
432 . 0
52
ln
49
1
1
u
u
u
u
a
053 . 0
3 . 0
9 . 0
564 . 0
|
|
.
|

\
|
+

=
r
r
b

]}
61 . 0
39 . 0 ) 1 [ln(
2
1
) 1 2 ln( 1 {
2
r r
r
B
B B
h
W

+ =
(5)
where
r o
r r
r r o
Z
B
Z
A

2
2 / 1
60
11 . 0
23 . 0
1
1
2
1
60
=
)
`

+
+

+
)
`

+
=

III. DESIGN DETAILS OF RECTANGULAR
AND TRIANGULAR PATCHES

A single patch is designed for a frequency of
5.2 GHz on FR4 (Dielectric constant:4.4, Substrate thickness
(h):1.6 mm and Loss tangent: 0.01). Later on, the
dimensions are scaled by the scaling factor. The length and
width of the patch have been calculated using the following
equations [7]:
1
2
2
2
+
=
=
r
r
fr
c
W
fr
c
L

(6 )

Zin is calculated using the equivalent network model for
microstrip antenna. Inset feed introduces a physical notch in
the patch wherein the microstrip line is connected to obtain
good matching. The inset microstrip feed is used
extensively in the integrated microstrip antennas. The input
impedance for the inset-feed is given approximately by the
equation as shown[7] :
(7)

where, y
o
is a recessed distance from the width of the patch.
The triangular patch antenna is selected for its compact
size and better performance than a simple square patch
antenna. The design equations for the side length a and
effective side length of triangular patch are shown below
as[6]:
(
(

|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ + + =
=
2 2
1
802 . 9 182 . 6 436 . 16 853 . 12 199 . 2 1
3
2
a
h
a
h
a
h
a
h
a
h
a a
a
c
f
r r r
e
r e
r

(8)
where c is the velocity of light ,f
r
is the resonant frequency
and
r
is permittivity of the dielectric substrate used.

IV. SIMULATED RESULTS OF
RECTANGULAR AND TRIANGULAR
PATCHES

Initially, a single element patch was designed. The
length and width of the patch are 13.8mm and 17.6mm
respectively. Inset feed at y
o
=4.9mm. The width of 50
microstrip feed line is 3mm. The antenna is simulated in
IE3D method of moments software from Zeland and the
results are obtained. Later, three element and five element
arrays were designed and simulated.


Fig 1 Three Element and five element Rectangular Antenna Array.



Fig.2 Simulated result of Return loss vs Frequency of Three and Five -
element log periodic rectangular antenna array


Fig 3 Three and five Element log periodic triangular Antenna Array.

-20
-19
-18
-17
-16
-15
-14
-13
-12
-11
-10
-9
-8
-7
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
S11 (3 element)
S11 (5 element)
S11
(dB)
Frequency (GHz)
) ( cos ) 0 ( ) (
2
o in o in
y
L
y Z y y Z

= = =
2011 IEEE International RF and Microwave Conference (RFM 2011), 12th - 14th December 2011, Seremban, Malaysia
364



Fig.4 Simulated result of Return loss vs Frequency of Three and Five -
element log periodic triangular antenna array

V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

The simulations show good results and an
improvement in the performance of the antenna as we
increase the number of elements. To further justify the
results the three element and five element array antennas
were fabricated using photolithography and then tested on a
Vector Network Analyser.



Fig. 5 Fabricated three element and five element rectangular array
antenna.

The testing results have been shown in the following graphs.



Fig. 6 Return Loss Vs Frequency for three element
rectangular antenna array




Fig. 7 Return Loss Vs Frequency for five element
rectangular antenna array

Fig. 8 Return Loss Vs Frequency for three element triangular
antenna array


Fig. 9 Return Loss Vs Frequency for five element triangular
antenna array


-26
-24
-22
-20
-18
-16
-14
-12
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
5Tri arr
3 tri arr
Frequency (GHz)
S11
(dB)
2011 IEEE International RF and Microwave Conference (RFM 2011), 12th - 14th December 2011, Seremban, Malaysia
365




Fig.10 Experimental result of Return loss vs Frequency for Three and Five
- element log periodic rectangular antenna array




Fig. 11 Fabricated three element and five element triangular array
antenna.



Fig.12 Experimental result of Return loss vs Frequency for Three and Five
- element log periodic triangular antenna array




Fig.13 Simulated and Experimental result of Return loss vs Frequency for
three - element log periodic rectangular and triangular
antenna arrays








Fig.14 Simulated and Experimental result of Return loss vs Frequency for
Five - element log periodic rectangular and triangular
antenna arrays


TABLE 1

Comparative Table between three element and five element
rectangular and triangular array

-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
3 Rect
5 Rect

S11
(dB)
Frequency(GHz)
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
S11 (3 ele tri)
S11 (5 ele tri)
Frequency (GHz)
S11
(dB)
-50
-45
-40
-35
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Frequency(GHz)
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Exp 3rect
Sim3rect
Exp 3tri
Sim3tri
-35
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Frequency(GHz)
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Sim5 rect Sim5Tri Exp 5Tri Exp 5rect
2011 IEEE International RF and Microwave Conference (RFM 2011), 12th - 14th December 2011, Seremban, Malaysia
366



Results
Three
element
rectangul
ar array
Five
element
rectangul
ar array
Three
element
Triangula
r array
Five
element
Triangula
r array

Gain(dBi)

5.87

6.98


4.81

7.7

Freq(GHz)


4.944

5.44

7.86

8.37



Discussion of results:

For three element array (Fig. 2) the antenna resonates at
three frequencies (4.95 GHz, 6.2 GHz, and 8.2 GHz) and for
five element antenna (Fig. 2) the resonances have increased
to 5 points (4.95 GHz, 5.95 GHz, 7.88 GHz, 8.85 GHz and
9.8 GHz).
The simulated results of triangular arrays(Fig. 4) shows
resonance at five different frequencies(6.08GHz, 6.7GHz,
8GHz, 8.8GHz,10GHz,) for three element array and six
frequencies(4.9GHz, 7.8GHz, 8.6FHz, 9.4GHZ,
10.49GHz,10.81GHz) for five element array. The
experimental results also almost justify the simulated results;
slight variation may be due to some fabrication errors.
From the results it is understood that as we increase
the number of elements in the antenna it shows frequency
independent behavior and it can operate at more number of
frequencies. From Table 1 it is clear that the maximum
antenna gain is 5.87 dBi for three element and 6.98 dBi for
five element rectangular patch antenna. The maximum
antenna gain is 4.81 dBi for three element and 7.7 dBi for
five element triangular patch antenna. This shows a
considerable enhancement in gain of the antenna on
increasing the number of elements.
The experimental results show a good match with the
simulated results and at some point they are better than the
simulations. The range of operating frequency for three
element and five element antenna is slightly different, i.e., it
increases in some regions and decreases in some regions but
still the increase in gain is very significant in five element
triangular patch antenna.


CONCLUSION

It can be concluded that a high gain log periodic
antenna using rectangular and triangular patches is designed
and tested. It is clear that as we increased the number of
patches the gain increased and also the antenna exhibits
better frequency independent behavior. From the discussions
and comparisons the log periodic antenna with five
triangular patches exhibited the best results.

REFERENCES

[1] K. R. Carver and J. W. Mink, Microstrip antenna technology,
IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagation., vol. AP29, pp. 2- 24,
Jan.1981.
[2] R. J. Mailloux, J. F. Mclenna, and N. P. Kernweis, Microstrip array
technology, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagation., vol. AP-29, pp.
25- 37, Jan. 1981
[3] Mohamad Kamal A. Rahim, Active Log Periodic Antenna, Jurnal
Teknologi, 46(D) Jun 2007, pp 1734.
[4] M. K. A. Rahim and P. Gardner, Design of Nine Element Quasi Micro
strip Log Periodic Antenna, 2004 RF and Microwave Conference,
October 5-6, Subang, Selangor, Malaysia, pp 132-135.
[5] A. K. Gautam, Antenna and Wave Propagation, S.K. Kataria and
Sons, 2010 Edition.
[6] Ramesh Garg, Microstrip Antenna Design Handbook, Prakash
Bhartia Publications, 2000 Edition.
[7] Constantine A. Balanis, Antenna Theory Analysis and Design,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Second Edition.





2011 IEEE International RF and Microwave Conference (RFM 2011), 12th - 14th December 2011, Seremban, Malaysia
367