IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation

Research Article

Optimised 4 × 4 millimetre-wave antenna array ISSN 1751-8725

Received on 4th November 2016
Revised 11th April 2017
with DGS using hybrid ECFO-NM algorithm Accepted on 25th May 2017
E-First on 8th August 2017
for 5G mobile networks doi: 10.1049/iet-map.2016.0959
www.ietdl.org

Korany R. Mahmoud1,2 , Ahmed M. Montaser3

1Department of Electronics, Communications, and Computers, Faculty of Engineering, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt
2National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Giza, Egypt
3Electrical Engineering Department, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt

E-mail: kurany_hameda@h-eng.helwan.edu.eg

Abstract: A novel optimised 4 × 4 microstrip patch antenna array operating in the 28−38 GHz frequency range for fifth
generation mobile networks is presented. The proposed structure is fed by the corporate feed network printed on the same side
of the substrate. To improve the array radiation characteristics, a defected ground plane structure (DGS), which acts as coupled
c-shaped in the ground plane, is used. The dimensions of the antenna array structure are optimised using a new hybrid
approach involving the enhanced central force optimisation (ECFO) and Nelder–Mead (NM) algorithms. To illustrate the
convergence capability of the ECFO-NM algorithm, the results are compared with those obtained using stand-alone ECFO and
particle swarm optimisation algorithms. The results show the effect of DGS on the antenna performance characteristics, i.e. the
radiation efficiency and return loss are improved, on average, by ∼17.14 and 69.2%, respectively. Furthermore, the realised
antenna gain was increased by 2.44 dBi with a negligible effect on the half-power beamwidth. The optimised antenna array
yielded a broadband impedance bandwidth higher than 32% for a reflection coefficient lower than −12 dB and a total realised
gain of up to 18.65 dBi, which makes it suitable for imaging applications and millimetre-wave wireless communications.

1 Introduction antenna array achieved an antenna gain of 14.71 dBi and −18.81 

In recent times, the discrepancy between spectrum shortage and
capacity requirements has become increasingly eminent due to the
explosive growth of mobile traffic demand. The bottleneck of
wireless bandwidth becomes a key problem of the next generation
of mobile networks (fifth generation – 5G). However, there is a
vast bandwidth available in the millimetre wave (mmWave) band
ranging from 30 to 300 GHz. Thus, mmWave communications
have been proposed to be an important part of the 5G mobile
network to provide multi-gigabit communication services [1, 2]. In
an effort to globally align the standardisation of mmWave
frequencies, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
released a list of the proposed globally applicable frequencies
between 24 and 86 GHz (24.25–27.5, 31.8–33.4, 37–40.5, and
40.5–42.5 GHz) [3]. In addition, the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that
proposed new flexible service rules among the 28, 37, 39, and 64–
71 GHz bands [4].
The short wavelength at mmWave frequencies allows creating
compact antenna structures and enables the use of a large number
of antenna elements in small dimensions, which is convenient for
integration in smart phones, wireless LAN bridges, and tablets. In
addition, high-gain mmWave antenna arrays enable multi-
gigabits/sec transmissions over exemplary indoor distances. There
have been various reports in the open literature of mmWave
antennas achieving effective operation at one or more of the 5G
bands. In [5], broadband and 28/38 GHz dual-band printed slot/
monopole antennas are presented. The designed broadband antenna
had an impedance of −10 dB starting from 20 GHz up to >40 GHz
with an average gain of 4 dBi, whereas the dual band antenna had a
gain of 3.5 and 4.5 dBi at 28 and 38 GHz, respectively. However,
to overcome the path loss caused by the atmospheric absorption of
electromagnetic waves at higher frequencies, there is a need for
designing antenna arrays in order to achieve a higher gain.
Therefore, various works related to designing 5G antennas/arrays
have been recently published [6–10]. Recently, a 1 × 7 microstrip
linear antenna array with parasitic patches in the 28 GHz sub-
millimetre-wave frequency band was designed [6]. The designed
dB side-lobe level (SLL) at 28 GHz. In [7, 8], the design of a four
element dual-band antenna/array operating at 28 and 38 GHz is
presented. In [7], the dual-band substrate integrated waveguide
antenna/array designed to achieve a maximum gain of 11.9 and
11.2 dBi at 28 and 38 GHz, respectively. Similarly, in [8], the
results of the printed slot antenna array designed to show a stable
gain with a value of 10.58 dBi in the first band at 28 GHz and
12.15 dBi in the second band at 38 GHz. However, these different
designs presented in [6–8] addressed only single or dual-band
antenna arrays. Therefore, the design of broadband and high gain
four-element antenna arrays with an electromagnetic bandgap
(EBG) ground structure-feeding network was proposed in [9, 10].
In [9], the proposed broadband four-element tapered slot antenna
array exhibited stable end-fire radiation characteristics within the
operating frequency band ranging from 28 to 38 GHz. The array
design parameters were tuned to achieve a 20 dBi gain at 30 GHz,
and an impedance bandwidth that covers the entire band but at the
expense of increasing the design's dimensions and complexity.
Consequently, a new dense dielectric (DD) patch array antenna
prototype with an EBG ground structure is presented in [10]. It was
found that the measured impedance bandwidth of the DD patch
array antenna ranged from 27 GHz to more than 32 GHz for a
reflection coefficient of less than 10 dB. However, this array
structure suffers from high design complexity, since the antenna
array consists of multiple layers, which also decreases radiation
efficiency. Designing an mmWave antenna array involves reducing
the mutual coupling between adjacent radiating elements. Mutual
coupling reduction accordingly increases the system's overall
performance, resulting in higher gain efficiency [11]. Defected
ground structure (DGS) is one of the most common techniques that
has been applied between the antenna array radiating elements to
reduce the coupling effects [12]. DGS has been widely used in
filters, coplanar waveguides, microwave amplifiers, and antennas
to improve their performance. It has the advantages of reducing the
size of components, enhancing the operating bandwidth and gain,
and suppressing higher order harmonics and unwanted cross-
polarisation (X-pol) [13, 14]. The defected ground structure has
taken many proposed shapes and dimensions depending on the

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operating frequency, the bandwidth, and the required application
[15–17]. In [15], the c-shaped slot was used in the partial ground
plane for its notch filtering characteristics at the 5–6 GHz
frequency range. Various couplings of the c-shaped slot etched in
ground plane structures were studied in [16] for the design of
cross-coupled resonator filters. In addition, different external
coupling mechanisms using a c-shaped slot in the ground plane
were investigated in [17].
In the last few decades, many optimisation techniques have
been performed successfully in the field of antenna design, such as
genetic algorithm [18, 19], particle swarm optimisation (PSO) [20–
22], bacterial swarm optimisation (BSO) [23], and central force
optimisation (CFO) [24]. In [15], different optimisation techniques
such as PSO, BSO, and CFO were considered in order to design an
E-shaped patch antenna for Bluetooth/notched UWB applications.
To improve the convergence capability of these optimisation
techniques, many hybrid algorithms have been proposed to
synthesise both algorithms’ strengths [25–27]. The main idea is to
integrate the ability of exploitation of a global optimisation
algorithm with the ability of exploration of another algorithm. In
[25, 26], a simple Nelder–Mead (NM) algorithm, which is a local
optimisation technique, was used along with a global BSO
algorithm in order to explore the search space for the design of a
bow-tie antenna for 2.45 GHz and a hexa-band planar inverted F-
antenna, respectively. In [27], a hybrid approach involving CFO
and NM algorithms for accurately determining the resonant
frequency and performing the feed-point calculation of rectangular
microstrip antenna elements with various dimensions and various
substrate thicknesses is presented. Recently, a novel deterministic
framework of CFO, called dynamic threshold optimisation (DTO)
was proposed in [28] to be an effective technique for adaptively
changing the topology of the decision space in a multidimensional
search and optimisation problem.
In this study, a novel broadband millimetre-wave microstrip
patch antenna array is proposed to resonate from 28 to 38 GHz for
a matched input impedance (Zin) of 50 Ω. The array antenna
dimensions were optimised using a new hybrid approach involving
enhanced CFO (ECFO) based on the DTO approach and the NM
algorithm. Our results will be compared with those obtained using
stand-alone ECFO and a well-known PSO algorithm to show the
convergence capability of the proposed technique. In addition, an
appropriate defected ground plane structure is introduced to
enhance the resonant frequencies and bandwidth of the antenna
array. The proposed design was analysed completely using CST
Microwave Studio and linked with the ECFO-NM algorithm,
coded in MATLAB, to optimise the antenna dimensions. Finally,
our results are compared with those obtained using the finite-
difference time-domain (FDTD) program written in MATLAB and
with the measured results to verify the validity of the numerical
simulations.
The remaining of this paper is organised as follows. Section 2
provides a brief literature overview of the proposed hybrid ECFO-
NM algorithm. In Section 3, the description of proposed antenna
array configuration is explained. In Section 4, the simulated and
measured results are presented and discussed. Lastly, Section 5
contains the general conclusions of this paper.
2 Hybrid ECFO-NM algorithm
The goal of any optimisation technique is to formulate an efficient
method to navigate through a large parameter space in order to find
the best set of values. One of the approaches to improve the
performance of global optimisation techniques is to limit the
parameter's decision space (DS) range. In [24], their developed
improved CFO algorithm includes an adaptive strategy that
periodically shrinks the DS around the probe with the best fitness
by making the independent variable's domain shrink from the
‘sides’ to improve convergence rate. The study is based on
determining where along the diagonal of the orthogonal plane the
probe array should be placed (γbest) by selecting the best value of
parameter γ, which starts from 0 and can go up to 1 in increments
of 0.1. This means excessive runs should be performed first for
each optimised problem to determine its corresponding γbest.
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Therefore, in [27], the DS size is adaptively reduced around the
probe's location with the best fitness after every kth step, in which
the DS's boundary coordinates are halved in a coordinate-by-
coordinate basis.
Recently, an effective technique for adaptively ‘compressing’
the DS named dynamic threshold optimisation (DTO) was
presented in [28]. This approach was based on compressing the DS
from below in the direction of the dependent variable using a series
of successively increasing ‘thresholds’, instead of shrinking the DS
as in [24, 27]. Bounding the DS from below removes local
maxima, and as the threshold, or ‘floor’, is increased, more and
more local maxima are eliminated. In [28], DTO was applied to
Schwefel's problem in 2 and 30 dimensions using CFO. The
DTO/CFO algorithm returned a best overall fitness with an error of
2.688×10−5%. In DTO, the threshold value (T) is subsequently
updated by applying the following auxiliary function:
g x = f x − Tk − 1 ⋅ U f x − Tk − 1 + Tk − 1 (1)
where U[ . ] is the unit step function. Thus, for f x ≥ T,
g x = f x , whereas for f x < T, g x = T. DTO was
implemented with a P number of passes with a progressively
increasing threshold until a user-specified termination criterion was
met. On each successive pass, DTO changes the topology of the
decision space being searched as follows:
Cthk
T k = Fmin + Fbest − Fmin (2)
P
where k = 1, …, P (no threshold applied for k = 0), and Fbest and
Fmin are the best and worst overall fitnesses returned after pass k,
respectively. The coefficient Cth was set to 0.98 [28]. In this paper,
CFO exponents α = β = 2, the reposition factor Frep was set to 0.5,
and the gravitational constant Go = 1 [24, 27–29].
Once the global optima are found using the ECFO algorithm,
the NM local optimisation technique [30] is performed to increase
exploitation ability. The NM method thus falls in the general class
of direct search methods. It is based on the comparison of the
function values at the (D + 1) vertices for D-dimensional decision
variables. The simplex method has essentially four possible steps
during each iteration: reflection, contraction in one dimension,
contraction around the low vertex, and expansion. Four scalar
parameters must be specified to define a complete NM method:
coefficients of reflection (ρ), expansion (χ), contraction (γ), and
shrinkage (σ). The nearly universally selected values used in the
standard NM algorithm are ρ = 1, χ = 2, γ = 0.5, and σ = 0.5 [30].
The main steps of the ECFO-NM algorithm are summarised in the
flowchart shown in Fig. 1.
3 Antenna array geometry and configuration
Fig. 2 shows a schematic of the structure of the proposed 4 × 4
microstrip patch array antenna, in which each single element
consists of three radial stub-like patches with a tapering towards
the outer end. This geometry was designed and constructed on a
50 × 50 mm2 Rogers® Duroid™ RT5880 with a 0.508 mm
substrate thickness, relative permittivity ɛr = 2.2, and loss tangent
tanδ = 0.0009. In the proposed design, the spacing between every
two elements is 0.75λ in both the x and y directions. Other array
antenna parameters will be optimised within the assigned decision
spaces, as summarised in Table 1. The inset impedance of the
antenna was chosen to be 50 Ω for constructing a corporate feed
network; this corporate feed network is utilised for power division
between antenna elements. In this paper, a microstrip transmission
line feed was chosen for integrating with millimetre-wave circuits
[31].
Fig. 2b shows the bottom view of the proposed antenna array,
illustrating the structure of the defected ground plane. The DGS
includes 12 unit cells that are arranged in a special manner mainly
below the main feeding line. These are used for reducing the
mutual coupling between antenna array elements in addition to
reducing the losses caused by surface waves and unwanted
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Fig. 1  Flowchart showing the main steps of the hybrid ECFO-NM algorithm
responses. Each unit cell contains two opposed c-shaped slot
configurations, which concentrate the magnetic and electric fields
near the short-circuit ends and the opposite side, respectively. Both
positive and negative coupling coefficients can be realised easily.
This helps to reduce the mutual coupling between antenna array
elements in the top side of antenna, increases the overall system
performance, results in higher gain and high efficiency, and makes
the structure more compact. The DGS dimensions have been
parametrically optimised for the frequency range of 28–37 GHz.
Table 2 contains the dimensions of one element of the DGS, in
which the inter-element spacing among DGS elements is set to
1.32 mm.
The microstrip patch antenna array was analysed completely
using CST Microwave Studio. Then, CST Microwave Studio was
linked with the ECFO-NM algorithm, which was coded in
MATLAB, to optimise the dimensions of the proposed antenna
array. Interchanging information between CST Microwave Studio
and MATLAB is fully described in [32]. In order to validate the
numerical results obtained from the CST Simulator, the proposed
antenna array was simulated using the FDTD method written in
MATLAB and the results were compared with the measurements.
4 Simulated and measured results
To design a broadband microstrip patch antenna array operating in
the frequency range of 28–38 GHz, the applied objective function
should focus on maximising antenna gain (G) and minimising
return loss (S11) as follows:
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38 GHz
Objective function = max ∑ [G( f ) + S11( f ) ] (3)
f = 28 GHz
The antenna array dimensions were first optimised using the PSO
and stand-alone ECFO algorithms with an evaluation number of
20,000. We found that slightly better results were obtained using
the stand-alone ECFO algorithm when compared with the PSO
algorithm in terms of return loss and realised gain, as depicted in
Fig. 3. Then, the hybrid ECFO-NM algorithm was used with a total
evaluation number of 10,750 (10,000 evaluations using the ECFO
algorithm and the remaining 750 using the NM algorithm). We
found that better results were obtained, since the average gain and
return loss across the entire assigned band were improved by 26.54
and 37.88%, respectively, compared with stand-alone ECFO.
Fig. 4 shows a comparison between the normalised objective
values of the PSO, ECFO, and hybrid ECFO-NM algorithms
plotted against iterations number. It should be noted that the
ECFO-NM algorithm outperformed the stand-alone ECFO and
classical PSO algorithms by 8.62 and 34.84%, respectively, in
addition to requiring 46.25% less iterations. The comparison of the
simulations shows that the ECFO-NM optimisation technique has
the ability to enhance the global search capability of the original
ECFO method and effectively improves its convergence capability.
The ECFO-NM method enhanced the search capability by 24.34%
compared with the ECFO method, which stopped improvement
after iteration 202, and also by 52.67% compared with the PSO
method which stopped improvement at iteration 128.
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 Fig. 3  Comparison of return loss and antenna gain of the proposed 4 × 4
patch array antenna using PSO, ECFO, and hybrid ECFO-NM algorithms
(a) Return loss, (b) Antenna gain

performance of each element in the microstrip patch array antenna

Fig. 2  4 × 4 Patch antenna array layout
(a) Patch antenna array (top view), (b) DGS (bottom view)
Fig. 5 displays the simulated excited surface currents over the
microstrip patch array antenna at 28, 33, and 38 GHz. The
simulated results were obtained using CST Microwave Studio. The
behaviour at these selected frequencies can properly illustrate the
over a wide frequency band. Evidently, the surface current
distributions are fairly stable at the three frequencies, which
indicate that the overall performance of the elements in the
microstrip patch array varies slightly with frequency.
The analysis results for surface current distribution shown
above indicate that the characteristics of metal surface current
distribution at the low frequency (28 GHz), medium frequency (33 
GHz), and high frequency (38 GHz) bands are different. The

Table 1 Decision space for each parameter of the proposed array antenna and the corresponding optimised value using PSO,
stand-alone ECFO, and the hybrid ECFO-NM algorithms
Variable, mm Decision space Initial value Optimised values
From To PSO Stand-alone ECFO Hybrid ECFO-NM
a 1 1.5 1.25 1.15 1.08 1.21
a1 2 8 4 4.82 5.26 3.838
a2 8 10 8.5 9.3 8.87 9.616
a3 0.25 1 0.25 0.34 0.56 0.5
a4 0.15 0.25 0.2 0.23 0.205 0.205
a5 1.5 2 1.5 1.53 1.85 1.746
a6 18 25 20 22.74 21.65 20.841
a7 0.25 0.75 0.5 0.358 0.674 0.498
a8 0.15 0.25 0.2 0.195 0.201 0.215
b 0.5 1 0.75 0.693 0.738 0.789
b1 2 3 2.5 2.46 2.63 2.497
b2 0.1 0.2 0.15 0.174 0.179 0.185
b3 1.5 2.5 2 2.16 1.739 1.825
b4 5.5 7.5 6.5 6.38 6.184 5.966
b5 0.25 0.75 0.5 0.379 0.418 0.498
b6 0.15 0.25 0.2 0.175 0.201 0.215
b7 2 5 3.5 3.02 2.96 2.44
b8 16 20 18 17.35 19.64 16.935

Table 2 Dimensions of the DGS in the ground plane

Parameter L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 W1 W2 W3 W4 L6
value, mm 4 0.25 1 0.5 2 6 0.5 3 1 0.65

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current is a travelling-wave current in the medium and high
frequency bands, while it is standing wave current in the low
frequency band. As a consequence, and determined from empirical
analysis, when the travelling-wave current has an electrical length
longer than the wavelength, the angle between the maximum
radiation direction and the current direction is relatively small
(<90°). When the standing wave current has an electrical length
shorter than the wavelength, the maximum radiation direction is
perpendicular to the current direction. At the same time, it has
Fig. 4  Comparison of the normalised objective value for PSO, ECFO, and
hybrid ECFO-NM algorithm versus iterations number
Fig. 5  Surface current distribution on the microstrip patch array antenna
for various frequencies
(a) At 28 GHz
(b) At 33 GHz
(c) At 38 GHz
1520
omnidirectional radiation characteristic in the H-plane and a low
SLL in the E-plane. Thus, the plane perpendicular to the current
direction has relatively low radiation levels, while the SLL in the
E-plane is relatively high. As a result of this, the radiation patterns
begin to split up.
Operating in the low-frequency region (at 28 GHz) can
guarantee the omnidirectional radiation characteristic of the
proposed antenna and the radiation patterns not splitting up.
However, when operating in the high frequency region (at 38 
GHz), the splitting phenomenon occurs in the radiation patterns.
Simulation results in far-field radiation patterns have also proved
this. Therefore, if a wide radiation pattern across a large bandwidth
is required, miniaturisation is necessary. This fact further implies
that the proposed array should have stable radiation attributes and
impedance characteristics over a wide frequency band. Fig. 6
shows the calculated E-plane and H-plane co-polarisation and X-
pol radiation patterns for the suggested patch array antenna at
various frequencies (28, 33, and 38 GHz). As anticipated, the
figure clearly depicts that the patch array has a directional radiation
pattern in the horizontal H-plane, whilst the E-plane has broadside
and approximately symmetric radiation patterns.
A photograph of the fabricated patch array antenna optimised
using the ECFO-NM algorithm is shown in Fig. 7. The
measurements of S11 and the array antenna gain are presented in
Fig. 6  Continued
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Fig. 6  Simulated E-plane and H-plane co-polarisation and X-pol
radiation patterns for the suggested patch array antenna at different
frequencies with and without the DGS
(a) At 28 GHz without DGS, (b) At 33 GHz without DGS, (c) At 38 GHz without
DGS, (d) at 28 GHz with DGS, (e) At 33 GHz with DGS, (f) At 38 GHz with DGS
Fig. 7  Photograph of the fabricated patch array antenna
(a) Front side, (b) Back side
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Fig. 8  Comparison of the measured and simulated values of S11 and
antenna gain of the proposed 4 × 4 patch array antenna with and without
DGS
(a) Return loss, (b) Antenna gain
Figs. 8a and b, respectively, and compared with the values
produced using CST Microwave Studio and the FDTD method in
MATLAB. The simulations and experimental results are in good
agreement. It can be noted that the antenna array optimised with
the hybrid ECFO-NM method yielded a maximum gain of 18.65 
dBi and an average gain of 15.45 dBi within the entire bandwidth
ranging from 28 to 38 GHz, which satisfies the requisites for short-
range indoor wireless applications. The differences in the values
for the losses and gains obtained by the FDTD method and the
CST simulation come from the effect caused by the stability
adjustment in the FDTD method and the differences in the
mathematical mechanisms involved in the FDTD method and the
CST simulator (which is based on the finite integral method).
Sometimes the boundary conditions set by the perfectly matching
layer in the FDTD method does not absorb the full wave at high
frequencies, while the CST simulator completely absorbs the
waves of both high and low frequencies.
Finally, the effects of DGS on antenna performance
characteristics such as gain, SLL, front-to-back (F/B) ratio and X-
pol levels, radiation and total efficiencies are presented and
summarised in Table 3. As shown in the table, the total efficiency
at both frequencies was improved by ∼9% on average when DGS
is used. Moreover, the antenna gain was increased by 2.04 dBi at
28 GHz and 1.41 dBi at 38 GHz. In addition, the S11 was improved
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Table 3 Performance comparison of the suggested patch array antenna with and without DGS at 28 and 38 GHz
Patch antenna array
Without DGS With DGS
28 GHz 38 GHz 28 GHz 38 GHz
radiation efficiency, % 86.4 86.1 93 93.5
total efficiency, % 83 84.9 92.2 93.4
gain, dBi 15.9 16.2 17.94 17.61
S11, dB −13.2 −12.6 −17.77 −17.55
E-plane HPBW 30° 31.2° 30.1° 31°
SLL, dB −9.8 −10.2 −13 −12.3
X-pol level, dB 48.3 50.4 59.2 61.8
H-plane HPBW 11.9° 12° 12.8° 12.1°
SLL, dB −11.15 −10.6 −11.5 −10.9
X-pol level, dB 49.8 50.3 68.3 66.7

by ∼69.2% on average with a negligible effect on the half-power
beamwidth (HPBW) in both the E-plane and H-plane. Furthermore,
the X-pol level was increased by 10.9 and 18.5 dB in the E-plane
and H-plane, respectively, at 28 GHz. The results obtained clearly
show that the DGS reduced the mutual couplings between antenna
array elements, in addition to reducing the losses due to surface
waves and unwanted responses. In these regards, the overall system
performance was improved. At the same time, an additional
inductance is introduced because of the magnetic flux in the etched
out aperture and the gap capacitance on the ground plane.
Consequently, the surface impedance is changed because of the
etched defect, which in turn alters the shield current distribution in
the plane. The change in surface impedance changes the current
phase velocity, which in turn changes the apparent effective
permittivity. This change in the apparent effective permittivity
leads to the improvements of various parameters of the
conventional planar antenna, such as enhancing the bandwidth of
the microstrip antenna, suppressing the X-pol level of the antenna,
and increasing the antenna gain and radiation efficiency.
5 Conclusion
In this paper, a novel millimetre-wave 4 × 4 patch antenna array
with defect slots in the ground plane was designed to operate
efficiently within the frequency range of 28–38 GHz for 5G
wireless communications systems. The dimensions of the array
antenna structure were optimised using a new hybrid ECFO-NM
algorithm. To illustrate the convergence capability of the ECFO-
NM algorithm, the results were compared with those obtained
using stand-alone ECFO and PSO algorithms. We found that the
ECFO-NM algorithm enhanced the search capability by 24.34 and
52.6%, compared with the stand-alone ECFO and PSO algorithms,
respectively, in addition to saving the required evaluation steps by
46.25%. The simulated results were compared with the
measurements and with other simulated results obtained using an
FDTD program coded in MATLAB. The measurements of realised
gain and return loss are in good agreement with the results obtained
from the simulations using the CST and FDTD programs. The
optimised array antenna achieved a maximum gain of 18.65 dBi
and an average of 15.45 dBi within the entire bandwidth for a
reflection coefficient lower than −12 dB, which satisfies the
requisites for short-range indoor wireless applications.
6 Acknowledgment
The authors acknowledge the Electronics Research Institute (ERI),
Microstrip Department for the support and cooperation during
simulation of this research.
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