Proceedings of Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference 2006

Design of Millimeter-Wave Microstrip Comb-Line Antenna Array

Beam-Tilting in Perpendicular Plane of Feeding Line
Yuichi Kashino1, Kunio Sakakibara1, Yuichi Tanaka2, Nobuyoshi Kikuma1, and Hiroshi Hirayama1
1
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology
Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8555, Japan
2
Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., 41-1, Yokomichi, Nagakute, Nagakute-cho
Aichi-gun, Aichi, 480-1192, Japan
Tel, Fax: +81-52-735-5416, E-mail: sakaki@nitech.ac.jp

Abstract — Millimeter-wave sensor applications

require antennas which can be easily designed for
beams with various shapes. Microstrip comb-line
antenna is one of the attractive candidates since
feeding loss is relatively low rather than a parallel
feeding. In the design for required radiation pattern in
the plane perpendicular to the feeding line, the design
flexibility is low when the number of the feeding line is
small. We propose a design technique to extend a
design flexibility of radiation pattern in the plane
perpendicular to the feeding line. Designs for beam-
tilting of several angles are implemented and
feasibility of the proposed design is confirmed by
experiments in this paper. (a) Microstrip comb-line antenna array.
Index Terms — Millimeter-wave, array antenna,
microstrip antenna, beam-tilting, low sidelobe.

I. INTRODUCTION
Millimeter-wave antennas have been developed
for applications of broadband high-speed wireless
communication systems and automotive radar
systems [1], [2]. Microwave sensors that detect
surrounding objects in all the directions are required
for security and safety systems of homes and cars.
Therefore, design techniques have been developed
to realize high design flexibility of various radiation (b)Arrangement of radiating elements in perpendicular
patterns. plane of feeding microstrip line.
Microstrip comb-line antennas are more
advantageous than other millimeter-wave antennas Fig. 1. Microstrip comb-line antenna array.
at the viewpoints of low-profile and low-cost. A
comb-line feeding system is effective for relatively only to the feeding lines. However, the design
low loss compared with other ordinary microstrip flexibility is low when the number of the feeding
patch array antennas with parallel feeding [3], [4]. line is small. Furthermore, sidelobe levels grow up
We have already developed design technique for when beam-tilting since a distance between the
low sidelobe of the radiation pattern in the plane feeding lines is long compared with wavelength.
parallel to the feeding line of the comb-line antenna We propose a design technique to extend a design
in the millimeter-wave band [5]. flexibility of radiation pattern in the plane
According to the conventional design for required perpendicular to the feeding line. The designs for
beam-tilting in the plane perpendicular to the beam-tilting of several degrees are implemented in
feeding line, a different excitation phase is supplied this paper. Antennas with two lines of 26-element
linear array are fabricated in 76.5 GHz band. The

Copyright 2006 IEICE

Fig. 2. Phase distribution assigned to the radiating
elements on the line A, B, C, D.
feasibility of the proposed design is confirmed in the
experiment.
II. STRUCTURE AND DESIGN OF THE ANTENNA
A microstrip comb-line antenna (MSCLA) is
composed of several rectangular radiating elements
directly connected to a straight feeding microstrip
line. The developed microstrip comb-line antenna
array (MSCLAA) consists of two lines of MSCLA
as shown in Fig. 1. The antenna is printed on a
dielectric substrate with a ground plane. The
radiating elements are inclined 45 degrees from the
feeding line for the polarization requirement of the
automotive radar systems. The radiating elements
are arranged on the both sides of the feeding line,
which results in interleave arrangement. Element
spacing dn is approximately a half guide wavelength
so that all the elements are excited in phase. The
dielectric material of the substrate is Teflon
(thickness t = 0.127 mm, relative dielectric constant
�r = 2.2 and loss tangent tan� = 0.001).
According to the conventional design for required
beam-tilting in the plane perpendicular to the
feeding line, a different excitation phase is supplied
only to the feeding lines. However, the design
flexibility is low when the number of the feeding
line is small. So, we focus on the interleave
arrangement of the radiating elements. Individual
phase values are assigned to the elements on the
lines A, B, C, D. The excitation phase for array
elements of traveling-wave excitation of are
controlled by connected location of the elements to
the feeding line. The flexibility of the proposed
design is twice as high as that of the conventional
one, in which the same phase is assigned in A, B
Fig. 3. Radiation pattern for beam-tilting of 50 degrees
in the xz-plane.
and C, D, respectively. Grating lobe does not appear
in yz - plane because spacing in y-direction between
the elements on the same side of the feeding line is
still much smaller than a wavelength in free space.
Figure 1(b) shows arrangement of radiating
elements in the plane perpendicular to the feeding
line. Radiating points of all the elements are defined
at 0.95mm from the center of the feeding line. The
radiating points are estimated by comparison
between calculated radiation pattern results of two-
element array by the electromagnetic simulator.
Spacing between the lines A, B, C, D are dAB, dBC
and dCD, respectively. In order to realize beam-
tilting, each array on the lines A, B, C, D is excited
with linear phase progression. The phase difference
between two feeding lines (antennas AB and CD)
can be controlled by shift in df shown in Fig. 1(b),
which is the spacing in y-direction between the first
elements on the lines B and D. Furthermore, the
phase difference between the radiating elements on
the opposite sides of the same feeding line can be
controlled by alternate change of element spacing dn.
Figure 2 shows a phase distribution in x-direction
on the aperture for beam-tilting of 50 degrees from
broadside. Spacing between the lines are dAB =
1.9mm, dBC = 1.63mm, dCD = 1.9mm, which is an
unequally spaced array. The excitation phase
differences are assigned in –322 degrees between
feeding lines and –173 degrees both between the
elements on the lines A and B and between the
elements on the lines C and D. The phase
differences are applied only to the feeding lines in
the conventional design.
Figure 3 shows radiation patterns calculated from
the phase distribution in Fig. 2 taking an element
radiation pattern into account. Beam-tilting of 50
 Fig. 5. Photograph of the developed antenna.

Fig. 4. Element spacing dn in y-direction.

degrees is realized by the proposed design. On the

other hand, in the conventional design, grating lobe
level in –6 degrees direction is +13.8 dB higher than
main lobe in 41 degrees direction. Even in the
proposed design, grating lobe is still high whose
level is –0.5 dB. It is because the element spacings
are not constant and the element pattern is taken into Fig. 6. Radiation pattern of the proposed design for
account. beam-tilting of 50 degrees in the xz-plane.
Figure 4 shows element spacings dn which are
determined from the phase distribution shown in Fig.
2. In the conventional design, dn is constant and is
1.61mm. In the proposed design, element spacings
alternate two values for phase distribution in x-
direction, as shown in Fig. 2. Consequently, element
spacings are 0.11mm between element number 2i-1
and 2i and 3.13mm between element number 2i and
2i+1, where i is natural number. Identical
dimensions of elements with the width W = 0.58mm
and the resonant length L = 1.32mm are used in this
investigation.

III. RESULTS OF MEASUREMENT

We designed MSCLAA consisting of two feeding
lines with 26 radiating elements for each to
demonstrate feasibility of the proposed design.
Figure 5 shows a photograph of the developed
antenna. Microstrip-line-to-waveguide transitions
are connected at both input port and termination.
Waveguide matched load is connected at the
termination. Adjacent two radiating elements at the
opposite sides are closely located each other due to
the proposed phase control. The dielectric material
of the substrate is Teflon. Figures 6 and 7 show
radiation patterns in the xz-plane of proposed and
conventional designs at 76.5 GHz, respectively.
Beam-tilting of 51 degrees and sidelobe of –5 dB
are obtained in the measured results of Fig. 6.
Fig. 7. Radiation pattern of the conventional design for
beam-tilting of 50 degrees in the xz-plane.
However, some errors are observed in the sidelobe
level. The shape and direction of measured major
lobes almost agree well with calculations in Fig. 6
and 7, respectively.
We designed another antenna with beam-tilting of
30 degrees by using the proposed design. Figure 8
shows radiation patterns with beam-tilting of 30
degrees in the xz-plane at 76.5 GHz. Measured
sidelobe does not agree with calculation in contrast
to the agreement of main lobe in 30 degrees. In
order to identify the cause of growing sidelobe,
simulated electric field distributions with beam-

Fig. 8. Radiation pattern of the proposed design for
beam-tilting of 30 degrees in the xz-plane.
tilting of 50 degrees and 30 degrees are compared as
is shown in Fig. 9 and 10, respectively. The standing
wave is observed along the feeding line in the case
of 30 degrees beam-tilting, as shown in Fig. 9.
However, standing wave is smaller for 50 degrees
beam-tilting, as shown in Fig. 10. Hence, the large
reflection wave affects to the radiation patterns due
to the traveling wave excitation. Reflection wave
transmitting in the microstrip line excites array
elements. This antenna is designed to obtain the
radiation pattern whose main lobe direct to 30
degrees. All the radiations due to the reflections are
synthesized in phase toward –30 degrees direction
that is symmetrical with the main lobe.
Consequently, the large reflection wave causes the
degradation of radiation patterns. Future study is to
develop low reflection element for the proposed
antenna.
IV. CONCLUSION
We propose a design technique to extend a design
flexibility of radiation pattern in the plane
perpendicular to the feeding line. The designs for
beam-tilting with several degrees are implemented.
As a result of measurements, desired radiation
pattern whose main lobe direct to 51 degrees of
proposed design is confirmed. The feasibility of the
proposed design is confirmed in the experiment. The
large reflection wave causes the degradation of
radiation patterns. Future study is to develop low
reflection element for the proposed antenna.
Fig. 9. The electric field distribution in beam-tilting of
30 degrees design.
Fig. 10. The electric field distribution in beam-tilting of
50 degrees design.
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