15EC088 ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

Recently there is a growing interest in a new technology called Substrate Integrated

Waveguide (SIW), which is an attractive approach for the design of high performance
microwave and millimetre wave components, as it combines the advantages of planer
technology, such as low fabrication costs, with the low loss inherent to the waveguide
solution. In this project, a substrate integrated waveguide horn antenna is conceived and
optimised by Ansoft HFSS code. Thus, through this modelling, design considerations and
results are discussed and presented. Attractive features including compact size and planer
form make this device structure easily integrated in planer circuits.

C.S.P.I.T i DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

COMMUNICATION
15EC088 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is my privilege to express my sincerest regards to my project co-ordinator, Dr. Falguni

Raval, for her valuable input, able guidance, encouragement, whole-hearted cooperation
and constructive criticism throughout the duration of my project.

I deeply express my sincere thanks to our Head Of Department, Dr. Trushit Upadhyaya
for encouraging and allowing me to present the project on the topic “SIW HORN
ANTENNA” at our department premises for the partial fulfillment of the requirements
leading to the award of B-Tech degree.

I take this opportunity to thank all my lecturers who have directly or indirectly helped in
my project.

C.S.P.I.T ii DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

COMMUNICATION
15EC088 LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Description Page no.

Figure 2.1 Structure of microstrip patch antenna 3

Figure 2.2 Coaxial feed of patch 4

Figure 3.1 .1 Geometry of a circular waveguide 6

Figure 3.1.2 Geometry of a rectangular waveguide 7

Figure 3.2.1 3-dimentional view of SIW with two rows of metallic cylinders 9

Figure 3.2.2 SIW geometry 10

Figure 3.2.3 SIW structure in HFSS 11

Figure 3.2.4 Insertion loss in C- band 13

Figure 3.2.5 Return loss in C- band 13

Figure 3.2.6 VSWR in C-band 14

Figure 3.2.7 Field distribution of C band 14

Figure 3.2.8 Insertion loss in X band 15

Figure 3.2.9 Return loss in Xband 15

Figure 3.2.10 VSWR in X band 16

Figure 3.2.11 Field distribution in X band 16

Figure 4.1 SIW horn antenna 18

Figure 5.1 Implementation of structure in HFSS 21

Figure 5.2 Graph of return loss 22

Figure 5.3 Graph of VSWR 22

Figure 5.4 3D polar plot 23

Figure 5.5 2D polar plot 23

C.S.P.I.T iii DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

COMMUNICATION
15EC088 LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.2.1 Calculated Dimensions 12

Table 4.1 Calculated paremeters 19

C.S.P.I.T iv DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

COMMUNICATION
15EC088 ABBREVIATIONS

ABBREVIATIONS

SIW Substrate Integrated Waveguide

HFSS High frequency software simulator

C.S.P.I.T v DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

COMMUNICATION
15EC088 INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO ANTENNA

Antenna word is inspired from antennae which is organ of insect which is working as
sensor. Wireless communication is not possible without antenna. Antenna is a transition
device which convert guided wave into unguided wave(free space) waves or Antenna is a
transducer which converts electric signals into electromagnetic waves and vice versa. No
discussion on antenna fundamentals is complete without a real world list of frequency
bands. The radiation pattern for an antenna are isotropic, omnidirectional and directional
in patterns. The introduction to antenna continues with a discussion of field regions. The
Far field, Near field, and Fresnel regions for an antenna is presented. Directivity is
fundamental to antennas. It is a measure of how “directional an antenna’s radiation
pattern is. An antenna’s efficiency is a measure of how much power is radiated by the
antenna relative to antenna input power. Antenna gain is a measure of power radiated in a
particular direction. An antenna’s radiation pattern in the far field is often characterised
by its bandwidth and sidelobe levels. Antenna impedance is presented as the ratio of
voltage to current at the antenna’s terminals. Low and High frequency models are
presented for transmission lines. The fundamentals of antenna theory requires that the
antenna be impedance matched to the transmission line or antenna will not radiate. The
concept of VSWR is introduced as a measure of how well matched an antenna is. The
bandwidth of an antenna is the frequency range over which the antenna radiates.
Antennas are also classified by their polarization; this defines type of plane wave
polarization the antenna is most sensitive to. Effective aperture is a basic antenna concept
that is a measure of power captured by an antenna from a plane wave. Effective aperture
can be expressed as a function of the antenna gain and the wavelength of the interest.

C.S.P.I.T 1 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 INTRODUCTION

The report is organized into six chapters. Chapter 2 presents the general theory of antenna
in which there are basics theory of antennas are explained and along with its advantages
and disadvantages.

In chapter 3, the basic theory of conventional microwave waveguide and basics of SIW
(Substrate Integrated Waveguide) is studied. SIW design equations and its geometry are
also studied. The dimensions of X-band and C-band are calculated using SIW design
equations and various losses are also observed. Various advantages and disadvantages are
also seen when compared to ideal waveguide.

In chapter 4, SIW horn antenna is studied with its design equations and the design is
implemented in HFSS 13.0 software.

In chapter 5, simulation of SIW horn antenna and its results are observed.

Chapter 6 presents the conclusion.

C.S.P.I.T 2 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

COMMUNICATION
15EC088 ANTENNA

CHAPTER 2: ANTENNA

A microstrip antenna generally consists of a dielectric substrate sandwiched between a

radiating patch on the top and a ground plane on the other side as shown in figure. The
patch is mainly made of conducting material such as copper or gold and can take any
possible shape. The radiating patch and the feed lines are usually photo etched on the
dielectric substrate.

Figure 2.1 Structure of microstrip patch antenna

The simplest patch antenna uses a patch which is one half wavelength long, so that the
metal surface acts as a reasonator similarly to the half wave dipole antennas. Some patch
antennas do not use dielectric substrate instead made of a metal patch mounted above a
ground plane using dielectric spacers. With increase in dielectric constant both the
reasonant frequency as well as the bandwidth decreases. So the antenna system becomes
narrowband. With increase in thickness of substrate, the fringing increases with decrease
the reasonating frequency of antenna. In telecommunication, a microstrip antenna usually
means an antenna fabricated using microstrip techniques consist of multiple patches in 2D
array.

C.S.P.I.T 3 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

COMMUNICATION
15EC088 ANTENNA

Coaxial Feed

The coaxial feed or probe field is very common technique used for feeding microstrip
patch antennas. As seen from figure, the inner conductor of the coaxial connector extends
through the dielectric and is soldered to the radiating patch, while the other conductor is
connected to the ground plane.

Figure. 2.2 Coaxial feed of patch

The main advantage of this type of feeding scheme is that the feed can be placed at any
desired location inside the patch in order to match with its input impedance. This feed
method is easy to fabricate and has low spurious radiation. However, a major
disadvantage is that it provides narrow bandwidth and is difficult to model since a hole
has to be drilled in the substrate and the connector protrudes outside the ground plane,
thus not making it completely planar for thick substrates. Also, for thicker substrates, the
increased probe length makes the input impedance more inductive, leading to matching
problems.

C.S.P.I.T 4 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 ANTENNA

Advantages & Disadvantages

Microstrip antennas are increasing popularity for use in wireless applications due to their
low profile structure. Therefore they are highly compatible for embedded antennas in
handheld wireless devices such as pagers, cellular phones etc. The telemetry and
communication antennas on missiles need to be thin and conformal and are often in the
form of Microstrip patch antennas. Another area where they have been successfully is in
satellite communication. Some main advantages are:

 Light weight and low volume.

 Low Fabrication cost, thus it can be manufactured in large quantities.
 Supports both linear as well as circular polarization.
 Capable of dual and triple frequency operations.
 Can be easily combine with microwave integrated circuits (MICs)

Some of the major disadvantages are:

 Narrow Bandwidth
 Low Efficiency
 Low gain
 Low power handling capacity
 Surface wave excitation
 Extraneous radiation from feeds and junctions

C.S.P.I.T 5 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

COMMUNICATION
15EC088 MICROWAVE WAVEGUIDE

CHAPTER 3: SIW (SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED

WAVEGUIDE)

3.1: CONVENTIONAL MICROWAVE WAVEGUIDE:-

Waveguide is a hollow metallic structure of rectangular or circular shape used to guide

electromagnetic waves at microwave frequency. Electric and magnetic fields are confined
within the waveguides. The waveguides are normally air filled. However, there is some
power loss as heat in the walls of the waveguides but the loss is very small. It is possible
to propagate several modes of electromagnetic waves within a waveguide. These modes
correspond to solutions of Maxwell’s equations for particular waveguide. A given
waveguide has a cut-off frequency for each allowed mode. If the frequency of the
impressed signal is above the cut-off frequency for a given mode, the electromagnetic
energy can be transmitted through the guide for that particular mode without attenuation.
Otherwise the EM energy will be attenuated. The dominant mode in a particular guide is
the mode having the lowest cut-off frequency.

Typical structures of waveguide are as follows:

 Circular waveguide: It consists of a hollow metallic cylinder with an inner radius

R (figure 3.1). In the inner air-filled volume of the cylinder, electromagnetic
waves can propagate above mode-specific cut-off frequencies fc,mn.

Figure 3.1.1: Geometry of a circular waveguide

C.S.P.I.T 6 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 MICROWAVE WAVEGUIDE

 Rectangular waveguide: It is the most classic example of waveguide. It is the first

waveguide used for microwave technology. It is not considered as a transmission
line because it consists only one conductor. It does not support TEM mode. It
exhibits a low-frequency cut-off below which no waves will propagate.

Figure 3.1.2: Geometry of a rectangular waveguide

C.S.P.I.T 7 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

3.2: SIW (SUBSTRATE INTEGRATED WAVEGUIDE):-

SIW is the combination of waveguide and micro-strip patch. It is a new form of

transmission line. A rectangular guide is created within a substrate by adding a top metal
over the ground plane and caging the structure with rows of plated vias on either side.
Two rows of metallic vias are implanted in a dielectric substrate to construct SIWs that
connect two parallel metallic plates. Conventional waveguide and co-axial lines types of
non-planer structure can be realized into planer form which can be flawlessly fabricated
with the conventional printed circuits such as coplanar waveguide and micro-strip lines.

 ADVANTAGES OF SIW:
 It is available in low cost and has less weight.
 Power handling capacity of SIW is higher and losses are lower than the
micro-strip line.
 Due to use of metal, conductor loss is lower.
 Suitable for applications where size, weight and cost are constrain
parameters.
 Preserve most of the characteristics of milled rectangular waveguide.
 Fabrication of complete circuit in planer form using standard provides
low-cost, low-loss and high density integration of microwave and
millimetre-wave components and sub-systems.

 DISADVANTAGES OF SIW:
 Due to waveguide structure, SIW exhibits cut-off frequency of lower
values.
 Leakage loss is substantial, which is related to how tight the vias are
placed.

C.S.P.I.T 8 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

Figure 3.2.1: 3-dimentional view of SIW with two rows of metallic

cylinders

SIW technology is an emerging aspirant for the progress of antennas, circuits and
components yielding a link between planar and non planar technology. It is called SIW
because it has the advantage to prevent leakage of electromagnetic waves by using
metallic via holes. Widely used in communications due to increases of Q factor and
power. Also called laminated waveguide.

C.S.P.I.T 9 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

SIW DESIGN EQUATIONS:

o Effective width, c
aeff 
2 r

o Cut-off frequency, fc  fo
1.5
o Where fo is the mid-frequency

o Select d and p such that p  2d

o And 1 p 1
 
5 c 20
aeff
Where c 
2
o Via to via separation, a  aeff  d2
p  0.95

Figure 3.2.2: SIW geometry

C.S.P.I.T 10 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

Figure 3.2.3: Design of SIW waveguide

CALCULATED DIMENSIONS OF C-BAND AND X-BAND

C band
Frequency range: 4-8GHz
Mid Frequency, fo=6GHz
Cutt off frequency, fc=4GHz
Wavelength, ƛc=75 mm
Effective width, aeff=25.28mm
Pitch, p=7.5mm
Diameter of via, d=3.75mm
Via to via separation, a=27.26mm
X band
Frequency range: 4-8GHz
Mid Frequency, fo=6GHz
Cutt off frequency, fc=4GHz
Wavelength, ƛc=75 mm
Effective width, aeff=25.28mm
Pitch, p=7.5mm
Diameter of via, d=3.75mm
Via to via separation, a=27.26mm

Table 3.2.1: Calculated Dimensions

C.S.P.I.T 11 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

Figure 3.2.4: Insertion loss in C-band

Figure 3.2.5: Return loss in C-band

C.S.P.I.T 12 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

Figure 3.2.6: VSWR in C-band

Field distribution in c band:

Figure 3.2.7: Field distribution of C- band

C.S.P.I.T 13 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

Fig.3.2.8: Graph of insertion loss in x band

Fig.3.2.9 Graph of Return loss in x band

C.S.P.I.T 14 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

Fig.3.2.10: Graph of VSWR in X- band

Field distribution in x band:

Fig.3.2.11: Field distribution in X-band

C.S.P.I.T 15 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

CHAPTER 4: SIW HORN ANTENNA

The substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology is a very promising candidate for
systems operating in the microwave and millimeter-wave region. The most significant
advantage of SIW is the possibility to integrate all the components in the same substrate,
including passive components (filters, couplers, etc.), active elements (oscillators,
amplifiers, etc.) as well as antennas. For applications requiring end-fire radiation, the
most commonly used antenna is the SIW horn. The design of an integrated H-plane
sectoral horn antenna was proposed. However, its performances diminish when the
substrate thickness is much smaller than the wavelength. This is also the case for other
types of antennas such as the SIW slot antenna whose traditional formulae must be
modified to fit the small thickness. At frequencies lower than 20 GHz, this is a frequently
encountered situation when commercial substrates are used.

Being able to overcome this thickness limitation would greatly extend the use of the SIW
horn antennas. First, antennas working at lower frequencies could be built in commercial
substrates. Second, other feeding techniques could substitute the typically used coaxial
probe to completely integrate the antenna with other elements printed in the same
substrate. One of the main problems of SIW horns is the mismatch between the edge of
the dielectric slab and the air which decreases the operational bandwidth. Several
strategies have been developed to overcome this problem. Some of them require the use
of non-printed elements [9], [15] making the building procedure more complicated.
Solutions based on integrated dielectric lenses [10], [11] have also been proposed but
their performances are limited by the thickness of the substrate. In the following, the
terminology thin-substrate is used to describe a substrate with a thickness of less than
λ0/10 .

C.S.P.I.T 16 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

In this paper, a printed transition introduced in [16] for improving the matching between
thin-substrate SIW horn antennas and the air is proposed. The transition is etched on the
same dielectric slab as the antenna and does not require the use of nonprinted elements.
This eases the manufacturing process while keeping the advantages of both compactness
and integration of the SIW technology. A sectoral H-plane SIW horn with the proposed
transition is represented in Fig

Figure 4.1 Side and top view of a SIW horn with the proposed printed transition to the air.

SIW based slot antennas are less costly and can easily be interfaced with microstrip
lines. However, its bandwidth is not wider and they radiates in parallel to the substrate
that is not suitable for many practical applications. So it is required to make a structure
having wider bandwidth and better gain.

C.S.P.I.T 17 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

DESIGN PARAMETERS OF SIW HORN ANTENNA

SR No. Parameters Value(mm)

1 Sb_w 28
2 Sb_l 40.0086
3 Sb_h 1.91
4 w 3.56
5 Lt 6
6 hn_l 7.776
7 fl_l 23
8 Wt 3.6
9 Via_d 1
10 a 9
11 pitch 1.7

Table 4.1: Calculated paremeters

C.S.P.I.T 18 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIW

CHAPTER 5: SIMULATION AND RESULTS

Figure5.1: Implementation of SIW horn antenna in HFSS

C.S.P.I.T 19 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIMULATION

Figure5.2: Graph of return loss

Figure5.3: Graph of VSWR

C.S.P.I.T 20 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 SIMULATION

Figure5.4: 3D Polar plot

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15EC088 SIMULATION

Figure.5.5: 2D Polar plot

C.S.P.I.T 21 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

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15EC088 REFERENCES

.CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

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