CHAPTER 3

SHORTING-PIN LOADED RECTANGULAR

MICROSTRIP ANTENNA FOR
DUAL-BAND OPERATION

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Narrow bandwidth is one of the major disadvantages of the microstrip antenna.

Dual-band antenna provides an alternative to large bandwidth planar antenna.

Due to this reasons, researchers have concentrated on theoretical and

experimental investigations with a view to improve the performance of dual-band

rectangular microstrip antenna. The dual-band antenna is very useful for satellite

communication to cover both transmit and receive operation simultaneously.

Several techniques have been reported by researchers to enhance the bandwidth

[1-4]. However some applications such as radar system, a narrow bandwidth and

tunable antenna element can be used instead of wide-band antenna. Such

antennas deal with broadening of the range of frequency of operation. There are

several applications where even the physical size of a conventional microstrip

patch antenna is still too large. The dual-band operations using different

technique have been discussed in the literature [5-6]. Further reduction in size

[7-10] for mobile communications handsets are very much needed where small

antenna size is a premium.

In the present chapter analysis of a frequency tuneable dual-band

microstrip antenna is presented. The author has made an attempt to analyse the

shorting post loaded rectangular microstrip antenna using transmission line

Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 59

model, which is expected to precisely predict the antenna performance. The input

impedance become very sensitive to the feed position and strongly depends on

the distance between the shorting pin and feed position. By incorporating a

shorting pin in the centre line (Fig. 3.1) of rectangular microstrip patch and

exciting the patch through a suitable feed position from the centre line, we find

that a good matching condition for both the resonant frequencies of the microstrip

patch can be obtained, which make the possible dual-band antenna through single

coaxial feed [11]. In this chapter therefore, single-feed dual-frequency

rectangular microstrip antenna has been analyzed the details of which are given

in the following sections.

3.2 THEORETICAL FORMULATION

The proposed antenna configuration (Fig. 3.1) consisting of a rectangular

patch, coaxial feed and shorting pin is analyzed by transmission line model [12].

The microstrip radiator element may be treated as a line resonator with no

transverse field variations. The fields vary along the length, which is usually a

half-wavelength, and radiation occurs mainly due to the fringing fields at the

open circuited ends. The radiator may be represented as two slots spaced a

distance L apart. Fig. 3.2 shows the equivalent circuit of proposed antenna

configuration. The radiating slots are characterized by load impedance:

Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 60

L
Patch
W Coaxial feed
x
Shorting pin

Ground plane
h Substrate

Fig. 3.1 Geometry of shorting pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna

 Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 61

L
y0 L- y0
ds y0 - ds

ZL jXs ZL

jXp Zin3 Zin1 Zin2

Zin (Left) Zin4

Fig. 3.2 (a).Equivalent transmission line model with shorting pin

in the left of probe feed

L
ds
y0 ds - y0 L-ds
y

ZL jXs ZL

jXp Zin2 Zin1 Zin3

Zin4

Zin (Right)

Fig. 3.2 (b).Equivalent transmission line model with shorting pin

in the right of probe feed
Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 62

1
ZL = . (3.1)
G + jB

where,

W
G = 0.00836
λ g

εe
B = 0.01668 × ∆lW
hλ

−1
εr +1 εr −1 10h  2
εe = + 1 + 
2 2  W 

(ε e + 0.3)(W h + 0.264)
∆l = 0.412h
(ε e − 0.258)(W h + 0.8)

where,

W = width of the patch

L = length of the patch

c
λ g =guided wavelength =
f εr

h = height of the substrate

The RF feed is represented by a current source with a series inductor to represent

the feed probe inductance. The shorting pin is represented as shunt inductance at

the location of the pin. The inductive reactance of the shorting pin and the feed

probe are calculated from the formula given by [13-14]

η 0ωh  4c 
Xs = X p = ln   (3.2)
2πc  ξωd ε r 

where ξ = 1.781072... and is derived from Euler’s constant.

Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 63

d = diameter of the feed probe/shorting pin

c = velocity of light
η 0 = 377Ω = free space intrinsic impedance

The analysis of the shorting pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna has

been divided in two cases:

Case-1: When the position of the shorting pin (d s ) is in left of the feed probe

( y 0 ) i.e., d s < y0 .

From Fig. 3.2 (a), the impedance Z in3 is the input impedance of the left hand side

radiating slot transforming it thorough a distance ds and is given by

Z L + jZ 0 tan βd s
Z in3 = Z 0 (3.3)
Z 0 + jZ L tan βd s

The impedance Z in 4 is the parallel combination of the impedance Z in3 and the

inductance incorporated by the shorting pin ( X s ) and is given by

Z in3 × jX s
Z in 4 = (3.4)
Z in3 + jX s

The input impedance Z in1 is the transformed impedance of Z in 4 at the feed

position and is given by

Z in 4 + jZ 0 tan β ( y 0 − d s )
Z in1 = Z 0 (3.5)
Z 0 + jZ in 4 tan β ( y 0 − d s )

Similarly, Z in 2 is the transformed input impedance of the right hand side

radiating slot of the patch at feed position and is given by

Z L + jZ 0 tan β ( L − d s )
Z in 2 = Z 0 (3.6)
Z 0 + jZ L tan β ( L − d s )
Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 64

Therefore, the total input impedance of the shorting pin loaded patch with coaxial

feed is given by

Z in1 × Z in 2
Z in = jX p + (3.7)
Z in1 + Z in2

where, X p is the inductive reactance incorporated by coaxial feed.

Case-2: When the position of the shorting pin (d s ) is in right of the feed probe

( y 0 ) i.e., d s > y0 .

From Fig. 3.2 (b), the impedance Z in3 , Z in 4 , Z in 2 , Z in1 and Z in are given by

Z l + jZ 0 tan β (L − d s )
Z in 3 = Z o (3.8)
Z 0 + jZ l tan β (L − d s )

Z l + jZ 0 tan(β y 0 )
Z in 2= Z 0 (3.9)
Z 0 + jZ l tan(β y 0 )

Z in 3 × jX s
Z in 4 = (3.10)
Z in 3 + jX s

Z in 4 + jZ 0 tan β (d s − y 0 )
Z in1 = Z 0 (3.11)
Z 0 + jZ in 4 tan β ( d s − y 0 )

and

Z in1 × Z in 2
Z in = jX p + (3.12)
Z in1 + Z in 2

where

y 0 = position of probe feed

d s = position of pin
Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 65

The reflection coefficient (ρ) can be calculated as

Z in − Z 0
ρ= (3.12)
Z in + Z 0

where Zin = input impedance

Z0 = characteristics impedance of the feed probe = 50 Ω

and hence VSWR is calculated as

1+ ρ
VSWR= (3.13)
1− ρ

The return loss of the antenna is given by

 1 
RL=-10log  
2 
(3.14)
ρ 

The real and imaginary parts of the impedance for left and right pin loaded

antenna were calculated which are shown plotted in Fig. 3.3 for various spacing

of pins. The value of f1 and f2 along with the f2 / f1 were calculated for different

value of spacing of the pins which are shown in Table 3.1

Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 66

Table 3.1 Resonance frequencies with frequency ratio

Shorting pin Resonance Resonance f2 / f1 (GHz)

Position Frequency Frequency
(mm) f1 (GHz) f2 (GHz)
1 0.97 2.94 3.03

2 0.99 2.97 3.00

3 1.02 2.94 2.88

4 1.04 2.87 2.75

5 1.07 2.77 2.58

6 1.10 2.66 2.41

7 1.13 2.54 2.24

8 1.16 2.43 2.09

9 1.19 2.32 1.94

10 1.22 2.23 1.82

11 1.25 2.16 1.72

12 1.29 2.11 1.63

Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 67

3.3 DESIGN PARAMETERS

The rectangular microstrip antenna was designed using the following specifications:

Substrate material used Glass Epoxy

Relative permittivity of the substrate εr = 4.5
Thickness of the dielectric substrate h = 1.59 mm
Design frequency f = 2.5 GHz
Thickness of the patch t = 0.0018cm
The designed values were calculated using the standard equations [1], the values of

which are given below.

The width of the rectangular patch W = 36.20 mm

The length of the rectangular patch L = 27.80 mm

Effective relative permittivity εe = 4.20

Feeding point at rectangular patch y0 = 4.6 mm

3.4 DISCUSSIONS OF RESULTS (Theoretical and Experimental)

1. The variations of real and imaginary part of impedance with frequency for

rectangular microstrip antenna of different shorting pin positions are shown in Fig.

3.3. It is observed that the lower resonance frequency increases and the upper

resonance decreases with increasing shorting pin positions, which is indicated by

shift in zero reactance point of the antenna. This further indicates that the separation

between the resonance decreases with increasing value of the shorting pin positions.

2. The variation of VSWR with frequency for different positions of shorting pin is

shown in Fig. 3.4. It is observed that VSWR at lower and upper resonance frequency

decreases with increasing value of shorting pin position. It is minimum for d =7.0

mm. The increases of value of VSWR behind 7.0 mm decrease at both resonances.

This is also corroborated from the return loss data shown in Fig. 3.5.
Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 68

120 d=1 mm
d=1 mm
100 d=3 mm
d=3 mm
Input Impedance (ohms)

d=5 mm
80 d=5 mm
d=7 mm
60 d=7 mm
d=9 mm
d=9 mm
40 d=11 mm
d=11 mm
20
0
-20 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.1

-40 Frequency (GHZ)

-60
Fig. 3.3 Variation of Input Impedance with frequency for different
shorting posiation
 Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 69

3
d=1 mm
2.8 d=2 mm
2.6 d=3 mm
2.4 d=4 mm
d=5 mm
2.2
VSWR

d=6 mm
2 d=7 mm
1.8 d=8 mm
1.6 d=9 mm
d=10 mm
1.4
d=11 mm
1.2 d=12 mm
1
0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.1
Frequency (GHz)
Fig. 3.4 Variation of VSWR with frequency for different shorting pin
position
 Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 70

d=1 mm
-5 d=2 mm
d=3 mm
d=4 mm
-10 d=5 mm
Retun loss (dB)

d=6 mm
d=7 mm
-15 d=8 mm
d=9 mm
d=10 mm
-20 d=11 mm
d= 12 mm

-25

-30
0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.1
Frequency (Ghz)
Fig. 3.5. Variation of return loss with frequency for different shorthing
pin position
Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 71

3. The theoretical result of this antenna is verified with the help of experimental result

of Kin-Lu Wong research paper [1] on compact microstrip antenna with dual-

frequency operation. In this paper author is shown how the dependence of two

resonant frequencies on shorting pins positions. We also found with theoretical

result that resonance frequency f1 and f2 dependence on shorting pin positions as

shown in Fig. 3.6 (a.)It is also observed that the lower resonance frequency increases

and the upper resonance decreases with increasing value of shorting pin position

with authors experimental results which is shown in Fig.3.6 (b). We found good

agreement between theoretical and experimental reported results1.

4. It is also observed from Fig. 3.7 that the ratio of f2/f1 decreases with increasing value

of the shorting pin positions.

Having discussed the shorting pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band

operation, the analysis of equilateral triangular microstrip antenna for circular

polarization is taken for dual-band operation the details of which are given in the fourth

chapter.
 Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 72

3.1
f1 [GHz]
2.9
f2 [GHz]
2.7
Frequency (GHz)

2.5
2.3
2.1
1.9
1.7
1.5
1.3
1.1
0.9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Shorhing Pin Positions(mm)
Fig. 3.6 Depedence of resonant frequencies on shorting pin position
Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 73

Fig. 3.6 (b) Dependence of resonant frequencies on shorting pin position

Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 74

3.5
f2/f1
3

2.5 Fre
que
2 ncy
1.5 (G
Hz
1 )

0.5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Shorting pin positions (mm)
Fig. 3.7 Dependence of f2/f1 on shorting pin position
Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 75

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Chapter 3: Shorting-pin loaded rectangular microstrip antenna for dual-band operation 76

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