A

Review of Broadband
Dual Linearly Polarized Microstrip Antenna
Designs with High Isolation
Prashant K. Mishra1, Dhananjay R. Jahagirdar1, and Girish Kumar2

Research Center Imarat

1

Defence Research & Development Organization

Vignyan Kancha, Hyderabad, 500069, Andhra Pradesh, India
Tel: +91 40 24183556; Fax: +91 40 24340517
E-mail: mishra.pk81@gmail.com, dr_jahagirdar @hotmail.com

Electrical Engineering Department

2

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Mumbai, 400076, Maharashtra, India
Tel: +91 22 25767436; E-mail: gkumar@ee.iitb.ac.in

Abstract

Dual-polarized antennas are used to achieve polarization diversity in order to increase the capacity and reliability of
wireless communication links. In order to cater to increased wireless communication traffic, dual-polarized antennas
are required having broad bandwidths and high isolation between two orthogonal ports. Various dual-polarized antenna
designs have been explored to achieve broad bandwidth and high isolation across the entire band of interest. This paper
reviews various techniques proposed in recent years for the design of dual linearly polarized antennas to achieve high
isolation and broad bandwidth. A detailed analysis of these techniques in terms of their advantages and limitations is
presented.

Keywords: Broadband antennas; microstrip antennas; patch antennas; antenna feeds; electromagnetic coupling; dual
polarized antennas

1. Introduction relation and higher diversity gain compared to traditionally

used slanted dipole antennas for cellular base stations [4]. It

W ireless communication and networking technologies

have witnessed tremendous growth, resulting in
requirements for higher channel capacity and link reliability.
was also concluded that polarization diversity is best suited for
urban-suburban environments with dominant multipath fading.

To meet these requirements, diversity techniques, such as
space and polarization diversity, have been proposed. With
the miniaturization of communication systems and devices,
polarization diversity has become attractive, as it achieves
diversity using dual linearly polarized antennas, requiring less
space.
A dual linearly polarized antenna has two orthogonal linear
polarization modes, excited using two ports of the same
antenna [1]. Dual-polarized antennas are used in cellular base
stations for polarization diversity [2-4]. It was observed that
antennas with dual orthogonal ports provide lower output cor-
Dual-polarized antennas are also used for multiple-input
multiple-output (MIMO) systems [5-8]. The use of polariza-
tion diversity in MIMO system provides improved multiplex-
ing gains, especially in Rayleigh fading channels, and in the
presence of high transmitting fading signal correlation. A
dual-polarized antenna configuration for MIMO systems also
provides improved channel capacity compared to a single-
polarized antenna configuration.
Dual-polarized antennas are also used in radars to
simultaneously obtain information in the horizontal and verti-
cal planes [9, 10]. Radar systems employing dual-polarized

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 antennas operate in two modes, i.e., the alternate H/V mode
and the hybrid mode. In the hybrid mode, both polarizations
are used together, resulting in a simple implementation. The
cross-polarization levels for two orthogonal polarizations of a
dual-polarized antenna are minimized to reduce errors in radar
measurements [10].

The dual linearly polarized antenna designs for the

above-mentioned applications require wide bandwidth, with
high port-to-port isolation and low cross-polarization levels.
Microstrip antennas are an attractive option for the design of
dual-polarized antennas due to their advantages, such as a low
profile, low cost, being easy to fabricate, and their ability to
be integrated on PCBs. However, achieving broad bandwidth
and high isolation between two orthogonal ports for microstrip
antennas has been a challenging task. This paper presents a
review of various designs of broadband dual-linearly-polarized
microstrip antennas with high isolation between two orthogonal
ports.

2. Dual Linearly Polarized Antenna Designs

Dual linearly polarized antennas are designed by using two

feeds to excite two orthogonal modes. Various designs of dual
linearly polarized microstrip antennas are proposed based on
different feeding techniques to excite dual orthogonal modes.
This section presents various feeding techniques, and compares
their performance in terms of bandwidth and isolation.

2.1 Dual Linearly Polarized Antennas

with Coaxial Feeds and Direct-Coupled
Microstrip Lines

A dual linearly polarized microstrip antenna (MSA) with

coaxial feed was designed by placing feeds at two orthogonal
points. A square (SMSA) or circular (CMSA) patch element
was used to design a dual-polarized antenna with two orthogonal
modes excited at same frequency [1]. The configuration of the
microstrip antenna with a dual coaxial feed is shown in Figure 1.
Two feeds were placed at the null locations of two orthogonal Figure 1. A dual linearly polarized microstrip antenna with
modes so that the feed for one mode did not affect the input a coaxial feed: (a) a square microstrip antenna, top view; (b)
impedance of the second orthogonal mode. In [11], a coaxial- a circular microstrip antenna, top view; and (c) side view.

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 fed dual-polarized antenna was designed on a substrate of
ε r = 4.3 and h = 1.59 mm, achieving a VSWR < 2 bandwidth
of 2.2% and an isolation > 30 dB across the entire band. The
bandwidth of a coaxial-fed antenna can be improved by
increasing the substrate thickness or by using an air-suspended
radiating element. However, the isolation between two
orthogonal ports is reduced due to the coupling of radiation
from two orthogonal coaxial feeds.

A dual linearly polarized microstrip antenna was also

designed by the direct coupling of a patch element using two
microstrip feed lines. The configuration of the microstrip-line-
fed dual-polarized antenna is shown in Figure 2. In this con-
figuration, a square microstrip radiating element was excited
either at two orthogonal edges or at two orthogonal corners. A
detailed analysis of the corner-fed dual-polarized microstrip
antenna was carried out in [12-14]. The antenna with corner-fed
microstrip lines achieved better isolation compared to the
antenna with a dual-edge feed. In [14], an antenna with dual
corner feeds on a substrate of ε r = 2.78 and h = 0.8 mm was
designed with a VSWR < 2 bandwidth of 6.8% and an isola-
tion of > 25 dB across the whole band. The antenna had a peak
isolation of 37 dB at the center frequency. The isolation for the
corner-feed antenna was about 10 dB better than for the antenna
with the edge feed.

2.2 Dual Linearly Polarized

Gap-Fed Antennas

In dual linearly polarized gap-fed microstrip antenna

designs, the square radiating element is fed by a gap between an
open microstrip line and the radiating element. The con-
figuration of a gap-fed dual-polarized antenna as proposed in
[15] is shown in Figure 3. In this configuration, two modes were
excited using two orthogonal microstrip feed lines etched on
the same substrate, and placed with a gap from the radiating
element. The impedance matching for the gap-fed antenna was
achieved by modifying the gap between the microstrip line and
the radiating element. The antenna was fabricated on a substrate
of ε r = 2.5 and h = 0.787 mm. The antenna achieved a
VSWR < 2 bandwidth of 4.15% and an isolation >30 dB across
the whole bandwidth, with a peak isolation of 38 dB at the
center frequency. The gap-fed antennas have a simple conformal
structure, which can be easily fabricated. These antennas have
the disadvantage of a lower impedance bandwidth.
Figure 2. A dual linearly polarized antenna with a micro-
strip-line feed: (a) edge-fed top view; (b) corner-fed top
view; and (c) side view.

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 bandwidth with lower cross-polar levels compared to the
antenna with the L-shaped probe. It was also observed that
surrounding the radiating element by vertical walls improved
the isolation. For the meandering probe, the antenna surrounded
by side metallic walls achieved an isolation better than 30 dB
over the entire bandwidth.

The advantage of a probe-fed dual linearly polarized

antenna is a simple design achieving broad bandwidth and high
isolation between two orthogonal ports. The antennas have high
power-handling capability, and their backlobe radiations are
suppressed due to the ground plane at the bottom of the probe.
The performance of antennas with coaxial feed, microstrip-line
feed, gap feed, and probe feed is summarized in Table 1.

2.4 Dual Linearly Polarized

Aperture-Coupled Antennas

The aperture-coupled antenna design with a radiating

element coupled to a microstrip line through a slot cut in the
ground plane was first proposed in [18]. For the design of a
dual linearly polarized aperture-coupled antenna, the microstrip
patch element is coupled to two microstrip lines through two
orthogonal slots cut in the ground plane. Based on the position
of the slots in the ground plane, the aperture-coupled antennas

Figure 3. The dual linearly polarized gap-fed microstrip

antenna configuration: (a) top view; and (b) side view [15].

2.3 Dual Linearly Polarized

Probe-Fed Antennas

Dual linearly polarized antennas with an air-suspended

patch and fed by two orthogonal capacitive probes achieve
broader bandwidth. For probe-fed antennas, the cross-polar
level is also reduced, due to a decrease in the length of the probe
compared to the coaxial feed for the same patch height.
Figure 4. A dual linearly polarized probe-fed microstrip
The configuration of a dual-polarized antenna with dual antenna configuration (three­dimensional view).
orthogonal capacitive probe is shown in Figure 4. In this con-
figuration, the top radiating element was placed with an air gap
from the ground plane of the antenna. The radiating element
was excited by two capacitive probes placed at two orthogonal
edges. In order to improve port-to-port isolation, various
configurations of capacitive probes were used for the design of
dual linearly polarized antennas, as shown in Figure 5.

A dual-polarized antenna with two L-shaped probes was

discussed in [16], achieving a maximum isolation of 20 dB. An
antenna with dual meandering probes was proposed in [17].
The two meandering probes were connected in a “T”-shaped
configuration to the radiating element. The antenna achieved a Figure 5. Feeds for the dual linearly polarized probe-fed
VSWR < 2 bandwidth of 26%, with an isolation better than antenna configurations: (a) L­shaped probe; (b) hook­
25 dB. The antenna with meandering probe achieved higher shaped probe; and (c) meandering probe.

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 Table 1. A summary of the performance of dual linearly polarized antennas
with coaxial, microstrip, gap, and probe feeds.

Freq. Isolation X-Pol.

Feed Configuration % BW Ref.
(GHz) (dB) (dB)
Square element coaxial probe 1.55 2.2 >30 – [11]
Microstrip line corner-feed 3.95 6.8 >25 – [12]
Gap-fed 14.9 4.15 >30 30 [15]
L shaped Probe 1.8 – >20 – [16]
Meandering Probe 1.85 26 >25 15 [17]

are classified into two categories, i.e., (a) an offset-slot aperture-

coupled antenna, and (b) a cross-slot aperture-coupled antenna.
The configuration of a dual linearly polarized aperture-coupled
antenna with offset slots is shown in Figure 6.

In an offset-slot aperture-coupled antenna, two slots are

cut in the ground plane at an offset with respect to the center of
the patch element. Two slots can be arranged either in a “ Γ ”or
in a “T” configuration, as shown in Figure 7. Two microstrip
lines are used at the bottom of the ground plane to excite the
radiating patch through a slot cut in the ground plane. The
isolation and bandwidth characteristics of these antennas are
influenced by the shapes and dimensions of the slots, and their
offsets with respect to center of the patch.

In order to improve the isolation and bandwidth of offset-

slot aperture-coupled dual-polarized antennas, various slot
shapes were proposed, as shown in Figure 8 [19-25]. A design Figure 6. The dual linearly polarized aperture-coupled
of an aperture-coupled antenna with two rectangular offset slots antenna configuration with offset slots (three­dimensional
and microstrip lines was discussed in [19]. In [20], dog-bone- view).
shaped slots were used instead of rectangular slots. The dog-
bone-shaped slots resulted in better coupling to the radiating
element. In the dog-bone-shaped slot, the slot dimension was
also reduced, resulting in increased spacing between the two
orthogonal slots. The increased spacing of the slots resulted in
an improved isolation of > 30 dB over the entire bandwidth.

A dual-polarized antenna with two modified H-shaped

offset slots was proposed in [21]. In the modified H-shaped slot,
the two lower arms of the slots were bent inward. The physical
isolation between the two orthogonal ports was increased by
bending the lower arms inward, which resulted in a significant
improvement in isolation compared to conventional H-shaped
slots. The antenna with modified H-shaped slot had 10 dB to
35 dB improvement in isolation between the two orthogonal
ports compared to an antenna with a conventional H-shaped Figure 7. The slot configuration for the dual linearly
slot. However, the cross-polar levels in both the planes were polarized aperture-coupled antenna with offset slots: (a) “
higher than for a conventional H-shaped slot antenna. Γ ” configuration; and (b) “T” configuration.

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 3. Techniques to Improve the Isolation of
Dual Linearly Polarized Antennas

In order to improve the isolation between the two orthogo-

nal ports of dual linearly polarized antennas, various techniques
have been proposed. This section presents an overview of these
techniques.
Figure 8. Different slot shapes for dual-polarized aperture-
coupled antenna designs: (a) rectangular slot; (b) H-shaped
slot; (c) I-shaped slot; (d) C-shaped slot; (e) dog-bone-
shaped slot; and (f) modified H­shaped slot. 3.1 Ground Planes for Improved Isolation

The isolation and cross-polar levels of dual-polarized

Aperture-coupled antennas with two different slot shapes
were been investigated to improve the isolation between two
orthogonal ports. In [22], an aperture-coupled circular micro-
strip patch antenna with one rectangular and one C-shaped
coupling slot was proposed. The antenna achieved an isolation
> 28 dB and a cross-polar level < 18 dB for both planes.
A broadband dual-polarized aperture-coupled microstrip
antenna with “H”-shaped coupling slots in the ground plane,
arranged in a “T” configuration, was proposed in [23]. It was
observed that two offset slots arranged in a “T” configuration
achieved improved isolation.
antennas are significantly affected due to diffraction at the
edges of the finite ground plane. In [26], the effect of a finite
ground plane on a dual-polarized antenna was studied. The
antenna was designed with “H”-shaped coupling slots at
1.8 GHz, and the ground-plane size was varied from 0.45λ0 to
0.9λ0 . It was shown that the antenna with a square ground-
plane size of 0.6λ0 had 10 dB more isolation between the two
orthogonal ports compared to the antenna with a ground-plane
size of 0.45λ0 . The cross-polar level was also reduced by five,
to 10 dB. These improvements in isolation and cross-polar
levels were attributed to the reduced effect of coupling due to

The two slots cut in the ground plane can also be excited
using a coplanar waveguide (CPW). A dual-polarized aperture-
coupled antenna fed by a coplanar waveguide was proposed in
[24]. In order to suppress the backlobe radiation from the
coplanar-waveguide feed, reflectors were used below each feed.
The dual-offset-fed antenna using a coplanar waveguide feed
achieved a VSWR < 2 bandwidth of 14% with an isolation
> 28 dB between two orthogonal ports.

In order to achieve high isolation between two orthogonal

ports, it is important to achieve symmetry of the structure with
respect to the individual ports. The dual-polarized aperture-
coupled antenna with a cross-slot provides a symmetrical
structure, resulting in better isolation compared to the offset-fed
slots. The dual-polarized cross-slot antenna with an air-
suspended patch was proposed in [25]. In this configuration, the
cross-slot was designed at the center of the ground plane. One
of the ports was fed by using two 100 Ω microstrip lines, and
a second port was fed by using a 50 Ω microstrip line, as
shown in Figure 9. The antenna with a cross-slot provided a
high isolation of > 35 dB and cross-polar levels of < 30 dB.

The performance of the aperture-coupled dual-polarized

antenna with different slot shapes is summarized in Table 2.
The aperture-coupled antennas have the advantage of a high
impedance bandwidth. However, backlobe radiation occurs,
due to the microstrip feed network placed at the bottom of the
ground plane. The backlobe radiation can be suppressed by
placing an additional layer with a reflector at the bottom of the
feed network. The multilayer configuration of the aperture- Figure 9. The dual-polarized aperture-coupled antenna
coupled antenna requires the proper alignment of the layers for configuration with a cross­slot at the center of the ground
good isolation and broad bandwidth. plane: (a) top view; and (b) side view [25].

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 Table 2. The performance of dual linearly polarized aperture-coupled antennas
with different slot shapes.

Freq. Isolation X-Pol.

Slot Shape % BW Ref.
(GHz) (dB) (dB)
Rectangular Slot 5.8 7.7 30 25 [19]
Dog bone 5 2.5 30 20 [20]
H shaped 1.8 8.5 21 – [21]
Modified H 1.8 7.3 31.4 14 [21]
P1 14.3
C shaped and Rectangular 5.8 28 18 [22]
P2 24.5
H shaped ‘T’ Configuration 3.5 21.3 34 21 [23]
Rectangular Slot with CPW feed 6.5 14 28 20 [24]
P1 17.5
Cross-slot 1.9 P2 13.7 35 30 [25]
VSWR<1.5

edge diffraction for the ground-plane size of 0.6λ0 . It was also
concluded that the isolation and cross-polar levels were not
improved much after a particular ground-plane size.
Another important technique for increasing isolation and
for reducing cross-polar levels was by using a defected ground
structure (DGS) [27, 28]. Various shapes of defected ground
structures have been proposed, as shown in Figure 10 [29]. The
stop-band characteristic of a defected ground structure helps
in suppressing surface-wave excitation, resulting in high port
isolation.
polar level was poor, due to the backlobe radiation getting
trapped between the upper and lower metallic planes of the
reflector and ground plane. A dual-polarized antenna with an
L-shaped probe and a non-resonant aperture cut on a circular
ground plane was proposed in [32]. The antenna achieved better
isolation and cross-polar levels without having a reflector
placed at the bottom of the antenna. The performance of various
designs of dual-polarized antennas with the hybrid-feed
technique is summarized in Table 3.

3.2 Hybrid Feeds for Two Orthogonal Ports

In order to improve isolation between two orthogonal

ports, the hybrid-feed technique with two different feed con- Figure 10. Defected ground structures: (a) spiral head; (b)
figurations for two orthogonal ports was explored [30-32]. The arrowhead slot; (c) H-shaped slot; (d) square open loop with
configuration of a typical dual-polarized antenna with a hybrid a slot in the middle section; (e) open-loop dumbbell; and (f)
feed is shown in Figure 11. In this configuration, a coaxial inter-digital defected ground structure [29].
probe was used for one port, while the other port was excited
using an aperture-coupled feed. The hybrid technique achieved
better isolation, due to increased physical separation of the two
feeds.

A dual-polarized circular patch antenna with an air-sus-

pended radiating element and a hybrid feed was proposed in
[30]. The radiating element was placed with an air gap to
achieve a broad bandwidth. The antenna used an “H”-shaped
aperture feed for port1, and an L-shaped coaxial probe for
port2. The antenna achieved an isolation > 30 dB for the entire
bandwidth. In [31], the two orthogonal modes were excited
using an L-shaped probe for port1 and a near-resonant aperture
cut in the ground plane for port2. The antenna was backed by a
reflector at the bottom. The antenna had a broad bandwidth for Figure 11. A hybrid­feed dual­polarized antenna configu­
both the ports, and an isolation of > 25 dB across the entire ration with an L-shaped probe feed for port1 and an aper-
bandwidth, with a peak isolation of 50 dB. However, the cross- ture-coupled feed for port2 (three-dimensional view).

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 Table 3. The performance of dual linearly polarized antennas with a hybrid feed technique.

Freq. % BW Isolation X-Pol.

Feed Configuration Ref.
(GHz) ( P1 , P2 ) (dB) (dB)

Aperture and gap coupled probe 1.8 16.9, 17.2 >30 14 [30]
20.5, 24.9
L shaped probe and resonant aperture 1.8 >25 14 [31]
VSWR<1.5
L shaped probe and aperture 1.8 16.2, 18.6 >30 20 [32]

3.3 Dual-Feed Technique
In the design of a dual linearly polarized antenna, the
isolation between the two orthogonal ports can be further
improved, and the cross-coupling can be suppressed, by using
two feeds for each port, placed on the opposite edges of the
radiating element, as shown in Figure 12. The two feeds placed
on the opposite sides are of equal amplitude, and have either
the same phase, if the two feeds on the edges are oriented in
the same direction, or have opposite phases, if the two feeds
are oriented in the opposite direction. The feeds placed in
symmetry with respect to the center of the radiating element
result in suppression of higher-order modes that contribute to
the polarization impurity [33, 34].
The dual-polarized antenna design with modified H-shaped
slots for two orthogonal ports in [21] was also designed using
dual feeds for both the ports. It was observed that the antenna
with the dual-feed technique also resulted in an improvement in
bandwidth, due to the additional resonance due to the coupling
of the dual feeds. In [30], the isolation between two orthogonal
ports having L-shaped probes was improved by using the dual-
feed technique for one of the ports. The antenna with the dual-
feed technique for one of the two orthogonal ports improved the
isolation by 2 dB across the entire bandwidth, and reduced the
cross-polar levels by 5 dB.
In [35], a dual linearly polarized antenna with dual feed
was proposed using two in-phase aperture-coupled feeds for
port1, and two out-of-phase gap-coupled feeds for port2. The
antenna achieved a very high isolation of > 40 dB between the
two orthogonal ports for the entire bandwidth.
of the two orthogonal ports, the ports were separated by using
shorting pins, and a dual-feeding technique was used by placing
two probes at opposite edges. The shorting pins also improved
the impedance bandwidth of the antenna. The antenna achieved
an isolation of > 38.5 dB and a cross-polar level of < 20 dB.
A dual linearly polarized antenna using a dual hybrid feed
structure was proposed in [38]. Port1 of the antenna was excited
using an aperture-coupled feed having a resonant annular-ring
slot and a T-shaped microstrip line. Port2 of the antenna used a
dual-feed technique, with two meandering strips excited in
opposite phases using a power-divider network. The antenna
exhibited an isolation > 40 dB for two orthogonal ports.
The performance of dual linearly polarized antennas with
the dual-feed technique is summarized in Table 4. The dual-
feed technique used with any of the dual-polarized antenna
designs has the advantage of much improved isolation across
the band. However, the antenna design becomes complex, due
to the feed-network design, and also results in a reduction in
gain, due to feed-network losses.
4. Techniques to Improve the Bandwidth of
Dual Linearly Polarized Antennas
The bandwidth of a dual-polarized antenna can be
improved by using a stacked-patch configuration, or by having
stable phases and amplitudes for dual-feed techniques across a
broad bandwidth. This section presents some of the proposed
designs with increased impedance bandwidths.

The dual linearly polarized antenna with dual feeds for

L-shaped probes was proposed in [36]. The two probes were
placed at opposite edges of the radiating element, and excited
using a power divider, resulting in the cancellation of coupling
due to the vertical portion of the probes. This configuration
resulted in better isolation between the two orthogonal ports.
The isolation of the two orthogonal ports in the probe-fed
antenna can be further improved by increasing the physical
isolation of the two probes. In [37], a shorted antenna with a
hook-shaped probe was proposed, as shown in Figure 13. The
antenna with a hook-shaped probe resulted in a smaller patch
dimension, as well as a reduced horizontal length of the probe,
so that the physical isolation between the two orthogonal ports Figure 12. A dual­feed configuration for the dual linearly
was increased. In order to further improve the physical isolation polarized antenna design.

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Figure 13. A dual linearly polarized antenna with a hook-
shaped probe and dual feeds: (a) top view; (b) side view;
and (c) feed network for dual feed [37].
Table 4. The performance of dual linearly polarized antennas with the dual feed technique.
Feed Configuration
(GHz)
Modified H slots
Aperture and L probe
Aperture and gap coupled probe
L shaped probe
Hook shaped probe
Annular ring slot and meandering probe
246
AP_Mag_Dec_2014_Final.indd 246
4.1 Stacked Microstrip Patch Confi guration
Stacked microstrip elements with broadband feeding tech-
niques can provide a very broad impedance bandwidth
compared to antennas with a single microstrip patch element. A
dual linearly polarized aperture-coupled antenna with H-shaped
coupling slots placed in a “T” configuration and two stacked
radiating elements was proposed in [39]. The configuration of
the antenna is shown in Figure 14. The antenna achieved an
impedance bandwidth > 20% , and an isolation > 36 dB for the
whole bandwidth, with a peak isolation of 53.98 dB. In [40], the
square radiating element was excited at two corners in place of
the edges. Corner feeding of the radiating patch resulted in an
improvement of the peak isolation and cross-polar levels. The
antenna had an impedance bandwidth of over 24.4%, and an
isolation > 30 dB for the entire bandwidth, with a peak isolation
of 70.2 dB.
Dual-polarized antennas with stacked patches were also
proposed with cross slots at the center of the ground plane [41,
42]. In [41], the feed networks for two orthogonal polarizations
of cross-slots were designed on the same layer with an air-gap
at the junction of the feeds. The antenna had two central slots
crossing each other. The cross-slots were excited by two “U”-
shaped feeds. The “U”-shaped feed for cross-slot excitation
resulted in symmetry of the feed, improving isolation between
two orthogonal ports. The antenna had an impedance bandwidth
> 23% , with an isolation > 27 dB for the entire bandwidth.
In [42], a dual-polarized antenna with a cross slot was
proposed with feeds for two orthogonal ports designed on two
different layers. The configuration of a dual linearly polarized
antenna with cross slots, stacked patches, and two feeds on two
substrate layers as proposed in [42] is shown in Figure 15. The
feed for one port was designed above the ground plane, and the
feed for the other port was designed below the ground plane.
Two stacked radiating elements were used above the feeds to
improve the impedance bandwidth of the antenna. In order to
improve the front-to-back ratio, reflectors were placed at the
bottom of the cross-slots. The antenna with stacked patches
achieved an impedance bandwidth of 50%, with an isolation
> 35 dB for the entire bandwidth. The antenna achieved a front-
to-back ratio of > 20 dB for the entire bandwidth. The
performance of various configurations of dual linearly polarized
antennas with stacked patches is summarized in Table 5.
Freq. % BW Isolation X-Pol.
Ref.
( P1 , P2 ) (dB) (dB)
1.8 17.8, 15.2 >34.4 20 [21]
1.8 13.1, 24.7 >32 20 [30]
1.8 14.5, 20.0 >40 23 [35]
1.8 20, 20 >30 13 [36]
4 37, 39 >38.5 20 [37]
2.4 14.2, 14.5 >40 23 [38]
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 56, No. 6, December 2014
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 Figure 15. A dual-feed, dual-polarized aperture-coupled
antenna configuration with a cross­slot at the center of the
ground plane (three-dimensional view) [42].
Figure 14. A dual-polarized aperture-coupled antenna with
stacked patches: (a) top view; and (b) side view [39].

Table 5. The performance of dual linearly polarized antennas with stacked microstrip patches.

Freq. % BW Isolation X-Pol.

Feed Configuration Ref.
(GHz) ( P1 , P2 ) (dB) (dB)

H-shaped slots edge feed in T conf. 2.68 20.9, 21.8 >36 22 [39]
H-shaped slots corner feed in T conf. 2.85 25.1, 24.4 >30 23 [40]
Cross-slot, two feeds on one substrate 3.8 23, 23 >27 20 [41]
Cross-slot, two feeds on two substrate 2.0 52, 52 >39 20 [42]

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 Table 6. A comparison of dual linearly polarized
antenna design configurations.
Antenna Type Complexity
Coaxial Feed Low
Gap-fed Low
Probe Feed Low
Aperture Coupled Medium
Hybrid Medium
Dual-Feed High
Stacked Patches Medium/ High
Figure 16. A wideband balun for the dual-feed dual-
polarized antenna [43].
4.2 Wideband Balun Design for Dual Feed
In the dual-feed technique for dual-polarized broadband
antenna design, it is important that the two feeds have stable
amplitude and phase across the frequency band. In [43], a new
design of a 180° wideband balun was proposed to have stable
amplitude and phase for a dual-feed antenna design, as shown
in Figure 16. The proposed balun used a Wilkinson power
divider with a 180° wideband phase shifter, which had a very
stable phase of 180° ± 5° over a 50% bandwidth. Due to the
small phase variation across a wide frequency range, the
antenna achieved better isolation between two orthogonal ports
across a wide band. A dual-polarized antenna with an L-shaped
probe was designed with a dual feed using the proposed balun.
The antenna with a wideband balun achieved an isolation > 30
dB across a 94.7% bandwidth and a cross-polar level < 20 dB.
A dual linearly polarized microstrip antenna can be
designed based on the isolation and bandwidth requirements
for a specific application. However, techniques to improve the
isolation and bandwidth of an antenna also increase the com-
248
AP_Mag_Dec_2014_Final.indd 248
Isolation Bandwidth
Low Low
Low Low
Moderate/
Medium
Broadband
High Broadband
Moderate/
Medium
Broadband
High Broadband
High Broadband
plexity of the antenna’s design. A comparison of various design
techniques discussed in this paper in terms of complexity,
isolation, and bandwidth is summarized in Table 6.
5. Conclusions
Dual linearly polarized antennas with high port isolation
and broad bandwidths are important for enhancing the channel
capacities and link reliabilities of high-data-rate wireless
communication links. Various feeding techniques, such as a
probe feed and an aperture-coupled feed, can provide broad
bandwidth as well as high isolation and cross-polar levels
across the entire band of interest. In applications where port
isolation has to be further improved, the dual-feed technique
with a feed network can be used. The isolation of antennas can
also be improved by selecting proper ground-plane size, or by
using defected ground structures. Antennas with stacked-patch
configurations and a broadband balun for dual feeds can achieve
very high bandwidth and isolation for the entire bandwidth.
Polarization-diversity techniques are part of future wire-
less-communication technologies, such as LTE and LTE
advance. Dual-polarized antennas are also being used for
MIMO channels to improve channel capacity. Hence, dual-
polarized antennas with high isolation and broad bandwidth
will find their uses for these systems. With the advent of new
wireless communication technologies, multi-band dual-polar-
ized antennas and array designs will be a growing area of
research to cater for multi-band operations.
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Introducing the Authors
P. K. Mishra received his BE in Electronics and Commu-
nication Engineering from Regional Engineering College,
Bhopal, India in 2002. He joined Defence R&D Organization,
Hyderabad, in 2002, and has been working on the design and
development of wireless communication systems and antennas.
Currently, he is pursuing his PhD from IIT, Bombay, India. He
is member of IEEE, Antennas and Propagation Society, IETE,
and Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI).
D. R. Jahagirdar received his BE in Electronics Engi-
neering in 1990 from Govt. College of Engineering, Amravati
University, Maharashtra, India. He received the MTech in
Microwave Engineering in 1992 from Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. He was a Research
Assistant at Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy at
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 56, No. 6, December 2014
12/27/2014 2:03:55 PM
 IIT, Kharagpur. Later, he joined Antenna Products Division of
Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, Hyderabad. He obtained his
PhD in 1997 from the Department of Electronics and Computer
Science, University of Southampton, UK. He received a
scholarship from the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission,
UK, to pursue the PhD. He joined the Research Center Imarat,
DRDO, Hyderabad, in May 2000. He won the Best Paper
Award at the third IEEE High-Frequency Postgraduate Student
Colloquium 1997 at the University of Leeds, UK, organized
by the IEEE UKRI section. He received the Prof. S. K. Mitra
memorial award for Best Research Oriented Paper from IETE
in 2002. He received the Young Scientist Award at IETE-IRSI
International Radar Symposium Bangalore in 2005. He also
received the Laboratory Scientist of the Year Award for 2006.
He received the DRDO Scientist of the Year Award in 2010
from the Prime Minister of India. He is a Fellow of the IETE
and a Senior Member of the IEEE, Antennas and Propagation
Society, and Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. He is
a member of URSI. His area of interest is microwave antennas
and arrays for radars.

Prof. G. Kumar received his PhD from the Electrical

Engineering Department, I.I.T. Kanpur, India, in 1983. From
1983 to 1985, he was a Research Associate at the University
of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. From 1985 to 1991, he was
an Assistant Professor in the Electrical Engineering Depart-
ment, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. Since 1991,
he has been a Professor in the Electrical Engineering Depart-
ment, I.I.T. Bombay, India. He has published more than 200
papers in national and international journals and conferences.
He has written a book, Broadband Microstrip Antennas (Artech
House). His research interests are in the areas of microstrip
antennas and arrays, broadband antennas, microwave integrated
circuits, and RF communication circuits.

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