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C 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
V based on the leaky-wave or sky wave modes of the narrow
COMPACT ULTRAWIDEBAND PATCH
ANTENNA BASED ON MULTIPLE-MODE
RESONANCE AND SURFACE
PLASMON WAVE
Bo Yuan, Yuanlong Dai, Xiao Hong Zhang, and Guo Qing Luo
Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China;
Corresponding author: luoguoqing@hdu.edu.cn
Received 30 June 2016
width [3]. Conventional microstrip patch antenna in general has
a conducting patch printed on a grounded microwave substrate.
It has attractive features of low profile, light weight, easy fabri-
cation, and conformability to mounting hosts [4]. However,
microstrip antenna inherently has narrow bandwidth.
Surface plasmon wave (SPW) is a kind of surface wave that
travels along the interface between metal and dielectric; it keeps
propagating along the surface unless a discontinuity appears [5].
In 2010, Li., etc. firstly proposed a broadband and high-gain
pattern-etched microstrip antenna which utilizes the surface plas-
mon wave to enhance the impedance bandwidth [6]. In the fol-
lowing years, different antenna structures that could enhance the
bandwidth have been discussed [7–9]. Multiple-mode resonance
(MMR) is another way to enhance the impedance bandwidth by
superimposing several resonant modes to form a UWB. MMR is
firstly used to design broadband filter [10], then this technology
has been applied to UWB antennas design [11].
In this paper, a compact pattern-etched microstrip patch
antenna is proposed. The antenna consists of novel unit cells as
multiple-mode resonator and patterned ground plane as a SPW
generator. In contrast with the traditional patch antennas operate
bandwidth, the proposed microstrip antenna owns ultrawide
bandwidth. This antenna holds good performance due to the sur-
face plasmon wave between the meshed ground and dielectric
substrate, the ‘windows-shaped’ patch printed on the substrate
as a multiple-mode resonator and the strong coupling between
the meshed top patch and the patterned ground plane. The pro-
posed antenna has an impedance bandwidth (less than 210 dB
return loss level) from 3.3 to 12 GHz. The gain of the antenna
is generally higher than 1.7 dBi with the peak gain of 5.8 dBi;
and its radiation efficiency can reach as high as 89.5%.

ABSTRACT: A novel compact ultrawideband (UWB) pattern-etched

microstrip patch antenna is proposed. The microstrip antenna has two
layers consists of a meshed top patch and a patterned bottom ground
plane generating multiple-mode resonance and surface plasmon wave.
The proposed antenna is designed on the cheap FR4 substrate with com-
pact size of 28 3 32 3 0.794 mm3. The simulated impedance bandwidth
covers from 3.3 to 12 GHz for S-parameter of less than 210 dB level.
The measured return loss falls from 3.75 to 6.15 GHz and from 7.2 to
10.6 GHz. The antenna gain is generally higher than 1.7 dBi with the
peak gain of 5.8 dBi. From the simulation and measurement results, it is
observed that the proposed antenna has good radiation characteristics
and ultrabandwidth for potential UWB applications. V C 2016 Wiley

Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 59:456–459, 2017; View

this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.30325

Key words: ultrawideband; surface plasmon wave; multiple-mode reso-

nance; patch antenna

1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, ultrawideband (UWB) technology has became
popular in various wireless communication system, for instance,
through-wall communication system, medical imaging system,
vehicular radar system, indoor positioning system, and hand-
held system, etc [1]. In 2002, the U.S. Federal Communication
Commission (FCC) authorized the frequency band of 7500 MHz
(from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz) for UWB applications [2]. Therefore,
UWB wireless systems will play more and more significant Figure 1 Geometry and parameters of the proposed antenna (a) 3D
roles in future. Antenna which acts as the terminal of a UWB view, (b) top view, and (c) bottom view. [Color figure can be viewed at
communication system is required to be of small size, easy wileyonlinelibrary.com]

456 MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 59, No. 2, February 2017 DOI 10.1002/mop
Figure 2 Top and bottom views of the fabricated antenna. [Color fig-
ure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 3 Simulated and measured S-parameters of the proposed
antenna
2. ANTENNA DESIGN AND CONFIGURATIONS
Figure 1 shows the geometry and the detailed dimensions of the
proposed antenna consisting of the meshed patch and the ground
plane with crossed strip-line gaps. The antenna is fabricated on
a 0.794 mm-thick FR4 substrate of size 28 3 32 mm2. The rela-
tive permittivity and loss tangent of the substrate are 4.4 and
0.025, respectively. On the top side of the antenna, a microstrip
line is connected to the edge of the meshed patch to feed the
antenna. The width of the microstrip line is 2.46 mm which is
calculated from the 50 X microstrip line based on 0.794 mm
Figure 4 Reflection coefficient of the proposed antenna with different
gap width
DOI 10.1002/mop MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 59, No. 2, February 2017
Figure 5 Peak gain of the proposed antenna
thickness of the substrate. The patch is meshed to a windows
shape structure in order to generate multiple-mode resonance.
On the other side of the antenna, a patterned ground plane is
printed and strongly coupled with the patch. The crossed strip-
line gaps are etched in order to form a discontinuity of SPW
between the ground and dielectric substrate. The prototype of
the antenna is shown in Figure 2. A 50 X SM-A connector is
welded with the microstrip line to feed the antenna.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The measurement was carried out by an Agilent VZM vector
network analyzer. Figure 3 gives the simulated and measured
reflection coefficient of the antenna prototype; a traditional
patch antenna with the same size is simulated as comparison.
The simulated impedance bandwidth is between 3.3 and 12 GHz
for S-parameter of less than 210 dB level which covers the
most of the FCC’s defined UWB frequency band. It is observed
that traditional patch antenna is hard to be used for UWB appli-
cations because of narrow bandwidth. It is obvious that the
working bandwidth of traditional patch antenna is about
170 MHz (7.72–7.89 GHz), which is quite narrow. For the pro-
posed patch antenna, the measured return loss covers from 3.75
to 6.15 GHz and from 7.2 to 10.6 GHz under 210 dB level. At
higher frequency, the 210 dB bandwidth of the proposed anten-
na (between 7.2 and 10.6 GHz) is about 20 times wider than the
Figure 6 Radiation efficiency of the proposed antenna
457

Figure 7 3D radiation patterns of the antenna at different frequencies.
[Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
traditional patch. The measured impedance bandwidth (under
28 dB level) falls within 3.2 and 10.9 GHz. The deviation
between the measured result and the simulated one is due to the
error of fabricating, welding and testing.
Figure 8 The simulated and measured radiation patterns: (a) @3 GHz in the xy-plane; (b) @3 GHz in the yz-plane; (c) @7 GHz in the xy-plane; and
(d) @7 GHz in the yz-plane
458 MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 59, No. 2, February 2017
Figure 4 gives the parametric study of the patch antenna
with different “gap” size on plane ground. When the size of the
“gap” becomes larger, the impedance bandwidth (under 210 dB
level) also becomes wider. The impedance bandwidth is
extremely sensitive to the size of the gap. When the size of gap
is 4 mm, it means there is nothing under the top patch and the
patch antenna becomes a monopole antenna.
The peak gain and radiation efficiency of the proposed
antenna at different frequencies are shown in Figures 5 and 6.
From the peak gain curve (Fig. 5), it is observed that the peak
gain of the proposed antenna is from 1.7 to 5.8 dBi. The anten-
na average gain is about 3.5 dBi. In Figure 6, it can be observed
that the range of the radiation efficiency of the proposed anten-
na is about 63–89.5% in the impedance bandwidth. In the lower
frequency side, it holds higher radiation efficiency. However, as
the frequency increases to a certain value, the radiation efficien-
cy decreases. The main reason for this phenomenon owes to the
high loss tangent of substrate. If the substrate holds lower per-
mittivity and loss tangent, the radiation properties of gain and
radiation efficiency of this kind of antenna can be further
improved.
Figure 7 shows the 3D radiation patterns at different frequen-
cies (3.3, 6, 10, and 12 GHz) of the patch antenna. Due to the
SPW, the proposed antennas are operated primarily based on the
surface wave modes that lead to the end-fire antenna radiation.
DOI 10.1002/mop
At lower frequencies, its radiation characteristic is similar to the
monopole antenna. However, at higher frequencies, it is clear
that the radiation lobe will be split due to the higher order
mode. The maximum radiation direction is along the y direction.
To further analyze the results, the simulated and measured
radiation patterns of the xy-plane and yz-plane at 3 and 7 GHz
are plotted respectively in two-dimensional (2D) in Figure 8.
The testing environment and manufacturing tolerance leads to a
discrepancy between the measured and simulation results.
However, a good agreement between them is clearly observed.
At 3 GHz, in the xy-plane, the half-power (23 dB)
beamwidth (HPBW) is 96o (from 244o to 52o ) and main lobe
towards phi 5 0o . In the yz-plane, the HPBW is 88o
(between 137o and 225o ) and main lobe toward theta 5 180o
direction. At 7 GHz, in the xy-plane, the half-power (23 dB)
beamwidth is 65o (between 68o and133o ) and main lobe toward
phi 5 102o . In the yz-plane, the HPBW is 135o (from 23o
to158o ) and main lobe theta 5 90o . From the 2D radiation pat-
terns, we can further observe that the maximum radiation is
along the horizontal direction instead of vertical direction at
high frequency.
4. CONCLUSION
A novel compact ultrawideband pattern etched microstrip anten-
na with a ‘windows-shaped’ top patch and a patterned ground
plane is presented in this paper. Due to the generating of MMR
and SPW, The simulated impedance bandwidth (under 210 dB
level) is from 3.3 GHz to more than 12 GHz. The measured
result indicates that antenna has two impedance bandwidths
which cover from 3.75 to 6.15 GHz and from 7.2 to 10.6 GHz.
In addition, due to the SPW, the proposed antenna shows maxi-
mum radiation in the end-fire direction. The peak gain of the
antenna is from 1.7 to 5.8 dBi. The radiation efficiency of the
proposed antenna lies in the range of 63 to 89.5%. Because of
good radiation characteristics and broad bandwidth, the proposed
antenna can be used for some specific applications for UWB
wireless communication system in the future.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported in part by the NSFC under contract
61372020, and the ZJNSF under contract R1110003.
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C 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
V
LOW PROFILE UHF LOOP ANTENNA
PROTOTYPED AND INVESTIGATED BY
CIRCUIT MODELING
H. Taghvaee,1 A. Habibi,1 A. Rezaee,2 and F. Zarinkhat1
1
Department of Electrical Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of
Technology, Tehran, Iran; Corresponding author:
hr.taghvaee@ee.kntu.ac.ir
2
Department of System and Mechatronics Engineering, Faculty of
New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Received 1 July 2016
ABSTRACT: Here we proposed a low profile antenna which is an elec-
trically coupled loop fed by a coaxial cable and operates in UHF band.
With acquisition of a square loop, near zone is covered by magnetic
field that has no harm to living being. By optimizing the dimensions
with genetic algorithm 12% of bandwidth, 2.45 dB realized gain and
33% miniaturization (k ! 2=3k) at 500 MHz is obtained. Afterwards,
the performance of the antenna is analyzed with a general circuit model
and verified using frequency domain solver simulation. In the measure-
ment phase a technique was discovered improving the bandwidth even
more, hence 150 MHz bandwidth equal 30% at 500 MHz was achieved.
These characteristics together make this antenna very beneficial in
mobile terminals that have a very wide area of applications such as
ground station targeting UAVs and where antennas need to operate
close to the human body. Due to semidirectional radiation pattern it
can be used in short and medium range remote wireless bridge net-
works. VC 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett
59:459–463, 2017; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.
DOI 10.1002/mop.30324
Key words: UHF band; circuit modeling; loop antenna; low profile
1. INTRODUCTION
For mobile communication of digital broadcasting services in
the UHF band (470–770 MHz), portable terminals should have
suitable gain to receive signals. In comparison to the wavelength
in the UHF band the space require for a built-in antenna is very
small [1]. Even though, the size of a loop antenna in the UHF
band is larger than the size of the mobile terminals, they are
suitable for a built-in antenna [2,3]. It is possible to minimize
the phase variation of the current by dividing the loop into sev-
eral small parts compared to the wavelength and inserting the
lumped capacitive elements in series [4]. Application for anten-
nas operating close to or inside the human body, leaping for-
ward daily. One of the major challenges of these type of
antennas is the absorbed power by diverse tissue of the opera-
tor’s body [5]. Power loss per unit mass (W/kg) and specific
absorption rate (SAR) [6] have been defined as measurement
factors to characterize an antenna’s performance near the living
being. Different organs in the living body have different electric
properties. Therefore, approximately the entire loss through the
459