IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL.

11, 2012 667

Microstrip Antenna Array With Series Feeding

Network Designed With the Use of Slot-Coupled
Three-Way Power Divider
Izabela Slomian, Ilona Piekarz, Krzysztof Wincza, Member, IEEE, and Slawomir Gruszczynski, Member, IEEE

Abstract—A novel concept of a series feeding network of a mi- a common ground plane can constitute an equal-split power
crostrip antenna array has been shown. The proposed feeding net- divider, in which the output signals are out of phase within
work utilizes a four-port slot coupler as a three-way power divider, broad frequency range. In the presented example, the proposed
which is composed of two microstrip lines appropriately coupled
through a slot within a common ground plane. The proposed power slot coupler has been applied for appropriate excitation of all
divider is used for simultaneous power distribution between two linear antenna arrays, whereas the signal distribution across
consecutive linear subarrays and between two 4 1 linear arrays all linear antenna arrays has been achieved with the use of a
constituting a single 8 1 linear subarray, where equal-amplitude standard parallel network.
and out-of-phase signals are required. Such a solution allows for re- In this letter, we extend the idea presented in [8] and pro-
alization of antenna arrays, in which all linear subarrays designed
with the use of the “through-element” series feeding technique are pose the utilization of two microstrip lines coupled through a
fed at their centers from single transmission lines. The theoretical slot within a common ground plane as a four-port network that
analysis as well as measurement results of the 8 8 antenna array is capable to feed simultaneously two parts of a linear antenna
operating within 10.5-GHz frequency range are shown. subarray with equal-amplitude and out-of-phase signals, and
Index Terms—Antennas with reduced losses, microstrip antenna also to control the power split between the input port and the
arrays, series-fed antennas, slot-coupled power divider. third output that is used for feeding the subsequent linear an-
tenna array. Application of such a power divider allows us to
apply a series feeding network ensuring a similar excitation of
I. INTRODUCTION all linear antenna arrays as in the case of the feeding network
presented in [8], where the parallel feeding technique has been
utilized. An advantage of a series feeding technique in compar-
M ICROSTRIP antenna arrays are commonly used in
modern telecommunication and radar systems. Most
often their feeding networks are realized as a corporate con-
ison with a parallel one is a shorter overall length of feeding
lines, which results in lower dissipation losses within a feeding
network. The proposed approach has been experimentally veri-
nection of Wilkinson power dividers, which results in in-phase
fied by measurements of the manufactured 8 8 antenna array
excitation of all radiating elements in a broad frequency range
operating within 10.5-GHz frequency range.
at the expense of relatively large dissipation losses. Another ap-
proach, which allows for minimization of the feeding network’s
II. THEORETICAL ANALYSIS
insertion losses, is a series feeding technique [1]. In series-fed
arrays, radiating elements can be fed from a single transmission The idea of using two microstrip lines coupled through a
line [2], [3], or alternatively the signal can be transmitted slot within a common ground plane as a four-port network is
through the radiating elements [4]–[7]. In the second approach, explained in Fig. 1. As it is seen, the lower microstrip line is
when a linear antenna array is fed at its center, there is a need for used for signal distribution between consecutive linear antenna
realization of a 180 phase shifter. This is commonly achieved subarrays by controlling the transmission between ports #1 and
by insertion of a 180 -long transmission-line section, which #2, which is achieved with the use of the transmission-line
leads to narrowband characteristics [7]. Another approach to section having characteristic impedance [see Fig. 1(b)].
realize the required power division together with a broad- By changing both the characteristic impedance of the
band 180 phase shift has been proposed in [8], where it was transmission line and its placement with respect to the slot rep-
shown that two microstrip lines coupled through a slot within resented by the angle , it is possible to control the transmission
between ports #1 and #2. By guiding a single transmission
line under the slots placed in centers of consecutive linear
Manuscript received May 08, 2012; accepted June 08, 2012. Date of publica-
tion June 12, 2012; date of current version June 22, 2012. This work was sup- antenna arrays and by adjusting the values of characteristic
ported by the National Center for Research and Development under the Lider impedance and angle of transmission line in slots regions, it is
Program, Contract no. LIDER/06/19/L-2/10/NCBiR/2011.
possible to achieve the appropriate signal distribution across
The authors are with the Department of Electronics, AGH University of Sci-
ence and Technology, 30-059 Cracow, Poland (e-mail: izabela.slomian@gmail. all linear antenna subarrays. Fig. 2 shows the transmission
com; ilona.piekarz@gmail.com; krzysztof.wincza@agh.edu.pl; slawomir. between ports #1 and #2 versus calculated at the center
gruszczynski@agh.edu.pl).
frequency assuming , whereas Fig. 3 presents the same
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this letter are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. transmission versus the angle calculated for .
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LAWP.2012.2204397 As it is seen, the maximum achievable level of transmission

1536-1225/$31.00 © 2012 IEEE

668 IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 11, 2012

Fig. 3. Calculated transmission between ports #1 and #2 of the three-way

power divider shown in Fig. 1(b) versus the angle between the slot and trans-
mission line having characteristic impedance (electrical length
and characteristic impedance have been assumed).

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram showing the idea of a slot-coupler acting as a four- characteristic impedances terminating ports #3 and #4 have
port network used for series feeding of linear antenna arrays. (a) Cross-sectional
view of the proposed four-port network. (b) View of the four-port network used
been assumed to be 100 , whereas the characteristic imped-
for feeding two parts of a linear antenna subarray and also for signal distribution ances terminating ports #1 and #2 equal 50 . As it is seen,
across all linear subarrays. the slot coupler provides a certain transmission level between
ports #1 and #2 and equal power division between ports #3 and
#4 in broad frequency range. Moreover, the signals delivered to
ports #3 and #4 are out of phase in broad frequency range [see
Fig. 4(b)]. Therefore, such a slot coupler can be used as a basic
element of a series feeding network that provides simultaneous
power division between linear subarrays and between two
parts of each subarray, in which a “through-element” feeding
technique is utilized.

III. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

The presented concept has been experimentally verified. Ini-
tially, a 4 1 linear antenna array utilizing the “through-ele-
ment” feeding technique has been designed for the center fre-
quency of 10.5 GHz. The presented antenna array uses the struc-
ture shown in Fig. 1(a), in which two layers of Arlon 25 N
laminate having thickness mm and dielectric con-
stant have been stacked together. The electromag-
Fig. 2. Calculated transmission between ports #1 and #2 of the three-way
power divider shown in Fig. 1(b) versus the characteristic impedance of
netic calculations have been performed with the use of Ansoft
the transmission-line section (electrical length and have Ensemble software, in which an infinite ground plane is as-
been assumed). sumed. The designed linear 4 1 antenna array has been uti-
lized as a building block of an 8 8 antenna array, in which
the feeding network has been composed of the proposed slot
varies between 6 and 1 dB, which is sufficient for providing couplers acting as three-way power dividers. The feeding net-
equal power division for up to five consecutive elements with work that distributes power between consecutive linear arrays
series feeding. The remaining signal is directly coupled to the has been designed as a single transmission line going under all
upper line through the slot within the common ground plane in slots. By changing the lines’ impedances and their angles in the
such a way that the power is equally divided between ports #3 slot regions, the transmission characteristics, and therefore the
and #4, and the output signals are out of phase within broad signal distribution between all linear subarrays, have been ap-
frequency range. The described properties of the slot coupler propriately adjusted. A photograph of the manufactured antenna
acting as a three-way power divider are illustrated in Fig. 4, array is shown in Fig. 5. It has to be underlined that the electrical
where -parameters of such a slot coupler are calculated for length of the feeding-line section between two consecutive slots
two different impedances and . In both cases, the is equal to . This is due to the fact that the transmission line
SLOMIAN et al.: MICROSTRIP ANTENNA ARRAY WITH SERIES FEEDING NETWORK DESIGNED WITH THE USE OF SLOT-COUPLED THREE-WAY POWER
DIVIDER 669

Fig. 6. Calculated (dotted line) and measured (solid line) return losses of the
manufactured 8 8 antenna array fed with the use of the slot coupler acting as
a three-way power divider.

Fig. 4. Results of electromagnetic calculations of a proposed slot coupler (four-

port network) shown in Fig. 1(b). Dashed line: results of EM calculation for
equal to 50 . Solid line: results of EM calculation for equal to
28 . (a) Amplitude characteristics of a four-port network shown
in Fig. 1(b). (b) Phase characteristics measured at reference planes marked in
Fig. 1(b).

Fig. 7. Calculated (dotted line) and measured (solid line) radiation patterns
of the manufactured 8 8 antenna array fed by the use of the series feeding
network, in which a slot-coupled three-way power divider is utilized. (a) E-plane
copolar. (b) H-plane copolar.

Fig. 5. Photographs of the manufactured 8 8 antenna fed with the use of The calculated and measured radiation patterns in two principle
the proposed slot couplers acting as a three-way power dividers. (a) Top view cut-planes presented in Fig. 7 are showing good agreement, es-
showing linear antenna arrays fed with the “through-element” technique and pecially in terms of 3-dB beamwidths. It is seen that the antenna
the placement of coupling slots. (b) Bottom view showing the series feeding
network designed with the use of a single transmission line. features broadside beam in E-plane, which proves the correct-
ness of the presented approach. The measured sidelobe levels
both in E-plane and H-plane are similar to the calculated ones.
feeds two consecutive slots from the opposite sides, and there- The measured gain at the center frequency equals 18 dBi and
fore the feeding signals have to be out of phase [see the pho- corresponds to the calculated one.
tograph of the manufactured antenna in Fig. 5(b)]. The mea-
sured reflection coefficient in comparison with the calculated IV. CONCLUSION
one is shown in Fig. 6. It is seen that good impedance match A novel concept of a series feeding network has been shown.
of the manufactured 8 8 antenna array has been achieved. The proposed feeding network utilizes a slot coupler as a
670 IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 11, 2012

three-way power divider, in which by changing the charac- approach has been experimentally verified by the design of an
teristic impedance of the transmission line in the slot region 8 8 antenna array operating in 10.5-GHz frequency range
and the arrangement of the line with respect to the slot, it proving the correctness of the presented solution.
is possible to adjust the proper power split between the two
lines coupled through this slot. Moreover, the power coupled
to the second (upper) line is equally divided between the REFERENCES
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