A Small Microstrip Patch Antenna for Future 5G
Applications
Shivangi Verma1, Leena Mahajan2, Rajesh Kumar3, Hardeep Singh Saini4, Naveen Kumar5
1,2,3,4
Indo Global College of Engineering, Punjab, India
5
Thapar University, Punjab, India
1
vermashivangi9793@gmail.com, 2leenamahajan@indiatimes.com,
4
hardeep_saini17@yahoo.co.in, 5n.kumar.1987@ieee.org
Abstract: This paper presents a low profile microstrip patch
antenna for next generation 5G devices. The proposed patch
antenna has a compact structure of 20mm × 20mm × 1.6mm
including the ground plane, which is suitable to be used in
handheld devices. The antenna resonates at 10.15 GHz covering
5G frequency band. The proposed design provides a gain of
4.46dBi and the radiation pattern is omni-directional. In this
paper geometry of the antenna and various parameters such as
return loss plot, gain plot, radiation pattern plot and VSWR plot
are presented & discussed. Measured results are also presented
and they are in good match with simulated results.
Keywords: Microstrip Patch Antenna, 5G, Multiband Antenna,
Handheld devices.
I. INTRODUCTION
The rapid decrease in the dimensions of the mobile phone has
led to the evolution of compact antenna structures [1]. The
conventional antennas are replaced by different antenna
structures used in mobile communication. Microstrip Patch
Antenna shows multi-band characteristics and has a compact
structure and hence has emerged as a promising candidate for
handheld devices. The Microstrip Patch Antenna has various
advantages such as low cost, light weight, easy to manufacture
etc. Despite of various advantages a major pitfall that
microstrip patch antennas suffer is narrow bandwidth. As the
size of the antenna becomes less than λ/2, the bandwidth of the
antenna degrades [2].
The recent trends show that the wireless communication has
evolved at a fast rate. 5G wireless standard has evolved to be
the most recent technology now-a-days. The stupendous
increase in mobile data, technologies are approaching from 4G
i.e., fourth generation to 5G, fifth generation. Various different
fields has already adopted the 5G technology such as Internet
of Things (IoT), advance MIMO structure, advance small cell
technology etc [3]. It has been discovered that millions of
devices can be connected and operated using 5G technologies.
Some of the future systems that will become a reality due to
5G are: Smart grids, Smart Cities, Smart transportation,
Telemedicine, Machine to machine communication etc. In
advanced small cell technology 5G technology can be
introduced with existing 4G macro cells[4]-[6].
978-1-5090-1489-7/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE 460
Various designs have been proposed for 5G wireless
communication. In one such example a low profile antenna is
presented in which the edge of the antenna was folded along
with the loading slots and hence the length of the patch was
decreased by 44 % [7]. In another design, an antenna that
operates at 28GHz band was presented. he antenna has a
single-band printed Inverted F Antenna and was ideal for 5G
wireless communication [8]. Microstrip Patch Antenna and
Printed Inverted F Antenna are the emerging candidates in
fields of 5G wireless communication [9] [10]. In this paper a
small patch antenna with low profile for 5G wireless
communication is proposed & discussed.
Microstrip Patch Antenna has number of merits such as low
profile planar structure, multiband properties using some
techniques, low cost and moderate to high gain [4]. The
antenna achieve a nearly omni-directional radiation pattern
characteristics. Despite of having numerous advantages, the
antenna suffers from narrow bandwidth that can be overcome
using different techniques such as using dual patch, slots on
ground and radiating patch of the antenna etc. The proposed
antenna cover band from 9.95GHz to 10.35 GHz with overall
bandwidth of 400 MHz .
In this paper, a microstrip patch antenna is proposed for mobile
devices. The proposed antenna has a low profile structure with
dimensions 20 mm × 20 mm × 1.6 mm and covers frequency
band from 9.95GHz to 10.35 GHz and is be mainly used for
5G communication. The size of the antenna is very compact
and hence is well suited for mobile devices or the devices
where the space is a major issue. Simulation and optimisation
of the proposed antenna structure is performed using the
simulation tool called High Frequency Structure Simulator
(HFSS).
In Section II, the proposed antenna design is discussed with its
dimensions are presented. Section III consists of the simulated
results such as return loss (S11) plot, 3D gain plot, 2D
radiation pattern plot and VSWR plot. Measured results is
discussed in section IV. And finally conclusion is presented in
Section V.
 2016 5th International Conference on Reliability, Infocom Technologies and Optimization (ICRITO) (Trends and Future Directions), Sep. 7-9, 2016,
AIIT, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, India

II. ANTENNA STRUCTURE & DIMENSIONS Patch Slot Width 0.8

The proposed small patch antenna using a microstrip line for
feeding is given in figure 1. The patch antenna have
rectangular patch of 10.2 mm × 7 mm with a rectangular slot
on it. Various parameters such as dielectric constant (ɛr = 4.4),
resonant frequency ( fr = 9.7 GHz) and thickness of substrate (
h= 1.6 mm) are considered while designing the proposed
antenna. Here FR4 substrate material is used for the design of
proposed antenna. In this structure a lumped port is used to
excite the antenna. The overall dimensions are 20 mm × 20
mm × 1.6 mm. The detailed dimensions of the proposed patch
antenna are given in Table I.
The proposed structure works on one of the proposed
frequency band i.e. 10 to 10.6 GHz for future 5G
communication. The patch dimensions are calculated using
equations available in the literature for rectangular patch
antenna. Some of the equations are given below.
(1)
Designing and Simulation of the proposed patch antenna is
performed using a commercially available simulation tool
called HFSS (High Frequency Structure Simulator). The
antenna is particularly designed for one of the frequency band
which may get considered for future 5G wireless
communication. The next section discusses various simulation
results of the proposed antenna design.
III. SIMULATED RESULTS
A. Return Loss Plot
Using wave port configuration, S11 parameters are obtained as
antenna return loss. Value of -10dB is taken as the base value
which is considered excellent in case of mobile
communication. The antenna operates at proposed band for 5G
wireless standard. The patch antenna resonates at 10.15 GHz
with a return loss of -18.27 dB and covering a band from 9.95
GHz to 10.35GHz. Figure 2 shows return loss plot of the
antenna.
S11 HFSSDesign1 ANSOFT

-2.50
-1/2
= + [1+12 ] (2)
-5.00

(3) -7.50
MY1: -10.0000

m2 m3

-10.00
S11 (dB)

Name X Y
-12.50
m1 10.1515 -18.2719

m2 9.9500 -10.1173

m3 10.3500 -10.0691

-15.00

-17.50 m1

-20.00
9.00 9.50 10.00 10.50 11.00 11.50 12.00
Freq [GHz]

Fig. 2. Return Loss (S11) Plot of Proposed Patch Antenna

Fig. 1. 3D View of Proposed Patch Antenna in HFSS
TABLE I. DIMENSIONS OF PROPOSED PATCH ANTENNA
B. VSWR Plot
The Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) plot of the antenna
is presented in figure 3. The acceptable level of VSWR for
most of the wireless applications should not be more than 2.5
dB and it should be 1 dB ideally. As seen in figure 3, the
VSWR value achieved at resonant frequency of 10.15 GHz is
2.13 dB which is acceptable for its use in wireless applications.
VSWR HFSSDesign1 ANSOFT

PARAMETER VALUE (mm)

18.00

Name X Y

Ground Plane Length 20

m1 10.1515 2.1302
16.00

Ground Plane Width 20 14.00

Patch Length 10.2 12.00

Patch Width 7
VSWR (dB)

10.00

Feed Line Length 7.2 8.00

Feed Line Width 1.9

6.00

Substrate Thickness 1.6

4.00

Patch Slot Length 9 m1

2.00
9.00 9.50 10.00 10.50 11.00 11.50 12.00
Freq [GHz]

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 2016 5th International Conference on Reliability, Infocom Technologies and Optimization (ICRITO) (Trends and Future Directions), Sep. 7-9, 2016,
AIIT, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, India

Fig. 3. Simulated VSWR Plot of Proposed Antenna Fig. 5. 2D Radiation Pattern of Patch Antenna with phi = 00 & 900

C. 3D Gain Plot
The 3D gain plot determines the antenna efficiency. The
proposed patch antenna achieved moderate gain of 4.46 dB
which is considered excellent in terms of a compact antenna
design. Figure 4 presents the 3D gain plot for proposed patch
antenna.
The antenna shows a good radiation pattern with good gain
value. The antenna can be used for 5G wireless
communication. 5G wireless standard has evolved as a new
and novel standard for high speed transmission links. In the
near future various developments will be seen for 5G standard.
IV. HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION

To validate the patch antenna designed in HFSS, the antenna is

fabricated on FR4 dielectric substrate having an overall area of
20 x 20 mm2 and thickness 1.6 mm. The testing of antenna
hardware is performed on Anritsu's VNA (Vector Network
Analyzer) as shown in figure 6. The return loss plot obtained
after measurement is presented in figure 7.

Fig. 4. 3D Gain Plot of Proposed Antenna

D. Radiation Pattern Fig. 6. Antenna Testing on VNA

The 2D radiation pattern of the patch antenna is presented in XY Plot 1 HFSSDesign1 ANSOFT

figure 5. An omni directional pattern has been shown by the -2.00

proposed antenna which is desirable for mobile

communication. -4.00

-6.00

-8.00
MY1: -10.0000

m1 m2

-10.00
S11 (dB)

-12.00

Name X Y

m1 9.9200 -10.0358
-14.00 m2 10.3050 -10.0616

m3 10.1106 -19.3000

-16.00

-18.00
m3

-20.00
7.50 8.75 10.00 11.25 12.50
Freq (GHz)

Fig. 7. Measured Return Loss (S11)

As we can observe from the plot that the antenna resonates at

10.11 GHz and have covered the bandwidth of 380 MHz in

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 2016 5th International Conference on Reliability, Infocom Technologies and Optimization (ICRITO) (Trends and Future Directions), Sep. 7-9, 2016,
the proposed band for 5G communication. The results obtained
after simulation and after measurements are in good match
with each other.
V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a small microstrip patch antenna has been
proposed for 5G wireless standard. The stupendous increase in
mobile data, technologies are approaching from 4G i.e., fourth
generation to 5G, fifth generation. The antenna resonates at
10.15 GHz with a return loss of -18.27dB and can be used in
future 5G wireless devices. The proposed patch antenna shows
good radiation pattern and good gain of 4.46dB. The structure
of the antenna is very low profile i.e., 20 mm × 20 mm × 1.6
mm and can be easily integrated in devices where space is a
major issue.
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