A Novel Dual Folded Microstrip Dipole Antenna

Bi-Yong Dong, Ming Ye, Rui-Jin Lin

School of Communication and Information Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China

Abstract This research paper introduces a novel microstrip

dipole antenna at ku-band. This Dual folded structure is a
I

Z + -R tg (
developed dipole structure of flat microstrip folded, and the r 2 c 0 2
structure can improve antenna efficiency. The dual folded z R *
model is analysed theoretically. The antenna is simulated and R + 2jZ tg(8
optimized by using the software Ansoft HFSS. The prototype is c r 0 2
made in the same time. The expected results agree to the actual
results. The maximum gain is 11.2 dB in the measurement. with

1. Introduction o i \(1r )/
The microstrip folded dipole antenna is firstly invented 1£ +1 /'o 0
by French scientist G.Dubost [1]. The antenna is R
C =i 2 c
constructed by main arm, folded arm, and fed by strip-
line. The maximum gain can reach at 7.9dB. The wide
bandwidth is explained theoretically by introducing Cw is the slotline capacitance per unit of length and can
coupling between the two equivalent radiating lines of be calculated by [4]. Zr' is radiation impedance for each
each slot [2]. The antenna radiation efficiency is half slot. The radiation resistance for the dual folded
improved by changing shape of the conductive plate dipole can be expressed as
around the external radiator and guiding the current line
on the dipole. Therefore antenna gain is enhanced, the Z=k2 Re (Zr) (2)
measured gain is greater than lOdBi[3].
According to the analysis above, the dual folded k is the ratio factor in (2),and it is related to dimensions
structure is proposed by the structure of the developed of symmetrical dual slot, main arm, folded arm, k2>1 if
microstrip folded dipole. Meanwhile, it can further dimensions are chosen properly.
improve radiation efficiency and radiation resistance by
comparison to flat folded structure. The dual folded 2h H
dipole antenna also can be used at ku-band. In this paper,
the electrical properties of the antenna are analysed Main Substrate
according to theory model, and the performance the arma
antenna is analysed and optimized by using the software
HFSS. The calculated and measured results show that _. - - ,. 1 - - _
such structure is contributed to enhancing the antenna ,° z
gain.
2. Antenna theoryanalysis and design Reflector
The flat microstrip folded dipole is a realization form of x Folded arm
folded dipole and the dual folded microstrip dipole is Fig. 1 Radiating parts of a dual folded dipole parallel to a
improved based on the flat microstrip folded dipole. The reflector
radiating parts of dual folded structure parallel to a
reflector are shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the Because the distances between symmetrical dual slot and
radiator is composed of main arm, folded arm, H-shaped H-shaped slot for dual folded dipole are relatively close,
slot, and the symmetrical dual slot. The dimensions of it can be considered that the two folded dipole radiators
the main arm, folded arm, H-shaped slot, and the are approximately fed with the same amplitude and
symmetrical dual slot are respectively 2hxW',2h'xSO, phase, and the central phases of two radiators overlap.
fxSi, the relative permittivity of the substrate is £ r, and Therefore the far radiation field of the dual folded dipole
the height is H. can be considered as the vector sum of the two dipoles
The radiation impedance for the flat folded dipole is radiation in far field. Hence the theoretical patterns in B
given by the usual expression [2], and H planes can be expressed as:
B plane:

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E(0) El(0
=E1()E2() += E0 ) + p(S,)
pI E1(0) ( )

\ r _o_S- - 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111.......S strate

cosOa L SI) r

77 ZC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . . . . . . . . . . . .
_....................................... ................. . . . ..................
{2 sin OLIsin(k h sin 0)LIcos(k e h ) - cos(kO e h )] L _5L0± 1 1 111 iiiiiiiillllllllllllll
Oe 0N r e r e ^~j Fl k

± e£ cos(kOh sin 0)[2 sin(k0 8£r he)+± z sin(k0 £he)] ______1111111111111111111111111111111111111111<1iil

e[2 sif(k0 Lr he )LbOS(kO gr he) ki L

z /
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Fig.
2 Configuration of the proposed antenna
+± sin(k0 Lr he) cos(kO Lr he )]} 0
/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
mm.
H plane: Smm
1.!ll

L(O) £3 (0) + £4 (0) £3 (0) + q(S1, /)LI3 (0) (4) 5l,-

=/1+q(1,))LIcos O{ cos(k0 We sin 0) [ Z sin(k0 6rhe) X <

(1 - cos(k0 Erhe )) - 2 cos(k0 6rhe ) sin(k0 6rhe )]

+ 2 cos(k0 We 0i) sin(k0 g.Jhe )}3_________________________

ItO I1.= 12zO 12s 10 ri3.s

he' h et' Wee We' are respectively the effective lengths

and widths related to h, h', W, W', Zc and Z'c are Fig. 3 Return loss against frequency for various S2
respectively the characteristic impedance of lossless
transmission line equivalent to main arm and folded arm.
ko is the wave number in vacuum medium. E1(O), E3(O) [5]
are respectively patterns in B and H planes for folded 9 ~ 1 $
dipole constructed by H-shaped slot. E2(O),E4(O) are Sw
respectively patterns in B and H planes for folded dipolea \
constructed by the symmetrical dual slot. p(si,l), q(s1.l)
are ratio factor functions, and p(si,l), q(s1,l)>O if taken oz .s1 r
the appropriate dimensions for the symmetrical dual slot. _*S O.5mm, '
It is shown in (4) that the overall effect of B (0) will 63 * S 0.3rnm11
increase if main arm and folded arm are compressed
properly, that is, reduce w and w'.
The structure of dual folded microstrip dipole is shown 1~ 12 12., 13 ~
13
in Fig. 2. The antenna is composed of two layer PTFE Frequency~GH.z
board, of which relative permittivity £ r iS 2.55. The Fig. 4 Gain against frequency for various S2
radiator on the upper board is composed of the
symmetrical folded arm and dual slot, main arm, H- Fig. 3 shows the return loss against frequency for various
shaped slot. The coupling between the feed strip-line and S2, and Fig.4 shows the gain against frequency for
the radiator is realized with an opened quarter wave various S2. The sizes are as follows: W=L=21mm,
strip-line which is an extension. The antenna parameters w_rad=6mm, W1=2mm, S1=O.5mm, 2hO=7mm, 2h=8mm,
optimized by the use of simulation software HFSS are L_slot=3mm, L=W=2 1mm, H=3 .4mm.
shown as follows: W=L=21mm, w_rad=6mm As iS shown in Fig.3, the frequency range among which
W,=2mm , S,=0.5mm, Sj=O.5mm, the return loss no more than -10 dB changes little for
2hO=7mm ,2h=8mm,L_slot=3mm various S2, Fig.4 shows that the gain in the frequency
H=3.4mm. range from 12GHz to 13GHz increases correspondingly

224
with the increase of dual slot width S2 , and there is an
optimal value for S2- 11
Fig.5 shows that gain against frequency for various W1.
The related sizes are: W=L=21mm, w rad=6mm,
S,=0.5mm, S2=0.5mm, 2hO=7mm, 2h=8mm,
L_slot=3mm, H=3.4mm.
10
I-.~-W12mm
-

9 .-A.~~~-31-mm
ImO 122 I2A 12. 12X
__ @ -*< .
Frequency Hz

7 A
Fig. 7 measured antenna gain

±
6 -

11. 12* 125 1b

T~~~~~~~

Frequencyi GHz
Fig. 5 Gain against frequency for various WI
As shown in Fig.5, with the decrease of main arm width
W1, the gain in the frequency range from 11.5GHz to
13GHz increases correspondingly, and the increment of
gain is obvious.
From analysis above, it can be concluded that dual
folded structure and compressing main arm can achieve
the goal of enhancing gamn.
3. Experiment results and analysis
A test antenna is processed by hand-etching method
. . ..
according to simulation results. . . is.measured
The antenna
in Agilent8722ES Vector Network Analyzer, as shown
in Fig.6, the measured result shows that the frequency
range among which Si1 is better than -lOdB is
12.08GHz-13GHz. Compared with simulated result,
the frequency range is smaller. The deviation is
estimated to be caused by manual process. The measured
gain is shown in Fig.7; the maximum measured gain is
11.2dBi. The photograph of the proposed antenna is
shown in Fig.8
~~~ *flin
* u u m m
no
*U U,E.E U UE___
Fig. 8 Photograph of the proposed antenna
4 Conclusion
In this paper, a novel microstrip antenna is proposed The
dual folded structure is contributory to improving
antenna radiation efficiency, raising the antenna radiation
resistance. The maximum measured gain is 11.2dBi. The
proposed antenna is characterized by small dimension,
~~~~high gain, cananbenbe used
high ngation, used for ku-band satellite
fosriku-band t
communications antenna array microstrip element.
References
[1] G. Dubost and C. Vinatier Doublet. repeie en plaques
fonctionnant a tres haute frequeace et a large
bande. Brevet Europeen 81401135.9 du 16.07.1981,
U.S.A. 284702 du 20-07.1981, Japon 114526/81 du
23.07.81.
[2] G. Dubost and A. Rabbaa, "Analysis of a slot
Microstrip Antenna", IEEE Trans. on AP vol. 34,
~~~~~~~~No.2, February 1986, pp. 155-163
[3] Ye Ming. "The performance improvement for flat
microstrip dipole antenna". Proceedings of the National
Microwave, 1991. Library of Science and Technology of
in China, Beijing: Science and Technology Literature
Publishing House, 1998, pp. 541-542
~~~~~~~~~~~~~[4]
P. Benedek and P. Silvester, "Equivalent capacitances for
m|=
Cicrostrip
|11 | gaps and steps. " TIEEE Trcancs Microwave
Theory Tech., vol. MTT-20, no. 11, Nov. 1972,pp. 729-

l _l ~~~~~~~~~~~[5]
G.Dubost. Flat Radiatn Dipoles and Applications to
| l
Fig. 6 Measured return loss
~~~~~~~~~~~~Arrays.
New York: John Wiley&Sons, 1981. 53-58

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