Design and Simulation of Rectangular Microstrip Antenna Arrays for Improved Gain Performance

摘要

The major problems of the single element microstrip antennas are low gain and narrow bandwidth which limit their wide applications. This paper presents the design and simulation of rectangular microstrip antenna (RMSA) arrays for improved gain performance over the single element rectangular microstrip antenna. The design procedure started with the design of a single element RMSA. The designed resonant frequency, substrate material and substrate height were specified. The patch dimensions were calculated using the transmission line model and the single element RMSA was excited by the inset fed microstrip line method for good impedance matching network. The design of the 2x1 and 4x1 RMSA arrays was done using the designed single element RMSA as the basic building element. The designed 2x1 and 4x1 RMSA arrays were fed by the parallel feeding structure. The designed single element, 2x1 and 4x1 rectangular microstrip antennas were simulated in Ansoft high frequency structure simulator (HFSS) version 15.0 software. The main results of the designed antennas were compared in terms of gain and return loss. Based on the return loss simulation results, the designed antennas resonated exactly at the desired resonant frequency of 2.4 GHz which indicates good antenna designs. Compared to the single element RMSA gain of 5.26 dB, the 2x1 and 4x1 RMSA arrays achieved a gain of 9.24 dB and 10.29 dB respectively. The results show that the designed RMSA arrays have an improved gain performance over the single element RMSA. The designed antennas can be used for wireless local area networks, S band communications and modern wireless communication systems applications.