This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been

fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/LAWP.2015.2391199, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

Antenna Array Design and System

for Directional Networking
Gui Chao Huang, and Magdy F Iskander Mahbub Hoque, Steven R. Goodall, Timothy Bocskor,
Hawaii Center for Advanced Communication (HCAC) Antenna and Spectrum Analysis Division
College of Engineering, University of Hawaii Space and Terrestrial Communications, CERDEC, APG,
Honolulu, HI, 96822 MD, 21005

Abstract—To help with long range coverage, minimal interference, the distance between the feeding ports should be equal to or less
and reduced energy requirements, recent studies have than a half wavelength at the highest operating frequency [6]. To
incorporated directional antenna arrays in wireless achieve minimum beamwidth, the distance between the feeding
communication networks. In this paper, a broadband, dual points in each slot is kept to a maximum, which is a half
polarization, and very narrow beam (<11o) antenna array system wavelength at 6GHz. The metallic patch width, w1, is 21.2mm,
based on the Long Slot Antenna (LSA) array technology has been and the slot width, w2, is 3.8mm as shown in Figure 1b. Tapered
developed, prototyped and tested. The complex feeding structure microstrips are used to feed the antenna. As the impedance
of the antenna array was simplified with a novel aperture metallic transformation is limited for tapered microstrip in such a short
patch design using 50-60Ω microstrip lines. HFSS simulation and
length, the tradeoff of feeding the LSA with low input
experimental beamwidth results are in excellent agreement (<1o
difference).
impedance is the antenna bandwidth. To improve impedance
matching between the antenna and the microstrip, small slots,
I. INTRODUCTION with the width g of 0.26mm, are created on each metallic patch
as shown in Figure 1c. The schematic of the tapered microstrip
Omni-directional antennas are used in the vast majority of feeding is shown in Figure 2. Rogers RO4350B material, with
mobile networks, especially ad-hoc networks, because they are dielectric constant of 3.66 and thickness of 0.762 mm, was used
simple and low cost. However, their use in communication as the substrate of the tapered microstrip. The tapered microstrip
systems is undesirable due to their lower gain, limited range transforms 50Ω to 60Ω, with the 50Ω end connected to 50Ω
capability, and susceptibility to interference. In contrast, coaxial cables and the 60Ω end connected to the antenna
directional antennas provide advantages including extended (feeding slot). The ground plane of the microstrip was also
range, increased capacity, and increased security and power tapered to minimize the effect on the radiation pattern. The
efficiency [1]. Our group developed a cylindrical long slot array overall return loss was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the
(CLSA) with dual polarization [2, 3]. It has also been shown that, overall impedance matching of the antenna in the simulation [3].
because of the multiport design, the CLSA has the capability of
beam forming and beam steering [4]. Thus, a narrow beam
antenna array based on the long slot array concept is proposed
as an integral part of a directional wireless communication
network. Features of this design, together with bandwidth and
beamwidth specifications, are described in the following section.
II. ANTENNA DESIGN AND SIMULATION SETUP
The antenna was designed to operate over a bandwidth of 4-
6 GHz with a beamwidth smaller than 12o. The long slot array
(LSA) is an ultra-wideband structure with input impedance
ranging from 150 to 337 Ω [3, 5]. Previously, a compact
wideband coupled microstrip impedance transformer was
developed to feed the long slot array [5]. However, the
impedance transformer was complicated and difficult to
fabricate. To simplify the feeding structure, a new long slot array
design and associated feed arrangements were developed.
Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of the proposed long slot Fig. 1. Antenna design with microstrip feeding (a) dimension of
array design. The antenna consists of a 2D, 4 by 15 slot array the overall antenna (b) metallic patch width (w1) and slot width
that achieves dual polarization. A PEC ground plane was placed (w2) (c) small slot width (g) on each metallic patch.
a quarter wavelength (at the center frequency) away from the
antenna to provide unidirectional radiation pattern. There are 64
feeding ports in the horizontal slots and 75 feeding ports in
vertical slots, for a total of 139 feeding ports. In long slot array,

U.S. Government work not protected by U.S. copyright.

This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/LAWP.2015.2391199, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

Overall return loss (dB)

-1 Vertical-pol
-2 Horizontal-pol
-3 Circular-pol
-4
-5
-6
(b) -7
-8
(a) -9
-10
Fig. 2. (a) Tapered microstrip 50 Ω to 60 Ω. (b) Tapered -11
-12
microstrip bottom view. 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Frequency (GHz)

III. SIMULATION RESULT (a) (b)

HFSS [7] was used to simulate the antenna model. Figure 3
shows the simulated S11 and S21 of the tapered microstrip. As Fig. 4. (a) Simulated overall return loss of the LSA in different
illustrated in the figure, the S11 is below -20 dB and S21 is close excitation modes, (b) S11 of each feeding port on a Smith Chart.
to 0 dB. The return loss of the LSA fed by the tapered microstrips 25
24
is shown in Figure 4. Figure 4a shows the overall return loss of 23
22

Realized gain (dB)

the LSA in different excitation modes, including vertical, 21
20
horizontal and circular excitations, where the circular excitation 19
was achieved by exciting the vertical and horizontal slots 90o 18
17
phase difference. The overall return loss is below -7 dB from 16
Vertical-pol
15
4.5-6 GHz in all of the excitation modes. Figure 4b shows the 14
Horizontal-pol
Circular-pol
S11 of each microstrip feeding on the smith chart. As shown in 13
12
4 4.5 5 5.5 6
the figure, the S11 curves circle around the center of the Smith Frequency (GHz)
Chart, which shows that the microstrips have reasonable good (a)
impedance matching to the input impedance of the antenna slots. 3
The realized gain of the LSA is in the range from 20 to 23 dBi
2.5
over the frequency band of interest as shown in Figure 5a. Figure Axial Ratio (dB)
2
5b shows the axial ratio of the LSA when excited in the circular
polarization mode, with the axial ratio below 1.2 dB. Figure 6 1.5

shows the radiation patterns in the E-plane and H-plane in the 1

vertical excitation mode. The E-plane has a half power 0.5
beamwidth of 30o at 4 GHz and 28o at 6 GHz. The H-plane has
0
a half power beamwidth of 10o at 4 GHz and 7o at 6 GHz, which 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Frequency (GHz)
met the design specification. Both planes have a side lobe level
(b)
less than -12dB. Similar radiation patterns were obtained for the
Fig. 5. Simulated realized gain of LSA in different excitation
horizontal and circular excitation modes. To support the metallic
patches, a layer of substrate is needed, and thus a 0.4mm thick modes, (b) Axial ratio in circular excitation mode.
25
FR4 substrate was included in the simulation. To reduce the 4 GHz in x-z plane
Vertical Pol Radiation Pattern (dB)

20
4.5 GHz in x-z plane
already heavy computational burden, exacerbated by having to 15
10
5 GHz in x-z plane
5.5 GHz in x-z plane
model a thin FR4 substrate, a smaller version of the antenna, 4 5 6 GHz in x-z plane
0
by 4 slots, was simulated, and these results used to obtain the -5
best values of w1, w2 and g. Figure 7 shows the overall return -10
-15
loss of the LSA with 4 by 4 slots, which is below -7 dB over the -20

4-6GHz frequency band. As a result, the antenna dimensions -25

-30
were optimized to: w1=20mm, w2=4mm and g=0.5mm. -180 -150 -120 -90 -60 -30 0
Theta (Deg)
30 60 90 120 150 180

(a)
0 0
25
4 GHz in y-z plane
Vertical Pol Radiation Pattern (dB)

-5 -0.5 20 4.5 GHz in y-z plane

15 5 GHz in y-z plane
-10 -1 10 5.5 GHz in y-z plane
5 6 GHz in y-z plane
-15 -1.5
S21 (dB)

0
S11(dB)

-5
-20 -2
-10

-25 -2.5 -15

-20
-30 -3 -25
-30
-180 -150 -120 -90 -60 -30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180
-35 -3.5
Theta (Deg)

-40
4 4.5 5 5.5 6
-4 (b)
Frequency (GHz) Fig. 6. Simulated radiation pattern of the antenna in the vertical-
Fig. 3. Simulated tapered microstrip S11 and S21. pol mode: in (a) x-z plane (H-plane) and (b) y-z plane (E-
plane).

U.S. Government work not protected by U.S. copyright.

This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/LAWP.2015.2391199, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

0 0
Vertical-pol Vertical pol
-1 -2
Horizontal-pol Horizontal pol
-2 -4
Overall return loss (dB)

Circular-pol Circular pol

-3 -6

Measured S11 (dB)

-8
-4
-10
-5 -12
-6 -14
-7 -16
-8 -18
-20
-9
-22
-10 -24
-11 -26
-12 -28
4 4.5 5 5.5 6 -30
Frequency (GHz) 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Frequency (GHz)
Fig. 7. Simulated overall return loss of 4 by 4 slots LSA with
FR4 in different excitation modes. (a)
22
IV. FABRICATION AND MEASUREMENT 20
A 4 by 15 LSA was fabricated based on the dimensions 18
of the 4 by 4 LSA, as shown in Figure 8. The LSA was 16

Gain (dBi)
connected to eight 16 port power dividers and two 4 port 14
power dividers. The measured S11 and gain of the fabricated 12 Measured vertical pol x-z plane theta=0
LSA with the power dividers are shown in Figure 9. The 10
Measured vertical pol y-z plane theta=0
measured S11 is below -10 dB for the vertical and circular Measured horizontal pol x-z plane theta=0
8 Measured horizontal pol y-z plane theta=0
excitation modes and below -7 dB for the horizontal
6
excitation mode. The measured gains fluctuate from 15 to 19 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Frequency (GHz)
dBi, with between 3dB and 6 dB difference between the
measured and simulated values. The difference in gain can (b)
be due to the loss in the power dividers and the coaxial cable, Fig. 9. (a) Measured S11 of the LSA with power dividers, (b)
where the insertion loss of the 16 port power divider, 4 port Measured gain of the LSA.
Measured Vertical Pol Radiation Pattern (dB)

power divider and coaxial cable are 2 dB, 0.7 dB and 1.6 dB, 25
Co-pol 4GHz x-z plane
respectively. Figure 10 and 11 shows the measured radiation 20 Co-pol 4.5GHz x-z plane
15 Co-pol 5GHz x-z plane
pattern in the x-z plane and the y-z plane in the vertical and Co-pol 5.5GHz x-z plane
10
horizontal excitation modes. Table I includes the results of Co-pol 6GHz x-z plane
5 X-pol 4GHz x-z plane
the simulated and measured half power beamwidth in the 0
X-pol 4.5GHz x-z plane

vertical and horizontal excitation modes, which are in good -5

X-pol 5GHz x-z plane
X-pol 5.5GHz x-z plane
agreement with <1o difference in the x-z plane and <4o -10 X-pol 6GHz x-z plane

difference in the y-z plane. A brief measurement on the axial -15

ratio was done by rotating the linearly polarized TX antenna. -20
Figure 12 shows the measured axial ratio, it is in the range -25
-30
from 1 to 6 dB. The high axial ratio can be due to the -180 -150 -120 -90 -60 -30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180
alignment of the TX antenna and the LSA, and the phase Theta (Deg)

difference between the signals feeding the vertical and (a)

Measured Horizontal Pol Radiation Pattern (dB)

horizontal slots, which is not always equal to 90o throughout 25

Co-pol 4GHz x-z plane
the 4 to 6 GHz band, as two coaxial cables in different 20 Co-pol 4.5GHz x-z plane

lengths were used to create the 90o offset at the center 15 Co-pol 5GHz x-z plane
Co-pol 5.5GHz x-z plane
10
frequency. Co-pol 6GHz x-z plane
5 X-pol 4GHz x-z plane
X-pol 4.5GHz x-z plane
0
X-pol 5GHz x-z plane
-5 X-pol 5.5GHz x-z plane
-10 X-pol 6GHz x-z plane

-15
-20
-25
-30
-180 -150 -120 -90 -60 -30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180
Theta (Deg)
(b)
Fig. 10. Measured radiation pattern in the x-z-plane in (a)
vertical excitation mode and (b) horizontal excitation mode.

Fig. 8. Fabricated antenna with power dividers.

U.S. Government work not protected by U.S. copyright.

This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/LAWP.2015.2391199, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

Measured Vertical Pol Radiation Pattern (dB) 25 Co-pol 4GHz y-z plane
20 Co-pol 4.5GHz y-z plane
Co-pol 5GHz y-z plane
15
Co-pol 5.5GHz y-z plane
10 Co-pol 6GHz y-z plane
5 X-pol 4GHz y-z plane
X-pol 4.5GHz y-z plane
0 X-pol 5GHz y-z plane
-5 X-pol 5.5GHz y-z plane
X-pol 6GHz y-z plane
-10
-15
-20
-25 Fig. 12. Measured axial ratio.
-30
-180 -150 -120 -90 -60 -30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180
Theta (Deg) V. CONCLUSION
(a) A new directional antenna array aperture, based on Long Slot
Measured Horizontal Pol Radiation Pattern (dB)

25
Co-pol 4GHz y-z plane
Antenna (LSA) array technology, and associated feeding
20 Co-pol 4.5GHz y-z plane structure were designed, fabricated, and tested. The complex
15 Co-pol 5GHz y-z plane
Co-pol 5.5GHz y-z plane feeding structure of the antenna array was simplified with a
10 Co-pol 6GHz y-z plane novel metallic patch design using 50-60 Ohms microstrip lines.
5 X-pol 4GHz y-z plane

0
X-pol 4.5GHz y-z plane With a 40x12 cm2 antenna aperture, an average gain of 16 dBi
X-pol 5GHz y-z plane
-5 X-pol 5.5GHz y-z plane
was achieved with return loss of less than -7dB, beamwidth of
-10 X-pol 6GHz y-z plane <11o, and over a bandwidth of 4-6 GHz. HFSS simulation and
-15 experimental beamwidth results are in excellent agreement (<1o
-20 difference in the x-z plane).
-25
-30
-180 -150 -120 -90 -60 -30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180
Theta (Deg) ACKNOWLEDGMENT
(b) This project is supported by the US Army CERDEC.
Fig. 11. Measured radiation pattern in the y-z plane in (a)
vertical excitation mode and (b) horizontal excitation mode. REFERENCES
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