Design and Analysis of Microstrip Patch Antennas for Narrow Band Communication Applications

Abstract

Abstract- Microstrip antennas are low-profile antennas. A metal patch mounted at a ground level with a dielectric material in between constitutes a Microstrip or Patch Antenna. These are very low- size antennas having low radiation. The patch antennas are popular for low-profile applications at frequencies above 100 MHz, these antennas consist of a very thin metallic strip placed on a ground plane with a dielectric material in-between. Usually, the antennas are chosen to be circular or rectangular in shape for ease of analysis and fabrication. These antennas are employed at ultra-high frequencies and higher frequencies. This paper aims to design and analysis of microstrip patch antennas for Narrowband Communication Applications by the analysis on antenna parameters such as Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR), S11 Parameters, Radiation Pattern and Gain. Dielectric materials FR4 Epoxy, RT Duroid 5880, RT Duroid 6006 and RT Duroid 6010 are considered whose permittivity is 4.4, 2.2, 6.15 and 10.2. The antennas are simulated at 900 MHz frequency using Ansys Electromagnetic Suite (HFSS) software and the resultant graphical analyses of the parameters are plotted. The antennas are also fabricated with the above dielectric materials and are tested for practical values using a network analyser using Midas software. The results show that RT-Duriod 6006 gives better values when compared to the other substrate materials. The gain observed is 12.6 dB with a VSWR of 1.65. From the obtained results, it can be concluded that the antenna made from this substrate material (RT-Duriod 6006) are best suited for narrow band communication applications.