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Wideband Circularly Polarized Patch Antenna Using Broadband Baluns

Yong-Xin Guo, Senior Member, IEEE, Kah-Wee Khoo, Student Member, IEEE, and Ling Chuen Ong, Senior Member, IEEE

AbstractA novel 90 broadband balun comprising a broadband 90 Schiffman phase shifter is introduced as a means of enhancing the wideband circular polarization performance of dual-fed type microstrip antennas. The proposed 90 broadband balun delivers good impedance matching, balanced power splitting and consistent 90 ( 5 ) phase shifting, across a wide bandwidth ( 57.5%). A circular patch antenna utilizing the proposed 90 broadband balun is shown to attain measured impedance 10 dB) and axial ratio (AR 3 dB) bandwidths of (S11 60.24% and 37.7%, respectively, for the dual L-probe case; and 71.28% and 81.6% respectively, for the quadruple L-probe case. Index TermsCircular polarization, microstrip antennas, wideband antennas.
Fig. 1. Schematics of the conventional 90 hybrid coupler.

I. INTRODUCTION

IRCULARLY polarized (CP) microstrip antennas are widely employed in radar, navigation, satellite and mobile communication systems. Circular polarization, compared to linear polarization, allows for greater exibility in orientation angle between transmitter and receiver, better mobility and weather penetration, and reduction in multipath reections and other kinds of interference. Microstrip antennas are low prole and light weight, easy to fabricate, conformable to mounting structures, and compatible with integrated circuit technology. However, inherent limitations include the achievable impedance and axial-ratio bandwidths. CP waves are produced when two or more orthogonal linearly polarized modes, of equal amplitude and 90 phase difference, are independently excited. For microstrip antennas of the single-fed type [1][5], circular polarization can be generated without the need for an external polarizer. However, the allowable 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth is typically less than 10%. Notable exceptions involve the use of an L-shaped ground plane [4], or a parasitic patch element [5]. For microstrip antennas of the dual-fed type [6][12], circular polarization can be generated with the use of an external polarizer, resulting in a larger footprint beneath the patch. Compared to the single-fed type, much wider impedance and axial-ratio bandwidths can be achieved. Feed network congurations

comprising Wilkinson power dividers [6][9], a log periodic balun [10], and a three-stub 90 hybrid coupler [11], have been explored. The conventional two-stub ( 25% bandwidth) or three-stub ( 40% bandwidth) branch-line hybrid couplers have been commonly used to obtain circular polarization. A quadruple L-probe circular patch antenna utilizing a pair of two-stub 90 hybrid couplers was shown to deliver a measured impedance bandwidth of 45% and axial ratio-bandwidth (AR 3 dB) of 45% [12]. In this paper, we propose the use of a novel 90 broadband microstrip balun as a means of enhancing the wideband circular polarization performance of dual-fed type microstrip antennas. The proposed 90 broadband balun delivers good impedance matching, balanced output ports power division and consistent 90 output ports phase difference, over a considerably wide band ( 57.5%). We demonstrate that for both the dual and quadruple L-probe circularly polarized circular patch antennas, the use of the proposed 90 broadband balun allows for wide impedance and axial-ratio bandwidths. The radiation patterns and gain are shown to be stable across the passband. II. FEED NETWORK CONFIGURATION A. Conventional 90 Hybrid Coupler The conventional 90 hybrid coupler, commonly used as an external polarizer for dual-fed type CP antennas, is shown in Fig. 1. This symmetrical 3-dB directional coupler provides balanced power splitting and 90 phase shifting between its output ports. The isolation port was terminated to a 50 resistor. For convenient analysis, the input and output ports of the feed networks presented in this paper, were all set to 50 . B. Proposed 90 Broadband Balun The proposed 90 broadband balun, as shown in Fig. 2, delivers both balanced power splitting and regular 90 phase shifting, across a wide band. This new balun comprises a

Manuscript received November 29, 2006; revised July 21, 2007. The authors are with the Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore 117674, Singapore and also with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576, Singapore (e-mail: guoyx@i2r.a-star.edu.sg). Color versions of one or more of the gures in this paper are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TAP.2007.915427

0018-926X/$25.00 2008 IEEE

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Fig. 2. Schematics of the proposed 90 broadband balun.

Fig. 4. Simulated return loss comparison between the conventional 90 hybrid coupler and the proposed 90 broadband balun.

Fig. 3. Layout of C-Section coupled lines in the proposed 90 broadband balun.

cascade of a 3-dB Wilkinson power divider, for wideband impedance matching and balanced power splitting, and a novel broadband 90 Schiffman phase shifter [13], for wideband consistent 90 phase shifting. The characteristic impedances are given by , , and . Compared with our previous wideband CP patch antenna [14], the newly proposed feed network can have wider transmission line widths and thus afford better fabrication tolerances. Fig. 3 shows the layout of the C-section coupled line pair, . The gray-shaded separated by a small distance of , , rectangular slot, of dimensions , was cut out on the ground plane, beneath and the C-section coupled lines, to allow for the odd-mode capacitance to decrease and the even-mode capacitance to decrease even faster. The 23.4 mm by 3.05 mm rectangle patch, encapsulated by the rectangular slot, functions as a capacitor which compensates the odd-mode capacitance. This patterned ground plane approach provides for regular 90 phase shifting with minimal insertion losses, over a wide band. The proposed 90 broadband microstrip balun is easily fabricated by photolithographic process, with the network layer and patterned ground plane layer respectively printed on each side of a double-sided single-layer PCB. C. Simulated Results For this paper, all simulations were performed using IE3D, a commercially available electromagnetic eld solver based on the method of moments (MoM). Fig. 4 shows the simulated

Fig. 5. Simulated output ports amplitude response comparison between the conventional 90 hybrid coupler and the proposed 90 broadband balun.

return loss comparison between the two external polarizers. The 90 broadband balun exhibits a wide impedance bandwidth of 187.6%, from 0.09 to 2.81 GHz, while the regular 90 hybrid coupler exhibits a much narrower of 30.9%, from 1.53 to impedance bandwidth 2.09 GHz. Fig. 5 shows the simulated output ports amplitude response comparison between the two external polarizers. The 90 broadband balun exhibits balanced output ports power ( 0.5 dB)] over a wide band distribution [ of 91.9%, from 0.87 to 2.35 GHz, while the regular 90 hybrid coupler exhibits balanced output ports power distribution ( 0.5 dB)] over a much narrower band of [ 14%, from 1.66 to 1.91 GHz. Fig. 6 shows the simulated output ports phase difference comparison between the two external polarizers. The 90 broadband balun exhibits consistent 90 output ports phase difference over a considerably wide band of 66.7%, from 1.3 to 2.6 GHz, while the regular 90 hybrid coupler exhibits consistent 90 output ports phase difference over a much narrower band of 32%, from 1.47 to 2.03 GHz. Combining the simulated results in Fig. 4, Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, it is observed that the proposed 90 broadband balun delivered low input port return loss , balanced output

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Fig. 6. Simulated output ports phase difference comparison between the conventional 90 hybrid coupler and the proposed 90 broadband balun.

Fig. 8. Simulated and measured return loss of the proposed CP dual L-probe circular patch antenna.

Fig. 7. Geometry of the proposed CP dual L-probe circular patch antenna.

Fig. 9. Simulated and measured axial ratio of the proposed CP dual L-probe circular patch antenna.

ports power distribution [ ( 0.5 dB)], output ports phase difference over a and consistent 90 signicantly wide band of 57.5%, from 1.3 to 2.35 GHz; hence we term it a broadband balun. The conventional 90 hybrid , coupler delivered low input port return loss balanced output ports power distribution [ ( 0.5 dB)], and consistent 90 output ports phase difference over a much narrower band of 14%, from 1.66 to 1.91 GHz; inherently limited by its output port power distribution. III. CIRCULARLY POLARIZED DUAL L-PROBE CIRCULAR PATCH ANTENNA A. Antenna Geometry and Feed Network Layout The geometry of the CP dual L-probe circular patch antenna is shown in Fig. 7. The circular copper patch, of diameter , has an air substrate height above a grounded Rogers RO4003 dielectric substrate of thickness and dielectric constant . The feed network, comprising the proposed 90 broadband balun, was printed on the RO4003 substrate. The two L-probe feeds, each of diameter

, vertical length , and horizontal , were orthogonally oriented and positioned length a distance away from the circumference of the patch, and soldered to the respective output ports of the feed network. The L-probe feeds excite the radiating patch element by proximity coupling. B. Simulated and Measured Results Fig. 8 shows the simulated and measured return loss of the dual L-probe antenna. The proposed antenna exhibits considerably wide simulated and measured impedance bandwidths of 59.52%, from 1.18 to 2.18 GHz, and 60.24%, from 1.16 to 2.16 GHz, respectively. Note that the L-probe single-element rectangular patch antenna has a typical of around 30% [15], impedance bandwidth [16]. Fig. 9 shows the simulated and measured axial ratio of the dual L-probe antenna. The antenna exhibits rather wide simulated and measured 3-dB axial-ratio bandwidths of 39%, from 1.26 to 1.87 GHz, and 37.7%, from 1.25 to 1.83 GHz, respectively. Fig. 10 shows the simulated and measured gain

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Fig. 10. Simulated and measured boresight gain of the proposed CP dual L-probe circular patch antenna.

of the dual L-probe antenna. The antenna exhibits a simulated 3-dB gain bandwidth of 34.2%, from 1.43 to 2.02 GHz, with its highest gain of 8.6 dBi at 1.8 GHz, and a measured 3-dB gain bandwidth of 38.6%, from 1.38 to 2.04 GHz, with its highest gain of 8.53 dBi at 1.8 GHz. It is observed that the measured results agree reasonably well with the simulated results. Figs. 11 and 12, show the measured radiation patterns for the dual L-probe antenna at 1.3, 1.6, and 1.8 GHz at the and planes, respectively. Across this passband, it is observed that on both principle planes, the antenna exhibits generally low angular axial ratio around its boresight. The slight asymmetry observed in the H- and V-polarization patterns can be attributed to the asymmetrical feed orientation of the dual L-probe antenna conguration. These results reveal signicant enhancements in the impedance and axial ratio bandwidths over the dual L-probe antenna presented in [12]. In terms of the common frequency , axial ratio 3 dB, and 3-dB coverage of gain (gain 5.53 dBi), the proposed CP antenna exhibits a measured CP bandwidth of 28.04% from 1.38 to 1.83 GHz. IV. CIRCULARLY POLARIZED QUADRUPLE L-PROBE CIRCULAR PATCH ANTENNA A. Antenna Geometry and Feed Network Layout The geometry of the CP quadruple L-probe circular patch antenna is shown in Fig. 13. The quadruple L-probe antenna shares the same antenna parameters with the dual L-probe antenna shown in Fig. 7. The feed network, comprising a pair of the proposed 90 broadband baluns connected by a 180 transformer, was printed on the RO4003 substrate. To provide 180 phase shifting, the lengths of the microstrip branches must differ by , where refers to the guide wavelength at the center operating frequency, say, 1.8 GHz, in this work. The input transmission line is connected to the two microstrip branches by a quarter-wavelength transformer with character. The four L-probe feeds istic impedance given by were soldered to the respective output ports of the balun pair, orthogonally orientated, and provided equal amplitude power with relative excitation phases of 0 , 90 , 180 and 270 .

Fig. 11. Measured radiation patterns at  = 0 for the proposed CP dual L-probe circular patch antenna at (a) 1.3 GHz, (b) 1.6 GHz, and (c) 1.8 GHz.

B. Simulated and Measured Results Fig. 14 shows the simulated and measured return loss of the quadruple L-probe antenna. The antenna exhibits a considerably

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Fig. 13. Geometry of the proposed CP quadruple L-probe circular patch antenna.

Fig. 14. Simulated and measured return loss of the proposed CP quadruple L-probe circular patch antenna.

Fig. 12. Measured radiation patterns at  = 90 for the proposed CP dual L-probe circular patch antenna at: (a) 1.3 GHz, (b) 1.6 GHz, and (c) 1.8 GHz.

wide simulated and measured impedance bandwidth of 73%, from 1.07 to 2.3 GHz and 71.28%, from 1.21 to 2.55 GHz, respectively. In comparison, the circular patch antenna also fed by four sequentially rotated proximity-coupled

L-probes orientated to have relative phases of 0 , 90 , 180 and 270 , but using a feed network comprising a pair of 90 hybrid couplers, delivered a 10-dB return loss bandwidth of 45% [12]. Compared to the results in [12], [15], [16], it is noteworthy that much wider impedance bandwidth was achieved with the proposed broadband feed network. Fig. 15 shows the simulated and measured axial ratio of the quadruple L-probe antenna. The antenna exhibits simulated 3-dB and 2-dB axial-ratio bandwidths of 62%, from 1.27 to 2.41 GHz, and 48.8%, from 1.33 to 2.18 GHz, respectively. The measured 3-dB and 2-dB axial ratio bandwidths are 81.6%, from 1.03 to 2.45GHz,and77.7%,from1.07to2.43GHz,respectively. Fig.16 shows the simulated and measured gain of the quadruple L-probe antenna. The antenna exhibits a simulated 3-dB gain bandwidth of 46.9%, from 1.34 to 2.16 GHz, with its highest gain of 8.6 dBi at 2 GHz, and a measured 3-dB gain bandwidth of 52.2%, from 1.29 to 2.2 GHz, with its highest gain of 8.1 dBi at 1.8 GHz. It is observed that the measured results agree reasonably well with the simulated results. Figs. 17 and 18, show the measured radiation patterns for the and dual L-probe antenna at 1.2, 1.8, and 2.2 GHz at the

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Fig. 15. Simulated and measured axial ratio of the proposed CP quadruple L-probe circular patch antenna.

Fig. 16. Simulated and measured boresight gain of the proposed CP quadruple L-probe circular patch antenna.

planes, respectively. Across this passband, it is observed that on both principle planes, the antenna exhibits rather symmetrical H- and V-polarization patterns, and generally low angular axial ratio around its boresight. These results reveal signicant enhancements in the impedance and axial ratio bandwidths over the dual L-probe antenna presented in the previous section and the quadruple L-probe antenna presented in [12]. In terms of the common , axial ratio 3 dB, and frequency coverage of 3-dB gain (gain 5.1 dBi), the proposed CP antenna exhibits a much wider measured CP bandwidth of 52.2% from 1.29 to 2.2 GHz. The impedance and gain bandwidths of the antenna are enhanced due to the use of the L-probe feeding technique and a thick air substrate. The impedance and axial ratio bandwidths of the antenna are further enhanced due to the symmetrical sequentially rotated four point feeding structure with each feed supplied wideband balanced power distribution and appropriate phasing. V. CONCLUSION We have shown that for both the dual and quadruple L-probe circularly polarized circular patch antennas, the use of the

Fig. 17. Measured radiation patterns at  = 0 for the proposed CP quadruple L-probe circular patch antenna at (a) 1.2 GHz, (b) 1.8 GHz, and (c) 2.2 GHz.

proposed 90 broadband balun allowed for signicantly improved impedance and axial ratio bandwidths. Our proposed

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REFERENCES
[1] H. Iwasaki, A circularly polarized small-size microstrip antenna with a cross slot, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 44, no. 10, pp. 13991401, Oct. 1996. [2] W. K. Lo., J. L. Hu, C. H. Chan, and K. M. Luk, L-shaped probefeed circularly polarized microstrip patch antenna with a cross slot, Microw. Opt. Technol. Lett., vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 251253, May 2000. [3] J. S. Row, The design of a square-ring slot antenna for circular polarization, IEEE Trans Antennas Propag., vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 19671972, Jun. 2005. [4] F. S. Chang, K. L. Wong, and T. W. Chiou, Low-cost broadband circularly polarized patch antenna, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 51, no. 10, pp. 30063009, Oct. 2003. [5] K. L. Chung and A. S. Mohan, A systematic design method to obtain broadband characteristics for singly-fed electromagnetically coupled patch antennas for circularly polarization, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 51, no. 12, pp. 32393248, Dec. 2003. [6] S. D. Targonski and D. M. Pozar, Design of wideband circularly polarized aperture-coupled microstrip antennas, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 214220, Feb. 1993. [7] D. M. Pozar and S. M. Duffy, A dual-band circularly polarized aperture-coupled stacked microstrip antenna for global positioning satellite, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 45, no. 11, pp. 16181625, Nov. 1997. [8] K. L. Wong and T. W. Chiou, Single-patch broadband circularly-polarized microstrip antennas, in Proc. IEEE Antennas Propag. Soc. Int. Symp. Dig., Jul. 2000, vol. 2, pp. 984987. [9] K. L. Lau and K. M. Luk, A novel wide-band circularly polarized patch antenna based on L-probe and aperture-coupling techniques, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 577580, Jan. 2005. [10] P. H. Rao, V. F. Fusco, and R. Cahill, Wide-band linear and circularly polarized patch antenna using a printed stepped T-feed, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 356361, Mar. 2002. [11] X. M. Qing, Broadband aperture-coupled circularly polarized microstrip antenna fed by a three-stub hybrid coupler, Microw. Opt. Technol. Lett., vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 3841, Jan. 2004. [12] W. K. Lo, C. H. Chan, and K. M. Luk, Bandwidth enhancement of circularly polarized microstrip patch antenna using multiple L-shaped probe feeds, Microw. Opt. Technol. Lett., vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 263265, Aug. 2004. [13] Y. X. Guo, Z. Y. Zhang, and L. C. Ong, Improved wideband Schiffman phase shifter, IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 11961200, Mar. 2006. [14] L. Bian, Y. X. Guo, L. C. Ong, and X. Q. Shi, Wideband circularlypolarized patch antenna, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 54, no. 9, pp. 26822686, Sep. 2006. [15] C. L. Mak, K. M. Luk, K. F. Lee, and Y. L. Chow, Experimental study of a microstrip antenna with an L-shaped probe, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 777783, May 2000. [16] Y. X. Guo, C. L. Mak, K. M. Luk, and K. F. Lee, Analysis and design of L-probe proximity fed patch antennas, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 145149, Feb. 2001. Yong-Xin Guo (SM05) received the B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China, and the Ph.D. degree from City University of Hong Kong, all in electronic engineering, in 1992, 1995, and 2001, respectively. From 1995 to 1997, he was a Teaching and Research Assistant and then a Lecturer in the Department of Electronic Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology. From January 1998 to August 1998, he was a Research Associate in the Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, where, from December 1998 to September 2001, he was a Research Student. Since September 2001, he has been with the Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore, where he is currently a Research Scientist. He has also held appointments of Guest Professor and Ph.D. Student Supervisor at Nanjing University of Science and Technology and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore. He has published over 100 technical papers in international journals and conference proceedings. His publications have been cited by others over 200 times. He holds one Chinese Patent and one U.S. patent. His current research interests include microstrip antennas and dielectric resonator antennas, microwave and millimeter-wave circuits, LTCC passives and modules, and radio-over-ber technology for broadband communications.

Fig. 18. Measured radiation patterns at  = 90 for the proposed CP quadruple L-probe circular patch antenna at (a) 1.2 GHz, (b) 1.8 GHz, and (c) 2.2 GHz.

feed network implementation may be conceptually extended to other dual-fed type circularly polarized patch antennas.

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He is an organizer of the workshop on radio-over-ber technologies at the IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium in Orlando, FL, in 2008 and was a technical program committee member of the IEEE TENCON2006, IEEE ICCS2006, IEEE RFIT2007, and IEEE VTC2008 (Spring). He is a regular reviewer for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, IEEE ANTENNA AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, IEEE MICROWAVE AND WIRELESS COMPONENTS LETTERS, RADIO SCIENCE, IET Microwave, Antennas and Propagation, Electronics Letters, etc.

Kah-Wee Khoo (S04) was born and educated in Singapore. He received the B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees in electrical engineering from the National University of Singapore, in 2005 and 2008, respectively. He has been with the Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore, since 2004. His current research interests include printed antennas, dielectric resonator antennas and RF circuit design.

Ling Chuen Ong (SM02) received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, U.K., in 1996. From 1992 to 1994, he was a Research Associate with the University of Birmingham. From 1996 to 1999, he was with Singapore Telecom as a Network Planner and Project Manager for its rst digital trunked radio system. Currently, he is an Assistant Department Manager with the Institute for Infocomm Research, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A STAR). His research interests include radio-over-ber technology for intelligent transport systems and future wireless communications, low temperature co-red ceramics and ultrawideband technology. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor with the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Dr. Ongs Ph.D. studies were nanced by a Science and Engineering Research Council grant and a postgraduate scholarship from the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE), London, U.K.