KING SAUD UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

RESEARCH CENTER

Final Research Report No. 425/4

Electronically tuned antenna for third generation mobile communication

By

Dr. Abdel Fattah Sheta

RabiII May

1426 H 2005G

Table of Contents Acknowledgment List of Figures Abstract (English) Abstract (Arabic) Chapter 1: Compact Microstrip Antennas: Characteristics and Limitations 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Challenges and Fundamental Limitations 1.3 Tuning Concept Solution Chapter 2: Active Devices Used in RF Tuning 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Characteristics of Varactor Diodes 2.3 Characteristics of PIN Diodes Chapter 3: Page 3 4 5 6 7 7 8 10 12 12 12 16

Tunable Antenna Techniques and Mobile Phone RF System 20 Architecture 3.1 Introduction 20 3.2 Varactor Based Tunable Microstrip Antennas 21 3.3 Switching Based Tunable Microstrip Antennas 23 3.4 The proposed RF System Architecture 25 27 27 28 31 39 41 43

Chapter 4: Dual Band Tunable Antenna For Cellular Phone 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Effect of Varactor Diodes in Microstrip Circuits 4.3 Compact Tunable Microstrip Antenna 4.4 Experimental Results Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendation References

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance and the financial support provided by the Research Center in the College of Engineering at King Saud University for this project under grant number 4/425.

LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1 Figure 1.2 Figure 2.1 Figure 2.2 Figure 2.3 Figure 2.4 Figure 2.5 Figure 3.1 Figure 3.2 Figure 3.3 Figure 3.4 Figure 3.5 Figure 3.6 Figure 4.1 Figure 4.2 Figure 4.3 Antenna within a sphere of radius r. Fundamental limit of Q versus antenna size kr < 1 , k = 2/ = /c. Varactor characteristics. Varactor diode equivalent circuit. Physical structure of a PIN diode. PIN diode equivalent circuit. I-V characteristics of a PIN diode. Electronic tuning of half-wavelength microstrip antenna. Electronic tuning of quarter-wavelength shorted microstrip antenna. Diode tunable PIFA. Frequency tuning by switching techniques. The conventional dual-band full duplex RF front end. 9 9 18 18 18 19 19 22 22 22 24 26

The proposed dual-band full-duplex RF front end based on a tunable antenna 26 pair. Capacitance-Voltage relation of SMTD3001. Electrical length equivalence of a varactor located at the end of the line. 29 29

The variation of effective electrical length of the varactor diode SMTD3001 30 against microstrip line width on Duroid substrate with r = 2.2 and 1.57 mm thickness. L and inverted L shape antenna. The proposed dual-band tunable microstrip antenna. 1 versus (2 + eff) for different values of K. Layout of the dual-band tunable antenna designed for GSM applications. Simulation results (S11) of the dual band proposed antenna at the lower frequency band (GSM-900 MHz) for various values of reverse bias voltage VR. Simulation results (S11) of the dual band proposed antenna at the higher frequency band (DCS-1800 MHz) for various values of reverse bias voltage VR. Resonance frequencies of the dual band proposed antenna against reverse bias voltage VR. Far field simulated radiation patterns at different bias conditions. Measured return loss of the tunable antenna for reveres bias of 0, 1, and 3 V. Measured return loss of the tunable antenna for reveres bias of 0, 1, and 3 V for a modified lower band element. 32 32 35 35 36

Figure 4.4 Figure 4.5 Figure 4.6 Figure 4.7 Figure 4.8

Figure 4.9

36

Figure 4.10 Figure 4.11 Figure 4.12 Figure 4.13

37 38 40 40

ABSTRACT

Small size antennas usually suffer from bandwidth limitations.

Bandwidth can be

increased by adding lossy elements but, they significantly affect the efficiency of the antenna. One method to solve the efficiency problem without increasing the antenna size is to use the tunable antenna concept. Recently, tunable antennas attract much attention in mobile communications. The objective of this project is to develop compact dual-band electronically tunable microstrip antennas for operation in GSM/DCS-1800 system. Tunable antenna, is a small size antenna that would not cover all bands simultaneously, but provides narrower instantaneous bandwidths that are dynamically selectable at higher efficiency than conventional antennas. Bandwidth selection can be achieved by electronically change the reactive loading of the resonator by means of PIN diode or varactor diode. The main characteristics of the PIN and varactor diodes that are useful for tunable microstrip antenna design are described. The loading effect of varactor diode on microstrip circuits is investigated and design curves that relate the biasing voltage to the effective electrical line length for different line widths are presented. The analysis of a compact dual-band microstrip antenna suitable for this application is, then, described. A dual-band antenna is designed and implemented to operate at the GSM/DCS-1800 bands when connected to the varactor diode SMTD3100. The design and implementation is carried out on Duroid dielectric substrate with r = 2.2 and thickness 1.57 mm. The simulations are performed using IE3D simulator. Simulation results show that the required bandwidth can be easily covered with voltage changes from 0 V to 3 V, which is suitable for mobile hand phones. Frequency shift between simulations and measurements due to the limited accuracy of the varactor diode capacitance is observed. This frequency shift is compensated by adding a small piece of copper foil on the element that resonates at the lower band. However, the circuit layout is difficult to support such modification at the higher band. Computed radiation patterns show consistency for different bias conditions and show omni-directional shape. 5

 . . . . GSM/DCS-1800 . . PIN . . . GSM/DCS-1800 SMTD3100 2.2 1.57 . IE3D 0 3 . . . . . . .

CHAPTER 1

COMPACT MICROSTRIP ANTENNAS: CHARACTERISTICS AND LIMITATIONS

1.1 INTRODUCTION Microstrip antennas (MSAs) in general have a conducting patch printed on a grounded dielectric substrate (usually r 10). MSAs have some attractive features such as, low profile, light weight, easy fabrication, and conformability to mounting hosts. However, MSAs inherently have narrow bandwidth characteristics. The patch conductors, normally of copper or gold, can assume virtually any shape, but regular shapes such as rectangular, square, circular, elliptical, triangular, and annular ring, are generally used to simplify analysis and performance prediction. Ideally, the dielectric constant, r of the substrate should be low (r < 2.5), to enhance the fringe fields that account for the radiation. However, other performance requirements may dictate the use of substrate materials whose dielectric constants can be greater than, say, four. In general, MSAs are half-wavelength structures. At the lower microwave frequency, especially below 2 GHz, the size of conventional MSAs, becomes too large to be integrated in mobile handset. However, with some modifications, any of the basic microstrip structures can be optimized for:

(1) Implementation in a very small area at the expense of bandwidth. (2) Reasonable small area with acceptable bandwidth, for mobile applications. (3) Large area with associated wide bandwidth The possibility to employ antennas that fit in smaller volumes, but still have an efficient behavior is certainly a challenge. The challenges and fundamental limitations for designing small antennas will be discussed in the next section.

1.2 CHALLENGES AND FUNDAMENTAL LIMITATIONS The term electrical small antenna has become understood to include any antenna which fits inside a sphere of radius r 1/k, as shown in Fig. 1.1, where k is the wave number associated with the electromagnetic field. It has been noted that as the antenna size decreases the bandwidth decreases. The bandwidth is derived from the quality factor (Q) by assuming that the antenna equivalent is a resonant circuit with fixed values. The fractional bandwidth is defined as the normalized spread between the half-power frequencies as:

Bandwidth (BW) =

f upper f lower f center

1 Q

(1.1)

If the antenna is lossy, a series resistance will be added to the radiation resistance that results in a significant decrease of Q and so increase in bandwidth. The Q-size relation is illustrated in Fig. 1.2 for various efficiencies [1]. These curves represent the minimum values of Q (or the highest bandwidth) that can be obtained from an antenna whose

structure can be enclosed within a sphere of radius r and whose radiated field outside the sphere can be represented by a single spherical wave mode.

Fig. 1.1 Antenna within a sphere of radius r.

100 80 40 Quality factor Q 20 10 8 4 2 10% 5%

Antenna within a sphere of radius r

radiation efficiency

50%

= 100%

0.1

0.3

0.5

0.7 kr

0.9

1.1

1.3

1.5

Fig. 1.2 Fundamental limit of Q versus antenna size kr < 1 , k = 2/ = /c [1].

In conclusion, according to the theory developed in [1]- [3], there exists a fundamental law that restricts the performance of the antennas enclosed in a given volume. The law states that the Q of any linearly polarized antenna cannot be smaller than what is obtained, as shown in Fig. 1.2, if only the lowest spherical mode is allowed to act outside the smallest sphere that encloses the antenna. Thus, in order to approach the theoretical limit, the antenna structure should utilize as efficiently as possible the enclosing sphere. To do so, various wide band microstrip structures have been developed by increasing the substrate thickness, while compactness has been achieved by decreasing the surface. Planar inverted F antennas (PIFAs) are the most important structures developed for this purpose. Various PIFAs have been proposed for single, dual, and triple band [4]- [12]. More size reduction is possible, if a tunable frequency band operation can be obtained from the antenna structure instead of single wide band operation.

1.3 TUNING CONCEPT SOLUTION The narrow bandwidth of conventional microstrip antennas has many restrictions in realtime applications. The tunable antenna concept offers solutions to this problem. Recently, tunable antennas attract much attention for their applications in wireless communications, electronic surveillance, and countermeasures by adapting their properties to achieve selectivity in frequency, bandwidth, polarization and gain.

10

Microstrip antenna is a resonant element, and so its resonance frequency can be determined by its lumped element equivalence. Therefore, any reactive loading of the patch leads to a change in its resonance frequency. Such loading can be performed either mechanically or electronically. Shorting pins or posts [13], stubs [14], variable dielectric layer thickness [15], varactor diodes [16] [19], switching diodes [20]- [23], and optical control have been used to tune microstrip antennas. Pins, posts, stubs, and variable dielectric layer thickness give rise to mechanical tuning. Whereas varactor and switching diodes embedded in the patch and optical control of PIN diode impedance can be used for electronic tuning of the patch antenna.

The study of dual-band electronically tunable microstrip antenna is the subject of this project. Varactor and PIN diodes are the main electronically frequency control components that are used for such applications. The basic theory and principle of operation of these devices are presented in the next chapter. In chapter three, the studies of the main microstrip antennas structures that can use electronic tuning are covered. The design and implementation of a new dual-band structure which is more suitable for low cost applications is discussed in chapter four. Concluding remarks and future prospective are introduced in chapter five.

11

CHAPTER 2

ACTIVE DEVICES USED IN RF TUNING

2.1 INTRODUCTION Electronic tuning of microstrip antennas is either achieved by the mean of Varactor diodes and/or PIN diodes. These devices are suitable for applications in microwave frequencies. Varactors are useful for many RF applications including: frequency tuning for active and passive circuits, frequency multiplication, frequency conversion, harmonic generation and parametric amplification. PIN diode is the most important device for signal control at the microwave range. Signal amplitude and phase can be easily In this chapter we will study the main

electronically controlled using PIN diode.

characteristics of both devices at the frequency of interest (< 2 GHz). The next section will elaborate the characteristics of varactor diodes and section three is devoted to the characteristics and the principle of PIN diodes for switching.

2.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF VARACTOR DIODES [24] The varactor diode is one of the old microwave solid-state-devices. It is also called a parametric diode. The varactor diode is a nonlinear device and provides voltage-

dependent variable capacitance. Varactors are generally semiconductor p-n junctions, Schottky-barrier junctions, or point contact diodes made from gallium arsenide or silicon. 12

Most varactors are fabricated on n-type semiconductors with p-type diffusion to form junctions. The operation of a varactor diode is based on the reverse-biased pn junction. An increase in the reverse bias widens the depletion region between the p- and n-type substrates, and the junction capacitance is reduced. The junction capacitance Cj for a reverse-biased pn junction as a function of the applied reverse dc voltage V is given by

C j (V) = C jo (1

V M ) bi

(2.1)

where Cj0 is the junction capacitance at zero bias, bi the contact potential (0.7V for silicon and 1.3V for GaAs) and M is a coefficient which depends on the junction doping profile. Both C j0 and M are dependent on the doping characteristics of the pn junction. For the abrupt type varactor M=0.5, but in hyperabrupt type varactor M varies with the applied reverse bias between 0.5 and 5. If the range of the applied bias is sufficiently narrow, the voltage dependency of M may be ignored, and it may be replaced by an average value over that range. Equation (2.1) is plotted in Fig. 2.1 for an abrupt pn junction (M = 0.5). The equivalent circuit of this device in its package form is shown in Fig. 2.2. It is modeled by a voltage dependent junction capacitance C j (V) and the series resistance R S (V), associated with the ohmic contact and the finite thickness of the epitaxial layer. Since the depletion region expands as the bias is increased, the undepleted region becomes smaller which decreases the resistance of the structure. The series resistance should be as low as possible in order to keep the losses associated with the diode low. As the operation is
13

based on the reverse-biased pn-junction, it can be assumed that the junction resistance will be very large and may therefore be ignored. In commercial products, the diode is usually installed in a package. Due to the package material, the geometry and the bonding wires, the package always has some kind of package inductance Lp and package capacitance Cp, that have an influence on the performance of the diode. Lp and Cp are assumed to be constant with the bias voltage. The disadvantage of this model is that it fails to take into account the non-linearities of the junction. The parameters for this circuit have to be taken straight from the manufacturers datasheet curves. Usually, the effect of the package capacitance, Cp on the characteristics of the diode is negligible and can be ignored and then the impedance of the varactor Zd can be written as 1 ) C j (V )

Z d ( ,V ) = Rs (V ) +

j ( L p

(2.2)

Since the operation of a varactor diode is based on the reverse-biased pn junction, the operation frequency range should be below a particular frequency which is called cutoff frequency fcoff and determined by the diode series resistance Rs(V) and the junction capacitance Cj (V) as 1 2 Rs (V ) C j (V )

cutoff

(V ) =

(2.3)

Since both Rs and Cj decrease as a function of the increased reverse bias, the cut-off frequency is usually defined according to the zero bias values of these parameters

14

In order to keep the diode impedance, constantly, in the capacitive operating mode, the series resonance frequency of the diode should, in all circumstances, remain clearly above the operating frequency range. In the series resonance condition, the reactive part of the impedance equals zero, and the resonant frequency can be solved from Equation (2.3) and written as

fr

1 2 L p C j (V )

(2.4)

Since the junction capacitance decreases as a function of the applied reverse bias, the criterion for the capacitive operating mode is met, provided that the fr exceeds the highest operating frequency at the zero bias level. In low-loss designs such as antenna applications, fcutoff is usually much higher than the series resonance frequency fr of the packed diode (> 10 fr ). This means that in case the series resonance frequency requirement is fulfilled, the cut-off frequency requirement is also fulfilled. It must be emphasized that the cut-off frequency mainly defines the energy dissipation of the varactor, while the fr defines the frequency above which the operation of the varactor becomes inductive due to the effect of the package inductance. In mobile phone applications the temperature of the environment can vary within a rather large range. This can have a significant effect on the properties of the varactor-based tuning circuit, because the capacitance of the diode tends to increase as the temperature increases. The capacitance of a hyperabrupt diode is more sensitive to temperature in comparison to the abrupt diode.

15

2.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF PIN DIODES [24]

The p-in diode has its name because of its doping semiconductor profile which consists of a lightly doped intrinsic region sandwiched between two doped p and n regions. The semiconductor material is usually silicon, but gallium arsenide can be also used. PIN diodes are used as switches or attenuators for signals at microwave frequencies. The sketch of a PIN diode is shown in Fig. 2.3. The PIN diode is similar to the PN diode but with smaller junction capacitance. Since the width of the depletion zone is inversely proportional to the resistivity (or doping concentration) of the p or n region (whichever has the lower impurity doping concentration, the depletion region of PIN is wider than that in a PN diode. The wider depletion region corresponds to smaller junction capacitance. The effect is very useful for a diode used as a microwave switch. This is because the impedance of the diode under reverse bias gets higher as the capacitance gets lower and the device becomes more effective as an open circuit. Because of the heavy doping of the P+ or N+ regions, the depletion does not extend far into them, and the depletion width is essentially equal to the I region width. The junction capacitance in the reverse bias is determined by this width. The most important property of the PIN diode is that it can, under certain circumstances, behave as an almost pure resistance at high frequencies. The value of the resistance is dependent on the resistivity of the intrinsic region and the applied bias current. The intrinsic region has a high resistance R0 at zero bias. In forward bias, the junction resistance depends on the conductivity of the I layer. An increase in the applied forward

16

bias increases the injection of carriers from the P+ and N+ regions. This phenomenon reduces the specific resistance to a level below the one obtained from doping alone, thus inducing a lower junction resistance. Together with N+ and P+ regions, the I region, forms a junction capacitance Cj. The equivalent circuit can be represented as shown in Fig. 2.4. The arrow is connected to Rj in the forward bias and Cj in the reverse bias. Cj(V) and Rj(V) will depend on the applied bias as shown in the I-V curve of Fig. 2.5. The circuit parameters at forward and reverse bias are given as:
Forward bias: the circuit parameters can approximately take the values:

Cj(V) = 1 pF Rj(V) = 0.5 Zc = -j160 at 1 GHz The circuit is almost a short circuit.
Reverse bias:

The circuit parameters can be approximated as: Cj(V) = 0.2 pF Rj(V) = 20 K Zc = -j 800 at 1 GHz Zc is much greater tha 50 and acts as good open circuit

17

Cj(V)

Cjo

VB

Vbi

Fig. 2.1 Varactor characteristics.

Lp

Rs(V)

Cj(V)

Cp

Fig. 2.2 Varactor diode equivalent circuit.

P+

N+

Fig. 2.3 Physical structure of a PIN diode.

18

reverse bias (rb) Lp Rs Cj

Forward bias Cp

Rj

Fig. 2.4 PIN diode equivalent circuit.

50 mA

VB (30 100 V)

1V A few A

Fig. 2.5 I-V characteristics of a PIN diode.

19

CHAPTER 3

TUNABLE ANTENNA TECHNIQUES AND MOBILE PHONE RF SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Tunable mobile phone antennas are based on the changing of their resonance properties by an external reactive loading. In theory, the load can be either capacitive or inductive. The reactive load can be placed either in series or parallel to the original antenna. The series connection can be achieved by placing the load between the short-circuit and the ground, and the parallel connection is achieved by loading the antenna between the ground plane and the radiating element. Due to the space limitations of the mobile phone antennas, the parallel inductive or series capacitive loading is not very advisable, because it shifts the resonant frequency upwards. The reactive tuning makes it possible to enhance the impedance bandwidth of a narrowband antenna over large frequency range. In practical mobile phone antenna design, however, the feed point of the antenna is usually placed on a particular point on the radiating patch, which sets limits on the achievable tuning range. In addition to the fixed feed point, the tunability of a resonator type

20

antenna depends on several other factors, such as the available bias, used tuning component, coupling of the resonator at zero bias and the characteristics of the antenna input impedance. The general description of varactor based tuning antenna is introduced in the next section. Moreover, the concept of switching based technique is described in section three. In section four, the proposed mobile phone RF sub-system architecture for dual-band GSM application is presented. Comparison between conventional and the proposed system is also discussed.

3.2 VARACTOR BASED TUNABLE MICROSTRIP ANTENNAS

The use of varactor diodes to tune microstrip antennas has been first introduced in 1982 [16]. In this approach, two varactor diodes are embedded in the patch such that the symmetry of the patch is retained, which is essential to minimize the cross-polarization component in the radiation pattern. Fig. 3.1 shows this configuration. A frequency tuning range of about 30% was achieved depending on the diode characteristics and the position of the diode in the patch. The structure is half-wavelength which is still too large for use below 2 GHz. Shorted patch antenna is a good compromise for realizing high radiation efficiency in a small form factor [17]. Fig. 3.2 illustrate the geometry of a typical shorted tunable microstrip patch. The antenna length is a quarter wavelength at the fundamental resonant frequency with the absence of the varactor diode. The

capacitance equivalence of the diode increase the antenna effective length and so reduce its resonant frequency. Changing the capacitance by changing the bias voltage across the diode will tune the antenna at the desired frequency. A diode tunable PIFA element that

21

is divided into two sections as shown in Fig. 3.3 has been proposed in [18]. Varactor tuning diodes are located so they connect the two sections electrically together. The capacitance between the two sections is controlled by tuning the diodes, which effectively varies the electrical length, and thus the resonant frequency of the top plate.

Fig. 3.1 Electronic tuning of half-wavelength microstrip antenna.

Fig. 3.2 Electronic tuning of quarter-wavelength shorted microstrip antenna.

Fig. 3.3 Diode tunable PIFA [18]. 22

3.3 SWITCHING BASED TUNABLE MICROSTRIP ANTENNAS

Fig. 3.4 shows some possible tuning techniques based on the capacitive or inductive loading of a /4-resonator antenna [22]. In case (a), the tuning is accomplished by adding a switchable capacitive load to the open end of the antenna. In cases (b) and (c) the resonance properties can also be manipulated by modifying the electrical properties of the short-circuit. The tuning can be achieved either by inserting additional shorting posts or by modifying the properties of the original short circuit by a series connected capacitive circuit. In case (b) the inductance of the short-circuit is reduced by increasing the number of the shorting posts by using of switches. In case (c), the same effect is achieved by a capacitive switching method. The most pronounced difference between these two methods is that when the switch is activated to the low impedance state, the resonance frequency shifts upwards in case (b) and, on the contrary, downwards in case (c).

23

(a)

Shorting posts switches

(b)

(a )

capacitor capacitor switch (c)

Fig. 3.4 Frequency tuning by switching techniques [22]. (a) Capacitive switching. (a) Tuning by appropriate selection of shorting posts. (b) Shorting strip with capacitive switch.

24

3.4 THE PROPOSED RF SYSTEM ARCHITECTUURE

GSM system is a frequency-duplex multiple access system. Therefore, the required handset antenna should cover the transmission and receiving frequency bands simultaneously. As explained in chapter 1, such bandwidth can be obtained at the expense of size and/or efficiency (see Fig. 1.2). In this case one antenna that covers transmission and receiving bandwidths can be used. Fig. 3.5 shows the conventional dual-band, full duplex front end handset system architecture [21]. Tunable antenna concept is based on tuning the antenna only at the desired band. So, such antenna would not cover all the bands simultaneously, but provides narrow instantaneous bandwidths that are dynamically selectable at higher efficiency than conventional antennas. In this case, two separate antennas, one for the transmission bands and the second for the receiving bands should be used. The proposed dual-band front end handset GSM system architecture is shown in Fig. 3.6. In this configuration, two separate antennas are used, the first one for transmission at both transmission bands (890-915 MHz for GSM) and (1710-1785 MHz DCS-1800) and the other for receiving at both receiving bands (935960 MHz for GSM) and (1805-1880 MHz for DCS-1800). Control unit and biasing circuits will be needed to tune both antennas at the desired dynamic frequency of operation. The design and implementation of dual-band (900 1800 MHz) tunable antenna is described in the next chapter

25

TX/RX Duplexer

Image Rejection BPF LNA LNA PA Image Rejection BPF

Band Separating Duplexer TX/RX

Duplexer

PA
Directional Coupler

Power Detector

Fig. 3.5 The conventional dual-band full duplex RF front end [21].

Receiving antenna

Notch filter Splitter LNA

Image Rejection BPF

LNA Notch filter Transmitting antenna PA Directional Coupler Power Detector Combiner PA Image Rejection BPF

Fig. 3.6 The proposed dual-band full-duplex RF front end based on a tunable antenna pair.

26

CHAPTER 4

DUAL BAND TUNABLE ANTENNA FOR CELLULAR PHONE

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Various methods can be used to design compact dual-band antennas. In this chapter we will introduce a dual-band configuration that can be tuned electronically by the use of varactor diodes as a variable capacitance device. The proposed structure is small in size, light in weight, and can be accommodated with active devices and biasing circuits without the need of excess area. The structure is formed from the integration of a shortcircuited L and inverted-L shape. The resonance property depends on the antenna

geometry and the characteristics of the varactor diode used. The varactor characteristics and its effect on microstrip circuit are described in the next section. Finally, the analysis and design of the electronically tunable antenna is presented in the last section.

27

4-2 EFFECT OF VARACTOR DIODES IN MICROSTRIP CIRCUITS

The varactor used for this application is the SMTD3001 silicon-based surface mounted structure that can be easily used with excellent performance up to 3 GHz. The

capacitance voltage characteristic is shown in Fig. 4.1. The diode can operate well in temperature range from -65o to 150o. Since, the power supply of the handset mobile

phone is a 3-V battery, we will only be interested in the portion from 0-3 V of the curve. The junction capacitance values in this range are shown in Table 4.1. The maximum capacitance can be obtained when zero voltage is applied is 2.2 pF, while the minimum capacitance is limited by the maximum available voltage, 3-V in mobile handset, is 1.15 pF. Since the diode is usually located at the end of an open circuit line, its effect can be analyzed as a section of the line with the same width and effective electrical length eff as shown in Fig. 4.2. The effective electrical length eff of the diode junction capacitance Cj can be calculated as a function of the radian frequency and line characteristic impedance as eff = cot-1 C/Zo

Fig. 4.3 shows the variation of the effective electrical length of the varcator capacitance against microstrip line width on a Duroid substrate with r = 2.2 and of 1.57 mm thickness. The curves are calculated for the minimum and maximum capacitances (1.15 and 2.2 pF) at 900 MHz, Fig. 4.3a, and at 1800 MHz, Fig. 4.3b. It is clear from these curves that, the effective length decreases as the line width increases and the maximum effective length is obtained at zero bias voltage which corresponds to 2.2 pF. For a line of width 2 mm, this junction capacitance is equivalent to about 45o, at 900 MHz and more than 65o at 1800 MHz. These curves are helpful in the design stage, in order to integrate the effect of the varactor diode in the initial design.

28

Fig. 4.1 Capacitance-Voltage relation of SMTD3001. di d eff

Fig. 4.2 Electrical length equivalence of a varactor located at the end of the line.

Table 4.1: change of junction capacitance with bias voltage of the SMTD3100 varactor diode Reverse bias voltage (V) 0 .3 .8 1 2.2 3 Junction capacitance (pF) 2.2 2 1.6 1.5 1.25 1.15

29

50 40

eff (degrees)

30 20 10 0 2 4 6 8

Cj = 2.2 pF

Cj = 1.15 pF

10

12

14

16

Microstrip line width (mm) (a)

Effective electrical length (degrees)

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Cj = 2.2 pF

Cj = 1.15 pF

Microstrip line width (mm) (b) Fig. 4.3 The variation of effective electrical length of the varactor diode SMTD3001 against microstrip line width on Duroid substrate with r = 2.2 and 1.57 mm thickness (a) at 900 MHz (b) at 1800 MHz. 30

4.3 COMPACT TUNABLE MICROSTRIP ANTENNA

As shown in Fig. 4.4, the antenna under consideration consists of two resonant elements an inverted large L-shape element that resonates at the lower frequency (Fig. 4.4a) and another smaller L-shape element that resonates at the higher frequency (Fig. 4.4b) [25]. The effective electrical lengths of the lines are 1 and 2, where the corresponding physical lengths are l1, and l2, at the lower frequency and l1, and l2, at the higher frequency, taking the discontinuities effect into account. Z1 and Z2 are the characteristic impedances of the microstrip lines of widths W1 or W1 and W2 or W2 respectively. At resonance tan 1 tan 2 = K (4.1)

where K is the ratio of the line impedances; K = Z2 / Z1. Equation (4.1) gives the resonance condition without considering the varactor diode at the ends of l2 and l2 lines. Now, consider the varactor diodes connected to the patch as shown in Fig. 4.5. Biasing circuit consists of coupling capacitor 3 pF, and RF chock coils is used with each diode to provide biasing voltage. The effect of the varactor diode in the circuit can be treated as a transmission line section, having the same line width (W2), with an effective electrical length eff as described in Fig. 4.3. In this case the resonance condition defined by equation (4.1) is modified as

tan 1 tan (2 + eff)

= K

(4.2)

31

l2 W2

W2

l1

l2 W1

W1 (a) (b)

l1

(c)

Fig. 4.4 L and inverted L shape antenna [25]. a) L-shaped antenna that operates at the lower frequency. b) L-shaped antenna that operates at the higher frequency. c) Integration of (a) and (b).

V1

V2

Probe feed Shorting post

Fig. 4.5 The proposed dual-band tunable microstrip antenna.

32

Using equation (4.2) (2 + eff) is plotted against 1 for different values of K in Fig. 4.6. It is observed that, for a certain value of 1, (2 + eff) decreases as K decreases resulting in a reduction of the total antenna size. The total electrical length of the antenna is given by t = 1 (2 + eff). For K = 1 (uniform resonator), the total electrical length is 90o and the total length decreases as K decreases . Fig. 4.6 is a helpful graph for a primary design of each antenna element through judicial selection of the K factor, and hence the selection of electrical lengths of the antenna arms. The design and implementation of the dual-band tunable antenna at the GSM/DCS1800 bands is achieved on Duroid dielectric substrate with r = 2.2 and thickness 1.57 mm. The width of the narrow lines W1 and W1 are chosen to be 4 mm to avoid degradation of the antenna efficiency and the width of the wider line is selected for a suitable value of the impedance ratio K to achieve antenna size reduction and concurrently to maintain the validity of transmission line approximation. We choose W2 = 10 mm and W2 = 7 mm to provide a suitable radiation aperture at the 900/1800 MHz bands. The characteristic impedances corresponding to these dimensions are Z1 = Z1 =56.5 , Z2 = 29.5 , and Z2 = 38.5 , which yield K value of 0.52 at 900 MHz and 0.68 at 1800 MHz. The effective electrical length of the varactor diode at zero bias in this case is 20o at 900 MHz and about 44o at 1800 MHz. Fig. 4.6 provides good tool to hit a compromise point between 1 and 2 for both antenna elements. Interpolation between the K - curves can be used to predict the K = 0.52 curve at 900 MHz and 0.68 at 1800 MHz. The junction capacitance is very sensitive with the reverse voltage applied zero volts. Therefore, the frequency change per volt increases in this region that will need a sophisticated voltage control circuit. To avoid this, the physical size of this structure is optimized to cover the

33

GSM bands (890 960 MHz & 1710 1880 MHz) in tuning range between 0.8 V to 3 V. The antenna physical dimensions after adding the discontinuity effects, are l1= 14.5, l2 = 22.5, l1= 5 and l2 = 8 mm. The discontinuity effects are calculated with the help of IE3D software; a commercial electromagnetic simulator based on an integral equation method and the method of moment. The layout of the designed antenna is shown in Fig. 4.7. Simulations are carried out using IE3D. A series of simulations have been performed for various values of junction capacitance representing the vractor diodes and biasing circuit. The return losses (S11) for this antenna for different values of junction capacitance, or corresponding voltage, at lower band are shown in Fig. 4.8. Variation of resonance frequency from 826 MHz to 944 MHz is observed for voltage variation from 0 to 3 V. This means that the, bandwidth the antenna can be tuned within the 3-V battery is about 118 MHz. This is more than the GSM bandwidth requirements at 900 MHz. Good matching is maintained within this band. At 1800 MHz the simulation results are shown in Fig. 4.9 for the smaller patch. From 0 to 3 V, the smaller antenna can be tuned from 1440 MHz to 1890 MHz. The tunable bandwidth is 450 MHz. This bandwidth is more than the DCS-1800 requirements. In this case, we can avoid tuning near the zero voltage in order to alleviate the frequency sensitivity and provide more stability. The variation of the resonance frequencies, f1 of the larger patch and f2 for the smaller patch, against biasing voltage, are shown in Fig. 4.10. The simulated far field radiation patterns at two different frequencies for each band are shown in Fig. 4.11. Almost no significant

variation for difference biasing conditions is observed. The gain for all cases is about 2.6 dB. These characteristics are adequate for mobile phone requirements.

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(2 + eff)

0. 0.4 0.2

1 0.8

4 3

1 Fig. 4.6 1 versus (2 + eff) for different values of K.

a small patch for ground connection a small patch for interconnection between ground/varactor and RF chock

22.5 mm

10 mm

4 mm

a small patch for terminal voltage connection

8 mm 7 mm

14.5 mm

3 mm 12 mm

Fig. 4.7 Layout of the dual-band tunable antenna designed for GSM applications.

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S11 (dB)
-5 -10 -15 -20 -25 0.8

VR = 0 V f1 = 826 MHz

VR = 0.3 V f1 = 846 MHz VR = 1 V f1 = 900 MHz VR = 2.2 V f1 = 930 MHz VR = 3 V f1 = 944 MHz VR = 4 V f1 = 964 MHz

0.85

0.9

0.95

f1 (GHz) Fig. 4.8 Simulation results (S11) of the dual band proposed antenna at the lower frequency band (GSM-900 MHz) for various values of reverse bias voltage VR.

0 -5 -10
S11 (dB)
VR = 0 V F2 = 1440 MHz VR = 0.3 V f2 = 1502 MHz VR = 1 V f2 = 1698 MHz VR = 3 V f1 = 1890 MHz VR = 4 V f1 = 1994 MHz

-15 -20 -25 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7

f2 (GHz)
VR = 2.2 V f2 = 1830 MHz

1.8

1.9

Fig. 4.9 Simulation results (S11) of the dual band proposed antenna at the higher frequency band (DCS-1800 MHz) for various values of reverse bias voltage VR. 36

2 1.8
Resonance frequency (GHz)

1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0 1

f2

f1

2
Bias voltage VR (V)

Fig. 4.10 Resonance frequencies of the dual band proposed antenna against reverse bias voltage VR.

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(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Fig. 4.11 Far field simulated radiation patterns at different bias conditions (a) Radiation pattern at 900 MHz (VR = 1 V). (b) Radiation pattern at 930 MHz (VR = 2.2 V). (c) Radiation pattern at 1502 MHz (VR = .3 V). (d) Radiation pattern at 1700 MHz (VR = 1 V). 38

4.4 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

The tunable antenna designed in the above section is implemented and tested. The layout of the circuit is shown in Fig. 4.7. The double coated Duroid substrate with r = 2.2 and 1.57 mm thickness is manipulated by the available grooving machine. The chock coils and varactor diodes are soldered on the same side where the antenna is implemented. An HP8510A vector network analyzer is used to measure the return loss of the antenna (S11) at different biasing conditions. The biasing voltage is provided by a dc voltage source. V1 denotes the biasing voltage for the larger element (resonates at the lower band), and V2 denotes the biasing voltage for the smaller element (resonates at the higher band). The measured data are presented in Fig. 4.12. The return losses change from -8 to -15 dB at different resonances corresponding to voltage changes from 0 to 3 V. The degradation in return loss as compared to simulation results is attributed to the limitation of the accuracy of the available fabrication and mounting tools. Frequency shift of about -100 MHz is observed at all biasing voltages. This is attributed to the accuracy of the varactor diode capacitance. Varactor datasheets indicate that the capacitance accuracy can be changed in the order of 20%. More than 100 MHz frequency shift results from such limited accuracy. Usually, carefully designed devices give better results. Also, this drawback can be overcome by either individually characterizing the varactor diodes or retune the antenna circuit to compensate for this effect. On this context, another alternative which yields better results was obtained at the lower band by adding a small adhesive foil patch to increase the width W1 of the patch. As W1 increases, Z1 decreases and thus K (Z2/Z1) increases, and so from Fig. 4.6, the corresponding (2 + eff) increases

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that leads to increase of resonance frequency. The modified measurements are shown in Fig. 4.13.

0 -5

0 -5
VR = 3 V f1 = 840 MHz VR = 0 V f1 = 740 MHz VR = 1 V f1 = 780 MHz
0.9 1

S11 (dB)

-10 -15 -20 0.7 0.8

S11 (dB)

-10 VR = 0 V -15 -20 1.2 1.3

f2 = 1300 MHz VR = 1 V VR = 3 V f2 = 1480 MHz f2 = 1630 MHz

1.4

1.5

1.6

1.7

1.8

Frequency (GHz) (a)

Frequency (GHz) (b)

Fig. 4.12 Measured return loss of the tunable antenna for reveres bias of 0, 1, and 3 V (a) Lower band tuning. (b) Higher band tuning.

0 -5

S11 (dB)

-10 -15 -20 0.7

VR = 0 V f1 = 832 MHz VR = 1 V f1 = 900 MHz

VR = 3 V f1 = 930 MHz

0.8

0.8 0.9

0.9 1.0

1 1.1

Frequency (GHz) Fig. 4.13 Measured return loss of the tunable antenna for reveres bias of 0, 1, and 3 V for a modified lower band element.

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

In this project a tunable compact microstrip antenna concept has been studied as a solution to virtually increase the antenna bandwidth without increasing its size or reducing its efficiency. In this study, varactor diode has been used as a voltage control capacitance. The main characteristics of varactor diode have been reviewed. The effect of loading microstrip lines of different widths by a varactor diode has been analyzed based on transmission line theory. A design procedure has been developed in chapter 4. Based on that, a dual-band antenna has been designed for GSM/DCS-1800 bands. The antenna structure has been selected to integrate the biasing circuit and the varactor diodes without significant increase the structure area. Duroid dielectric substrate with r = 2.2 and thickness of 1.57 mm has been used. The IE3D simulator has been used to verify the antenna performance before implementation. It has been shown that, the required

bandwidth can be easily covered using voltage changes from 0 to 3V, available from the battery of mobile handset. Approximate omni directional similar radiation pattern at different biasing voltages suitable for handset mobile phones has been observed. The calculated antenna gain obtained from the simulation was reported as 2.6 dB for all biasing condtions. The measurements have been performed using HP8510A vector network analyzer. A frequency shift of about 100 MHz, compared to simulation results,

41

has been noticed in the measurements. This shift is attributed to the accuracy of the capacitance of the low cost varactor diode STMD3100. This frequency shift has been treated at the lower band by adding a small piece of copper foil made for this purpose.

From the proposed RF system architecture of a mobile handset that can use tunable antenna, the RF system needs two separate antennas. The first antenna is for the

transmitter and the other for the receiver. Each antenna consists of two elements, two varactors and two biasing circuit. Since, the antenna used is the short-circuit quarterwave branches, two coupling capacitors are needed to isolate biasing voltage from the ground. In conclusion the basic disadvantage of the tunable antenna is the large number of components needed for operation which contribute to additional cost. In this regard, an antenna design with less number of passive and active devices is required and attracts the attention and effort of researchers in the field of microstrip antennas and circuits.

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[18] K. L. Virga, and Y. R. Samii, Low-profile enhanced-bandwidth PIFA antennas for wireless communications packaging, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 45, pp. 18791888, October 2002. [19] J. Ollikainen, O. Kivekas, and P. Vainikainen, Low loss tuning circuits for frequency-tunable small resonant antennas, IEEE PIMRC, pp. 1882-1887, 2002. [20] H. Okabe and K. Takei, Tunable antenna system for 1.9 GHz PCS handsets, in Proc. IEEE AP-Symp., pp.166-169, 2001. [21] J. T. Aberle, S. H. Oh, D. T. Auckland, and S. D. Rogers, Reconfigurable antennas for portable wireless devices, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 45, No. 6, December 2003. [22] N. C. Karmakar, Shorting strap tunable stacked patch PIFA, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., Vol. 52, pp. 28772884, November 2004. [23] D. Peroulis, K. Sarabandi, and L. Katehi, Design of reconfigurable slot antennas, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., Vol. 53, pp. 645654, February 2005. [24] K. Chang, Microwave Solid-State Circuits and Applications, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, USA, 1994. [25] M. Alkanhal, A New Multi-Band Antenna for GSM/DCS/GPS Systems, Technical Report, Research Center, College of Engineering, KSU, grant number 7/425, 2005.

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