Multiband Microstrip-Fed Right Angle Slot Antenna Design for Wireless Communication Systems

Paitoon Rakluea, Noppin Anantrasirichai, Kanok Janchitrapongvej, and Toshio Wakabayashi

This paper presents a novel multiband microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna design technique for multiple independent frequency bands. The new technique uses various slot sizes at various appropriate positions. We first propose a tri-band slot antenna consisting of three right angle slots. Then, a quad-band slot antenna is developed with four right angle slots which achieves slant 45 linear polarization, omnidirectional pattern coverage, good antenna gain, and acceptable impedance bandwidths over all the operating frequency range. Moreover, an opencircuited tuning stub is introduced to achieve good impedance matching. Both proposed antennas are designed on a ground plane of RT/duroid 5880 substrate with a thickness of 1.575 mm. The real measurable results show that the desired frequencies used in wireless communication systems, namely, WLAN and WiMax, are efficiently achieved. Keywords: Tri-band antenna, quad-band antenna, multiple independent frequency bands, tuning stub, slant 45 linear polarization.

I. Introduction
The steadily increasing popularity of Internet access and multimedia applications has driven a rapid development of wireless communication systems. It has been noted that a wireless communication device provides the ability to integrate multiband. Therefore, a multiband antenna is attractive in many commercial applications as it is designed to have a single radiator with a capability to transmit and receive multiple frequencies. Nevertheless, a multiband antenna may not sufficiently cover the required operating bands. Therefore, an antenna which is able to operate with multiple independent frequency bands is required. This antenna should also provide ease in controlling the desirable resonance frequencies, impedance bandwidths, radiation patterns, and polarizations. These are obviously becoming the most important factors for the applications of antennas in both contemporary and future wireless communication systems. Many researchers in academia and industry have introduced multiband antennas such as Sierpinski fractal antennas [1]-[3] and printed inverted-F antennas (PIFAs) [4]-[7]. However, these antennas are highly complex in their structures. Therefore, they are hard to design and manufacture, and they have difficulty in achieving good impedance matching over the entire operating frequency range. The printed monopole slot antenna in [8] proposed a widened bandwidth to support multiband operation, unlike the multiple independent frequency band antenna in our research, for which each bandwidth is sufficient for only one operating band. Many other papers have presented multiband microstrip antennas, such as the microstrip-fed slot antenna [9], the coplanarwaveguide-fed monopole antenna [10], and the planar antenna [11]. These antennas are highly suitable for wireless

Manuscript received Nov. 23, 2008; revised Apr. 4, 2009; accepted Apr. 13, 2009. Paitoon Rakluea (phone: +66 2595 1763, email: p_ruglure@hotmail.com), Noppin Anantrasirichai (email: a_nop@hotmail.com), and Kanok Janchitrapongvej (email: kjkanok@kmitl.ac.th) are with the Department of Information Engineering, King Mongkuts Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand. Toshio Wakabayashi (email: wakaba@dt.u-tokai.ac.jp) is with the School of Information Science and Engineering, Tokai University, Japan.

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communication systems due to their attractive features in terms of planar conformal construction, light weight, low cost, lack of soldering points, and ease of fabrication. However, multiple independent frequency bands are not achieved by these antennas. In this paper, we propose a novel multiband microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna. This antenna is simple to design using various right angle slot sizes at appropriate positions to achieve multiple independent frequency bands which can control the desirable resonance frequency, impedance bandwidth, polarization, and radiation pattern. First, a triband slot antenna consisting of three right angle slots is described, and then a quad-band slot antenna is developed with four right angle slots. The polarization of the antennas is also achieved in slant 45o linear polarization for installation in various environments where the antennas are applied. Furthermore, good antenna gain and omnidirectional pattern coverage over the operating bands have been observed. In this study, a technique to improve the impedance matching for all bands of operating frequencies is introduced which uses a tuning stub. The proposed antennas were analyzed by using the finitedifference time-domain (FDTD) method. The prototypes of the antennas were realized and measured. Simulation results were compared with measurements performed on the antenna prototypes. The antennas were developed to be used for wireless communication systems, such as WLAN and WiMax, which are applied in many devices, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, and in-building access points. The rest of the paper is structured as follows. Sections II and III describe the designs and measurement of the tri-band and quad-band microstrip-fed right angle slot antennas. The conclusion is given in section IV.

Ant.#3 Ant.#2

Lg Ant.#1

Ground plane

Wg

h Microstrip line Substrate y

z x

Fig. 1. Structure of the tri-band antenna.

RT/duroid substrate has a dielectric constant r and a thickness h. The width of the microstrip line is Wm and the dimension of the ground plane is LgWg. The first, second, and third slots of antenna are denoted by Ant. #1, Ant. #2, and Ant. #3, to generate first resonant frequency (f1), second resonant frequency (f2), and third resonant frequency (f3), respectively, as shown in Fig. 1. The off-center feeding is proposed to improve impedance matching. A 50-ohm microstrip line is designed to excite the antenna. For efficient excitation of the slots, the microstrip line terminates in an open circuit [13]. The FDTD method [14], [15] was used in the simulation. The Yee cell sizes along the x, y, and z directions are defined as follows: dx=dy=0.1 mm and dz=0.1575 mm. The total size of the FDTD grid is 400dx 450dy 20dz. The exciting source is a baseband Gaussian pulse with a pulse width of 25 ps. To explain the evolution process of the tri-band antenna design [16], we begin with the single-band and dual-band antennas. In the following, it is of interest to investigate the behavior of the designed single-band and dual-band antennas to satisfy the required specifications.

II. Tri-band Microstrip-Fed Right Angle Slot Antenna

1. Structure of the Proposed Antenna
The two slot arrangements on a ground plane are short-ended and open-ended configurations. The open-ended configuration in [12] was successfully designed to widen the bandwidth for a multi-operation band, while the bandwidth of the short-ended configuration is sufficient for only one operation band. The slot antenna with the short-ended configuration was designed for an individual operation band which can suppress the interference frequency from the nearest operating band. The basic structure of the proposed tri-band microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna is shown in Fig. 1. The antenna consists of three different right angle slot sizes at various appropriate positions on the ground plane of the microstrip line. The

2. Single-Band and Dual-Band Antennas

Figure 2 shows the geometry of a single-band antenna which consists of a single right angle slot (Ant. #1) on the ground plane of the microstrip line. The microstrip line is designed with Wm = 5 mm on the substrate of dielectric constant r = 2.2, and thickness h = 1.575 mm. Based on the operating frequency, the overall effective inner slot length (A1+B1) is designed to be g/2, where g is the guided wavelength in the slot. Lengths A1 and B1 are equalized with g/4 length. This technique reduces the size of the antenna by approximately 20% compared to the conventional microstrip-fed slot antenna [17]. Here, S1 denotes the width of the slot in which the impedance bandwidth can be affected by changing the slot width. The length Lm1 of the microstrip line

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S1

S1

B1 Lm1 A1 r1 Wm y x

Lm2

r2 Lm1 A2 B2 A1 r1

B1

S2

y Wm z

Fig. 2. Geometry of the single-band right angle slot antenna.

Fig. 4. Geometry of the dual-band right angle slot antenna.

0 -5 -10 Return loss (dB) -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 1.5 2.0 2.45 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5

Table 1. Optimized parameters of multiband microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna for various operating bands.
An+ Bn = g/2 Frequency range (GHz) 2.42.4835 2.52.7 3.43.6 4.95.1 5.155.35 5.475.725 5.75.9
Frequency (GHz)

Width of slot Sn (g) 0.0080.012 0.20.35 0.020.025 0.0050.02 0.010.025 0.0250.03 0.0050.025

Off-set dist. rn (mm) 23 24.5 1.52.5 23 0.52.5 1.53.5 14

Lmn (g) 0.20.4

0.10.2

0.050.1

n = 1, 2, 3, and 4 (n=slot number)

Fig. 3. Simulated return loss for the single-band antenna: A1+B1=50.8, A1=B1=25.4, S1=0.8, r1=2.1, Lm1=17 (mm).

0 -5 -10 Return loss (dB) -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 1.5 2.0 2.45 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 Frequency (GHz) 5.5 6.0 6.5

terminates in an open-circuit stub beyond the edge of the slot, and r1 is the off-set distance from the center axis of the microstrip line. The parameters Lm1 and r1 are adjusted to satisfy the desired impedance matching. The simulated return loss of the single-band antenna is shown in Fig. 3. The resonant frequency which was obtained from the simulation is 2.45 GHz with the return loss of -37 dB. The -10 dB bandwidth ranges between 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz. Figure 4 illustrates the geometry of a dual-band microstripfed right angle slot antenna. By using the same design concept, the second right angle slot (Ant. #2) is added to generate the second resonant frequency f2 at 3.5 GHz. The parameters of the second right angle slot consist of A2, B2, S2, r2, and Lm2 for which the optimized values are given in Table 1. The simulated resonant frequencies for the dual band antenna are 2.45 GHz and 3.5 GHz with the return losses of -36 dB and -31 dB, respectively, as shown in Fig. 5. The impedance bandwidths range between 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz and 3.4 GHz to 3.6 GHz, respectively.

Fig. 5. Simulated return loss for the dual-band antenna: A1+B1=50.8, A1=B1=25.4, S1=0.8, r1=2.1, Lm1=17, A2+B2=34, A2=B2=17, S2=1.5, r2=2.1, Lm2=7 (mm).

3. Tri-band Antenna
Figure 6 illustrates the geometry of a tri-band microstrip-fed

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S3

r3 Lm3

S1

B3

A3 Lm2 Lm1 B1
dstub W stub lstub

A2 B2 r2 A1 r1 S2 Wm

x
y z

y z

Fig. 8. Geometry of the tri-band right angle slot antenna with tuning stub.

Fig. 6. Geometry of the tri-band right angle slot antenna.

0 -5 -10

Obviously, the obtained simulated impedance bandwidths can cover the 2.4 GHz WLAN band for the first resonant frequency, the 3.5 GHz WiMax band for the second resonant frequency, and both the 5.8 GHz WLAN and WiMax bands for the third resonant frequency.

Return loss (dB)

-15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 1.5 2.0 2.45 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 5.86.0 6.5

4. Tri-band Antenna with Tuning Stub

The tri-band microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna with tuning stub can be introduced to achieve good impedance matching, which is defined as a return loss level less than -30 dB for all bands of operating frequencies as shown in Fig. 8. A single open-circuit tuning stub is connected by a shunt with the microstrip line. The parameters of the single tuning stub consist of the length (lstub), the width (Wstub), and the distance from the end edge of the microstrip line to the center of dstub. After intensive simulations, the optimized parameters of the single tuning stub were found to be dstub = 11.5 mm, lstub =1 mm, and Wstub = 3 mm. The effect on the return loss of using the single tuning stub is shown in Fig. 9. The return loss decreases from -38 dB to -40 dB at 2.45 GHz, from -36 dB to -45 dB at 3.5 GHz, and from -23 dB to -37 dB at 5.8 GHz. Thus, the impedance matching can be improved by using a short tuning stub connected by a shunt with the feed line without much change in the resonant frequencies and bandwidths. To further verify the validity of the proposed designs, the tri-band antenna with the tuning stub based on these parameters was fabricated and measured.

Frequency (GHz)

Fig. 7. Simulated return loss for the tri-band antenna: A1+B1=50.8, A1=B1=25.4, S1=0.8, r1=2.1, Lm1=17, A2+B2=34, A2=B2=17, S2=1.5, r2=2.1, Lm2=7, A3+B3=19.8, A3=B3=9.9, S3= 0.9, r3=1.5, Lm3=2 (mm).

right angle slot antenna. Here, the third right angle slot (Ant. #3) is added to get the third resonant frequency f3 at 5.8 GHz with parameters A3, B3, S3, r3, and Lm3. The optimized parameters of the tri-band microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna are given in Table 1. Table 1 shows the optimized parameters of the multiband microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna for some of the most commonly used operating frequencies in wireless communication systems. The values were selected after several simulations. Using these parameters, the simulated resonant frequencies for the tri-band antenna are 2.45 GHz, 3.5 GHz, and 5.8 GHz with the return losses of -38 dB, -36 dB, and -23 dB, respectively, as shown in Fig. 7. Those impedance bandwidths are approximately 100 MHz (2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz), 200 MHz (3.4 GHz to 3.6 GHz), and 400 MHz (5.6 GHz to 6.0 GHz).

5. Equivalent Circuit of Tri-band Antenna

A diagram of the tri-band microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna is shown in Fig. 10. Total input impedance (Zin) of the antenna is summarized as
Z in = Zstub + Z slotf1 + Z slotf2 + Z slotf 3 ,

(1)

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Tri-band antenna with single tuning stub Tri-band antenna without single tuning stub

Gm Bm Zm Zmcm

Zstub Zslotf1
6.5

n:1 Zsc1s1 Bsf1 Zsf1 Gsf1

2.0

2.45

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5 5.8 6.0

Frequency (GHz)

Fig. 9. Simulated return loss of the tri-band antenna with tuning stub and without tuning stub.

Zin

Zslotf2

Zsc2s2

Bsf2 Zsf2

Gsf2

where Zstub is the input impedance of the microstrip open stub. The impedances of the slot radiators of resonant frequency f1, f2, and f3 are Zslotf1, Zslotf2, and Zslotf3, respectively. By using the transmission line theory, the input impedance of the microstrip open stub can be obtained by
Z + jZ mc tan( m ) Z stub = Z mc m , Z mc + jZ m tan( m )

Zslotf3

Zsc3s3

Bsf3 Zsf3

Gsf3

Fig. 10. Equivalent circuit of the tri-band right angle slot antenna.

(2)

Gm1 Bm1 Zm1 Zmc1m1 Zmc2m2 Bm2 Gm2

where m, Zmc, and Zm are the length of the microstrip line, the characteristic impedance of the microstrip line, and the input impedance of the open-ended microstrip line, respectively, as given by [17]. Also, the impedance of the slot radiator at the input of the transformer is
Z slotf = n 2 Z s .

Zstub1 Zstub2

(3)

The input impedance of the slot radiator (Zs) is

Z S = 1 YS = 1 (GS + jBS ) ,

Zm2 Zmc0m0

(4)
ZstubT Zin ZslotT

where, as given in [18], Gs and Bs can be approximately determined by

GS =

2 PS V02

(5)

Fig. 11. Equivalent circuit of the tri-band right angle slot antenna with tuning stub.

BS =

2 cot(k S LS / 2), Z SC

(6)

Z mc Z sc

(7)

where PS, V0, kS, L'S, and Zsc are the radiated power from the slot, A diagram of the tri-band antenna with the single tuning stub the voltage of the slot radiator, the wave number, the effective length, and the characteristic impedance of the slot, respectively. is shown in Fig. 11. The input impedance Zin is summarized as Coupling between the microstrip line and the right angle slots Z in = Z stubT + Z slotT , (8) by an ideal transformer with a turn-ratio n:1 is considered, as where ZstubT is the input impedance of the microstrip open stub given in [19], determined by

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330 300

30 60 300

0 330

30 60 300

0 330

30 60 90

270 -30 240 210 -20 -10 0 180 150

90 270 -30 120 240 210 -20 -10 0 180 150

90 270 -30 120 240 210 -20 -10 0 180 150

120

(a)

(a) Top view

(b) Bottom view

300

330

30 60 300

0 330

30 60 300

0 330

30 60 90

Fig. 12. Photographs of the tri-band microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna with single tuning stub: A1+B1=50.8, A1=B1=25.4, S1=0.8, r1=2.1, Lm1=17, A2+B2=34, A2=B2=17, S2=1.5, r2=2.1, Lm2=7, A3+B3=19.8, A3=B3=9.9, S3=0.9, r3=1.5, Lm3=2, dstub=11.5, lstub=1, and Wstub=3 (mm).

270 -30 240 210 -20 -10 0 180 150

90 270 -30 120 240 210 -20 -10 0 180 150

90 270 -30 120 240 210 -20 -10 0 180 150

120

(b)
330 0 30 60 300 0 330 30 60 300 0 330 30 60 90 -30 120 150 240 210 -20 -10 0 180 150 120

0 -5 -10
Return loss (dB)

300

270 -30 240 210 -20 -10 0 180 150

90 270 -30 120 240 210 -20 -10 0 180

90 270

-15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 -45 -50 1.5 2.0 2.45 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 Frequency (GHz) 5.0
Simulated Measured

x-y plane z

(c) x-z plane

y-z plane E E

5.5 5.8 6.0

6.5
y

Fig. 13. Measured and simulated return loss of the tri-band right angle slot antenna with single tuning stub.

(Zstub1) in parallel with the single tuning stub (Zstub2). The ZslotT can be obtained from the sum of the impedance of the slot radiation at resonant frequencies f1, f2, and f3 as
Z slotT = Z slotf1 + Z slotf2 + Z slotf3 .

x (d)

(9)

Fig. 14. Measured radiation patterns for tri-band antenna: (a) f1 = 2.43 GHz, (b) f2 = 3.43 GHz, (c) f3 = 5.79 GHz, and (d) polar coordinates.

6. Measurement Results
The proposed antenna was fabricated on an RT/duroid 5880 substrate with a dielectric constant of 2.2 and a ground plane size (Wg Lg) of 8 cm 9 cm as shown in Fig. 12. The return loss of the antenna was measured using an HP8720-C Network Analyzer. The reasonable agreement between the measured and the simulated return loss was confirmed as shown in Fig. 13. The measured -10 dB impedance bandwidths were about 140 MHz (2.36 GHz to 2.5 GHz), 300 MHz (3.3 GHz to 3.6 GHz), and 480 MHz (5.52 GHz to 6.0 GHz) with the minimum return losses of -33 dB, -37 dB, and -32 dB at resonant frequencies of 2.43 GHz, 3.43 GHz, and 5.79 GHz, respectively. It is clearly seen that three operating bandwidths are obtained. In this case, the bandwidths

cover WLAN and WiMax operation. Figure 14 plots the measured radiation patterns in the azimuthal plane (x-y plane) and the elevation planes (x-z and y-z planes). The radiation patterns are normalized by the maximum of the E and E components at 2.43 GHz, 3.43 GHz, and 5.79 GHz. In the x-z and y-z planes, the measurements show that the radiation levels of the E component are nearly as high as those of the E component. In the x-y plane, the E component levels are still high but the radiation of the E component features are at low levels. It is necessary for the various environments in which the antenna would be installed for it to exhibit slant 45o linear polarization. One of the ways to achieve slant 45o linear polarization is to use a right angle slot with equal horizontal and vertical axes (An=Bn). In all planes of interest in Fig. 14, the

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radiation patterns for the E and E components are found to be relatively close to slant 45o linear polarization. The first and second resonant frequencies in the x-y plane show the maximum radiation between angles of 20o to 40o and 200o to 220o, which is slant -45o linear polarization. Moreover, the third resonant frequency in the x-y plane exhibits the maximum radiation between angles of 330o to 350o and 150o to 170o, which is slant +45o linear polarization. Obviously, the effectiveness of the polarization properties depends on the shapes of the right angle slots. The radiation patterns of the tri-band are nearly omnidirectional. The radiation pattern at 2.43 GHz is symmetrical over the bandwidth. The asymmetry of the radiation patterns at 3.43 GHz and 5.79 GHz is mainly the result of the crosstalk between the second and third slots. The maximum gains of the antenna are 2.3 dBi, 3.51 dBi, and 5.48 dBi at 2.43 GHz, 3.43 GHz, and 5.79 GHz, respectively. Furthermore, each slot operates in the dominant mode for the operating frequencies of the tri-band antenna.

S4

B4 A4 r4 x Lm4

y z

Fig. 15. Geometry of the quad-band right angle slot antenna.

0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -35

III. Quad-Band Microstrip-Fed Right Angle Slot Antenna

1. Quad-Band Antenna and Its Characteristics
Figure 15 shows the geometry of a quad-band antenna. The antenna consists of four right angle slots at various appropriate positions on a ground plane. It follows the design concept of the tri-band antenna; however, the additional fourth right angle slot is added to generate the fourth resonant frequency (f4). The parameters of the fourth right angle slot are A4, B4, S 4, r4, and Lm4. The resonant frequencies obtained by the simulation are 2.45 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 5.09 GHz, and 5.7 GHz with the return losses of -39 dB, -28 dB, -23 dB, and -25 dB, respectively, as shown in Fig. 16. The impedance bandwidths are approximately 100 MHz (2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz), 200 MHz (3.4 GHz to 3.6 GHz), 500 MHz (4.7 GHz to 5.2 GHz), and 310 MHz (5.62 GHz to 5.93 GHz), which can cover the 2.4 GHz WLAN band, 3.5 GHz WiMax band, 5 GHz WLAN band, and 5.8 GHz WLAN and WiMax bands. As seen in Fig. 17, the simulated resonant frequencies are 2.6 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 5.25 GHz, and 5.5 GHz with the return losses of -24 dB, -25 dB, -22 dB, and -20 dB, respectively. The impedance bandwidths are approximately 200 MHz (2.5 GHz to 2.7 GHz), 200 MHz (3.4 GHz to 3.6 GHz), 360 MHz (5 GHz to 5.36 GHz), and 280 MHz (5.45 GHz to 5.73 GHz) which can cover the WiMax band and the WLAN band. These results demonstrate that multiple independent frequency bands can be attained using various appropriate positions and sizes of right angle slots, as required

-40 1.5

2.0 2.45

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5 5.8 6.0

6.5

Frequency (GHz)

Fig. 16. Simulated return loss for the quad-band antenna: A1+B1=50.8, A1=B1=25.4, S1=0.8, r1=2.1, Lm1=17, A2+B2=34, A2=B2=17, S2=1.5, r2=1.9, Lm2=7, A3+ B3=23.3, A3=B3=11.6, S3=0.9, r3=2.2, Lm3=4.9, A4+ B4=20.2, A4= B4=10.1, S4= 0.7, r4=2.3, Lm3=1.7 (mm).

of the multiband microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna.

2. Effects of Crosstalk and Ground Plane Size

The fourth band is affected by the problem of crosstalk at high frequencies, which is related to the spacing between slots. Figure 18 plots the crosstalk in the fourth band of spacing between the third slot and the fourth slot at 1 mm (0.026g4), 2.5 mm (0.066g4), and 5 mm (0.132g4) as a function of the frequency. The crosstalk is reduced to an acceptable value of -20 dB for the spacing between slots at 5 mm (0.132g4). It is evident that the crosstalk in the fourth band is strongly influenced by the narrow space which refers to the guide wavelength calculated at the fourth resonant frequency. The multiband microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna with dimensions Wg Lg = 8 cm 9 cm is used to approximate the infinite ground plane in order to achieve good impedance

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0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 1.5

dstub1 lstub1 W stub1 y x dstub1 lstub1 W stub1 lstub2 W stub2 y dstub2 x

Return loss (dB)

Fig. 20. Geometry of the quad-band right angle slot antenna with (a) single tuning stub and (b) double tuning stub.
2.0 2.6 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 Frequency (GHz) 5.25 5.6 6.0 6.5
0 -5 -10
Return loss (dB)

Fig. 17. Simulated return loss of the quad-band antenna: A1+B1=47.4, A1=B1=23.7, S1=3, r1=1.6, Lm1=14.9, A2+B2=34, A2=B2=17, S2=1.5, r2=1.5, Lm2=7.8, A3+ B3=22, A3=B3=11, S3=0.5, r3=2, Lm3=4.9, A4+B4=20, A4=B4=10, S4=0.9, r4=3, Lm4=2.3 (mm).
0 -5 Crosstalk (dB) -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 6.0 6.1 Frequency (GHz) 6.2 1 mm 2.5 mm 5 mm 6.3 6.4 6.5

-15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 -45 -50 1.5 2.0 2.45 3.0
Quad-band antenna with double tuning stub Quad-band antenna with single tuning stub Quad-band antenna without tuning stub

3.5 4.0 4.5 Frequency (GHz)

5.0

5.5 5.8 6.0

6.5

Fig. 21. Comparison of simulated return loss of the quad-band antenna with tuning stub and without tuning stub.

3. Quad-Band Antenna with Tuning Stubs

The proposed geometries of the quad-band microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna with tuning stubs are shown in Fig. 20. The dimensions of the antenna without a tuning stub are chosen with the simulation resonant frequencies at 2.45 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 5 GHz, and 5.7 GHz as previously shown in Fig 16. Tuning stubs can be introduced to achieve good impedance matching for all the bands of operating frequencies. The single and double tuning stubs are set as shown in Fig. 20. The specification dictates that a return loss level lower than -30 dB is required. The first design is created by using the single tuning stub with the dimensions dstub1, lstub1, and Wstub1 of 15.3 mm, 4.5 mm, and 0.5 mm, respectively. In the second design, the double tuning stub is introduced with an additional second tuning stub with the dimensions dstub2, lstub2, and Wstub2 of 14.8 mm, 4.8 mm, and 0.6 mm, respectively. The simulated return loss for the quad-band with tuning stubs is shown in Fig. 21. The plot reveals that the obtained simulated resonant frequencies of the quad-band antenna with the single stub are 2.45 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 5.07 GHz, and 5.8 GHz with the return losses of -47 dB, -29 dB, -29 dB, and -26 dB, respectively. The simulated resonant frequencies of the quad

Fig. 18. Effect of crosstalk in the fourth band with varying spacing between the third and fourth slots.
0 -5 Return loss (dB) -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
W gLg = 8 cm 9 cm W gLg = 7 cm 8 cm

3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 Frequency (GHz)

5.5

6.0

6.5

Fig. 19. Effect of varying the ground plane size.

matching and the radiation pattern. The effect of varying the ground plane size is shown in Fig. 19. The minimum dimensions of the ground plane are 7 cm 8 cm. Nevertheless, decreasing the ground plane size has an impact on the impedance matching and the radiation pattern.

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Simulated Measured

(a) Top view

(b) Bottom view

Fig. 22. Photos of the quad-band right angle slot antenna with double tuning stub: A1+B1=50.8, A1= B1=25.4, S1=0.8, r1=2.1, Lm1=17, A2+B2=34, A2=B2=17, S2=1.5, r2=1.9, Lm2=7, A3+B3=23.2, A3=B3=11.6, S3=0.9, r3=2.2, Lm3=4.9, A4+B4=20.2, A4=B4=10.1, S4=0.7, r4=2.3, Lm4=1.7, dstub1=15.3, lstub1=4.5, Wstub1=0.5, dstub2=14.8, lstub2=4.8, Wstub2=0.6 (mm).

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band antenna with the double tuning stub are 2.45 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 5.07 GHz, and 5.88 GHz with the return losses of -46.1 dB, -39.1 dB, -32.8 dB, and -37.4 dB, respectively. The antenna with the double tuning stub achieves the impedance bandwidth of 100 MHz (2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz), 200 MHz (3.4 GHz to 3.6 GHz), 630 MHz (4.6 GHz to 5.23 GHz), and 440 MHz (5.64 GHz to 6.08 GHz). From these results, it is found that the desired level of the return loss is not satisfied with the single tuning stub, but the double tuning stub performs better than the desired level at all of the resonant frequencies. The tuning stubs affect the return losses of the first and second resonant frequencies without changing the impedance bandwidth, whereas the tuning stubs can improve the antenna impedance bandwidth at the third and the fourth resonant frequencies. The fourth resonant frequency shifts to a slightly higher frequency.

4. Measurement Results
Figure 22 shows photos of a fabricated quad-band microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna with the double tuning stub. The ground plane size (Wg Lg) is 8 cm 9 cm. The measured and simulated return losses of the quad-band antenna with the double tuning stub are shown in Fig. 23. The measured resonant frequencies are 2.46 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 4.9 GHz, and 5.88 GHz with the minimum return losses of -35 dB, -30 dB, -32 dB, and -31 dB, respectively. The measured results of the resonant frequencies correlate well with the simulated results. Although the measured results of the return losses at the resonant frequencies are not as good as the simulated results, their levels are lower than -30 dB. The measured impedance bandwidths are 100 MHz (2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz), 380 MHz (3.3 GHz to 3.68 GHz), 630 MHz (4.54 GHz to 5.17 GHz), and 500 MHz (5.5 GHz to 6 GHz), which cover the WLAN and WiMax bands.

Figure 24 shows the measured radiation patterns for both E and E components in the x-y plane, x-z plane, and y-z plane. Each slot operates in the dominant mode for the operating frequencies of the quad-band antenna. Also, the radiation patterns are found to have a relative slant 45o linear polarization. It is clear from the measured results that the radiation levels of the E components are nearly as high as those of the E components in the x-z plane and y-z plane. In the x-y plane, the E components levels are still high, but the radiation of the E components exhibits low levels. The polarizations at the first and the second resonant frequencies are slant -45o linear. The polarizations at the third and the fourth resonant frequencies are slant +45o linear. Figure 24 demonstrates that the radiation patterns of the quad-band antenna are nearly omnidirectional and can achieve good antenna gain over the operating bands. Furthermore, the maximum gains of the antenna are 2.8 dBi, 3.4 dBi, 5.3 dBi, and 3.9 dBi at 2.26 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 4.9 GHz, and 5.88 GHz, respectively. Still, the lower gain values at the fourth frequency band are due to the effect of crosstalk between the third and fourth slots. However, the gain at the fourth frequency band is sufficient for most wireless applications. In this antenna, the spacing of the third and fourth slots is approximately 2.5 mm (0.066g4). It was used for size reduction of the quad-band antenna.

IV. Conclusion
A novel microstrip-fed right angle slot antenna design technique was proposed. The tri-band and quad-band antennas are designed by appropriately positioning different right angle slots. Multiple independent frequency bands are achieved with a simple structure. Simulations demonstrated that the operating frequency bands were achieved independent of each other, and they exhibited insignificant crosstalk effects between the

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and slant 45 linear polarization. The proposed antenna design technique can be further developed to support five (or more) frequency bands and provide flexibility of design for both linear and circular polarizations. The proposed antennas are certainly advantageous for wireless communication and can make a significant contribution to the next generations of mobile communication systems.

References
[1] C.T.P. Song, P.S. Hall, and H.G. Shiraz, Perturbed: Sierpinski Multiband Fractal Antenna with Improved Feeding Technique, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 51, no. 5, May 2003, pp. 1011-1017. [2] A. Patnaik et al., Neurocomputational Analysis of a Multiband Reconfigurable Planar Antenna, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 53, no. 11, Nov. 2005, pp. 3453-3458. [3] J. Anguera et al., Broad-Band Triple-Frequency Microstrip Patch Radiator Combining a Dual-Band Modified Sierpinski Fractal and a Monoband Antenna, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 54, no.11, Nov. 2006, pp. 3367-3373. [4] D.M. Nashaat, H.A. Elsadek, and H. Ghali, Single Feed Compact Quad-Band PIFA Antenna for Wireless Communication Applications, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 53, no. 8, Aug. 2005, pp. 2631- 2635. [5] M. M. Vzquez et al., Integrated Planar Multiband Antennas for Personal Communication Handsets, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 54, no. 2, Feb. 2006, pp. 384-391. [6] A.C.K. Mak et al., Reconfigurable Multiband Antenna Designs for Wireless Communication Devices, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 55, no. 7, July 2007, pp. 1919-1928. [7] M. Tzortzakakis and R.J. Langley, Quad-Band Internal Mobile Phone Antenna, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 55, no. 7, July 2007, pp. 2097-2103. [8] C.-I. Lin and K.L. Wong, Printed Monopole Slot Antenna for Internal Multiband Mobile Phone Antenna, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 55, no. 12, Dec. 2007, pp. 3690-3697. [9] H. Tehrani and K. Chang, Multifrequency Operation of Microstrip-Fed Slot-Ring Antennas on Thin Low-Dielectric Permittivity Substrates, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 50, no. 9, Sept. 2002, pp. 1299-1308. [10] W.C. Liu, Design of a Multiband CPW-fed Monopole Antenna Using a Particle Swarm Optimization Approach, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 53, no. 10, Oct. 2005, pp. 3273-3279. [11] S.B. Chen et al., Modified T-Shape Planar Monopole Antennas for Multiband Operation, IEEE Trans. on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 54, no. 8, Aug. 2006, pp. 3267-3270. [12] S.K. Sharma, L. Shafai, and N. Jacob, Investigation of WideBand Microstrip Slot Antenna, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 52, no. 3, Mar. 2004, pp. 865-872.

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adjacent slots. The tri-band antenna with a single tuning stub and the quad-band antenna with a double tuning stub achieved good impedance matching for all bands of operation. From the measured and simulated return loss, it was confirmed that the proposed antennas provide desirable resonant frequencies and impedance bandwidths. From the measured radiation patterns, it was also observed that the radiation patterns of the proposed antennas were almost omnidirectional, with reasonable gain

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[13] R. Garg et al., Microstrip Antenna Design Handbook, Artech House, 2001. [14] Y. Qain and T. Itoh, FDTD Analysis and Design of Microwave Circuits and Antennas, Tokyo: Realize, 1999. [15] D.M. Sullivan, Electromagnetic Simulation Using the FD-TD Method, New York: IEEE, 2000. [16] P. Rakluea et al., Analysis of Right Angle Microstrip Slot Antenna, TENCON, Melbourne, Australia, Nov. 21-24, 2005. [17] H.G. Akhavan and D. M. Syahkal, A Simple Technique for Evaluation of Input Impedance of Microstrip-Fed Slot Antennas, Proc. 9th Int. Antennas Propag. Conf., vol. 1, Apr. 1995, pp. 265-268. [18] H. Kim and Y.J. Yoon, Microstrip-Fed Slot Antennas with Suppressed Harmonics, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 53, no. 9, Sept. 2005, pp. 2809-2817. [19] C. Caloz et al., A Simple and Accurate Model for Microstrip Structures with Slot Ground Plane, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Lett., vol. 14, no. 4, Apr. 2004, pp. 133-135. Paitoon Rakluea received the BIndTech (2nd Class Honors) and MEng degrees from King Mongkuts Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Thailand, in 2000 and 2003, respectively. In 2003, he joined the Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT), Thailand, as an instructor. His current research interests include printed antennas design for wireless communication systems, antenna measurement systems, and wireless networks.

Noppin Anantrasirichai received the BIndTech from King Mongkuts Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, and the MEng from Chulalongkorn University in 1977 and 1985, respectively. From 1997 to 2008, she was with King Mongkuts Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) where she was involved in antenna design research. She is currently an associate professor, and her current research interest is in design and analysis of microstrip slot antennas. In 2009, she joined the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST) where she has been involved in the development of curriculum and instruction media for schools. Kanok Janchitrapongvej received the BEng in telecommunication engineering from King Mongkuts Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Bangkok, Thailand. He obtained his MEng and DEng from Tokai University, Japan, in 1977 and 1986, respectively. He has been with the Department of Information Engineering since 1977. He is currently an associate professor with KMITL. From 2006 to 2008, he was the director of the research center for communication technology at KMITL. His research interests include audio and video equalizers, filter design, and the general area of signal processing. Toshio Wakabayashi received the BE and ME degrees from Tokai University, in 1968 and 1970, respectively. He received the DE degree from the same university in 1985. In 1970, he joined the Faculty of Engineering, Tokai University, and since then, as a faculty member, he has engaged in research in the field of electromagnetic waves, including computational electromagnetic fields, microwave circuits and devices. He is a professor of the Department of Communication Network Engineering, Tokai University. He is currently involved in research on broadband planar antennas for mobile communications. Dr. Wakabayashi is a member of the IEICE, the Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers (ITE) and the Japanese Cancer Association.

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