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A Project Presentation on
DESGINING A RAT-RACE COUPLER USING MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA
PRESENTED BY

G.KAVYA(15MU1A0417) K.CHANDRALEKHA(15MU1A0420)

R.SAI TEJA(15MU1A0444)

UNDER ESTEEMED GUIDANCE OF

Mr. M.VINOD KUMAR M.TECH

DEPARTMENT OF
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

DEPARTMET OF ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION

SRI VENKATESWARA
INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
TADEPALLIGUDEM-534101
2015 – 2019

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 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 FEEDING TECHNIQUES
 MICROSTRIP RAT-RACE COUPLER
 ADVANTAGS & DISADVANTAGES
 DEFECTED GROUND STRUCTURE (DGS)
 DESIGN RESULTS
Rat-race coupler with ground structure
Rat-race coupler without DGS
VSWR, Return loss,
 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE
 REFERENCE

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A rat-race coupler is a circular device often used to split or combine

radio frequency and microwave signals. This microwave device is used when
there is a need to combine two signals with no phase difference and to avoid
the signals with a path difference. A normal three-port Tee junction is taken
and a fourth port is added to it, to make it a rat race junction. Rat-race
couplers are widely used due to their simplicity and wide bandwidth in
dividing power. They are used in power amplifiers, mixers, and antenna
systems. In this project, a defected ground structure (DGS) is applied to
design a compact microstrip rat-race hybrid coupler. The proposed structure
can achieve both a significant reduction of size and harmonic signal. By
embedding the DGS section, it is observed that the resonant frequency of the
hybrid
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A rat-race coupler (also known as a hybrid ring coupler) is a type of

coupler used in RF and microwave systems. In its simplest form it is a 3dB
coupler and is thus an alternative to a magic tee .Compared to the magic tee, it has
the advantage of being easy to realize in planar technologies such as micro strip
and strip line. Conventional micro strip antennas had some limitations, that is,
single operating frequency, low impedance bandwidth, low gain, larger size, and
polarization problems. There are number of techniques which have been reported
for enhancing the parameters of conventional micro strip antennas, Defected
Ground Structure (DGS) has been gained popularity among all the techniques
reported for enhancing the parameters due to its simple structural design.

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There are four basic feeds used in micro strip antenna, they are:

Micro strip line feed Coaxial feed

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Aperture coupled feed Proximity coupled feed

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 It consists of a radiating metallic (gold, copper, silver) patch on one side

of the dielectric substrate which has a ground plane on the other side.
 The radiating patch and feed lines are usually photo etched on the dielectric

substrate.

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RAT-RACE COUPLER:

 A rat-race coupler also known as a hybrid ring coupler is a type of coupler

used in RF and microwave systems. In its simplest form it is a 3dB coupler
and is thus an alternative to a magic tee.
 Rat-race couplers are used to sum two in-phase combined signals with
essentially no loss or to equally split an input signal with no resultant phase
difference between its outputs.

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Just like the branch line coupler, the rat race coupler is a four-port
network with equal power-split between the two output ports. Rat race coupler in
micro strip technology with corresponding line lengths and characteristic
impedances. The annular arrangement of λ/4 and 3λ/4 lines has characteristic
impedances

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 It offers acceptable return loss at its ports. It offers good isolation between its
ports.
 It offers excellent amplitude

 It functions as magic tee.

 Moreover it does not require any matching structure unlike magic tee.

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 Narrow bandwidth
 It has relatively narrow bandwidth.
 It occupies larger area
 It can not be used in space constraint microwave devices.

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 The compact geometrical slots embedded on the ground plane of microwave

circuits are referred to as Defected Ground Structure (DGS).
 DGS has been used in the field of micro strip antennas for enhancing the
bandwidth and gain of micro strip antenna improving the radiation
characteristics of the micro strip antenna.

DGS unit : a) Dumbbell DGS unit , b) L-C equivalent of DGS

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 There are two different type of generic structures used for the design of the
compact and high performance microwave components, named as defected
ground structure (DGS) and the Electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures
generally known as the photonic band gap structures (PBG).

MICROSTRIP RAT-RACE COUPLER

 DGS is realized by etching off a simple shape in the ground plane, depending
on the shape and dimensions of the defect, the shielded current distribution in
the ground plane is disturbed, resulting a controlled excitation and propagation
of the electromagnetic waves through the substrate layer.
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 Filters
 Coplanar Waveguide

 Microwave Amplifier
 Antennas

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RAT-RACE COUPLER WITHOUT DGS:

The performance of rat-race coupler without ground structure is
analysed. It was observed that the return loss is -58.14dB. VSWR is
approximately equal to 1 for all designs. And number of bands obtained are 3,
while approaching with operating frequency of 4.2GHz. The coupler
designing and simulation is done by using the ANSOFT HFSS Software.
Microstrip rat-race coupler is one of the easier methods to fabricate as
it is just a conducting strip connecting to the patch and therefore can be
considered an as extension of the patch. It is simple and easy to match by
controlling the inset position.

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Fig: Rat-race coupler without ground structure.

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The performance of rat-race coupler with ground structure is

analysed. It was observed that the return loss is -38.78dB.
VSWR is approximately equal to 1 for all designs. And number of
bands obtained are 3, while approaching with operating frequency of
4.2GHz.
In this microstrip rat-race coupler with DGS the ground plane is cut
along the rectangular and circular plane metal making it defected ground
structure. The defect and the planes is kept apart with distance of 0.6 mm.

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Figure: Rat-race coupler with defected ground structure.

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 Return loss is the loss in the power in the signal reflected by a discontinuity
in a transmission line or optical fibres.
 This discontinuity can be a mismatch with the terminating load or with a
device inserted in the line. It is usually expressed as a ratio in decibels
(dB).
 RL (dB) = 10log10Pr / Pi
Where RL (dB) is the return loss in dB,
Pi is the incident power
Pr is the reflected power.

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Return loss:

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 VSWR is a function of the reflection coefficient, which describe the

reflected power from an antenna.
 Ideally for the antenna the VSWR must be lie in between the range of the
1-2.
 If the reflection coefficient is given by Γ, then the VSWR is defined as

VSWR = (1 + Γ)/(1 - Γ)

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VSWR :

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COMPARISION TABLE:

Parameter Without Ground With DGS

RETURN LOSSS -58.14 dB -38.78 dB

(DB)
VSWR 1.00 1.02
BAND 4.2 GHz 4.2 GHz
ELECTRIC FIELD AT
1.71v/m 7.076v/m
PORT1
ELECTRIC FIELD AT
1.81v/m 7.08v/m
PORT2
ELECTRIC FIELD AT
1.80v/m 7.07v/m
PORT3
ELECTRIC FIELD AT
1.79v/m 7.079v/m
PORT4
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 In this Project we have designed microstrip rat-race coupler using High

Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) software. It is found that the
Bandwidth has enhanced from rat-race coupler without ground to rat-race
coupler with DGS i.e. 5.04 GHz to 5.19 GHz. It is observed that the
Electric Field Distribution is high i.e. 7.08v/m when compared to earlier
designs.

FUTURE SCOPE:
 In addition to DGS several other techniques like EBG (Electronic Band
Gap), VIVOS are also considered for the enhancement of both Gain and
Bandwidth

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1. John c Kraus
Taine g.McDougal chair professor of Electrical Engineering and Astronomy,
Emeritus, Ohio state university.Ahamad
2. Shahid Khan
Former professor and chairman, department of Electronics Engineering,
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.
3. O. Tipmongkolsilp, S. Zaghloul, and A. Jukan, “The evolution of cellular
backhaul technologies: Current issues and future trends,” IEEE Commun.
4. Surveys Tuts., vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 97–113, 1st Quart., 2011.Mailloux, R.J., et
al, “microstrip antenna technology”, IEEE Trans. Antennas and
Propagation, Vol. AP-29, January 1981, pp.2-24.
James, R.J., et al, “Some recent developments in microstrip antenna design”,
IEEE Trans. Antennas and Propagation, Vol.AP-29, January 1981, pp.124-128.

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