Simulation Study of 2x3 Microstrip Patch Antenna

Array for 5G Applications

Manasa Buravalli Tejaswini Kumar Shilpa G.D S Anuradha
Department of Department of Department of Department of
Telecommunication Telecommunication Telecommunication Electronic Science
RV College of Engineering RV College of Engineering RV College of Engineering Bangalore University
Bengaluru, KA, India Bengaluru, KA, India Bengaluru, KA, India Bengaluru, KA, India

Abstract—This paper proposes a compact 6-element (2x3) achievable using a 4-element array configuration of dual-band
micro-strip patch antenna array with inset feed, which is patch antenna. Low profile patch-antenna designs are crucial
designed to work at a resonant frequency of 30 GHz. The for handheld 5G devices. In paper [7] a 20 mm x 20 mm
antenna design simulation is done using Ansoft HFSS software. antenna design with thickness of 1.6 mm and resonant
RT/duroid5880 with relative permittivity, ‘ߝ‫ ’ݎ‬equal to 2.2 and
frequency of 10.15 GHz is stated to provide a gain of 4.46 dBi
loss tangent, tan ߜ = 0.0009 is used as the substrate material. The
performance of 2x3 array antenna is found to be superior to the with omnidirectional radiation pattern.
single patch antenna. The array configuration provided a return From literature survey, it is evident that microstrip patch
loss (S11) of -26.52 dB at the resonant frequency, also the Voltage antennas are suitable for millimetre wave frequency band. A
Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) and the gain (G) obtained are
very compact microstrip patch antenna array design optimized
1.09 and 8.88 dB respectively. The simulation results match well
with the design requirements. for a high frequency millimetre wave operation with return
loss better than -20 dB and a high gain is competent for 5G
Keywords—5G, micro-strip patch antenna, return loss, inset applications.
feed, Ansoft HFSS.
In this paper, we propose a 2x3 micro-strip patch antenna
I. INTRODUCTION design to operate at a frequency of 30 GHz, which belongs to
the millimetre wave frequency range. The goal is to design a
The 5G communication technology is growing fast and a compact antenna with high gain. Also the performance and
lot of research is being carried out to achieve the practical simulation results of a single-patch and the 2x3 array
implementation of this valuable technology for various configuration are compared.
applications. Antennas are important components of a
communication network. The design parameters of an antenna II. 5G MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA DESIGN AT 30 GHZ
depend on the frequency band at which it is intended to
A. Design of single-patch antenna:
operate. The frequency of 5G millimetre wave signals range
approximately from 24 GHz to 54 GHz. First, we design a single radiating patch to operate at a
resonating frequency of 30 GHz. The patch antenna design
Micro-strip patch antennas are widely used owing to their involves various components such as the substrate, radiating
advantages such as less weight, less volume, low fabrication patch, feed line and inset feed gap. The design equations and
cost and multi-frequency operation capability [1]. It also calculations for these components are presented below.
provides a compact structure without compromising on the
gain and return loss. Micro-strip patch configurations are also a) Substrate:
suitable for high frequency (GHz) antenna designs. The substrate material should be chosen such that it has a very
small loss tangent, so that the dielectric loss can be
A number of researchers have worked on optimizing patch
minimized. A thinner substrate is effective in reducing
antenna design and its performance to operate at various
spurious radiations and suppressing higher modes of
frequency bands.
operation, hence minimizing radiation losses. To satisfy these
One of the important parameters considered in the analysis conditions the substrate RT/duroid5880 is chosen, which has
of micro-strip patch antennas is the return loss (S11), and its a relative permittivity, ‘ߝ‫ ’ݎ‬equal to 2.2 and loss tangent, tan
value should be as low as possible. In papers [2] and [3] ߜ = 0.0009. The thickness of the substrate taken, ‘h’ is equal
rectangular micro-strip patch antennas are designed to operate to 0.16 mm [8, 9].
at frequencies 2.4 GHz and 60 GHz and the return losses b) Width of the radiating patch (W):
obtained are -10 dB and -40.99 dB respectively. The width (W) of the radiating patch is an important
In paper [4] for a rectangular single patch microstrip parameter since directivity and radiation resistance depend on
antenna resonating at 28 GHz as well as for an array it, which in turn affect both the bandwidth as well as
configuration of an 8-element antenna designed to work at a efficiency of the patch antenna. Hence, ‘W’ should be
frequency of 5 GHz in paper [5], inset feed technology has optimally chosen. The equation for calculating width of
proven to improve performance and impedance matching. The micro-strip patch antenna is [8]:
భ
inset feed technique is also preferred for its planar structure. ௖ ఌೝ ାଵ ିమ
ܹ൑ ቀ ቁ (1)
ଶ௙ೝ ଶ
The array configuration of microstrip patches is
implemented to enhance the overall gain obtained of the Where, ܿ is the speed of light (3xͳͲ଼ m/s) and ݂௥ is the
antenna. In paper [6] it is shown that a gain of 12 dB is resonant frequency at which the antenna is designed to

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 operate. In this design, ݂௥ is 30 GHz. The width of the patch radiating patches is taken to be ߣൗͺ and its calculated value for
using (1) is found to be 3.39 mm. the resonant frequency of 30 GHz is 1.25 mm.
The parameters of the antenna design are summarized in
c) Length of the patch (L): Table I.
The length ‘L’ of the radiating patch depends on the effective
TABLE I.
dielectric constant ߝ௘ of the substrate and the resonant ANTENNA DESIGN PARAMETERS

frequency ݂௥ . Sl. No. Design parameter Value

భ
ఌೝ ାଵ ఌೝ ିଵ ଵଶ௛ ିమ 1. L 3.31 mm
ߝ௘ ൌ  ቀ ቁ൅ቀ ቁ ቀͳ ൅ ቁ (2)
ଶ ଶ ௐ
2. W 3.39 mm
௖
‫ܮ‬ൌ െ ʹο‫ܮ‬ (3) 3. h 0.16 mm
ଶ௙ೝ ඥఌ೐

ೈ
4. g 0.02 mm
ሺఌ೐ ା଴Ǥଷሻቀ ା଴Ǥଶ଺ସቁ
೓
ο‫ ܮ‬ൌ ͲǤͶͳʹ݄ ቆ ೈ ቇ (4) 5. ‫ݕ‬଴ 0.79 mm
ሺఌ೐ ି଴Ǥଶହ଼ሻቀ ା଴Ǥ଼ቁ
೓
6. S 1.25 mm
The effective dielectric constant ‘ߝ௘ ’ is found using (2). The
effective length ‘L’ is then found using (3), which constitutes
the 2ο‫ ܮ‬term that accounts for the fringing effect, calculated
using (4)[8]. The calculated value of length of radiating patch
is 3.31 mm.

d) Micro-strip feed line:

Inset feed is used to get proper impedance matching of 50 
feed line with the SMA (Sub-Miniature version A) connector.
The width of feed line is 0.3 mm and the length taken is 1.7
mm. The inset notch gap ‘g’ is found to be 0.02 mm using (5)
[8].

௖൫ସǤ଺ହ‫כ‬ଵ଴షభమ ൯
݃ൌ (5)
௙ೝ ඥଶఌೝ
Fig. 2. 2x3 array microstrip patch antenna
The depth of inset feed by simulation optimization is found
to be ‫ݕ‬଴ = 0.79 mm. The designed single-patch antenna is The vertices of radiating patches are rounded using the
shown in Fig. 1. chamfer tool for better optimization of radiation parameters.
The length and width of the microstrip feed lines are
optimized during simulation and the obtained values are 1.8
mm and 0.53 mm respectively.
III. SIMULATION RESULTS
Ansoft HFSS (High Frequency Structure Simulator) software
is used to simulate the antenna. Both the single patch antenna
and the 2x3 array antennas are simulated to compare their
performance.
A. Performance of the single patch antenna:
The Zin (input impedance) plotted on Smith-chart is shown in
Fig. 3. Zin at 30 GHz is found to be 42.70 , which does not
Fig. 1. Single patch inset feed antenna design provide good impedance matching with the 50  feed line.
Fig. 4 shows the S11 plot where value of S11 (return loss) at
30 GHz is found to be -19.03 dB. Fig. 5 shows the VSWR
B. 2×3 Antenna array design: plot of the single patch antenna designed, whose value at 30
In order to improve the gain of the antenna designed and to GHz is found to be 1.25.
have lower side lobe values, the 2x3 array configuration of The 3D radiation pattern of the single patch antenna is
the single patch antenna is designed. The antenna is linearly depicted in Fig. 6, which has a single balloon & main-lobe
polarized (E-plane). The array antenna design is shown in peak is found to be along the Z-axis. The gain of the antenna
Fig. 2. Overall, the antenna designed has a compact structure at 30 GHz is 5.04 dB. To further improve the gain, reduce the
of 10.66 mm x 15.99 mm x 0.16 mm, including substrate and return loss and for proper impedance matching, the design is
ground plane. The separation distance ‘S’, between the optimized by the array configuration.

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 Zin of single patch
90
patches and using inset feed technique to get the ܼ௜௡ value as
100 80
120
110 0.00 70
60 close as possible to the desired 50  value.
130 50
140 40
150 0.00 30
The graph in Fig. 8 shows the S11 (return loss) versus
160 20
frequency plot of the 2x3 array antenna. The value of ܵଵଵ is
170 0.00
0.01
10 found to be -26.59 dB at the resonant frequency of 30 GHz.
Zin1
0.02
-0.90
-0.80
-0.70
-0.50
0.00
-1.05
-1.10
-1.15
-1.20
-1.30
-1.50
-2.00 The bandwidth of the antenna, between half power points, is
180 0
0.00
-0.02
-170 -0.00 -10
found to be 9.81 GHz. Fig. 9 shows the VSWR versus
-0.01
-160 -20 frequency plot of the antenna and the value at ݂௥ ൌ 30 GHz is
-150 -0.00 -30 found to be equal to 1.09 which is optimal, as it is desired to
-140
-130 -50
-40
be less than 2 [8].
-120 -0.00 -60
-110
-100 -90 -80
-70 imp_smith_chart
100 90 80
Name Freq Ang Mag RX 110 70
0.01
120 60
Zin1 30.0000 -9.0813 42.7053 -1.0473 - 0.0077i
130 50
140 40
Fig. 3. Input impedance ܼ௜௡ Smith-chart of the single patch 150 0.01 30

160 20
S11 HFSSDesign1 ANSOFT 0.00 0.02
0.00 170 10
0.04 Zin
Name X Y 180 -0.90
-0.80
-0.70
-0.50
0.00
-1.05
-1.10
-1.15
-1.20
-1.30
-1.50
-2.00 0
-2.50 0.00
S11 30.0000 -19.0316 -0.04
-170 -0.00 -10
-5.00 -0.02
-160 -20
-7.50
-150 -0.01 -30
S11

-10.00 -140 -40

-130 -50
-12.50
-120 -60
-110
-0.01 -70
-100 -90 -80
-15.00
Name Freq Ang Mag RX

-17.50 S11
Zin 30.0000 3.0106 54.0300 -1.0377 + 0.0020i

-20.00
20.00 22.50 25.00 27.50 30.00 32.50 35.00 37.50 40.00
Fig. 7. Input impedance ܼ௜௡ Smith-chart of 2x3 antenna array
Freq [GHz]

Fig. 4. S11 plot of the single patch antenna

S11 HFSSDesign1 ANSOFT

0.00
VSWR HFSSDesign1 ANSOFT
Name Freq Y
150.00
-5.00 S11 30.0000 -26.5931
Name X Y
125.00
VSWR 30.0000 1.2517 -10.00

100.00
S11

-15.00
VSW R

75.00
-20.00

50.00
-25.00 S11

25.00
-30.00
VSWR 25.00 27.50 30.00 32.50 35.00
Freq [GHz]
0.00
20.00 22.50 25.00 27.50 30.00
Freq [GHz]
32.50 35.00 37.50 40.00 Fig. 8. ܵଵଵ plot of 2x3 antenna array
Fig. 5. VSWR frequency plot of the single patch antenna
VSWR HFSSDesign1 ANSOFT

140.00
Name Freq Y

VSWR 30.0000 1.0982

120.00

100.00

80.00
VSW R

60.00

40.00

20.00
VSWR
0.00
25.00 27.50 30.00 32.50 35.00
Freq [GHz]
Fig. 9. VSWR plot of 2x3 antenna array
Fig. 6. Radiation pattern of the single patch antenna
Fig. 10 depicts the 3D radiation pattern of the dual 2x3 array
B. Performance of the 2×3 array antenna: antenna designed. As observed, there are 2 main lobes that
are symmetric about the Z-axis indicating the two directions
The input impedance or terminal Z-parameter of the antenna in which the antenna radiates. The regions in red color are the
plotted on the Smith-chart is shown in Fig. 7. The radiating peaks of the main lobe and the maximum gain (G) is 8.88 dB.
patches are fed through 50  feed line and are connected to The radiation along Z-axis is near to zero, hence it can be
the SMA connector when fabricated. Hence, it is desirable to considered as the null direction. The side lobes indicated in
have ܼ௜௡ very close to 50  to achieve impedance matching. green color have a value of -1.60 dB which is small compared
The value of ܼ௜௡ of the designed antenna is found to be 54.03 to the main lobe peaks.
. The design is modified by chamfering the edges of the

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 C. Field patterns of the 2×3 array antenna:
The field pattern overlay gives insight into the distribution
and pattern of E and H fields on the antenna designed. The
electric and magnetic field distribution on the radiating patch
of the 2x3 array antenna can be visualized in Fig.14 and
Fig.15 respectively. From the field overlays, it can be
observed that the electric field is more evenly distributed
compared to the magnetic field on the radiating patch. This is
Fig. 10. Radiation pattern of the 2x3 antenna array due to the E-plane linear polarization of the designed antenna.

The Half-Power Beam Width (HPBW) is found to be 49.93°

from the rectangular contour plot shown in Fig. 11. The
calculated value of beam area ‘A’ is 2500 square degrees
and the directivity ‘D’ is 12.17 dB.
The efficiency ( ߟ = G/D) is 72.9 %. The designed antenna is
capable of providing high gain and good efficiency, which
improves the performance of the communication network.

Rectangular Contour Plot 1 HFSSDesign1 ANSOFT

375.00

Name X Y
m1 65.3899 191.2500
m2 15.4590 189.3750
250.00 Fig. 14. E-field overlay of the radiating patch
P h i [d e g ]

m2 m1

125.00

0.00
0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00 120.00 140.00 160.00 180.00
Theta [deg]
Fig. 11. 2-D rectangular contour plot of the 2x3 antenna array

Fig. 12 depicts the 3D polar plots of radiation pattern of the

antenna corresponding to theta plane and phi plane
respectively. The 2D radiation patterns corresponding to
these polar plots (theta and phi plane) are as shown in Fig. 13.
Fig. 15. H-field overlay of the radiating patch

Knowing the field distribution can be useful to envisage

antenna surface currents, which may give rise to surface
current losses. These currents are present as a consequence of
the electromagnetic field applied to the antenna. Hence,
optimizing the feed to the radiating patch is crucial to get the
desired practical operation of antenna.
D. Comparison of the result parameters:
In Table II, a comparison of result parameters between single
Fig. 12. Theta & Phi plane 3D radiation plots of the 2x3 antenna array patch and 2x3 array antenna is presented. It can be seen that
ܵଵଵ , ܼ௜௡  and gain parameters are improved in the array
configuration compared to the single patch antenna at the
resonant frequency of 30 GHz. It is evident that the 2x3 array
configuration is better in all the 4 parameters considered.

TABLE II. RESULT PARAMETER COMPARISON AT 30 GHZ

Single patch
Result parameter 2x3 antenna array
Sl. No. antenna

1. ܵͳͳ -19.03 dB -26.52 dB

2. ܼ݅݊ 42.70  54.03 

3. Gain (G) 5.04 dB 8.88 dB

Fig. 13. Theta & Phi plane 2D radiation patterns of the 2x3 antenna array 4. VSWR 1.25 1.09

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 IV. CONCLUSION Conference on Automation/XXIII Congress of the Chilean Association
of Automatic Control (ICA-ACCA), Concepcion, 2018, pp. 1-6.
The millimeter wave band communication is a lucrative field [3] J. Saini and S. K. Agarwal, "Design a single band microstrip patch
in the backdrop of the advent of 5G technology. This is due antenna at 60 GHz millimeter wave for 5G application," 2017
to its inherent characteristics like short wavelength and wide International Conference on Computer, Communications and
frequency band. This has opened up new research avenues in Electronics (Comptelix), Jaipur, 2017, pp. 227-230.
millimeter wave micro-strip patch antenna design. In the [4] S. A. Nasir, M. Mustaqim and B. A. Khawaja, "Antenna array for 5th
generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi applications," 2014 11th Annual High
proposed design, the goal to have a low return loss of -26.52 Capacity Optical Networks and Emerging/Enabling Technologies
dB is achieved along with a good gain of 8.88 dB at the peaks (Photonics for Energy), Charlotte, NC, 2014, pp. 20-24.
of the main lobes. Compared to the single patch, the increase [5] Darboe, Omar & Manene, Franklin & Konditi, Dominic. (2019). A 28
in gain obtained by the 2x3 array configuration is 3.84 dB. GHz Rectangular Microstrip Patch Antenna for 5G Applications. 12.
The major advantage of the antenna designed is its [6] D. Imran et al., "Millimeter wave microstrip patch antenna for 5G
compactness. The dimensions of the antenna designed (10.66 mobile communication," 2018 International Conference on
Engineering and Emerging Technologies (ICEET), Lahore, 2018, pp.
mm x 15.99 mm x 0.16 mm) are comparable to a micro SIM 1-6.
card and would be suitable for light-weight handheld devices. [7] S. Verma, L. Mahajan, R. Kumar, H. S. Saini and N. Kumar, "A small
microstrip patch antenna for future 5G applications," 2016 5th
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