Volume 9, Issue 2

April 2019
ITEE Journal ISSN: - 2306-708X
Information Technology & Electrical Engineering

©2012-20 International Journal of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

A Study Of Dual-Layer Dual-Band Reflectarray Antenna Design Based On

Dipole And Polygon Unit Cells For High Gain Applications
1
Venkatraman S, 2 Umma Habiba H, 3Viwin Singh Y, 4Sagi Sravan Kumarand and 5Milind Mahajan
1,2,3Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Sriperumbudur, India
4,5Scientist, Space Applications Centre, ISRO Ahmedabad
[email protected], [email protected]
E-mail:

ABSTRACT
This work discusses the design of a dual-band reflectarray antenna which involves the design of a high frequency transmit band
unit cell for operation in the (12.75 – 14.5) GHz band and a low frequency receive band unit cell for operation in the (10.7-11.7)
GHz band for high gain applications. The unit cells are designed to achieve linear polarization viz. vertical polarization in the
receive band and horizontal polarization in the transmit band. A circular FSS is designed to act as the ground plane for the
transmit band and to provide isolation between the two bands. Full wave analysis of the designed dual layer is performed in CST
MWS. The simulation results exhibit a farfield gain of 22.6 dBi for the receive band center frequency of 11.2 GHz and 15 dBi
for the transmit band center frequency of 13.6 GHz.

Keywords: Dual-band, FSS, isolation, linear polarization, reflectarray

the required reflected phase range of 360 degrees is achieved
1. INTRODUCTION by varying one or more parameters pertinent to the unit cell.
As an example, the length of a rectangle can be varied from
a starting value to a stop value to achieve the desired phase
Reflectarray antennas are a category of antennas that
range.
are utilized for high gain applications such as satellite
communications, remote sensing, and so on. They are In the case of dual layer, the reflectarray antenna is
designed for several frequency bands such as Ku, Ka, X, and designed with the phase compensated unit cells on two
W. Their low profile nature coupled with low fabrication layers of a same or different substrate. The top substrate
cost turn out to be the major advantages. This low profile layer will be having the unit cells designed for one band
nature enables easier transportability unlike the traditional while the bottom substrate layer will be having unit cells
bulky parabolic dishes. Hence, they prove handy for designed for the other band. Thus, we can reduce the mutual
establishing communications during emergency situations. coupling existing between the two bands by providing
isolation in the form of a frequency selective structure
Reflectarray antennas are designed on a single layer
(FSS).
as well as multi-layers. The starting step in the design of any
reflectarray antenna is the design of a unit cell. Two
important requirements of the unit cell need to be satisfied:
the first one is about achieving 360 degrees of reflected
phase range and the second one is having a linear phase
response curve with smooth transitions. A reflected phase
range of at least 360 degrees is required to mitigate phase
errors in the design. Phase ranges that are multiple cycles of
360 degrees have been achieved in literature.
After finalizing the unit cell, the array is constructed
using multiple numbers of the unit cells that are phase
compensated. A horn is used as a feed for illuminating the
unit cells of the array. In this work, a dual-layer reflectarray Fig. 1 Basic Reflectarray
antenna is designed for two bands namely the transmit band
(12.75– 14.5) GHz and the receive band (10.7 GHz – 11.7) A reflectarray antenna system consists of an array of
GHz. The dimensions of the ground plane and the radiating reflectarray unit cells that are illuminated by an incident
unit cell are usually expressed in the integral multiples of λ electromagnetic (EM) wave of a desired (band of) frequency.
or λg /2 where λ is the free space wavelength and λg is the Upon incidence, the unit cells reflect the EM wave which then
guided wavelength. Both of them are expressed in mm. The collimates towards a target. In this work, a dual-layer
choice of the unit cell usually depends on the requirements reflectarray antenna is designed. The basic principle of the
of the application. Several geometries are available for the dual-layer reflectarray antenna remains the same.
unit cell. Some of the most commonly used geometries for
the unit cell include circle, rectangle, square, square loops,
dipoles, crossed dipoles, polygons, and so on. In each case,

ITEE, 9(2), pp. 56-60, APR 2020 Int. j. inf. technol. electr. eng.

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 Volume 9, Issue 2
April 2019
ITEE Journal ISSN: - 2306-708X
Information Technology & Electrical Engineering

©2012-20 International Journal of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

A single vertical dipole and a hexagonal polygon

were chosen as unit cells for operations in the transmit and
receive bands respectively. The ground plane, substrate, and
air gap have dimensions of 22 mm x 22 mm as their length
and width. The transmit band unit cell was etched on a
standard Rogers RT 6002 substrate with dielectric constant
2.94 and thickness 3.048 mm while the dielectric constant and
thickness of the receive band unit cell substrate were 3.02 and
0.76 mm respectively. In the case of the transmit band unit
cell, the length of the dipole was varied from 1 mm to 21 mm.
Fig. 2 Dual-layer reflectarray antenna For the receive band unit cell, the side parameter ‘l1’ was
varied from 1.75 mm to 9.75 mm.
Fig. 2 illustrates the basic operation of a dual-layer
reflectarray antenna. EM waves, upon reflection from the
unit cells, constructively interfere and collimate in the
direction of the target. [1] Presented the design of a
reflectarray antenna in two layers wherein the Ku-band unit
cells were placed on top of X-band unit cells. An FSS was
used to create isolation between the two bands. The FSS acts
as a ground plane for the Ku-band unit cells. The high
reflection coefficient of the FSS layer enabled maximum
reflection for the Ku-band and maximum transmission for the
X-band. A delay line was used in the unit cell to achieve
linearity in the phase response. [2] Proposed the design of a
reflectarray antenna for the Ka and X bands. The higher band
elements (Ka-band elements) were placed on top of the X-
band unit cells. The work highlighted the significance of
reflectarray antennas in the military Ka-band (MKa band) for Fig. 3 Transmit band unit cell
military satellite applications. The unit cells of both the
bands were etched on the same substrate and an air gap of 5 Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 illustrate the transmit and receive
mm was maintained between the FSS layer present below the band unit cells respectively along with their dimensions. The
substrate of Ka-band elements and the X-band elements. In transmit band unit cell is a simple dipole whose length is
[3], a two-layer reflectarray antenna was designed using varied during the parametric study to obtain the required phase
rectangular patches. Two separator layers were used in the range. In the case of receive band unit cell, which is
design: one present in between the two arrays and the other constructed as a polygon in CST MWS, the side parameter ‘l1’
between the bottom array and the ground plane. It was is varied to achieve the phase range. The coordinates used for
reported that a smooth phase response curve and designing the receive band unit cell are as follows in the
consequently broad bandwidth was achieved by increasing correct order: (-l1,0); (-l2,lu); (l2,lu); (l1, -0); (l2,-lu); (-l2,-lu)
the thickness of the dielectric however; the obtained phase and (-l1,0). Initially, l1 is set to 7.25 mm while lu = l1 and l2 =
range was less than 360 degrees. Moreover, to handle the (2/3)*l1.
non-linearities in the phase response curve, it was asserted to
have two or more arrays stacked. Likewise, [4] reported the
design of a dual-band reflectarray antenna that discusses
independent operation in Ku and Ka bands. The unit cell was
based on dipoles. Five parallel dipoles were chosen as the
unit cell geometry for the Ku band while a three parallel
dipole was chosen as the unit cell for the Ka-band. In this
work, the symmetry of the dipoles was maintained in the
design to achieve low levels of cross-polar radiation. [5]
Discussed the design of a transmit-receive reflectarray
antenna for DBS applications. Three layers of varying sized
rectangular copper patches were utilized. The layers of the
substrate were the same and instead of copper ground,
aluminum was used. Dual-band FSS backed reflectarray
could minimize the coupling between the unit cells of two Fig. 4 Receive band unit cel
bands of interest [6].
The receive band unit cell is loaded with four slots-
two parallel slots along the Y-axis and the other two parallel
2. DESIGN OF REFLECTARRAY UNIT
slots along the X-axis. The width of these slots remains
CELL constant during the parametric study and the lengths of the
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 Volume 9, Issue 2
April 2019
ITEE Journal ISSN: - 2306-708X
Information Technology & Electrical Engineering

©2012-20 International Journal of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

slots vary during the study. The slot lengths are expressed as ll
= 1.5*l1.
The reflected phase responses obtained with the
designed unit cells were studied in terms of the phase range
and the slope of the response curve. The thickness and
dielectric constant of the substrate affect the achievable phase
ranges. For the same substrate, various thicknesses are
available in the datasheet and the phase response can be
studied for various values of thicknesses.

Fig. 8 Reflected Phase Ranges for transmit band

3. FSS DESIGN
A circular FSS was designed and placed at the back
of the transmit band substrate. The FSS provides maximum
reflection to the transmit band array and maximum
transmission to the receive band array.
Fig. 5 Reflected Phase Range for 11.2 GHz

A phase range of 350 degrees is obtained with this

unit cell designed for receive band. The parameter ‘l1’ was
originally swept from 1.75 mm to 9.75 mm however, the
phase response for the values from 6.75 mm to 9.00 mm alone
was studied and the curve for the rest of the values was
ignored. The figure above shows a truncated version of the Fig. 9 Circular FSS
actual phase response obtained. The response was very steep
for the values ignored.

Fig. 6 Reflected Phase Range for 13.6 GHz Fig. 10 FSS: S11 and S21 results

A phase range of 694 degrees was achieved with the A circle of radius 1.82 mm loaded with four elliptical
designed transmit band unit cell. The phase response for the slots that are equally displaced from each other with respect to
other four frequencies namely 10.7 GHz, 11.7 GHz, 12.75 the center of the circle is designed as FSS. All the ellipses are
GHz, and 14.5 GHz were studied. Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 show the the same with major axis 0.735 mm and minor axis 0.147 mm.
comparison plots of the phase versus length response for all The FSS should yield return losses less than -10 dB (as shown
the three frequencies of the receive band and transmit band in simulation environments) for the entire receive band that
respectively. spans from 10.7 GHz to 11.7 GHz. This is a necessary
condition that will ensure that the FSS will provide maximum
reflection to the transmit band array. Failure to achieve this
will introduce mutual coupling between the two bands. Fig. 10
shows the return loss and transmission coefficient of the
designed FSS.

FREQUENCY RETURN LOSS

(GHz) (dB)
10.7 -7.7606
11.2 -20.07
11.7 -7.7786
Fig. 7 Reflected Phase Ranges for the receive band Table 1. Return loss results for FSS
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 Volume 9, Issue 2
April 2019
ITEE Journal ISSN: - 2306-708X
Information Technology & Electrical Engineering

©2012-20 International Journal of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

4. ARRAY DESIGN

An array of the designed unit cells is constructed in

CST MWS. A 15x15 array is designed with overall length and
width as 0.33 m respectively. For this design, an f/D ratio of
0.8 is maintained. The distance between the horn and the
centermost unit cell (which is the unit cell with the coordinates
(0,0,0)) of the array divided by the overall width (length) of
the array is termed the f/D ratio. It is quite common in the
literature to fix this ratio as 0.8 which, again, can be varied
and the effect of which can be studied.
A full wave analysis was being performed for all six
frequencies, three in each band. For receive band, a wideband
horn centered around 11.2 GHz was used as the feed. In the Fig. 13 Receive band comparison plot
case of transmitter, a similar wideband horn centered around
13.6 GHz was used for illuminating the unit cell elements of
the array. Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 show the 2D radiation pattern of
the simulated array.

Fig. 11 2D Radiation Pattern for 11.2 GHz

Fig. 14 Transmit band comparison plot

The farfield gain for the center frequency of the

receive band namely 11.2 GHz is 22.6 dBi while that of the
transmit band is 15 dBi. Fig. 13 and Fig. 14 illustrate the
farfield gains of the three frequencies of receive band and
transmit band respectively as comparison plots.

5. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
Fig. 12 2D Radiation Pattern for 13.6 GHz
From the results obtained upon simulation, we can
BAND f MAIN SIDE ANGULAR find that the farfield gains for the frequencies of the receive
(GHz) LOBE LOBE WIDTH band are nearly the same and high when compared to the
(dBi) (dB) (o ) transmit band frequencies. From Fig. 5, it can be observed that
RECEIVE 10.7 22.3 -9.2 6.4 the response curve does not have a smooth transition
11.2 22.6 -6.4 6.3 throughout the curve. From 4.9 mm to 6.7 mm along the X-
11.7 21.4 -2.9 6.6 axis, the curve follows a smoother transition when compared
TRANSMIT 12.75 18.5 -4.7 13.4 to the values from 4 mm to 4.9 mm. For ‘ld’ taken from 4.9
13.6 15.0 -3.4 4.1 mm to 6.7 mm, the phase range is 323 degrees, which is short
14.5 16.6 -6.9 10.2 of the required 360 degrees. It can thus be noted that for a unit
Table 2. Array performance cell to be qualified as ‘good’, it should have a gradual slope
instead of a steep one along with good linearity.
We can observe a sharp difference in the farfield From Fig. 10, it can be observed that the designed
gains for 11.2 GHz and 13.6 GHz. The 2D farfield gain FSS doesn’t yield the required return loss throughout the
vsersus frequency plot is nearly a straight line for the receive receive band. For the start and stop frequencies of 10.7 GHz
band which isn’t the case for transmit band. A dip is observed and 11.7 GHz respectively, the return losses are greater than -
at the center frequency of the transmit band. In general, the 10 dB (nearly -7.7 dB) which, despite being closer to the -10
gain versus frequency plot is expected to be nearly a straight dB level, are still insufficient.
line.
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 Volume 9, Issue 2
April 2019
ITEE Journal ISSN: - 2306-708X
Information Technology & Electrical Engineering

©2012-20 International Journal of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

6. SINGLE LAYER VS. DUAL LAYER [4] E. Martinez-de-Rioja, J. A. Encinar, M. Barba, R.
REFLECTARRAY ANTENNA Florencio, R. R. Boix and V. Losada, "Dual Polarized
Reflectarray Transmit Antenna for Operation in Ku-
Apart from the difference in the geometry or and Ka-Bands With Independent Feeds," in IEEE
architecture between the two, certain factors have to be Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 65, no.
considered before selecting a single layer or dual layer for the 6, pp. 3241-3246, June 2017, doi:
unit cell and array design. Mutual coupling is the first factor. 10.1109/TAP.2017.2689059.
The effects of mutual coupling can be reduced to a good
extent in case of dual-layer design by providing proper [5] J. A. Encinar, M. Arrebola, L. F. de la Fuente and G.
isolation and/or physical separation between the two bands in Toso, "A Transmit-Receive Reflectarray Antenna for
the form of an FSS. However, this isn’t the case in a single Direct Broadcast Satellite Applications," in IEEE
layer. With proper placement of the unit cells of the two bands Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 59,
and appropriate spacing between the unit cells, the mutual no. 9, pp. 3255-3264, Sept. 2011, doi:
coupling can be reduced in single layer reflectarray design. 10.1109/TAP.2011.2161449.
Compactness is the second factor. If stacking layers
prove to be space consuming, it is then wise to select the [6] Y. Chen, L. Chen, H. Wang, X. Gu and X. Shi, "Dual-
single layer as the final design with proper placement of unit Band Crossed-Dipole Reflectarray With Dual-Band
cells on the substrate and suitable spacing between them. Frequency Selective Surface," in IEEE Antennas and
Wireless Propagation Letters, vol. 12, pp. 1157-1160,
2013, doi: 10.1109/LAWP.2013.2280891.
7. CONCLUSION
[7] Wu, Te-Kao. (2005). Frequency Selective Surfaces.
Thus, it can be concluded that the FSS hasn’t 10.1002/0471654507.eme133.
provided maximum reflection to the transmit band array, and
consequently there isn’t sufficient isolation between the two
bands. Therefore, mutual coupling between the two bands has
occurred. This has not affected the radiation performance of AUTHOR PROFILES
the receive band array. The relatively poor results of the
transmit band array are due to the inefficiencies in the S. Venkatraman received the degree in Electronics and
designed unit cell and FSS. We can, therefore, understand the Communication Engineering from Anna University, in 2018.
importance of a good unit cell design and a proper FSS design Currently, he is a postgraduate student at Sri Venkateswara
particularly for multilayer reflectarray systems. College of Engineering, Sriperumbudur, India.
If the transmit band unit cell and FSS are improved
performance-wise, we can obtain improvements in the H Umma Habiba received her PhD in RF and Microwave
performance of the transmit band array which will then make Communication under the Faculty of Electronics and
it suitable for high gain applications. Communication Engineering, Anna University, in 2011.
Currently, she is a professor at Sri Venkateswara College of
Engineering, Sriperumbudur, India
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[2] M. R. Chaharmir and J. Shaker, "Design of a Multilayer

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