Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11276-020-02399-9 (0123456789().,-volV)(0123456789().
,- volV)

A circularly polarized printed elliptical wide-slot antenna with high

bandwidth-dimension-ratio for wireless applications
Munish Kumar1 • Vandana Nath1

Published online: 30 June 2020

Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020

Abstract
This paper outlines a simple design of a compact wideband microstrip-line fed antenna having two rotated elliptical wide-
slots (EWSs). Here, both the elliptical wide-slots are placed perpendicular to each other which shows the measured 10 dB
return loss bandwidth (RLBW) of about 7.78 GHz (4.94–12.72 GHz; 88.11%). The circular polarization (CP) is achieved
by varying either the semi-major axis of any of the elliptical wide-slot or angle between the EWSs. The proposed antenna
radiates left-handed circularly polarized (LHCP) and shows the measured axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW) of about
2.05 GHz (5.4–7.45 GHz; 31.91%) which falls completely inside the operating frequency band and hence relevant for
wireless applications including an upper-frequency band of WLAN, WiMAX and several standards of IEEE 802.11
including a/h/j/n/ac/ax. The proposed antenna also achieves a high bandwidth dimension ratio (BDR) of about 1062 which
along with the ARBW is the highest among the recently reported antenna structures. A peak gain of about 4.39 dBi is
reported within the entire operating band while the overall size of the antenna is only 18  17 mm2 (or 0:29ko  0:28ko ;
where ko is the wavelength corresponding to the lowest operating frequency, i.e., 4.94 GHz). The performance of the
proposed antenna in terms of RLBW, ARBW, gain, and efficiency are validated experimentally which are in concordance
with the simulated results.

Keywords Elliptical wide-slot antenna  Microstrip-line  Circular polarization (CP)  Wireless local  Area network
(WLAN)  Bandwidth dimension ratio (BDR)

1 Introduction polarized (CP) antennas came into existence and become

an essential requirement for these wireless applications [1].
Recently, the antenna researchers are aiming to design Antennas with CP characteristics show distinct advantages
simple and compact antenna that can support multiple such as enhanced mobility, immunity to multipath distor-
frequency bands. In wireless applications such as wireless tion, misalignment of transmitter and receiver antennas,
local area networks (WLANs), worldwide interoperability less prone to weather penetration and other propagation
of microwave access (WiMAX), radio frequency identifi- effects over their linearly polarized counterparts [2].
cation (RFIDs), satellite and radar communications, the It is possible to generate CP in conventional microstrip
transmitter and receiver antennas are not always present in patch antennas by exciting two degenerate modes of equal
line-of-sight. Due to the misalignment of both antennas and amplitude and having a phase difference of 90 between
having multipath interference, the need of circularly them. In the literature, a significant work has been done for
obtaining CP operation with wide axial-ratio bandwidth
(ARBW). According to [3], CP in conventional microstrip
& Munish Kumar
patch antennas (MSPAs) can be generated by adding the
[email protected]
perturbations along the diagonal axis of the radiating patch,
Vandana Nath
i.e., 45 with respect to the feed location. Hence, the pro-
[email protected]
posed square antenna achieves an ARBW of maximum up
1
University School of Information Communication and to 10% by tuning the perimeters of the slots etched in the
Technology (USIC&T), GGS Indraprastha University ground plane. Another CP-MSPA with a rectangular slot in
(GGSIPU), New Delhi, India

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5486 Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499

the ground plane is discussed in [4]. Here, the CP operation RLBW up to 21%. The size of these metallic plates also
is obtained by adding two parasitic strips with the cirular affects the CP operation, thereby producing an ARBW of
antenna with the help of diodes. The biasing of these 15.3%.
diodes will decide the polarization type (right-handed/left- This paper introduces a wideband antenna that covers
handed) of the proposed antenna. Based on the idea of [5] partial C-band, complete X-band and extended up to K u
for obtaining the wider ARBW, [6] makes use of thick band. Two elliptical wide-slots (EWSs) of different
substrate material with high dielectric constant. The pro- dimensions are etched in the ground plane. Proper tuning of
posed antenna consists of a U-shaped slot in the square the angle between these two EWSs along with their
shaped MSPA with truncated corners. The overall size of dimensions produces orthogonal resonant modes with 90
the antenna is 60  60 mm2 with an ARBW of only 3.2%. phase shift and hence, CP behaviour. Based on the analogy
A w-shaped wideband CP antenna discussed in [7] with discussed in [3], these orthogonal modes can be achieved
overall size of 58:2  47:7 mm2 shows an ARBW of more by etching the EWSs (or perturbations) diagonally, i.e.,
than 19% centered around 5.3 GHz by adjusting the arm both having 45 with respect to microstrip-line (or having
lengths. A 3-dB ARBW of about 40% ranging from 4.6– 90 angle between them). Compared to recently published
6.9 GHz is obtained. In [8], an open T-shaped wide-slot wideband CP antennas (discussed above), the proposed
wideband antenna fed with the help of a bent microstrip- wide-slot antenna is simple to design, possesses large
line is discussed. Here, CP operation is obtained by RLBW and more compact. For comparing compactness, a
increasing the size of the wide-slot and by etching two parameter known as bandwidth-dimension-ratio (BDR) is
extra slots in the ground plane with a maximum ARBW of used which takes impedance bandwidth and electrical
4.55% which makes the overall design too complex. dimensions corresponding to lowest cutoff frequency of the
Fractal geometries are well-known for their self-symmetry antenna into consideration. The proposed antenna shows
and self-affine properties that serves both the purpose of the highest BDR of 1062 as compared to the antenna
compactness and multiband/wideband behaviour [9]. A structures discussed above. Rest of the paper is arranged as
CPW-fed antenna with fractal inspired tilted slot shows 3- follows. In Sect.2, the geometry of the proposed wide-slot
dB ARBW of 34.7% is proposed in [10]. In [11], an antenna is discussed in detail. The steps for obtaining
octagonal fractal patch in a multilayer scenario is discussed wideband and CP operation vis-à-vis control of frequency
where an ARBW of 34.7% is reported. Another way of bands is discussed in Sect. 3. In Sect. 4, the designing of
enhancing the RLBW is using dielectric resonator antennas each part of the proposed wide-slot antenna using accurate
(DRAs). DRAs offer feeding and shape flexibility, hence mathematical equations including microstrip-line and EWS
gaining much attention from the antenna researchers in last is performed. The E-field distribution in support of wide-
few years [12]. A cross-shaped rectangular DRA having band response and surface current distribution for
RLBW of 43.84% and a narrow ARBW of 11.23% is explaining CP behaviour is also discussed here. In Sect. 5,
proposed in [13]. A dual C-shaped microstrip-line fed a parametric study of the parameters for obtaining CP
antenna with hybrid Z-shaped DRA is proposed in [14]. operation is performed. To validate the simulation results, a
Here, the CP operation is generated by the offset present prototype of the proposed antenna has been fabricated and
between the two DRAs which gives an ARBW of 6.17%. tested. Discussion about the measured results of the fabri-
Another microstrip-line fed DRA with inverted F-shaped cated prototypes and comparison of the proposed antenna
slot is discussed in [15]. Although the proposed antenna with latest state-of-art is performed in Sects. 6 and 7,
shows a RLBW of 50.55% but a narrow ARBW of only respectively. In last, the applications of the proposed
14.28% is reported. Also, the ARBW does not fall com- antenna along with concluding remarks are discussed in
pletely within the RLBW range. In [16], a common L- Sect. 8.
shaped radiator is proposed where the CP behavior is
obtained with the help of orthogonally placed CPW-feed
lines. Another wideband DRA antenna with maximum 2 Antenna geometry
ARBW of 18.5% is proposed in [17]. Here, the edges of the
DRA are truncated at 45 for CP operation. A fractal The proposed antenna and its geometrical dimensions are
inspired CP Spidron shaped DRA is proposed in [18] where shown in Fig. 1. The proposed antenna is designed on a
11.57% ARBW is reported. Here, a C-shaped slot along 1.6-mm thick low-cost FR-4 material (permittivity er ¼ 4:4
with the fractal DRA both are responsible for the CP and loss tangent tand=0.02). The overall dimensions of the
operation. Another CP square shaped antenna with trun- substrate are 18  17  1:6 mm3 . On one side of the sub-
cated corners is proposed in [19]. Here, a periodic structure strate, two EWSs with semi-major axis length D and d
in the form of the metallic plates is used for enhancing the placed perpendicular to each other are etched from the

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Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499 5487

inset (¼ 50 X in this case) and width wml of the micro-

strip line is given by [21]
Wgnd 7:48  h
wml ¼  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  1:25  t
er þ1:41
ð1Þ
e Z0 87
r1
where h is the thickness of the FR-4 substrate used
d l2 (equals to 1.6 mm) and t is the copper thickness
D Y
which is about 35 lm (or 1 oz). Here, the length of
Lgnd

l1 the microstrip line divides into two parts (as shown

X
in inset of Fig. 1) i.e. one having the metallic
ground plane (=l 1 ) and other having wide-slot or
Lml
no ground plane under it (=l 2 ) which acts as a
Ground plane
(Back-side) matching stub for that wide-slot.
SMA Connector
Microstrip-line 5 5 c
(Front-side)
Lml ¼ l1 þ l2 ¼ keff ¼ : pffiffiffiffiffiffi ð2Þ
4 4 fmin eeff
wml where c is the free space speed of light, eeff is the
h effective permittivity of the substrate material used
and given by [22]
 rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi   2
ðer þ 1Þ 2 er  1 p 1 4
Fig. 1 Schematic of proposed microstrip line-fed antenna having two eeff ¼ 1þ : : ln þ ln
rotated EWSs. Lgnd ¼ 18 mm (0:29ko ), W gnd ¼ 17 mm (0:28ko ), 2 er þ 1 er þ 1 2 er p
r1 ¼ 0:2 mm, D ¼ 7:6 mm, d ¼ 11:5 mm, Lml ¼ 8:8 mm and ð3Þ
wml ¼ 3 mm
Equations 1 and 2 gives wml , Lml and eeff equals to
ground plane. Both EWSs are excited with the help of an 3.0 mm, 8.8 mm and 3.36, respectively for proper
open-ended microstrip-line of characteristic impedance matching.
50 X, placed on other side of the substrate. Here, l1 is the (ii) For Ant #2, an EWS (named as EWS-1) having
portion where the ground plane exists beneath it as shown semi-major axis D is etched from the ground plane.
in inset of Fig. 1. Similarly, l2 shows a portion of the The dimensions of the EWS-1 is chosen similar to
microstrip-line which does not have ground plane beneath the elliptical patch antenna. By tuning the dimen-
it. The angle between the two EWSs, i.e., h and the semi- sions of the EWS-1 etched in the ground plane, an
major axis length d together determine the level of CP in impedance matching over a large range of freqe-
the proposed antenna structure. The distance between the uncies is obtained. Two dimension factors namely
open end of the microstrip-line and centre of the EWS is semi-major axis D (in ’cm’) and eccentricity e of an
known as feeding distance r 1 which controls the level of EWS decide the resonating frequency which are
the reflection coefficient (S11 ) of the upper-frequency band. correlated as [23]
Additionally, the design of the proposed antenna is kept sffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
simple with a relatively simpler technique to obtain the CP e;o 15 qe;o
f11 ¼ 11
GHz ð4Þ
operation. All the simulations are conducted using ANSYS peD er
High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) ver. 17.0
where f e;o e;o
11 is the dual-frequency and q11 is an
software [20].
approximated Mathieu function for even and odd
mode corresponding to transverse magnetic TM e11
and TM o11 mode respectively, given by [23]
3 Sequence of design steps
qe11 ¼ 0:0049e þ 3:7888e2  0:7228e3 þ 2:2314e4
3.1 Steps for wideband response vis-à-vis ð5aÞ
control of frequency bands
qo11 ¼ 0:0063e þ 3:8316e2  1:1351e3 þ 5:2229e4
(i) The preliminary design or Ant #1 as demonstrated ð5bÞ
in Fig. 2(a) has an open-ended microstrip-line with
It is clear from Eq. (4) that a large size EWS is
a characteristic impedance of 50 X. The relation-
required for generating lower resonating frequen-
ship between the characteristic impedance Z 0
cies (due to inverse relation between them). This

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5488 Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499

Reflection Coefficient (dB)

-10
l2

l1
-20

Ant #1 Ant #2
-30

-40
Ant #1
α
Ant #2
Ant #3
-50
Ant #4

3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25

Ant #3 Ant #4 Frequency (GHz)

(a) (b)

300 0

250 -10
Reflection Coefficient (dB)
Input Impedance (Ohm)

200 -20

150
-30

100
-40
= 20o
= 30o
50
-50 = 45o
= 60o

0
0.00000 0.00075 0.00150 0.00225 0.00300 0.00375 0.00450 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25

Feeding Distance (in meters) Frequency (GHz)

(c) (d)
Fig. 2 a Evolution steps of the proposed antenna; b reflection reflection coefficient with rotation angle a. Note: Here, h (¼ 90 in
coefficient (S 11 ) graph of each design step; c variation in input our case) is the angle between the two ellipses
impedance with feeding distance (r 1 ) using Eq. 6 and d variation in

will increase the overall dimensions of the antenna, The impedance matching over a wide range of fre-
thereby making it unfit for wireless applications quencies ranging from 8.49 to 9.33 GHz and from 12.74 to
having space contraints. Hence, another EWS (or 17.23 GHz is obtained by varying D and feeding distance
EWS-2) of semi-major axis d is etched in the r1, respectively as shown in Fig. 2(b) [blue dotted line].
ground plane. The combined response of both the Any defect in the ground plane causes losses in the cavity
EWSs gives rise to good level impedance matching fields which in turn degrades the quality factor and hence,
over a large range of frequencies. The values of improves the bandwidth of the patch antenna. The feeding
Mathieu function and resonating frequency corre- distance r1 (or the length l2) acts as a matching stub also
sponding to EWS-1 and EWS-2 are tabulated in plays a major role in impedance matching over the large
Table 1. range of frequencies. The input impedance due to EWS is a
function of r1 and given by

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Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499 5489

Table 1 Values of various

EWS Semi-major axis length Eccentricity Mathieu function Resonating frequency
parameters
qe11 qo11 f e11 f o11

EWS-1 D = 7.60 mm 0.925 4.299 6.198 6.717 GHz 8.065

EWS-2 d = 11.50 mm 0.950 4.613 6.733 4.477 GHz 5.409

J12 ðkr1 Þ due to rotation of EWS. It is clear that as a goes

Zin ðr1 Þ ¼ 1:864 ð6Þ from 0 to 45 , the RLBW increases from 39.12%
Gtotal
(16.04–23.84 GHz) to [ 71% (11.9–[ 25 GHz).
where J 1 ðxÞ is the first order Bessel’s function and Gtotal is The RLBW decreases as a goes beyond 45 and
the total sum of conductance due to metallic, dielectric reaches to 55.65% (13.70–24.27 GHz) for a ¼ 60 .
material and radiation losses. Fig. 2(c) shows the variation Also, the lowest cutoff frequency increases from
in Z in with respect to r 1 which gives Z in ¼ 50 X for 11.90 to 13.70 GHz as a increases from 0 to 60 ,
r 1 ¼ 0:2 mm. respectively. According to [23], rotating the EWS
The electric field distribution at 5 GHz and 7.4 GHz around its center can also produce CP. But the
[calculated using Eq. (4)] is plotted in Fig. 3. It may be ARBW reported covers the frequency range from
noted a strong E-field distribution around the perimeter of 8.59 to 12.15 GHz, i.e., the proposed antenna
Ellipse-1 and Ellipse-2 corresponding to their resonant proves its applicability mainly for satellite com-
frequency at 7.4 GHz and 5 GHz, respectively is obtained. munications and other high frequency wireless
The presence of Ellipse-2 increases the current path length applications. Hence, another ellipse of different
and hence, make the generation of lower resonating modes dimensions, concentric to Ellipse-1 is also etched
possible in the proposed antenna structure. from the ground plane which increases the surface
current length thereby produces lower cutoff fre-
3.2 Steps for CP response quency as depicted from Fig. 3.
(ii) To minimize this lower cutoff frequency (which has
(i) In the next step, this EWS is rotated around its reached to 13.70 GHz due to rotation of EWS-1) in
center with an inclination angle of a. This rotation order to cover the lower frequency range up to 5
of the wide-slot changes the length l2 which acts as GHz, another EWS of semi-major axis d(named as
a matching stub and brings variation in the EWS-2) is etched from the ground plane. Both the
matching frequency range. Figure 2(d) shows the EWSs are placed concentric to each other. The
variation in reflection coefficient for different val- rotation in EWS-2 along with change in its semi-
ues of rotation angle a. As we go from Step-II to major axis length d increases the current path
Step-III, the lower cutoff frequency increases from consequently, improves the RLBW is noticed. For
8.48 to 11.74 GHz because of the decrement in l2 CP operation, a quadrature phase difference

Fig. 3 Simulated electric field distribution at a 5 GHz and b 7.4 GHz

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5490 Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499

between the vertical and horizontal components of 4 Theoretical formulations and initial
the E-field is required. In the proposed antenna, design considerations
variation in rotation and semi-major axis length of
EWS-2 helps in establishing a phase difference of 4.1 Calculation of fringing capacitance
90 between the Ex and Ey components for CP
operation. By rotating the EWS-2 by h ¼ 90 with The fringing fields generated from the open-ended micro-
respect to EWS-1 (or  45 with respect to strip-line excite the EWS etched in the ground plane. The
microstrip-line), the RLBW and ARBW up to capacitance arises due to these fringing fields of length Dl
10.04 GHz (4.83–14.87 GHz; 101.93%) and is given by [24]
2.2 GHz (5.3–7.5 GHz; 34.76%), respectively are pffiffiffiffiffi

2pf Dl eeff
obtained keeping d = 11.5 mm. This rotation of tan c
Cf ¼ ð7Þ
EWS-2 brings reduction in the axial-ratio and seen 2pfZ0
to be below 1 dB within the operating frequency
where f is the operating frequency and Dl can be expressed
band of the proposed antenna. In subsequent
as [24]
sections, a parametric analysis of h and d is
presented to analyze the effect of h and d on f1 :f2 :f3
Dl ¼ h: ð8Þ
RLBW and ARBW. f4
The vector current distributions on the ground plane with The Dl attains the value of 0.563 mm for f1 , f2 , f3 and f4
EWSs for xt ¼ 0 ; 90 ; 180 and 270 intervals at equals to 0.337, 1.111, 1.009 and 0.999, respectively. The
6.25 GHz are shown in Fig. 4(a). A clockwise rotation of variation of the fringing capacitance C f with frequency is
the surface current is noticed which validates LHCP shown in Fig. 5(a).
behaviour of the proposed antenna at 6.25 GHz. It can be
seen that the current density mainly concentrated near the 4.2 Coupling between microstrip-line and EWS
vertex of the EWSs, hence responsible for CP behaviour
and wide RLBW of the proposed antenna. Furthermore, the The coupling between the microstrip-line and EWS can be
purity of LHCP or RHCP behaviour can be identified by modeled by an ideal transformer whose turns-ratio, N can
plotting their polarization ratio as shown in Fig. 4(b) where be calculated as [25]
the magnitude of LHCP is remarkably higher than the
RHCP verifies its LHCP operation.

50

40

30
Polarization Ratio (dB)

20

10

0° 90° 0

-10

-20

-30
LHCP
-40 RHCP

-50
5.00 5.35 5.70 6.05 6.40 6.75 7.10 7.45
270° 180° Frequency (GHz)

(a) (b)

Fig. 4 a Simulated surface current distribution of the proposed antenna for xt ¼ 0 , 90 , 180 and 270 intervals at 6.25 GHz and b simulated
polarization ratio of the proposed wide-slot antenna

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Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499 5491

0.0632 450 0.65

0.0630 400 0.60

Fringing Capacitance, C f (pF)
0.0628 350 0.55

Turns-ratio (N)
0.0626
300 0.50

Z slot (in Ω)
0.0624
250 0.45

0.0622
200 0.40

0.0620
150 0.35
0.0618
100 0.30
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)

(a) (b)
175 1.20
Rcyd
(kD) 0.06

150 1.05
Rcyd (kD) and Xcyd (kD) (in Ω)

0.05
0.90
125

C slot (in pF)

0.04 0.75
100
CP (in nF)

0.60
0.03
75
0.45
0.02
50
0.30

25 Xcyd
(kD) 0.01
0.15

0 0.00 0.00
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

kD (radians) Frequency (GHz)

(c) (d)
10
0.35
Q1 60

0.30 8
Ccc
Coupling Coefficient (Ccc )

45
0.25
6
Q2

0.20 30
1

4
Q

0.15
15
0.10 Q2 2

0.05 0 0
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Frequency (GHz)

(e)

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 5492 Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499

b Fig. 5 a Variation in fringing capacitance (C f ); b variation in EWS where C lstrip and Llstrip are the capacitance and inductance
impedance and turns-ratio; c variation in Rcyd and X cyd and d coupling
of the microstrip-line, respectively, C slot is the imaginary
coefficient ðC cc Þ and e quality-factors Q1 /Q2 within the operating
frequency range part of the impedance due to EWS given in Eq. (10a), i.e.,
1
equals to xImðZ slot Þ
and C cc is the coupling coefficient
between the microstrip-line and EWS.
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Z0
N¼ ð9Þ
Zslot 5 Parametric analysis
in which the term Z slot is the impedance due to center
driven EWS that can be approximately obtained by The parameters affecting the CP operation of the proposed
equating it to the impedance of a short cylindrical dipole antenna has been investigated here. The angle between the
Z cyd (neglecting the loss resistance) derived as [26] two EWSs or h and dimension of the ellipse having semi-
major axis length d together determine the level of CP and
377  377
Zslot ¼ ð10aÞ hence, ARBW of the proposed antenna. Here, the para-
4Zcyd metric study of both parameters is discussed.
D
Zcyd Rcyd ðkDÞ  jf120ðln  1ÞcotðkDÞ
b ð10bÞ 5.1 Effect of rotation angle h
 Xcyd ðkDÞg
The effect of angle between both EWSs or h is depicted in
Rcyd ðkDÞ ¼  0:4787 þ 7:3246ðkDÞ þ 0:3963ðkDÞ2 Fig. 6. It can be seen that the CP behavior below h ¼ 70 is
þ 15:613ðkDÞ3 not obtained. Further, as h goes from 70 to 90 , the axial-
ð10cÞ ratio bandwidth (ARBW) improved from 2.94 to 12.7%. At
h ¼ 100 , the ARBW goes down to 10.75% and no CP is
and reported beyond this value.
Xcyd ðkDÞ ¼  0:4456 þ 17:0082ðkDÞ
ð10dÞ 5.2 Effect of semi-major axis length d
 8:6793ðkDÞ2 þ 9:6031ðkDÞ3

The impedances Z cyd (kD) and Z slot (kD) along with The axial-ratio versus frequency for different values of d
turns-ratio N at different frequency points are tabulated in along with measured axial-ratio is shown in Fig. 7. The
Table 2 and are shown in Fig. 5(c). The approximated change in d from 10.5 to 12 mm brings the corresponding
values of Rcyd ðkDÞ and X cyd ðkDÞ with electrical length kD change in ARBW from h to 12.96 GHz with maximum of
using third-order polynomials [using Eqs. (10c) and (10d)] 33.46% at d equals to 11.5 mm. At d = 11.5 mm, the
are also plotted in Fig. 5(d). proposed antenna shows the 3-dB beamwidth of about 88
A parallel plate capacitance C P couples the ground and 90 in E- and H-principal planes as depicted from inset
plane having EWS and microstrip-line and given by image in Fig. 7 where the simulated angular variation of
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

ffi
axial-ratio is shown.
   2
 Clstrip þ Cslot þ Clstrip þ Cslot 4  Clstrip  Cslot 1  C12
cc
CP ¼
2
ð11aÞ 6 Results and discussion
1 For validating the simulated results obtained by ANSYS
Ccc ¼ rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi


ffi
Llstrip 1 ð11bÞ Electronics Desktop (ver. 17.0), a prototype of the pro-
x Rlstrip  xCslot Rslot
posed antenna has been fabricated on the commercially
available low-cost FR-4 substrate. The antenna prototype is

Table 2 Variation in
S. no. Frequency (GHz) kD Z cyd Z slot Turns-ratio, N
impedances Z cyd ðkDÞ, Z slot ðkDÞ
and turns-ratio (N) with 1. 4.0 0.963 20.908 - j255.244 11.326 ? j138.274 0.600
frequency
2. 5.0 1.204 36.186 - j204.195 29.896 ? j168.705 0.540
3. 6.0 1.445 58.055 - j170.162 63.811 ? j187.033 0.503
4. 7.0 1.686 87.823 - j145.854 107.651 ? j178.783 0.489

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Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499 5493

8 ax, sub-6 GHz band for 5G, HiPERLAN-1/2 (5.15 GHz),

partial UWB band (3.1–10.6 GHz), amateur radio, and
7 fixed/mobile satellite services. Fig. 8(b) shows the output
taken from the Anritsu MS2038C VNA Master while
6
testing the proposed wide-slot antenna.
5
Axial Ratio (dB)

6.2 Gain versus frequency

4
All the calculations related to the plotting of radiation pat-
3 terns and measuring gain is performed inside an anechoic
θ = 70
ο chamber where a horn-type antenna is taken as a source and
2
θ = 80
ο the proposed antenna under test (AUT) is taken as a receiver,
1 θ = 90
ο placed at a distance of 1.8 meters apart. The measurement
θ = 100
ο setup is shown in Fig. 9.
0 The peak gain is also measured for the given operating
5.50 5.75 6.00 6.25 6.50 6.75 7.00 7.25 7.50 frequency band against frequency at h ¼ / ¼ 0 as shown
Frequency (GHz)
in Fig. 10(a). The peak gain varies from 0.52 to 4.39 dBi
Fig. 6 Effect of rotation angle h on ARBW of the proposed wide-slot with average gain of 3.05 dBi within the entire frequency
antenna band ranging from 4.94–12.72 GHz. Also, the peak gain
varies from 2.59 to 4.14 dBi within the ARBW range.
tested successfully using Anritsu MS2038C VNA Master. Fig. 10(a) also shows the radiation efficiency of the pro-
A slight difference in measured and simulated results is posed wide-slot antenna. It is seen that the radiation effi-
reported which may occur due to the cable losses and ciency at h ¼ / ¼ 0 varies from 76.71% to 97.81% and
human error while soldering the 50 X SMA connector with 97.81% to 82.94% within the RLBW and ARBW range,
the microstrip-line. respectively. The average radiation efficiency within
RLBW and ARBW range is 86.40% and 89.23%,
6.1 Reflection coefficient versus frequency respectively.
The simulated and measured E-plane and H-plane
Figure 8(a) shows the simulated and measured reflection radiation patterns are shown in Fig. 10(b, c and d, e) at 5.70
coefficient values of the proposed antenna which shows and 11.58 GHz, respectively. The presence of EWS causes
that the measured results are in good agreement with the sufficient back radiation and produces nearly omni-direc-
simulation results. The measured frequency range for tional radiation patterns at both resonating frequencies. It
reflection coefficient below - 10 dB is 4.94 GHz– has been observed that the measured E-plane and H-plane
12.72 GHz (88.11%) that covers different licensed and radiation patterns both match with the simulated at both
unlicensed standards of IEEE 802.11 including a/h/j/n/ac/

Fig. 7 Simulated axial-ratio versus frequency for different values of d. Inset image shows the simulated theta variation of axial-ratio in dB

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5494 Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499

Fig. 8 a Simulated and

measured reflection coefficient
and b VNA output of the
proposed antenna. Red line:
simulated and blue line:
measured (Color figure online)

Fig. 9 Photograph of the

measurement setup for
measuring gain and plotting
radiation pattern in an anechoic
Reference horn
chamber
antenna

Spectrum RF Absorber
Function
analyzer
generator

Proposed AUT

resonant frequencies. The peak gain of the proposed 6.3 Axial-ratio versus frequency
antenna within the 3-dB ARBW range is 4.15 dBi. The
simulated and measured LHCP/RHCP radiation patterns The measured 3-dB ARBW of about 2.05 GHz (5.4–
for / ¼ 0 (E-plane) and / ¼ 90 (H-plane) of the pro- 7.45 GHz) is obtained for d = 11.5 mm at h ¼ / ¼ 0 is
posed wide-slot antenna are shown in Fig. 11. It is evicted shown in Fig. 12. The measured percentage ARBW is
that in both the planes, the RHCP radiation fields is dom- 31.91% which is approximately 26% of the measured
inated by the LHCP radiation fields by [ 15.83 dB (aver- RLBW. The minimum axial ratio of 0.07 dB at 6.25 GHz
age) for all values of theta. For h ¼ 0 , an isolated by about is obtained. The measured ARBW of the proposed antenna
44 dB is obtained for both LHCP and RHCP radiation is 6.5 times to that reported in [27].
patterns.

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Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499 5495

9.0 100

7.5

Radiation Efficiency (%)

90

6.0
80

Peak Gain (dBi)

4.5
70

3.0
60

1.5
Simulated Gain
Measured Gain 50
Simulated Rad. Efficiency
0.0 Measured Rad. Efficiency

40
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Frequency (GHz)
(a)

Sim. Copol
Sim. Copol 0 Sim. xpol
0 Sim. xpol Meas. copol
340 20 330 30
Meas. copol Meas. xpol
320 -6 40 Meas. xpol -2
-22 -14
300 60
300 60
-38 -26

-54 -38
280 80
270 90

260 100

240 120 240 120

220 140
210 150
200 160
180 180

(b) (c)

Sim. xpol
Sim. Copol 0 Meas. xpol
0 Meas. copol
330 30 Sim. Copol
330 30 Sim. xpol Meas. copol
-3 Meas. xpol
-7

300 -11 60 300 -14 60

-19 -21
-27
-28
270 90 270 90

240 120 240 120

210 150 210 150

180 180

(d) (e)

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 5496 Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499

b Fig. 10 a Simulated/Measured gain and efficiency versus frequency

4.0
curves; simulated and measured 2-D far-field, b, c E-plane and d, e H- Simulated
plane radiation pattern of the proposed antenna at fr1 = 5.70 GHz 3.5 Measured
and fr2 = 11.58 GHz, respectively
3.0

Axial ratio (dB)

2.5

7 Comparison analysis 2.0

In this section, a comparison of the proposed antenna is 1.5

performed with recently reported antenna structures. A 1.0

detailed comparison based on several parameters such as
overall physical and electrical dimensions, RLBW (for 0.5

S11 \  10 dB), ARBW (axial-ratio \ 3 dB) and BDR is 0.0

given in Table 3. Although Sect. 1 discusses various
techniques of obtaining CP operation, yet only those ref- 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5

erences are included in Table 3 where the range of ARBW Frequency (GHz)
lies around 5 GHz, i.e., similar to our proposed antenna
Fig. 12 Simulated versus measured axial-ratio of the proposed
structure. Based on the data tabulated in Table 3, following antenna
points can be concluded.
1. As mentioned previously, the proposed antenna shows p1 =p2 [ 1. The desired CP behaviour with large
RLBW of about 88.11% which is highest among the ARBW can be obtained by simply varying the above
recently reported antenna structures two parameters of either EWS as also discussed in [3].
[3–7, 10, 11, 13, 15–19]. 3. Unlike the feeds discussed in [1–3, 5, 8], our feeding
2. In our design, two EWSs of different dimensions are system is similar to what is discussed in
etched in the ground plane. The CP operation is [10, 15, 17, 18], i.e., an open-ended 50 X microstrip-
governed by two factors, i.e., semi-major axis length of line is used to excite the EWS. Here, the value of
one of the ellipse and the angle between the two EWSs. feeding distance, i.e., r 1 is varied to obtain the
Hence, tuning of only these two parameters will decide wideband response. Unlike [12–14, 16, 19], the
the level of AR and hence, ARBW of the proposed proposed antenna is not bulky and hence, relevant for
antenna structure. If p1 and p2 are the perimeters of wireless applications.
EWS-1 and EWS-2, respectively, then LHCP beha- 4. Our proposed wide-slot antenna is smaller in size and
viour is reported if p2 =p1 [ 1 (as in our case). provides both wide RLBW and ARBW for wireless
Similarly, RHCP behaviour can be obtained if applications along with sufficient gain and wide

LHCP-sim
Sim. Gain LHCP 0 LHCP-meas
0 Meas. Gain LHCP 330 30 RHCP-sim
330 30 Sim. Gain RHCP RHCP-meas
Meas. Gain RHCP -2
-2
300 -14 60
300 -14 60
-26 -26

-38 -38
270 90
270 90

240 120 240 120

210 150 210 150

180 180

(a) (b)
Fig. 11 a E-plane and b H-plane radiation pattern at 6.25 GHz showing LHCP behavior of the proposed wide-slot antenna

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Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499 5497

Table 3 Comparison with other wideband CP microstrip patch antennas

[Ref.]/year Technique used Size 10 dB RLBW 3-dB ARBW BDR
mm 9 mm ko  ko GHz (or %) GHz (or %)

[3]/2013 Truncated corners 90 9 90 0.30 9 0.30 0.994–1.027 (3.27%) 1.003–1.011 (0.79%) 36.73
[4]/2017 Parasitic strips & slot 50 9 50 0.87 9 0.87 5.23–5.77 (9.82%) 5.4–5.6 (3.63%) 12.92
[5]/2008 L-probe fed with U-slot 100 9 100 1.27 9 1.27 3.62–4.67 (25.33%) 4.15–4.9 (16.57%) 17.40
[6]/2011 Truncated corners with U-slot 25 9 25 0.13 9 0.13 1.545–1.80 (15.25%) 1.56–1.61 (3.15%) 919.77
[7]/2018 w shaped antenna 58.2 9 47.7 0.97 9 0.795 5–7 (33.33%) 5–6 (18.18%) 43.23
[10]/2019 Fractal tilted slot 46 9 36 0.55 9 0.43 3.6–4.57 (23.74%), 6.37–9.05 (34.70%) 99.58
5.1–10.1 (65.79%)
[11]/2018 Fractal parasitic patch 25 9 24 0.33 9 0.32 4.0–8.44 (71.38%) 4.84–6.77 (33.25%) 669.21
[13]/2016 Cross-shaped DRA 35 9 30 0.47 9 0.41 4.06–6.34 (43.85%) 5.04–5.64 (11.23%) 229.99
[15]/2018 Rectangular DRA 50 9 50 0.72 9 0.72 4.31–6.78 (44.54%) 4.07–6.82 (50.50%) 86.33
[16]/2018 CPW-fed L-shaped radiator 25 9 25 0.26 9 0.26 3.15–7.75 (84.40%) 5.12–7.15 (33.08%) 1224.91
[17]/2019 Truncated DRA 46 9 46 0.47 9 0.47 3.06–3.97 (25.89%) 3.15–3.80 (18.70%) 117.40
[18]/2015 Spidron DRA 40 9 40 0.576 9 0.576 4.32–6.30 (37.29%) 5.13–5.76 (11.57%) 112.39
[19]/2019 Truncated square patch 32 9 32 0.55 9 0.55 5.12–6.32 (21%) 5.08–5.92 (15.3%) 70.34
Our Work Two elliptical wide-slots 18 9 17 0.29 9 0.28 4.94–12.72 (88.11%) 5.4–7.45 (31.91%) 1061.91

beamwidth. In order to measure the compactness of the references compared in Table 3 graphically. It is found
antenna, a parameter called bandwidth dimension ratio that reference [16] shows higher BDR but physically it
(BDR) is calculated. This parameter shows how much has more size and less percent bandwidth (% B.W.) as
RLBW can be offered by per electrical unit area of the compared to the proposed antenna. Also, the antenna
proposed antenna structure and is given by [28] proposed in [16] has a complex geometry and have
%B:W: three parameters to govern the CP operation.
BDR ¼ ð12Þ
kw  kL
The proposed antenna shows the largest BDR of about
1062 among all the reported antenna structures. Fig-
ure 13 shows the comparison of BDR of all the 8 Conclusion

In this paper, a circularly polarized wide-slot antenna with

1200 wide return loss bandwidth has been designed, fabricated
Bandwidth Dimension Ratio (BDR)

and tested successfully. The proposed antenna consists of a

1000
pair of elliptical wide-slots excited with the help of an
open-ended 50 X microstrip-line. To provide the circular
800
polarization operation, the semi-major axis and angle
between the wide-slots are varied and optimized accord-
ingly. The measured 10-dB return loss bandwidth of
600
88.11% (4.94–12.72 GHz) is obtained along with 31.91%
(5.4–7.45 GHz) of axial-ratio bandwidth that covers upper
400
frequency band of WLAN. The proposed design shows the
LHCP fields in the bore-sight direction with the peak gain
200
of 7.23 dBi within the entire operating frequency band.
The peak gain of 4.15 dBi is obtained within the 3-dB
0
[7] [9] [10] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] Our Work
axial-ratio bandwidth. A good broadside patterns, good 3-
Reference # dB beamwidth of about 90 is observed in both principal
planes. The simple design and compact size of 17 
Fig. 13 Comparison of BDR of the proposed wide-slot antenna with 18 mm2 (or 0:29ko  0:28ko ) make the proposed antenna
recently reported CP wideband antenna structures

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5498 Wireless Networks (2020) 26:5485–5499

an attractive practical candidate for modern wireless 13. Kumar, R., & Chaudhary, R. K. (2019). Compact asymmetric
applications including WLAN and several licensed and cross-shaped rectangular dielectric resonator antenna for wide-
band circular polarization. Microwave and Optical Technology
unlicensed standards of IEEE 802.11 including a/h/j/n/ac/ Letters, 61, 1863–1873. https://doi.org/10.1002/mop.31808.
ax. 14. Sharma, A., & Gangwar, R. K. (2016). Circularly polarised
hybrid z-shaped cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna for
Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank G. B. Pant multiband applications. IET Microwaves, Antennas Propagation,
Engineering College, New Delhi, India for providing the testing 10(12), 1259–1267. https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-map.2016.0035.
facility at their microwave and optical communication laboratory. 15. Kumar, R., & Chaudhary, R. K. (2018). Investigation of higher
order modes excitation through F-shaped slot in rectangular
dielectric resonator antenna for wideband circular polarization
with broadside radiation characteristics. International Journal of
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ratio. Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, 57(2), Vandana Nath is an Assistant
445–452. https://doi.org/10.1002/mop.28872. Professor in the University
School of Information, Com-
Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to munication and Technology,
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Guru Gobind Singh Indra-
prastha University, New Delhi,
India. She obtained her Ph.D.
Munish Kumar was born in New from the University of Delhi.
Delhi, India, in 1990. He Dr. Nath worked as a research
received his master’s degree in fellow in Solid State Physics
Electronics and Communication Laboratory (SSPL), DRDO
(ECE) from USIC&T, Guru from 1999 to 2004. Her research
Gobind Singh Indraprastha interests include modeling and
University (GGSIPU), India, in simulation of electronic devices
2015 where he is currently pur- and circuits and microwave
suing Ph.D. degree. He has devices. She has co-authored more than 30 research papers in various
worked extensively and co-au- international journals and conferences including IEEE Transactions
thored several research articles on Electron Devices, Microwave and Optical Technology Letters,
on fractal microstrip patch Applied Physics A, Superlattices and Microstructures, Microsystem
antenna and electromagnetic Technologies, Wireless Personal Communications. Dr. Nath is a
bandgap structures in various member of IEEE, and life member of ISTE and SSI.
international journals and con-
ferences. His current research involves designing of fractal microstrip
antennas for multiband applications.

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