396 IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL.

13, 2014

A Compact Microstrip-Fed Triple Band-Notched

UWB Monopole Antenna
Debdeep Sarkar, Student Member, IEEE, Kumar Vaibhav Srivastava, Senior Member, IEEE, and
Kushmanda Saurav, Student Member, IEEE

AbstractIn this letter, a novel low-profile microstrip-fed

compact triple band-notched ultrawideband (UWB) antenna
is proposed. Notch bands around the 3.33.8-GHz WiMAX and
5.155.85-GHz WLAN frequencies are obtained by etching out two
elliptic single complementary split-ring resonators (ESCSRRs)
of different dimensions from the radiating patch of the antenna.
Furthermore, by placing two rectangular split-ring resonators
near the feedlinepatch junction of the antenna, rejection for the
7.98.4-GHz X-band frequencies is achieved. Design guidelines for
implementing the notch-bands at the desired frequency regions
are provided. The match between the simulated and experimental
results suggests that the proposed antenna can be a good candidate
for application in UWB communication systems.
Index TermsAntennas, elliptic single complementary split-ring
resonator (ESCSRR), notch-band, rectangular split-ring resonator
(SRR), ultrawideband (UWB).
Fig. 1. (a) Schematic configuration of the proposed triple band-notched UWB
antenna. (b) ESCSRR. (c) Rectangular SRR.
I. INTRODUCTION

I N THE year 2002, the US Federal Communications Com-

mission (FCC) allocated the ultrawideband (UWB) spec-
trum from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz to be used for commercial commu-
nication purposes [1]. UWB communication systems can sup-
port high data rates with low power consumption and are mainly
used for short-range indoor communication systems. Antennas
spanning the broad frequency range of 3.110.6 GHz are es-
sential components of such UWB systems; hence, their design
problem has become an active topic of research in recent years.
UWB antenna engineers have to simultaneously ensure high
impedance bandwidth, radiation-pattern stability, miniaturiza-
tion, along with low manufacturing cost in their design works.
Apart from these issues, the problem of electromagnetic inter-
ference (EMI) occurring due to existing narrowband communi-
cation systems like WiMAX (3.33.8 GHz), WLAN (5.155.85
GHz), or X-band satellite communication links (7.98.4 GHz)
is of major concern. Integration of external bandstop filters to
achieve the desired band rejection increases system complexity
and size. Hence, in order to keep the antenna footprint unal-
tered, designers have resorted to the approach of embedding
parasitic strips or slots of different shapes in the radiating el-
ement or ground plane of the antenna systems [2][5].
Moreover, many UWB applications require more than one
notch-band, necessitating the use of mutually noninteracting
Manuscript received December 06, 2013; accepted February 12, 2014. Date
of publication February 19, 2014; date of current version March 06, 2014.
The authors are with the Electrical Engineering Department, Indian Insti-
tute of Technology, Kanpur 208016, India (e-mail: debdeep1989@gmail.com;
kvs@iitk.ac.in; kushmandasaurav@gmail.com).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this letter are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LAWP.2014.2306812
band-notch elements. Different multiple (dual, triple,
quadruple) band-notched UWB antenna topologies have
also been reported in recent literature [6][9]. Use of
split-ring resonators (SRRs) and complementary split-ring
resonators (CSRRs) to design reconfigurable multiple
band-notched UWB antennas has been presented in [10][13].
In this letter, we propose a simple low-cost microstrip-fed
half-elliptic monopole antenna similar to [2], with triple
band-notched functionality (Fig. 1). The half-elliptic monopole
is more compact compared to its complete circular, rectangular,
or elliptic counterparts as used in [10] and [11]. Two elliptic
single complementary split-ring resonators (ESCSRRs) are
embedded in the radiating patch to cancel interferences due
to WiMAX (3.33.8 GHz) and upper WLAN frequencies
(5.155.85 GHz). It can be inferred from [11] that for genera-
tion of narrower and stronger notch-bands, slots/CSRRs with
shape similar to that of the antenna patch are more effective,
as the current distribution is mostly concentrated at the edge
of the patch. The use of ESCSRRs for providing band-notched
characteristics is not very common, to the best of the knowl-
edge of the authors. Thus, a comprehensive and simple design
methodology of elliptic CSRRs most suitable for this antenna is
developed in this letter. Also, an ellipse having same area as that
of a circle would have greater perimeter [14], which intuitively
implies that use of an elliptic CSRR or SRR would provide
lesser resonant frequency. This indicates miniaturization of
the band-reject elements. Furthermore, rectangular split-ring
resonators are placed as parasitic elements near the junction
of feedline and radiating element to reject the ITU-speci-
fied X-band communication frequencies (7.98.4 GHz). The
proposed antenna, designed on FR4 substrate, is compact in

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SARKAR et al.: COMPACT MICROSTRIP-FED TRIPLE BAND-NOTCHED UWB MONOPOLE ANTENNA 397

desired notch frequency. The factor used for the calcula-

Fig. 2. Photograph of the fabricated antenna: (a) top view; (b) bottom view.
size (35 35 1.6 mm ), and it exhibits monopolar far-field
pattern in the radiating band. The details of the antenna design
procedure and its radiation performance are described in the
following sections.
II. ANTENNA DESIGN METHODOLOGY
The topology of the proposed antenna is shown in
Fig. 1. The antenna radiator is a half-elliptic patch having
major axis length and minor axis
length and placed on one side of the
substrate. Here, and functions respectively
choose the maximum value and minimum value from the
arguments. The radiating patch is fed by a 50- microstrip line
of width . The ground plane of the antenna is also half-el-
liptic in shape having major axis length
and minor axis length . The antenna ground
plane is placed symmetrically about the -axis with respect
to the patch, on the other side of the substrate. Fig. 2 shows
the top and bottom views of the proposed antenna fabricated
on 1.6-mm-thick FR4 substrate (dielectric constant 4.4, loss
tangent 0.02).
First, the reference antenna structure is simulated by finite el-
ement method (FEM)-based commercial electromagnetic sim-
ulator HFSS. The values of , and are paramet-
rically tuned to get an impedance bandwidth
9.50 GHz (2.2111.71 GHz), which covers the FCC specified
frequency range for UWB systems. Our objective is to obtain the
desired triple band-notched performance by using the ESCSRRs
( and in Fig. 1) and rectangular SRRs on the reference UWB
antenna. Before proceeding to full-wave simulations, we need
to make some initial guesses regarding the dimensions of the
band-notch elements. This issue is addressed in Sections II-A
and II-B.
A. Initial Choice of ESCSRR Dimensions
For an ESCSRR of major axis length , minor axis length
, and width [Fig. 1(b)], the design equations for ob-
taining a band-notch at frequency can be written as
Here, denotes the inner circumference of the elliptic slot
of the single complementary split ring, which should be ap-
proximately equal to half of the guided wavelength at the
tion of the circumference of ellipse is related to the ellipticity
) through (2) [14]. The effective dielectric con-
stant is calculated via (3), where , and are the substrate
height, width of the microstrip feed, and relative permittivity of
substrate, respectively [15]. In our design simulations, we have
fixed the width of ESCSRR slots at 0.3 mm, keeping the
limitations of the available fabrication facility in mind. Thus, for
a given value of , we have the option of properly choosing
and from (1) and (2). If ellipticity is specified, we obtain
from (2) and solve for using (1). However, for a speci-
fied value of , we can generate a simple quadratic equation
from (1) and (2) and solve for analytically.
B. Initial Choice of Rectangular SRR Dimensions
For choosing the design parameters of the rectangular SRR
for a desired , we can use the design guidelines from the
following equation:
(4)
Here, is the inner perimeter of the rectangular single split
ring that is a function of ring length , ring width , and
strip width , as shown in Fig. 1(c). For the rectangular SRR
to resonate at should be approximately equal to half
of the guided wavelength at that frequency.
C. Full-Wave Simulation
Fig. 3 illustrates the four different stages of the antenna design
principle adopted in this letter. The variations of VSWR with
frequency for these design stages are provided in Fig. 4. Case-I
shows the reference UWB antenna. In case-II, one ESCSRR
[denoted by in Fig. 1(a)] is etched out to obtain a single
band-notched antenna structure. To get this first band-notch at
5.75 GHz within the WLAN band (5.155.85 GHz), we choose
mm, mm, and analytically obtain the
of required value of ellipticity as 1.64. We take this value of
ellipticity as an initial guess and carry out HFSS simulations. It
is observed that the notch at 5.75 GHz is obtained for ,
while , and are kept fixed at the values used in the
analytical prediction step.
Next, we symmetrically place two rectangular SRR elements
of suitable dimensions near the junction of the feedline and
the radiating patch (Case-III) as shown in Fig. 3. The separa-
tion between the SRRs and the microstrip feedline has to be
kept small to ensure effective coupling resulting in band rejec-
tion. Keeping the available printed circuit board (PCB) fabri-
cation limitations in mind, this separation is kept at 0.3 mm.
For obtaining the notch at 8.27 GHz (lying within the band
of 7.98.4 GHz for X-band communication), we start with pa-
rameter values mm, mm and get
(1) mm from the design guidelines in (4). The notch
frequency at 8.27 GHz is obtained at mm from HFSS
(2) simulations.
In the final proposed design (Case-IV), an additional band-
(3) notch at 3.55 GHz within the WiMAX band (3.33.7 GHz) is
provided by using another larger ESCSRR element [denoted by
in Fig. 1(a)] having the following parameter values:
mm, mm, (analytically predicted
value of ). Strong concentration of simulated surface
398 IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 13, 2014

Fig. 3. Four different stages of antenna design. Case-I: reference UWB

monopole antenna with elliptic patch and ground plane. Case-II: configuration
for UWB antenna with rejection of single band by etching out one ESCSRR
from the radiating patch. Case-III: dual band-notched antenna by use of one
ESCSRR and two rectangular SRRs. Case-IV: proposed triple band-notched
antenna using two ESCSRRs and two rectangular SRRs.
Fig. 5. Distribution of surface current vector on the antenna structure for the
three notch frequencies (a) 3.55, (b) 5.75, and (c) 8.27 GHz.

Fig. 4. Variation of the VSWR with frequency for the four different cases as Fig. 6. Variation of the VSWR with frequency for proposed antenna.
mentioned in Fig. 3.

Fig. 2. Fig. 6 illustrates a comparison between the simulated

current vector is observed in the vicinity of the outer ESCSRR and measured VSWR values of the proposed antenna with
for 3.55 GHz, inner ESCSRR for 5.75 GHz, and the rectangular respect to frequency. The fabricated antenna has an impedance
SRRs for 8.27 GHz (Fig. 5), clearly indicating the respective el- bandwidth from 2.21 to 12.83 GHz with notch-bands in the
ements responsible for the band-notch characteristics. The final frequency ranges of 2.953.72 GHz (
design parameters of the antenna are as follows: mm, at 3.54 GHz), 5.126.07 GHz ( at 5.73
mm, mm, mm, mm, GHz), and 8.048.65 GHz ( at 8.56 GHz).
mm, mm, These three notch bands correspond to WiMAX, WLAN, and
mm, mm, . Here, sub- X-band communication frequencies, respectively. It is ob-
scripts and denote the smaller (Inner) and larger (Outer) served that, for the fabricated antenna, the third notch-band for
ESCSRRs, respectively. rejecting the high frequency band for X-band communication
is shifted by almost 300 MHz as compared to simulation. This
III. MEASUREMENT RESULTS AND DISCUSSION can be attributed to the fact that the high frequency bands are
The proposed antenna is fabricated on low-cost FR4 substrate more sensitive to fluctuation in relative permittivity of the sub-
dielectric constant loss tangent as shown in strate used [11]. Moreover, with respect to the first resonance
SARKAR et al.: COMPACT MICROSTRIP-FED TRIPLE BAND-NOTCHED UWB MONOPOLE ANTENNA 399

three desired bands, confirming the fact that the subwavelength

resonators (ESCSRRs and rectangular SRRs) provide excellent
intrinsic filtering without the need of external circuitry. Also, it
can be seen that, in the radiating band, the gain variation is al-
most the same as that of the reference antenna structure.

IV. CONCLUSION
In this letter, a compact triple band-notched UWB monopole
antenna is realized by embedding elliptic complementary split
rings and rectangular split rings in the antenna structure. The
proposed antenna has impedance bandwidth covering the en-
tire UWB range (3.110.6 GHz), along with notch-bands in the
WiMAX (3.33.8 GHz), WLAN (5.155.85 GHz), and X-band
(7.98.4 GHz) frequencies. The design guidelines and relevant
equations are described and validated via HFSS simulations. A
prototype antenna is fabricated in PCB lab using low-cost FR4
substrate. The VSWR and far-field measurements of the fabri-
cated antenna exhibit good match with simulation predictions.

Fig. 7. 2-D radiation pattern of the proposed antenna: (a) -plane (4.5 GHz);
(b) -plane (4.5 GHz); (c) -plane (7 GHz); (d) -plane (7 GHz).
Fig. 8. Variation of peak realized gain with frequency over the UWB range for
the reference and proposed antenna.
frequency at 2.6 GHz, the proposed antenna is quite compact in
size . The far-field pattern of proposed
antenna is determined from two-antenna measurement setup,
which is available in the anechoic chamber facility of our
institute.
Fig. 7 shows the 2-D radiation patterns (both measured and
simulated) of the antenna for 4.5 and 7 GHz, respectively. For
the -directed monopole antenna, omnidirectional copolarized
gain patterns are obtained along -plane for the two said fre-
quencies. Fig. 8 shows the variation of peak realized gain with
frequency for the proposed antenna over UWB frequency range
(311 GHz) along with that of the reference UWB antenna.
Sharp dips in the value of far-field peak gain are observed in the
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