18th international conference on Sciences and Techniques of Automatic control &
computer engineering - STA'2017, Monastir, Tunisia, December 21-23, 2017
Design of patch array antennas for future 5G
applications
Ilhem Gharbi, Rim Barrak, Mourad Menif
GRESCOM Research Laboratory
Sup'Com, University of Carthage,
City of Communications Technologies, Ariana, Tunisia
ilhem.gharbi@supcom.com, rim.barrak@supcom.tn,
mourad.mnif@supcom.tn
Abstract— The purpose of the paper is to investigate the
design of rectangular patch antenna arrays fed by
miscrostrip and coaxial lines at 28 GHz for future 5G
applications. Our objective is to design a four element
antenna array with a bandwidth higher than 1 GHz and a
maximum radiation gain. The performances of the
rectangular 4*1 and 2*2 patch antenna arrays designed on
Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 substrate were optimized and the
simulation results reveal that the performance of 4*1
antenna array fed by microstrip line is better than 2*2
antenna array fed by coaxial cable. We obtained for the
topology of 4*1 rectangular patch array antenna a
bandwidth of 2.15 GHz and 1.3 GHz respectively with
almost similar gains of the order of 13.3 dBi.
Keywords—component; 5G applications; microstrip line;
coaxial feed; patch array antenna.
I. INTRODUCTION
4G has reached maturity after being deployed around 2010.
No major changes in the network structure have been made
while the mobile communications market is expanding. 4G
cannot meet current requirements such as spectral congestion or
the reduction of energy consumption. That is why the world
focuses on the 5G.
The standardization of 5G is being developed, with a first
deployment planned for the moment in 2020[1]. 5G, which will
probably still see a large increase in data volumes exchanged,
and which will use millimeter bands, with low propagation
capacity, will probably require the generalization of the
implementation of small-cell radio transmitter [2]. It is possible
to identify several trends in 5G specifications. Since no
standard will be available until 2019, these specifications will
be subject to change. However, they remain an indicator of
what tomorrow's mobile network will look like. Here are the
main specifications set so far:
- A latency time between 1 ms and 5 ms, necessary for any
system having to work in real time such as autonomous
vehicles and remote surgery [3]. The goal is also to provide the
user with a sense of instant access to content of interest.
- An increase in data throughput, of the order of 10 Gb/s, which
is 10 times the bit rate available today in 4G for mobile
978-1-5386-1084-8/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE
STA'2017-PID4613-TCE
Hedi Ragad
CSEHF Laboratory
Department of Physics, FST, University of Tunis El Manar,
2092 Tunis line 4
Hedi.ragad@gmail.com
applications. As with latency, increasing throughput means
improved user comfort.
- An improvement in network coverage 1000 times greater
compared to that available in 2010 for access regardless of
where the user is, even in mobility.
- A 90% reduction in energy consumption to limit the impact
on the environment, reduce costs and increase the autonomy of
the appliances.
Modern wireless communication systems require low
profile, high gain, and simple structure antennas. Microstrip
antennas meet some requirements thanks to their simplicity and
compatibility with printed circuit technology [4]. However their
limitations are specifically narrow frequency band. For these
reasons, many studies have been made to improve the
performances of the antenna patch. As shown in [5], using
multiple numbers of slots in ground plane has enhanced the
bandwidth. Another way to improve the bandwidth and
efficiency of the conventional patch antenna is to reduce the
substrate dielectric constant, as demonstrated in [6] [7]. It is
also known that the antenna return loss can be considerably
increased by searching the optimal position in case of coaxial
feed or designing progressive matching network in case of
microstrip line feed [9].
This paper focuses on the case of patch array antenna to
improve gain and bandwidth. It deals with how to improve the
performances of a rectangular patch antenna and a rectangular
patch antenna array at 28 GHz for future 5G applications fed by
a coaxial feed and a microstrip line. First, we will describe the
design of the rectangular patch antenna at 28 GHz which is
necessary to calculate radiation parameters of the antenna
(return loss, radiation pattern, gain). Second, we will show the
simulation results of the return loss for the optimal position of
the coaxial feed for the rectangular patch array and the
rectangular patch antenna array. Finally, a comparison between
2*1, 2*1 and 4*1 linear rectangular patch array antenna will be
given.
II. PATCH ANTENNA THEORY AND DESIGN
In this section, we will introduce the patch antenna theory
when it is fed by coaxial feed and microstrip line, then we will
apply the theory to design patch antenna at 28 GHz.
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A. Antenna theory
The components of a microstrip patch antenna are a
conducting rectangular patch and a ground plane separated by a
dielectric substrate given by fig. 1.
because of its low dielectric loss tangent which is generally
preferred for maximum radiation and enhanced antenna gain.
Different dielectric thicknesses were investigated in order
to study their impact on the antenna performances. The
thickness values were selected from Rogers datasheet [10].
The antenna physical parameters are given in table I.

TABLE I. RECTANGULAR PATCH ANTENNA THEORTICAL DIMENSIONS

h (mm) 0.508 0.381 0.254

W (mm) 4.23 3.78 3.74
Heff 1,98 2 2.04
Figure 1. Rectangular patch antenna 'L (mm) 2.6 1.96 1.32
L (mm) 3.28 3.39 3.48
The width W and length L of the antenna are calculated Lsub (mm) 6.33 5.67 5
using the equations from (1) to (4) [9]. Wsub (mm) 7.28 6.07 5.26

c
W (1) For the coaxial feed, we selected different inner (rin) and
Hr 1
2 f0 outer (rout) conductor radius giving the same coaxial
2 characteristic impedance equal to 50: [11]. For each case the
Where f 0 is the resonant frequency and H r is the dielectric ratio rout/rin was set to 2.3. For the microstrip line feed, we
calculated the line width Wf in order to have characteristic
constant. impedance equal to 50: [9]. This parameter depends on the
The radiations pass through air and some through the substrate thickness.
substrate to reach the ground. The air and the substrate have Feeding parameters for the studied feeding techniques
different dielectric constant values, therefore an effective shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are given in table II.
dielectric constant ( H eff ) has to be considered. It is calculated
using the equation (2) [9]. TABLE II. FEEDING PARAMETERS
1 / 2
H r  1 H r  1 ª 12h º h(mm) 0.508 0.381 0.254
H eff  «1  » (2) rin(mm) 0.51 0.38 0.254
2 2 ¬ W ¼
rout(mm) 1.173 0.874 0.5842
Where h is the thickness of the substrate. Wf(mm) 1.62 1.19 0.78

The length of the patch is calculated using equation (3) [9]. III. SIMULATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

c In this section we will show the simulation results of

L  2'L (3)
2 f 0 H eff different printed antenna topologies using ANSYS HFSS CAD
tool (High Frequency Electromagnetic Field Simulation). First,
Electrically the size of the antenna is increased by an single patch antenna designed with different feeding
amount of ǻ/ due to fringing. The increased length is given techniques will be detailed. Then, different patch array
using the equation (4). [9] configurations will be studied.
W A. Single Patch antenna
(H eff  0.3)(  0.264)
'L 0.412h h (4) The theoretical parameters of the single rectangular patch
W
(H eff  0.258)(  0.8) were optimized for the microstrip and coaxial feed to meet the
h
requirement of the resonant frequency at 28 GHz. Based on the
The minimum length (Lsub) and the minimum width (Wsub) optimized parameters, a comparison between the performances
of the substrate are calculated using equation (5) and) [9]. of the two feeding techniques was derived.
Lsub=6h+L (5) We first studied the impact of the substrate thickness on
Wsub=6h+ W (6) antenna performances. We found that when h is increased the
antenna bandwidth is improved.
B. Antenna design The coaxial feed position ((x0,y0,z0) in fig.2) was optimized
In this section, the dimensions of the two antenna to obtain good impedance matching between the radiation
topologies shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 will be derived using element and the feeding line around 28 GHz. Our objective is
equations (1)-(6). to reach a return loss lower than -20 dB. We obtained the
We used Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 as a substrate material position (x0= -0.74, y0=0, z0=0) mm.
with a dielectric constant of 2.2 and a loss tangent of 0.0009,

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 We notice that the rectangular patch antenna fed by a coax
offers a higher bandwidth (BW=1.7 GHz) compared with the
patch antenna fed by a microstrip line (BW= 0.9 GHz) .
Table III shows the optimized values of the two antenna
topologies and their performances.

TABLE III. OPTIMIZED MICROSTRIP ANETNNA DIMENSIONS FOR

Figure 2. Geometry of the rectangular patch antenna with coaxial feed DIFFERENT FEEDING TECHNIQUES AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

Feeding techniques
The same work was done for a rectangular patch antenna Coaxial Microstrip line
with microstrip line feed. y1 gap parameter (see fig.3) was Patch antenna parameters
adjusted to meet the requirement of minimum return loss at the L(mm) 3.2 3.52
resonant frequency 28 GHz. We obtained the minimum return W(mm) 4.23 4.17
loss when the length of the patch was L=3.52 mm and the gap (x,y,z)(mm) -0.74 ,0 ,0 -
y1 was 1.1mm. wf(mm) - 1.7
Patch antenna performances
BW(GHz) 1.7 0.9
Gain(dBi) 7.8 6.43
HBW in OXZ plan 90° 85°
VBW in OYZ plan 86° 80°
y1
Maximum side lobes (dB) -9.3 -7.6
Minimum return loss (dB) -27 -24.5
Based on the simulation results shown above, we conclude
Figure 3. Geometry of the rectangular patch antenna with microstrip line
feed
that, for a single rectangular patch antenna at 28 GHz the
technique of coaxial feed is better than line microstrip feed; it
offers larger bandwidth and better gain. However, the
The radiation pattern of the patch fed by a microstrip and a
implementation of the microstrip line feed is much easier than
coaxial line at 28 GHz is shown in the fig.4.
coaxial feed. In addition, it offers a side lobes level lower than
coaxial feed.
B. Rectangular patch array antenna
Before designing four element patch antenna array, we
studied a 2*1 rectangular patch antenna array fed by a
microstrip line. Our objective is to have a good impedance
matching and a high bandwidth. Then, we designed a 4*1 and
(a) (b) 2*2 rectangular patch array antenna in order to compare their
performances.
Figure 4. Simulated gain 3D of the patch antenna : (a) with
microstrip line feed, (b) with coaxial feed 1) Two-element antenna array design
The gain of a single patch does not exceed 7 dBi. For the
Fig.4 shows the radiation pattern of the two feeding systems of the 5G, 7 dBi is very little value; it should be
techniques. We obtain practically the same shape but different improved by the use of an antenna array which gives a high
value of gain .The gain of the coaxial feed (7.8 dBi) is better value of gain compared to a single patch [12]. Also the
than the microstrip line feed (6.43 dBi). fractional bandwidth will be improved compared to a single
Fig.5 shows the simulated return loss for the patch antenna patch which is of 3%.
fed by a microstrip and coaxial line. The adaptation to 50 : is necessary to ensure good
0
operation of the antenna. In order to power a two-element
antenna array, a T-junction is used. There are several T-
junction configurations with different calculation methods. Fig.
-5

rectangular patch antenna fed by a coax

-10
rectangular patch antenna fed by a microstrip line 6 gives the T-junction configuration used in our work [13]. This
technique allows having a good impedance matching over a
S11[dB]

-15

-20
wide frequency band.
Z0 Z0
-25

Og
-30
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
4 Z1=Z0/ 2
Frequency [GHz]

Figure 5. Simulated return loss (S11) of the rectangular patch antenna with
coaxial and microstrip line feeds.
Figure 6. T-junction configuration

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 The radiating elements are mounted on the surface of the
dielectric substrate with a thickness of h = 0.508mm and a
relative permittivity of İr = 2.2. Each radiating element is
uniformly spaced from its neighbors by a distance of d (see
fig.7). d d’
Figure 7. Geometry of the rectangular 2*1 patch antenna array
The distance d was optimized in order to maximize the
radiated gain. The optimized value is equal to 7.4 mm . The
simulated gain of the 2*1 patch array antenna fed by a
microstrip line is shown in fig.8.
Figure 8. Simulated gain pattern 3D of 2*1 the patch antenna array
When the number of radiated elements is doubled, the gain
is increased by 3dB. The gain of two elements is equal to 9.7
dB. The 3dB beam width in the H –plane becomes equal to 60°.
2) Antenna array 4*1 with microstrip line feed
The radiating elements are mounted on the surface of the
dielectric substrate with a thickness of h = 0.508 mm and a
UHODWLYHSHUPLWWLYLW\RIİr = 2.2. We take the optimized distance
d of the 2*1 rectangular patch antenna array and we optimized
the distance between the internal patchs d2 (see fig.9).
We must take into account in the design of a patch array
antenna the spacing between the elements of the array which
directly affects the radiation pattern and the gain. The
PD[LPXPJDLQLVREWDLQHGZKHQWKHVSDFLQJLVEHWZHHQȜ0
DQG  Ȝ0. If the elements are too close to each other, a
coupling phenomenon reduces the gain value and when they are
too far apart, secondary lobes appear and consequently reduce
the directivity. d d2
Figure 9. Geometry of the rectangular 4*1 patch antenna array .
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3) Antenna array 2*2 with Coaxial feed
The design of 2*2 rectangular patch array antenna is shown
in the fig.10.The radiated element are feeding with a microstrip
line and the antenna array is feeding with a coax (hybrid feed).
d’1 Coaxial feed
Figure 10. Geometry of the rectangular 2*2 patch antenna array fed by a coax
(a) (b)
Simulated gain 3D for the 4*1and 2*2 patch antenna array : (a) coaxial feed,
(b) microstrip line feed
Fig.10 shows the radiation pattern of the 4*1 and 2*2
rectangular patch array antenna. We obtain practically similar
gains of the order of 13.3 dBi but the the radiation pattern of the
4*1 rectangular patch array antenna is more directive than the
2*2 structure.
Simulated gain pattern 2D of the 4*1 and 2*2 microstrip
patch antenna array are given in the fig.11.
2*1 patch antenna array
2*2 patch antenna array
4*1 patch antenna array
Figure 11. Simulated gain pattern 2D of the 4*1,2*2 and 2*1 microstrip patch
antenna array in the E-plane
Fig11. shows how directive is the radiation pattern of the
4*1 rectangular patch array antenna. The 3 dB beam width is
equal to 30 °.The beam is narrow compared with the 2*2 and
2*1 rectangular patch antenna array beam width which is equal
to 50° and 60° respectively.
Fig.18 shows the simulated return loss for the microstrip
4*1, 2*2 and 2*1 patch antenna array.
 0

and a coaxial feed were successfully designed and analyzed

using HFSS. The performance parameters for the microstrip
-10

4*1 rectangular patch antenna array

-20
2*1 rectnagular patch antenna array
2*2 rectangular patch antenna array
2*1 rectangular patch array antenna were achieved with return
-30 loss of -25 dB, bandwidth of 1.5 GHz and gain of 9.7 dB at 28
S11[dB]

-40 GHz. For the microstrip 4*1 rectangular patch array antenna
-50
4*1, we obtain return loss of -62 dB, bandwidth of 2.15 GHz
-60
and gain of 13.2 dB at 28 GHz .The proposed designs can be
used for different mm-wave phased array applications and also
-70
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 applicable for future 5G. As taking the mutual coupling effects
Frequency [GHz]
among elements and reflection in the feed network into
Figure 12. Simulated retun loss for the 2*1 , 4*1 and 2*2 patch antenna array
calculation, the gain of array will be improved.
In the further work, antenna array of n elements and
When we compare between the three structures, we notice reconfigurable antenna for the control of the radiation pattern
that the wide bandwidth is given by the 4*1 rectangular patch by using the technique of hybrid beamforming will be
array antenna (BW=2.15GHz) compared with the bandwidth investigated.
of the 2*1 and 2*2 rectangular patch antenna array which
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The design of a rectangular patch antenna, a 2*1 and 4*1
linear rectangular patch array antenna fed by a miscrostrip line

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