Journal of Communications Vol. 15, No.
2, February 2020
Ultra-wideband Microstrip Array Antenna for 5G
Millimeter-wave Applications
Efri Sandi, Rusmono, Aodah Diamah, and Karisma Vinda
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jakarta Timur, Indonesia
Email: efri.sandi@unj.ac.id; rusmono@unj.ac.id; adiamah@unj.ac.id; karismavindaaa@gmail.com
Abstract—In this paper, a design of ultra-wideband microstrip
array antenna using a stepped line cut and U-slot combination
for 5G millimeter-wave applications is proposed. The feeding
technique used in the proposed design is a proximity coupling
technique to improve bandwidth performance. The proposed
antenna bandwidth performance is compared with the
conventional antenna array design to determine the bandwidth
increase. Numerical and simulation results show a significant
increase in bandwidth performance compared to conventional
design. The proposed antenna design can operate at frequency
band 28 GHz with a bandwidth 4.47 GHz and gain 8.71dB.
These results prove that the proposed antenna design can be
used for 5G technology applications in the millimeter-wave
band.

Index Terms—Stepped line cut, U-slot, Ultra-wideband, 5G
Antenna, Proximity coupled fed.
I. INTRODUCTION
The development of cellular communication
technology is currently entering the 5th generation (5G)
which has the challenge of achieving high speed, power
efficiency and system reliability [1]. One important part
of developing 5G technology is the development of
antenna designs to support 5G network performance. 5G
cellular technology requires antennas that have high
performance, Multiple Input-Multiple Output (MIMO)
and beamforming [2-3] transmission systems. 5G
technology requires a large spectrum to achieve the
desired performance. That requires the development of an
antenna that can support a wide bandwidth or ultra-
wideband antenna [4].
In developing the 5G antenna design, the size and
dimensions of The design of the 5G antenna was
developed at the millimeter-wave frequency according to
the Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
recommendations. The FCC proposes a new rule (FCC
15-138) for wireless broadband frequencies, namely as 28
GHz frequency bands, 37 GHz frequency band, 38 GHz
frequency band, and 64-71 GHz frequency band which
are targeted by researchers to be applied for 5G wireless
cellular network [5]. Due to the air and rain attenuation in
Manuscript received April 25, 2019; revised January 1, 2020.
This work was supported by PTUPT and PUPT UNJ 2019, the
Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education the Republic
of Indonesia
Corresponding author email: efri.sandi@unj.ac.id
doi:10.12720/jcm.15.2.198-204
©2020 Journal of Communications
the range of 28 GHz and 38 GHz are relatively small, so
this frequency band is considered to be used for 5G
technology [6].
In developing antennas for 5G technology applications,
microstrip antenna types are widely used because of
physical size, low profile, and easy to fabricated. But the
disadvantages of microstrip antennas are the narrow
bandwidth and the relatively small gain. For this reason,
various techniques have been studied to improve
bandwidth dan gain performance of the microstrip
antenna, such as using metamaterial structure technique,
patch-slot modification, and defected ground structure
(DGS).
In this study, the development of a slot antenna is
developed by adding a stepped line cut technique. The
slot antenna has the advantage of being able to produce
two-way radiation patterns with higher bandwidth [7].
The addition of slots on the antenna is able to produce a
coupling effect that affects the Q factor, which is
inversely proportional to the bandwidth of the antenna.
In previous study, the design of antenna arrays with
the U-slot method was able to increase a bandwidth up to
300 MHz for the frequency range 14.4 GHz to 15.4 GHz
[8], attain 20-30% impedance as well as gain bandwidths
without parasitic patches on another layer or on the same
layer [9], and can improves bandwidth 11.3% [10].
Furthermore, a combination of the stepped line cut
method and defected ground structure is capable of
producing bandwidth 4.29 GHz [11], using the stepped
cut four corners method able to increase bandwidth up to
63.61% [12], and a combination of the stepped line cut
and triangular slot method in the patch is able to produce
bandwidth up to 2.9 GHz for ultra-wideband antenna
applications [13].
The U-slot, along with the finite ground plane, is used
to achieve an excellent impedance matching to increase
the bandwidth [14]. The U-slot introduces a capacitive
component to counteract the large input inductance when
a thick substrate is used [9]. Then, by using a stepped line
cut, the size of the antenna has been reduced, and
bandwidth has also been sufficiently improved [11]. Thus,
the development of microstrip antennas for 5G
applications using a combination of U-slot and stepped
line cut is expected to provide more bandwidth
performance improvement than the results of previous
studies. Thus this ultra-wideband 5G antenna will be the
basis for the development of MIMO beamforming
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 Journal of Communications Vol. 15, No. 2, February 2020

antennas in future research. A. Calculation the Width of Microstrip Feed Line

The outline of this paper is as follows. After the
introduction in section I, the design of proximity coupling
for the proposed antenna are described in section II.
Section III shows the combination method proposed for
The width of the microstrip feed line can be discovered
after determining the equation according to the conditions,
𝑊
𝑢 = 𝐹 , that given by Hammerstad [16]:
ℎ

5G antenna application, including numerical analysis,

𝑊𝐹 8𝑒 𝐴
assessment and provides numerical experiments that = (1)
ℎ 𝑒 2𝐴−2
validate our proposal. Section IV summarizes the main
conclusion of this work. where the value 𝐴 is determined by the equation:

II. DESIGN OF PROXIMITY COUPLING 𝑍0 𝜀𝑟 +1 0.5 𝜀𝑟 −1 0.11

𝐴= [ ] + [0.23 + ] (2)
The Microstrip antenna had a patch on one side of the 100 2 𝜀𝑟 +1 𝜀𝑟
substrate. It is required to feed the Microstrip antenna
through the ground plane. The various type of feeding
B. Calculation the Length of Microstrip Feed Line
configurations such as microstrip line, coaxial probe,
aperture coupling & proximity coupling [13]. The The length of the microstrip feed-line can be
proximity coupling technique is also able to increase determined by the equation:
bandwidth. In the literature, the broadband modified
1
rectangular microstrip antenna using proximity feeding 𝐿𝐹 = 𝜆𝑔 (3)
4
technique can improve the bandwidth performance up to
200 MHz (22%) with the center frequency of 900 MHz
where 𝜆𝑔 is determined by the equation :
[14]. The main advantage of this feed technique is that it
eliminates spurious feed radiation and provides high
𝜆0
bandwidth (13%) due to the overall increase in the 𝜆𝑔 = (4)
√𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓
thickness of the microstrip patch antenna [14].(Fig. 1)

εr + 1 ε −1 1
𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓 = + [r ( ℎ
)] (5)
2 2
√1+12𝑊
𝐹

This method is advantageous to reduce harmonic

radiation of microstrip patch antenna implemented in a
multilayer substrate [16]. The feed line terminates in an
open-end underneath the patch. The open-end of the
microstrip line can be terminated in a stub, and the stub
parameters can be used to improve the bandwidth [17].
Fig. 1. Proximity coupling [13]
III. PATCH ANTENNA ARRAYS DESIGN WITH
Feeding techniques are important in determining the STEPPED LINE CUT AND U-SLOT
design process of the microstrip antenna. The various The proposed antenna has been simulated using
type of feeding configuration consists of the microstrip Computer Simulation Technology Studio Suite 2016, and
line, coaxial probe, aperture coupling & proximity the performance of the antenna has been analyzed in
coupling [15]. terms of bandwidth, return loss, VSWR, gain, and
resonant frequency.
TABLE I: PERCENTAGE OF BANDWIDTH ENHANCEMENT USING VARIOUS
TYPE OF FEEDING CONFIGURATIONS The first step of this study is designing a conventional
Percentage of Bandwidth microstrip antenna. The antenna consists of two
No. Feeding Configurations substrates, where the patch antenna on the upper layer
Improvement
1. Microstrip Line 2–5% and the microstrip line on the lower layer. The patch and
2. Coaxial Probe 2–5% the ground using a copper layer with a height of 0.035
3. Aperture Coupling 2–5%
mm. The height (h) of Rogers RT 5880 substrate is 0.787
4. Proximity Coupling 13%
mm.
And then, the antenna is designed to be conventional
The type of microstrip feeding technique that will be
microstrip antenna arrays using this equation [18]. (Fig.
used in this study is the proximity coupling. Proximity
2):
coupling uses two-layer substrates with the microstrip
line on the lower layer and the patch antenna on the upper 1
layer. The substrate parameters of the two layers can be 𝑑= 𝜆𝑔 (6)
2
selected to increase the bandwidth [16].

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 Journal of Communications Vol. 15, No. 2, February 2020

Fig. 2. Optimal distance on two patches [18]

Array techniques can be used to improve the quality of

the gain and directivity of the microstrip antenna. The
function of patches distance is to avoid mutual coupling Fig. 4. Dimensions of U-slot method
or the emergence of voltage in antenna due to adjacent
Slots E and F thickness are define as [21]:
antenna currents [19], [20].
The geometry of a conventional microstrip antenna
𝐸 = 𝐹 = 𝜆0 / 60 (7)
arrays designed has been shown in Fig. 3(a) and 3(b). The
dimensions of the antenna are as follow: periodic length
Slot D length is defined as :
𝐿𝑠 = 20.24 mm, periodic width 𝑊𝑠 = 22.61 mm of the
substrate with length 𝐿𝑝 = 2.9 mm, and width 𝑊𝑠 = 4.3 𝐶
mm of the patch. The antenna design, as shown in Fig. 3, 𝐷 = − 2 (𝐿 + Δ𝐿 − 𝐸) (8)
𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 √𝜀𝑒𝑓𝑓
is operational at 28.46 GHz. The antenna has a bandwidth
of 3.39 GHz and gains 7.84 dB. Slot C is defined as :

Lp C ≥ 0,3 𝑥 𝑊𝑝 (9)
B. Calculation of Stepped Line Cut Method
Wp
In the stepped line cut method, several corners of the
Ls rectangular patch are cut to produce the desired
bandwidth. In this method, the angle of the patch can be
cut in the form of steps based on geometry calculations
[22], [23]. The geometry details of the stepped line cut
methods have been shown in Fig. 5.
Ws
(a)

Ls

Ws Fig. 5. Geometry details of stepped line cut methods [23]

(b)
Fig. 3. Conventional microstrip antenna arrays (a) upper layer (b) lower 𝑛=𝑛
layer. 𝑊𝐿 − 𝑊𝐻
𝑊1 = = ∑ 𝑊𝑅𝑛 (10)
Then, the conventional microstrip antenna arrays are 2
𝑛=1
modified with Stepped Line Cut and U-slot.
A. Calculation of U-Slot Method 𝑛=𝑛
𝐿𝐿 − 𝐿𝐻
This slot patch method is done by cutting a part of the 𝐿1 = = ∑ 𝐿𝑅𝑛 (11)
antenna patch with U-shaped. The dimensions of U-Slot 2
𝑛=1
methods have been shown in Fig. 4.

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 Journal of Communications Vol. 15, No. 2, February 2020

When the steps dimension is the same, then WR = WR1 A comparison of antenna bandwidth performances has
= WR2 = … = WRn and LR = LR1 = LR2 = … = LRn, and it been shown in Fig. 8. The conventional antenna arrays
can be determined by the equation: have bandwidth 3.39 GHz. For some applications, the
value of the conventional antenna arrays bandwidth was
𝑊1 large enough, but for 5G mm-wave application still need
𝑊𝑅 = (12)
𝑛 to improved. In this observation, the modified antenna
𝐿1
with stepped line cut and U-slot is effective in enhancing
𝐿𝑅 = 𝑛
(13) the bandwidth up to 4.47 GHz.
𝑑𝐵

2 2
𝑅1 = 𝑛 𝑥 √𝐿𝑅 + 𝑊𝑅 (14)
where,
n = amount of steps
R1 = slop of steps
WR = width of steps
LR = length of steps
Based on the formulas, the microstrip antenna arrays
design with combination stepped line cut, and U-slot has Frequency (GHz)
been shown in Fig. 6. (a)
𝑑𝐵

𝐿𝑝

𝑊𝑝

𝐿𝑠

Frequency (GHz)
(b)
Fig. 8. Bandwidth Enhancement (a) Conventional microstrip antenna
arrays, (b) Microstrip antenna arrays with Stepped Line Cut and U-Slot.

TABLE III: SIMULATION ANTENNA PERFORMANCE COMPARISON

Antenna Array
𝑊𝑠 Performance
Stepped Line Cut
Fig. 6. Antenna arrays with a stepped line cut and U-slot Parameters Conventional Design
and U-slot
Bandwidth (GHz) 3.39 4.47
The dimensions of the antenna are as follow periodic Return Loss (dB) -15.05 -20.52
length 𝐿𝑠 = 19.86 mm, periodic width 𝑊𝑠 = 23.41 mm of Gain (dB) 7.84 8.71
the substrate with length 𝐿𝑝 = 2.9 mm, and width 𝑊𝑝 =
5.1 mm of the patch. The antenna is operational at 28 As shown in Table III, modifying antenna with stepped
GHz band and has better bandwidth and gain line cut and U-slot doesn’t only enhance the bandwidth,
performances. but also gain. The modified antenna has a better value of
return loss compare to the conventional antenna design.

Fig. 7. Detail dimension of stepped line cut and U-slot

TABLE II: THE DIMENSION OF THE STEPPED LINE CUT AND U-SLOT
Stepped Line Cut
U-Slot (mm)
(mm)
WR LR C D E F
0.3 0.3 1.4117 1 0.1783 0.3 (a)

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 Journal of Communications Vol. 15, No. 2, February 2020

(b)
Fig. 9. Radiation Pattern (a) Conventional microstrip antenna arrays, (b)
Microstrip antenna arrays with a stepped line cut and U-slot.
Then, the microstrip antenna design with stepped line
cut and U-slot is fabricated for further measurement and
(d)
Fig. 10. Fabrication result of microstrip antenna arrays with stepped line
cut and U-slot (a) proposed antenna, (b) upper antenna layer, (c) feeding
antenna layer, (d) ground antenna.
The comparison of simulation and measurement results
of the proposed design method, as shown in Fig. 11.
dB

validate our proposal as shown in Fig. 10.

Simulation ….. Measurement

(a)
dB

(a)

Theta/ Degree
Simulation ….. Measurement
(b)
Fig. 11. Comparison of simulation and measurement microstrip antenna
(b) arrays with a stepped line cut and U-slot (a) S-parameter (b) 2D
Radiation pattern plot.

The comparison of simulation and measurement results

shows that there is no significant difference, so it can be
concluded that the proposed design method can be used
as a solution to increase the microstrip antenna bandwidth
for ultra-wideband 5G millimeter-wave frequency. Thus
the results of this study can be used as basis for future
studies to develop 5G antenna beamforming with high
bandwidth performance.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
The combination of U-slot techniques and a stepped
(c)
line cut method proved to be able to increase bandwidth

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 Journal of Communications Vol. 15, No. 2, February 2020
and gain performance of the microstrip antenna for 5G
millimeter-wave application. The proposed design
method was improved the antenna bandwidth up to 4.47
GHz or increase 31.8% compared to conventional design
methods. The simulation and measurement result of the
proposed design can be used as the basis for further
development to enhance the performance of 5G
millimeter-wave antennas and other applications.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
E.S, A.D, and K.V conducted the research; E.S, R, and
A.D analyzed the data; E.S and A.D wrote the paper. All
authors had approved the final version.
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Copyright © 2020 by the authors. This is an open access article
distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-
NC-ND 4.0), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any
medium, provided that the article is properly cited, the use is non-
commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Efri Sandi was born in Rumbai, Riau
Province, Indonesia, in 1975. He
received the B.S. degree from
Universitas Negeri Padang (UNP),
Indonesia, in 1999, the M.S. degree from
Universitas Trisakti, Indonesia, in 2004,
and his Ph.D degree from Universitas
Indonesia, in 2017, all in electrical
engineering. He joined to the Department of Electrical
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 Journal of Communications Vol. 15, No. 2, February 2020
Engineering Universitas Negeri Jakarta since 2008 as a lecture.
Since 2019 he has been appointed as head of electronic
engineering education program in engineering faculty
Universitas Negeri Jakarta. He also worked as a
telecommunications consultant for several telecommunications
companies in Indonesia since 2005. His research interests
include antenna and propagation, mobile communication and
radar application.
Email: efri.sandi@unj.ac.id
Rusmono was born in Jakarta, DKI
Jakarta Province, Indonesia, in 1959. He
received the B.S. degree from electronic
engineering education IKIP Jakarta,
Indonesia, in 1984, and the B.S degree
from electrical engineering Universitas
Indonesia, in 2000, the M.S. degree and
Ph.D degree from IKIP Jakarta, in 1995
and 2009, all in educational technology.
He joined to the Department of Electrical Engineering
Universitas Negeri Jakarta since 1985 as a lecture. Since 2016
he has been appointed as secretary of the research institute
Universitas Negeri Jakarta. He also worked as an instructional
design consultant for several university and companies in
Indonesia since 1995. His research interests include
instructional design in electrical engineering, curriculum design
in electrical engineering and communication system.
Email: rusmono@unj.ac.id
©2020 Journal of Communications
Aodah Diamah was born in Jakarta,
Indonesia, in 1978. She received the B.S.
degree from Universitas Indonesia (UI),
Indonesia, in 2001 and the M.S. degree
from Monash University, Australia, in
2004. She received her Ph.D degree from
University of Canberra, Australia, in
2017, all in electrical engineering. She
joined to the Department of Electrical Engineering Universitas
Negeri Jakarta since 2005 as a lecture. Since 2019 she has been
appointed as Quality Assurance (GP3M) of graduate program
Universitas Negeri Jakarta. Her research interests include
computer programing, algorithm analysis and antenna
propagation.
Email : adiamah@unj.ac.id
Karisma Vinda was born in Jakarta,
Indonesia, in 1997. She received the B.S.
degree from Universitas Negeri Jakarta
(UNJ), Indonesia, in 2019 with majoring
electrical engineering. She joined to the
antenna and microwave research group
in Department of Electrical Engineering
Universitas Negeri Jakarta since 2016 as
a research assistant. Currently, she continuing M.S degree in
electrical engineering with majoring telecommunication system.
Her research interests include antenna and propagation,
communication system and radar application.
Email: karismavindaaa@gmail.com
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