A Novel Ultra-Wide Band Antenna Design using

Notches and Stairs

H.

Mayank Sharma

S. Mewara

Electronics and Communication Engineering Department,

Government Engineering College, Ajmer, India
msecajmer@gmail.com

Electronics and Communication Engineering Department,

Government Engineering College, Ajmer, India
hsmewara@gmail.com

Ajay Dadhich

M. M. Sharma

Principal,
Government Engineering College, Ajmer, India
mmsjpr@gmail.com

Electronics and Communication Engineering Department,

Government Engineering College, Ajmer, India
ajaydadhich13@gmail.com

Abstract- This paper describes the parametric study of a novel

rectangular

planar

ultra-wide

band

antenna

(UWB).

The

proposed design exploits U and T-shaped notches with stairs at

two corners on the radiating patch along with stepped microstrip

antenna must operate over entire frequency band allocated by

FCC with low power characteristics and VSWR S 2 for entire
band.

feed. The stairs are also used at the corners of the partial ground
plane

with

a rectangular

notch

and

w.

an electromagneticaUy

coupled stepped rectangular strip. The proposed UWB antenna

is

designed

Technology

and

simulated

Microwave

using

Studio

Computer

(CST-MWS).

Simulation

This

antenna

3.0985 to 10.666 GHz

with the overaU dimensions of 34 mm (L), 37.5 mm (W) and 1.7
mm (H). The VSWR is less than 2 for entire operating frequency

operates in a frequency band ranging from

range. The impedance bandwidth of the proposed design is

7.5675 GHz. This antenna finds its applications in 5.2/5.8

GHz WLAN, 3.5/5.5 GHz WiMAX, 4 GHz C band and lower

nearly

l.

lp

frequencies of X band. The effect of the stepped ground plane

and the dimensions of U, T and rectangular shaped notches on
the

optimization

of

the

return

loss

is

parameterized

and

discussed in detail.

Keywords-

Rectangular

planar

ultra-wide

band

antenna,

stepped microstrip feed, stepped partial ground plane, coupled

stepped rectangular strip.

I.

Fig. I (a). Front view of the proposed antenna with parameters.

INTRODUCTION

Due to the large and rapid advancements in the field of

wireless communication there is a large increasing demand for
ultra-wide bandwidth. With this increasing demand for
antenna's operating in multiple bands for wireless
communications, the ultra-wide band technology (3.1 GHz to
10.6 GHz) has grabbed much attention of large number of
researchers. The UWB is proving the most promising
technology to compensate the demand for high data rates and
large bandwidth. The major advantages of this attraction
towards planar monopole UWB patch antenna is due to its
compact size, large bandwidth, low cost, higher data rates for
short range communications, light weight, simple geometry,
good impedance properties and high gain radiations in desired
directions [2-4]. U.S. Federal Communication Commission
(FCC) has approved the license free use of frequency ranging
from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz for ultra-wide band
communications in 2002 [l]. Then after the researchers have
shown keen interest in UWB antenna design. An UWB

978-1-4799-3140-8/14/$31.00 2014 IEEE

g]

Fig. I (b). Bottom

parameters.

425

view

of the

proposed

antenna

with

In the last decade, various literatures on UWB antenna

designs showing planar monopole UWB antenna have been
presented and published having large bandwidth, low cost and
simple geometry [2-6]. The shape and geometry of the
radiating patch and ground plane is the major concern for
planar UWB antenna designs. For designing an UWB antenna,
various methods like slotted patch, slotted ground, partial
ground, modified feed, truncated comer patch, etc. have been
used [2-6].
The geometry of proposed UWB antenna is shown in Fig.
l (a) and l (b). In this paper, a novel rectangular planar UWB
antenna is proposed using one U-shaped and one T-shaped
notch with two stepped comers on the radiating patch along
with stepped microstrip feed. The design also includes stepped
partial ground plane with a rectangular notch and an
electromagnetically coupled stepped rectangular strip. The U
and T-shaped notches are used to provide additional
bandwidth so as to make the proposed antenna desirable for
UWB applications. As the ground plane beneath the radiating
patch is partially removed the bandwidth of the planar
microstrip patch antenna increases tremendously [8-9].
Moreover, the impedance matching is achieved by the use of
stepped microstrip feed and by optimizing the length of the
ground plane [3].
II. ANTENNA DESIGN
The configuration and geometry of proposed ultra-wide
band antenna is shown in Fig. 1. The proposed antenna is
constructed on FR-4 substrate of 1.6 mm thickness with
dielectric constant of 4.3 and loss tangent (tan 8) of 0.025. The
stepped microstrip feed of this antenna is divided in two parts
of length LI and L2 with WI and W2 width respectively. The
rectangular patch with Wp x Lp dimensions consist of three
stepped stairs on two comers of the feeding edge. The
radiating patch also includes one U-shaped notch with x, y, z
and one T-shaped notch with c, CJ, C2 dimensions respectively.
In addition to this, for appropriate matching of impedance the
distance between the radiating patch and ground plane is
optimized using d=Lr- Lg, where'd' is the distance between
patch and ground plane, 'Lr' is the length of feed and 'Lg' is
the length of ground plane [2]. Furthermore, the stepped
ground plane with a rectangular notch of dimension gl x g2 is
used along with three stairs at the two comers of rectangular
parasitic strip. In the proposed design, U, T and rectangular
notches with stepped comers in radiating patch and ground
plane is used which increases the surface current path
resulting in additional resonance along with increase in
impedance bandwidth. Stepped ground plane results in smooth
transition from one resonant mode to another ensuring good
impedance matching and stable gain over. The optimal
designed parameters of the proposed antenna are as follows:
Ws=37.5 mm, Ls =34 mm, Wp = 18 mm, Lp = 11 mm,
WI = 3.5 mm, LI = 6 mm, W2 =3 mm, L2 =5.5 mm, x=1
mm, y=2 mm, z=7.5 mm, Lg = 10.55 mm, gl=2 mm, g2 =5
mm, al= 4 mm, a2 =2.5 mm, a3 =2 mm, bl=1 mm, b2 = 0.5

426

20 J 4

7.7

mm, b3 = 1 mm, Lgi = 1 l . 95 mm, c = 0.5 mm, CI

mm, C2 = 8 mm, h= l . 6 mm and m,=0.05 mm.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The proposed UWB antenna is designed and parameterized

by selecting the optimal and best values of the various above
said parameters. In this parametric study the optimal value of
each parameter was chosen and remaining parameters were
optimized by fixing it. The Computer Simulation Technology
Microwave Studio (CST-MWS 11) is used for this parametric
study and simulation results were obtained.
At first, the effect of stepped microstrip feed was
investigated and the lengths (LI and L2) and widths (WI and
W2) of this asymmetric structure were optimized for best
results. Fairly good impedance matching is achieved by using
stepped microstrip feed. As the values of LJ, L2, WI and W2
are varied the return loss is improved tremendously until the
optimal value is reached. Peak of the return loss curve and the
bandwidth is sensitive to the dimensions of these parameters.
The lower frequency of the return loss increases as the lengths
of the above parameters is increased. The variation of the
parameters L2 and W2 is shown in Fig. 2 and 3.

. . . "'R
0 .......

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1
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1

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Fr.,...-,;y/Gt

Fig. 2. Variation of parameter L2 of stepped feed.

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D\
\

, ' i

.......

.......

,.... .. .. ... ,..... ..

.. .. .. .

W2=2
I W22.75

! \ v. ................,.......... ! r,/
!
Iff ........... ............... ,....\!

\1 ,

.......

,.......

';

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, ....... f ................. \IV ' , I
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,\t
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I

FreqJe!'"Cy!(1-tz

10

12

Fig. 3. Variation of parameter W2 of stepped feed.

Secondly, the dimensions of U-shaped notch is optimized
which adds to the bandwidth of proposed antenna. As the
values of x and y is increased the peak value of return loss is
improved at lower and the upper frequencies of the return loss
curve but this leads to decrease in peak value of return loss at

International Conference on Signal Propagation and Computer Technology (ICSPCT)

mid frequencies. Length of the U notch i.e. z is controlling

parameter of both bandwidth and peak SII. As the value of z is
increased, the upper frequency peak of return loss curve shifts
to lower frequency and the peak SII at lower frequency
decreases with bandwidth which can be easily seen in Fig. 4.
ISI,llnill

101
. 1

,7
".;................ ;.. ......... ..;......... . .,................, .. ......... ;. ......... ..;................;.. ......... .; . ....... .. 1'7S
z=8
........:\..........,............,..............:..............,............... ::............. .,.... ...........,....."".,&.""'.
.. ........ ;.... \ ....:/......:............"

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........;
......'

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fill ; ...... ;........

;................ ;

,........

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I;; ; ; ..............
; ....... ; .... .. ; ....... ;.......

10

11

Freq..exy/G-lz

........ , ........ , ........ ,........

,.......

........ , ........ . ; ........ ; ........

Fig. 6. Variation of parameter al of stepped comers.

1 .. .. ;.. .. lf.. :........:........ ;...............:............... ;;. .. ...........;.................:..........;...... .. 1

I

,.......

<51

:................,

......

........'....

2.51 .. ........; .. .... \ I.. ; .. .. ........,.. ........ ,...... .. .,. .............. ;. ......... ..;.. ..vU h .......... .. ;........ .. 1
: H , ........

II ; ........ , ........ I

.JS I

I '.. l ....,.. .. ,.. ........ .,. .... .. ..... " ............,--\

........ ; ........ ;

, .......

ISI,llndl

10

10

a3=1.5

d -----
---

\
\

15

freqmy/1li1

a3=1

11
25

Fig. 4. Variation of parameter z of U-shaped notch.

Then after the dimensions of T-shaped notch is varied to
obtain the additional bandwidth for ultra-wide band operation.
The upper frequencies are also sensitive to variation of c and
c" the peak SII shifts to upper frequencies on increasing the
values of these parameters which is shown in Fig. 5. In
addition to this, the peak value of the return loss curve is
improved by varying the parameter C2'

\\///;
\WI
\

/'"

a3=2
a3:3

.JS

.",

10

Freven:y/G1z

12

Fig. 7. Variation of parameter a3 of stepped comers.

111,110<1\

IS1,llnill

cO.15
cO.75
c=1

."

""
.

10

12

Freq.JE:!l:y/G-tz

Fig. 8. Variation of parameter bl of stepped comers.

lSI/lintS

freqmy /1li1

10

12

Fig. 5. Variation of parameter c of T-shaped notch.

After that the parameters of three level stepped comers are
varied i.e. ai , a2, a3, bl , b2, and b3. Three level stepped comers
are used to make proposed antenna fit for ultra-wide band
operations. The impedance bandwidth is sensitive to the
variation of the parameters a3, b" b2, and b3 while the peak
return loss (SII) is increased by varying the parameters ai , a2,
bl, b2, and b3. The above said variations can be seen in Fig. 6,
7, 8 and 9.

2014

10 I ...... ;\...... ..; ........ ::.:=c.... ; .. ........; .. ...... .. ..;.............,... ............;./9'.........

151 ........ ;.. 1,...... ..; ;j.:........;........ "

"'1 ........, ,
251

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;,;

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....... .; ........; .......

.;...............
; ....... ; tw;;

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..............; ....... ;.......
;

, ....... ; .......

,;'11

""I.. ......,.. .., .., .... ..,........, .. ......,.. .... .. ,........'.. ..1 .. .. ' .... ..,.. .. 1
5 --------

FreqJeO:yjG1z

10

12

Fig. 9. Variation of parameter b3 of stepped comers.

International Conference on Signal Propagation and Computer Technology (ICSPCT)

427

The dimensions of the rectangular notch on the ground

plane i.e. gl and g2 are varied thereafter. As the ground plane
beneath the radiating patch is removed partially the bandwidth
increases. This notch provides additional impedance matching
between ground plane and the radiating patch. By virtue of the
dimensions of this notch the SII improves. The bandwidth of
the proposed antenna increases with increasing gl and
decreases with increasing g2 which is shown in Fig. 9 and 10.

151,llnlll

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15 j

WI/7''"'F= 1f -:--....."'""'=*

25 j

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.........:.....

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gl1

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, ........

.. .. ..... . : .............,.......... .

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........ , ........f.... f.... IlgIO.55
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........

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I

12

7
Freq..o>:y/Gt

Fig. 12. Variation of parameter Lg of ground plane.

I: ............... : ...... 1
: .. .. .. :

.. ... .. ..

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......... :..... 11 : : : .... :................:...............:.. +

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..

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Igll

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..
: i,

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l :

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........ - --

1Ol

15 l .... + \...... ,/ ........f......'"

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.......

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: ............... :......

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10

Freq...-.:y/Il-Iz

11

12

Fig. 10. Variation of parameter gl of rectangular notch.

ISI,llndJ
5

..

."\.. : ................:................: .................:...............: ................:...............:................:...............: ...... ..

.. 1

10 + .........:\ .............: ... .. ...........: ,.,..........: ............: ..............:............:..............: ..,69'

15 +

11 +

............:....\..........;.8..........: .............. '*',...

:

........

, e'iF:'=r.......... r

V:

j..........

g24
g24.5
g25
g25.5
g26

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.+ .........:..... u :

: ........

: :

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.

........

.......

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n + .. ....:.. ;....:.... : ..;... ..; ......:.. .. 11..: .... .. ;..... .. 1

'I '

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.........:

+ , ........ ,.

.......

--T------r---T------r---4

Freq...-.:y/Il-Iz

11

12

Fig. II. Variation of parameter g2 of rectangular notch.

In the last, the dimensions of the ground plane and the
parasitic rectangular strip i.e. Lg and Lg1are varied to achieve
good matching of impedance. As the value of Lg increases the
peak SII at lower fTequency improves which can be easily
seen in Fig. 11.
The return loss and VSWR curve for the proposed antenna
is shown in Fig. 12 and I 3.The peak value of return loss curve
for the proposed antenna is nearly -39 dB at 3.68 GHz and for
entire operating bandwidth the VSWR is less than 2.

20 J 4

25

428

V5W",'aoo[ySWR)
1%1(1

25 + .. ........ , . . 1 I .:........; .. ...... : .. ........;............:............;

.oj)+ .........:.

Freq..o>:y/Gt

Fig. 13. Return loss (SII) curve of the proposed antenna.

1.51

........ : .\,......

i/

: ......'\i

:,, =......
/::::

.. -

,1.. .......... :

O.5j.. .......... , ............ , ............ .., .............., .... ........: .........., ..........: ............: ............ :....

I
..

O --------
,
7
10
12
Freq.H>CyjQ<

Fig. 14. VSWR curve of the proposed antenna.

One parasitic rectangular strip with stepped corners is used
in the ground plane to provide additional current path so that
the electromagnetic coupling between patch and ground plane
is improved. The 2-dimensional (Gain) and 3-dimensional
(Directivity) radiation patterns of the proposed antenna in
shown in Fig. 14 and 15. The proposed antenna has 5.48dBi at
10 GHz of directivity.

International Conference on Signal Propagation and Computer Technology (ICSPCT)

F"fad Gail Abs

(Ph=9J)

F"fad Gail Abs

(Ph=9J)

30

CaID(dD)

30

Ph=271

4. 5

2,5 -'--_00/.__

-Gain-freQuency
graph

1,5

0.5

1;:)

3,5

1;:)
180

180

f"fieId (f=3.68) [1]

'.5

5.5

6,5

7.5

8.5

9.5

1 0.6

Fig. 18. Gain-frequency curve of the proposed antenna.

f"fad (f=6.85) [1]

IV. CONCLUSIONS

Fig. 15. The 2-dimensional (Gain) radiation patterns

In this paper, a novel rectangular planar ultra-wide band

antenna is proposed. This antenna has been designed with
notches, stepped microstrip feed and stepped comers on
radiating patch and ground plane. The dimension of each
parameter used for designing the proposed antenna was
optimized for improved return loss curve and ultra-wide band
operations. This paper demonstrates a detailed parametric
study of U, T and rectangular notches along with stepped
microstrip feed and stepped comers to make the proposed
antenna well suited for UWB applications.

dBi

S.U
3.77

2.n
1.71

1.685

-2.16
-8.6l

Phi

-15 1

-21.6

-28
-n.s

Farfidd

lyp.

APflroxilUtion nab
l d (kR }) 1)

"'nit",

farfied
l (f=ll) [lJ

COfIJIOMnt

."

Output

Directiuity

Frequency

11

Rad.mic.

-1.161dB

Tot . fFic.

-1.321d9

Dir.

REFERENCES
[I]

U81dBi

[2 ]

Fig. 16. The 3-dimensional (Directivity) radiation pattern

The current is distributed all through the radiating element
and the reflecting plane which is shown in Fig. 17 which is
simulated at 3.68 GHz.

[3 ]

[ 4]

[5 ]

[6]

.... II . N " -..! 44 I u .,..

-1i..,
,-> 1). ,... w.."'. v, .. !.\....
,. ....
., ;,,: \si.ij.-l t ..
.

" 1.

';.:

'

.. ... ,, t V 1., $

- .'
.

-.

!;1

"

[7]

A-

.' - ...,. ,'.

'.

!.'

'

'

."

'

..

'

, .. ,

r"

,, '" " ,

... "

- "

'

'

[8 ]

Fig. 17. Current distribution at 3.68 GHz

[9 ]

The gain is almost constant between 2.3 to 4.5 dB for the

entire ultra-wide band. The gain-frequency curve of the
proposed antenna is shown in Fig. 18.

2014

"First report and order in the matter of revision of part 15 of the

commission's rules regarding ultra-wide band transmission systems,
ET Docket 98 - 153 , "Federal Communications Commission,
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C. P. Lee and C. K. Chakrabarty, "Ultra Wideband Microstrip
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M, Ojaroudi,Sh. Yazdanifard,N. Ojaroudi,and M, Naser-Moghaddasi,
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A. Zitouni and N, Boukli-Hacene, "A New four Truncated Corners
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no.4,July,2011,
Constantine A. Balanis," Antenna Theory: Analysis Design ", Third
Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2005, ISBN 0-471-66782-X
Copyright.
M. Bod, H. R. Hassani and M. M. Samadi Taheri," Compact UWB
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International Conference on Signal Propagation and Computer Technology (ICSPCT)

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