Received: 25 January 2017

| Revised: 8 March 2017

| Accepted: 8 March 2017
DOI: 10.1002/mmce.21108

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Wideband circularly polarized dielectric resonator antenna

coupled with meandered-line inductor for ISM/WLAN
applications

Rajkishor Kumar | Raghvendra Kumar Chaudhary

Department of Electronics Engineering,

Abstract
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian
School of Mines), Dhanbad 826004, India A new meandered-line inductor fed wideband circularly polarized rectangular dielec-
tric resonator antenna (DRA) with partial ground plane has been developed in this
Correspondence work. Meandered-line inductor feed and partial ground plane are used for generation
Raghvendra Kumar Chaudhary, of orthogonal modes, hence circular polarization (CP) in DRA. By controlling the
Department of Electronics Engineering, length of meandered-line inductor, three different CP DRA have been designed for
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian different wireless applications such as Wi-MAX and WLAN/ISM 2400 band. Distri-
School of Mines), Dhanbad 826004, bution of electric field inside rectangular DRA shows that all three antenna having
India.
TE11d mode. Finally, a lower frequency band application at 2.4 GHz (ISM) called
Email: raghvendra.chaudhary@gmail.com
here as Proposed Antenna, has been considered for fabrication. This designed
antenna shows measured 210 dB input impedance bandwidth of 20.67% and 3-dB
axial ratio bandwidth of 27.95% in broadside direction. All these three CP antennas
(Antenna-1 to Proposed Antenna) are showing stable gain and right hand circular
polarization in broadside direction.

KEYWORDS
circular polarization, dielectric resonator antenna, microstrip feed

1 | INTRODUCTION (CP) using DRA. DRA offers several advantages like wide
bandwidth, high radiation efficiency, compact size, low loss,
Circularly polarized antennas are the current demands in flexible feeding mechanism, and various types shape.3–6 In
modern wireless communication system to overcome the sig- DRA, CP can be achieved by introducing single and dual/
nal mismatch between transmitting and receiving antennas, complex feeding mechanism.7,8 In recent years, antenna
reducing multipath interference between the signals and engineers have been more focused on single feeding tech-
maximize the polarization efficiency.1 Circularly polarized nique to generate wideband CP in a DRA. A single feeding
signal has been generated by two orthogonal modes having technique offers cost effective and less complexity in antenna
equal amplitude with ninety degree phase shift between design and capable to generate wideband axial ratio (AR)
them. Wide bandwidth and low metallic losses are essential bandwidth.9–11
in recent wireless (particularly satellite and radar) applica- In this article, the main idea of meandered-line inductor-
tions to achieve desired signal transmission from source to based feeding arrangement has been used to generate orthogo-
destination; this could be better performed with the help of nal modes in rectangular DRA. Operating frequency and AR
dielectric resonator antenna (DRA).2 Therefore several scien- bandwidth could be controlled using length of meandered-line
tific researches are going to generate circular polarization inductor. Furthermore, three different wideband circularly

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https://doi.org/10.1002/mmce.21108.
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F I G U R E 1 Geometry of proposed Antenna (A) top view without DRA (B) top view with DRA (C) 3D view [All dimensions are in mm: DL 5 16,
DW 5 17, Dh 5 18, SL 5 40, SW 5 40, Sh 5 1.6, PG 5 20, LS 5 10, LS1 5 15, LS2 5 20, LS3 5 15, LS4 5 3, LS5 5 11, LS6 5 3, LS7 5 11, LS8 5 3,
LS9 5 11, WS 5 2, WS1 5 2.5]

polarized DRA for different wireless applications have been 3 | ANTENNA DESIGNED
analyzed by varying the length of meandered-line inductor. APPROACH
The proposed antenna shows measured usable CP bandwidth
of 19.31% (centered at 2.64 GHz). Basic shape of dielectric The idea here is to realize nearly quarter wavelength sections
resonator, easy fabrication process, single feed and different ðk0 =4 to k0 =3Þ to generate circularly polarized wave within
wireless applications are the main advantage of the proposed the antenna structure and frequency scaling. Figure 2
antenna. demonstrates the evolution procedure of proposed wideband
CP DRA. Simulated results of input reflection coefficient
2 | ANTENNA GEOMETRY and AR bandwidth versus frequency are shown in Figure 3
and results are summarized in Table 1.
The schematic configuration and optimal dimensions of
proposed antenna is shown in Figure 1. Al2O3 is used as a
3.1 | Antenna-1
dielectric resonator with dielectric constant of 9.8 and loss
tangent of 0.002. This designed antenna is fabricated on low The antenna design initiate from L-shaped feed line and rec-
cost FR4 glass epoxy substrate with a dielectric constant (er) tangular DRA named as Antenna-1 as shown in Figure 2A.
of 4.4 and loss tangent (tan d) of 0.025. A meandered-line The electrical length of L-shaped feed line is in between
inductor feed is printed on the top of the substrate while par- ðk0 =4 to k0 =3Þ, where k0 is the free space wavelength. This
tial ground plane is placed on bottom side. The fabricated nearly quarter wave length feed line shows the phase shift of
antenna is chosen as per the requirement of ISM 2.4 GHz 908 between two signals having equal amplitude to realize
band and is shown in Figure 1. the CP. The length of L-shaped feed can be calculated as.
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FIGURE 2 Antenna developed process to shows wideband CP in DRA. (A) Antenna-1 (B) Antenna-2 (C) Proposed Antenna

FIGURE 3 Simulated results of different developed Antenna-1 to Proposed Antenna. (A) Input reflection coefficient (B) Axial ratio bandwidth in
broadside

Leq1 5LS1 1LS2 (1) Antenna-2. This addition of extra microstrip feed portion
This proposed feeding mechanism shows the wide input shows the better percentage of usable bandwidth with CP.
impedance bandwidth due to coupling between the DRA and The length of feed line can be calculated as.
feed line. It also shows wide AR-bandwidth due to formation Leq2 5 Leq1 1LS3 1LS4 1LS5 (2)
of orthogonal mode. The usable CP bandwidth of Antenna-1
is 2.01%.
3.3 | Proposed antenna
To obtained lower frequency band of input reflection coeffi-
3.2 | Antenna-2
cient and AR-bandwidth, another microstrip section is added
For further improvement of usable CP bandwidth, another in Antenna-2. The length of next feed line can be calculated
microstrip section is added in Antenna-1 and named here as as
T A BL E 1 Simulated results of evolution procedure of proposed antenna

Rectangular DR, %10-dB BW and %3-dB ARBW and % Usable BW and Particular
and er 5 9.8 range in GHz range in GHz range in GHz applications

Antenna-1 42.06 and 12.29 and 2.01 and Wi-MAX

(2.29–3.51) (3.44–3.89) (3.44–3.51)

Antenna-2 20.96 and 35.49 and 20.96 and Wi-MAX

(2.78–3.43) (2.41–3.45) (2.78–3.43)

Proposed antenna 19.69 and 25.49 and 19.01 and ISM/WLAN

(2.38–2.90) (2.23–2.88) (2.38–2.88)
4 of 7 | KUMAR ET AL.

FIGURE 4 Photograph of proposed antenna (A) 3D view (B) meandered-line inductor feed (C) partial ground plane

Leq3 5Leq1 1Leq2 1LS6 1LS7 1LS8 1LS9 (3) ing is improved may be due to the combined effect of air
gap, substrate imperfection, and fabrication intolerance. The
The above equation shows the approximately odd multi-
measured and simulated 210 dB input impedance bandwidth
ple of quarter wave length and it is responsible for good cou-
is found to be 20.67% (2.39-2.94 GHz) and 19.69% (2.38-
pling and formation of orthogonal mode between the DRA 2.90 GHz) respectively. Figure 6 shows the simulated and
and proposed meandered-line inductor feed. measured AR bandwidth graph in broadside direction with
It can be conclude that from above Equations (1), (2), respect to frequency. Measured and simulated results of 3-
and (3), by controlling the feeding structure of proposed dB AR bandwidth is found to be 27.95% (2.19-2.90 GHz)
antenna, it improves the coupling and shift the frequency in and 25.49% (2.23-2.88 GHz), respectively. The measured
lower side. usable bandwidth, where both 210 dB input impedance
bandwidth and 3-dB AR bandwidth has been found to be
19.31% (2.39-2.90 GHz).
4 | EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS The CP radiation patterns have been plotted in xz- and
AND DISCUSSION yz-planes as shown in Figure 7 at 2.43 GHz and 2.63 GHz. It
can be observed from CP radiation pattern in broadside
Prototype geometry of proposed antenna has been fabricated directions, proposed antenna shows right hand circular polar-
to validate the simulation results done by Ansoft HFSS as ization (RHCP). The difference between RHCP and left hand
shown in Figure 4. The input reflection coefficient has been circular polarization (LHCP) in broadside directions is
measured by Keysight N5221A Programmable Network 218.91 dB and 224.65 dB at 2.43 GHz and 2.63 GHz,
Analyzer. respectively. The maximum measured gain is 2.75 dBi in the
Figure 5 depicts the reasonable agreement between simu- working band at u 5 08 and u 5 08 as shown in Figure 8A.
lated and measured input reflection coefficient where, match-

FIGURE 5 Simulated and measured input reflection coefficient of FIGURE 6 Simulated and measured AR bandwidth of proposed
proposed antenna antenna
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F I G U R E 7 CP radiation patterns (RHCP/LHCP) of proposed antenna (A) xz-plane at 2.43 GHz (B) yz-plane at 2.43 GHz (C) xz-plane at 2.63 GHz
(D) yz-plane at 2.63 GHz

Figure 8B depicts the average simulated radiation efficiency deteriorate the results of input reflection coefficient and AR
is 76.86% in the complete working band. Parametric studies bandwidth where as height of DRA is only affects the AR
(variation in partial ground plane and height of DRA) and bandwidth. To verify the CP condition, electric field distribu-
mechanism of CP of proposed antenna have been studies. It tion inside the DRA has been plotted at phase 08 and phase
is found that if the size of partial ground plane increases it 908. This condition shows the 908 phase shift occurred

FIGURE 8 Far-field results in the broadside direction of proposed antenna. (A) Simulated and measured gain (B) Simulated radiation efficiency
6 of 7 | KUMAR ET AL.

T A BL E 2 Comparison of proposed antenna with earlier published work

Circularly polarized DRA

% of Usable BW
% of 210 % of 3-dB (S11 < 210 dB
S. No Shape of DR Types of feed er fo GHz dB BW ARBW and AR < 3 dB) Ref.

1. Rectangular Multiple 6.85 2.4 6.6 6.9 5.7 12

(probe 1 parasitic
patch)

2. Cylindrical Multiple 10 2.5 14.9 6.9 6.9 13

(probe 1 microstrip
Line)

3. Cylindrical Single 79 2.45 5.8 3.47 3.47 14

(slot coupled 1
off-centered
microstrip Line)

4. Cylindrical Single 10 2.45 19.2 6.5 6.1 15

(annular slot ring 1
microstrip Line)

5. Rectangular Single 9.8 2.5 20.67 27.95 19.31 Proposed

(meandered-line antenna
inductor)

between the two signals and confirms the formation of ACKNOW L E DGM E NT S
orthogonal modes in proposed antenna. Table 2 shows the The authors are thanks to Dr. Kumar Vaibhav Srivastava,
comparison of earlier published WLAN 2.4 GHz application- Department of Electric Engineering IIT Kanpur, India, for
based research articles with proposed work. Better improved providing lab facilities to measure antenna parameters. The
results can be observed in terms of input impedance band- authors would also like to thanks Mr. Naveen Mishra,
width (S11 < 210 dB) and AR < 3 dB-bandwidth of the pro- SRF, Department of Electronics Engineering, Indian Insti-
posed antenna. tute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad, India, for providing
assistance to improve the literature of this paper.
5 | CONCLUSION
R EFE RE NC ES
A wideband circularly polarized DRA excited with [1] Johnson RC, Jasik H. Antenna Engineering Handbook. New
meandered-line inductor feed and partial ground plane has York: McGraw-Hill; 1984.
been presented. The generation of CP is depends on length [2] Luk KM, Leung KW. Dielectric Resonator Antenna. U. K.:
of meandered-line inductor and optimal dimension of partial Research Studies Press; 2003.
ground plane. According to applications of wireless commu- [3] Kumar R, Chaudhary RK. A wideband circularly polarized cubic
nication systems (Wi-MAX and ISM/WLAN band) proposed dielectric resonator antenna excited with modified microstrip
antenna can be applied by changing the length of feed. IEEE Antennas Wireless Propag Lett. 2016;15:1285–1288.

meandered-line inductor. The proposed antenna show meas- [4] Mongia RK, Bhartia P. Dielectric resonator antennas a review
and general design relations for resonant frequency and band-
ured 210 dB input impedance bandwidth of 20.67% and 3-
width. Int J Microwave Millim Wave Comput-Aided Eng. 1994;
dB AR bandwidth of 27.95%, respectively. This proposed
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antenna shows the measured CP usable bandwidth of
[5] Chaudhary RK, Srivastava KV, Biswas A. Variation of permit-
19.31% having RHCP with stable gain and radiation effi- tivity in radial direction in concentric half-split cylindrical
ciency in working band. In addition, single feeding tech- dielectric resonator antenna for wideband application. Int J RF
nique, easy fabrication process, conventional shape of Microwave Comput-Aided Eng. 2015;25:321–329.
dielectric resonator, and suitable for different wireless appli- [6] Petosa A. Dielectric Resonator Antenna Handbook. Norwood:
cations are the main advantage of the proposed antenna Artech House Publishers; 2007.
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[7] Kumar R, Chaudhary RK. Modified microstrip-line-fed rectangu- getting fellowship from MHRD, Government of India. He
lar dielectric resonator antenna coupled with slotted ground has authored/co- authored more than 12 referred Journal and
plane for wideband circular polarization. Microwave Opt Tech-
Conference papers. He is a student member of IEEE and
nol Lett. 2016;58:206–210.
reviewer of Journals such as AEU-International Journal of
[8] Chowdhury R, Chaudhary RK. Wideband circularly polarized
Electronics and Communications and International Journal of
rectangular DRA fed with dual pair of right-angled microstrip
line. Int J RF Microwave Comput-Aided Eng. 2016;26:713–723.
RF and Microwave Computer-Aided Engineering. His current
research interests include dielectric resonator, microstrip,
[9] Fakhte S, Oraizi H, Karimian R, Fakhte R. A new wideband cir-
cularly polarized stair-shaped dielectric resonator antenna. IEEE
metamaterial and substrate integrated waveguide (SIW)
Trans Antennas Propag. 2015;63:1828–1832. antennas.
[10] Altaf A, Yang Y, Lee KY, Hwang KC. Circularly polarized spi- RAGHVENDRA KUMAR CHAUDHARY is
dron fractal dielectric resonator antenna. IEEE Antennas Wireless working as an Assistant Professor at
Propag Lett. 2015;14:1806–1809.
Department of Electronics Engineering,
[11] Kumar R, Chaudhary RK. A new modified CPW-fed wideband Indian Institute of Technology (Indian
circularly polarized half–split cylindrical dielectric resonator
School of Mines), Dhanbad, India. He
antenna with different permittivity of two layers in radial direc-
did his PhD from Indian Institute of
tion. Int J RF Microwave Comput-Aided Eng. 2016;00:e21068.
https://doi.org/10.1002/mmce.21068 Technology Kanpur, India in Jan. 2014,
[12] Leung KW, Pan YM, Fang XS, Lim EH, Man Luk K, Chan
the M.Tech. degree from Indian Institute of Technology
HP. Dual-function radiating glass for antennas and light covers (BHU), Varanasi, India, in 2009 and the B.Tech. degree from
—Part I: omnidirectional glass dielectric resonator antennas. University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kanpur
IEEE Trans Antennas Propag. 2013;61:578–586. India, in 2007. Dr. Chaudhary has authored more than 90
[13] Li WW, Leung KW. Omnidirectional circularly polarized dielec- referred Journal and Conference papers. He was the recipient
tric resonator antenna with top-loaded alford loop for pattern diver- of the International Travel Grant form CSIR, DST and IIT
sity design. IEEE Trans Antennas Propag. 2013;61:4246–4256. Kanpur, India. He was the recipient of the Best Student Paper
[14] Lin C-C, Sun J-S. Circularly polarized dielectric resonator antenna Bronze Award at IEEE APACE, Malaysia in 2010 and also
fed by off-centered microstrip line for 2.4-GHz ISM band applica- recipient of the Best Paper Award at ATMS, India in 2012.
tions. IEEE Antennas Wireless Propag Lett. 2015;14:947–949. He is member of IEEE and potential reviewer of many jour-
[15] Guo L, Leung KW. Compact linearly and circularly polarized nals and conferences such as IEEE Transactions on Antennas
unidirectional dielectric resonator antennas. IEEE Trans Anten-
& Propagation, IEEE AWPL, IET MAP, IET Electronics Let-
nas Propag. 2016;64:2067–2073.
ters etc. His current research interests involve Metamaterials,
Dielectric Resonators, and Computational Electromagnetics.
A U T HO R B IO G R A P H I E S
RAJKISHOR KUMAR was born in West-
Champaran (Bettiah), Bihar, India. He How to cite this article: Kumar R, Kumar Chaudhary
received B. E. degree in Electronics and R. Wideband circularly polarized dielectric resonator
Communication Engineering from Nag- antenna coupled with meandered-line inductor for
pur University, Nagpur, India in 2012. ISM/WLAN applications. Int J RF Microw Comput
He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. Aided Eng. 2017;00:e21108. https://doi.org/10.1002/
degree in RF & Microwave at Depart- mmce.21108
ment of Electronics Engineering from Indian Institute of
Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, India and