This document summarizes a research paper that presents the design and development of a dual notch loaded square microstrip antenna for operation across five frequency bands (penta band). The antenna was fabricated on a low-cost glass epoxy substrate measuring 80 x 50 x 1.6 mm3. Experimental results showed the antenna operated between 2.83-8.40 GHz with a maximum bandwidth of 5.7% and a peak gain of 2.86 dB. Dual notches placed diagonally on the patch enabled multiband operation. This low-cost and compact antenna design could enable applications in wireless local area networks and systems operating in the C band frequencies.

1. International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET),
ISSN 0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
163
DUAL NOTCH LOADED MICROSTRIP ANTENNA FOR PENTA BAND
OPERATION
Dr. Nagraj K. Kulkarni
Department of Electronics
Government College, Gulbarga-585105, Karkataka, India
ABSTRACT
This paper presents on a novel design and development of dual notch loaded square
microstrip antenna for penta band operation. The antenna is housed with a volume of 80 X 50 X 1.6
mm3
. The antenna operates between the frequency range of 2.83 to 8.40 GHz giving a maximum
impedance bandwidth of 5.7 % and virtual size reduction of 13% with a peak gain of 2.86 dB. The
low cost glass epoxy substrate material is used to fabricate the antenna. The microstripline feed
arrangement along with quarter wave transformer is used to excite the antenna. The antenna shows
linearly polarized broadside radiation characteristic. The design detail of the antenna is described.
The experimental results are presented and discussed. This antenna may find applications in WLAN
and for systems operating in C band frequencies.
Keywords: Square Microstrip Antenna, Notch, Penta Band.
1. INTRODUCTION
In modern communication scenario the microstrip antennas (MSAs) are finding profound
applications in establishing transmit/receive action in emerging communication applications like
WLAN, WiMax and 3G-4G mobile systems, because of their numerous features like low profile, low
fabrication cost, planar structure, ruggedness, integrability with Millimeter and micrometer
integrated circuits and ease of installation [1]. The dual, triple and multiple band antennas are
realized by many methods such as, slot on the patch, ground plane [2-4] etc. But in this study a
simple square microstrip antenna with dual notches placed at diagonally opposite corners of the
patch is used to achieve penta band operation. This kind of antenna is found to be rare in the
literature.
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ISSN 0976 – 6464(Print)
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2. International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET),
ISSN 0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
164
2. ANTENNA DESIGN
The conventional square microstrip antenna(SMSA) and dual notch loaded square microstrip
antenna (DNSMSA) are fabricated on low cost glass epoxy substrate material of thickness h = 0.16
cm and εr = 4.2. The art work of proposed antennas is sketched using auto-CAD software to achieve
better accuracy. The antennas are etched using the photolithography method.
Figure 1: Top view geometry of SMSA
Figure 1 shows the top view geometry of square microstrip antenna (SMSA), which is
designed for the resonant frequency of 3.5 GHz using the equations available in the literature for the
design of square microstrip antenna [5]. The SMSA consists of a square radiating patch of equal
length (L) and width (W). The Lf and Wf are the length and width of the microstripline used to
excite the patch. A semi miniature-A (SMA) connector of 50 impedance is used at the tip of the
microstripline to feed the microwave power. A quarter wave transformer of length Lt and width Wt
is used to match the impedances between lower radiating edge of the patch and microstripline feed.
Figure 2: Top geometry of DNSMSA
Figure 2 shows the geometry of dual notch loaded square microstrip antenna (DNSMSA).
Dual notches of horizontal and vertical dimensions Ad = λ0/14.12 and Bd = λ0/21.25 respectively are
placed at two diagonally opposite corners of the SMSA. Table 1 gives the design parameters of
SMSA and DNSMSA.

3. International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET),
ISSN 0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
165
Table 1: Design parameters of SMSA and DNSMSA ( cm )
Antenna L W Lf Wf Lt Wt A B Ad Bd
SMSA 2.04 2.04 2.18 0.32 1.09 0.06 5 8 - -
DOSMSA 2.04 2.04 2.18 0.32 1.09 0.06 5 8 λ0/14.12 λ0/21.25
3. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The Agilent Technologies make (Agilent N5230A: A.06.04.32), Vector Network Analyzer
is used to measure the experimental return loss of SMSA and DOSMSA.
Figure 3: Variation of return loss versus frequency of SMSA
Figure 3 shows the variation of return loss versus frequency of SMSA. From this figure it is
seen that, the SMSA resonates at 3.43 GHz of frequency which is nearer to the designed frequency
of 3.5 GHz. The experimental impedance bandwidth over return loss less than -10 dB is calculated
using the formula,
Impedance bandwidth (%) =
H L
C
f f
f
−
× 100 % (1)
where, fH and fL are the upper and lower cut off frequencies of the resonating bands
when their return loss reaches -10 dB and fC is a centre frequency of fH and fL. The impedance
bandwidth is found to be 2.94 %.
Figure 4: Variation of return loss versus frequency of DNSMSA

4. International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET),
ISSN 0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
166
Figure 4 shows the variation of return loss versus frequency of DNSMSA. It is clear from this
figure that, the antenna resonates for five bands BW1 = 3.47% (2.83-2.93 GHz), BW2 =3.66 %
(4.82-5.00 GHz), BW3 = 3.1 % (5.6-5.78 GHz), BW4 = 3.58 % (6.58-6.82 GHz) and BW5 = 5.7 %
(7.49-8.40 GHz) for the resonating modes of f1, f2, f3, f4 and f5 respectively. The BW1 is due to the
fundamental resonance of the patch. The bands BW2 to BW5 are due to the effect of dual notches
present on the radiating patch. Further it can be noted that, DNSMSA shows virtual size reduction of
about 13.01% which indicates the compactness of the antenna. Also, the frequency ratio f2/f1 of the
antenna is found to be 1.70 which shows the flexibility in the design of dual and triple frequency
antennas.
Figure 5: Radiation pattern of DNSMSA measured at 4.85 GHz
Figure 5 the far field co-polar and cross-polar radiation patterns of DNSMSA measured in its
operating band. From these figure it is observed that, the pattern is broadsided and linearly polarized.
The gain of the proposed antenna is calculated using absolute gain method given by the relation,
( ) 0r
t
λPG (dB) = 10 log - (Gt) dB - 20 log dB
P 4πR
 
 
 
where, Pt and Pr are transmitted and received powers respectively. R is the distance
between transmitting antenna and antenna under test. The peak gain of DNSMSA measured in BW2
is found to be 2.86 dB.
4. CONCLUSION
From this study it is concluded that, DNSMSA resonates for five modes between 2.83 to 8.40
GHz and gives a maximum bandwidth of about 5.70 %. Also, the DNSMSA shows a virtual size
reduction and frequency ratio of about 13% and 1.70 respectively. The antenna exhibits broadside
radiation characteristics with a peak gain of 2.86 dB. The proposed antenna uses low cost substrate
material with simple design and fabrication. This antenna may find applications in WLAN and for
systems operating in C band frequencies.
REFERENCES
1. Constantine A. Balanis, “Antenna theory: analysis and design”, John Wiley, New York,
(1997).
2. Girish Kumar and K. P. Ray, “Broadband microstrip Antennas”, Artech House, Boston,
London, 2003.
3. S. V. Shynu, G. Augastin, C. K. Aanandan, P. Mohanan and K. Vasudevan, C- shaped slot
loaded reconfigurable microstrip antenna, Electron Lett. 42(2006), 316-318.

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ISSN 0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976
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“Design narrow slot antenna for dual frequency”,
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7. Naveen S. M, Vani R. M and Hunagund P. V
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8. L. Lolit Kumar Singh, Bhaskar Gupta
Ground Plane on Microstrip Antenna Performance
Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), Volume
ISSN Print: 0976- 6464, ISSN Online: 0976
BIO-DATA
Dr. Nagraj K. Kulkarni
Electronics from Gulbarga University Gulbarga in the year 1995, 1996 and
respectively. He is working
Electronics Government Degree College Gulbarga. He is an active researcher in the
field of Microwave Electronics.
ics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET),
6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
167
uwan, J., Songthanapitak, N., Anantrasirichai, N and
narrow slot antenna for dual frequency”, Progress In Electromagnetic Research PIER
Antennas: John D Kraus MacGraw Hill pub. Co.Ltd.
Anurag Sharma, Ramesh Bharti and Archanaagarwal, “Enhanced Bandwidth Slotted Microstrip
ernational Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering &
Technology (IJECET), Volume 4, Issue 2, 2013, pp. 41 - 47, ISSN Print: 0976
nd Hunagund P. V, “Printed Rectangular Monopole Antenna With E
ernational Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering &
Technology (IJECET), Volume 4, Issue 4, 2013, pp. 206 - 213, ISSN Print: 0976
L. Lolit Kumar Singh, Bhaskar Gupta and Partha P Sarkar, “A Review on Effects
n Microstrip Antenna Performance”, International Journal of Electronics and
Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), Volume 3, Issue 3, 201
ISSN Online: 0976 –6472.
Dr. Nagraj K. Kulkarni received his M.Sc, M.Phil and Ph. D degree in Applied
Electronics from Gulbarga University Gulbarga in the year 1995, 1996 and
working as an Assistant professor and Head, in the
nment Degree College Gulbarga. He is an active researcher in the
field of Microwave Electronics.
ics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET),
6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 1, January (2014), © IAEME
Wakabayashi, T,
Progress In Electromagnetic Research PIER
Enhanced Bandwidth Slotted Microstrip
ernational Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering &
, ISSN Print: 0976- 6464, ISSN
lar Monopole Antenna With E
ernational Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering &
, ISSN Print: 0976- 6464,
n Effects of Finite
ernational Journal of Electronics and
, 2012, pp. 287 - 292,
his M.Sc, M.Phil and Ph. D degree in Applied
Electronics from Gulbarga University Gulbarga in the year 1995, 1996 and 2014
the Department of
nment Degree College Gulbarga. He is an active researcher in the