Investigation of an ultra-wideband microstrip antenna using finite elementary lines approach

This work presents an investigation, using the approach of finite elementary lines (FEL), of an ultra-wideband antenna. Two ways for expanding frequency band were combined: the electromagnetic coupling and the insertion of an air layer. A prototype of this antenna has been realized. A comparison between the antenna performance predicted by our approach and those provided by the high-frequency simulation structure (HFSS) software and those measured is presented. An impedance bandwidth of about 50% and directivity at the first resonance of about 9 dB were achieved. A satisfactory concordance between results of our approach and measures is observed. The novelty of this work lies in the treatment by the FEL method, for the first time, of singularities induced by the gap of coupling and the jump of width. The computing time consumed by the FEL approach is about 10 times less than that consumed by the HFSS software to analyze the same structure on the same number of point's frequency domain, the latter being 68 min. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2978–2985, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26379