JOURNAL OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS, VOLUME 22, ISSUE 1, OCTOBER 2013

25

Effect of Inductive Posts on Y-junction
Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) Slot
Antenna Array
Sourav Moitra, A. K. Mukhopadhay and A. K. Bhattacharjee
AbstractThe Effect of introduction of Inductive Posts over Single layer Y-junction Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) Slot
Antenna Array has been studied in this paper. Single and double Inductive posts have been introduced over basic SIW Antenna
Array designed using Y-junction power divider consisting of symmetrical linearly polarized slot array antenna elements over a
substrate of dielectric constant of 3.2 and thickness 0.782mm. Alternating offsets in the slots is used to generate in-phase
electric field distributions on every radiating slot. The array configurations with different Inductive post alignment have been
supported with necessary results. The results confirm the antenna suitable for K-band applications. The array has been
simulated and optimized using full-wave EM CAD Tool CST Microwave Studio. The designs are simple and come with high gain
over the operable bandwidth.
Index TermsSubstrate Integrated Circuits (SIC), Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW), Inductive Posts, Y-junction power
divider, Antenna Array, K-band .

1 INTRODUCTION
UBSTRATE Substrate integrated circuits (SICs) con-
cept was proposed to provide a compact as well as
cost-effective solution for integration of both planar
and non-planar transmission line sections within a single
substrate [1]. This resulted in further investigation in
these circuits and many of them have been successfully
implemented on design of several of microwave and mil-
limeter-wave circuits and systems. Substrate integrated
Waveguides (SIW) comes under this category and has
received the most attention because of its simple design
and easy applicability. SIW technology uses arrays of me-
talized vias which acts as the metallic sidewalls of the
conventional rectangular waveguide. Hence, SIW struc-
tures can be used as a planar waveguide transmission
line. In this article we focused our study on Slot array
antennas based on SIW Technology. Presently Slot An-
tennas are widely employed in radar and satellite com-
munication systems due to their high gain, high radiation
efficiency, low cross-polarization levels and effective con-
trol over the radiation patterns. Several contributions re-
lated to Waveguide slotted antenna arrays have been
published in [2-3]. However metallic waveguide antennas
suffer from several disadvantages like bulkiness and high
manufacturing cost. Again they are difficult to be inte-
grated with other microwave or millimeter wave planar
active or passive circuits. Substrate integrated waveguide
(SIW) is a reliable technology in this regard as it over-
comes these disadvantages and at the same time inherits
all the merits of conventional rectangular waveguides.
SIW structures can be integrated with other microwave
components quite easily without introduction of any in-
sertion loss [4-6].
One major disadvantage of SIW slot array antennas is that
they suffer from a very limited frequency bandwidth sim-
ilar to that of Waveguide slot array antennas. The com-
bined effect of very small SIW height and dielectric filling
results in stronger mutual coupling between the slots.
These factors lead to a much narrower frequency band-
width that is usually around 3% or less. Several methods
have been proposed for increasing the bandwidth of the
SIW slot array [7-8]. In our design, we focused on effect of
introducing Inductive posts over a basic K-band SIW slot
array antenna suitable for satellite applications. For gen-
eration of in-phase electric field distributions on every
radiating slot, alternating offsets and tilt angles has been
adopted for waveguide-fed shunt and series slot array
antennas respectively. The following sections describe the
design details of the study with appropriate outcomes
which may prove very useful for using the antenna array
for specific applications.
2 SIW ANTENNA ARRAY DESIGN
Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) is structure con-
sisting of dielectric substrate in between two metal con-
ducting planes similar to that of microstrip lines. A series
of metallic vias are placed along the edges to produce a
waveguide like structure as shown in Fig. 1. This makes
the non-planar rectangular waveguide in planar form

- Sourav Moitra is B-Tech, M-Tech Assistant Professor in the Dept of Elec-
tronics & Communication Engineering, Dr. B C Roy Engineering College,
Durgapur, India.
- A. K. Mukhopadhyay is M.Tech (ECE) from IIT Kharagpur and Ph.D
(Engg), Jadavpur University, Head, Dept. of Computer Science & Engi-
neering, Dr. B C Roy Engineering College Durgapur, India.
- A. K. Bhattacharjee is B.E. M.E. PhD, Professor in Electronics & Commu-
nication Engineering Dept. in National Institute of Technology, Durgapur,
India.


S
26

compatible with existing planar processing techniques.
SIWs exhibit propagation characteristics similar to that of
classical rectangular waveguides. The modes of the SIW
practically coincide with a subset of the modes of the rec-
tangular waveguide, namely with the TE
n0
modes, with n
=1, 2, The fundamental mode is similar to the TE
10

mode of a rectangular waveguide, with vertical electric
current density on the side walls. TM modes cannot exist
in the SIW, due to the gaps between metal vias: in fact,
transverse magnetic fields determine longitudinal surface
current. Due to the presence of the gaps, longitudinal sur-
face current is subject to a strong radiation, preventing
the propagation of TM modes [10]. Small posts and small
spacing between via-posts may be used to reduce disper-
sion, leakage loss, and bandstop properties of the SIW
structure and also simplify the design procedure and
make the PCB design much more compact [9].














Fig.1. Basic SIW structure realized on a dielectric sub-
strate

The proposed structure has been fed with a microstrip
line section. This section of the microstrip line connecting
the radiating surface has been tapered for proper imped-
ance matching. The dimensions of the taper have been
optimized in CST Microwave Studio to ensure minimal
insertion loss. The structure used is commonly known to
us as Microstrip-to-SIW Transition. Several other transi-
tion techniques can be consulted in [6].












Fig.2. Microstrip-to-SIW Transition

The basic design started with a simple SIW antenna
structure consisting of 4 slots with equi-directional offsets
in each side from the centre alternatively. The design eq-
uations for SIW, which may be given as,


p
d
a a
d
s
95 . 0
2
=


where, a
s
is the separation between via rows (centre to
centre), a
d
is the width of DFW, d is the diameter, p is the
pitch (as shown in Figure 1). The cut-off frequency of the
SIW can be obtained by the following relation.


eff r
c
W
c
f
. 2c
=


where, c is the light velocity in vacuum. In our design
we focused on the K-band applications and in our case
the antenna has been designed to resonate at frequency of
23.12GHz. The dimensions of the slots are important for
the antenna to behave as a slot antenna. The dimensions
of the slots can be obtained with the help of the following
relations [9].


( ) 1 2
0
+ e
=
r
b


















Fig.3. Slot dimensions & gap between slots


The basic 4 slot Y-junction SIW antenna array with its
return loss characteristics has been shown in Fig. 4 and
Fig. 5. The 4 slot Y-junction SIW antenna has been found
to resonate in K-band at around 23.12 GHz with a return
loss of nearly 25 dB. Higher gain has been obtained by
modifying the single element 4 slot SIW antenna into a Y-
junction array (Fig. 4.) without much deviation of other
useful antenna parameters. Details of the dimensions can
be found in Table I. Gain of the proposed antenna has
been shown in Fig 6a (E-plane) and Fig 6b (H-plane) re-
spectively.






(2)
(1)
(3)
27













Fig. 4. Basic 4 slot Y-junction SIW antenna array structure
















Fig. 5. Magnitude of S-parameter vs Frequency of 4 slot Y-
junction SIW antenna array

TABLE I
Symbol Dimension
d0 1.18
d1, d2 5
d3 2.3
d4 6.47
d5 0.5
d6 6.12
d7 15.24
d8 30
d9 5

d11 30

d12 78.12

d13 5.62

d14 11.24














Fig. 6a. Gain of 4 slot Y-junction SIW antenna array (E-
plane) [Frequency: 23.12GHz; Main Lobe Magnitude:
12.4dBi; Main lobe direction: 175.0 degree; 3dB angular
width: 10.2 degree]












Fig. 6b. Gain of 4 slot Y-junction SIW antenna array (H-
plane) [Frequency: 23.12GHz; Main Lobe Magnitude:
11.2dBi; Main lobe direction: 175.0 degree; 3dB angular
width: 58.6 degree]

Single Inductive post is now being introduced in the basic
Y-junction SIW antenna array as shown in Fig 8. The di-
ameter of the post has been considered to be 0.8mm after
extensive study and the effect of this post over the Return
loss characteristics are produced in Fig. 9. of induction
post has been reported in 1978 by T. A. Abele where the
effect of inductive post on rectangular waveguides has
been elaborated [11].









Fig. 7. Inductive post & Equivalent Circuit

The results show a considerable amount of variation in
return loss as well as the resonating frequency for varia-
tion of the post in X-axis (horizontal axis). However the
post is fixed in terms of Y axis (vertical axis) at y=0 (con-
sidering the total structure to be symmetric in both sides
of X axis). For x=5mm towards the feed, maximum return
loss (around 34dB) is obtained while the structure is
found to resonate at 23.74GHz.
28














Fig. 8. 4 slot Y-junction SIW antenna array structure with
single inductive post















Fig. 9. Variation of S-parameter for different X-position of
Inductive post of 4 slot Y-junction SIW antenna array
structure with single inductive post

The effect of introduction of double inductive posts has
also been studied. The design with double inductive posts
has been shown in Fig. 10. Both of the posts have been
placed over same Y axis (vertical axis) and the X axis (ho-
rizontal axis) position of both posts has been varied si-
multaneously. For several x positions the return loss is
found to vary with slight variation of resonating frequen-
cy. For x=1.75mm towards the feed (considering the total
structure to be symmetric in both sides of X axis), maxi-
mum return loss (around 27dB) is obtained with the reso-
nating frequency being 22.74GHz.












Fig. 10. Basic 4 slot Y-junction SIW antenna array struc-
ture with double inductive post















Fig. 11. Variation of S-parameter for different X-
position of Inductive post of 4 slot Y-junction SIW anten-
na array structure with double inductive post

The combined analysis of the structures A (4 slot Y-
junction SIW antenna array structure with double induc-
tive post), B (4 slot Y-junction SIW antenna array struc-
ture with single inductive post) and C (Basic 4 slot Y-
junction SIW antenna array structure without inductive
posts) has been shown in Fig. 12 and Fig. 13. Fig. 12
shows the variation of return loss for the different pro-
posed designs. The effect of the posts over the gain of the
antennas has also been analyzed and shown in Fig. 13.
The gain of the systems has been found to vary within
8dBi to around 12dBi. However the increase in number of
inductive posts has been found to be inversely propor-
tional to the peak gain of the system.















Fig. 12. Freq vs Return loss of different SIW antenna array
alignments (with & without inductive posts)












29
















Fig. 13. Freq vs Peak Gain of different SIW antenna array
alignments (with & without inductive posts)
3 CONCLUSION
The design of a Y-junction SIW slot antenna array operable
in K-band and also the effect of introduction of several in-
ductive post alignments has been presented in this paper.
The basic structure has been modified into array using a Y-
junction power divider. Slight variation of return loss and
resonating frequency has been obtained as their effects.
However the increase in number of inductive posts has been
found to vary inversely to the peak gain of the system.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to express their deep gratitude
and sincere thanksgiving to Prof. Susanta Kumar Parui,
Bengal Engineering & Science University for providing
fundamental guidelines for completion of the work.
REFERENCES
[1] K. Wu, D. Deslandes, and Y. Cassivi, "The substrate integrated
circuits- A new concept for high-frequency electronics and
optoelectronics," in Proc. 6th Int. Telecommun. Modern
Satellite, Cable, Broadcasting Service (TELSIKS'03), vol. 1, 2003,
pp. P-III- P-X.
[2] David Y. Kim and Robert S. Elliott, THEORY AND DESIGN
OF SLOT ARRAYS FED BY SINGLE-RIDGE RECTANGULAR
WAVEGUIDE, Antennas and Propagation Society
International Symposium, Vol: 24 Pgs: 367 370, 8-13 June 1986
[3] M. Orefice, Ph.D., and Prof. R.S. Elliott, Design of waveguide-
fed series slot arrays, IEEPROC, Vol. 129, Pt. H, No. 4, AUGUST
1982
[4] M. Bozzi, A. Georgiadis, K. Wu, Review of substrate-
integrated waveguide circuits and antennas, Special Issue on
RF/Microwave Communication Subsystems for Emerging Wireless
Technologies, doi: 10.1049/iet-map.2010.0463
[5] Maurizio Bozzi, Feng Xu, Dominic Deslandes, Ke Wu,
Modeling and Design Considerations for Substrate Integrated
Waveguide Circuits and Components, Telsiks 2007, Serbia, Nis,
September 26-28, 2007
[6] M. Henry, C. E. Free, B. S. Izqueirdo, J. Batchelor and P. Young,
Millimeter Wave Substrate Integrated Waveguide Antennas:
Design and Fabrication Analysis, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON
ADVANCED PACKAGING, VOL. 32, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 2009
[7] Min Chen and Wenquan Che, Bandwidth Enhancement of
Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) Slot Antenna with
Center-fed Techniques, International Workshop on Antenna
Technology (iWAT), 2011, Pgs: 348 - 351
[8] Yan Ding and Ke Wu, A 4 4 Ridge Substrate Integrated
Waveguide (RSIW) Slot Array Antenna, IEEE ANTENNAS
AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 8, 2009
[9] F. Xu and K. Wu, Guided-Wave and Leakage Characteristics
of Substrate Integrated Waveguide, IEEE Trans. on Microwave
Theory and Techniques, Vol. MTT-53, No. 1, pp. 66-73, Jan. 2005.
[10] D.V. Navarro, L.F. Carrera, M. Baquero, A SIW Slot Array
Antenna in Ku Band, Proceedings of the Fourth European
Conference on Antennas and Propagation, April 2010
[11] T. A. Abele, Inductive post arrays in Rectangular Waveguide,
The Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 57, No. 3, March
1978.Mallat S. (1999): A wavelet tour of signal processing, 2nd
Ed., Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

Sourav Moitra received his B-Tech (Elec-
tronics & Communication Engineering) in
2005 from the West Bengal University of
Technology. He was associated with
several electronics industries in between
2005 to 2007. He received his M-Tech
(Microwave Engineering) in 2009 from
The University of Burdwan. He has been
associated with Dept. of Atomic Energy,
Govt. of India on a project related to the
development of high power RF tubes. At
present he is associated with Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering College,
Durgapur, India as Assistant Professor in the Dept of Electronics &
Communication Engineering. He has several publications in Interna-
tional Journals & Conferences. His current research interest includes
design & development of microwave & millimeter wave passive cir-
cuits based on microstrip line and substrate integrated waveguides
applicable in wireless networks.

A. K. Mukhopadhyay, is M.Tech
(ECE) from IIT Kharagpur and
Ph.D(Engg) from Jadavpur University,
Kolkata. He is at present the Head of
Computer Science & Engineering De-
partment, Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering
College, Durgapur, India. Previously he
has been The Director of Bengal Insti-
tute of Engg & Management, Santinike-
tan and the Chairman, Computer So-
ciety of India, Durgapur Chapter. With
more than 38 years of experience in
teaching, research, administration, he served institutions like IIT
Kharagpur , NERIST Itanagar, CEMK, Kolaghat, NiT, Kolkata,
BCREC, Durgapur, BCETW, Durgapur holding various positions
such as Principal, Dean, HoD etc. His current area of research in-
cludes next generation wireless and mobile networks. He has about
65 research publications in national/ international journals and confe-
rence proceedings and delivered many key note/theme lectures in
conferences. He is honorary Life Fellow of ACEEE, Life Fellow of the
Institution of Engineers (I), Sr.Member, IEEE, Sr. Life Member, CSI;
Life Member of ISTE, SSI and IETE.

A. K. Bhattacharjee received his B.E.
(Electronics & Telecommunication Engi-
neering in 1983 and M.E. (Telecommuni-
cation Engineering) in1985. He was
awarded his PhD (Engineering) in the
year 1989. He is currently holding the
position of Professor in Electronics &
Communication Engineering Dept. in
National Institute of Technology, Durga-
pur. He is the author of more than 200
national and international publications in
several journals and conferences. He has
also produced more than 8 PhD scholars around India. He has
around 30 years of teaching and research experiences in several
domains. His current research interest includes Microwave passive
circuits based on Microstrip and SIW technology applicable in long
distance communications, VLSI Design and Signal Processing
Techniques.