Journal of Physics Communications

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Higher-order mode substrate integrated waveguide cavity excitation for

microstrip patch antenna arrays at 30-GHz
To cite this article before publication: Bilal Tariq Malik et al 2019 J. Phys. Commun. in press https://doi.org/10.1088/2399-6528/ab0074

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Page 1 of 8 AUTHOR SUBMITTED MANUSCRIPT - JPCO-101031.R1

1
2
3
4
Higher-Order Mode Substrate Integrated
5
6 Waveguide Cavity Excitation for Microstrip Patch
7
8 Antenna Arrays at 30 GHz

pt
9
10
11
12 Bilal T. Malik 1, Viktor Doychinov1, Syed Ali R. Zaidi1, Nutapong Somjit1, Ian D.
13 Robertson1, Charles W. Turner2

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14
15 1
School of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.
16 2
Department of Informatics, King's College London, London, UK.
17
18 E-mail: elbtm@leeds.ac.uk
19
20 Received xxxxxx

us
21 Accepted for publication xxxxxx
Published xxxxxx
22
23
Abstract
24
25 This paper presents a novel approach to the design and fabrication of low-cost and high-gain
26 aperture-coupled microstrip patch antenna (AC-MPA) arrays with improved radiation pattern
27
28
29
an
for millimetre-wave applications such as simultaneous wireless information and power transfer
(SWIPT) and Internet-of-Things (IoT) device connectivity. A higher-order mode substrate
integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity is used to feed the MPA arrays through aperture coupling.
30 The improved design approach is introduced and discussed in detail. Simulation and
31 experimental results for 2x2 and 4x4 arrays are presented, demonstrating excellent agreement.
32 Key performance metrics are side-lobe levels of less than -24 dB and -29 dB in the E-plane and
dM
33 -22 dB and -26 dB in the H-plane and realized gain of 11 dBi and 15 dBi for the 2x2 and 4x4
34 arrays respectively, at a design frequency of 30 GHz.
35
36
37 Keywords: Antenna Arrays, Microstrip Patch Antenna (MPA), Millimeter Waves (mmW), Substrate Integrated Waveguides
38
(SIW), Wireless Power Transfer (WPT).
39
40
41
42
43 at millimetre-wave frequencies, which can significantly
pte

44 1. Introduction degrade the radiation pattern and efficiency of the antenna

45 arrays [8].
Substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology has
46 Recent years have also seen an increase in research into
demonstrated certain advantages in its use in modern
47 methods to improve antenna performance using
wireless communication systems [1-3]. SIW technology has
48 been used extensively for the design of millimetre-wave
metamaterials, periodic structures and 2D materials.
49 antenna arrays, with SIW cavity-backed aperture-coupled
Metamaterials, being artificial composite materials, offer the
50 microstrip patch antenna (AC-MPA) arrays having gained
opportunity to make use of refraction properties not found in
51
ce

regular materials, including the well-known negative index

considerable attraction [4-7]. In this type of antenna array
52 design, the benefits of MPAs are combined with the
and left-handed behavior. For antennas, metamaterials have
53 been shown to offer the potential for miniaturization and
advantages of SIW technology [5, 6]. Additionally, aperture
54 control of radiation properties, including loading antenna
coupling has been demonstrated to offer higher radiation
55 arrays with metasurfaces [9], while split-ring resonator
efficiency, lower return loss and less complexity as
56 (SRR) arrays and other metamaterials have been
compared to other array feeding techniques such as
Ac

57 demonstrated for antenna improvement [10]. Furthermore,

58 microstrip and coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission
tunable and reconfigurable metamaterials have been shown
59 lines [8]. The drawbacks of a microstrip feed network
to offer exciting new opportunities for spatial
60 include undesired back-lobe radiation and high insertion loss
1
 AUTHOR SUBMITTED MANUSCRIPT - JPCO-101031.R1 Page 2 of 8

1
2 electromagnetic wave processing in a range of photonic,
3 terahertz and microwave applications [11]. Other important
4 and related techniques include the use of nanoparticles [12]
5 and 2D materials, especially graphene [13], which have
6 given the fields of plasmonics and transformation optics a
7 new impetus thanks to the control that these materials give
8 over permittivity and permeability, without the ohmic losses
for the maximum realized gain, the reported antenna arrays
have high SLLs of around -14 dB.
The main issues addressed in this research work are the
distance between two adjacent peaks of the E-field in SIW
cavity is equal to one-half guided wavelength (𝝀𝒈 /𝟐), which
is always less than the one-half free space wavelength (𝝀𝟎 /
𝟐) due to the relative permittivity 𝜺𝒓 of the dielectric

9 associated with conventional conductors. For example, near-
10 zero index materials have been shown to have important
11 advantages for new waveguide structures, including
12
dielectric rod waveguides that can overcome many of the
13 disadvantages of the dominant microwave and millimeter-
pt
substrate as 𝝀𝒈 = 𝝀𝟎 /√𝜺𝒓 . However, according to the
literature [25, 26], in order to minimize the side-lobe levels
the spacing between array elements should be greater than
or equal to one-half free space wavelength (𝝀𝟎 /𝟐), which
would not be possible if the TE404 mode in SIW cavity was

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14 used for the excitation of 4x4 MPA array. The second issue
wave metallic waveguides, such as their narrow bandwidth, is that the two adjacent peaks of electric field are 1800 out of
15 high loss and dispersion [14].
16 phase, therefore the coupling slots have to be offset in order
These technologies have a wide range of applications in to make them radiate in phase. However, there might be
17
antennas, for gain and directivity enhancement, mutual additional issues in distributing power around every slot,
18
coupling reduction and miniaturization [15-17]. In which affects the radiation pattern [27].
19
microstrip patch antenna arrays a key role of these To overcome these limitations related to higher-order
20

us
techniques is to suppress the surface waves, which results in mode SIW cavity excitation, TE303 and TE707 modes are
21
the gain enhancement and also reduction of side & back proposed here for the excitation of 2x2 and 4x4 MPA arrays,
22 respectively. Fig. 1 presents the simulated 𝐸-field
23 lobes, improving the radiation pattern. Near zero index
materials can be used to make directive radiation towards distribution inside the SIW cavities for the TE303 and
24 TE707 resonant modes, where the ‘+’ and ‘-’ signs denote
25 the broadside to a planar interface [18]. In [19] the author
the positions of maxima and minima, respectively. There are
26 presented the use of a metamaterial to concentrate the
3x3 and 7x7 standing wave 𝐸-field peaks distributed for the
27
28
29
energy radiated by a source in a narrow cone. A high-
directivity 5G antenna with near-zero refractive index
an
metamaterial is presented in [17]. The gain of the antenna is
TE303 and TE707 cavity modes, respectively. In the
antenna array design proposed here, only alternate maxima,
having the same phase of the 𝐸-field, were used for the
30 improved by more than 6 dBi at 27 ~ 29 GHz based on the excitation of the MPA elements, through aperture coupling.
31 near-zero refractive index metamaterial. A graphene-based This eliminates the need to offset the coupling slots and
32 circular patch antenna was proposed for 6.8-7.2 THz. radiating patches to compensate for the 180º phase
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33 Polyimide, quartz, silicon dioxide and silicon nitride were difference of adjacent maxima.
34 used as substrate materials and evaluated the performance of
35 the patch antenna for individual substrate materials [16]. In
36 a recent publication, microfluidics was used to reconfigure
37 the polarization of antennas when a conductive liquid is
38 injected into the substrate dielectric material [20]. Despite
39 the many advantages of using the above mentioned
40 technologies, the design and manufacture are complex and
41 difficult as compared to the design approach proposed in
42 this paper to enhance the radiation performance and
43
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directivity with very low side lobe levels by using a

44 combination of dielectric materials to synchronize the
45 aperture coupling from a higher order mode SIW cavity to
46 the patch antenna array.
47
In [21], the design of a higher-order mode cavity-
48 backed helical antenna array was proposed. The authors
49 used a TE707 mode resonant cavity to couple power to a 16
50 element helical antenna array at a center frequency of 11.8
51
ce

GHz. In [7], a 2x4 patch antenna array was excited by

52 aperture coupled longitudinal slots located in the SIW, at a
53 center frequency of 24 GHz. This antenna had a measured Fig. 1 E-field distribution in the SIW cavities at resonance; a)
54 gain of 12.5dBi, a radiation efficiency of 62% and 3.35% TE303 mode, b) TE707 mode
55 bandwidth for a return loss (RL) level of 10 dB. In recent
56 research papers [22-24], a similar design approach has been
Ac

57 used to design SIW cavity-backed aperture-coupled antenna

58 arrays using higher-order mode cavity excitation. In these
59 antenna designs, a TE404 resonant mode was used for the
60 excitation of 4x4 antenna arrays. Despite promising results
2
Page 3 of 8 AUTHOR SUBMITTED MANUSCRIPT - JPCO-101031.R1

1
2 In this paper we present a modified design approach for
3 the excitation of aperture-coupled microstrip patch antenna
4 arrays via higher-order mode SIW cavities. The proposed
5 approach significantly improves the side-lobe levels of
6 antenna arrays and is validated through the design and
7 measurement of 2x2 and 4x4 millimeter-wave microstrip
8 patch antenna arrays fed by a higher-order mode SIW
arrays using this excitation approach, we identified some
drawbacks and limitations of using the TE404 cavity mode
for the excitation of a 4x4 MPA array as proposed by [22,
23].
2.1. Proposed Antenna Structure
The proposed array configurations consist of a two- layer

9 cavity, with a design frequency of 30 GHz. The advantages
10 of this method include low-cost, straightforward design and
11 fabrication, as well as highly directional radiation pattern
12 with lower side-lobe levels. Additionally, the overall size of
13 the final antenna array is reduced as there is no need for
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structure with a higher-order mode SIW resonant cavity in
the lower substrate and the microstrip patch antenna array
on the top metal surface of the upper substrate. The SIW
cavity is fed by a microstrip line on the top surface of the

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14 lower substrate. Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 show the layer stack-up for
large-area power dividers implemented in microstrip or SIW the 2x2 and 4x4 arrays, respectively.
15 technology. Proposed antenna arrays are well suited for
16 millimetre-waves far field wireless power transfer
17
applications in Internet-of-things (IoT) sensor nodes,
18
sensing & diagnostics and automotive industry. WPT
19
technologies use electromagnetic fields to transmit power
20

us
through the air. One of the main requirements for an
21
22 efficient WPT system is a highly directional antenna with
23 low side-lobe levels (SLLs) and high radiation efficiency
24 [28]. Using an antenna with such parameters maximizes the
25 amount of RF power at the receiver, while at the same time
26 minimizes the interference caused to other, non-WPT
27
28
29
receivers [29]. Due to its inherently narrowband nature and
an
low profile, this approach is particularly suitable for short-
range simultaneous wireless information and power transfer
30 (SWIPT) to IoT devices and radar applications which do not
31 require high data rates [29].
32 Fig. 2 Geometry of Proposed Aperture Coupled Microstrip Patch
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33 2. Array Analysis and Design Procedure Antenna Array
34
It is well known that there is a range of electromagnetic
35
modelling techniques that can be applied to microwave,
36
millimeter-wave and terahertz passive components and
37
antennas. Effective medium theory gives a wide range of
38
39 tools for the analysis of composite materials [30]. The
40 Green’s function approach is especially suited to multilayer
41 structures and has been applied to many metamaterial
42 problems, and the technique has recently been extended to
43 analyse surface plasmon resonance at interfaces for
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44 metastructures [31]. The absorbing boundary condition

45 method has also been used for metamaterial modelling, such
46 as wideband absorbers using mushroom-type elements [32]
47 and is important for substrate integrated waveguide
48 modelling, which has been demonstrated using the finite-
49 difference frequency domain method [33]. In this research
50 work we used commercially available finite element method
51
ce

(FEM) full-wave electromagnetic solver Ansys HFSS™ to

52 design and analyse the proposed antenna arrays and the
53 proposed structures were fabricated and measured to
54 validate the simulated results.
55 The general layout of a SIW cavity-backed aperture-
56 coupled MPA array is shown in Fig. 2. After an extensive
Ac

57 literature review on SIW cavity higher-order mode Fig. 3 Layer stack-up illustration of the proposed 2x2 array; a) top
58 excitation for MPA arrays and a series of simulations and view and b) side view
59 optimization to improve the radiation pattern of antenna
60
3
 AUTHOR SUBMITTED MANUSCRIPT - JPCO-101031.R1 Page 4 of 8

1
2 In the above, 𝑤𝑒𝑓𝑓 and 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑓 are the effective width and
3 length of the SIW cavity, 𝑐 is the speed of light in vacuum,
4 𝑑 is the via hole diameter, 𝑝 is the distance between two
5 adjacent via holes (centre-to-centre) and 𝜇𝑟 and 𝜀𝑟 are the
6 relative permeability and permittivity of the substrate
7 material, respectively. To simplify the design, 𝑤𝑒𝑓𝑓 was
8 initially set equal to 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑓 . The indices 𝑚 and 𝑛 had the

pt
9 values 3 and 7 for the TE303 and TE707 modes,
10 respectively.
11 The diameter of the SIW via holes and the distance
12 between two adjacent ones should be determined according
13 to the following conditions:

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14 𝜆𝑆𝐼𝑊
𝑔
𝑑< 5 (4)
15
16 𝑝 < 2𝑑 (5)
17 Step 2) The next step is to design the transverse coupling
18 slots in the SIW cavity layer, as well as the 2x2 and 4x4
19 MPA arrays on the top metal surface of the upper substrate
20 material, as illustrated in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. In order to obtain

us
21 coupling at the desired operating frequency, the physical
22 size of coupling slots and radiating elements are calculated
23 using equations (6-12) as reported in [1, 35]. The
24 arrangement of the radiating elements is determined by
25 Fig. 4 Layer stack-up illustration of the proposed 4x4 array; a) top keeping the distance from the centre of the first slot to the
view and b) side view
26 centre of the second slot as 𝝀𝑺𝑰𝑾
𝝀𝟎

27
28
29
Transverse coupling slots located on the top metal layer
of the SIW substrate allow the resonant cavity to
an 𝒈 =
√𝝐𝒓
and the distance from
the centre of the last slot to SIW end wall as 𝝀𝒈 /𝟐; As
reported in [22, 23], the TEm0n mode coupling level and
parasitically excite the individual patch antenna array
30 return loss of the multilayer transition can be controlled by
elements. The size and position of these slots determines the
31 varying the physical slot width, and the physical slot length,
coupling between the SIW cavity and the antenna array,
32 while maintaining the slot position at the maximum E-field
dM
while the linear dimensions of the patches determine their
33 point. The initial dimensions of coupling slots were
operating frequency [8, 27]. It has been shown that a
34 determined as follows [35]:
35 transverse slot excitation provides efficient coupling and 𝜆0
higher gain when compared to a longitudinal coupling slot 𝑙𝑠 = (6)
36 √2(𝜀𝑟+1)
𝑙𝑠
37 [4]. The proposed approach is straightforward in terms of 𝑤𝑠 ≤ (7)
10
38 feed network design, cost effective in terms of fabrication
39 and is expected to give very low side-lobe levels. In this proposed design, one coupling slot per patch
40 element is used, with the slots positioned in the top metal
41 2.2. Design methodology
wall of the SIW cavity in such a way as to coincide with a
42 The array design methodology that we adopted is as maximum of the 𝑬-field. The initial dimensions of the
43
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follows: MPAs were determined according to well-known equations

44 Step 1) The dimensions of the individual SIW cavities are given below [25]:
45 designed to support the TE303 and TE707 resonant modes The width of the patch is given as:
46 at the design frequency of 30 GHz according to [34], which 𝑐𝑜 2
47 gives the resonant frequency of a TEm0n mode as: 𝑊= 2𝑓𝑟
√𝜀 (8)
𝑟 +1
48
49
𝟐 𝟐 Where 𝑐𝑜 is the speed of light in vacuum and 𝑓𝑟 is the
50 𝒄
√( 𝒎𝝅 ) + ( 𝒏𝝅 )
𝒇𝒎𝟎𝒏 = 𝟐𝝅 (1) desired resonant frequency of the antenna.
51
ce

√ 𝝁𝒓 𝝐𝒓 𝒘 𝒆𝒇𝒇 𝒍 𝒆𝒇𝒇
The effective dielectric constant 𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓 of substrate is then
52
53 approximated as:
1
54 The effective width and length of the SIW cavity can be 𝜖𝑟 +1 𝜖𝑟 −1 ℎ −2
calculated using the following equations [17]: 𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓 = + + [1 + 12 ] (9)
55 2 2 𝑤
𝑑2
56 𝑤𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝑤 − 0.95𝑝 (2)
Ac

57 The effective length 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑓 of the patch is:

𝑑2
58 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝑙 − (3) 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑓 =
𝑐𝑜
(10)
0.95𝑝
2𝑓
59 𝑟 √𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓

60
4
Page 5 of 8 AUTHOR SUBMITTED MANUSCRIPT - JPCO-101031.R1

1
2 The length extension ∆𝐿 of the patch due to fringing 3. Results and Discussion
3 effect of the E-fields is:
The two arrays shown in Fig 5 were fabricated and
4 ∆𝐿
𝑤
(𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓 +0.3)( +0.264)
= ℎ
(11) measured using the in-house facilities at the University of
5 ℎ
𝑤
(𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓 +0.258)( +0.8) Leeds. Several samples for both the 2x2 and 4x4 variants
ℎ
6 Now, the actual Length of the patch is given as: were fabricated and tested, the measured results are
7 𝐿 = 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑓 − 2∆𝐿 (12) presented here.
8 Step 3) The spacing between the neighbouring array The return loss performance of the antennas was

9 elements is an important parameter which determines the
10 phase difference between the two adjacent array elements
11
and affects the radiation pattern of the antenna array [27]. In
12
order to minimise the side-lobe levels and grating lobes, the
13
centre-to-centre distance between the individual MPA array
pt
measured in laboratory conditions using a Keysight N5247A
PNA-X with 1-port Short, Open, Load (SOL) calibration,
bringing the S-parameter reference plane to the end of the
coaxial cable used. The E-plane and H-plane radiation
patterns were measured in a far-field anechoic chamber

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14 using a Keysight E8361C PNA and a 20 dBi WR-28
elements should be 𝜆0 /2 at the operating frequency of 30
15 standard gain horn antenna.
16 GHz [26]. Therefore, in order to excite all patch elements To analyse the electromagnetic properties of the
17 in-phase, the centre-to-centre distance of the transverse structures and the effects of surface waves, the finite
18 coupling slots should also be 𝜆0 /2. Since the slots element method (FEM) is used to simulate their
19 themselves are positioned above neighbouring in-phase performance. The effects of surface wave excitation are
20 maxima of the 𝐸-field in the SIW cavity, it follows that the lower antenna efficiency, degradation of the radiation

us
21 guide wavelength in the SIW cavity 𝜆𝑔𝑆𝐼𝑊 , should be equal to pattern and undesired coupling between the elements in an
22 one-half the free-space wavelength 𝜆0 /2. Therefore, the array design [36, 37]. The reflection coefficient and the
23 relative permittivity 𝜀𝑟 of the SIW substrate should be radiation efficiency of proposed antennas clearly shows the
24 minimum effect of surface wave propagation in proposed
selected according to the relation λSIW
g = λ0 /√εr . design. Surface currents distribution on top radiating patches
25 For the designs presented in this paper, Rogers TMM 4 of proposed antenna arrays are shown in Fig 6 which shows
26
27
28
29
with relative permittivity 4.5 and thickness 0.508 mm was
used for the lower (SIW) substrate layer and Rogers
RT/Duroid 5880 with relative permittivity 2.2 and thickness
an minimum surface wave propagation and mutual coupling
between the arrays elements.

0.787 mm was used for the upper (MPA) substrate layer. As

30
the free space wavelength is 10 mm for a centre frequency
31
of 30 GHz, the 𝜆0 /2 spacing between the patches should be
32
dM
approximately 5 mm, and the guide wavelength 𝜆𝑔𝑆𝐼𝑊 was
33
34 calculated to be approximately 5 mm for a substrate with
35 𝜀𝑟 = 4.5 at 30 GHz.
36 Step 4) Finally, parametric analysis in HFSS™ was used
37 to find the optimal positions and dimensions of the coupling
38 slots and radiating patches to maximize the coupled power
39 from SIW cavity to MPA array and to minimize the side-
40 lobe levels. The dimensions and position of the coupling slot
41 significantly affect the coupling between the SIW and the
42 microstrip patch, while the dimensions of the patch affect
43
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the resonant frequency of the antenna. A tapered microstrip-

44 to-SIW transition is used to feed the higher-order mode SIW
45 cavity. The length of the microstrip feed line is extended to
46 avoid possible reflections due to the coaxial end-launch Fig. 5 Fabricated AC-MPA array circuits, a) top view, b) bottom
47 view and c) Side view
connector. The final, optimised values for the dimensions of
48 the proposed AC-MPA arrays are summarized in Table I.
49
50 Table I
51
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Final Design Parameter Values

52 Parameter Value Parameter Value
53 (mm) (mm)
54 L1 12.0 LS 3.25
55 W1 11.5 WS 0.25
56 L2 25.0 LP 3.0
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57 W2 25.0 WP 3.5
58 H1 0.51 DX 5.5 Fig 6 Surface current distribution on the top radiating elements at
59 H2 0.787 DY 6.0 30 GHz; a) 2x2 array, b) 4x4 array
60
5
 AUTHOR SUBMITTED MANUSCRIPT - JPCO-101031.R1 Page 6 of 8

1
2 0
A comparison between the simulated performance in
3 HFSS™ and the measurement results for both the 2x2 and
4 -10 4x4 arrays is presented in Fig. 7. A return loss level of 10
5 dB is used to define the operating bandwidth of the
S-Parameters (dB)

6 -20 antennas, found to be 505 MHz for the 2x2 array and 300
7 MHz for the 4x4 array. The graphs demonstrate excellent
8
-30
match between simulation and measurement, with minor

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9 -40 differences in out-of-band performance. The differences are
10 attributed to the coaxial end-launch connector, as well as
11 -50 higher-than-expected dielectric loss at millimetre-wave
Simulated
12 Measured frequencies.
13 -60
The simulated and measured results for the E-plane and H-

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29.0 29.5 30.0 30.5 31.0
14 Frequency (GHz) plane radiation patterns of the two arrays are shown in Fig.
15 8. There is again an excellent qualitative and quantitative
16 0 agreement between the two, validating the proposed design
17
-5 method, 2x2 array provides a maximum gain of 11.1 dBi at
18
the centre frequency of 30 GHz, with SLLs below -24 dB in
19 -10
the E-plane and -22 dB in the H-plane. Full-width at half-
S-Parameters (dB)

20 -15

us
maximum (FWHM) for this array is found to be 380/560 in
21 -20
22 the E/H plane. From Fig. 8b, the 4x4 array provides a
23
-25 maximum gain of 15 dBi, with SLLs below -29 dB and -26
24 -30 dB for the E-plane and H-plane, respectively, while the
25 -35 FWHM in this case is 290/380 in the E/H plane. The
26
Simulated measured efficiencies of the 2x2 and 4x4 array are 83.2%
27
28
29
-40

29.0 29.5 30.0

Frequency (GHz)
30.5
Measured
31.0
an
and 86.5%, calculated as follows [25]:

32400
𝐷 ≈ (13)
𝜃1𝑑 𝜃2𝑑
30 Fig. 7 Simulated and measured return loss performance: a) 2x2
31 array and b) 4x4 array
where 𝜽𝟏𝒅 & 𝜽𝟐𝒅 are the half-power beamwidths in E & H
32
dM
Simulated E-plane plane (in degrees) respectively.
33 15
Simulated H-plane
34 10 Measured E-plane
𝐺
35 5
Measured H-plane 𝜀= (14)
𝐷
36 0 Where 𝐺 is the gain and 𝐷 is the directivity of antenna.
37
Gain (dBi)

-5 The obtained results demonstrate the excellent

38
-10 performance of the proposed feeding and excitation
39
approach of higher-order mode SIW cavity backed AC-
40 -15
MPA arrays. While this approach yields inherently
41 -20

42 narrowband antenna arrays, this is seen as an advantage as

-25

43 the target application is SWIPT for low data-rate IoT

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-30
44 -90 -60 -30 0 30 60 90 devices. Furthermore, these designs can be readily scaled to
45 Theta (Degree) higher frequencies, potentially enabling SWIPT at the 60
Simulated E-plane GHz ISM frequency band. Table II demonstrates a
46 20
Simulated H-plane
47 15 Measured E-plane comparison of results of proposed antenna arrays with other
Measured H-plane
48 10 similar antenna designs in the open literature.
49 5

50 4. Conclusion
Gain (dBi)

0
51
ce

-5 In this paper, a new approach for the design of AC-MPA

52 -10 arrays fed by a higher-order mode SIW cavity is presented
53 -15 and validated through measurement results of 2x2 and 4x4
54 -20 arrays. The proposed arrays are straightforward to design
55 and cost-effective to fabricate. The measurement results
-25
56 show excellent agreement with simulated ones. The arrays
Ac

57
-30
-90 -60 -30 0 30 60 90 exhibit extremely low side-lobe levels in both the E-plane
58 Theta (Degree)
and the H-plane as compared to recent published work,
59 Fig. 8 Simulated and measured E-plane and H-plane radiation
summarised in Table II, with high gains.
60 pattern at 30 GHz: a) 2x2 array and b) 4x4 array
6
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1
2 Table II
3 Comparison of Proposed Design Approach with Recent Published Work in Open Literature
4 Ref. Freq. Size Gain SLLs (dB) Eff. Antenna SIW cavity Design
5 (GHz) (mm) (dBi) E-Pl. H-Pl. % type mode Complexity
6 [23] 5.8 2.11𝜆𝑜 x2.11𝜆𝑜 x0.18𝜆𝑜 12.9 -14 -15 - Slot TE404 High
7 Antenna
8 [22] 28 2.33𝜆𝑜 x2.33𝜆𝑜 x0.19𝜆𝑜 15.5 -14 -16 96 Slot TE404 High

pt
9 (Sim) Antenna
10 [21] 11.8 5𝜆𝑜 x5𝜆𝑜 x0.19𝜆𝑜 15~20 - - 50 Helical TE707 High
11 [7] 24 4.8𝜆𝑜 x1.28𝜆𝑜 x0.13𝜆𝑜 12.5 -20 -15 62 MPA TE104 High
12 [24] 5.8 1.68𝜆𝑜 x1.68𝜆𝑜 x0.17𝜆𝑜 13.5 -22 -12 91 Slot TE303 High
13 Antenna

cri
14 Proposed 30 2.5𝜆𝑜 x3𝜆𝑜 x0.13𝜆𝑜 15 -29 -26 86.5 MPA TE707 Low
15 4x4
16 Proposed 30 1.2𝜆𝑜 x1.6𝜆𝑜 x0.13𝜆𝑜 11.1 -24 -22 83.2 MPA TE303 Low
17 2x2
18
19 The proposed antenna arrays have highly directional 4. Abdel-Wahab, W.M. and S. Safavi-Naeini,
20 radiation pattern with high gain, and low side lobe levels Wide-bandwidth 60-GHz aperture-coupled

us
21 which makes them a promising candidate for high frequency microstrip patch antennas (MPAs) fed by
22 wireless power transfer to IoT sensor nodes. However, due substrate integrated waveguide (SIW). IEEE
23 to their narrowband nature, they would not be suitable for Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters,
24 high data rate applications, such as fifth generation mobile 2011. 10: p. 1003-1005.
25 communications (5G). 5. Awida, M.H., S.H. Suleiman, and A.E. Fathy.
26
27
28
29
Future developments will see the same design approach
used to implement larger arrays of 8x8 and 16x16 elements,
an
as well as at higher frequency bands such as 60 GHz as well.
Development of a substrate-integrated Ku-
band cavity-backed microstrip patch sub-array
of dual linear/circular polarization for DBS
Additionally, the bandwidth can be improved using applications. in Radio and Wireless
30 enhancement techniques discussed previously. Finally, a
31 Symposium (RWS), 2010 IEEE. 2010. IEEE.
practical demonstrator for wirelessly powered IoT sensor 6. Awida, M.H., S.H. Suleiman, and A.E. Fathy,
32
dM
node will be presented in a future work. Substrate-integrated cavity-backed patch
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34 arrays: A low-cost approach for bandwidth
35 Acknowledgments enhancement. IEEE Transactions on Antennas
36 and Propagation, 2011. 59(4): p. 1155-1163.
The authors are thankful to the Engineering and Physical
37 7. Rossello, J., et al. Substrate integrated
Sciences Research Council, UK for the financial support
38 waveguide aperture coupled patch antenna
through Grant EP/N005685/1; Prof Zhiguo Ding from
39 array for 24 GHz wireless backhaul and radar
40 Lancaster University and Prof Arumugam Nallanathan from
applications. in Antenna Measurements &
41 Queen Mary University of London for the helpful
Applications (CAMA), 2014 IEEE Conference
42 discussions; and to the technical staff at the University of
on. 2014. IEEE.
43 Leeds Electronics Workshop for fabricating the antennas
pte

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