Wideband dual-frequency double inverted-L CPW-fed

monopole antenna for WLAN application

W.-C. Liu

Abstract: A novel and simple wideband dual-frequency design of a coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed
monopole antenna is proposed. The antenna comprises a planar patch element with a sided
L-shaped slit to become a double inverted-L monopole and is capable of generating two separate
resonant modes with good impedance matching conditions. Prototypes of the proposed antenna
have been constructed and studied experimentally. The measured results show good agreement
with the numerical prediction, and good dual-frequency operations with
10 dB impedance
bandwidths of 7.3% and 35.1% at the resonant frequencies of 2.48 and 5.22 GHz, respectively,
which cover the 2.4/5.2/5.8 GHz WLAN operating bands. Also, good monopole-like radiation
patterns and antenna gains over the operating bands have been obtained.

1 Introduction operations. However, they do not have broad bandwidths

With wireless communications, such as the wireless local
area network (WLAN), having evolved at an astonishing
rate during the last decade, there are various antenna
designs, which enable antennas with low-profile, light-
weight, flush mounted and single-feed to fit the limited
equipment space of the WLAN devices. These antennas,
with enhanced dual- or multi-frequency capabilities to
satisfy the IEEE 802.11 WLAN standards in the 2.4/
5.2/5.8 GHz operating bands, have been developed and
presented in the literature. These antennas include the
planar inverted-F antennas (PIFAs) [1, 2], the chip antennas
[3, 4], and the planar monopole antennas [5–7]. Among
these antennas, the planar monopole antennas have
especially received much more interest than others owing
to their potential in providing various required radiation
features of dualband or multiband, wide bandwidth, and
low profile for a communication system. However, such
kinds of antennas mostly need a large size of ground plane,
which is often printed on the different side of the substrate
from the radiating plane, and thus a via-hole connection is
always necessary for feeding the signal and this increases the
manufacture difficulty and cost.
Recently, a great interest in coplanar waveguide (CPW)-
fed antennas has been found because of their many
attractive features such as wider bandwidth, better im-
pedance matching, simplest structure of a single metallic
layer, no soldering point, and easy integration with active
devices or monolithic microwave integrated circuits. For the
available designs, the CPW-fed square slot antenna reported
in [8] is capable of broad but single-band operation only,
and the CPW-fed inductive slot antennas reported in [9]
are capable of dual or multiband operation for WLAN
r IEE, 2005
IEE Proceedings online no. 20050011
doi:10.1049/ip-map:20050011
Paper first received 14th January and in revised form 1st April 2005
The author is with the Department of Aeronautical Engineering, National
Formosa University, 64, Wenhua Rd., Huwei, Yunlin, Taiwan, Republic of
China
E-mail: wencliu@nfu.edu.tw
and require greater complexity of antenna shape. For this,
previous work [10] has presented a much simpler CPW-fed
notched monopole antenna with enhanced bandwidth and
is suitable for WLAN 2.4/5.2 GHz dualband operations.
However, the antenna size, including the ground planes, is
as large as 70  66 mm2 to occupy much of the device space.
In this paper, a novel and simple wideband dual-
frequency design of a double inverted-L planar monopole
is presented. The antenna is fed by a CPW line such that
only a single-layer substrate is required for this antenna. In
addition, the case of the proposed design with a more
reduced size than that in [10] is not only capable of
providing the dual-frequency operation, but can achieve
bandwidth enhancement. Details of the antenna design are
described, and prototypes of the proposed antenna for
WLAN operations at the 2.4, 5.2 and 5.8 GHz frequencies
have been constructed and tested.
2 Antenna design
The geometry of the proposed double inverted-L CPW-fed
planar monopole antenna for wideband and dual-frequency
operations is shown in Fig. 1. For the design studied here,
the antenna is etched on the same side of an inexpensive
FR4 substrate with the dielectric constant of 4.4 (eg) and the
substrate thickness of 1.6 mm (h), while the other side is
without any metallisation. A CPW transmission line, which
consists of a signal strip thickness of wf and a gap distance
of d between the single strip and the coplanar ground plane,
is used for feeding the antenna. Two equal finite ground
planes, each with dimensions of length Lg and width Wg, are
situated symmetrically on each side of the CPW feed line.
The basis of the antenna structure is a rectangular patch
monopole, which has the dimensions of length L and width
W, and is centred and connected at the end of the CPW
feed line. To achieve the desired dual-frequency operations,
the patch is embedded with an L-shaped slit, which
comprises both the horizontal and vertical sections with
dimensions of l1  w1 and l2  w2, respectively, to drama-
tically form two inverted L-shaped monopoles. The slit is
sited with a distance of (l3
l2) from the bottom of the patch.
The major effect of the inserted slit is to produce two

IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 152, No. 6, December 2005 505
 W 0

−10
w1

return loss, dB
L l1
z −20
l2
l3
w2 − 30 with L-shaped slit (measured)
y x with L-shaped slit (simulated)
s
without slit (measured)

−40
2 3 4 5 6
d frequency, GHz
Lg Lg

wf
Fig. 2 Measured and simulated return loss for the proposed
wideband dual-frequency antenna shown in Fig. 1
L ¼ 22:48mm, W ¼ 16:44mm, Lg ¼ 18:9mm, Wg ¼ 10:83mm,
wf ¼3mm, w1 ¼9:53mm, l1 ¼3:35mm, w2 ¼7:95mm, l2 ¼ 7:05mm,
Wg Wg l3 ¼ 9:66mm, d ¼ 2:0 mm, s ¼ 1:93mm, h ¼ 1:6 mm, eg ¼ 4:4
50- Ω SMA
connector

h

longer path

Fig. 1 Geometry of the proposed CPW-fed double inverted-L

planar monopole antenna

different current paths from the two separated inverted

L-shaped monopoles, and thus dual resonant modes are
certainly excited. That is, the left-up larger inverted
L-shaped monopole, which comprises a vertical strip of
length L and width W
w1, and a horizontal strip of length
L
l1
l3 and width w1, is considered to mainly control the
lower operating band of the proposed antenna. Alterna-
tively, the upper resonant frequency is excited to be greatly
dependent on the length of the right-down smaller inverted
L-shaped monopole with a vertical strip of length l3 and
width w1
w2, and a horizontal strip of length l3
l2 and
width w2.
To investigate the performance of the proposed antenna a
configurations in terms of achieving the wideband dual-
frequency operations a commercially available moment
method code, IE3Dt, was used for required numerical
analysis and obtaining the proper geometry parameters in
Fig. 1, and then the optimal dimensions were determined
from experiments. The geometric parameters were adjusted
carefully and, finally, the antenna dimensions were obtained
to be L ¼ 22:48 mm, W ¼ 16:44 mm, Lg ¼ 18:9 mm,
Wg ¼10:83mm, wf ¼3:0mm, w1 ¼9:53mm, l1 ¼ 3:35mm, shorter path
w2 ¼ 7:95 mm, l2 ¼ 7:05 mm, l3 ¼ 9:66 mm, d ¼ 2:0 mm,
and s ¼ 1:93 mm, where wf corresponds to the 50 O CPW
feed line. Thus, in the following Section, prototypes of the
proposed antenna were constructed, and the numerical and
experimental results of the input impedance and radiation
characteristics are presented and discussed. In addition,
owing to the fact that the experimental results show that the
length of l2 and the distance of d both have a significant
effect on the impedance bandwidth of the proposed
antenna, the influence will also be described.

3 Results and discussion

b

Figure 2 shows the simulated and measured return loss Fig. 3 Simulated surface current distributions on the radiating
against frequency for the proposed double inverted-L wide- patch for the proposed antenna
band dual-frequency planar CPW-fed monopole antenna. a 2.45 GHz
It is clearly seen that two wide operating bandwidths are b 5.25 GHz

506 IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 152, No. 6, December 2005
obtained. The measured lower band achieves a
10 dB 0
impedance bandwidth of 7.3% ranging from 2.39 GHz to
2.57 GHz with respect to the centre frequency at 2.48 GHz, −5
and the measured bandwidth for the upper mode reaches
−10
1.83 GHz (4.03–5.86 GHz), or about 35.1% referred to the

return loss, dB
centre frequency at 5.22 GHz. Obviously, the antenna can −15
operate over the bands which cover the required band-
widths of the IEEE 802.11 WLAN standards in the bands − 20
at 2.4 GHz (2400–2484 MHz), 5.2 GHz (5150–5350 MHz), I 2 =7 mm
and 5.8 GHz (5725–5825 MHz). We compared the mea- −25
× I 2 =5 mm
sured data with the simulated results obtained from the
− 30 I 2 =1 mm
IE3Dt electromagnetic solver. The agreement seemed •
good and a similar curve trend between the measurement −35
and the simulative results is seen over the whole operating 2 3 4 5 6
frequency, GHz
bands beyond existing a slight frequency shift and a
frequency discrepancy that may mainly be due to the Fig. 4 Measured return loss for the proposed antenna with various
frequency response of the substrate permittivity. In addi- lengths (l2) of the L-shaped slit
tion, to investigate the difference between with and without Other parameters are the same as in Fig. 2
the L-shaped slit, the frequency response of return loss for
the proposed antenna without the L-shaped slit is also
measured and plotted in Fig. 2. As a result, the slit- path for the smaller inverted L-shaped monopole is slightly
unembedded antenna only provides a much narrower affected. Additionaly, an important feature of the proposed
bandwidth of 700 MHz (4.78–5.48 GHz) with the best antenna is the influence of impedance matching caused
impedance matching condition of return loss less than – from the coupling effects between the feed line and the
11.3 dB over the higher frequency band. The excited surface coplanar ground plane over the two desired operating
current distributions, obtained from the IE3Dt simulation, bands, especially over the higher operating band. For this,
on the radiating slit-loaded patch for the proposed antenna the effect of the gap distance d on the performance of the
at 2.45 and 5.25 GHz, respectively, are presented in Fig. 3. proposed dual-frequency antenna was also studied and
As expected, the two resonant modes excited are, primarily, presented in Fig. 5. The obtained results indicate that the
a result of the formed longer and shorter current paths. For bandwidth of the higher band for the proposed design is
the 2.45 GHz excitation, clearly, a larger surface distribution reduced with increasing distance of d, while that of the
is observed for the longer path along the larger L-shaped lower band is not significantly changed. For comparison,
monopole, while for the 5.25 GHz operation, the surface
current distribution is very focused at the smaller L-shaped 0
monopole. Furthermore, in the proposed design, the electric
length of the longer path is about 29.4 mm (i.e. ffi L þ w1 þ −5
l2
l3 ), which is slightly less than one-quarter wavelength
−10
of the operating frequency at 2.45 GHz. Alternatively, the
return loss, dB

length of the shorter path is about 14.8 mm (i.e. ffi w2 þ l2 ), −15

which is also close to one-quarter wavelength of the
operating frequency at 5.25 GHz. The deviation of the −20
resonant length of the radiating element is additionally due
to the effect of the loading of the particular resonant part by −25
the remaining non-resonant part of the whole structure. d = 2 mm
Figure 4 shows the effect of varying the vertical slit length −30 d = 3 mm
d = 5 mm
as l2 ¼ 1, 5 and 7 mm on the proposed antenna’s impedance
−35
matching. It is observed that with a decrease in the length l2, 2 3 4 5 6
the lowest resonant frequency of the lower band increases frequency, GHz
while the impedance bandwidth of the upper band Fig. 5 Measured return loss for the proposed antenna with various
decreases. This is due to the fact that to decrease the length gap distance (d) between the single strip and the coplanar ground
of l2 will shorten the effective current path for the larger plane
inverted L-shaped monopole, while the length of current Other parameters are the same as in Fig. 2

Table 1: Measured performances of proposed dual-frequency design with various l2 and d

l2 (mm) d (mm) Lower band Upper band

fc (GHz) BW (%, GHz) fc (GHz) BW (%, GHz)

Antenna 1 7 2 2.48 7.3, 2.39–2.57 5.22 35.1, 4.03–5.86

Antenna 2 5 2 2.63 8.4, 2.51–2.73 5.31 30.9, 4.21–5.85
Antenna 3 1 2 2.83 9.9, 2.71–2.99 5.35 25.8, 4.48–5.86
Antenna 4 7 3 2.48 5.2, 2.41–2.54 5.56 19.8, 4.82–5.92
Antenna 5 7 5 2.47 8.5, 2.34–2.55 5.34 21.7, 4.53–5.69

L ¼ 22.48 mm, W ¼ 16.44 mm, Lg ¼ 18.9 mm, Wg ¼ 10.83 mm, wf ¼ 3 mm, w1 ¼ 9.53 mm, l1 ¼ 3.35 mm, w2 ¼ 7.95 mm, l3 ¼ 9.66 mm,
s ¼ 1.93 mm, h ¼ 1.6 mm, eg ¼ 4.4

IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 152, No. 6, December 2005 507
 z

θ = 0° x θ = 0°
0 dB 0 dB

20 dB 20 dB

40 dB 40 dB
− 90° 90° − 90° 90°
(− x) (+x) (−y) (+ y)

E
180° x x x E 180°
x − z plane y−z plane

φ = 90°
0 dB

20 dB

40 dB
180° 0°
(−x) (+x)

− 90°
x−y plane

Fig. 6 Measured radiation patterns at 2.45 GHz for the proposed antenna studied in Fig. 2
z

θ = 0° x θ = 0°
0 dB 0 dB

− 20 dB − 20 dB

−40 dB − 40 dB
−90° 90° −90° 90°
(−x) (+x) (−y) (+y)

E
180° x x x E 180°
x−z plane y−z plane

φ = 90°
0 dB

− 20 dB

− 40 dB
180° 0°
(−x) (+x)

−90°
x−y plane

Fig. 7 Measured radiation patterns at 5.25 GHz for the proposed antenna studied in Fig. 2
508 IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 152, No. 6, December 2005
 z

θ = 0° x θ = 0°
0 dB 0 dB

− 20 dB − 20 dB

− 40 dB − 40 dB
−90° 90° −90° 90°
(−x) (+x) (−y) (+y)

E
180° x x x E 180°

x−z plane y−z plane

φ = 90°
0 dB

− 20 dB

− 40 dB
180° 0°
(−x) (+x)

−90°
x−y plane

Fig. 8 Measured radiation patterns at 5.75 GHz for the proposed antenna studied in Fig. 2

Table 1 summarily gives the antenna parameters and 4

measured centre frequencies and bandwidths for the
constructed prototypes with various lengths of l2 and d.
antenna gain, dBi

Typical radiation characteristics of the frequencies across 3

the lower and upper bands for the proposed dual-band
antenna are also examined. Figures 6–8 show, respectively,
the measured radiation patterns including the vertical (Ey)
2
and the horizontal (Ef) polarisation patterns in the azimuth
cut (x–y plane) and the elevation cuts (y–z plane and x–z
plane) for the antenna at the lower band of 2.45 GHz, and at
the upper band of 5.25, and 5.75 GHz. It is seen that the 1
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7
obtained radiation patterns are not as good as those of a frequency, GHz
conventional ideal monopole antenna, which has a good a
omni-directional pattern in the azimuth plane and conical 6

radiations in the elevation planes. However, the proposed

5
antenna in general shows monopole-like radiation patterns
antenna gain, dBi

with nearly omnidirectional radiation in the azimuthal plane

4
for all measured frequencies. Owing to the symmetry in the
structure, rather symmetrical radiation patterns are seen in
3
the x–z and y–z planes as depicted in the plots. In addition, it
is also found that the Ey and Ef components of the patterns
2
in both x–z and y–z planes are seemed to be much
comparable. This electromagnetic phenomenon is probably
1
a result of the strong horizontal components of the surface 3.9 4.4 4.9 5.4 5.9
current on the radiating patch. However, this characteristic frequency, GHz
would be an advantage of better transmission capabilities for b
wireless communications, such as WLAN, in a multi-path Fig. 9 Measured peak antenna gain for frequencies across the
environment. Also note that measurements at other lower band and the higher band for the proposed antenna studied in
operating frequencies across the bandwidth of each band Fig. 2
show radiation patterns similar to those plotted here. That a 2.39–2.95 GHz
is, stable radiation patterns have been obtained for the b 4.03–5.86 GHz

IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 152, No. 6, December 2005 509
proposed antenna. Finally, the measured antenna gain
against frequency for the proposed antenna across the two
bands is shown in Fig. 9. For the lower band, the maximum
radiation gain of about 3.2 dBi is observed, with gain
variations less than 1 dBi, while for the higher band, the
peak antenna gain observed is 4.5 dBi, and the gain
variations are also less than 1 dBi.
4 Conclusion
A single-layer planar double inverted-L monopole antenna
based on 50 O CPW-fed technology for broadband dual-
frequency operation has been presented, with experimental
and numerical results. Constructed prototypes suitable for
spatial-diversity operation in WLAN communications
covering the 2.4, 5.2 and 5.8 GHz bands have been studied,
and good antenna performances of the operating frequen-
cies across the three operating bands have been obtained.
The measurements on the fabricated antenna showed good
agreement with the simulated data. Large effects of varying
antenna parameters and gap distance (d) between the single
strip and the coplanar ground plane on the antenna
10 Liu, W.C., and Wu, C.M.: ‘Broadband dual-frequency cpw-fed planar
resonant frequencies and impedance bandwidths have also
been examined.
510
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IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 152, No. 6, December 2005