Design and Performance Evaluation of a Low-Profile 3 GHz Microstrip Patch Antenna with High Return Loss and Low VSWR

The rapid spread of wireless services and technological progress have led to a surge in demand for wireless networks. Public and private sectors are heavily in need of low-profile, reasonably priced antennas that are easy to manufacture. Microstrip patch antennas are low-profile antennas that can be utilized for a variety of wireless applications because they are easy to design, cost effective and easy to fabricate. This study describes a novel 2.9 GHz narrowband antenna with nearly zero reflected power. The 2.9 GHz antenna with a return loss of -49.95 dB, and a VSWR below 1.01 in the operating band. This represents a good performance in the S-band applications such as satellite communication, weather radar, maritime radar, 5G etc. The antenna exhibits a directivity of 5.855 dBi, a gain of 5.080 dBi and a radiation efficiency of -0.7743 dB. By modifying the patch size, feedline in both fabricated and simulated antennas the impedance matching, return loss of this antenna structure has been optimized. FR4 material used as a substrate ensures a low-cost during manufacturing. In the study, an equivalent circuit model tuned to the novel antenna structure was also proposed and compared with the electromagnetic simulation result to validate the proposed circuit model.