International Journal of

Applied Mathematics,
Advanced Technology and Science
Electronics and Computers
ISSN: 2147-82282147-6799http://ijamec. atscience.org Original Research Paper

An Investigation of Shorting Pin Effects on Circular Disc Microstrip

Antennas
Dilek Uzer*, Seyfettin Sinan Gultekin

Accepted 19thJune 2015 DOI: 10.18100/ijamec.39970

Abstract: In this study, shorting pin addition, one of the common bandwidth enhancement techniques, is performed on traditional circular
disc microstrip antennas that have three different dielectric substrate thicknesses and designed in three different resonant frequencies.
Numbers of added shorting pins and positions of these pins are changed in every step, systematically and different pin combinations are
tried for three antennas that design parameters are present in literature. Later, optimal pin combinations that give the intended resonant
frequencies and the largest bandwidths are determined. For these optimal combinations, by keeping the resonant frequencies constant,
the bandwidths of the antennas are increased to %1.440, %2.780 and % 6.024, respectively. Compared to measurement results in the
literature, for bandwidths, significant improvements are obtained. At the same time, it is observed that the technique of shorting pin
addition increases the bandwidths in higher percentages on thicker microstrip antennas. For three antennas, it is seen that all pin
combinations give similar resonant frequency variations depended on pin positions.

Keywords: Circular microstrip antenna, shorting pin, bandwidth enhancement, HFSS simulation, optimization

1. Introduction is known that all relative patch dimensions are effective on

impedance behaviour [8].Besides; resonant frequency of the
In current practice, microstrip antennas are often preferred microstrip antenna can be controlled by changing the pin
because of their specifications like small dimensions, easily numbers and positions [9, 10]. Hereby, it can be said that
mounted, simple manufacturing techniques, exc. but they have resonant frequency is strongly related with the shorting pin
still narrow bandwidth against other antenna types. For the position [10, 11].Starting from these shorting pin effects on
purpose of bandwidth enhancement, there are lots of studies and microstrip patch antennas [3-6], in this study, adding shorting
trying techniques in literature [1-5]. The most popular bandwidth pins with different numbers and different positions on traditional
enhancement techniques from literature are slots on patches [6], circular disc microstrip patch antennas, simulation of these
suitable dielectric substrate selection [6], different patch shapes antennas performed by using HFSS v14 [12].Antenna bandwidths
[5,6], shorting pin addition [5,6] and compact designs that use improved significantly against to the measured bandwidth values
some of these techniques at the same antenna, together [5,6]. of the antennas from [2]. In addition, designed resonant
Adding shorting pin, which is the popular one of these techniques frequency values of these antennas were preserved. Therefore, for
and this technique, has a little known, bandwidth enhancement some pin added designs, patch radii were modified in 0.1 mm
effect on microstrip patch antennas [1, 6]. Shorting pins are range.
effective for bandwidth enhancement on quarter wave and regular
patches. It is commonly known that shorting pin usage aims to
reduce the patch size; also, this technique can be used for
2. Antenna Design
obtaining larger bandwidths [2, 5]. In this study, size reduction
property of shorting pins is not taken into account but focused on Circular disc microstrip patch antennas, used in this study, were
only the antenna bandwidth optimization. designed on Rogers Duroid 5870 substrate, which has a
Adding shorting pin on circular patch antenna leads the permittivity of 2.32 and three different thicknesses as 0.8 mm,
traditional antenna with the same size to resonate on a lower 1.59 mm and 3.18 mm, respectively. Antenna parameters for
frequency. In order to obtain a good impedance matching, three different dielectric thicknesses were taken from [2]. For
position of the shorting pin must be chosen closer to the feed running simulations in HFSS ANSYS Software, finite ground
point of the antenna. Otherwise, input impedance will increase plane dimensions were optimized in [5] for all three antennas.
rapidly [3].A shorting pin can act like the feed line of the In the studies, by using HFSS software, simulations of simple
microstrip antenna. In this case, it can be assumed that the pin antenna and antennas with shorting pins were performed. In
delivers zero power to the antenna but in the GHz range, for high Table 1; resonant frequencies, measured bandwidths, and design
frequency patches, an inductance appears between pin, patch and parameters of the simple microstrip antennas from [2] were
dielectric substrate. In addition, if the height of the shorting pin is given. Circular disc microstrip antenna with shorting pin was
chosen a bit shorter, at an upper level in the substrate, instead of shown in Figure 1. Here, k is the distance of the shorting pin to
extending from patch surface to ground plane, this pin will the patch centre.
generate a capacity. This generated capacity value can be Table 1.Antenna parameters from [2]
evaluated as a new design parameter according to the simple a xf h εr frcal. Δfrcal. frmeas. Δfrmeas. BWmeas.
patch. Thus, by providing isolation and changing the pin 68 65 0.8 2.32 840 835 1.2
positions, antenna performance can be improved with an 7 6
enhanced bandwidth. Input impedance of the shorted patch 68 65 1.59 2.32 833 829 1.6
antenna depends on positions of feed line and shorting pin [7]. It 12 14
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 68 65 3.18 2.32 821 815 2.1
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty,
Selcuk University, Campus, 42031, Konya/Turkey  a, xf and h; in mm
* Corresponding Author: Email: [email protected]

This journal is © Advanced Technology & Science IJAMEC, 2015, 3(3), 218–222 |218
  frcal., Δfrcal., frmeas. and Δfrmeas.; in MHz 3. Analysis and Results
 BWmeas. in %
For all three microstrip antennas, k-resonant frequency and k-
Where; bandwidth variation graphics for different pin combinations
obtained from simulations were given in Figure 3 with the
a: Antenna radius literature results. It can seen from these graphics, if k, the pin
xf: Coax-fed point position, is chosen closer to the patch centre, the patch impedance
h: Dielectric thickness is effected from the position of the shorting pin, so the resonant
εr: Dielectric permittivity frequency can be obtained so close to the design frequency value
frcal.: Calculated resonant frequency because of providing the impedance matching effective, then the
Δfrcal.: Difference calculated between the resonant frequencies bandwidth is increased. For Patch no1 and Patch no2, “2 pins
corresponding to three thicknesses with 90º” combination gave the best bandwidth results, as
frmeas.: Measured resonant frequency %1.440 and %2.780, respectively. For Patch no3, “1x2 pins in-
Δfrmeas.: Difference measured between the resonant frequencies line” combination gave a bandwidth value as % 6.024. All the
corresponding to three thicknesses antennas needed radius optimization to obtain the design resonant
BWmeas.: Measured bandwidth frequencies. The other simulation results can be seen from Table
2. In Table 2, bold lines show the best bandwidth results for
In the first section of the study, one copper shorting pin that has a every microstrip patch with the pin combination. After trials in
radius of 0.5 mm was added on the certainly opposite of the feed simulations, for all three different antenna substrate thicknesses,
point. The parameter k, represents the pin point, was swept by 1 the two pin opposing positioning did not give any significant
mm steps, from one edge to the next, along the 136 mm- diameter variations in resonant frequency and bandwidth values.
of the patch. Then, as can be seen from Table 2, two pins were As can be seen from Figure 3, the largest proportional increase
placed perpendicular to the feed point and their k parameters was obtained for Patch no3, which has the thickest dielectric
were swept again in the second part. In the third part, three pins substrate. Thus, it can be said that the proportional increase in the
were added on the patches positioned like in the first and second bandwidth is inversely with fr/h proportion. Hereby, it is
parts, together and simulations were repeated for the same steps. concluded that the shorting pin addition technique can be used
So, the first section was completed. In the second section, two more effectively on thick microstrip antennas. To support this, it
shorting pins were added in line between 1 mm with them and is planning to study using this bandwidth enhancement technique
this part was repeated for the third part. This section was not done on many thicker microstrip antennas with different dielectric
for the second part, because, although similar results were taken substrate specifications.
from the first and the third parts in the first section, there were no
meaningful results of resonant frequency and bandwidth 4. Conclusion
variations against k values for the second part of the first section.
For all other pin combinations, resonant frequency and bandwidth In this study, it is aimed to enhance the bandwidth of circular disc
variations with k values are compatible with together, so it was microstrip patch antennas available in the literature by adding
concluded that if k position were chosen closer to the patch shorting pins with different numbers and positions on them.
centre, while the resonant frequency is coming near to the design While increasing their bandwidths, it is made a point of keeping
frequency, the bandwidth value would increase. The graphics of the original resonant frequencies, which the antennas were
these variations for all three antennas are given in Figure 2, for all designed. It is seen that the distance to the centre of the patch and
different pin positions and numbers. the feed line position must be taken into account while the pin
In the last section, two shorting pins were placed at a position position, k, is determined. In addition, it is observed that this
facing the feed point where pins have a 135º with the feed line technique is more efficient on thick microstrip patch antennas. As
and a 90º with together, seen from Table 2. Then the sweep by k a result of this study, it is concluded that a bandwidth
values was repeated. enhancement can be easily obtained by adding shorting pins with
In all sections, after determining the optimum k values for pin different combinations on even microstrip antennas previously
combinations, these values were kept constant and small produced, without compromising the design frequency.
optimizations were done on the patch radii for obtaining the
design frequencies. While evaluating simulation results, the
errors because of pin intersections with the coaxial feed or the Resonanty Frequency Variations against Different Pin Combinations
other shorting pins were not taken into account and not put in 850
result tables.
840

830
fr (MHz)

820

810

800
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Patch no1, fr_sim. Patch no2, fr_sim.

Patch no3, fr_sim. Patch no1, fr[2]
Patch no2, fr[2] Patch no3, fr[2]

(a) Resonant Frequency Variations

Figure1.Circular disc antenna design with shorting pin

This journal is © Advanced Technology & Science IJAMEC, 2015, 3(3), 218–222 |219
 Bandwidth Variations against Different Pin Combinations
31, No. 2, , pp:358-360, March 1983.
7 [3] Kumar G. and Ray K.P. Broadband Microstrip Antennas,
6 Artech House, Boston, London, 2003.
[4] Koçer D. Simulation of Circular and Rectangular
5
Microstrip Antennas and Determination of Their Resonant
Frequencies by Artificial Neural Networks, M.S. Thesis,
fr (MHz)

3
Dept. Elect. and Electro. Eng., Graduate School of Natural
Sciences, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey, 2009.
2 [5] Uzer D. Investigation on Favourable Methods for
1 Wideband Microstrip Patch Antenna Designs, PhD. Thesis,
Dept. Elect. and Electro. Eng., Graduate School of Natural
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sciences, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey, (continuing).
[6] Wong K.L. Compact and Broadband Microstrip Antennas,
Patch no1, BW_sim. Patch no2, BW_sim. Wiley Inc. 2002.
Patch no3, BW_sim. Patch no1, BW[2] [7] Wong K. L., Tang C. L., and Chen H. T. A Compact
Patch no2, BW[2] Patch no3, BW[2]
Meandered Circular Microstrip Antenna with a Shorting
Pin, Microwave Opt. Technol. Lett. 15, 147–149, June 20,
(b) Bandwidth Variations
1997.
[8] Dey S. and Mittra R. Compact Microstrip Patch Antenna,
Figure3.Resonant Frequency and Bandwidth Variations for Different
Microwave Opt. Technol. Lett.13, 12–14, Sept. 1996.
Pin Combinations for Three Microstrip Antennas
[9] Sharma A. and Singh G. Design of Single Pin Shorted
Three-Dielectric-Layered Substrates Rectangular Patch
Acknowledgements Microstrip Antenna for Communication Systems, Progress
This study is supported by the Unit of the Scientific Research In Electromagnetics Research Letters, Vol. 2, 157–165,
Projects of Selcuk University in Turkey. 2008.
[10] Information and Communication Technologies, 2010 ICT
India September, Proceedings, Springer.
References [11] Wong K. L. and W. Chen S. Compact Microstrip Antenna
[1] BahlI. J. and Bhartia P. Microstrip Antennas. Artech House, with Dual-Frequency Operation, Electron.Lett.33, 646–647,
1980, chp. 3. April 10, 1997.
[2] Dahele J.S., and Lee K.F. Effect of Substrate Thickness on [12] HFSS v14, www.ansys.com/HFSS
the Performance of a Circular-Disk Microstrip Antenna,
IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. AP-

Patch no1 Resonant Frequency-k Variations Patch no1 Bandwidth-k Variations

4

1060

3
1010

960 2
BW(%)
fr (MHz)

910
1

860

0
810 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
-70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
k (mm)
k (mm)
meas. no pin sim. 1 pin
meas. no pin sim. 1 pin
2 pins 3 pins 2pins 90o 2 pins 3 pins 2pins 90o
1x2 pins in-line 3x2 pins in-line 1x2 pins in-line 3x2 pins in-line

This journal is © Advanced Technology & Science IJAMEC, 2015, 3(3), 218–222 |220
 Patch no2 Resonant Frequency-k Variations Patch no2 Bandwidth-k Variations
4

1060

3
1010

960
2

BW(%)
fr (MHz)

910

1
860

810 0
-70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

k (mm) k (mm)
meas. no pin sim. 1 pin meas. no pin sim. 1 pin
2 pins 3 pins 2pins 90o 2 pins 3 pins 2pins 90o
1x2 pins in-line 3x2 pins in-line 1x2 pins in-line 3x2 pins in-line

Patch no3 Resonant Frequency-k Variations Patch no3 Bandwidth-k Variations

1040 8

7
990
6

5
940

4
BW(%)
fr (MHz)

890 3

2
840
1

790 0
-70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

k (mm) k (mm)
meas. no pin sim. 1 pin meas. no pin sim. 1 pin
2 pins 3 pins 2pins 90o 2 pins 3 pins 2pins 90o
1x2 pins in-line 3x2 pins in-line 1x2 pins in-line 3x2 pins in-line

Figure2. Resonant Frequency and Bandwidth against k Variations

a) Patch no1fr, b) Patch no1 BW, c) Patch no2 fr d) Patch no2 BW, e) Patch no3 fr, f) Patch no3 BW

This journal is © Advanced Technology & Science IJAMEC, 2015, 3(3), 218–222 |221
Table2. Best simulation results for pin added circular disc microstrip antennas

Radius k h fr BW Zin Gain Efficiency S11 response

Pin combination Pin topology Directivity
(mm) (mm) (mm) (MHz) (%) (Ω) (dB) (%) (dB)
68.0 * 0.80 839.039 1.312 65.558 0.623 0.775 0.804 -19.766
68.0 * 1.59 829.029 2.536 62.507 0.652 0.710 0.919 -22.998
No pin
68.0 * 3.18 816.211 5.272 58.600 0.540 0.563 0.959 -16.724

68.0 9 0.80 838.038 1.314 56.412 0.654 0.848 0.770 -27.134

1 pin 68.0 -3 1.59 830.030 2.653 67.843 0.646 0.724 0.892 -30.756
68.0 -2 3.18 814.114 5.410 65.100 0.584 0.621 0.940 -24.221
1 pin 69.0 9 0.80 836.036 1.197 72.232 0.654 0.820 0.797 -27.892
radius 68.2 -3 1.59 829.029 2.656 65.224 0.661 0.770 0.859 -25.870
optimization 68.0 -2 3.18 814.114 5.410 65.100 0.584 0.621 0.940 -24.221
68.0 -34 0.80 840.040 1.311 68.745 0.646 0.763 0.847 -23.353
2 pins 68.0 44 1.59 830.030 2.653 62.518 0.654 0.701 0.933 -25.299
68.0 19 3.18 815.105 5.280 53.123 0.533 0.562 0.950 -17.904
2 pins 68.4 -34 0.80 835.123 1.318 68.087 0.661 0.770 0.859 -22.343
radius 68.0 44 1.59 830.030 2.653 62.518 0.654 0.701 0.933 -25.299
optimization 67.6 19 3.18 815.105 5.649 60.308 0.538 0.567 0.947 -18.988
68.0 -65 0.80 837.125 1.435 75.301 0.654 0.784 0.834 -31.210
3 pins 68.0 -1 1.59 829.117 2.777 70.973 0.683 0.725 0.942 -30.303
68.0 -65 3.18 813.103 5.539 66.176 0.592 0.629 0.941 -22.759
3 pins 68.9 -65 0.80 833.033 1.322 48.102 0.644 0.754 0.853 -12.150
radius 68.4 -1 1.59 828.028 2.660 59.890 0.674 0.722 0.933 -20.073
optimization 68.2 -65 3.18 815.105 5.403 64.715 0.593 0.632 0.938 -23.585
68.0 -2 0.80 839.126 1.312 67.279 0.655 0.768 0.852 -25.986
68.0 -3 1.59 829.117 2.777 67.155 0.651 0.700 0.929 -27.359
2 pins 90o
68.0 9 3.18 815.105 4.298 62.341 0.544 0.565 0.963 -20.741
68.0 -7 3.18 814.104 6.024 54.362 0.524 0.556 0.943 -13.689
68.6 -2 0.80 834.122 1.440 63.933 0.631 0.753 0.838 -24.446
2 pins 90o
68.0 -3 1.59 829.117 2.777 67.155 0.651 0.700 0.929 -27.359
radius
68.0 9 3.18 815.105 4.298 62.341 0.544 0.565 0.963 -20.741
optimization
67.9 -7 3.18 814.104 6.024 63.406 0.535 0.560 0.954 -20.645
68.0 -1 0.80 840.127 1.311 66.597 0.647 0.770 0.840 -24.927
1x2 pins
68.0 0 1.59 830.118 2.653 66.134 0.652 0.709 0.919 -26.094
in-line
68.0 -5 3.18 815.105 5.894 62.642 0.540 0.565 0.955 -20.023
1x2 pins 68.6 -1 0.80 835.123 1.438 64.736 0.656 0.766 0.857 -25.878
in-line 68.1 0 1.59 828.116 2.780 65.909 0.646 0.709 0.910 -25.424
radius
68.0 -5 3.18 815.105 5.894 62.642 0.540 0.565 0.955 -20.023
optimization
68.0 0 0.80 840.127 1.430 65.754 0.654 0.768 0.850 -25.421
3x2 pins
68.0 0 1.59 830.118 2.273 66.481 0.659 0.709 0.928 -26.214
in-line
68.0 -4 3.18 815.105 5.649 60.188 0.540 0.564 0.956 -18.564
3x2 pins 68.5 0 0.80 835.123 1.438 63.331 0.651 0.774 0.841 -24.219
in-line 68.1 0 1.59 841.128 2.653 66.140 0.665 0.713 0.932 -26.422
radius
68.0 -4 3.18 815.105 5.649 60.188 0.540 0.564 0.956 -18.564
optimization
 Best results for every patch are written in bold.

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