NOVEL SINGLE LAYER PROXIMITY FED GAP COUPLED MICROSTRIP PATCH ARRAY FOR WLAN/WiMAX APPLICATIONS IN PORTABLE DEVICES

This paper focuses on the development of a novel single layer dual band proximity fed gap coupled microstrip array antenna. A basic 2x1 microstrip patch array consisting of a pair of rectangular patches which are coupled with a centrally placed microstrip line in the same plane and an arrow headed dumbbell shaped slot in the ground plane is investigated. By using two additional parasitic patches gap coupled to the patch elements of the basic array, an enhancement in bandwidth and gain is achieved along with dual band operation. This proximity fed gap coupled 4x1 array provides resonances at two frequencies of 2.465 GHz and 3.608 GHz. The proposed array antenna is suitable for WLAN (2.414-2.507 GHz) and WiMAX (3.586-3.644 GHz) applications. This 4x1 array has a gain of 8.85 dBi and 6.57 dBi, with an impedance bandwidth of 4.64% and 1.78% respectively in the lower and upper bands. The simulated results are in good agreement with the experimental results.