Wideband L-probe-fed base-station antenna array for PCS communication

In this paper, a 4-element microstrip patch antenna array is designed and studied experimentally for PCS communications. To achieve sufficient bandwidth for the requirement of the PCS 1800 MHz band (1710 MHz - 1880 MHz), we adopt the wideband L-probe feeding technique in our design. The designed array covers the bandwidth from 1550 MHz to 1950 MHz (22.2%) with SWR less than 1.5 to completely fulfill the PCS communications requirement. Array elements are placed with unequal distances and excited with different phases to obtain an asymmetrical radiation pattern. A microstrip feed network is designed for controlling various phase excitation and for the unequal spacing of the patches. The L-probes are mounted at the end of each transmission line.