A taper optimization for pattern synthesis of microstrip series-fed patch array antennas

An EM based straight forward design and pattern synthesis technique for series fed microstrip patch array antennas is proposed. An optimization of each antenna element (λ/4-transmission line, λ/2-patch, λ/4-transmission line) of the array is performed separately. By introducing an equivalent circuit along with an EM parameter extraction method, each antenna element can be optimized for its resonance frequency and taper amplitude, so to shape the aperture distribution for the cascaded elements. It will be shown that the array design based on the multiplication of element factor and array factor fails in case of patch width tapering, due to the inconsistency of the element patterns. To overcome this problem a line width tapering is suggested which keeps the element patterns nearly constant while still providing a broad amplitude taper range. A symmetric 10 element antenna array with a Chebyshev tapering (-20dB side lobe level) operating at 5.8 GHz has been designed, compared for the two tapering methods and validated with measurement.