Single-layer single-patch wideband dual-beam E-shaped patch antenna

A wideband single layer single patch E-shaped microstrip antenna is proposed. The proposed antenna has two distinct directional radiation beams off the broadside direction, which are obtained by operating the rectangular patch at the higher order TM
02
mode, instead of the fundamental TM
01
mode in a conventional microstrip antenna. The wideband performance is achieved by the two slots incorporated in the rectangular patch. Antenna analysis is carried out by the parametric studies to demonstrate how the slots affect the antenna performance. The simulated impedance bandwidth is 0.65GHz(5.23–5.88GHz), or 11.8% centered at 5.5 GHz, which covers the WLAN 5.8 GHz (5.725–5.825 GHz), WIMAX 5.5 GHz (5.25–5.85GHz), and HiperLAN/2 (5.47–5.725 GHz). At the central frequency 5.5 GHz, the simulated radiation pattern in the E-plane indicates the maximal gains for the dual radiation beams are 7.7 dB directed at −41 and 8.2dB directed at 37, respectively.