Aliakbar Dastranj
Optimization of a
Printed UWB Antenna
Application of the invasive weed optimization algorithm in antenna design.
T
his article presents a general approach to design and
optimize printed ultrawideband (UWB) antennas by
using invasive weed optimization (IWO), a well-known
global optimization algorithm. To achieve the required
radiation parameters over a wide bandwidth, a frequency-
related cost function with optimal weighting coefficients is
suggested. Two prototypes of the optimized antenna have been
manufactured and examined. The experimental outcomes
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MAP.2016.2630025
Date of publication: 6 January 2017
48 1045-9243/172017IEEE
image licensed by ingram publishing
show good agreement with the simulated ones that validate the
proposed optimization approach. The optimized antenna has a
compact size of 50 mm 50 mm. The operational bandwidth
of the antenna for S11 < 10 dB, from both measurement and
simulation, is 150%, based on the center frequency of 6.4 GHz
(1.611.2 GHz), which also covers the UWB (3.110.6 GHz)
applications. The time-domain response of the antenna was also
investigated by measurement of the group delay. Finally, the
efficiency of the optimized antenna in terms of bandwidth, size,
and gain are compared with a number of previously proposed
designs. Comparison results show that the optimized antenna
february 2017 IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine
outperforms other designs cited.
The experimental outcomes in fre-
quency as well as the time domain UWB-printed slot
show that the antenna is suitable for antennas are superior
use in UWB or other communica-
tion systems. candidates for wide-
band communication
BACKGROUND
UWB-printed slot antennas are applications due to
superior candidates for wide-band their many advantages.
communication applications due to
their many advantages, for exam-
ple, they are lightweight, compact in size, low cost, easy to
fabricate, and join simply with active devices [1]. Compared
with traditional microstrip antennas, the benefits of printed
slot antennas are an omnidirectional radiation pattern and a
wide impedance bandwidth. In addition, the coplanar wave-
guide (CPW) feeding scenario has numerous preferences over
microstrip feed lines, for example, low radiation spillage, low
scattering, and easy control of characteristic impedance [2], [3].
Many wireless communication systems require miniaturized
wide-bandwidth antennas. Moreover, several demands for increas-
ing the transfer speed of information in modern communication
applications require operational bandwidth enhancement [4].
Although many UWB-printed antennas were designed for
broadband communication systems [5][8], the aforementioned
requirements provided a number of challenging electromag-
netic parameters that necessitated new approaches for antenna
design. In [9], by employing a fork-shaped stub, the impedance
bandwidth of a planar slot antenna was enhanced. An imped-
ance bandwidth of 55% centered at 2 GHz along with a maxi-
mum gain of 5 dBi was obtained. The electromagnetic coupling
between the printed slot and feed line was controlled by tuning
the geometrical parameters of the fork-like stub. In [10], a planar
antenna with a size of 50 mm 68 mm, including a round cor-
ner rectangular wide slot in the ground plane and an H-shaped
radiating patch, gave an impedance bandwidth of about
6.2 GHz centered at 5.17 GHz. Also, in [11], a slot antenna
printed on a substrate with a size of 72 mm 72 mm achieved
an impedance bandwidth of 60% with respect to the center
frequency at 2.22 GHz (S11 < 10 dB). This broad bandwidth
was obtained by using a broadened stub. The coupling between
the square slot and the CPW feed line and, consequently, the
impedance matching of the antenna was controlled by selecting
a suitable size and position of the tuning stub.
In [12], a square printed-slot antenna fed by a CPW
line, utilizing a U-shaped adjusting stub, provided a 10-dB
impedance bandwidth of 110% with a maximum gain of
5.1 dBi. The half power beamwidth and cross-polar gain
in the E-plane at the upper end of the band were 100
and 13 dB, respectively. Two square planar-slot antennas
fed by microstrip lines were proposed in [13]. By etching
arc- and triangular-shaped slots into square flame resistant
4 (FR4) substrates that had side lengths all measuring 110
mm, wide 10-dB impedance bandwidths of 120% and 110%
were achieved, respectively. Also, the effects of the feed-slot
IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine february 2017
combination and feed gap width
on the impedance matching and
radiation characteristics of the
slot antennas were investigated.
In [14], double shorting walls
were used to enhance the 10-dB
bandwidth of a compact fold-
ed patch feed antenna. It has a
square ground plane with a side
length of 80 mm, and its imped-
ance bandwidth varied from 3.90
to 8.26 GHz (71.7%). Two CPW-
fed elliptical and circular slot antennas with approximately
omnidirectional radiation patterns for wide-band applications
were presented in [15]. Also, an empirical formula was intro-
duced to approximately determine the lower edge of the 10-dB
operating bandwidth. Recently, various UWB CPW-fed print-
ed antennas have been presented [16][18]. In [16], a mono-
pole antenna printed on an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
polycarbonate substrate was proposed. The antenna can
provide an impedance bandwidth from 3 to 13 GHz. A multi-
functional UWB antenna using a pair of split-ring resonators
and metallic shunt strips on the CPW feed line was proposed
in [17]. The antenna also can provide both frequency-notched
and narrowband properties. In [18], two open-circuit stubs
were proposed to design a wide-band-printed antenna with an
operating frequency range from 3.7 to 10.1 GHz.
IWO is a high-performance and effective numerical stochas-
tic optimization algorithm that is extracted from the natural
colonization behavior of weeds. As was shown in [19], IWO
is an efficient and robust algorithm to find global minima for
linear and nonlinear multiobjective optimization problems.
Furthermore, as was shown in [20], in contrast to the traditional
evolutionary algorithms such as the genetic algorithm (GA) and
particle-swarm optimization (PSO), IWO provides lower final
error and higher convergence rate. Also, several advantages and
various applications of the IWO algorithm for radiating struc-
tures were presented in [21][24].
The main purpose of the present research is to propose a
novel optimization approach for a printed UWB antenna. To
validate the proposed method, a compact CPW-fed printed
UWB antenna was designed and optimized by using the IWO
algorithm. Some of the antenna geometrical dimensions were
chosen as the optimization parameters, and then the anten-
na impedance bandwidth and gain were optimized toward
the necessary specifications. To take the frequency variation
effects into account, a frequency-related cost function hav-
ing optimal weighting coefficients was defined. The compact
size was achieved by exerting constraints on the optimization
parameters. Simulated results are in good agreement with the
measured data. The optimized antenna with a small size of
50mm50mm gives a broad bandwidth from 1.6 to 11.2 GHz
(150% for S11 < 10 dB and using the center frequency). As will
be seen later in the Results and Discussion section, compared
to other designs reported in [11][17], the optimized antenna
provides a wider bandwidth as well as a smaller size.
49
 Basic Antenna Design
The geometry of the designed CPW-fed printed antenna with
the coordinate system is illustrated in Figure 1. As depicted
in this figure, both the feed line and ground plane have been
printed on the top side of the dielectric substrate. The rect-
angular radiating slot with length ls and width ws is engraved
on a FR4 substrate with a size of 50 mm 50 mm, a relative
electric permittivity f r = 4.4, and thickness h = 1.6mm. The
exact value of the characteristic impedance of the CPW
line with dimensions of g = 1.9 mm and S = 0.5 mm is 49.9 .
The antenna radiating patch that is embedded within the
rectangular slot consists of two sections: an E-shaped tuning
stub and a hexagonal patch. As shown in Figure 1, the radiat-
ing patch is connected to the end of the CPW feed line and is
symmetric with respect to the y axis. It should be pointed out
that, by joining the E-shape stub to the hexagonal patch, the
impedance matching significantly improves. In addition, two
very small slots with equal lengths d and equal widths c are
etched on a hexagonal patch to further increase the antenna
operational bandwidth. The initial length of the small slots is
determined almost according to the subsequent formula [18]:
y
d= ,
fr + 1
4f
2
where f, v, and f r are the midfrequency of the desired
frequency range, the speed of light in free space, and elec-
tric permittivity of the substrate, respectively. Notice that
the general idea of the baseline design (without any of the
Wg
Y of seeds, corresponding to minimum fitness, to the maximum
X the population.
Ws
Ig
Wp
c eter decreasing over time. By adjusting the median of the dis-
Is Ip
a
d
b p
g over the iterations. The standard deviation (SD) that is the root
Ground Plane CPW Feed
S
z
h v iter =
x
Dielectric Substrate
Figure 1. The configuration of the designed antenna and its
geometrical dimensions.
50
E-shaped tuning stub, hexagonal patch, and small slots) is
from [12]. The initial design of the proposed antenna is per-
formed through numerous simulations via a high-frequency
structural simulator (HFSS). In the next stage, the IWO
algorithm is employed to optimize the proposed structure to
obtain the optimal radiation parameters along with a broad
impedance bandwidth.
IWO Procedure
IWO is a robust and efficient numerical stochastic optimiza-
tion technique that is extracted from the natural behavior of
weeds such as colonization, distribution, and reproduction. As
shown in [20], compared with the two traditional evolutionary
algorithms, GA and PSO, it can provide a lower final error and a
higher convergence rate. By catching the attributes of the obtru-
sive weeds, IWO is exceptionally strong and versatile in captur-
ing in any environment, which prompts a high performance and
effective optimization algorithm. Due to the aforementioned
significant features, it is an excellent optimizer for solving vari-
ous electromagnetic issues, for example, antenna design and
optimization [21][24]. The algorithm can be expressed in the
following four stages [23].
(1)
Produce the first population
A finite number of seeds composing the initial population are
generated randomly over the multidimensional search space of
the problem.
Reproduction
Every seed that has grown to a new flowering plant is admit-
ted to create new seeds based on its fitness value. In the simple
case, the number of seeds that are produced by each flowering
plant increases linearly from the minimum possible number
possible number of seeds, corresponding to maximum fitness in
Spatial dispersal
The generated seeds in the former stage will be distributed sto-
chastically in the problem space. They have a standard Gaussian
distribution with a median equal to zero and a variance param-
tribution equal to zero, the produced seeds will be distributed
stochastically around the parent plant. Due to the decreasing
behavior of the variance over the iterations, the best plants with
higher fitness values are accumulated around better solutions,
and inappropriate plants with lower fitness values are eliminated
square of the variance of this distribution is calculated in every
step as follows:
^ itermax - iter hn
n (v initial - v final) + v final , (2)
iter max
where v initial and v final represent the first and last values of
SD for the standard Gaussian distribution, respectively. The
SD at the present step is represented by v iter, the greatest
february 2017 IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine
number of repetitions before stop- variables does not decrease the
ping the algorithm is represented conclusive value of error, and,
by itermax, and the nonlinear mod- To achieve good radiation instead, it might increase the
ulation index is represented by n. characteristics along convergence time of the optimi-
As proposed in [21], the best value zation procedure. The least and
for n is three. with broad impedance greatest quantities of seeds are
bandwidth, various vital parameters in IWO. Results
Competitive exclusion showed that when the least num-
After some iteration, the maxi- geometrical parameters ber of seeds is set to zero or one,
mum number of plants (p ma x) of the antenna can excellent execution is accom-
will be produced through a rapid plished for some issues.
reproduction process. However, be selected as Also, choosing the greatest
it is anticipated that the plants optimization variables. number of seeds between three
with higher fitness values will be and six prompts a proper execu-
reported to be of better quality tion based on the convergence
than the inappropriate ones. Thus, the final step is to elimi- time and final error of the optimization procedure [24]. As
nate the inappropriate and weaker plants in a competitive mentioned previously, the nonlinear modulation index con-
manner to limit the maximum number of plants in the siderably affects the execution of the IWO algorithm. The
colony. The procedure continues until the greatest number recommended best value for this parameter is three [21].
of iterations is done, and the plant with the most superior Based on the problem dimension (the number of variables
fitness is selected as the optimum solution. that need to be optimized) and numbers of the optimiza-
To clarify the advantages of using the IWO, a few features tion goals and sampling frequencies, the maximum number
of this new algorithm are compared to two regular optimi- of iterations is selected. To obtain the desired radiation
zation algorithms, GA and PSO. Given that the size of the parameters, several values for the maximum number of itera-
population and quantity of repetitions are considered regular tions have been applied. The best value for this parameter is
prerequisites for every developmental algorithm, the least between 160 and 200.
and greatest number of seeds, nonlinear modulation index, To achieve good radiation characteristics along with
and the first and last SD are the key factors of the IWO algo- broad impedance bandwidth, various geometrical parame-
rithm that should be adjusted. As stated in [21], the maximum ters of the antenna can be selected as optimization variables.
speed, social and cognitive rates, inertial weight, and the In the optimization procedure, the size of the substrate is
boundary conditions are the most important parameters that kept fixed (50 mm 50 mm), and the other geometrical
affect the convergence of the PSO algorithm. Also, mutation parameters of the antenna (a, b, c, d, p, lp, wp, ls, ws) are
and crossover rates are the fundamental parameters of the chosen as the optimization variables. Thus, the optimiza-
GA that ought to be tuned to accomplish the convergence tion process includes a nine-dimensional solution space. The
[25]. Adjusting the basic parameters of the IWO algorithm, antenna gain and impedance matching over the 211-GHz
the starting and last SD, leads to a greater level of control in frequency range are optimization goals. Behind choosing
the final error and convergence of the algorithm; however, the
effects of the adjusting parameters on the convergence of the
PSO and GA are hard to distinguish. Furthermore, the IWO
can provide a superior steadiness with various boundary con- Table 1. TUNING PARAMETERS OF THE
ditions [19]. The above comparison elucidates a few points of IWO FOR ANTENNA OPTIMIZATION.
interest of the IWO algorithm. Parameter Description Value
Dim Problem dimension 9
Antenna Optimization by Using IWO
itermax Maximum number of iterations 180
In this section, the impressiveness and capability of the
IWO algorithm for the printed UWB antenna are inspected m Number of sampling frequencies 37
by an illustrative example. Table 1 shows the adjusting N Number of initial population 40
parameters of the IWO algorithm and their values for the n Nonlinear modulation index 3
antenna optimization. The beginning SD should be chosen
pmax Maximum number of plant 40
approximately 15% of the dynamic scope of every vari-
population
able. The last SD ought to be chosen deliberately to per-
mit the optimization program to discover the best answer Smax Maximum number of seeds 6
with the lowest final error as precise as could reasonably Smin Minimum number of seeds 1
be expected. A better response can be accomplished by SDinital Initial value of SD 10
diminishing this parameter. However, setting the last SD SDfinal Final value of SD 0.01
much less than the accuracy standard of the optimization

IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine february 2017 51


Set the Initial Values of the Optimization
Parameters and Variables in MATLAB
Initialize N Randomly Generated Weeds
(Trial Antenna Structures) in the Search Space
Evaluate the Fitness of Each Trial
Antenna Structure
Eliminate Plants (Antenna Structures) with
Lower Fitness to Reach the Maximum
Number of Plants
Reproduce Based on Fitness Values: Create the Seeds
Population (New Antenna Structures) from Each Plant
(Initial Antenna Structure) Depending on Its Fitness Value
Distribute the New Generated Seeds
(Antenna Structures) over the Solution Space
Implement HFSS Using VBS Interface
Analyze Each Antenna Structure in HFSS and Obtain
Radiation Characteristics at the Sampling Frequencies
Transfer Data of Radiation
Characteristics from HFSS to MATLAB
Evaluate the Fitness
of Each Structure
in MATLAB
Desired Radiation
Characteristics
Is a Termination No
Criterion Met?
Yes
Keep the Best Fit
Result
Figure 2. A flowchart of the optimization program.
optimization variables and setting optimization parameters,
initial antenna configurations (beginning seeds) are fortu-
itously chosen in the search space (plant area). Afterward,
according to the least and greatest number of seeds and
ability of the developed plant, every initial configuration
(weeds) produces new trial configurations. These recently
produced configurations have a standard Gaussian dis-
tribution in the neighborhood of the parent plants and
the SD defined by (2). In the next stage, both initial and
52
replicated antenna configurations (reproduced seeds and
parent weeds) are simulated by using an HFSS package
and then sorted based on their fitness. The greatest number
of flowering plants in the province is achieved as antenna
configurations (weeds) with better performance survive, and
inappropriate configurations with lower fitness values are
eliminated. This procedure proceeds until all prerequisites
are fulfilled, and the best antenna configuration with excel-
lent fitness is selected as the optimum solution.
The essential stage of the optimization procedure is char-
acterizing the cost function. To achieve the optimal values
for the geometrical dimensions, at each repetition of optimi-
zation, the present antenna structure must be simulated by
using an HFSS, and the obtained radiation characteristics
must be contrasted with the desired characteristics. As a
result, the cost function of a produced antenna structure is
the difference between the obtained radiation parameters
and the desired performances. Notice that, in the repetitive
optimization procedure, the standard is the minimization of
the cost function. The optimization program is implemented
in MATLAB. Ansoft HFSS and MATLAB are simultaneously
applied, and Visual Basic script (VBS) is used as an interface
between the two packages.
At each repetition of the optimization procedure, the anten-
na structures are simulated by an HFSS. After that, to calculate
the error (cost function), VBS is used to transfer the data of
radiation characteristics from the HFSS to MATLAB. In the
next stage, the cost functions of the structures are calculated in
MATLAB, and then the antenna structures are sorted based
on their fitness. Afterward, the best structure with lower cost
function is drawn and run in an HFSS by the command code
of MATLAB. The optimization procedure proceeds until either
the greatest number of repetitions is done or the radiation char-
acteristics that are closest to the desired radiation parameters
are achieved. The procedure of the optimization program is
shown in Figure 2. To take the frequency variation effects into
account, the antenna geometrical dimensions are optimized by
using a frequency-related cost function with optimal weighting
coefficients as follows:
m
F= 1 / W j [E 1 ( f j) + E 2 ( f j)],(3)
m j=1
Sj +Sj
E 1 ( f j) = W a c m, (4)
2
S j = [S 11 ( f j) - (S 11 desired)], (5)
E 2 ( f j) = W b ^G desired ( f j) - G ( f j) h, (6)
where E1 is the relative error of the desired S11, E2 is dif-
ference between the obtained and the desired gains, m is
the number of sampling frequencies, fj represents the jth
sampling frequency, and Wj is the weighting coefficient at
the jth sampling frequency. In the optimization procedure,
the desired S11 is selected as 10 dB so that, referring to
(4) and (5), for S11 lower than 10 dB, the related error is
not considered. The significance of the input impedance
february 2017 IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine
matching against the gain deter- after 180 iterations, after which
mines the (Wa /Wb) ratio. In the the optimum solution is achieved
cost function, the weighting val- At each repetition (the HFSS runs 180 times). The
ues Wa and Wb are chosen as 1 of theoptimization overall optimization framework
and 0.8, respectively. takes about 34.4 h on a personal
To reach the best antenna con- procedure, the computer platform of a 3.3-GHz
figuration with the desired perfor- antenna structures are six-core processor and 16-GB core
mance over the whole 211-GHz memory. The optimal values of the
frequency range, various weight- simulated by an HFSS. optimization variables are demon-
ing coefficients for the sampling strated in Table 3. The size reduc-
frequencies are utilized. Figure 3 tion can be achieved by limiting
shows the desired gain and the final optimum weighting coef- the size of the square FR4 substrate in the optimization
ficient for the sampling frequencies versus frequency. In this procedure. Figure 5 exhibits the fabricated prototype of the
figure, the values of the weighting coefficients are obtained optimized CPW-fed UWB antenna, and both the measured
by using an HFSS. Also, the central values of the search areas and simulated return loss curves of the optimized antenna are
for optimization variables are obtained through numerous illustrated in Figure 6. The impedance bandwidth of the opti-
simulations via an HFSS. Then, to obtain the best antenna con- mized antenna for S11 < 10 dB, from both the measurement
figuration with optimal geometrical dimensions, a wide range and simulation, is 1.6 11.2 GHz (150%), which also covers
is considered around each central value. The search areas for the bandwidth requirement for UWB (3.110.6 GHz) applica-
optimization variables are presented in Table 2, where m 0 is the tions. The measured and simulated copolar and cross-polar
wavelength of the free space at 6.5 GHz (the center frequency far-field patterns of the optimized antenna at the different typ-
of the desired bandwidth). ical frequencies are compared in Figure 7, where the E- and
The optimization process includes a nine-dimensional H-plane patterns represent y-z and x-z plane patterns of the
solution space, and the antenna gain and impedance match- antenna, respectively. A reasonable accordance between the
ing over the 211-GHz frequency range are optimization
goals. Therefore, to achieve the desired results over a wide
Table 2. SEARCH AREAS
bandwidth, a powerful optimization method linked with
FOR OPTIMIZATION VARIABLES.
an electromagnetic simulator package is required, and an
HFSS or other common full-wave analysis embedded opti- Parameter Search Area
mization program would not give the desired results.
a 0.030 < a < 0.080
Results and Discussion b 0.030 < b < 0.150
To justify the simulation results, two prototypes of the opti- c 0.0040 < c < 0.020
mized antenna were manufactured and examined in an anecho- d 0.030 < d < 0.20
ic chamber. The experimental results of the fabricated antenna
p 0.030 < p < 0.10
were compared to the simulation data. As mentioned previously,
the optimized antenna was simulated by using an HFSS pack- lp 0.10 < lp < 0.350
age that is based on the finite-element method. wp 0.20 < wp < 0.60
The convergence diagram of the cost (object) function ver- ls 0.50 < ls < 0.750
sus the number of repetitions is presented in Figure 4. It can ws 0.750 < ws < 1.080
be seen that minimum value of the cost function is achieved

5 5 20
Object Function (dB)
Weighting Coefficient

Desired Gain (dBi)

4 4 15
3 3
10
Weighting Coefficient
2 2
Desired Gain
5
1 1
1
0 0 0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Frequency (GHz) Number of Iterations

Figure 3. A desired gain and final optimum weighting Figure 4. The convergence curve of the object function
coefficient for the sampling frequencies. versus iteration.

IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine february 2017 53

 simulated results and measured power gain of the E-plane occurs
patterns is obtained. As illustrated at the other direction, which is
in this figure, the H-plane pat- The measured outcomes far from the boresight direction.
terns are quasi-omnidirectionnal of group delay show In fact, the main beam is tilted
at low and midfrequencies, and away from the boresight direction
they are bidirectional at 11 GHz. that the optimized in the E-plane. Therefore, there
Also, all E-plane patterns exhibit antenna provides a are some differences between
almost bidirectional properties. the normalized E- and H-plane
However, the slight deformation time-domain response patterns at i = 0c. The desired,
of the E-plane patterns at higher without considerable measured, and simulated gains of
frequencies is due to the propaga- the optimized antenna against fre-
tion of the higher order modes. distortion. quency are compared in Figure 8.
Over the whole frequency range, The peak gain of the fabricated
the cross-polar component of antenna is about 4.65 dBi, which
the E-plane pattern is less than 20 dB. Furthermore, the occurs at higher band-edge frequency, and the gain variation
H-plane radiation patterns present a comparatively high cross- over the whole frequency band is less than nearly 2.6 dBi.
polarization level. One of the significant characteristics in a broadband com-
This deportment is due significantly to the radiation of munication system design is the group delay between the
the small slots, which causes a considerable increase of the transmitting and receiving antennas, which can cause a pulse
cross-polarization level. However, the cross-polarization level distortion at the receiving antenna. To prevent the pulse dis-
within the half power beamwidth is acceptable for H-plane tortion, the group delay must be constant. To verify the time-
patterns. Notice that, in Figure 7, E- and H-plane patterns domain response of the optimized antenna, the group-delay
are normalized to their maximum power gains. As shown in performance for face-to-face and side-by-side arrangements
this figure, the maximum power gain of the H-plane occurs was studied. Figure 9 depicts the simulated and measured
at i = 0c (the boresight direction), while the maximum results of the group delay. The distance between two antennas
is 300 mm, and the difference between the lowest and high-
est values of the group delay for the two arrangements is less
Table 3. OPTIMUM VALUES than 0.5 ns over the whole working band, except at 8.5 GHz
OF THE OPTIMIZATION VARIABLES. where (a) and (b) show a discontinuity. The group delay sudden
jump near 8.5 GHz is due partly to the scattering effect of the
Parameter a b c d p receiving antenna. Also, it can be due to the resonance at this
Value (mm) 2.3 2.7 0.3 3.5 3.1 frequency. However, any deviations from linear phase over
the frequency range will cause group-delay variations. The
Parameter lp wp ls ws
measured outcomes of group delay show that the optimized
Value (mm) 9.4 13.9 27.1 40.1 antenna provides a time-domain response without consider-
able distortion.
To perform a statistical error analysis, the bar graphs for
errors of S11 and group delay versus frequency are presented in
Figure 10. Notice that the error value is the deviation between
the simulated and measured outcomes. The average values

10
S11 (dB)

20
Simulation
Measurement
30
S11 Desired

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Frequency (GHz)

Figure 5. The fabricated prototype of the optimized Figure 6. The desired, measured, and simulated return loss
antenna. (Photo courtesy of Yasouj University.) curves of the antenna.

54 february 2017 IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine

 z z z

0 0 0
30 30 30 30 30 30

10 dB 10 dB 10 dB
60 60 60 20 dB 60 60 20 dB 60
20 dB

90 90 90 90 90 90

120 120 120 120 120 120

150 150 150 150 150 150

180 180 180 Z
(a) (b) (c)

X Y
z z z

0 0 0
30 30 30 30 30 30
10 dB
10 dB
10 dB 20 dB
60 60 60 60 60 20 dB 60
20 dB

90 90 90 90 90 90

120 120 120 120 120 120

150 150 150 150 150 150

180 180 180
Z
(d) (e) (f)

Y X

Copolar Simulation Copolar Measurement Cross-Polar Simulation Cross-Polar Measurement

Figure 7. The radiation patterns of the optimized CPW-fed antenna: (a)(c), E-plane and (d)(f) H-plane patterns at 4, 6.5, and
11 GHz, respectively. For (a)(c), the data is displayed using a theta plane angle on an X axis; and for (d)(f), the data is displayed
using a theta plane angle on a Y axis.

of the relative errors of S11 and the group delay are 1.277 dB
and 0.0335 ns, respectively, which imply that the measured
5
outcomes are in acceptable concordance with the simulated
data. Based on the obtained outcomes, the designed antenna 4
can be used in recent wideband communication systems such
Gain (dBi)

as high-speed wireless communication, ground penetrating 3

radar, phased array radars, electronic warfare, jammer systems,
electromagnetic compatibility testing systems, and biomedical 2 Simulation
microwave imaging systems. Specifically, the optimized antenna Measurement
Desired
can be fixed on the outer surface of communication satellites 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
and military airplanes. Also, it can be simply integrated with
Frequency (GHz)
mobile communication systems.
Finally, the efficiency of the optimized antenna in terms of
size, gain, and bandwidth are compared with previous designs Figure 8. The desired, simulated, and measured gains of the
reported in [11][17]. The comparison results are presented in antenna.

IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine february 2017 55

56
Error of Group Delay (ns) Error of S11 (dB) Group Delay (ns) Group Delay (ns)

0
0.5
1
1.5
0
0.5
1
1.5

0
1
2
3
4
5
1
1

0.025
0.075

0.05
0.1

0
1
2
2

2
3
3

3
face configurations.

3
4
4

4
30 cm 30 cm

and (b) error of group delay.

5
Simulation

6
(b)
(a)

(b)
7

(a)

7
8

8
Frequency (GHz)
Frequency (GHz)

Frequency (GHz)
Frequency (GHz)
9
5 6 7 8 9
5 6 7 8 9

9
Measurement

Figure 9. The numerical and experimental group-delay

10 11 12
10 11 12
10 11 12
10 11 12

Figure 10. The error values versus frequency: (a) error of S11
outcomes of the antenna for (a) side-by-side and (b) face-to-
Table 4. PERFORMANCE OF THE OPTIMIZED ANTENNA

february 2017
COMPARED WITH A NUMBER OF PREVIOUS PROPOSED DESIGNS.

[13] [15]
Proposed
Antenna [11] [12] Antenna 1 Antenna 2 [14] Antenna 1 Antenna 2 [16] [17]
2
Antenna size (mm ) 50 50 72 72 100 100 110 110 110 110 80 80 40 38 44 44 48 42 50 50
Frequency range (GHz) 1.611.2 1.562.88 2.799.84 1.827.23 2.428.48 3.908.26 3.110.6 3.7510.3 313 2.811
Impedance 150 60 110 120 110 71.7 109.5 93.2 125 118.8
bandwidth (%)
Antenna gain (dBi) 2.054.65 3.75 4.88 3.5 (average- 36.5 36.5 02.5 2.06.0 2.06.0 3.24.2 Not presented
simulation) (for 37 GHz)

IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine

Table 4, where it is demonstrated that the optimized antenna
features a smaller size as well as a much broader working band
compared with those presented in [11][14]. Although the sizes
of those antennas published in [15] and [16] are partly smaller
than the proposed one, the impedance bandwidths are sig-
nificantly less than the bandwidth of the optimized antenna.
Also, the lower band-edge frequencies of these antennas are
3.1, 3.75, and 3 GHz, which are at least 1.4 GHz higher than
the lower band-edge frequency of the designed antenna. More-
over, the antenna demonstrated in [17] with the same size of
50mm50mm, has a narrower impedance bandwidth com- [9] J. Y. Sze and K.-L. Wong, Bandwidth enhancement of a microstrip line-
pared with the optimized structure presented in this work. As
shown in this table, compared with other designs, the optimized
antenna has a satisfactory gain. This comparison verifies the
performance of the IWO method.
Conclusions
The IWO algorithm has been prosperously employed for the
optimization of a compact CPW-fed printed antenna over the
1.611.2-GHz frequency range. Some of the antenna geometrical
dimensions were chosen as the optimization parameters, and
then the antenna impedance bandwidth and gain were optimized
toward the necessary specifications. To obtain the desirable elec-
tromagnetic characteristics over the whole frequency range, the
antenna geometrical dimensions were optimized by using a fre-
quency-related cost function with optimal weighting coefficients.
Moreover, the small size of 50 mm 50mm was achieved by
exerting constraints on the optimization parameters. The meas-
ured outcomes were in good agreement with the full-wave simu-
lations, which proves the validity of the presented optimization
technique. Also, the measured outcomes of group delay showed
that the optimized antenna provides a time-domain response
without significant distortion, which assures that it is suitable for
use in UWB or other communication systems. The antenna was
compared with a number of previous proposed designs, and com-
parison results showed that the optimized antenna outperforms
other designs.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Aliakbar Dastranj (dastranj@yu.ac.ir) is with Yasouj University,
Yasouj, Iran. His research interests include novel designs of
modern antennas for advanced applications, design and model-
ing of microwave structures, evolutionary algorithms for electro-
magnetic applications, and electromagnetic theory.
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