Design and Analysis of Patch Antenna with T-Shape DGS for Aircraft Surveillance Applications

In this paper, an inset-fed rectangular microstrip patch antenna (RMPA) is designed for traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) application. The TCAS is a mandatory surveillance system installed on aircraft to prevent accidents. To improve the bandwidth of the conventional RMPA, a novel modified T-shape defect is etched on the ground surface. The High-Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) software is used to optimize and simulate the proposed structures. The general antenna parameters which include impedance, reflection coefficient, bandwidth, gain, VSWR, and radiation pattern have been simulated and analyzed for the proposed structure. The conventional RMPA resonates at 1.06GHz with a bandwidth of 13.10 MHz (1.0740-1.0609GHz), VSWR of 1.13, and a gain of 4.69dB, whereas the RMPA with defect operates at 1.05GHz with a bandwidth of 56.40 MHz (1.0821-1.0257GHz), VSWR of 1.74, and a gain of 3.68dB. In comparison to conventional RMPA, the proposed antenna with defected ground plane has improved the bandwidth by 43.30MHz. The gain of the antenna is reduced by nearly 1dB and the VSWR has slightly deviated. However, the obtained gain and VSWR are sufficient to meet the need for aircraft surveillance applications. In aviation surveillance systems, broader bandwidth is essential to improve channel capacity, airspace efficiency, and to broaden surveillance over a wider area. Hence, the proposed broadband antenna is optimum for the aircraft surveillance application (960 to 1215 MHz).