Arrays of rectangular patch microstrip antennas for aerospace applications

This work presents an investigation on the performance of rectangular microstrip antenna arrays with m×n rectangular patch elements. Several rectangular antenna array geometries are investigated namely 2×1, 1×2, 2×2, 2×4 and 4×2 for aerospace microwave applications. Simulations are performed using Ansoft HFSS commercial software. Simulated results are shown for the antenna arrays return loss, resonant frequencies, bandwidth, and gain, taking into account the array geometry and number of patch elements. To validate the simulated results, several prototypes are built and measured. Agreement is observed between simulation and measurement results.