High gain CP antenna for mobile satellite communications numerically evaluated under various packaging materials

The designed CP microstrip antenna suitable for mobile satellite communication was numerically evaluated using various packaging materials. The study is important to provide sufficient information regarding the electrical properties variations of the constructed antenna in the presence of the shielded media. Those worthwhile characterizations are essentially required on the final packaging stage of the whole antenna unit and electronics circuits as an integrated communication peripheral. The numerical evaluation is very useful to be carried-out in order to select the appropriate shielded cover. Based on the computation results, in free space, the antenna has large gain 16.5 dBi and excellent impedance matching at S-Band (2 - 4 GHz) to provide the large operation bandwidth approximately 1900 MHz. As the antenna system shielded using various plastics box cover there are significant alterations on the targeted electrical properties such as the reflection constant (S11), the impedance bandwidth, axial ratio (AR), and gain. While mobile satellite terminal, consisted of antenna unit and various electronics parts, was enclosed with the polyester, polycarbonate and polyvinylchloride (PVC) of the plastic packaging materials types, the overall gain and bandwidth achieved were 4 dBi and 1600 MHz (spans on the frequency range from 1.5 GHz to 3.1 GHz), respectively. Meanwhile, the gain and bandwidth are also altering as ABS (polyacrylonitrile), polypropylene and polyethylene used. These three protective cover materials also affect the alteration of both bandwidth and gain of the mobile satellite antenna. The two parameters, i.e. bandwidth and gain, altered to approximately 1 GHz (at the frequency resonances 2.5 - 3.5 GHz) and 4 - 10 dBi, respectively.