A microwave printed planar log-periodic dipole array antenna

A microwave printed planar log-periodic dipole array (LPDA) antenna analysis and design procedure is presented together with the description of a planar feeding technique. The effects of the dielectric substrate on the antenna design are also discussed and taken into account. A numerical technique using the finite element method is employed to obtain the characteristic impedance and effective dielectric constant of the transmission lines involved, i.e., an unbalanced stripline and a balanced line having only two parallel strips. A 4-8 GHz printed LPDA antenna was manufactured and tested, showing very good radiation pattern and voltage standing-wave ratio (VSWR) values over the entire frequency range.