Flexible Microstrip Patch Antenna using Zigzag Geometry for GPS Application

This paper introduces the flexible design of the Microstrip antenna (MSA) with a single band, coaxial feed circular polarization for wearable application. The proposed antenna has been designed for 1.57GHz frequency on flexible Kapton substrate with dielectric constant 3.4 and loss tangent 0.002, with dimensions of 50X 36X 0.8mm(3). It exhibits resonating operations at the Global Positioning System (GPS) frequency L1 band (1.56 GHz-1.585GHz). Zigzag slotting along both lengths of the patch changes current distribution at the periphery and results in area minimization. The zigzag structure has been introduced to achieve the desired GPS band frequency with diagonal feed to achieve circular polarization (CP) with reduced patch area. The simulation results on a high-performance electromagnetic simulator (HFSS) obtained for this antenna show that it exhibits acceptable return loss (RL), voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR), radiation pattern along with minimal Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) for the specified frequency.