A wide band dual-beam microstrip antenna is proposed in this
communication. Two radiation beams off broadside are obtained by operating
the patch antenna at the higher order mode instead of the
fundamental mode, which radiates a broadside beam. Broadening
the antenna bandwidth is achieved by using the U-slot technique. Unlike
previous work on the conventional U-slot microstrip antenna, the effect of
the U-slot inclusion on the performance of a patch antenna operating at the
mode is studied across the entire achieved bandwidth. The antenna
analysis is carried out with the aid of full wave simulation, and an antenna
prototype is fabricated and measured for validation. Good agreement between
the simulated and measured results is observed. The antenna operating
frequency range is 5.18–5.8 GHz with VSWR less than 2, which corresponds
to 11.8% impedance bandwidth. It exhibits two radiation beams,
directed at 35 and with 7.92 dBi and 5.94 dBi realized gain, respectively
at 5.5 GHz.