Theory and experiment on microstrip antennas

Abstract

A simple theory based on the cavity model is developed to analyze microstrip antennas. Formulas for numerous canonical shapes are given. In general the theoretically predicted radiation patterns and impedance loci closely agree with those measured for many antennas of various shapes and dimensions investigated thus far. In fact, this theory enables the computation of both patterns and impedance loci with little effort. The input admittance locus generally follows a circle of nearly constant conductance, but its center is shifted to the inductive region in the Smith chart plot. Peculiar properties for the case with degenerate or slightly degenerate eigenvalues are discussed. An accurate formula for determining the resonant frequency of a rectangular microstrip antenna is also given.