Accurate transmission-line model for the rectangular microstrip antenna

An accurate and numerically efficient model for the rectangular microstrip antenna is presented. It concerns a transmission-line model which features the following three major improvements with respect to earlier such models: the mutual radiative coupling (both real and imaginary parts) between the equivalent slots is fully taken into account; the influence of the side slots on the radiation conductance is taken into account implicitly; simple analytic expressions are introduced for all relevant model parameters. By way of illustration, the new model is applied to antennas with a single microstrip feed line. Excellent agreement is shown with available experimental and theoretical results for the input impedance of a rectangular antenna. The improvements with respect to previous transmission-line models are illustrated for a square antenna.