6

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 31, NO. I , JANUARY 1989

A Broad-Band 'Iransmission Line Model for a

Rectangular Microstrip Antenna

Abstmet-A method has been developed using the transmission line

model to predict the input characteristic of rectangular microstrip antennas over a wide band of frequencies. The method involves a series
Combination of transmission lines to represent each transverse magnetic
(TM) mode. An equivalent length, width, and offset dimension are introduced to model each mode. The results predicted by the model compared
well with experimental results that had varying feed positions.

I. INTRODUCTION
HE USE of a transmission line to model rectangular microstrip antennas has been a natural progression from its

use in modeling microstrip lines. The most noteworthy contributions to this technique were by Munson [l], Derneryd
[2], [3], Lier [4],[ll], and Pues and Van de Capelle [5].
The transmission line model is used to predict the input characteristic of rectangular microstrip antennas, especially for
computer-aided design (CAD) applications, due to its accuracy and numerical efficiency. It also plays an important role
in the modeling of arrays. Its great drawback is its inability
to predict the input characteristic much beyond a fundamental resonance. For some applications it is necessary to know
the performance of the antenna at other frequencies. Other
techniques can get around this problem, but this involves full
wave techniques or the summation of a series which results in
long calculation times. The work presented here shows how
the transmission line model can still be used, with some minor
adjustments, to determine the input characteristic over a large
band of frequencies. Following a brief summary of the basic transmission line model, the idea of an equivalent length,
width, and feed offset will be introduced. These equivalent
terms are used in the model to account for a particular mode.
A comparison of the results produced by the final model with
Manuscript received February 3, 1988; revised April 22, 1988.
The authors are with the Dienst Algemene Electriciteit (Department of
Fundamental Electricity), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels), Faculteit der Toegepaste Wetenschappen, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels,
Belgium.
IEEE Log Number 8824698.

experimental data showed the validity of the model but also

the present inadequacy of the equivalent offset term.
11. THEORY

The model developed by Pues and Van de Capelle [5] has

been chosen as the basis for this work as it is fairly complete
and gives good results. It is based upon an aperture model and
incorporates mutual coupling of the main radiating edges and
the influence of the side edges. A three-port circuit representation is used to determine the input characteristic (admittance)
of the rectangular patch Yp&,, and with the help of Fig. 1 it
is given by

where

Y," = Y,'

+ Yi

(2)

and A,,y =

and YOis the characteristic admittance and y = a j/3 is

the complex propagation constant of the microstrip structure;
see [6]. Y, is the self-admittance of the main radiating edges,
and Ym is their mutual (radiative) admittance given in [5].
Coth (z) and csch (z)are the complex hyperbolic contangent
and cosecant functions of argument z , respectively. &E will
be termed the offset, as it is a measure of where the feed
is relative to the center of the rectangular microstrip patch or
transmission line. Note that the copper and dielectric losses of
the patch antenna are accounted for by the attenuation constant
of the transmission line a. However, the effects due to surface
waves, diffraction at the substrate and ground plane edges, and
contributions due to higher order modes are not included. The
model has a very broad range of validity in terms of patch
aspect ratio ( W / L ) , substrate relative permittivity ( e r ) , and
electrical thickness ( h / y d ) .
The task of improving the frequency applicability of the
transmission line model is based upon the observation by
Carver and Mink [7] concerning the modal-expansion cavity
model. The input impedance could be represented by a series
combination of parallel R-L-C networks for each transverse
magnetic (TM) mode. Of course, an R-L-C network is a simplification and can be better replaced by a transmission line

OO18-926X/89/01OO-O6$01.OO @ 1989 IEEE

DEARNLEY AND BAREL: BROAD-BAND TRANSMISSION LINE MODEL

7
to define a resonant length Lmn given by

where m ,n are integers and A L ,A W are line extension terms

to account for fringing effects. This resonant length cannot be
directly used as the transmission line model also extends the
physical length of the microstrip antenna by a line extension
term. This means that the resonant length Lmn must also contain a line extension term and so must be defined in terms of
an equivalent physical length L , as

Lmn = Leq

+ 2ALeq.

(4)

By manipulating the right side of (3),

Lmn =

LW + 2[LAW WAL] 4ALAW

*
l/m2[W 2AWI2 n2[L 2ALI2

(5)

The problem now is how to split (5) to obtain an expression

for L , and also to determine an equivalent width We, as the
line extension term AL, is a function of this term. To do
this, there are three basic boundary conditions to be met:

Plane

Ground

El

1) when m = 1 and n = 0, then Lm, = L

L , = L and Weq = W ;
2 ) when m = 0 and n = 1, then L,, = W
L , = W and W , = L ;
3 ) expressions (4) and (5) should be equal.

APC-7
Connector

Fig. 1. Geometry of experimental microstrip antennas.

as such a model is not only a function of frequency but also

of the patch dimensions, as the patch dimensions determine
at what frequency a mode is excited and the feed position
determines what modes are excited. The TMm mode, due to
the static capacitance and loss in the substrate, has little influence on the input characteristic of the microstrip antenna and
can be ignored. However, the TMlo mode is fundamental to
the response of the rectangular microstrip antenna. Having no
field variation in the y direction (congruous with dimension
W ) and a cos (?rx/L)variation in the x direction (congruous
with dimension L ) its input characteristic can be modeled by
using (1). Similarly for the TMol mode, there is no field variation in the x direction and a cos (TU/ W ) variation in the y
direction, so (1) can again be used if L is replaced by W and
xf replaced by y f . Note that it is assumed that L L W so that
the TMlo mode frequency is equal to or lower than the TMol
mode frequency. The transmission line model is also a harmonic model, so it will not only account for the fundamental
modes, TMlo or TMol, but also at multiples of these fundamental modes, i.e., TM20, TM30, . . . or TMo2, TMo3, . . . ,
respectively. Now the problem is how to model those modes
where m and n are both nonzero, i.e., the TMII, TM2],
TM12,. , modes. This means determining some equivalent
physical length L , and equivalent feed position zeqthat can
be used in the transmission line model to cause an equivalent
resonance at these nonzero modes.
In [8] the resonant frequencies of a rectangular microstrip
antenna fbnwere aptly predicted using a derivation of the
rectangular cavity method. This relationship can also be used

+ 2AL; so
+ 2AW; so

Two simple solutions can easily be derived so that the first

two constraints are satisfied and are

or

L, =

LW 2[mLAW nWAL]
d m 2 [ W + 2AWI2 + n2[L 2ALI2
Weq

+
LW + 2[nLAW + mWAL]
l/n2[W + 2AWI2 + m2[L + 2ALI2

(7)

To see which solution best satisfied the third constraint, the

ratio of Lmn over (Leg 2AL,) was plotted (see Fig. 2)
against the ratio W / L for m = 1, n = 1 (curves a and b);
m = 2 , n = 1 (curves c and d), and m = 1 , n = 2 (curves
e and f). An er = 2.34 and h = 1.568 mm were used. It is
obvious from this figure that the curves determined using (6),
i.e., curves a, c, and e, best satisfy condition 3.
The next step is to determine an equivalent feed position,
i.e., offset term, to be used instead of the term AoR in (1).
For the fundamental modes TMlo and TMol, this offset is
determined by the actual physical position of the feed and
will be defined as

and A y y =
~

-y f l ,

for TMol. (8)

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 31, NO. 1, JANUARY 1989

0.90

0.6

0.8

0.7

0.9

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5
WL

Fig. 2. Performance of effective length versus W / L . Using (6), for graph a, m = 1 , n = 1 ; for graph c, m = 2,n = 1; for
graph e, m = I , n = 2. Using (7), for graph b, m = I , n = 1; for graph d, m = 2, n = 1; for graph f, m = 1,n = 2.

In determining an equivalent offset Aq

must be met:

two basic conditions It was found experimentally that (9) gave better results than
(lo), which in some instances gave totally wrong results.
Therefore, by using (1) as a basis to determine the contribu4) when m = 1 and n = 0, then Aqoff = Axoff,and
tion of each mode excited in the microstrip antenna, the total
5) when m = 0 and n = 1, then Aeqoff = Ayoff.
input admittance of a rectangular patch can be determined.
The most important modes, for frequencies below 3TM10,
A similar sort of relationship that determines L, and W,
are the TMlo, TMol, TMll, TM21, and TM12 modes where
could be used, i.e.,
the TM20, TMo2, TM30, and TM22 modes are harmonics of
TMlo, TMol, TMlo, and TMll modes, respectively, and are
Ax off Ay off
already
accounted for by the transmission line model. The mi(9)
Aqoff = l/m2A&ff
n2A:off.
crostrip patch antenna input admittance will now be defined
off

as

I_

Another possibility would be to use an equivalent feed position z , and determine the equivalent offset from it and the
equivalent length. Therefore,

Y,

= 2Yo

Yi

(Yi

+ Y):

Ypatch

+ -yo,
+1 - + y-111+ -

y21

'I-'

where

Y," 2 Y, YO~ 0 t (yLq)

h
- 2 Ym YOcsch (yLq)
~ 0 t (yLeq)
h
(Yi - Y,") cosh (2yA,) csch (yL) 2YS Yo

(10)
where L, is defined by (6). It can easily be seen that (9) and
(10) are only equivalent when m = 0 or n = 0. There are,
however, anomalies with (9) and (10) which are summarized
as follows:
a) if n = 0 and Ayoff = 0, i.e., y f = W/2, then (9) will
be undefined and (10) will give Aq = IL/(2m) -xf/mI;
b) if m = 0 and AXOR= 0, i.e., xf = L/2, then (9) will
be undefined and (10) will give Aq = 1 W/(2n)-yf/nl.

(11)

y12

(12)

with Y,",L,, and Aeq being defined by (2), (6), and (9),
respectively, Yo and y , Y, , Y, have already been defined.
The experimental microstrip antennas were coaxially fed,
so before (1 1) could be tested the influence of the coaxial
feed must also be accounted for. A coaxial feed behaves like
a simple inductive reactance Xfd in series with the patch admittance. Therefore, the actual microstrip patch antenna input
impedance Zbatch would be
1
Ypatch

+ jxfd.

Zbatch = -

(13)

A number of methods have been proposed to describe this

DEARNLEY AND BAREL: BROAD-BAND TRANSMISSION LINE MODEL

TABLE I
DIMENSIONS OF EXPERIMENTAL
RECTANGULAR MICROSTRE' ANTENNAS
Mean Length

L (mm) k Standard
Patch

Deviation

38.15 f 0.05
38.70 f 0.10
38.50 f 0.10
38.25 f 0.20
38.35 k 0.15
38.30 f 0.30
37.95 k 0.15
38.40 k 0.05
38.00 k 0.25

100

200

Mean Width
f Standard
Deviation

W (mm)

31.40 k 0.20
31.50 f 0.05
31.80 k 0.15
31.30 f 0.05
31.25 k 0.05
31.45 f 0.15
31.35 f 0.15
31.55 k 0.05
31.80 k 0.05

300

400

500

X feed
Xf

600

700

6.00

7.00

Y feed

1"(

Yf (")
15.70
15.75
15.80
7.60
7.65
7.60
0.15
0.05
0.20

19.00
9.55
0.00
19.00
9.50
0.00
18.10
10.30
0.00

800
900
Frequency (GHz)

(a)

0,

120.0

.B

60.0

0.0

-60.0

-120.0

- 180.0
1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

8.00

9.00

Frequency (Ob)

(b)
Fig. 3. Measured and calculated reflection coefficient of patch 1. - Measured. . . . . . . 3 modes. - - - - - 5 modes.

10

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 31, NO. 1, JANUARY 1989

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

6.00

7.00

8.M)
9.00
Frequency (GHr)

(a)

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

(b)
Fig. 4. Measured and calculated reflection coefficient of patch 2.

feed reactance, the simplest being to model the probe of diameter d as a short-circuited lossless coaxial transmission line
of length h . Harrington [9, p. 3781 derives the impedance of a
coaxial to parallel-plate waveguide feed system, and a similar
method was used by Fong et al. [lo], while Lier [4], [ l l ]
has determined an expression for a rectangular patch resonant
along the x axis. These methods all predict the same trend,
that as frequency and substrate thickness increase so increases
the reactance. The method given by Harrington [9] was used
to incorporate the feed reactance as it is incorporated in the
other methods and is

- Measured.

8.00
9.00
Frequency (GHz)

. . . . . . 3 modes. - - - - - 5 modes.

viations are given in Table I. The antennas were fabricated

on 3M CuClad 233 microwave substrate which is a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) woven glass laminate material. The
relative dielectric permittivity and thickness of the substrate
were specified by the manufacturer as 2.34 f 0.04 and 1.568
f 0.025 mm, respectively. The patches all had a 14 x 14-cm
ground plane. The input characteristics were measured on a
HP-84 10 automatic microwave measurement system. To study
the speed of calculation and the influence that the higher order
modes have on the result Ziatchr
the method was tested using
only the first three modes, TMlo, TMol, and TMll and then
also with the TM2, and TM12 modes.
The results are shown in Figs. 3-11 as reflection coefficients as all the measurements were carried out in this domain,
where { = 1.781072. . and is derived from Eulers constant.
where the effect of the connector has been removed. As can
111. EXPERIMENTAL
VERIFICATION
be seen, the calculated results obtained for frequencies beThe method was compared with the measured input char- low 6 GHz, i.e., the TMlo, TMol, TMI1, TMzo, and TMo2
acteristics of nine patches whose dimensions and standard de- modes, compare very well to the measured results. Only for

11

DEARNLEY AND BAREL: BROAD-BAND TRANSMISSION LINE MODEL

0
,
.

I
-3-

12

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 31, NO. 1 , JANUARY 1989

0
O -N

mz

2
x

F:

0 u2
o
W Y

13

DEARNLEY AND BAREL BROAD-BAND TRANSMISSION LINE MODEL

c
Y

&

14

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 31, NO. 1, JANUARY 1989

O.1

1
1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

Frequency (GHz)

(a)

.\

; '3.

,.

,,i';i :
..

i.

i
7

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

Frequency(GHz)

(b)
Fig. 11. Measured and calculated reflection coefficient of patch 9. - Measured. . . . . . . 3 modes. - - - - - 5 modes.

patches 4, 5 , and 6 is the prediction incorporating the first

three modes wrong, but this is because the TM21 mode also
occurs around 6 GHz. The method using the first five modes
does not predict the TMzl mode for patch 4 and overpredicts
the TM21 mode for patch 5. Above 6 GHz the three-mode
method cannot predict the TM12 mode, but it does approximate the TM30 and TM22 modes. Its great weakness is that
it often predicts a mode at around 8 GHz when it does not
actually occur, i.e., for patches 2 and 4. The method using
the five modes does not predict the TM12 mode for patches
2, 3, and 8, and the TMzl mode for patch 4 while it also
incorrectly predicts a mode around 8 GHz for patches 2 and
4. The method using only the first three modes best predicted
the deepness of each resonant dip. What is interesting is that
for patch 7 a small dip occurs at around 4 GHz which was
thought at first to be a measurement error; however, the theory confirms that the TMll mode is being slightly excited.

This can also be seen for patch 8 at around 5 GHz for the
TMZ0mode.
It was found that the equivalent offset value causes these
faults, especially at frequencies higher than the TMll mode.
This is especially evident for the modes where m or n are
zero, both methods correctly predict the occurrence of the
mode. However, when m and n are not zero, except for the
TMll mode, both methods are often incorrect. For frequencies higher than the TMll mode the difference between actual
dip deepness and that predicted using three modes can probably be attributed to the fact that there is no contribution of
higher order modes, while the actual occurrence of a dip is
due to the uncertainty of the patch and feed position dimensions. This problem was expanded upon in [8] in determining
the resonant frequencies of a rectangular microstrip antenna.
Another point which must not be forgotten is that the self- and
mutual admittance parameters were determined for a funda-

DEARNLEY AND BAREL: BROAD-BAND TRANSMISSION LINE MODEL

mental mode, i.e., TMol or TMlo, so their validity for higher

order modes cannot be assumed.

IV.CONCLUSION
The results so far show that the transmission line model
can be successfully used to predict the input characteristic of
a rectangular patch antenna over a wide band of frequencies.
Even though the model is conceptually simple, it still produces
accurate results in a relatively short period of computing time.
The concept of equivalent length, width, and feed offset has
been validated by experimental results but has shown that the
equivalent offset term needs some improvement. The number
of modes incorporated in the model will depend on the frequency range over which the antenna must be modeled. Using
three transmission lines gives good results up to the frequency
at which the TMo2 mode is excited.

REFERENCES
R. E. Munson, Conformal microstrip antennas and microstrip phased
arrays, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. AP-22, no. 1, pp.
74-77, 1974.
A. G. Derneryd, Linearly polarized microstrip antennas, IEEE
Dans. Antennas Propagat., vol. AP-24, no. 6, pp. &16-850, 1976.
A. G. Demeryd and A. G. Lind, Extended analysis of rectangular
microstrip resonators antennas, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat.
vol. AP-27, no. 6, pp. 846-849, 1979.
E. Lier, Improved formulas for input impedance of coax-fed microstrip patch antennas, Proc. Inst. Elec. Eng., vol. 129, pt. H,
no. 4, pp. 161-164, 1982.
H. Pues and A. Van de Capelle, Accurate transmission-line model
for the rectangular microstrip antenna, Proc. Inst. Elec. Eng., vol.
131, pt. H, no. 6, pp. 334-340, 1984.
E. 0. Hammerstad and 0. Jensen, Accurate models for computeraided design, in Dig. 190 MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp., Washington, DC, 1980, pp. 407-409.
K. R. Carver and J. W. Mink, Microstrip antenna technology,
IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. AP-29, no. 1, pp. 2-24,
1981.
R. W. Deamley and A. R. F. Barel, A comparison of models to de-

15
termine the resonant frequencies of a rectangularmicrostripantenna,
IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., this issue, pp, 114-118.
R. F. Harrington, Time-Harmonic Electromagnetic Fields. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1961.
K. S. Fong, H. F. h e s , and M. J. Withers, Wideband multilayer
coaxial-fed microstrip antenna element, Electron. Lett., vol. 21,
no. 11, pp. 497-499, 1985.
E. Lier, Proc. Inst. Elec. Eng., vol. 130, pt. H, no. 2, p. 190, 1983.
Russell W. Dearnley (S76-S83-M83-M85)
was bom in Geelong, Australia, on September 15,
1955. He received the B.Eng. degree from the Gordon Institute of Technology in 1977, the M.Sc. degree from Deakin University in 1980, and the Sijzonder Licenciaat in de Technologie (Special Masters degree in Technology) and the Doctoraat in de
Toegepaste Wetenschappen (Doctor of Applied Science) in 1980 and 1987, respectively, from the Vrije
Universiteit Burssels, Belgium, in 1987.
From 1978 until 1984 he studied at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel on a scholarship from the Belgian Ministry of National Education and Dutch Culture. In 1984 he became an Assistant and in 1987 a
part-time Professor in the Department of Fundamental Electricity at the Vrije
Universiteit Brussel. Since July 1988, he has been employed with Interscan
International, Sydney, Australia. His interests lie in the areas of microstrip
antennas, microwave measurement techniques, diffraction techniques, microwave devices and circuits.

Alain R. F. Barel was born in Roeselare, Belgium,

on July 27, 1946. He received the degree in electrical engineering from the Universite Libre de BNXelles, Belgium, in 1969, the Postgraduate degree
in telecommunications from the Rijks Universiteit
Gent (State University of Ghent), Belgium, in 1974,
and the Doctoraat in de Toegepaste Wetenschappen
(Doctor of Applied Science) from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 1976.
He worked as an Assistant at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels). Currently, he is a Professor in the Department of Fundamental Electricity at the
Vrije Universiteit Brussel and teaches in the fields of electromagnetism and
microwaves. His research interests lie in the areas of dielectric reflectometry, the application of microstrip antennas in telecommunications, microwave
hyperthermia, and NMR imaging.