Simple model for computing the input impedance of

a rectangular patch antenna with electromagnetic

coupling
D. Jaisson
Abstract: A new transmission line model is proposed for computing the input impedance of an
electromagnetically-coupled rectangular microstrip patch antenna. It allows one to approach nal
design parameter values quickly because it involves little numerical work, then to switch over to the
EM simulator at hand depending on required accuracy. Simulations using this model compare well
with experimental data.
1 Introduction
Electromagnetic coupling (EMC) between feed line and
radiator was proposed for the rst time by Oltman and
Huebner as a means of enhancing matched bandwidth BW
of a microstrip antenna [1]. It allows one to increase a
radiators height to ground while leaving the feed strip at
the same height, whereby parasitic radiation from feed
network discontinuities is kept at a low level [2]. Splitt used
EMC to excite the rectangular patch radiator shown in
Fig. 1. He simulated this antenna using an EM solver based
on a full-wave method of moments (MoM) [3]. Modern
EM solvers in general simulate planar antennas with good
accuracy [4], but their long simulation times are a hindrance
for optimisation during design. An intermediate tool, which
would trade accuracy for speed to some degree, would be of
great help to the engineer whose task is to design the
antenna in Fig. 1 from scratch. Optimum dimensions could
be approached in a short time using this tool, and corrected
with the EM solver at hand in a couple of iterations at the
most. The fastest solvers dedicated to planar antennas
involve the segmentation method which Benalla and Gupta
applied to edge-fed microstrip antennas [5]. Parrikar and
Gupta tried to generalise this method to the antenna in
Fig. 1, whereby patch segments connected to the feed strip
segment mainly through ports in planes x = w
f
=2 [6].
Their model is awed because currents through these ports
are normal to segment borders, that is to the y-axis [7]. It
thus fails to account for H-eld coupling since the latter
involves only y-axis currents in reality.
The transmission line model (TLM) stands out as the
best candidate for speed and simplicity as an intermediate
design tool. Zhang et al. released a TLM for the antenna in
Fig. 1 but they gave no means of computing parameters of
coupled modes [8], whereas Belentepe failed to characterise
these modes properly [9]. Sainati publicised a basic program
based on a coarse TLM for the design of patch antennas.
But development using his program amounts to iterative
scalpel work and the awkward sliding of substrate layers,
when it comes to EMC [10]. The author of the present
paper has devised a rigorous TLM for the antenna in Fig. 1.
To his knowledge this TLM is the simplest and the most
numerically efcient model for this antenna. It is easily
implemented in commercial RF-circuit simulators to
compute input impedance Z
in
.
2 Antennas transmission line model
Practical observations are made before the TLM is
presented.
(i) Z
in
cannot be matched if the feed strip lies much closer to
groundplane z = 0 than to the patch (z = 2h), as Parrikar
and Gupta assumed it does, because coupling between
patch and feed strip is weak then [11]. Coupling becomes
even weaker in this case, if the permittivity of the bottom
layer is made larger than that of the top layer as Parrikar
and Gupta proposed as an option. Alternatively, bringing
the feed strip close to the patch makes no sense, since
the motive for EMC is lower parasitic radiation from
discontinuities of a feed network closer to ground. Laying
the feed strip at mid-distance between patch and ground-
plane as in Fig. 1 is a practical compromise.
(ii) Most multilayer assemblies in modern communication
systems involve layers of a single material such as the FR4
glass bre epoxy laminate. Same relative permittivity e
r
is
therefore assumed for the two dielectric layers in Fig. 1.
(iii) Patch width W
p
is made about as large as patch length
l
p
(W
p
~ l
p
) in order to maximise radiation efciency. It is
much larger than patch height 2h and width w
f
of the feed
strip. Conductor thickness t is much smaller than w
f
and h.
Apart from the above observations the feed strip is
located at equal distance from patch edges in planes x =
W
p
=2 and is parallel to the latter. This and W
p
~ l
p
prevent the excitation of x-axis modes and thus ensure
y-axis linear polarisation.
2.1 Electromagnetic coupling
Among the feed types which have been used to excite
rectangular patch radiators, such as the edge, probe, coaxial
The author is an independent consultant
E-mail: denis_jaisson@yahoo.com
r IEE, 2005
IEE Proceedings online no. 20045108
doi:10.1049/ip-map:20045108
Paper rst received 15th September 2004 and in revised form 7th April 2005
476 IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 152, No. 6, December 2005
and slot feeds [2], EMC lends itself best to simple modelling
with transmission lines for the following reasons.
(i) The mode that is wanted for radiation resonates between
patch edges in planes y = 0; l
p
. It is quasi-transverse
electromagnetic mode (quasi-TEM mode) M
m
of a micro-
strip line with strip width W
p
and substrate e
r
with
height 2h [2].
(ii) Energy transfer from the feed strip to the patch
is distributed along the M
m
s resonance axis y over
length l
c
of the order of l
p
=2. Higher-order patch modes,
which are not transmission line modes, are excited to a
lesser magnitude than when aforementioned feed types are
used, because the latter interact with the patch within a
smaller space (edge, probe and coaxial feeds) or over an
area transversal to M
m
s axis (slot feed).
EMC section 0 _ y _ l
c
thus works like two coupled
quasi-TEM transmission lines, the feed line and the patch
line. However modal analysis is easiest if one looks at the
feed strip rather than the groundplane as the voltage
reference conductor for current return. Let +y-directed
currents I
1
, I
2
and I
3
ow on the patch, feed strip and
groundplane respectively, through some plane of constant
y (0oyol
c
) shown in Fig. 2. I
1
and I
3
may be decomposed
into odd and even modes:
I
1
I
3
" #
=
1
2
I
1
I
3
I
3
I
1
" #
|{z}
odd mode

1
2
I
1
I
3
I
1
I
3
" #
|{z}
even mode
(1)
(return current is I
2
= I
1
I
3
). Let I
1
and I
3
be pure odd
mode, that is I
1
= I
3
. Boundary conditions impose that
the odd modes E-eld and H-eld shown in Fig. 3 be,
respectively, normal and parallel to the feed strip [12].
Because w
f
and 2h W
p
, w
f
and 2h t and I
2
= 0, elds
are unchanged if this strip is removed: this mode is the
aforementioned M
m
. Alternatively let I
1
and I
3
be pure even
mode, that is I
1
= I
3
(elds in Fig. 4). Seen from the feed
strip, the nite patch now behaves like an innite ground-
plane because w
f
and 2h W
p
. This mode is TEM mode
M
S
of a balanced sandwiched stripline with strip width w
f
and substrate e
r
with height 2h [13]. Odd mode M
m
and
even mode M
S
do not couple, although the cross-section of
the EMC length is not homogeneous (e
r
41) and
conductors are not symmetrical about plane z = h [14].
EMC length is henceforth modelled into the uncoupled
microstrip line and sandwiched stripline recognisable in the
antenna equivalent circuit in Fig. 5. This model can account
for frequency dispersions in addition to conductor and
dielectric losses [13], because the uncoupled character of
these lines is independent from these effects. Dispersions
affect only M
m
since M
S
is pure TEM. Odd and even mode
components of general I
1
and I
3
are (see (1)):
I
o
=(I
1
I
3
)=2 = I
1
I
2
=2
I
e
=(I
1
I
3
)=2 = I
2
=2
(2)
According to (2), I
1
and I
2
may be combined into I
o
in
plane y = 0 with the help of an ideal transformer with a
1: 2 voltage-ratio, as shown in Fig. 5.
2.2 Discontinuities and radiation
The length of the microstrip line in Fig. 5 equals EMC
length l
c
plus uncoupled length l
p
l
c
since M
m
ignores the

2h
h
0
x
0
l
c
l
p
y

w
f
W
p
z
0
l r
r
Fig. 1 EMC microstrip patch antenna

r
z = 2h
h

r
I
1
I
2
I
3 0
x = W
p
/ 2 W
p
/ 2
Fig. 2 Cross-section of the EMC length
E
I
o
H
I
o
x = W
p
/ 2 x = +W
p
/ 2
Fig. 3 Odd mode M
m
(e
r
- layers not shown)
I
e
I
e x = W
p
/ 2 x = +W
p
/ 2
2I
e
Fig. 4 Even mode M
S
(e
r
- layers not shown)
REC
1:2
I
1
I
2
I
o
I
2
= 2I
e
I
o
2 I
e
l = l
c
l = l
p
C
s
(odd)
(even)
y = 0
1
3 2
Fig. 5 Antenna equivalent circuit
IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 152, No. 6, December 2005 477
feed strip. In plane y = l
c
, M
S
sees capacitor C
s
equivalent
to the striplines open end. The latter radiates no energy
because of the symmetry of M
S
about plane z = h. REC is
the radiation-equivalent circuit which Pues and Van de
Capelle included in their TLM for a general rectangular
patch radiator [15]. Its admittance matrix is:
[Y [ =
Y
m
Y
m
Y
m
Y
m
!
(3)
Y
m
= G
m
j B
m
(j
2
= 1) is the self-admittance of two
virtual slots aligned with patch edges y = 0, l
p
in plane
z = 2h. Conductance G
m
accounts for the energy radiated
by each slot into half-space z42h. Surface waves may be
neglected provided that patch height 2h be much smaller
than wavelength l
r
of free propagation in material e
r
[2]. B
m
is the susceptance of capacitor C
m
which accounts for the
E-eld fringing at the end of the patch in plane y = l
p
(node ). Similar to C
s
and modes M
m
and M
S
, C
m
belongs
to the library of all commercial RF-circuit simulators.
Fringing of the E-eld between the edge of the patch and
the feed strip in the vicinity of plane y = 0 is neglected
because W
p
w
f
, whereby the same B
m
loads the microstrip
line at node as at node . Mutual coupling admittance
Y
m
= G
m
j B
m
of the virtual slots is written as [15]:
G
m
= F
G
G
m
and B
m
= F
B
K
B
B
m
(4)
(see the Appendix for F
G
, G
m
, F
B
and K
B
). Neglecting
mutual coupling as Parrikar and Gupta did, would cause
errors, notably a shift of the simulated antennas centre
frequency. Circuit REC may yet be simplied, as the
antenna remains a resonating device despite efforts to
broaden its bandwith by means of EMC. Indeed within
BW, where l
p
is a half-wavelength of M
m
just about,
voltages V
2
and V
3
of nodes and are related by:
V
2
V
3
(5)
Therefore REC may be removed from Fig. 5 and nodes
and may each be loaded with:
Y
/
m
= Y
m
Y
m
= (1 F
G
) G
m
|{z}
G
/
m
j (1 F
B
K
B
) B
m
|{z}
B
/
m
(6)
An equivalent circuit for Y
/
m
is shown in Fig. 6, where B
/
m
is
synthesised with the help of C
m
and an ideal transformer
with voltage-ratio n
/
= (1 F
B
K
B
)
1=2
.
2.3 Buried input microstrip
In a transmitting conguration the antenna is connected to
a generator via a microstrip mS (characteristic impedance
Z
m
) buried between two dielectric layers (l _ y _ 0 in
Fig. 1). As libraries of commercial RF-circuit simulators
include no closed-form model for mS, to the best of the
authors knowledge, the proposed TLM would not be
complete without such a model. Noting that most of the
energy propagated by mS travels conned in the dielectric
layers, the author showed that mS may be modelled into an
air-lled microstrip line (impedance Z
m
e
r
_
) with the same
strip width and height to ground and with length l e
r
_
,
connected between two ideal transformers with voltage
ratio n
//
= (e
r
)
1=4
as shown in Fig. 7 [16]. Its conductors are
the same as those of mS and the dielectric loss tangent of the
air-substrate is approximately that of original material e
r
.
3 Design procedure
The above TLM demonstrates how the EMC feed type
removes the need for external matching circuitry. Indeed
seen from a generator with internal impedance Z
g
connected
to node (Fig. 5),
v the impedance of the patch is four times smaller than the
high impedance that would load this generator if the latter
were connected directly to the edge of the patch in plane
y = 0 (Fig. 1),
v the low impedance sandwiched stripline acts like a series-
connected open tuner whose input reactance X
OT
may be
varied at will by adjusting length l
c
.
The author suggests the following design procedure in the
case of a real Z
g
(Z
g
= 50 O is common). After the TLM
has been implemented in the RF-circuit simulator at hand,
v
w
f
is set for Z
m
= Z
g
, and l
c
is set for X
OT
= 0 at
specied centre frequency f
c
,
v
Z
in
is tentatively matched to Z
g
at f
c
by means of tuning
W
p
and l
p
in the TLM,
v the EM solver at hand yields mismatch DZ = Z
g
Z
in
=
DR j DX at f
c
, while the RF-circuit simulator yields the
sensitivity matrix of the TLM:
[M[ =
@R
in
=@W
p
@R
in
=@l
p
@X
in
=@W
p
@X
in
=@l
p
" #
(7)
W
p
and l
p
are corrected according to the method of steepest
descent [17]
W
p
l
p
!

W
p
l
p
!
[M[
1

DR
DX
!
(8)
whereby design is completed with a single computation of
Z
in
by the EM solver, provided that 7DZ7 be small. The EM
solver takes over from the RF-circuit simulator and the
TLM completely at this stage, if better accuracy is required.
4 Experiment
TLMs potential accuracy is best gauged by means of
comparing simulated results with measured data from an
experiment. Splitt designed the antenna in Fig. 1 for
C

1: n
G

Fig. 6 REC is removed and nodes and are each loaded with Y
/
m
air - strip
n : 1 1: n
Fig. 7 Buried microstrip line
478 IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 152, No. 6, December 2005
operation around f
c
=2400MHz. He built a prototype
with two layers of RT/Duroidtglass bre reinforced teon
dielectric [18], with h = 0:062 inches (l
r
= 27 2h), e
r
=
2:2 0:02 and dielectric loss factor tan d = 0:0009 and
18mm-thick copper clads (0.7 resistivity relative to gold).
Other antenna dimensions are w
f
= 4:83, l
c
= 28:4 and
W
p
= l
p
= 40 mm. Figure 8 shows the antennas input
match as simulated and measured by Splitt [3], and as
simulated using the TLM including Y
/
m
from Fig. 6. f
c
coincides with measured f
m
, whereas centre frequency f
TLM
= 2375 MHz predicted by the TLM lies off f
m
by
Df = 1%. A 10dB return loss BW of 3% was measured
and predicted both by the TLM and by Splitts EM solver.
The 1% Df calls for further tuning because it is not small
compared to BW, but it speaks for TLMs good ratio of
accuracy over complexity. Loading nodes and in Fig. 5
with Y
/
m
from Fig. 6 instead of using REC made no difference
in terms of return loss up to almost the second resonance
of the antenna. On the other hand, neglecting radiated
coupling, that is letting Y
m
= 0 in (6) would double Df.
Splitt also drew graphs of the magnitude of x- and y-axis
patch current densities J
x
and J
y
in his paper, based on his
full-wave simulation. These graphs show that the amplitude
of transversal J
x
is about ten times smaller than that of J
y
.
This conrms that the TLM makes physical sense, as was
inferred somewhat intuitively at the beginning of Section
2.1.
5 Conclusion
A TLM has been presented for computing the input
impedance of the EMC rectangular patch antenna. It
applies to many practical cases, although it does not
encompass that of two dielectric layers with unequal
thicknesses or permittivities. It involves elements available
from the libraries of all commercial RF-circuit simulators,
in addition to simple equations for radiation-equivalent
elements. Simulations based on this model are fast, because
they concentrate on eld variations along a single axis
although antennas operation is a complex three-dimen-
sional phenomenon. An optimiser involving this TLM
yields good starting values for the antennas dimensions.
Final tuning with an EM solver takes much less time than it
would if the latter were involved from the beginning of the
design. This model is also didactical because it brings out
well the EMC mechanism and the relationship between Z
in
and design parameters. Furthermore it enables the designer
to assess quickly the potential performance of his
prospective antenna, namely BW in relation to h and e
r
.
6 References
1 Oltman, H.G., and Huebner, D.A.: Electromagnetically coupled
microstrip dipoles, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., 1981, AP-29, (1),
pp. 151157
2 Bhartia, P., Bahl, I., Garg, R., and Ittipiboon, A.: Microstrip antenna
design handbook (Artech House, Norwood, 2001), Chap. 1
3 Splitt, G.: Rectangular electromagnetically coupled microstrip
antennas in multilayered structures. Eur. Microw. Conf., 1988,
pp. 10431047
4 Umashankar, K.: Computational electromagnetics (Artech House,
Norwood, MA, 1993)
5 Benalla, A., and Gupta, K.C.: Multiport network model and
transmission characteristics of two-port rectangular microstrip patch
antennas, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., 1988, 36, (10), pp. 1337
1342
6 Parrikar, R.P., and Gupta, K.C.: Multiport network model for CAD
of electromagnetically coupled microstrip patch antennas, IEEE
Trans. Antennas Propag., 1998, 46, (4), pp. 475483
7 Okoshi, T.: Planar circuits for microwaves and lightwaves (Springer,
Berlin, 1985), Chap. 2
8 Zhang, Q., Fukuoka, Y., and Itoh, T.: Analysis of a suspended patch
antenna excited by an electromagnetically coupled inverted microstrip
feed, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., 1985, AP-33, (8), pp. 895899
9 Belentepe, B.: Modeling and design of electromagnetically coupled
microstrip-patch antennas and antenna arrays, IEEE Antennas
Propag. Mag., 1995, 37, (1), pp. 3139
10 Sainati, R.A.: CAD of microstrip antennas for wireless applications
(Artech House, Norwood, 1996), Chap. 4.2
11 Splitt, G., and Davidovitz, M.: Guidelines for the design of
electromagnetically coupled microstrip antennas on two-layer sub-
strates, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., 1990, 38, (7), pp. 11361140
12 Harrington, R.F.: Time-harmonic electromagnetic elds (McGraw-
Hill, New York, 1961), p. 34
13 Hoffmann, R.K.: Integrierte mikrowellenschaltungen (Springer-
Verlag, Berlin, 1983)
14 Tripathi, V.K.: Asymmetric coupled transmission lines in an
inhomogeneous medium, IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., 1975,
MTT-23, (9), pp. 734739
15 Pues, H., and Van de Capelle, A.: Accurate transmission-line model
for the rectangular microstrip antenna, IEE Proc., Microw. Opt.
Antennas, 1984, 131, (6), pp. 334340
16 Jaisson, D.: Design microstrip componants with a dielectric cover,
Microw. RF, 1993, 32, pp. 7180
17 Nash, J.C.: Compact numerical methods for computers, linear
algebra and function minimisation (Adam Hilger, Bristol, 1990, 2nd
edn.), Chap. 15.1
18 Splitt, G.: Private correspondence, Fachhochschule Kiel, Georg.
Splitt@FH-Kiel.de
19 Schneider, M.V.: Microstrip lines for microwave integrated circuits,
Bell Syst. Tech. J., 1969, 48, pp. 14211444
20 Abramovitz, M., and Stegun, I.A.: Handbook of mathematical
functions (Dover Pub., New York, 1965), Chaps. 5.2 and 9.4
21 Bartsch, H.: Taschenbuch mathematischer formeln (Fachbuchverlag
Leipzig, 18. Auage, 1999), p. 531
7 Appendix
The author used the general form proposed by Pues and
Van de Capelle for G
m
and Y
m
. He altered their formulas in
(11) below in two instances for the sake of numerical
efciency: patch height 2h was used instead of the length
equivalent to C
m
; and a quasi-static value rather than a
dynamic one was used for W
eff
.
The following formulas are written in the equation block
of the RF-circuit simulator at hand:
G
m
=[a(y
w
Si(y
w
) S
y
C
y
2)=24
y
2
h
(1=3 (C
y
S
y
)=y
2
w
)=12[=pZ
o
(9)
a = 24 y
2
h
; S
y
= (sin(y
w
))=y
w
; C
y
= cos(y
w
) (10)
y
w
= k
o
W
eff
; y
l
= k
o
(l
p
2h); y
h
= k
o
2h (11)
F
G
= J
0
(y
l
) b J
2
(y
l
); b = y
2
h
=a (12)
2300 2325 2350 2375 2400 2425 2450 2475 2500
frequency, MHz
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
d
B
Fig. 8 Antenna input match
JJJ measurement
+++ Splitts MoM
TLM
IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 152, No. 6, December 2005 479
F
B
=p[Y
0
(y
l
) b Y
2
(y
l
)=(24 y
2
h
)[
=2(log(y
h
) 1:616 b=12) (13)
K
B
= 1 exp(0:21 y
w
) (14)
k
o
= 2pf=c
o
and Z
o
=377O are the vacuums wavenum-
ber and characteristic impedance. W
eff
=2hZ
o
/Z
a
is the
effective width of the air-lled microstrip line with strip
width W
p
and height 2h, and Z
a
is its characteristic
impedance [19]:
Z
a
= Z
o
=(W
p
=2h 2:42 0:88h
=W
p
(1 2h=W
p
)
6
) (15)
Si is the sine integral and J
n
and Y
n
are nth order Bessel
functions of the 1st and 2nd kind [20]. These functions need
be evaluated with accuracy only within a limited range R
a
of
their argument y=y
w
or y
l
corresponding to BW. A larger
error on these functions outside R
a
matters little because the
antenna is of no use outside BW. The author used 3rd order
Taylor series to approximate these functions for y close to
some y
c
corresponding to f
c
. For example, [21]:
J
0
(y
l
)
X
3
n=0
J
0n
(Dy)
n
with Dy = y
l
y
c
and J
0n
= (1=n!) (d
n
J
0
=dy
n
)[
y=y
c
(16)
where y
c
is y
l
taken at f
c
from (11):
y
c
= 2pf
c
(l
p
2h)=c
o
p= e
r
_
(17)
(y
c
=2 for the antenna in Section 4). Argument y
w
of the
series of Si centres on the same y
c
as y
l
does, because
W
p
~ l
p
. The series coefcients are given in Tables 1 and 2.
Accurate approximations which hold for an innite range of
y have been published for Si, J
0
and Y
0
[20] but they are
numerically less efcient.
Table 1: Taylor series coefcients for h
c
=1.5
n 0 1 2 3
J
0
0.5118 0.5579 0.0699 0.0672
J
2
0.2321 0.2485 0.00743 0.0427
Y
0
0.3824 0.4123 0.329 0.035
Y
2
0.9322 0.8306 0.639 0.680
Si 1.325 0.6650 0.198 0.128
Table 2: Taylor series coefcients for h
c
=2
n 0 1 2 3
J
0
0.2239 0.5767 0.0322 0.0667
J
2
0.3528 0.2239 0.0560 0.0401
Y
0
0.5104 0.1070 0.282 0.0340
Y
2
0.6174 0.5104 0.128 0.145
Si 1.605 0.4546 0.218 0.321
480 IEE Proc.-Microw. Antennas Propag., Vol. 152, No. 6, December 2005