The microstrip antenna is a convenient, planar, easy-to-fabricate antenna with some attractive attributes and features, as well as some distinct limitations.
The passive antenna is a critical part of any wireless communications link, for both transmit and receive sides. Depending on the application, the same antenna may be used for both roles, or radically different ones may be employed. This FAQ looks at antennas in brief and at a specific antenna embodiment: the microstrip (patch) antenna.
Q: What are the functions and objectives of any antenna?
A. An antenna is an energy transducer (Figure 1). A transmitting antenna takes electrical and electronic power (and energy) originating at an amplifier and which is in a confined space such as a wire or a waveguide and disperses (radiates) it as electromagnetic (EM) power into free space. A receiving antenna performs the complementary operation, capturing this EM energy in free space and confining it to a well-defined path (again, a wire or waveguide, as examples), then sending it to an RF front end.
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