Steerable reactively loaded microstrip loop antenna

Printed microstrip loop antennas have been previously investigated. Usually these antennas are used to radiate maximum power at broadside. We show for the first time experimentally and analytically that a printed loop antenna with reactive components incorporated into it can enable beam steering, reduce the antenna size and improve its input impedance characteristics. A beam steering angle of 25/spl deg/ with a VSWR of 1.7 can be achieved at 1 GHz by the use of this technique.