Fixed-frequency beam steering from a stub-loaded microstrip leaky-wave antenna

A microstrip leaky-wave antenna (MLWA) is designed for fixed-frequency beam steering. The main beam direction of this antenna is controlled by changing the periodic reactive loading of a microstrip line. This reactive loading is provided by a set of periodic patches closely coupled to the stubs in the microstrip line. These patches can be selectively connected to the ground using PIN diodes. The proposed reconfigurable antenna can steer main beam from 40° to 64° in discrete steps at 6.2 GHz.