Semicircular shape hybrid reconfigurable antenna on Jute textile for ISM,Wi‐Fi,Wi‐MAX,and W‐LAN applications

This article presents the development of a conformal reconfigurable frequency circularly polarized jute textile antenna, working at 2.4, 3.5, 5.8, and 5.9 GHz in Wi‐Fi, Wi‐MAX, Industrial, Scientific and Medical radio bands and W‐LAN. The antenna topology is based on a semicircular structure as the main radiating component. The conductivity is realized by using copper paint, which was brush‐painted. The patch structure is rehashed in another side of the substrate against the ground with a rotation turn 180°. Two BAR64‐03 W PIN diodes switches are placed in between a semi‐elliptical structure and a rectangular structure on the bottom side of the ground plane. By governing the state of the switches, this antenna can operate at different operating frequencies. Furthermore, the antenna has an accomplished axial ratio (AR) of less than 3 dB for resonating frequencies at all four switching states. Other electromagnetic properties of the proposed jute textile antenna accomplished in simulations were confirmed through the measurement of the antenna in an anechoic chamber. The reconfigurable circularly‐polarized jute textile antenna shows a peak gain of 4.93, 5.67, 8.86, and10.07 dBi at 2.4, 3.5, 5.8, and 5.9 GHz (Wi‐Fi, Wi‐MAX, ISM, W‐LAN).     

Miniaturized frequency reconfigurable pentagonal MIMO slot antenna for interweave CR applications

In this article, a miniaturized 4‐element frequency reconfigurable multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna system is presented. The proposed design is low profile with planar configuration. The design consists of pentagonal slot‐based frequency reconfigurable antenna elements. Varactor diodes are used to change the capacitive reactance of the slot. The MIMO antenna system can be tuned over a frequency band covering 3.2 to 3.9 GHz with at least 100 MHz bandwidth within each band. The proposed antenna covers several commercial standards including WiMAX (3.4‐3.6 GHz), TDD LTE (3.6‐3.8 GHz), and Wi‐Fi 802.11y (3.65‐3.7 GHz), along with several other bands. The proposed design was realized on a board of dimensions 60 × 120 mm². The isolation between adjacent antenna elements is improved using slot‐line based defected ground structures (DGS). The antenna maintains a minimum isolation of 10 dB in its entire covered operating bands. The antenna is also analyzed for its far‐field characteristics and MIMO performance parameters. The proposed design is suitable to be used in mobile handsets for cognitive radio (CR) platforms.     

Reconfigurable ultra‐wideband monopole antenna with single‐, dual‐, and triple‐band notched functions

A miniaturized ultra‐wideband (UWB) monopole antenna with reconfigurable multiple‐band notched performance is demonstrated. By modifying the shape of the patch and the ground plane, the UWB operation is achieved. The first and second band‐notches are respectively generated by etching a rectangular slot with open ends and a U‐shaped slot in the patch, and the third band‐notch is produced by loading a C‐shaped parasitic element beneath the patch. To realize the reconfigurable band‐notched functions, four PIN diodes are inserted in three band‐rejected structures. The antenna has a compact dimension of 30 mm × 26 mm. It can switch between a UWB state and several band‐notch states by alternating the states of the diodes. Also, good radiation patterns are obtained.     

Dual‐band reconfigurable circularly polarized monopole antenna

A microstrip antenna with dual‐band reconfigurable circular polarization (CP) characteristics in Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) bands is presented in this article. The proposed antenna has a symmetrical U‐shaped slot with PIN diodes on the ground plane. The slotted ground generates a resonant mode for broad impedance‐band width, and excites contrary CP state at 2.45 GHz for WLAN and 3.4 GHz for WiMAX, respectively. Because switching the states of PIN diodes on the slot can redirect the current path, the CP state of the proposed antenna can be simply switched between the right‐handed CP and left‐handed CP. The proposed antenna has a low profile and a simple structure. Measured results of the fabricated antenna prototype are carried out to verify the simulation analysis. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:109–114, 2015.     

RF MEMS Sequentially Reconfigurable Sierpinski Antenna on a Flexible Organic Substrate With Novel DC-Biasing Technique

Devices and systems that use RF microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) switching elements typically use one switch topology. The switch is designed to meet all of the performance criteria. However, this can be limiting for highly dynamic applications that require a great deal of reconfigurability. In this paper, three sets of RF MEMS switches with different actuation voltages are used to sequentially activate and deactivate parts of a multiband Sierpinski fractal antenna. The implementation of such a concept allows for direct actuation of the electrostatic MEMS switches through the RF signal feed, therefore eliminating the need for individual switch dc bias lines. This reconfigurable antenna was fabricated on liquid crystal polymer substrate and operates at several different frequencies between 2.4 and 18 GHz while maintaining its radiation characteristics. It is the first integrated RF MEMS reconfigurable antenna on a flexible organic polymer substrate for multiband antenna applications. Simulation and measurement results are presented in this paper to validate the proposed concept.[2007-0013]     

Miniaturized dual‐band slot antenna design for GPS,amateur radio and WLAN applications

In this article, miniaturization of dual‐band slot antenna design for GPS, WLAN and amateur radio applications is presented. The proposed dual‐band miniaturized antenna is achieved using slits, rectangular split ring and metallic strips fed by 50 Ω microstrip feed. The first resonant frequency is achieved by loading reference antenna with eight slits that is antenna 1 and the second resonant frequency is achieved by loading with one center slits and rectangular split ring that is antenna 2. Dual‐band antenna is achieved by loading reference slot antenna with nine slits and rectangular split ring which resonates at frequency of 1.52 and 3.03 GHz respectively. As a result, it is achieved 53.79% reduction in first band resonant frequency with 76.07% improvement in ?10 dB bandwidth and 7.90% reduction in second band resonant frequency compared to reference slot antenna. Further, this dual‐band antenna is miniaturized by metallic strips which are placed on the bottom of the substrate. This results in 61.39% reduction in first band resonant frequency with 32.07% improvement in ?10 dB bandwidth and 26.13% reduction in second band resonant frequency in comparison with reference slot antenna topology.     

A polarization reconfigurable CPW fed monopole antenna with L‐shaped parasitic element

A coplanar waveguide fed polarization reconfigurable monopole antenna is proposed in this letter. The proposed antenna consists of L‐shaped stubs placed on either side of a monopole, two p‐i‐n diodes and a slot in the ground plane. In the proposed antenna structure, the switching element is not directly connected to the feed line. Depending on the switching state of the p‐i‐n diodes, the antenna either radiates left/right circular polarization or linear polarization. To validate the proposed design, the antenna was fabricated and its performance was measured. Since the ground plane is electrically small, the effect of the cable and SMA connector on the performance of the antenna is also investigated. The measured impedance bandwidth is 66.78% (3.67 GHz to 7.35 GHz) and the axial ratio bandwidth is 13.62% (4.24‐4.86 GHz) for circular polarization and 23.61% (3.81‐4.83 GHz) impedance bandwidth for linear polarization.     

Metasurface based pattern reconfigurable antenna for 2.45 GHz ISM band applications

In this article, a Z‐shaped antenna is designed for 2.45 GHz ISM band applications. The proposed antenna is surrounded by metasurface‐based unit cells. The unit cells are designed to reflect for the proposed frequency. Each of this unit cells are activated with the help of a diode. Unit cell is considered active by switching on the diode of respective unit cell. According to the activation of unit cell the pattern of the antenna will be reconfigured. The 2.45 GHz ISM band pattern reconfigurable microstrip antenna is presented. The radiation pattern of the antenna can be steered toward a desired direction by activating appropriate metasurface unit cell, minimizing the interference and optimizing medium usage. The proposed antenna performance is presented with the help of reflection coefficient and the pattern steerable capability by activating metasurface unit cells. The proposed antenna is having azimuth‐pattern reconfigurable capability around 360°.     

Reconfigurable bow tie‐based filtering antenna for cognitive radio applications

This article presents the design and implementation of an 88 × 85 mm reconfigurable filtering bow‐tie antenna with four operating states. Two PIN diodes are deployed to reconfigure the transmission zeros to realize ultra‐wide band (UWB), 3.5/5.5 GHz with independent switching. This switching prevents the interference of the primary user into the secondary user thereby making the filtenna suitable for cognitive radio applications. The proposed filtenna consists of a UWB bow‐tie antenna integrated with a band‐pass filter with reconfigurable property enabled using two PIN diodes. The prototype‐filtering antenna is fabricated and the simulated results are validated using measurements. The presented results show that the antenna exhibits good impedance and radiation characteristics.     

Analysis of slot‐based radiators using TCM and its application in MIMO antennas

In this article, with the help of the theory of characteristic modes (TCM), it is found that the introduction of circular slots in a chassis modifies the chassis modes. Based on the location of the slot, different chassis modes will be affected. For a fixed location, the slot to chassis size ratio plays an important role in its effect on the radiating bandwidth (BW). For a small size ratio, a modified chassis mode will be created without affecting the radiating BW. The current concentration across the slot depends on the shape of the slot (circular, rectangular, triangular, or square) and its location on the chassis. Moreover, the effect of multiple circular slots on the chassis modes is investigated. For slots introduced in a symmetrical fashion, that is, four elements, the modes are not affected and are similar to the original chassis ones. We also investigate the principle behind frequency reconfigurability using TCM analysis. The varactors used for frequency reconfigurability do not alter the radiating BW (Modal Significance plots) but only help in the input impedance matching at different frequency bands of the same mode. If a mode is excited purely using a proper feeding arrangement, the same frequency reconfigurable antenna will behave as a wide band one. Based on the detailed analysis presented in this work, a compact multiple‐input‐multiple‐output annular slot frequency reconfigurable antenna operating between 1.8 and 2.45 GHz is presented. Frequency tuning is achieved using varactor diodes.     

Double triangular monopole‐like antenna with reconfigurable single/dual‐wideband circular polarization

A polarization and frequency reconfigurable circularly polarized (CP) antenna is proposed based on a novel bilateral switching mechanism. Two triangular monopole antennas are connected to each other in an L‐shaped form by a narrow link to produce a CP operation. In the proposed technique, 4 PIN‐diode‐based switches are designed with desired insertion loss and isolation, and only 2 DC‐voltage controllers. These switches are located on the links and the feed lines to realize a polarization reconfigurable feature including both right‐hand CP (RHCP) and left‐hand CP (LHCP) modes. Moreover, 2 CP states, a single wideband operation and a dual‐band operation, can be supported by this mechanism. In a special performance of the switches, CP reconfigurability can be obtained in a narrow‐band mode around 2.45 GHz. Two general simulations are performed based on the simple microstrip links and a diode‐circuit model. The measured results exhibit a wide overlapped bandwidth (AR < 3 dB and VSWR < 2) of 44.4% (1.63–2.56 GHz) with a peak gain of 2.88 dBi in the first state and 5.5% (1.22～1.29GHz) and 20.6% (2.12–2.61 GHz) with the peak gains of 0.52 and 3.0 dBi in the second state, respectively. A wide beamwidth is obtained more than 75°. This work is appropriate for L‐ and S‐band CP diversity applications.     

A simple planar monopole UWB slot antenna with dual independently and reconfigurable band‐notched characteristics

An extremely simple and compact planar monopole ultrawideband (UWB) slot antenna with dual band‐notched characteristics is proposed. The antenna is composed of a circular radiation patch, a microstrip‐fed line, and a partial ground. By etching an arc‐shaped slot on the radiation patch and a C‐like slot on the feed line, dual notched frequency bands at 3.3–3.7 GHz for WiMAX and 5.15–5.825 GHz for WLAN are achieved. And, the two notched bands can be adjusted independently by varying the length of the slots. Moreover, the band‐notched characteristics can be reconfigurable by shorting the corresponding slots. So, the antenna is capable of operating in one of multiple modes which makes it an excellent candidate for UWB applications. Meanwhile, experimental results indicate that the antenna has an available impendence bandwidth from 2.9 to 11 GHz which covers the UWB frequency band, and nearly omnidirectional patterns, stable gains, small group delay in operating band except rejected bands. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 24:706–712, 2014.     

Multi‐band pattern reconfigurable Yagi‐Uda antenna

In this study, novel designs of single‐band and tri‐band pattern reconfigurable antennas are proposed. The design of single‐band pattern reconfigurable antenna is accomplished by the use of varactor diodes with the parasitic elements placed on both sides of the driven conventional printed dipole antenna. By tuning the capacitance of varactor, the antenna operates in four different configurations of radiation pattern which include bi‐directional end‐fire, broadside, and uni‐directional end‐fire radiation patterns. The tri‐band pattern reconfigurable antenna design is achieved by the use of parasitic elements on both sides of a tri‐band driven dipole antenna. Dual‐band LC resonators are used as loading elements along the arms of printed dipole to get two lower order modes in addition to the reference dipole mode, resulting in a triband operation of the driven element. The electrical lengths of the parasitic elements with respect to the tri‐band driven element are controlled by suitably embedding varactor and PIN diodes with them. The proposed tri‐band antenna operates in ten different configurations of radiation patterns in the three operating bands. Fully functional prototypes of single‐band and tri‐band pattern reconfigurable antennas along with the DC bias networks have been fabricated to validate the results obtained in simulation.     

A frequency reconfigurable MIMO antenna with agile feedline for cognitive radio applications

A novel frequency agile multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) patch antenna based on a reconfigurable feedline is proposed. The proposed antenna structure has two hexagonal‐shaped patch antenna elements. A defected ground structure having hexagonal shape is included in the ground plane to make the design compact and improve isolation among antenna elements. Further compactness is achieved using reactive loading. Frequency reconfigurability is realized by employing varactor diodes in the microstrip feedline. The proposed antenna achieves a frequency reconfigurable band with wide tuning range from 1.42 to 2.27 GHz with good gain and efficiency. Furthermore, an envelope correlation coefficient value of less than 0.2 and minimum isolation of 12 dB was achieved, displaying good MIMO performance. The presented antenna has a planar, low profile design with compact size of 100 × 50 mm². Thus, frequency agility, wide range tuning, compactness, and planar structure of the proposed antenna design make it suitable for modern wireless handheld devices particularly in cognitive radio applications.     

A vertex‐fed hexa‐band frequency reconfigurable antenna for wireless applications

Present article embodies the design and analysis of an octagonal shaped split ring resonator based multiband antenna fed at vertex for wireless applications with frequency‐band reconfigurable characteristics. The proposed antenna is printed on FR4 substrate with electrical dimension of 0.4884 λ × 0.4329 λ × 0.0178 λ (44 × 39 × 1.6 mm³), at lower frequency of 3.33 GHz. The antenna consists of SRR based vertex fed octagonal ring as the radiation element and switchable reclined L‐shaped slotted ground plane. Antenna achieves six bands for wireless standards viz: upper WLAN (5.0/5.8 GHz), lower WiMAX (3.3 GHz), super extended C‐band (6.6 GHz), middle X band (9.9 GHz—for space communication), and lower K_U band (15.9 GHz—for satellite communication systems operating band). Stable radiation patterns are observed for the operating bands with low cross polarization. The proposed design achieves hexa band characteristics during switching ON state of PIN diode located at reclined L‐shaped slot in the ground plane. Experimental characteristic of antenna shows close agreement with those obtained by simulation of the proposed antenna.     

Compact wideband circularly polarized horn antenna with tapered slot‐coupled feeding for Ku‐band applications

A compact wideband circularly polarized (CP) horn antenna with slot‐coupled feeding structure at Ku band for satellite communication is devised. The proposed design is based on a square aperture horn antenna with two orthogonal ridges, which is fed by nonuniform curved slot along the diagonal of the horn on the bottom cavity. And in order to improve the impedance matching, a staircase typed ridge is connected the feeding probe as a matching network. Moreover, two orthogonal ridges are excited with a tapered slot coupled by the staircase ridges via feeding probe. Wideband CP performance is achieved with an overall physical dimension of 9 mm × 9 mm × 14 mm (0.045λ₀ × 0.045λ₀ × 0.07λ₀ at frequency of 15 GHz). It is experimentally demonstrated that the proposed antenna achieves: a wide 10‐dB return loss bandwidth of about 2.4 GHz, a 3‐dB axial ratio bandwidth of 1 GHz, and a peak gain of 6.5 dBi.     

Reconfigurable wide band circularly polarized antenna array for WiMAX,C‐Band,a and ITU‐R applications with enhanced sequentially rotated feed network

In this article, a wide‐band circularly polarized slot antenna array with reconfigurable feed‐network for WiMAX, C‐Band, and ITU‐R applications is proposed. Different novel methods are used in proposed array to improve antenna features such as impedance matching, 3 dB axial‐ratio bandwidth (ARBW), gain, and destructive coupling effects. Miniaturized dual‐feed square slot antenna, with one attached L‐shaped strip and a pair of T‐shaped strip at ground surface for improving impedance matching and circular polarization (CP) purity, is presented. For further enhancement of CP attributes, reconfigurable sequentially rotated feed network is utilized to obtain wider 3 dB ARBW. Furthermore reconfigurable property of network gives controlling Right and Left handed CPs, respectively. Finally, a special form of Electromagnetic Band gap structure is employed on top layer of substrate that provides high isolation between radiating elements and array feed network to enhance overall performance of antenna. The measured results depict 3 dB ARBW from 4.6 to 7.2 GHz, impedance bandwidth from 3.3 to 8.8 GHz for VWSR<2, and peak gain of 10 dBi at 6 GHz. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:825–833, 2015.     

Gain enhanced multipattern reconfigurable antenna for vehicular communications

This article presents the design and implementation of a high‐gain tunable dual‐band pattern reconfigurable antenna for vehicular communications. The proposed antenna consists of a slotted patch loaded with a double‐side FSS acting as superstrate. The proposed slotted antenna operates at 2.45 and 3.5 GHz and the frequency tuning over the dual‐band is accomplished by employing a varactor diode for tuning the center frequency from 2.41 to 2.62 GHz and from 3.38 to 3.65 GHz at lower and upper frequency bands, respectively. To obtain pattern reconfiguration, the slotted patch is divided into four regions by using two diagonal lines of vias. By properly choosing the excitation port combinations, 14 different radiation patterns are realized with a maximum realized gain of 8.4 and 7.9 dB. Further enhancement of gain is achieved using frequency‐selective surface (FSS) screens which act as a partially reflecting surface. The unique feature of this design is to provide reflection coefficient with high reflectivity in two predetermined frequency ranges. The prototype antenna is fabricated and the measurement results are reported. The experimental results show that the prototype antenna with FSS offers tunable dual‐band with beam reconfigurable properties.     

A novel circularly polarized cavity backed SIW antenna with capability to change polarization diversity by a reconfigurable polarizer structure

This article examines a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity‐backed circularly polarized diversity antenna. In the proposed novel antenna, parasitic patch and reconfigurable diodes are used to change polarization diversity from left hand to right hand and vice versa, respectively. In addition to, what makes distinctive proposed antenna in compared with similar works, is ability to change linear polarization from a SIW slot to circularly polarization by a parasitic patch. Chopping off two diagonally opposite corners makes the resonance frequency of the mode along this diagonal to be higher than that for the mode along the unchopped diagonal. By exciting parasitic patch with a slot along axes of it the orthogonal modes are generated which causes to CP. The comparison between simulation and measurement results validate antenna design. The measured impedance BW (VSWR < 2) for state 1 and 2 are 22.18% (11.86‐14.82 GHz) and 21.68% (11.88‐14.77 GHz), and The measured 3‐dB AR BW for states 1 and 2 are about 11.46% (11.43‐12.82 GHz) and 11.23% (11.43‐12.79 GHz), respectively. Finally, the measured maximum gain is 9.81 dBic.     

Frequency reconfigurable RF circuits using photoconducting switches

Designs for a frequency switchable dual‐band branch‐line coupler and a reconfigurable S‐band power amplifier input matching network with photoconducting switches are presented. Frequency switching is achieved by increasing the power of the laser applied to the highly resistive silicon wafer and changing the properties of silicon under optical illumination. The advantages of this approach are high‐speed switching, electromagnetic transparency (no interference), and thermal and electrical isolation between the device and the control circuit. A branch‐line coupler frequency shift of 35% and 10% has been achieved from all switches off to all switches on in lower (900 MHz) and upper (1800 MHz) frequency bands, respectively. Frequency switchable class AB power amplifier with silicon switch in the input matching circuit has obtained the frequency tuning range of 2.5–3.5 GHz with no significant loss in efficiency and linearity. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2010.