A compound reconfigurable electronically switched parasitic monopole antenna for sub 6 GHz wireless and vehicular applications

Abstract

In this paper, a compound reconfigurable electronically switched parasitic monopole antenna is reported for sub-6 GHz (n77/n78 bands) wireless standards and vehicular communication. The antenna comprises a half-hexagonal-shaped radiating element and two inverted L-shaped parasitic stubs. These stubs are connected to two PIN diodes, allowing for control over frequency. An additional pair of PIN diodes incorporates analogous parasitic stubs into the ground plane to facilitate pattern tilting and polarization. By switching these PIN diodes across seven operating states (OS), the antenna structure could resonate in a single band, spanning 4.5–5.8 GHz (sub-6 GHz higher band), with an omnidirectional pattern specific to OS1. In OS2 and OS3, the antenna resonates in a single band within the range of 4.1–5.7 GHz, featuring beam tilting with linear polarization. In OS4 and OS5, the structure has two bands: one covers 3.3–4.2 GHz (5G-n77 band) with linear polarization, and the other covers 5.1–6.1 GHz (5G WLAN band) with right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) in OS5 and left-hand circular polarization (LHCP) in OS4 with an axial ratio bandwidth of 14.5 %, including pattern tilting within the range of ± 340. Finally, in the OS6 and OS7 structure introduce dual bands of 3.3–3.8 GHz (5G–n78 band) and 4.8–5.8 GHz (sub-6 GHz higher band). Both bands feature LHCP/RHCP with an axial ratio bandwidth of 8.57 % for the lower resonant band and 7.4 % for the higher resonant band. Additionally, it incorporates radiation pattern reconfiguration capabilities. The structure is printed on an FR-4 substrate and measures various associated parameters. The experimental results closely match the simulated results.