A design of reconfigurable antenna with wide/narrow beam tunability

Abstract

In this paper, a reconfigurable multibeam antenna with switchable polarization and wide/narrow beam tunability is presented. The antenna consists of a reconfigurable power splitter and a 2 × 2 patch antenna array. The curved patch, as part of the periphery of the antenna unit, is used to switch grounded and ungrounded, so as to achieve wide and narrow beam radiation, respectively. By embedding p-i-n diodes in the power splitter and switching the ON/OFF state, the selection of the output ports and the phase difference between them are achieved. In the process of function selection, polarization switching can be realized by exciting the antenna units at different positions. Beam deflection can be achieved by controlling the phase difference between output ports. To ensure stable and fast switching between beam states, the antenna is controlled by an external micro-control system, which has the advantages of simplicity, stability, and speed. The experimental results show that the antenna can generate 12 beam states, which are in good agreement with the simulation results.