Abstract
This research article proposes a compact frequency and pattern reconfigurable flexible antenna for heterogeneous applications. A triangular monopole antenna with a semicircular stub is made frequency and pattern tunable by connecting and disconnecting two inverted L-shaped stubs utilizing diodes. When either of the stubs is connected to the radiator, a relative phase difference happens at both ends of the radiator that changes the direction of the electromagnetic radiations, consequently pattern reconfigurability can be obtain. Besides that, because of the reactive load introduced by the stubs, the antenna’s effective length has changed and, as a result, the frequency reconfigurability can be attained. The antenna features a compact size of 40 × 50 × 0.254 mm3 corresponding to 0.22λo × 0.27λo × 0.001λo, where λo is free-space wavelength at 1.65 GHz, while its operational bandwidth is from 1.65 GHz to 2.51 GHz, with an average gain and radiation efficiency of better than 2.2 dBi and 80%, exhibiting a pattern reconfigurability of 180° in the E-plane. The frequency of the proposed antenna can be switched from 2.1 GHz to 1.8 GHz by switching the state of both diodes in OFF and ON-state, respectively. The fabricated prototype of the antenna is tested to verify its performance parameters. In addition, to validate the proposed design, it has been compared with prior arts in terms of the overall size, reconfigurability type, flexibility, radio frequency (RF) switch type used for reconfigurability, and frequency bandwidth. The proposed antenna provides smaller size with a large bandwidth coverage alongside with discrete RF switch type with the advantages of flexibility and both frequency and pattern reconfigurability. As a result, the proposed compact flexible and pattern reconfigurable antenna is a promising candidate for heterogeneous applications, including the global system for mobile (GSM) band (1800 and 1900 MHz) and industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band (2.4 GHz) along with well-known cellular communication bands of 3G, 4G, and long term evolution (LTE) bands ranging from 1700–2300 MHz around the globe.
Highlights
Multifunctional antennas are getting significant attention to meet the requirements of sensing, radar, and various wireless communication systems
The antenna features a compact size of 40 × 50 × 0.254 mm3 corresponding to 0.22λo × 0.27λo × 0.001λo, where λo is free-space wavelength at 1.65 GHz, while its operational bandwidth is from 1.65 GHz to 2.51 GHz, with an average gain and radiation efficiency of better than 2.2 dBi and 80%, exhibiting a pattern reconfigurability of 180◦ in the E-plane
To validate the proposed design, it has been compared with prior arts in terms of the overall size, reconfigurability type, flexibility, radio frequency (RF) switch type used for reconfigurability, and frequency bandwidth
Summary
Multifunctional antennas are getting significant attention to meet the requirements of sensing, radar, and various wireless communication systems. The compact dimension of flexible devices and overcrowded band spectrum allocation for various wireless communications require flexible and reconfigurable antennas. In this context, numerous works have been reported in the literature. The proposed antenna consists of two patches and the different states of the transistors are used to excite the antenna at the required frequency band These hybrid reconfigurable antennas [21,22,23,24,25] have the drawbacks of rigid structure, larger antenna size, and complex biasing structure which limits their applications for flexible electronics.
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