Dual circularly polarized series‐fed patch antenna array integrated with beam switching network

Abstract

AbstractA reconfigurable patch array antenna exhibiting circular polarization as well as pattern switching capabilities is presented in this work. The proposed 2 × 2 series‐fed structure is capable of generating 11 switched beams at a resonant frequency of 2.44 GHz. The work also hypothesis an unsophisticated method polarization and radiation pattern diversity. An effective reduction from 2N to N for feed ports and from N to N/2 for phase shifters has also been reported. The design is realized on a single‐layered low‐cost FR‐4 epoxy laminate having a thickness of 1.6 mm. The performance evaluation of the fabricated prototype exhibits good agreement between the computationally evaluated and the experimentally obtained results, yielding six circularly polarized and five 45° slant polarized switched beams in two‐dimensional space with appreciably high gain, acceptable side lobe level, and decent impedance matching characteristics for all constituent ports. In this work, a simple four‐port beam switching network has been proposed to synthesize the 11 switched beams at an elevation angle of 0°, ±10° and ±21° in xoz‐plane and yoz‐plane with both circular polarizations and 45° slant polarization. It does not require any additional digital circuit or complex geometry as reported in recent works.