Variode Enabled Frequency-Reconfigurable Microstrip Patch Antenna With Operation Band Covering S and C Bands

Abstract

A frequency continuous reconfigurable microstrip patch antenna with operation band covering S-band and C-band is introduced. The antenna consists of a central rectangular patch and four parasitic patches with a symmetrical structure, connected by four varactor diodes in the middle position of the edge of each patch. With help of HFSS microwave studio simulation, results have shown that, by altering the bias voltage on varactor diodes, the operated frequencies vary continuously within a wide range from 3.29 to 4.01 GHz and 5.35 to 7.00 GHz, which cover S-band and C-band. Further measurement, which verifies the simulation by reasonable agreement, has been carried out. Besides, this frequency reconfigurable antenna maintains broadside radiation and stable radiation pattern. Specifically, the gain is basically maintained at around 4.5 dBi with the working frequency increasing from 3.60 to 7.00 GHz. Compared with other frequency-reconfigurable antennas available in previous literature, the proposed antenna has advantages of a wide frequency tuning range, high frequency selectivity, simple and stable structure, low cost, and miniaturization, which make it a promising candidate as cognitive radio and future wireless communication systems.

A Conformal Frequency Reconfigurable Antenna with Multiband and Wideband Characteristics

“…In particular, a frequency reconfigurable antenna is beneficial for various applications. Frequency reconfigurability can be achieved by using electrical switches [ 9 , 10 , 11 ], varactor diodes [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ], p-i-n diodes [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ], and radio-frequency micro-electromechanical systems (RF-MEMS) [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. The electric switching technique has the advantage of lower voltage requirements, whereas RF-MEMS provide higher switching time.…”

Single Port Multimode Reconfigurable UWB-NB Antenna for Cognitive Radio Applications

“…The varactor diode changes the current distribution around the defect, producing a tuning range from 5 to 6.7 GHz. In [8], four symmetric resonators are connected to the central rectangular shaped patch via varactor diodes. Here, the operating frequency varies continuously by altering the bias voltages on varactor diodes.…”

“…Here, the operating frequency varies continuously by altering the bias voltages on varactor diodes. The use of varactor diodes provide non-linear operation with a low dynamic range [2], [7], [8]. On the other hand, the PIN diode is a common choice to realize UWB frequency reconfiguration due to their advantages such as reliability and extremely low cost.…”

A Compact Frequency Reconfigurable Printed Antenna for Wlan, Wimax Multiple Applications

“…Some of them are RF-MEMS switches, varactor diode, and PIN diodes. Antennas that combine two or more independent antennas operating in different frequency bands excited with single feed with efficient switching between two more bands have been presented in [2][3][4]. There are various technical challenges in antenna designing systems due to the increase in the number of frequency bands, congestion in spectrum,,interference, etc.…”

“…The multiple bands have been obtained by inserting slots in the radiating patch and ground, and PIN diodes have been used to switch the bands from one to another. In [3], an antenna is able to switch the frequency in S-and C-bands proposed by Guo et al Switching device used is varactor diode on the patch. The antenna's operating frequencies vary from 3.29 to 4.01 GHz and 5.35 to 7.00 GHz.…”