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fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/LAWP.2017.2759960, IEEE
Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters
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A Low Profile Frequency and Pattern

Reconfigurable Antenna
Yogeshwari Panneer Selvam, Malathi Kanagasabai, Senior Member IEEE,
M. Gulam Nabi Alsath, Member IEEE, Sangeetha Velan, Saffrine Kingsly, Sangeetha Subbaraj,
Y. V. Ramana Rao

Abstract—This paper presents the design of a novel frequency WiMAX and Bluetooth applications is reported in [11].
and pattern reconfigurable antenna. The antenna consists of a Furthermore, a pattern reconfigurable U slot antenna [12],
simple rectangular patch with two longitudinal slits. The slits are antennas with complex actuation mechanism [13] and
connected to the patch through a pair of PIN diodes to enable reconfiguration using optical pumping [14] are also designed
frequency reconfiguration and pattern reconfiguration. The
and discussed. All these literature relate to the reconfiguration
reconfigurable patch antenna operates at the frequency 4.5 GHz
& 4.8 GHz / 5.2 GHz & 5.8 GHz and has a pattern tilt of -30o, 0o, of a single parameter. A few literatures have proposed
+30o. The prototype antenna is fabricated and its performance is techniques to obtain compound reconfiguration. Frequency
validated using measurements. Measured results agree well with and pattern reconfigurable antenna is designed using FSS [15]
the simulated results. and centre shorted strip in [16]. In [17] pixel antennas are used
to achieve pattern and frequency reconfiguration. The
Index Terms— Multi-band antennas, frequency reconfigurable, limitation with such technique is the usage of more number of
pattern reconfigurable
actuators and complex biasing network.
In this letter, a low profile planar frequency and pattern
I. INTRODUCTION
reconfigurable antenna is designed. The antenna has a

A NTENNAS with fixed frequency band and radiation pattern

can be used for single service. This results in usage of
more antennas for applications seeking multiple radios.
footprint of 50 mm × 50 mm operating at 4.5 & 4.8 GHz / 5.2
& 5.8 GHz. Using simple actuation mechanism, the antenna is
made frequency and pattern agile. The proposed antenna can
More number of antennas result in large space consumption, be used for General Wireless Communication Service Band,
interference between adjacent antenna elements, huge Telemetry and WLAN applications. Section II presents the
installation cost and complex hardware platform. For design of frequency and pattern reconfigurable antenna.
emerging wireless applications, antennas with small size, less Section III presents the results and discussions. Section IV
interference, low cost and least complexity are required. To presents the conclusion.
obtain these characteristics, reconfigurable antennas are used.
A single reconfigurable antenna can perform the operation of
multiple antennas [1-3]. In recent times, compound
reconfiguration is explored in literature in which an antenna
can reconfigure multiple performance metrics. This
manuscript presents a simple antenna that can reconfigure its
frequency and raditation pattern. The dynamic nature of the
antenna has ability to overcome the drastic effects of the time
varying channels. Also if more than one parameter is
reconfigured at a given instant, the spectrum efficiency of the
wireless link can be greatly enhanced.
In literature, several reconfigurable antennas are discussed.
In most cases, the antenna is capable of reconfiguring anyone
of the antenna performance parameters such as frequency, (a) (b)
radiation pattern and polarization. In [4], MEMS switches are Fig.1:Proposed frequency and pattern reconfigurable antenna(a)Front view
l=50mm,w=50mm,f=13mm,h=3mm,a=30mm,b=9mm,e=17mm,d=15mm,s=1.
deployed in U shaped slot and L shaped stub to achieve 6mm (Black dot represents the via). (b) Side view.
frequency reconfiguration. Frequency agile antenna using
stepper motor is designed and discussed in [5]. Reconfigurable II. ANTENNA DESIGN
filtering elements are used in the feedline of the antenna to
This section presents the design of frequency and pattern
tune to different frequencies in [6]. A polarisation reconfigurable antenna. The antenna consists of a rectangular
reconfigurable antenna with Y shaped feed is reported in [7]. patch antenna with two horizontal slits (one at the top and the
In [8], a circularly polarized antenna with frequency other at the bottom). Thus the antenna could be visualized as
reconfiguration is analyzed. Adding to this, research is also three rectangular strips with the feed connecting the bottom
conducted to investigate the reconfiguration in dual polarized strip. These three rectangular strips are capcitively coupled.
antennas using MEMS switches [9]. A reconfigurable C Furthermore, the three strips can be connected/disconnected
shaped monopole antenna array is developed in [10]. An using a pair of PIN diodes, viz. D1, D2, D3 and D4 deployed
antenna with frequency reconfigurable characteristics for at the edges of the slit which inturn alters the electrical length

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/LAWP.2017.2759960, IEEE
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of the patch antenna. Certain combinations of the PIN diode the pattern reconfiguration is achieved at 5.2 and 5.8 GHz.
state also provide beam tilting upto 30o in the left and the right Thus in State III, the current travels from left to right resulting
hand side. The proposed antenna is shown in Fig. 1. The in beam formation along +30o and in State IV, the direction of
antenna is developed on a 1.6 mm thick FR4 substrate with the current flow is reversed leading to beam formation along -
dielectric constant 4.3 and loss tangent 0.025. The volume of 30o. The same reasoning is attributed to State VI and VII
the antenna is 50 × 50× 1.6 mm3. All the simulations are operating at 5.2 and 5.8 GHz respectively.
carried out using CST Microwave Studio 2015 and The summary of the antenna operating states is
measurements are done using Keysight’s E5071C ENA series given in Table I. The simulated reflection co-effieicnt
Vector Network Analyzer. The proposed antenna has 7 characteristics are shown in Fig. 2. Thus from the results, it is
operating states with 3 states corresponding to frequency evident that the antenna operates either in quad or dual band
reconfiguration with radiation pattern directed along 0o. The mode depending upon the ON/OFF state of the diodes.
remaining 4 states provide beam tilting in 2 directions for two TABLE I
fixed frequencies. OPERATING STATES OF THE ANTENNA
A. Frequency Reconfiguration: MAIN
To obtain frequency reconfiguration the following switch PIN DIODES FREQUENCY BEAM
STATE DIRECTION
states are maintained. When all the diodes are in ON state, the (GHz)
(o)
ends of the slit are electrically shorted. Thus a single D1 D2 D3 D4
rectangular patch with two slits provide quad band resonance
at 4.5/ 4.8/ 5.2 and 5.8 GHz (State I). The operation of the I ON ON ON ON 4.5, 4.8, 5.2, 5.8 0
reconfigurable antenna is explained by assuming an initial
II ON ON OFF OFF 4.5, 4.8 0
condition with diodes in OFF state. When D1 and D2 are
alone turned ON (State II), the lower slit is shorted with the III ON ON ON OFF 4.5,4.8 +30
middle strip. The shorted strip whose electrical length is 32
mm corresponding to the wavelength of 4.5 GHz gets excited IV ON ON OFF ON 4.5, 4.8 -30
to create resonance at 4.5 GHz. Further, the band at 4.8 GHz is
V OFF OFF ON ON 5.2, 5.8 0
resonated due to the capacitive coupling between the strips
above and below the upper slit. Similarly when the diodes D3 VI ON OFF ON ON 5.2, 5.8 +30
and D4 are turned ON while maintaining the other diodes in
VII OFF ON ON ON 5.2, 5.8 -30
OFF state (State V), the upper slit is short circuited with the
middle strip along the edges. The shorted strip above the lower (Grey box - frequency reconfiguration. Yellow box - ±30o pattern tilt in the
slit has the electrical length of 15 mm correspondging to half frequency reconfigured states. Orange box –0opattern tilt in the frequency
the wavelength of 5.2 GHz is excited to create resonance at reconfigured state)
5.2 GHz. The band at 5.8 GHz is resonated because of the
capacitive coupling between the strips above and below the
lower slit.Thus a multi-band reconfiguration is achieved using
a simple rectangular patch antenna.
B. Pattern Reconfiguration:
The pattern reconfiguration is achieved by changing the
current direction in the patch radiator. In conventional antenna
system, the change in the phase of the excitation current
results in pattern tilting. However in this case the excitation
source is kept constant and the path which the current travels
has been altered. Thus in the pattern reconfiguration states, the
current travels additional distance leading to path difference
which further produces a phase difference.
Fig 2: Reflection coefficient characteristics of the proposed antenna
The pattern reconfiguration is derived as a subclass of State
II and State V. In State II, D3 and D4 are maintained in OFF
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
state. If anyone of these diodes is turned ON, the antenna
radiation pattern can be tilted upto 30 degree. The direction of The prototype antenna is fabricated and tested for
tilting depends on the diode being turned ON. With D3 ON impedance and radiation characteristics. BAR64-03W PIN
and D4 OFF, the main beam of the radiation pattern shifts to Diode is utilized to reconfigure the antenna charateristics. The
+30 degree (State III). Similarly with D4 ON and D3 OFF, the ON state series resistance and inductance are 2.1 Ω and 1.8 nH
main beam of the radiation pattern shifts to -30 degree (State respectively. The OFF state shunt capacitance is 0.2pF with a
IV). During both these cases, the antenna provides dual reverse resistance 300 kΩ.The bias lines and the feed lines are
frequency response 4.5 and 4.8 GHz. A similar characteristics isolated using appropriate L and C components. Futhermore,
is also derived under State V. With D1 ON, D2 OFF, the main the biasing lines are designed with smaller dimensions, so that
beam of the radiation pattern shifts to + 30 degree (State VI) the antenna’s radiation characteristics are left undisturbed. In
while with D1 OFF, D2 ON the direction of the main beam the proposed design, the thickness of the bias lines is 0.25 mm
shifts to – 30 degree (State VII). Thus during State VI and VII, and length is 1 mm. To separate the RF and DC components,

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/LAWP.2017.2759960, IEEE
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a DC blocking capacitor of 20 pF and a RF choke inductor of

33 nH are used. L and C values are chosen such that the
characteristic impedance of the RF lines and the biasing
circuitry match.
A. Impedance Characteristics
The measured reflection coefficient characteristics are
shown in Fig.3. The electrical length of the radiator is varied
using the diodes to obtain frequency reconfiguration. The
measured 10dB impedance bandwidth at 4.5 GHz, 4.8 GHz,
5.2 GHz and 5.8 GHz are 2.2 %, 2.3 %, 2.38 % and 3.5 %
respectively.

Fig 3: Measured reflection coefficient characteristics of the proposed antenna

(Photograph of the fabricated prototype is shown as an inset)
B. Radiation Characteristics
The performance of the proposed antenna is tabulated in
TABLE II. The pattern tilt at the four operating frequencies
are shown in Fig. 4. The direction of tilting depends on the
diode being turned ON. Whereas the magnitude of the degree
of the tilt (30o) is proportional to the width of the radiator. In
state I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII, the peak gain & percentage
efficiency are 4 dBi & 84%, 3.4 dBi & 83%, 3.8 dBi & 78%,
3.2 dBi & 82%, 3.2 dBi & 82%, 3.7 dBi & 77% and 3.7 dBi &
77% respectively. The variation of average gain and average
efficiency as a function of frequency is shown in Fig.5.
TABLE II
PERFORMANCE OF THE ANTENNA
4.5 4.8 5.2 5.8
Parameter/Frequency Fig.4:Measured radiation pattern
GHz GHz GHz GHz
STATE I 2.2% 2.3% 2.38% 3.5%
STATE II 2.3% 2.3% - -
STATE III - - 2.38% 3.5%
% BW STATE IV 2.2% 2.3% - -
STATE V 2.2% 2.3% - -
STATE VI - - 2.38% 3.5%
STATE VII - - 2.38% 3.5%
STATE I 3 3.5 3.7 4
STATE II 2.8 3.4 - -
STATE III - - 3.6 3.8
Gain(dBi) STATE IV 2.7 3.2 - -
STATE V 2.7 3.2 - -
STATE VI - - 3.4 3.7
STATE VII - - 3.4 3.7
STATE I 84 78 79 79 Fig 5: Simulated and measured Average gain and Average efficiency
STATE II 83 76 - -
The features of the proposed antenna are the following:
STATE III - - 78 76
1. The proposed antenna reconfigures both frequency and
Efficiency(%) STATE IV 82 75 - -
STATE V 82 75 - - pattern and helps in efficient utilization of the spectrum;
STATE VI - - 77 75 2. This letter presents solution for low profile actuator
STATE VII - - 77 75 fabrication with less complexity compared to [18];
3. The antenna does not require fabrication of actuators in

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