1416 IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 17, NO.
8, AUGUST 2018
Multiband Reconfigurable Filtering Monopole
Antenna for Cognitive Radio Applications
Saffrine Kingsly , Deepa Thangarasu, Malathi Kanagasabai , Senior Member, IEEE,
Mohammed Gulam Nabi Alsath , Member, IEEE, Rama Rao Thipparaju, Sandeep Kumar Palaniswamy,
and Padmathilagam Sambandam
Abstract—A compact frequency-agile multiband filtenna is pre-
sented in this letter. The proposed reconfigurable filtering antenna
performs independent switching between four operating bands viz.
1.8 GHz (GSM), 2.4 GHz (Bluetooth), 3.5 GHz (WiMAX), and
5.2 GHz (WLAN). This switching allows the unused bands to be
utilized by the secondary user, making the antenna suitable for
cognitive radio applications. An elliptical wideband monopole an-
tenna is excited through a reconfigurable bandpass filter (BPF)
integrated onto the 50 Ω transmission line. The BPF comprises
four distinct structures to tune to four different frequencies using
p-i-n diodes. The proposed filtenna has the reflection coefficient less
than −20 dB for all the desired operating bands. Furthermore, this
multiband filtenna offers gain of about 1.1, 2.6, 3, and 3.4 dBi at
the four frequency bands. The prototype filtenna is fabricated, and
the simulation results are verified experimentally.
Index Terms—Cognitive radio, filtenna, independent switching,
multiband, reconfigurable filter, resonator.
I. INTRODUCTION
N RECENT years, researchers have been focusing more
I on the suppression of interference and noise at the receiver
front end [1]. It can be controlled by suppressing the undesired
signals. This is facilitated by integrating filter into the 50 Ω
feedline of the antenna.
Several papers are available in the literature to realize this
multifunctional module. A planar filtering antenna operating at
a Ku-band is reported in which unwanted out-of-band signals are
suppressed using a substrate integrated waveguide technique [2].
An electrically small monopole filtenna is demonstrated in [3]
using a capacitive loaded loop-based filter to improve the out-of-
band rejection level. Hence, it is evident that an integrating filter
on the feedline provides interference rejection and maintains its
radiation properties.
Manuscript received May 10, 2018; accepted June 12, 2018. Date of publi-
cation June 18, 2018; date of current version August 2, 2018. (Corresponding
author: Saffrine Kingsly.)
S. Kingsly, D. Thangarasu, M. Kanagasabai, and P. Sambandam are
with the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Anna
University, Chennai 600025, India (e-mail:, kingsly.saffrine@gmail.com;
deepaprabavathi@gmail.com; mala@annauniv.edu; padmathilagam.s@
gmail.com).
M. G. N. Alsath is with the Department of Electronics and Communication
Engineering, SSN College of Engineering, Chennai 603110, India (e-mail:,
mail.alsath@yahoo.com).
R. R. Thipparaju and S. K. Palaniswamy are with the Department of Electron-
ics and Communication Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology,
Kattankulathur, Chennai 603203, India (e-mail:, tramarao.srm@gmail.com;
vrpchs@gmail.com).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LAWP.2018.2848702
1536-1225 © 2018 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
Reconfigurable filtennas are reported to support multiple ap-
plications providing interference prefiltering. In literature, sev-
eral frequency-reconfigurable filtennas are proposed in [4] and
[5] to continuously tune to different frequency bands. A slot-
based resonator is used as a filter to achieve wideband to nar-
rowband switching [6]. A loop-based bandpass filter (BPF) and
a three-pole hairpin BPF are reported in [7] to obtain switch-
ing between wideband and narrowband frequencies. From the
literature, it is observed that there is a requirement for compact
multiband filtenna to achieve frequency selectivity and spectrum
efficiency.
The frequency selectivity of the device depends on the recon-
figurable RF BPF integrated onto the feedline of the filtenna.
Thus, to design the filter, and extensive study on the state of
the art has been carried out. A few referred papers to bring up
reconfigurability in the microstrip filter are discussed in [8]–
[10]. In [8], the reconfiguration has been done using a dual-
band BPF with independent switching between passbands. To
adapt between Wi-Fi and UMTS reception, two reconfigurable
BPFs are presented in [9] to attain accurate operating frequen-
cies using two p-i-n diodes. Hence, a compact, independently
switched, frequency-reconfigurable BPF compatible with the
designed antenna is necessary to meet the requirement.
In this letter, a novel multiband frequency-agile filtenna is
presented by integrating a switchable filter on the feedline of
a wideband antenna. The BPF design consists of a C-shaped
resonator (CSR), inverted pulse shaped resonator (IPSR), me-
andered loop resonator (MLR), and open-circuited stub (OCS)
for operating at four desired frequencies. The proposed filter is
able to reconfigure between four different bands by enabling the
antenna to radiate at four frequencies such as 1.8 GHz (GSM),
2.4 GHz (Bluetooth), 3.5 GHz (WiMAX), and 5.2 GHz (Wi-Fi).
II. DESIGN PROCEDURE
The layout of the proposed reconfigurable filtenna is pre-
sented in Fig. 1. The prototype is developed on a 1.6 mm thick
FR4 substrate with a dielectric constant 4.3 and a loss tangent
0.023.
A. Design of the Wideband Antenna
An elliptical monopole antenna of a footprint 30 × 60 mm is
considered for the design of the proposed filtenna. An elliptical
monopole is considered as the primary radiator. The circumfer-
ence of the ellipse determines the lowest operating frequency of
the monopole antenna. A partial ground plane with an etched
rectangular slot is developed on the rear side of the antenna to
obtain wideband impedance matching [14]. The reflection coef-
KINGSLY et al.: MULTIBAND RECONFIGURABLE FILTERING MONOPOLE ANTENNA
Fig. 1. Proposed quad-band filtenna. (a) Front view and (b) rear view: L =
30 mm, W = 60 mm, Xr = 10.5, Yr = 14 mm, t1 = 1.5 mm, s1 = 3.2 mm, s2
= 9 mm, s3 = 10.5 mm, and h = 29 mm.
Fig. 2. Simulated reflection coefficient of the wideband elliptical monopole.
Fig. 3. Proposed reconfigurable filter. (a) Front view and (b) side view: f1 =
5.5 mm, f2 = 4.75 mm, f3 = 3 mm, f4 = 1.35 mm, f5 = 0.88 mm, g1 = w1
= w7 = 0.75 mm, g2 = w2 = l14 = l9 = 1 mm, l1 = 7.25 mm, l2 = l3 =
4.2 mm, l4 = 5.74 mm, l5 = 2 mm, l6 = 2.3 mm, l7 = 3.28 mm, l8 = 6.2 mm,
l10 = 1.25 mm, l11 = 0.25 mm, l12 = 5.4 mm, l13 = 3.7 mm, l15 = 6 mm,
l16 = 0.55 mm, L = 29 mm, w3 = 0.5 mm, w4 = 0.625 mm, w5 = 1.45 mm,
w6 = 0.4 mm, w8 = 1.36 mm, W = 30 mm, t = 0.035 mm, h = 1.635 mm.
ficient of wideband antenna is shown in Fig. 2. This wideband
antenna provides 116% impedance bandwidth.
B. Reconfigurable Filter Design
The geometry of the proposed reconfigurable filter is shown in
Fig. 3. It consists of four independent resonators coupled to the
stepped impedance transmission line split at the center. A slot is
introduced at the center of the 50 Ω lines to attain all stop char-
acteristics. The four resonators designed at discrete frequencies
are coupled to the split transmission line. The impedance of the
transmission line is increased at the center to accommodate for
active energy coupling between the transmission line and the
resonators. Since the transmission line is split, current reflects,
and so an energy coupling between two ports is acquired through
these distinct resonators. The designed CSR is fixed to have the
physical length equivalent to a quarter-wavelength at 1.8 GHz.
The resonance at 2.4 GHz is attained by designing the IPSR
1417
Fig. 4. (a) Coupling diagram of the proposed reconfigurable filter. (b). Evo-
lution of the proposed reconfigurable filter.
Fig. 5. (a). S-parameter response of the quad-band filter. (b) Comparison on
reflection coefficient response of antenna, filter, and filtenna.
for a length equivalent to a half-wavelength at the designated
frequency. An MLR is enclosed by the transmission line and the
CSR for transmission of the electromagnetic signals at 3.5 GHz.
The energy is coupled to the MLR through CSR from the trans-
mission line. The loop is meandered to increase the electrical
length of the resonator within the available space similar to
fractal structures [15]. An OCS with the length corresponding
to quarter-wavelength at the fourth operating frequency is en-
closed between the IPSR and the transmission line for obtaining
the resonance at 5.2 GHz. The designed filter provides complete
flexibility in selecting the frequency and bandwidth of the bands
independently by altering the electrical length and gap between
the resonator and the transmission line.
The coupling diagram [12] of the designed filter is depicted
in Fig. 4(a). From the coupling diagram it can be understood
that the current flow from source to load occurs only through
the resonators. Hence high suppression of spurious signals in
the stop bands is achieved. There is an inter resonator coupling
occurring between resonators 1 and 3 and also resonators 2
and 4. The resonators 3 and 4 are separated by the center split
transmission line. Fig. 4(b) shows the step-by-step evolution of
the quad-band filter with respective return loss response. Four
p-i-n diodes are used for switching between the four operating
bands. The BAR64-03W p-i-n diode is selected for switching,
which has 2.1 Ω series resistance. During forward bias, the
inductance offered by the diode is 1.8 nH. The RF signal and dc
lines are isolated using 47 nH RF choke inductor and 18 pF dc
blocking capacitor [16]–[18]. The S-parameter response of the
filter when all the diodes are in ON state is shown in Fig. 5(a).
C. Design of Reconfigurable Multiband Filtenna
The characterized filter is integrated in the feed of the wide-
band antenna to realize the fine selectivity between different
passbands using four p-i-n diodes. The input given to the antenna
reaches the radiating part through the four designed radiators.
The distance between the filter and the radiator is maintained
as 5 mm; hence, it does not disturb the radiating properties of
the radiator. Fig. 5(b) shows the comparison between reflection
coefficient response of the designed antenna, filter, and filtenna.
For improving the efficiency of cognitive radios, the sensing
and communication functions should be performed by separate
1418
TABLE I
VARIOUS OPERATING STATES OF DIODE
Fig. 6. Surface current distributions at the four operating frequencies when
p-i-n diodes are (a) turned ON and (b) turned OFF. From left to right: 1.8, 2.4,
3.5, and 5.2 GHz.
antennas [13]. Therefore, the wideband antenna described in
Section II-A can be implanted for sensing the channel, and the
designed filtenna is used for communication through the spec-
trum holes. This filtenna is also suitable for switching ON/OFF of
a particular frequency band at different time slots for different
users, (i.e.,) a time-division multiple access (TDMA) system.
III. WORKING PRINCIPLE
The proposed reconfigurable multiband filtenna offers quad-
band, tri-band, dual-band, or single-band operation by switching
the p-i-n diodes. Table I depicts the diode ON/OFF condition for
the five switching states.
In the first state, all the diodes are forward-biased. The surface
current distributions at the four operating bands are presented
in Fig. 6(a). A low resistance offered by the diodes allows the
RF signal to get transmitted to the radiator through the four
resonators for a quad-band operation. When the diode D1 is
alone reverse-biased, the signal propagates through the coupled
IPRS, MLR, and OCS. Since the diode offers infinite resistance
in OFF state, it restricts the signal transmission through the
CSR. For state 3, the diode D2 is turned OFF, so the RF signal
gets transmitted through CSR, MLR, and OCS. The signal
transmission through the IPSR is incomplete since the path is
openly circuited. Thus, the filtenna does not radiate at 2.4 GHz.
At the fourth state, the diode D3 present in the MLR is turned
OFF. The signal transmission path through the MLR is cut off.
However, current flow through CSR, IPSR, and OCS are not
affected. Hence, the resonance at 1.8, 2.4, and 5.2 GHz remains
unaltered. The diode D4 embedded in the OCS is reverse-biased.
The diodes existing in the other resonators are forward-biased.
Hence, the current through these resonators travels the complete
path and excites the radiator. This allows the filtenna to radiate
at 1.8, 2.4, and 3.5 GHz. The surface current distribution of the
filtenna at states 2–5 is interpreted in Fig. 6(b).
Fig. 7 shows the S-parameter response of the proposed fil-
tenna in all five operating states. The proposed prototype is well
IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 17, NO. 8, AUGUST 2018
Fig. 7. Simulated S-parameter for different operating states of the diode.
Fig. 8. Simulated and measured S-parameter response of the filter and filtenna.
(a) State 1. (b) State 2. (c) State 3. (d) State 4. (e) State 5. (f) Fabricated filtenna.
suited for cognitive radio applications. The discrete switching
between GSM, Bluetooth, WiMAX, and Wi-Fi applications is
obtained through the filter placed at the feed of the primary an-
tenna. Therefore, whenever the primary user is unavailable, the
proposed filtenna facilitates the secondary user to make use of
the available spectrum, thus improving the spectrum efficiency
and frequency selectivity at the RF front end without increasing
the device complexity.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The proposed filtenna is fabricated and tested. The photo-
graph of the fabricated prototype is presented in Fig. 8(f).
A. Reflection Coefficient
The simulated and measured reflection coefficients of the
proposed filtenna at the five operating states are compared in
Fig. 8. It is verified that the proposed filtenna has return loss
above 15 dB in all the states. A filter response is also mea-
sured at all the states, and a good agreement is found between
the simulated and measured results. It is also depicted that the
insertion loss is less than 3 dB in all operating bands. The per-
centage bandwidth of 2.5% at 1.8 GHz, 3.9% at 2.4 GHz, 4.5%
at 3.5 GHz, and 6.7% at 5.2 GHz is realized in all the four bands.
B. Radiation Characteristics
The radiation pattern at the four operating frequencies is in-
vestigated in both XZ plane and XY plane. Since it is a monopole
antenna, the E-plane and H-plane have approximate dumb-bell
shape and circular pattern, respectively. From Fig. 9, it is ob-
KINGSLY et al.: MULTIBAND RECONFIGURABLE FILTERING MONOPOLE ANTENNA
Fig. 9. Simulated and measured far-field radiation patterns at the four operat-
ing bands. (a) 1.8 GHz. (b) 2.4 GHz. (c) 3.5 GHz. (d) 5.2 GHz.
Fig. 10. (a). Gain and efficiency of the proposed filtenna. (b). Group delay of
the proposed filter at the four operating bands.
served that the measured radiation pattern has a good agreement
with the simulations. The gain and efficiency plot of the pro-
posed design is given inFig. 10(a). The gain obtained at the
four frequencies in the wideband antenna is 1.4, 2.7, 3.254, and
3.628 dBi. The developed filtenna has the realized gain of 1.1,
2.6, 3, and 3.4 dBi at the four operating bands, respectively, with
low variation of 0.4 dBi from primary antenna with the radiation
efficiency of above 60%. If needed, a gain of the filtenna can be
1419
TABLE II
COMPARISON WITH THE EXISTING FILTENNAS
∗Wideband; ∗∗Narrow-band.
improved using electromagnetic bandgap [19] or frequency se-
lective surface characterized appropriately. Fig. 10(b) illustrates
the group delay characteristics of the filter. It can be seen that the
obtained group delay is flat with maximum variation of 0.7 ns.
Table II shows the comparison of the proposed reconfigurable
filtenna with the existing similar prototypes. It can be observed
that the designed filtenna is compact and discrete switch be-
tween 4 applications instead of band limited frequency tuning
or narrow to wide band reconfiguration.
The salient features of the proposed multiband reconfigurable
filtenna are as follows.
1) Discrete switching of operating bands unlike [4], [11]
where tuning is continuous over a precise frequency range.
2) The filtenna is capable of operating at four application
bands simultaneously compared to [2–7], [10–11].
3) The designed filtenna does not require separate biasing
tee, since biasing circuit is a part of it, unlike [10].
4) Sharp interference cancellation with high suppression of
more than 20 dB is obtained in between all the four bands.
5) The proposed filtenna offers the lowest frequency of op-
eration, i.e., 1.8 GHz with a compact size of more than
25% compared to [4]–[11]. The filtenna can be scaled to
operate at any desired frequency by altering the length of
the resonators.
6) The prototype offers a gain of 1.1 dBi at the lowest op-
erating band, which is higher than the gain obtained in
[3], [5], and [7]. A minimum gain variation of 0.4 dBi is
achieved between primary antenna and filtenna compared
to [2], [4], and [6], where the variation is above 1 dBi.
V. CONCLUSION
A detailed description on design, fabrication, and measure-
ment of a multiband reconfigurable microwave filtenna has been
presented in this letter. The results show that the designed fil-
tenna proficiently mitigates the out-of-band signal. According
to the user’s demand, the proposed prototype offers a dynamic
spectrum access, in turn providing good spectrum efficiency.
Thus, the proposed switchable multiband filtenna can be effec-
tively used in cognitive radios and TDMA systems. The devel-
oped filtenna also improves the frequency selectivity and the
SNR of the overall receiver system without increasing the re-
ceiver complexity. On account of these results, the proposed
filtenna is highly recommended at the RF front end.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank Y. Panneer Selvam and S.
Subbaraj for sharing their expertise during the revision stages.
1420 IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, VOL. 17, NO. 8, AUGUST 2018
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