Reconfigurable Antenna system

Introduction
For wireless communication such as: FM radio, Television set Satellite, or mobile phone which
are most valuable of people’s life, Antenna is the most critical and important part. There are
different types of antennas used in communication systems. These varieties include micro strip
antennas, helical antennas, loop antennas, dipoles, horn antennas, log periodic antennas,
dielectric antennas, reflector antennas and frequency independent antennas. Each category is
suitable for a particular application due to its inherent benefits and fixed antenna characteristics
so it is limited to specific functionality or resonance.

But now a day as the demand of communication system increase these basic antennas are
changed to adapt the properties of a new system so, antennas are made reconfigurable so that
their behavior can adjust the changing environmental conditions and system requirements.

Reconfigurability is the capacity to change the fundamental operating characteristics of a radiator

through electrical, mechanical or other means. Today, due to configurability it reduces the
computing capacity of system, so that it’s behavior can be reconfigured so, such antennas are
solution to the requirements like that MIMO Applications, Direction finding, Cognitive Radio,
Beam steering, Radar command and Control. so more than one wireless standard can be access
by using the reconfigurable antennas. Reconfigurable Antenna arrays can also be used for MIMO
that improve link capacity of closely spaced antenna array. In designing reconfigurable antenna, the
recent state of RF switches used is FET switches, PIN diodes and MEMS switches [1]. The switch is a
device to act as either a circuit maker or circuit breaker in order to configure the antenna parameters. The
principle of this switch is to regulate the number of the RF current to flow along the desired direction.
Hence, to achieve recongfigurability, the position of the RF switch is crucial and has to be optimized in
the antenna design.

Space and ground application are example of reconfigurable antenna, which are used in satellite
communication, mobile phone, cognitive radio and multiple-input multiple output (MIMO)
systems. A new generation reconfigurable antenna is not limited to specific functionality or
resonance but depends on the requirements of the process to change their functionality. Ideally,
the reconfigurable antennas are freely able to change their operating frequency, polarization,
radiation patterns and bandwidth, according to the operating requirements . These new strategies
can be efficiently applied to reduce the number of components, hardware complexity and cost
compared to current radio technology, which relies on incompatible communication systems
with inflexible hardware.

Reconfiguration Techniques: Reconfigurable antenna can be achieved using one of the following
techniques:
a. Structural Alteration: Physical
b. Photoconductive: Optical
c. PIN diodes, Varactors, RF-MEMS: Electrical
d. Ferrites, liquid crystal: Material change

Classification of Reconfigurable Antennas:

Reconfigurable antennas can be placed in four groups based on the properties of their
configuration:

I. Frequency Reconfigurable Antennas 
II. Radiation pattern Reconfigurable Antennas
III. Polarization Reconfigurable Antennas
IV. Compound Reconfigurable Antennas
Frequency reconfigurable antennas are based on frequency alteration mechanism can achieved
by switching to multiple frequency bands and are very useful for cognitive radio applications. An
antenna can be tuned to a different frequency by changing its electrical length. In these type of
antennas conductor is modified to change the electrical length of the antenna by using switches,
PIN diodes or varactor diodes. The second family of reconfigurable antenna type is Radiation
Pattern reconfigurable antennas achieved by altering their pattern on a fixed frequency. These
antennas alter their pattern to allow radiation in a certain direction and are useful for mobile
antennas. The third type is polarization reconfigurable antennas under this group are capable of
switching between different polarization modes. This feature of switching polarization is used to
reduce the polarization mismatch losses in portable devices The last one is
compound reconfigurable antennas under this group can be tuned to several antenna parameters,
for instance frequency and radiation pattern. The most common use of this application is
combination of beam scanning and frequency agile to improve spectral efficiencies.
 Paper reviewed
A Miniature Reconfigurable Printed Monopole Antenna has been reported in [2] present a
conventional λ/4 printed monopole reconfigurable antenna which is modified into meander lines
in order to save volume on the substrate and making it more compact. The antenna operates in 4
distinct wireless communication bands, namely WLAN, LTE, WiMAX and Hiper LAN which
has a frequency of 2.4-2.6GHz, 3.3-3.6GHz, and 5.2 GHz respectively. The antenna operates in 3
modes with use of only 2 switches and the operating frequencies corresponding to the 3 modes.
Copper strips are used as switches. It changes the electrical length of the antenna, creating
different current paths and resonant frequencies. The reconfigurable nature of the antenna
provides pre-filtering, thus relaxing some of the constraints on the system's filter design. The
gain and radiation efficiency of the antenna is almost same in all modes of operation. Since the
antenna is of a compact volume it can be easily slotted into the screens of laptops and tablet
computers. So it could provide a solution to the challenges associated with multiband and
wideband antennas. However, the challenges associated with frequency reconfigurable antennas
is that they may need a number of active components on the antenna to achieve the
reconfiguration which may lead to an increase in the complexity and power consumption. Some
of the main requirements of frequency reconfigurable antennas for such devices are
miniaturization, low profile and excellent radiation characteristics. and it is unable to work less
than 2.4GHz.
 Fig

In [3], it reported monopolar patch antenna which capable to reconfigure up to eight different
frequency bands using four PIN diodes. The PIN diodes are used to connect main patch to four
different sizes of small patches. good impedance matching with less than 10 dB return loss are
observed at all operating bands with center frequency ranging from 1820 to 2480 MHz by
controlling the total patch size. However, the drawback of this method is complicated antenna
design and biasing circuit. And the nonlinear nature of switches, existence of biasing lines, the
losses associated with the biasing lines, increased complexity
 Fig Geometry of proposed antenna (units: mm)

In [4] it reported Frequency Reconfigurable Antenna for mobile terminals is done to cover all
frequency bands between 640 MHz and 5.85 GHz which includes GSM, GPS, LTE, and 2.4 / 5.2
/ 5.8 GHz WLAN. The antenna consists of a wide band antenna and a frequency reconfigurable
circuit that includes micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) switches which is used to
improve matching at frequency bands which cannot be covered by the wideband antenna alone.
The MEMS switch was chosen for the frequency reconfigurable circuit since it offers low
insertion loss and low power consumption over a wide frequency range. Without the circuit, the
lowest operating frequency of the wideband antenna fal is around 1.5GHz. As the number of the
pairs of switches and inductors increases, the lower limit of the operating frequency decreases.
MEMS switch is subject to a reactive loading effect. The isolation of RF-MEMS is very high and
they require
minimal power consumption. The switching speed of RFMEMS is in the range of 1–200 sec
which may be considered low for some applications.
 Fig

Frequency reconfigurable micro strip patch antenna has been reported in [5] present for 3.6 GHz
and 5 GHz for Wearable application. The frequency reconfiguration is obtained by using layers
of mercury and liquid crystal polymer (LCP) on conventional patch antenna. In the absence of
LCP and mercury, the two circular patches become completely isolated from each other. In this
way, inner patch of 19.6 mm diameter becomes the radiating patch and antenna starts radiating at
5
GHz frequency. For shifting the radiating frequency of antenna, the gap is filled with layers of
LCP and mercury The size of the antenna is 65×50 mm2. For performing frequency
reconfiguration, two frequencies of WLAN 3.6 GHz and 5 GHz were selected. Two circular
patches were then constructed corresponding to the above mentioned two frequencies. Both the
patches are then excited by a common microstrip feedline with feed length of 35.5 mm and feed
width of 0.4 mm. LCP has various advantages including lower value of loss tangent, high
flexibility, low cost, strong chemical inertness, extremely small thickness and very low moisture
absorption ratio. The free space and on-body performances of the antenna have been presented in
terms of return loss, gain, efficiency, radiation pattern and SAR (specific absorption rate).
has been reported in [6] present
In [10], it reported Pattern Reconfigurable Patch Antenna, based on two orthogonal quasi-Yagi
microstrip patch antenna, the antenna reconfigures the pattern by using reconfigurable
electromagnetic bang gap (EBG) structures. Radiation patterns reconfigurable antenna has the
reconfiguration of the radiation patterns by the change of the structure, while the operating
frequency and polarization remain unchanged. which can radiate different patterns by adjusting
the apertures and maintain their operating frequencies, have found a great demand in the fields of
wireless communications, satellite communications, radar, etc. The reconfigurable EBG
structures, are controlled by changing the states of the MEMS switches. Two EBG cells are
etched on each parasitic element. Each EBG cell consists of one slot and two rectangles, with 6
MEMS switches installed along the slot symmetrically. By adjusting the EBG cell dimensions,
the shunt capacitance and series inductance are changed and the slow-wave effects can be
attained at different frequencies. By changing the position of the EBG cells, the coupled current
from the driven element will change, and then the radiation pattern will change. In the five states,
within the frequency range from 9.88 to 10.05 GHz,
Reference

1. M. S. Shakhirul1, M. Jusoh2, Y. S. Lee3 and C. R. Nurol Husna “A Review of Reconfigurable

Frequency Switching Technique on Micostrip Antenna” IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics:
Conf. Series 1019 (2018) 012042

[2]. A.M.Yadav, C.J.Panagamuwa, R.D.Seager “A Miniature Reconfigurable Printed Monopole

Antenna for WLAN/WiMAX and LTE Communication Bands” Antennas & Propagation
Conference, 2012

3. Han, T.-Y., & Huang, C.-T. Reconfigurable monopolar patch antenna. Electronics Letters, 46(3), 2010.

4. T. Yamagajo1 Y. Koga2 “Frequency Reconfigurable Antenna with MEMS Switches for Mobile
Terminals”

5. Waqas Farooq , Masood Ur-Rehman1, Qammer H. Abbasi, Khalid Qaraqe2, A Circular Patch
Frequency Reconfigurable Antenna for Wearable Applications: Centre for Wireless Research,
University of Bedfordshire, Luton LU1 3JU (UK) 2015

10. Xue-Song Yang, Bing-Zhong Wang, & Weixia Wu. (n.d.). Pattern Reconfigurable Patch
Antenna with Two Orthogonal Quasi-Yagi Arrays. IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society
International Symposium. 2005