A novel miniaturized frequency reconfigurable microstrip patch antenna for modern wireless applications

Abstract

In this paper a novel miniaturized frequency reconfigurable microstrip patch antenna for wireless communication is presented. The antenna consists of a square patch and for achieving miniaturization the ground plane of the antenna is modified. The antenna incorporates two switches for achieving frequency reconfigurability. By controlling the states of the switches, the antenna exhibits three distinct operating modes, two single band (i.e. 2.42 GHz and 5.55 GHz) and a dual band (i.e. 3.77 GHz, 6.21 GHz). For the proposed antenna the reflection coefficient (S11) is well below -10 dB. The proposed antenna having geometric configuration of 16 × 17 × 0.8 mm3 is designed and simulated using CST Microwave studio. A prototype of the antenna is fabricated using low cost FR-4 glass epoxy  substrate and the reflection coefficient is measured using Vector Network Analyzer. The simulated reflection coefficient for all the modes are presented and compared with the experimental data validating its usefulness for modern wireless system applications.