A NOVEL MULTI-STATE INTEGRATED RF MEMS SWITCH FOR RECONFIGURABLE ANTENNAS APPLICATIONS

A novel multi-state RF MEMS switch for microstrip antenna applications is presented. The proposed switch exhibits seven different states of operation, has a very simple DC biasing mechanism and can be integrated with antenna structure. Based on these properties, this switch may find its usage in multifunction reconfigurable antennas. To exhibit this application, it is employed in the reconfiguration mechanism of a U-slotted antenna. In different states of the switch, the antenna resonates at different frequencies. All the standard frequency bands of the wireless communication services with some additional frequency bands is covered with this reconfigurable U-slotted antenna. Moreover, the proposed antenna structure is a cost-effective solution since it comprises a commonly used FR4 substrate. The switch is integrated with antenna structure on the same substrate. A prototype of the designed antenna was fabricated and tested for performance verification of the proposed switch and antenna.