Design and analysis of a frequency and pattern reconfigurable microstrip patch antenna for wireless applications

As the usage of wireless communication systems is increasing day by day, a number of antennas or a single antenna with multiple functions has become inevitable. This paper attempts to design a frequency as well as pattern reconfigurable microstrip patch antenna using electrical reconfiguration method. Three switching cases are involved within. The first case results in an operation at 5.7GHz and the remaining two cases offer operations at 5.7GHz and also at 1.9GHz. In the 5.7GHz band a `figure 8´ E-plane pattern and an equal gain H-plane pattern are obtained in all the cases, whereas in the 1.9GHz band, an equal gain E-plane pattern and 180° switchable H-plane patterns will be resulted according to the switching status. This antenna is an attractive candidate for important applications like Personal Communications Service (PCS), Mobile Satellite Service (MSS), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).