A Multifunctional Reconfigurable Pixeled Antenna Using MEMS Technology on Printed Circuit Board

Author

Besoli, Alfred Grau ; De Flaviis, Franco

Author_Institution

Univ. of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

Volume

59

Issue

12

fYear

2011

Firstpage

4413

Lastpage

4424

Abstract

A multifunctional reconfigurable pixeled antenna that uses microelectromechanical switches (MEMS) and operates within the 4-7 GHz frequency band is presented. The proposed antenna is a highly reconfigurable planar surface radiator composed of an n_px × n_px matrix of metallic pixels interconnected through MEMS switches. The antenna can be reconfigured to perform multiple functions such as: frequency tuning, pattern diversity, and polarization adaptation. A functional prototype using integrated MEMS switches was fabricated on a printed circuit board substrate, to show its feasibility and the impact of MEMS switches during operation. Simulated and measured data of the return loss and radiation characteristics of the antenna are presented.

Keywords

antenna radiation patterns; microswitches; microwave antennas; printed circuits; frequency 4 GHz to 7 GHz; frequency tuning; integrated MEMS switches; microelectromechanical switches; multifunctional reconfigurable pixeled antenna; pattern diversity; polarization adaptation; printed circuit board substrate; radiation characteristics; reconfigurable planar surface radiator; return loss; Antenna radiation patterns; Microelectromechanical systems; Microswitches; Printed circuits; Reconfigurable architectures; Resonant frequency; Frequency tunable; MEMS; multifunctional antenna; pattern diversity; pixel antenna; polarization agile; reconfigurable antenna;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-926X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TAP.2011.2165470

Filename

5991914