Implementation of a low-cost reconfigurable antenna array for SDR-based communication systems

In the last years there has been a growing interest in software-defined radio communication systems (SDR). SDR technologies are attractive for communication systems because of their reconfigurable capabilities. Due to the complexity of real scenarios, usually characterized by multipath propagation and heterogeneous interfering sources, the antenna plays a key role. It is demonstrated by literature that the use of reconfigurable antennas (known also as smart antennas) could dramatically improve system performance. In this paper, we propose a compact and low-cost antenna array, based on microchip antennas, which will be integrated with a low-cost GNU-radio SDR testbed. The proposed antenna reconfigures its radiation characteristics, turning on/off the array elements, by means of radio frequency (RF) switches. The antenna is software controlled by means of a suitable optimization technique that maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Test results can prove the capability of the proposed antenna to improve the performance of SDR telecommunication systems in terms of increased SNR and reduced bit error rate.