A pattern reconfigurable automotive LTE antenna employing synthesized radiation patterns

This work presents a pattern reconfigurable automotive antenna optimized for the 2.6GHz band reserved in Europe for the use of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication standard. Pattern reconfiguration is the ability of an antenna to switch between at least two fixed radiation patterns (states). In this work a special feeding network utilizing PIN diodes is used to switch between the two states. One possible trigger for the switching from one to another reconfiguration state is a bad SNR, a condition to achieve a diversity gain. A special antenna synthesis method was used to determine the antenna radiation patterns to be used for pattern reconfiguration. Finally the antenna is simulated, fabricated and measured.