A reconfigurable circular patch antenna with switchable slits for polarization diversity

Abstract

This article proposes a novel circular patch antenna with polarization reconfigurability features. The antenna has a simple structure, which comprises of a radiating circular patch, embedded with two switches (PIN diode) and a pair of equal length slit on the top metal layer. By controlling the biased voltage of the PIN diodes, the polarization of the antenna can be reconfigured between three states; either linear polarization, right-hand or left-hand circular polarization. The details of the simulated and experimental results are presented and discussed. The proposed design has the potential application to improve channel reliability in a wireless communication system, especially in dealing with multipath-rich and limited space environment. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.