Evaluation of Modelling Accuracy of Reconfigurable Patch Antennas

Carla Medeiros, Ana Castela, Jorge Costa and Carlos Fernandes

Instituto de Telecomunicaes, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Phone: +351-218418455, Fax: +351-218418472, e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract This paper presents an evaluation of frequency
reconfigurable patch antennas for multi-standard personal
communication systems, using PIN diodes as switches.
Two different configurations are studied with dual-band
behaviour: a patch antenna with two switchable slots; and a
rectangular patch with a switchable parasitic element. One of
the objectives is to evaluate the reliability of the simulation
software to design and predict the performance of
reconfigurable antennas with embedded active elements.
These antennas were fabricated and the measured results
show good agreement with the simulations. Each of the designed
antennas enable electronic switching of the operating frequency,
while maintaining good input impedance match and stable
radiation characteristics.

Keywords: Reconfigurable antennas; multifrequency
antennas, PIN diodes; switches; modelling accuracy.
I. INTRODUTION
Frequency reconfigurable antennas are very attractive in
wireless communication systems, because they enable to
accommodate more than one service in the same antenna.
The resonant frequency adjustment is accomplished by
changing the shape of the radiating element.
Microstrip antennas are widely used to provide
reconfigurability due to their advantages of low profile,
lightweight, low fabrication cost, and ease of integration with
RF devices. The drawback of the more basic printed antenna
designs is its narrow impedance bandwidth characteristic.
The frequency band selectivity can be achieved by
controlling the state of switches inserted in the antenna,
which can be PIN diodes or RF MEMS. The switches can
encompass several functions on reconfigurable antennas, for
example: modify the antenna feed location and, therefore,
adjust the resonant frequency [1]-[2], control the electrical
length of slots placed along the patch [3]-[5], connect or
disconnect several elements in antenna arrays [6]-[7], or,
similarly, connect parasitic elements to the radiating patch in
order to increase the total length of the antenna [8]-[9].
The non-ideal RF characteristic of the PIN diodes or
MEMS must be carefully considered in the simulations in
order to obtain a reliable prediction of the antenna frequency
behaviour. The objective of this work is to evaluate how well
the RF behaviour of the PIN diode can be known and
incorporated into the simulators and how good can be the
agreement with measurements.
With this objective, this paper addresses two simple
configurations of frequency reconfigurable antennas using
PIN diodes switches [10], to operate at the UMTS TDD
(1900-2025 MHz) and Bluetooth (2400-2484 MHz)
frequency bands. The first configuration is a two slotted-
rectangular patch, where switches are placed near the center
of the slots and are used to increase or decrease the average
electrical current path length on the patch (Figure 1) [3]. The
second antenna configuration consists on a square patch with
a parasitic element, which the switches connect or disconnect
to the radiating patch, increasing or decreasing the overall
antenna dimensions (Figure 2).
PIN diodes are commonly used as RF switches, because of
their characteristics: reduced dimensions; low cost; low
insertion loss; reasonable isolation and good switching
characteristics. However, the integration of diodes in the
antennas requires a biasing circuit and DC blocks to avoid
interference with the RF signal; this also influences the
overall antenna performance and must be appropriately
included in the simulation model.
In this paper, Section II describes the two antennas
configurations. Section III presents the PIN diodes
characteristics obtained experimentally compared with the
results using the corresponding equivalent circuit. Section IV
describes the modifications to the antennas structures
required for the embedding of the switches. Simulated and
measured results for both states of the PIN diodes are also
presented. Finally, Section V discusses future work and
Section VI draws conclusions.
P
L

Figure 1 Geometry of a Frequency Reconfigurable patch
antenna with two switchable slots

L
W
d

L
s
L
c

Ws
inductor via
(X
f
,Y
f
)
switch
capacitor
C
C
L
W
Q
M
inductor via
(X
f
,Y
f
)
switch
Figure 2 Geometry of a Frequency Reconfigurable
patch antenna with parasitic element
II. FREQUENCY RECONFIGURABLE MICROSTRIP
PATCH ANTENNAS CONFIGURATIONS
A. Patch Antenna with Switchable Slots
The first antenna configuration, shown in Figure 1 and
referred at [3], but not manufactured, basically consists on a
patch antenna with two slots incorporated, each one closed by
a switch near the center. When the switches are in the off-
state, the currents flow around the slots and the average
length of the current path is the longest and hence the antenna
resonates at the minimum operating frequency. Conversely,
when the switches are turned on, some of the electric currents
flow through the switches, the length of the current path
decreases and the resonance frequency increases.
B. Patch Antenna with Parasitic Element
The second antenna configuration is shown in Figure 2. It
is patch with an inscribed rectangular slot fed with a coaxial
probe in the inner patch. When the switches are turned off,
the resonant frequency is basically defined by the inner patch,
although, due to the proximity, the parasitic element produces
some influence in the antenna operation. In the closed
configuration, the switches connect the parasitic element to
the radiating element thus increasing the antenna size,
consequently lowering the resonance frequency. Simulations
showed that at east four switches are needed on this antenna,
in order to obtain a good match for both operating
frequencies.
III. PIN DIODE RF SWITCHES
Infineon BAR 50-02V PI diodes [10] were selected for the
frequency shifting operation, due to its good nominal
isolation. The equivalent circuit of a PIN diode corresponds
to an inductance L, for both states of the switch, in series
with a resistance R
f
for the on state, and with the parallel
connection of a capacitor C
T
and a resistance R
p
for the off
state. According to the manufacturer, the diode parameters
are L=0.6 nH, Rf=3 , Rp= 5 k and Ct=0.15 pF.
The diode s-parameters were de-embedded from the
experimental scattering matrix of a gapped transmission line
with the diode in series across the gap. The resulting de-
embedded and calculated |s
21
|, using the PIN diodes
equivalent circuits, for the off and on-state (diode isolation
and insertion loss) are presented at Figure 3. Note that
isolation is of the order of -13 dB across the band of interest,
which is still far from the ideal value.
IV. RECONFIGURABLE ANTENNAS USING PIN
DIODE SWITCHES
All the required active components were simulated using 2-
port blocks with the respective measured scattering matrix.
The antennas were designed using the method of moments
for analysis, and optimised to present better than -10 dB
reflection coefficient, for both operating frequencies.
For set-up simplicity, the DC control voltage of the diode
was chosen to be supplied from the antennas RF coaxial
probe. For the on-state, the corresponding forward voltage of
the diode is 1.5V, and for the reverse state (off) it is 0V.
Figure 3 PIN diode measured and calculated isolation
and insertion loss curves

A. Patch Antenna with Switchable Slots
To isolate the DC bias for each edges of the diode, thin
cuts were made on the patch of Figure 1 and shunted with DC
blocking capacitors, placed on the edges of both slots for RF
continuity. Two choke inductors were inserted between the
ground and the patch using a via, to close the DC circuit
without affecting significantly RF signal. This was used
instead of a quarter-wavelength strip [3], which increases
significantly the patch dimensions. The selected capacitance
and inductance values were 100 pF and 22 nH, respectively.
The antenna was fabricated on 60 mm x 60 mm Duroid
5880 substrate, with permittivity
r
=2.2 and thickness
h=3.175 mm, and it is fed by a coaxial probe at position (xf,
yf) = (10.35, W/2) mm. The patch dimensions are
L=W=36.33 mm. The slots are positioned at P
s
=29.9 mm and
their width and length corresponds to W
s
,=3.34 mm and
L
s
=20.12 mm. The switches are placed at L
d
=10.44 mm and
the capacitors at L
c
= 0.75L
s
. (Figure 4)


(a) (b)
Figure 4 Photo of the fabricated patch antenna with
swicthable slots using PIN diodes: (a) top view; (b) amplified
bottom view screening one inductor.

In Figure 5, one can observe that the antenna resonates at
f
1
=1.89 GHz and f
2
=2.37 GHz, with an impedance bandwidth
of 0.48% and 2.45%, respectively. The experimental results
shift 0.89% towards lower values for the first operating
frequency and 2.39% for the second one, when compared to
the simulated operating frequencies, f
1
=1.93 GHz and f
2
=2.43
GHz; this can be considered quite good agreement.
The measured radiation patterns, in Figure 6, show very
good agreement with the simulations. The results are very
similar for both operating frequencies in both planes. The -
3dB beamwidth is about 85 degrees at both frequencies for
the E plane (xz plane) and 95 degrees for the H plane (yz
plane). The peak cross-pol, compared to the co-polarization,
is around -7 dB at 0 degrees in all cases.


Figure 5 Measured and simulated return losses of the
patch antenna with switchable slot using PIN diodes.


(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Figure 6 Measured and simulated radiation patterns of
the patch antenna with switchable slot: (a) E plane (xz plane)
at f
1
=1.89 GHz; (b) E plane at f
2
= 2.37 GHz; (c) H plane (yz
plane) at f
1
; (c) H plane at f
2
.

The high value of the cross-polarization is due to the
capacitances and resistances inserted by the diodes, which
degrade the radiation characteristics. However, it is also
caused by the capacitors, especially at the lower resonance
frequency, f
1
, and by the slots influence at the higher
resonance frequency, f
2
.

B. Patch Antenna with Parasitic Element
At the configuration presented in Figure 2, the edges of the
diodes do not belong to the same patch; this implies that DC
blocks are not necessary. However, a choke inductor is still
inserted using a via between the ground and the patch, as a dc
ground for the situation when the diodes are on. In the
opposite switch polarization the control voltage doesnt flow
to the parasitic element, and, therefore, the inductors
influence is not present. The inductance value is the same as
in the previous antenna configuration, 22 nH.
The antenna was fabricated on Duroid 5880 substrate of
size 75 mm x 75 mm, with permittivity
r
=2.2 and thickness
h=3.175 mm, shown in Figure 7, and the feeding is realized
via a coaxial probe at position (xf, yf) = (12.93, C+W/2) mm.
The dimensions of the inner patch are L=W=37.41 mm and
the separation between the patches is 0.5 mm. The outer
patch dimensions are: M=2.51 mm, Q=5.78 mm and C=8.44
mm. The switches are placed in the middle of the radiating
element along the x and y axis.
UMTS
TDD
Bluetooth


Figure 7 Photo of the fabricated patch antenna with
parasitic element and PIN diodes.

The antenna was fabricated and measured and the results
for the return losses show reasonable agreement. As shown in
Figure 8, the antenna resonates at f
1
=1.92 GHz and f
2
=2.41
GHz, with an impedance bandwidth of 3.1% and 3.4%,
respectively. This configuration retains a larger impedance
bandwidth, because the PIN diodes increase the bandwidth
due to their capacitance and because the influence of the thin
slot is not significant. The difference between calculated and
experimental operating frequencies corresponds to a shift
towards higher values of 3% for f
1
and of 1.8% for f
2
towards
lower values of the simulated values, f
1
=1.86 GHz and
f
2
=2.45 GHz.



UMTS
TDD
Bluetooth
Figure 8 Measured and simulated return losses of the
antenna with parasitic element.

The measured radiation patterns, in Figure 9, also show
good agreement with the simulations and very similar for
both operating frequencies in both planes. The -3dB
beamwidth is 80 degrees at both frequencies and for E and H
plane. The peak cross-pol is -25 dB at 25 degrees for the E
plane and -20 dB at 50 degrees for the H plane.
This antenna presents a more linear polarization due to the
behaviour of the currents on the patch, the fundamental mode
of the antenna is not disturbed, and also because in this
configuration no capacitors were inserted.


(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Figure 9 Measured and simulated radiation patterns of
the patch antenna with parasitic element: (a) E plane (xz
plane) at f
1
=1.92 GHz; (b) E plane at f
2
= 2.41 GHz; (c) H
plane (yz plane) at f
1
; (c) H plane at f
2
.

V. FUTURE WORK
Due to their less insertion loss, low power consumption
and excellent switching capabilities, RF MEMS switches are
being used instead of PIN diodes, especially at frequencies of
operation above 1 GHz. The RF MEMS can be of two types:
manufactured and integrated with the antenna; and packaged
MEMS. For this reasons, the next step is to replace the PIN
diodes switches by RF MEMS and reduce the number of
active and passive elements in the antennas.
Another goal is to obtain larger impedance bandwidths in
order to fulfil the services requirements without significantly
increasing the antennas dimensions.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
Two frequency-reconfigurable antennas are studied in this
paper with the objective to evaluate how well 2.5D
commercial EM solvers are able to model printed antennas
integrated with active elements. PIN Diodes were used as the
switching elements. The experimental radiation patterns show
very good agreement with simulations, while return loss
curve show a slight shift in frequency. The referred
discrepancy, especially when the diode is at the on-state, is
mainly justified by the dispersion of the diode characteristics
with respect to manufacturer nominal values. The same
observation applies to the inductors and capacitors.
Although these characteristics were obtained
experimentally for all the active and passive elements used in
the above antennas, clearly there are some other factors that
cannot be easily overcome. This is in part related with the S-
parameters deembedding procedure.
Nevertheless, from the obtained results, one can conclude
that a reasonably good prediction of the performance of
antennas with active and passive devices can be obtained
using 2.5D commercial EM solvers provided that an accurate
characterization is available for those devices.
VII. REFERENCES
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reconfigurable microstrip antenna employing RF-MEMS
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http://www.infineon.com/upload/Document/cmc_upload/doc
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