IEEE International Conference On Recent Trends In Electronics Information Communication Technology, May 20-21, 2016, India
Reconfigurable Multiband Microstrip Patch
Antenna Design for Wireless Communication
Applications
Dipali S. Yeole, Uday Pandit Khot
Abstract— The proposed work deals with the design of an antenna
which can be used for most of the wireless applications by
reconfiguring and tuning the antenna. The antenna can be used
for various combinations of wireless applications such as Wi-Fi,
Wi-Max, 3G within a microwave L, S, C and X frequency bands in
Electromagnetic Spectrum. Now days, different antennas are
preferred/devised for different wireless applications. The
increased complexity and the size of the device are the major
issues. Using proposed technique, the selection of frequency band
in communication systems can be conveniently served by only one
antenna. In this work rectangular patch is designed with U-shape
slotted antenna using ADS software and pin diodes are used for
reconfiguration i.e. to select different frequency band depending
upon wireless application. The main advantage of this design is
that it is having low profile, light weight, and easy to fabricate.
Keywords-Reconfigurable, microstrip patch antenna, multiband,
PIN diode, ADS.
I. INTRODUCTION
Now-a-days antenna is not only receiving and transmitting
device but it is integrated with other parts of circuit. So there is
highly requirement of compact size antenna. Also now-a-days
mobile antenna perform only one wireless application so, many
antennas have to place to achieve different wireless application.
Hence it is need to design only single antenna which can
perform all the wireless application. In this way reconfiguration
comes into the picture. Using this concept only one frequency
band can be selected electronically [1]. By changing the
alternating current flow of an antenna, this can be done by using
phase shifters, mechanically movable parts, attenuators, diodes,
tunable materials or active materials antenna performance
characteristic can be changed [2]. In [3] two slots are inserted in
single patch and reconfigurability is obtain by placing pin diode
in middle of each slot. When both the switches are in on mode
2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz is obtained and when both the switches
are in off mode 2.4 GHz is obtained. In [4] extended U-slot
antenna with two pin diodes inserted in U-slot is designed to
obtain polarization and frequency diversity. By controlling
biasing state of pin diodes polarization diversity is obtained
such as right hand circular polarization, left hand circular
polarization and linear polarization at 2.4 GHz/5.8 GHz also
frequency diversity is obtained at 2.6 GHz and 3.5 GHz at these
frequencies linear polarizations is achieved.
Dipali S. Yeole,Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering, Alamuri
Ratnamala Institute of Engineering and Technology, Mumbai, India
(deepali.yeole88@gmail.com)
Uday Pandit Khot, Member, IEEE
Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering, St. Francis Institute of
Technology, Mumbai, India (udaypandit@rediffmail.com)
978-1-5090-0774-5/16/$31.00 © 2016 IEEE
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In [5] T-slot is inserted at radiating patch and E slot is inserted
in ground plane. Two pin diodes are inserted into T-slot to
obtain frequency reconfigurability. When first diode is in off
state and second diode is in on state this antenna switched at 3.9
GHz, 8.9 GHz and 11.2 GHz also when first diode is in on state
and second diode is in off state this antenna switched at4.1 GHz,
8.4 GHz, and 11.3 GHz. In [6] two switches are placed at the
slot of ground plane. When these two switches are in on state
3.26 GHz frequency is obtained. When these two switches are
in off state 4.27 GHz frequency is obtained. When only one
switch is in on state and another switch is in off state 3.06 GHz
frequency is obtained. In [7], the compact switchable
multiband antenna which is designed for S and C band is
presented. In this paper, authors have used 4 different
sub-patches which can radiate frequency bands like 1.73, 2, 2.4,
2.97, 3.91 to 4.3, 5, 5.56, 6.8, 7.7 GHz. Thus requires large
number of patch antennas.
This paper presents the design of compact reconfigurable
applications. It requires only one patch antenna and hence takes
less space. It provides frequency bands in L, S, C, and X of
Electromagnetic spectrum. It can provide different wireless
applications for the wireless devices such as Wi-Fi, Wi-Max,
3G.
Flow of this paper is as follows: Microstrip patch antenna is
designed in section II. Its simulation results are given in section
III. Then reconfigurable multiband patch antennas are designed
in Section IV. Their simulation results are discussed in sections
V.
II. MICRO STRIP PATCH ANTENNA DESIGN
Proposed antenna includes only one patch which is placed on
FR4 substrate with relative permittivity of εr = 4.34 and height
of substrate is h = 1.5 mm. To design this antenna, Agilent
Advanced Design System (ADS, Ver. 2011.05) software is
used. Fig. 1 shows the simple microstrip patch antenna.
Following equations are used to design microstrip patch
antenna shown in Fig. 1 [8].
Width of Microstrip patch antenna is calculated by following
equation,
𝑐 2
W= ×√ = 34 mm (1)
2 ×𝑓𝑟 𝜀𝑟 + 1
Where c is the speed of light (3 x 108 m/s), fr is the operating
frequency 2.7 GHz and εr is the dielectric permittivity of 4.34.
Length of Microstrip Patch Antenna is calculated by following
equation,
 IEEE International Conference On Recent Trends In Electronics Information Communication Technology, May 20-21, 2016, India

L=26.32 mm

W = 34 mm
X= 8.377 mm
1 mm Fig.2: Frequency characteristic (S11 parameter)
w = 2.90 mm
42.51 mm
IV. RECONFIGURABLE MULTIBAND PATCH
ANTENNA DESIGN
CASE A: When all diodes are in OFF condition
In above design, U-shape slot is inserted to get multiband
Fig.1: Designed Microstrip Patch Antenna
antenna [9]. Fig. 3 shows the U-shape slotted Microstrip Patch
Antenna Design. For this designed FR4 dielectric material is
ℎ −2
1 used for substrate of height h = 1.5 mm and εr = 4.34. A 50 Ω
εreff =
𝜀𝑟 +1 𝜀𝑟 −1
(1 + 12 × ) = 4.02 (2) inset microstrip line feed is attached to the patch antenna. The
2 2 𝑤
other dimensions are mentioned in the Fig. 3. Slot should be
Where εreff is the effective dielectric constant and h is the placed carefully to obtain multiband frequency.
thickness of dielectric substrate.
𝑐
Leff = = 27.68 mm (3) L = 26.32
2 ×𝑓𝑟 × √𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓 mm

𝑤
𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓 + 0.3 +0.264
∆𝐿 = 0.412 × ℎ × ( ) × (ℎ𝑤 )

W=34 mm
𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓 − 0.258 +0.8
ℎ (4)
= 0.68 mm 1 mm
X = 8.377 mm
w = 2.90 mm
where ∆𝐿 stands for length extension. 1 mm 1.3 mm
Actual length of Microstrip patch antenna is 42.51 mm
23 mm
L = Leff – 2 ∆𝐿 = 26.32 mm (5)

Width of feed for an impedance of 50 Ω is calculated using

following equations,
Fig.3: U-Slot Antenna

𝑍0 𝜀𝑟 + 1 𝜀𝑟 −1 0.11
A= × √ + × (0.23 + ) Simulation of Case A antenna is shown in Fig. 4. Multiple
60 2 𝜀𝑟 +1 𝜀𝑟
(6) frequencies are obtained in various bands such as S band (2 to 4
= 1.5214 GHz), C band (4 to 8 GHz) and X band (8 to 12 GHz) by
inserting the U-shape slot as shown in Fig. 4.

B=
377 × 𝜋
= 5.69 (7)
2 × 𝑍0 × √𝜀𝑟

2 ×ℎ 𝜀𝑟 −1
w= {𝐵 − 1 − 𝑙𝑛(2 × 𝐵 − 1) + × [𝑙𝑛(𝐵 − 1) +
𝜋 2×𝜀𝑟
0.61
0.39− ]} = 2.90 mm (8)
𝜀𝑟

Distance between feed and lower side of antenna is calculated

using following equation,

𝐿 √3
X= × arccos = 8.377mm (9)
𝜋 3

III. SIMULATION RESULT OF MICROSTRIP PATCH Fig.4: Frequency characteristic (S11 parameter)
ANTENNA
Resonant frequency of 2.7 GHz with -38 dB return loss is OFF status of all the pin diodes give resonant frequencies with
shown in Fig. 2. This antenna can be used for Wi-Max return loss as given in Table I.
application.

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 IEEE International Conference On Recent Trends In Electronics Information Communication Technology, May 20-21, 2016, India

Simulation of antenna given in Case B is shown in Fig. 7. The

ON status of pin diodes D1, D2 and D3 gives 1.79 GHz, 3 GHz,
TABLE I. RESONANT FREQUENCY AND ITS RETURN LOSS 4.9 GHz, 5.7 GHz frequencies with -14 dB, -21 dB, -40 dB, -18
dB return loss, respectively as shown in Fig. 7. Thus, the
Frequency (GHz) Return loss (dB)
2.6 -24 frequencies are obtained in L, S and C bands.
4.5 -15
8.4 -22
8.8 -14
9.8 -13

CASE B: When all diodes are in ON condition

In this design, 3 pin diodes [10] D1, D2, D3 are inserted in
middle of each slot as shown in Fig. 5. Dimensions of
Microstrip Patch Antenna are same as shown in Fig. 3. The Fig.
5 shows the position of pin diodes inserted in U-shape slot of
Microstrip Patch Antenna.

Fig.7: Frequency characteristic for diode D1, D2 and D3 (S11 Parameter)

CASE C: When two diodes are in ON condition

D1 In Fig. 8 diode D2 and D3 are present in middle of slot. Hence
D2 Fig. 8 can also name as 011/OFF-ON-ON state.
Pin Diode
D3

Pin diode
D2
Fig.5: Microstrip patch antenna with 3 pin diodes inserted in U-shape slot
Pin diode D3
In Fig, 5, 111 correspond to ON- ON- ON state of diodes. In
Fig. 3 (Case-A) pin diodes are absent hence it can name as
000/OFF-OFF-OFF state. ‘0’ means pin diode is OFF and ‘1’
means pin diode is in ON state. Fig.8: Reconfigurable Patch Antenna with 011 state of pin diode.
Fig. 6 shows current distribution of all the frequencies obtained
Fig. 9 shows current distribution of all the frequencies obtained
when diodes D1, D2, and D3 are ON state.
when diodes D2 and D3 are ON state.

(a) (b) (a) (b)

(c) (d)
(c) (d)
Fig.6: Current distribution at a) 2.7 GHz b) 3 GHz (c) 5.1 GHz (d) 7.45 Fig.9: Current Distribution at (a) 1.08 GHz (b) 5.5 GHz (c) 5.9 GHz (d) 6.9 GHz
GHz

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 IEEE International Conference On Recent Trends In Electronics Information Communication Technology, May 20-21, 2016, India

Simulation of antenna given in Case C is shown in Fig. 10.
When diode D1 is in OFF state and diodes D2 and D3 are in ON
state gives resonant frequencies 1.8 GHz, 2.99 GHz, 4.89 GHz,
5.15 GHz, 7.1 GHz, 9.5 GHz with -11.5 dB, -17 dB, -20 dB, -15
dB, -23 dB, -12 dB return loss respectively as shown in Fig 10.
three pin diodes. Just by switching the pin diodes ON and OFF,
the resonant frequency can be varied. Thus the frequency
reconfigurability for different wireless applications such as
Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, UWB, and 3G s achieved using single patch.
The main advantage of this design is that, it is having low
profile, light weight, and easy to fabricate.
REFERENCES

[1] S. Yang, C. Zhang, H. K. Pan, A. E. Fathy, and V. K. Nair,

“Frequency Reconfigurable Antennas for Multiradio Wireless
Platforms,” IEEE Microwave Magazine , vol. 10, Feb. 2009.

[2] R. L. Haupt and M. Lanagan, “Reconfigurable Antennas,” IEEE

Antennas and Propagation Magazine, vol. 55, no. 1, Feb. 2013.

[3] N. Haider, D. Caratelli and A. G. Yarovoy, “Recent Development in

Reconfigurable and Multiband Antenna Technology,” International
J. Antennas and Propagation, pp. 1-14, Jan. 2013.

[4] M. M. Fakharian, P. Rezaei and A. A. Orouji, “Reconfigurable

Fig.10: Frequency characteristic for pin diode D2 and D3 (S11 Parameter)
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table II shows the all the possible combination of states of pin
diodes D1, D2 and D3. Depending upon the status of diodes,
same patch antenna can be used for different wireless
applications as given in Table II.
Multiband Extended U-Slot Antenna With Switchable Polarization
for Wireless Applications,” IEEE Antennas and Propagation
Magazine, vol. 57, No. 2, Apr. 2015.
[5] R. Kumari and M. Kumar, “Frequency Reconfigurable Multiband
Inverted T-Slot Antenna for Wireless Application,” International
Conference on Advances in Computing Communications and
Informatics, pp. 696-699, Sep. 2014.
[6] B. Sharma, G. Parmar, and M. Kumar, “Design of Frequency
Reconfigurable Microstrip Patch Antenna for S-Band and C-Band
Applications,” International Conference on Reliability, Infocom
Technologies and Optimization, pp. 1-3, Sep. 2015.

[7] S. Dhamankar and U. P. Khot, “Design of Switchable S to C Band

TABLE II. WIRELESS APPLICATIONS DEPENDING UPON PIN Microstrip Patch Antenna for Wireless Applications,” International
DIODE STATUS Conference on Computing Communication Control and Automation,
pp. 223-227, Feb. 2015.
State of Pin Diodes
SR. (‘0’: ON, ‘1’: OFF) Wireless Frequency Obtain [8] G. Casu, C. Moraru, and A. Kovacs, “Design and Implementation of
NO. Application (GHz) Microstrip Patch Antenna Array,” International Conference on
D1 D2 D3
Communications, pp. 1-4, May 2014.
Wi-Max 2.6
1 0 0 0
UWB 4.5 , 8.3 , 8.8 , 9.8
[9] B. Tlili, “Design of C-Slot Microstrip Patch Antenna for WiMax
Wi-Max 2.65, 3
2 0 0 1 Application,” Loughborough Antennas & Propagation Conference,
UWB 4.5, 8.3 pp. 521-524, Nov.2009.
3 0 1 0 UWB 7.1, 9.8
3G 1.8 [10] MA4AGBLP912 ALGAAS Beamlead PIN Diode,
4 0 1 1 UWB 4.89, 7.1 http://cdn.macom.com/datasheets/MA4AGBLP912.pdf, 15th Jan.
Wi-Max/Wi-Fi 5.15 2016.
Wi-Max 2.65, 5.8
5 1 0 0
UWB 3, 4.5, 7.5, 9.1, 9.5
Wi-Max 2.65
6 1 0 1
UWB 4.5, 7.5, 9.1, 9.5
Wi-Max/Wi-Fi 5.15
7 1 1 0
UWB 3, 7.1
3G 1.79
8 1 1 1 UWB 4.9, 3
Wi-Max/Wi-Fi 5.7

By turning Pin diode ON and OFF, antenna structure provides

band of frequencies for Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, 3G applications. Thus
for having applications Wi-Max and UWB simultaneously, the
status of D3 can be anything. But D1 and D2 should be OFF.
Also for 3G application, D1 can have any state but D2 and D3
should be ON.

VI. CONCLUSION
A compact reconfigurable micro strip patch antenna with
38 mm x 61 mm dimension is proposed which provides
different band of frequencies such as L band, S band, C band
and X band. The reconfiguration is achieved with the help of

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