Frequency Reconfigurable Circular Patch Antenna with an Arc-Shaped Slot Ground Controlled by PIN Diodes

In this paper, a compact frequency reconfigurable circular patch antenna with an arc-shaped slot loaded in the ground layer is proposed for multiband wireless communication applications. By controlling the ON/OFF states of the five PIN diodes mounted on the arc-shaped slot, the effective length of the arc-shaped slot and the effective length of antennas current are changed, and accordingly six-frequency band reconfiguration can be achieved. The simulated and measured results show that the antenna can operate from 1.82 GHz to 2.46 GHz, which is located in DCS1800 (1.71–1.88 GHz), UMTS (2.11–2.20 GHz), WiBro (2.3–2.4 GHz), and Bluetooth (2.4–2.48 GHz) frequency bands and so forth. Compared to the common rectangular slot circular patch antenna, the proposed arc-shaped slot circular patch antenna not only has a better rotational symmetry with the circular patch and substrate but also has more compact size. For the given operating frequency at 1.82 GHz, over 55% area reduction is achieved in this design with respect to the common design with rectangular slot. Since the promising frequency reconfiguration, this antenna may have potential applications in modern multiband and multifunctional mobile communication systems.