IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 62, NO.

12, DECEMBER 2014

6049

Miniaturized Reconfigurable Multiband Antenna For

Multiradio Wireless Communication
Mojtaba Fallahpour, Member, IEEE, Mohammad Tayeb Ghasr, Senior Member, IEEE, and R. Zoughi, Fellow, IEEE

AbstractThis paper introduces a general methodical approach

for designing frequency reconfigurable antennas. This method was
successfully used to design a novel coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed
slot frequency reconfigurable antenna capable of operating at
four preselected frequency bands distributed over a wide frequency range from 59.5 MHz to 1000 MHz (i.e., 4 octaves
of bandwidth) while keeping its overall size as small as possible.
To add reconfigurablility to the antenna, optimally-designed and
electronically-controllable PIN diode-loaded slots were used to
strategically manipulate the flow of current path and consequently
change the characteristics of the antenna. Designing for the lowest
operating frequency (59.5 MHz), capacitor-loaded meandered slot
lines and reconfigurable matching network were implemented to
keep the size of the antenna as small as possible. The resulting
overall size of the antenna is only
where
is
calculated at 59.5 MHz. The measurement results verified that the
antenna successfully operates at 59.2559.75 MHz, 314398 MHz,
430496 MHz, and 792950 MHz, all with an almost omnidirectional pattern and an acceptable gain.
Index TermsMiniaturization, multiradio wireless communication, reconfigurable antennas, small antennas, software defined antennas, ultra-wideband antennas.

I. INTRODUCTION

HERE is a growing interest in wireless communication

market toward integrating more and more radios into a
single chip (or single wireless platform) [1]. These multiradio
platforms (e.g., laptop computer) require compact antennas operating over a wide range of frequencies, or antennas that can be
tuned at those desired frequencies [1]. Relative form-factor (i.e.,
overall dimensions and bulkiness) prevents the use of many individual antennas to address this problem. Wideband or ultrawideband (UWB) antennas may be considered as a solution.
Manuscript received March 10, 2014; revised August 24, 2014; accepted October 17, 2014. Date of publication October 22, 2014; date of current version
November 25, 2014. Research was sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory
and was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-10-20077. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the
authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either
expressed or implied, of the Army Research Laboratory or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints
for Government purposes not withstanding any copyright notation herein.
M. Fallahpour is with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61801, USA
(e-mail: mfallahpour@ieee.org).
M. T. Ghasr and R. Zoughi are with the Applied Microwave Nondestructive Testing Laboratory, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, USA (e-mail:
mtg7w6@mst.edu; zoughir@mst.edu).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAP.2014.2364293

In the past several decades, much work has been done to develop wideband and UWB antennas for applications such as:
high-resolution microwave imaging, short-range wireless communication systems, wireless body area network (WBAN), and
electromagnetic compatibility measurements [2][5]. However,
noise and interference issues along with large relative formfactor, limit the utility of wideband/UWB antennas for the multiradio communication purposes [1]. As another potential solution, multiband antennas, which can simultaneously cover some
preselected and distinct bands [6][8], also suffer from noise
and interference issues [1]. Additionally, when a desired operating frequency is relatively low [e.g., in the ultra-high-frequency (UHF) or very-high-frequency (VHF) regions], keeping
the form-factor small becomes a challenge. In contrast, reconfigurable antennas are capable of addressing many of these limitations [1], [9][17]. A reconfigurable antenna can electronically or mechanically switch among different configurations
to provide for a set of desired characteristics (e.g., matching
over a range of frequency, pattern, and polarization). In comparison with wideband antennas, reconfigurable antennas offer
advantages such as: compact size, similar gain and radiation pattern for the preselected desired frequency bands, efficient use of
electromagnetic spectrum, frequency selectivity useful for noise
and interference reduction and polarization diversity [1], [14].
Despite these advantages, the topic of reconfigurable antennas
is relatively new, and there is not a general, robust and methodical design procedure for such antennas [15]. Moreover, to our
knowledge, there are not many compact planar reconfigurable
antennas which can cover preselected frequency bands in a relatively wide bandwidth.
To this end, here we introduce a methodical approach for
designing a reconfigurable antenna operating at several preselected frequency bands. Then, based on this design approach,
the implementation of a novel coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed
reconfigurable antenna is given. The designed antenna covers
four distinct preselected bands in the VHF/UHF regions. To add
reconfigurablility to the antenna, optimally designed slots which
are loaded with electronically controllable PIN diodes are used.
Moreover, to extend the frequency of operation to below 100
MHz while keeping the form-factor of the antenna as small as
possible, capacitor-loaded meandered slot lines and a reconfigurable matching network are used. The overall size of the anwhere
is corresponding wavetenna is
length to the lowest operating frequency by the antenna (i.e.,
equivalent to
). Consequently,
this design offers a significant improvement in comparison with
other works (e.g., reported work in [18]) for miniaturization purposes in VHF band. Moreover, the covered distinct bands are

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See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

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distributed in a frequency range from 59.5 MHz to 1000

MHz which translates into about four octaves of bandwidth.
II. DESIGN APPROACH
In general, defining goals, requirements, and constraints are
considered as the first critical steps in antenna design and implementation. These may include desired antenna characteristics,
physical sizes, mechanical and manufacturing constraints, etc.
Then, an initial appropriate antenna type should be selected
[19]. For regular static (i.e., nonreconfigurable) antennas with
fixed electrical and geometrical characteristics, the design
procedure is usually straightforward, and the antenna type
may be selected based on the requirements. For instance, for
a narrowband, compact antenna that must conform to a planar
structure microstrip antennas are good candidates. However,
by changing one of the requirements (e.g., bandwidth), the
microstrip structure may no longer be the optimum choice.
After selecting the antenna type, analytical or numerical design
equations from literature (e.g., [19]), or full-wave numerical
electromagnetic solvers such as CST Microwave Studio or
HFSS [20], [21] may be used to simulate the characteristics of
the antenna. Then, this is followed by constructing the antenna
and comparing its measured critical characteristics with those
obtained by the simulations and ultimately with the design
requirements.
Designing a reconfigurable antenna with dynamically
changing characteristics, is not as straightforward as designing
a regular static antenna. To address this issue, a design methodology for frequency reconfigurable antennas is proposed here.
Similar to the static antenna design, one must have a clear
definition of design objectives, requirements, and constraints
for reconfigurable antenna design. Subsequent to sorting the
desired frequency bands in an ascending order, it is then convenient to designate the bands from 1 to
where the band
with the lowest center frequency is designated to as Band 1
and the band with the highest center frequency is designated
as Band
. Subsequently, the procedure continues in Step 1
by designing an antenna which covers the highest band (Band
) having the shortest wavelength. The static antenna design
procedure can be invoked to perform this design. Meanwhile,
the antenna type should be selected in a way to provide sufficient flexibility for the additional required reconfigurablility
modifications (as will be seen). This is a critical issue for the
reconfigurable antenna design, making it distinguishable from
the static antenna design. Unlike wire antennas (i.e., dipole),
antennas designed based on microstrip and CPW structures
provide the designer with good flexibility for manipulating the
ground plane or the signal or current density path in order to
change its characteristics. For future references, the designed
antenna covering Band
is called Antenna
. Step 2
to achieve Antenna
involves manipulating Antenna
covering the next lower Band
. For a CPW-based
antenna, this can be achieved by incorporating slots into the
ground plane, causing the current flow path to change and
subsequently the desired characteristics of the antenna. By
optimizing the location and dimension of such slots, the antenna may cover Band
. Then, the same procedure is
used to design Antenna
to cover Band
, respectively.

Fig. 1. Flow-chart for designing frequency reconfigurable antennas.

It should be possible to switch between characteristics of Antenna 1 and characteristics of any other interim antenna such
as Antenna
by a few short or open circuits. These
shorts and opens can be electronically/mechanically realized on
Antenna 1 using switches. After adding actual switches to Antenna 1 (i.e., Step
), the antenna is called reconfigdifurable antenna because one single antenna provides
ferent configurations and at each of these configurations it
mimics the characteristics of corresponding antenna (e.g., Configuration
mimics Antenna
). Also, it is important to
design and implement an appropriate biasing circuitry for the
switches. The entire proposed design procedure is summarized
in the flow-chart shown in Fig. 1 which was followed for designing a prototype reconfigurable multiband antenna.
III. NOVEL CPW-FED RECONFIGURABLE ANTENNA COVERING
FOUR BANDS IN VHF/UHF REGIONS
To address some of the mentioned emerging demands
in multiradio wireless communication systems (e.g., small
form-factor, wide range of operation, dynamic band selection)
an antenna is proposed in here. This antenna is capable of
operating (i.e.,
) in four bands in the VHF/UHF
frequency regions. Since this prototype antenna is primarily
intended to demonstrate the possibility of achieving a compact reconfigurable antenna operating at several preselected
frequency bands distributed over an ultra-wide range of frequencies while the overall size is kept as small as possible,

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TABLE I
OPTIMALLY CALCULATED DIMENSIONS OF THE PROPOSED ANTENNA

Fig. 3. Simulated

for Antenna 4 using CST Microwave Studio.

A. Design Steps Toward Reconfigurablility

Fig. 2. Optimally designed Antenna 4: (a) top and side views, (b) magnitude
of surface current distribution at 860 MHz, and (c) magnified view.

the selection of the four frequency bands was as much as

relevant related to some standard bands [i.e., commercially
licensed/United State Public Safety (PS) bands [22]. The first
band (Band 1) is intended to have a center frequency below
100 MHz with a reasonable bandwidth. The second band
(Band 2] is from (330360) MHz, third band (Band 3) is
from (440480) MHz, and fourth band (Band 4) is from
(800880) MHz. It is desired for the antenna to have a
reasonable gain at these bands (e.g., [ 15, 0] dBi in lowest
band (similar to [18]) and [0,5] dBi in highest band). Moreover,
because of size limitation, the maximum dimension of the
antenna is desired to be about
.
Before using the reconfigurable antenna design method
which was explained earlier, many different antennas such as
bow-tie, microstrip, and ring slot antennas were considered
and investigated to cover these requirements. However, none
of these antennas could satisfy all the requirements. Then, in
accordance with the proposed design method, the design of
an antenna to cover the highest band (i.e., Band 4, 800880
MHz) was undertaken. After a comprehensive study and
performing many simulations, a novel CPW-fed square slot
antenna with an elliptical tuning stub was selected, as shown in
Fig. 2(a). This proposed antenna is a modified version of the
design in [23] in which the rectangular stub was replaced by
an elliptical one. The elliptical stub offered good performance
in term of bandwidth. This can be explained by the fact that
the elliptical tuning stub creates a tapered slot transition from
CPW feeding line to square slot antenna. The gradual change in
the characteristic impedance of the line can provide improved
bandwidth [24]. Therefore, at this point, a specific antenna with
the potential to cover the highest frequency band with enough
flexibility for further manipulation was obtained.

Needing to cover four distinct bands and using the procedure

outlined in Fig. 1, different interim antennas should be designed
(each corresponding to one of the bands) which can later be
integrated into one single reconfigurable antenna, as explained
below.
Step1: In this step, the selected geometry of the CPW-fed
slot antenna with an elliptical tuning stub is optimized for single
side PCB with FR4 substrate
with a thickness of 62 mil (1.6 mm). The reported work in [23] was used
to estimate an initial value for the various antenna dimensions
while
was kept fixed as 30 cm. Subsequently, using the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm available in CST
Microwave Studio, the antenna dimensions were tuned to improve/optimize its characteristics (i.e., reflection coefficient and
gain pattern). The resulting optimum dimensions of the antenna
(referred to as Antenna 4 to be consistent with Band 4), are listed
in Table I.
The overall geometry of the antenna is shown in Fig. 2(a).
Moreover, in Fig. 2(b) and (c), the magnitude of current distribution over the antenna at 860 MHz is shown. These results indicate that the current is concentrated at the corners of the square
slot. This is an important observation for designing the other
three antennas. The calculated reflection coefficient for Antenna
4 using CST Microwave Studio is shown in Fig. 3. As the result
indicates, the antenna operates from 800 MHz to 885 MHz and
from 1041 MHz to 1500 MHz which more than sufficiently
covers Band 4. There are two radiation mechanisms responsible
for this multiband behavior. The excitation of the lower band
(i.e., 800885 MHz) is mainly due to square slot antenna while
the higher band (i.e., 10411500 MHz) is mostly excited by the
elliptical tuning stub and its interaction with the ground plane.
Changing the structure (e.g., elliptical stub dimensions or the
square slot dimensions) can bring these bands closer and produce a wideband antenna.
The multiband (or the potential wideband) behavior of
this antenna may be useful if one is interested in covering a

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 62, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2014

portion of L-band, as well. However, operation in L-band was

not intended in this design, which aimed to only cover the
mentioned preselected frequencies, and can result in additional
noise contribution and degradation in the signal-to-noise ratio.
A low-pass filter which is commonly incorporated in a receiver
front-end with appropriate cutoff frequency eliminates this
L-band noise contribution.
Step 2: In this step, to cover Band 3, additional modifications need to be made to Antenna 4. The main idea is to keep
the dimensions of Antenna 4 unchanged while trying to add
(or remove) some portions of the antenna in order to reduce
its frequency response. The addition/removal procedure should
be in a way that later, it can be performed using electronic
switches (e.g., PIN diodes). Moreover, it is well-known that current (both electric and magnetic) density distribution dictates
the frequency response of the antenna (i.e., input impedance
matching). Therefore, if one can strategically change the current
distribution of the antenna and control it electronically, it is possible to electronically change its frequency response. The current distribution of Antenna 4 [Fig. 2(b) and (c)] shows that the
current is mostly concentrated at the corners. Then, one appropriate way to effectively manipulate the current distribution is
by adding some extra shorted slots to the corner(s) of the square
slot. These extra slots (depending on frequency) have different
amount of loading (e.g., inductive loading) effect on the antenna
which can change the electrical length of the antenna and consequently the current distribution. To use the antenna space efficiently, the additional slots must fit in the ground plane area.
After a comprehensive investigation, it was concluded that the
addition of one square slot per each corner [Fig. 4(a)] can make
the antenna operate in the third desired frequency band. The
square slot was added to slot loop and the antenna is called Antenna 3 for future references. The added slot dimensions were
optimized, as before. The magnitude of current distribution at
460 MHz for the Antenna 3 (to be consistent with Band 3) is
shown in Fig. 4(b) and (c). All of the added square slots are similar and the optimally calculated value for
is listed in Table I.
The simulated reflection coefficient for Antenna 3 is shown in
Fig. 5. As the result indicates, the antenna operates in the frequency range of 420490 MHz, which covers the desired Band
3. Similar to the explanation provided in Step 1, the radiation
at this band is mostly due to the main square slot and the added
smaller square slots. Also, this antenna can support another band
around 1.5 GHz. Similar to the observation in Fig. 3, this is
mainly due to the interaction of the tuning elliptical stub and
the manipulated ground plane. In fact, manipulating the ground
plane (by adding extra slots), caused the frequency of operation
of these two dominant radiation mechanisms (i.e., by slots and
elliptical tuning stub) to move further away from each others.
As it was explained in Step 1, the potential negative impact of
the highest band (i.e., around 1.5 GHz) can be suppressed using
a low-pass filter in the receiver front-end section of a system in
which this antenna is utilized.
Step 3: In this step, to cover Band 2, Antenna 3 should
be manipulated or modified. The same approach, as in Step
2, was used to strategically manipulate Antenna 3 to achieve
good matching in Band 2. Again, the current distribution which
was shown in Fig. 4(b) and (c) was considered and it was
concluded that the corner of the newly added slots have the

Fig. 4. Optimally-designed Antenna 3: (a) top view, (b) magnitude of surface

current distribution at 460 MHz, and (c) magnified view.

Fig. 5. Simulated

of Antenna 3 using CST Microwave Studio.

highest current density. Therefore, after performing significant

number of simulations, addition of several slots to these corners
were considered resulting in Antenna 2 (to be consistent with
and
) were
Band 2). Two types of slots (i.e.,
used in the corners and their dimensions were optimally calculated using the explained optimization procedure and listed
in Table I. The final design is shown in Fig. 6(a) where the
magnitude of the current distribution at 350 MHz is shown in
Fig. 6(b) and (c). The simulated reflection coefficient for Antenna 2 is shown in Fig. 7. As the result indicates, the antenna
operates from 330 to 360 MHz which covers the desired Band
2. Also, it can support another band around 1.5 GHz. Similar to
the explanation provided in Step 2, manipulation of the ground
plane (by adding extra slots), caused the frequency of operation
of the two dominant radiation mechanisms to move further
away from each other and produce these two separate bands.

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6053

Fig. 6. Optimally-designed Antenna 2. (a) top view, (b) magnitude of surface

current distribution at 350 MHz, and (c) magnified view.

Fig. 7. Simulated

of Antenna 2 using CST Microwave Studio.

Step 4: In some applications, it is desired to reduce the frequency of operation into VHF band to benefit advantages such
as the higher ability of the wave to penetrate inside the material (this may be useful for wireless communication in urban
areas, through-wall imaging, ground penetrating radars, etc.).
Therefore, in a continuing effort to lower the operating frequency, it was attempted to add another band to Antenna 2.
This would be the lowest possible frequency band attainable
with this antenna. A comprehensive study was then conducted
to achieve this goal. Given the relatively low frequency range
for this lowest band (i.e., below 100 MHz), initially, two meandered slot lines were added to the ground plane of the antenna. The meandering idea enables efficient use of space and
increases the traveling time of the propagating wave comparing
with a straight line with the same start and ending points. On the
other hand, to increase the electrical length of the arms without
changing the physical length, the lines are loaded with capac-

Fig. 8. Schematic view of (a) the proposed reconfigurable antenna to cover

four bands at VHF/UHF, (b) biasing plan for PIN diodes, and (c) reconfigurable
matching network with its biasing plan.

itors (similar to the slow-wave structure and loaded transmission line concepts [25], [26]). The final shape for the meandered
lines which was achieved after extensive simulations is shown
in Fig. 8 (addition of PIN diodes, switches, and biasing circuitry
which are shown in the figure will be discussed in Step 5). It was
noticed that the input impedance of the antenna (Antenna 1), can
be tuned to be
where
at (or
in the vicinity of) a resonant frequency below 100 MHz. Then,
if the imaginary part of the input impedance can be cancelled,
a good impedance matching is achieved (i.e.,
. As
a solution, a lumped element (i.e., an inductor) which provides
at (or in the vicinity of) the resonance frequency may be
used in series with the CPW feed line (similar to the matching
network idea used in [25]). By considering this simple matching
network in the design procedure, a design and optimization procedure can be performed to calculate the meandering line parameters, width of the slot line, value of the series inductor,

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TABLE II
OPTIMALLY CALCULATED DIMENSIONS OF MEANDERED ARMS

Fig. 9. Simulated

of Antenna 1 using CST Microwave Studio.

value of the capacitors, and their positions in order to have a

deep resonance at a desired frequency below 100 MHz.
The desired lowest frequency was then set at 50 MHz
was
(which is a public safety frequency [22]). Moreover,
selected in a way that the matching network is sufficiently
away from the edge of the feeding line (i.e.,
).
For the matching section, the gap size was selected to be just
long enough to mount the series inductor (i.e.,
).
Later, an optimization procedure using PSO algorithm of CST
Microwave Studio was performed to optimally calculate the
unknown parameters (related to meandered arms and loading
capacitors) so that the input impedance of the antenna (i.e.,
) calculated at
distance from the feeding edge of
the antenna shows a resonance at 50 MHz. At the resonance,
to have a good impedance matching relative to 50 , it is
and
to be as small as
desired to have
possible. As the outcome of the optimization procedure, the
calculated values for the unknown parameters related to the
meandered arms are listed in Table II (considering this fact that
,
). Also, the value for the capacitors
was calculated using the optimizer to be
.
Although, the achieved input impedance showed a resonance
at 48.5 MHz with
, but the imaginary part was
. To cancel this reactive part, a lumped inductor was
used in series with the feeding line (Fig. 8) and as a rule of
thumb, the initial value for the inductor was calculated using:
. This value then was used in a test
simulation and then based of the observed reflection coefficient
it was decided to perform a slight tuning of
to improve the
impedance matching. Eventually, the final value for
was
calculated to be 820 nH which makes the Antenna 1 to operate
from 48.4848.69 MHz (Fig. 9). This is in agreement with the
defined goal.
It should be mentioned that the combination of the square
slot, the added slots, and capacitor-loaded meandered arms is
the major radiation mechanism at the desired frequency range.
Also, since the matching network does not provide a good
matching to 50
outside of 48.4848.69 MHz, the second

radiation mechanism related to the elliptical tuning stub is

significantly de-emphasized.
Step 5: As the design flowchart shows, to add reconfigurablility to Antenna 1, PIN diodes may be utilized to
incorporate the added slots into the overall antenna system.
As shown in Fig. 8, one PIN diode is necessary per each
added slot and each meandered line. These PIN diodes can be
electronically switched (i.e., turned ON and OFF). The selected
PIN diode was Microsemi GC4270 which behaves like a 1.5
resistance when it is ON and a 0.06 pF capacitance when it
is OFF [27]. These values were used to create an equivalent
circuit to model the PIN diode in CST Microwave Studio.
Hence, in all of the simulations, the PIN diode was modeled as
a 1.5 resistor when it was ON and a 0.06 PF capacitor when
it was OFF.
Designing appropriate DC biasing circuitry, as an important
design step, requires special attention. For the PIN diodes, it
is required to provide a DC voltage and support enough current to forward-bias them while the PIN diode leads and the
ground plane must be DC decoupled (or isolated) but AC coupled (or connected). There are different ways to realize a biasing network for the current design to address the mentioned
requirements. In the prototype version which was used for the
measurements, a compact biasing network was not included in
the PCB layout that was sent for manufacturing since this was
initially a prototype design and it was intended to save maximum flexibility in permanently placing the biasing network.
Hence, the biasing network was added later using insulated thin
wires providing placement flexibility. A decoupling (bypass)
capacitor was added to minimize the influence of the biasing
network on the antenna performance. The insulated thin wires
were routed on the ground portion of the antenna and away from
the edges where the current density was concentrated. Given
this particular design, as an effective alternative, the biasing
traces (instead of wires) can be similarly incorporated into the
back face of the antenna. The proposed idea is presented in
Fig. 8(a) and (b) where vias are utilized to move the DC trace
routing to the bottom side of the PCB to avoid interrupting the
ground plane [shown with dotted lines in Fig. 8(a)]. In order
to minimize the impact of the DC biasing network on the performance of the antenna, these traces were not allowed to cross
any of the slots or the arms. Moreover, a bypass capacitor
is added between each via and ground plane to provide a very
low impedance path (e.g., 0.1 ) at the operating frequencies
in order to AC isolate (decouple) the biasing network from the
rest of the antenna [Fig. 8(a) and (b)]. To avoid making the
schematic so crowded, these capacitors are only shown for one
via in Fig. 8(a), but the idea applies to rest of the vias.
On the other hand, the matching network should be only visible when the antenna is supposed to cover Band 1 while it
has to be invisible otherwise. To address this, the matching network also was modified to become reconfigurable by using series switches. However, since the matching network is in series
with the feeding line, it is practically difficult to use PIN diode
to perform the switching. Instead, a type of switch which does
not require DC biasing (e.g., reed switch [28]) is preferred. The
reed switch can be turned ON and OFF by applying a DC magnetic field using a small coil
with its axis
aligned parallel to the reed switch [Fig. 8(c)].

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6055

Fig. 10. Simulated

of the proposed frequency reconfigurable antenna (with PIN diodes incorporated into the design) which switches between four configurations to cover four bands.

TABLE III
FOUR DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS (MODES OF OPERATIONS) GENERATED BY
TURNING ON/OFF (O/F) PIN DIODES AND REED SWITCHES (RS)

Four different configurations are generated by turning ON

and OFF the PIN diodes and the matching network (reed
switches), as shown in Table III.
The simulation results for the four different configurations
(modes of operations) are shown in Fig. 10. As the figure shows,
the antenna covers four different bands by switching between
the configurations (one band per each corresponding configuration). The reconfigurable antenna covers the lowest band (Band
1) from 48.3348.53 MHz, the second band (i.e., Band 2) from
342362 MHz, the third band (i.e., Band 3) from 414496 MHz,
and the highest band (i.e., Band 4) which has two separate regions from 787846 MHz and from 10821335 MHz. The covered Band 1, Band 2, and Band 3 by this single reconfigurable
antenna are in good agreements with the covered Band 1 by Antenna 1, Band 2 by Antenna 2, and Band 3 by Antenna 3, respectively. This illustrates the ability of the PIN diodes to properly
short/open the added slots at these frequencies and effectively
separate/include them from/to the rest of the antenna. Moreover,
it illustrates that the coupling effect of the added slots when they
are shorted by PIN diodes does not degrade the performance of
the antenna. However, the covered Band 4 by the reconfigurable
antenna slightly differs from the covered Band 4 by Antenna 4.
This happens because as the frequency of operation increases,
the PIN diode is not very efficient in shorting the slots. Also, at
higher frequencies the coupling effect from the added slots can
contribute more effectively to the antenna radiation properties.
These all together caused the range of the achieved covered
highest band (i.e., Band 4) by the reconfigurable antenna to be
slightly shifted toward lower frequencies in comparison with

Fig. 11. Fabricated reconfigurable antenna (PIN diodes and biasing networks
are not depicted).

the requirements. The shift is about 40 MHz which is acceptable in the current design. Nevertheless, if it is required to keep
the lower and higher ends of the highest band as they were specified, further optimization should be used (this is not a case in
here). In fact, this is only a prototype antenna which is designed
to prove the possibility of achieving a miniaturized compact reconfigurable antenna operating at several preselected frequency
bands distributed over an ultra-wide range of frequencies (i.e.,
four octaves) using the proposed design method.
B. Fabrication, Test, and Measurement
The antenna was subsequently manufactured using single
side PCB with FR4 substrate with a thickness of 62 mil
(1.6 mm) where an SMA connector was used to feed the antenna (Fig. 11). To attach the SMA connector to the CPW feed
line, it was necessary to taper the CPW feed line. Although
this tapering is shown in Fig. 8(a), but the tapering and SMA

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Fig. 12. Reflection coefficient for reconfigurable antenna operating at Configuration 1: measurement versus simulations with CST Microwave Studio and
HFSS.

model were not included in the simulations, up to now as this

will be discussed later. The output DC voltage from National
Instruments multifunction DAQ (NI USB-6009 [29]) was used
to activate the PIN diodes. This DAQ was connected to a
laptop and all four configurations were tested by selectively
switching the PIN diodes. As one can see, this design may
also be considered as a good step towards the software defined
antenna (SDA) concept which along with software defined
radio (SDR) architecture may address the requirements of 4G
communications [30]. As it was mentioned before, to provide
DC biasing for the PIN diodes, insulated thin wires are used
which can be replaced with printed traces on the bottom side
of the PCB [Fig. 8(a) and (b)].
For Configuration 1, the measured reflection coefficient is
shown in Fig. 12. CST Microwave Studio simulation results are
also shown in this figure for comparison. In the magnified plot
(which is embedded inside the original plot), one can clearly
see that the measured
has a resonance frequency at 59.50
MHz with a bandwidth of 500 KHz while the simulation result
predicts a resonance at 48.5 MHz. To find the cause, firstly,
the simulation was redone using HFSS to ensure that the simulation tool and numerical errors are not causing this discrepancy. The results, which are shown in Fig. 12, are in good agreement with those obtained by CST Microwave Studio. This 10
MHz frequency shift is thought to be caused by the small tolerances in the value of the matching network inductor and/or the
loading capacitors. The antenna manufacturing inaccuracy may
have also contributed to the shift. In fact, to cover this extremely
low frequency range, the antenna has to operate in a resonance
mode with a very narrow bandwidth, resulting in significant sensitivity to inaccuracies introduced by the lumped components
and the manufacturing process. If it is strictly required to operate at a certain frequency, similar to the tuning idea used for
designing resonance circuits, one of the fixed components (i.e.,
the inductor) may be replaced with a variable component (in this
case a variable inductor) enabling tuning of the value to achieve
the desired results
For Configuration 2, the measured reflection coefficient is
shown in Fig. 13. Based on this result, the reconfigurable antenna at this configuration shows a good impedance matching
from 340380 MHz. CST Microwave Studio simulation result is also repeated in this figure for comparison. The simulation and measurement results are in good agreement.

Fig. 13. Reflection coefficient for reconfigurable antenna operating at Configuration 2: measurement versus simulation.

Fig. 14. Reflection coefficient for reconfigurable antenna operating at Configuration 3: measurement versus simulation.

Fig. 15. Reflection coefficient for reconfigurable antenna operating at Configuration 4: measurement versus simulations (without SMA and tapered transition,
with SMA and tapered transition).

For Configuration 3, based on the measured reflection coefficient (Fig. 14), a good impedance matching is achieved from
430496 MHz. CST Microwave Studio simulation results are
also shown in this figure for comparison. There is a reasonable
agreement between the simulation and the measurement results.
For Configuration 4, the measured reflection coefficient is
shown in Fig. 15 which shows that the operating frequency
range is from 792950 MHz. CST Microwave Studio simulation results are also shown in this figure for comparison. It
is clear that both simulation and measurement results are in

FALLAHPOUR et al.: MINIATURIZED RECONFIGURABLE MULTIBAND ANTENNA FOR MULTIRADIO WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

6057

good agreement until below 800 MHz. However, as the frequency increases, the simulated and measured frequency responses begin to differ. Upon further investigation, it was concluded that not including the SMA connector model and the tapered transition from SMA connector to the CPW line in the
simulations caused this discrepancy. Consequently, a new simulation was performed while these two were included. These
simulations results are in good agreement with the measurement
results (Fig. 15). At low frequencies incorporating the SMA
model and the tapered transition did not have significant impact
on the simulation results.
On the other hand, the measured reflection coefficient, shows
a multiband behavior and it covers two extra bands from
12541309 MHz and 14001451 MHz. As it was mentioned
before, this multiband behavior, if it is included in the design
procedure, can help to extend the operating frequency range
of the antenna to L-band, otherwise may contribute to having
extra noise and signal-to-noise ratio degradation.
C. Measured Gain Pattern
The pattern and gain [19] of the reconfigurable antenna were
measured inside an anechoic chamber at Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Laboratory at Missouri University of Science
and Technology. The coordinate system definition shown in
Fig. 2 is used. For each configuration (mode of operation), one
frequency is selected and the gain pattern is measured for that
frequency. The selected frequencies are: 59.5, 350, 460, and
860 MHz for Configuration 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. To
improve the accuracy of the simulations, the tapered transition
and SMA model have been included in all of the simulations.
The measured XY-plane
gain patterns are shown
in Fig. 16(a) and (d). CST Microwave Studio simulated gain
patterns for the corresponding frequencies are also added for the
comparison. At 59.5 MHz, the simulated and measured gain patterns are almost omnidirectional. However, the simulated maximum gain is about 38 dB while the measured maximum gain
is 23 dB. As it was mentioned earlier, the resonance frequency
of the designed antenna shifted from 48.5 MHz in the simulation
to 59.5 MHz in the measurement. Then, the calculated gain pattern of the antenna using CST Microwave Studio at 48.5 MHz
is also plotted in Fig. 16(a) which shows a maximum value of
22.5 dB which is very close to the measured value. It worth
mentioning that the anechoic chamber used here was not designed for frequencies below 600 MHz (utilized absorbers are
not efficient below 600 MHz and the anechoic chamber did not
have any absorber on the floor). These could have contributed to
the discrepancies between the shape of the simulated and measured patterns.
The radiation efficiency of the antenna calculated from the
simulation is 1.5%. The achieved gain of 23 dB and radiation efficiency of 1.5% may seem rather low. However, This
is a direct result of the well-known fundamental tradeoff between size reduction and antenna radiation efficiency and gain
degradation (initially studied and formulated by Wheeler and
Chu [31], [32]). Considering this fact that the antenna is very
small (i.e.,
where
is corresponding to
), this low value for the gain, and efficiency
was expected (similar to the work reported in [25]).

Fig. 16. Measured and simulated XY-plane gain pattern of reconfigurable antenna (dB scale) versus angle in degree: (a) Configuration 1 at 48.5, 59.5 MHz
(b) Configuration 2 at 350 MHz, (c) Configuration 3 at 460 MHz, and (d) Configuration 4 at 860 MHz.

The measured and simulated gain patterns at 350 MHz are

shown in Fig. 16(b). The difference between the simulated and
measured gain pattern is insignificant and can be explained by
the reasons provided about the anechoic chamber. The maximum gain from simulation is 1 dB and from measurement is
1.8 dB [Fig. 16(b)] and the radiation efficiency is 83.2%. Also,
at 460 MHz, the difference between the shape of the simulated
and measured gain patterns is negligible [Fig. 16(c)]. The maximum gain from simulation is 3.4 dB and from measurement is
2.3 dB and the radiation efficiency is 91.2%. For the gain pattern at 860 MHz, the simulation and measurement results are in
good agreement [Fig. 16(d)]. The maximum gain from simulation is 3.5 dB and from measurement is 2.7 dB and the radiation
efficiency is 88%.
It should be mentioned that at lower frequencies, the radiation resistance of the antenna is small which explains the low
radiation efficiency observed at the lowest operating frequency.
As the frequency increases, the radiation resistance increases
resulting in improved radiation efficiency. However, at higher
frequencies, the component losses (e.g., PIN diode or capacitor)
increases resulting in more power dissipation (as heat) and consequently degradation in the radiation efficiency.
Overall, the XY-plane pattern is almost omnidirectional in
low frequencies, however, it becomes slightly directive by increasing the frequency.
The measured XZ-plane
gain patterns are shown
in Fig. 17(a)(d). The gain pattern is measured at 59.5 MHz
which is compared with the simulation results at 48.5 MHz and
59.5 MHz in Fig. 17(a). There is a difference between the shape
of the pattern obtained by simulation and measurement. Same
reasons provided before can be used to explain this disagreement. Also, in contrast with the previous measurements, for the

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 62, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2014

Fig. 17. Measured and simulated XZ-plane gain pattern of reconfigurable antenna (dB scale) versus angle in degree: (a) Configuration 1 at 48.5, 59.5 MHz
(b) Configuration 2 at 350 MHz, (c) Configuration 3 at 460 MHz, and (d) Configuration 4 at 860 MHz.

XZ-plane pattern measurements, the antenna was placed horizontal (parallel to the floor). Considering the fact that the floor of
the chamber was not equipped with any absorber, this could increase the measurement errors. The maximum measured gain at
59.5 MHz is 24 dB while the maximum gain from simulation
is 2.5 dB and 38.8 dB at 48.5 MHz and 59.5 MHz, respectively. The radiation efficiency of the antenna calculated from
the simulation is 1.3% which may seem rather low. However,
as mentioned before, this low radiation efficiency is a direct result of the fundamental tradeoff between size reduction and the
antenna radiation efficiency and gain degradation.
Next, for 350 MHz, the measurement and simulation results
are compared in Fig. 17(b). The shape of the patterns follows
each other but the existing nulls in simulation results do not
appear in the measurement results (as it was mentioned, the
chamber is not designed for frequencies below 600 MHz). The
maximum measured gain at 350 MHz is 8.6 dB while the maximum gain from simulation is 2 dB and the radiation efficiency
is 83.2%. Also, the measured gain pattern and simulated gain
pattern at 460 MHz are shown in Fig. 17(c) which are in reasonable agreement. The maximum measured gain at 460 MHz
is 7.7 dB while the maximum gain from simulation is 3.5 dB
and the radiation efficiency is 91.2%. Finally, the measurement
and simulation results are compared at 860 MHz [Fig. 17(d)].
There is a good agreement between measurement and simulation results. The maximum measured gain at 860 MHz is 0 dB
while the maximum gain from simulation is 3 dB and the radiation efficiency is 88%.
IV. CONCLUSION
A methodical procedure for designing frequency reconfigurable antennas was introduced. In term of a design example, the

application of the introduced algorithm was explained. As a result, a novel reconfigurable CPW-fed slot antenna was designed,
simulated, and tested. In the designing procedure, PIN-diode
loaded slots were used to incorporate the reconfigurablility. As
another important point, to keep the form-factor of the antenna
as small as possible while reducing the operating frequency
to below 100 MHz, some sophisticated miniaturization ideas
were applied. Capacitor-loaded meandered slot lines along with
a series reconfigurable matching network were used to realize
this ultra-miniaturized antenna with a size of
[where
is corresponding with the lowest covered frequency
by the antenna (i.e., 59.5 MHz)]. The measurement results as
well as simulation results show that the final implemented reconfigurable antenna can cover four distinct bands from 59.5
MHz to 1000 MHz which is about four octaves of bandwidth.
The pattern in XY-plane is almost omnidirectional and the measured gain satisfies the expectations. As an interesting point, the
multiband behavior of the antenna which was observed for some
of the configurations helped to extend the frequency range of the
antenna to above 1000 MHz. In future and by considering this
observation, the same antenna with slight modification may be
used to cover preselected bands distributed over VHF/UHF/L
regions.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge crews of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Laboratory at Missouri University
of Science and Technology for providing them with the opportunity to use their anechoic chamber. They would also like to
thank A. Hashemi, A. Foudazi, and A. Talebzadeh for assisting
in performing part of the gain pattern measurements.
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Mojtaba Fallahpour (S09M13) received the

B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering
from the Iran University of Science and Technology
(IUST), Tehran, Iran, in 2005 and 2008, respectively. He completed the Ph.D. degree in 2013 at
the Missouri University of Science and Technology,
formerly University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR), in
electrical engineering with an emphasis on electromagnetics, radar, antenna, and microwave imaging.
He has worked in signal integrity group in Micron
Technology, Inc. and hardware group in Cisco Systems, Inc. as an intern from June to December 2012. Currently, he is a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
His research interests include development of fast numerical algorithms for
multiscale multiphysics problems, inverse scattering, synthetic aperture radar,
remote sensing, microwave nondestructive testing, microwave and terahertz

6059

imaging, signal integrity, array antennas, optimization techniques, and miniaturized wideband reconfigurable antennas.
Dr. Fallahpour is a member of Eta Kappa Nu and he was honored with the
American Society for Nondestructive Testing Graduate Fellowship Award
(2009). He has also been recognized as outstanding reviewer by IEEE
TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENTS (2013).

Mohammad Tayeb Ghasr (S01M10SM12)

received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering
degree (magna cum laude) from the American
University of Sharjah (AUS), Sharjah, United Arab
Emirates, in 2002 and the M.S. degree in electrical
engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla,
Rolla, in 2004, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical
engineering from Missouri University of Science
and Technology (Missouri S&T), Rolla, MO, USA,
in 2009.
Currently, he is an Assistant Research Professor
with the Applied Microwave Nondestructive Testing Laboratory (amntl), Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Missouri University of Science
and Technology (Missouri S&T). He has more than 90 journal papers, conference proceedings and presentations, and technical reports. He has nine awarded
and pending patents to his credit. His research interests include microwave and
millimeter-wave instrumentation and measurement, RF circuits, antennas, and
numerical electromagnetic analysis.
Dr. Ghasr was a recipient of the 2013 I&M Outstanding Young Engineer
Award from the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society, and the 2013
H. A. Wheeler Prize Paper Award of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society.

R. Zoughi (S85M86SM93F06) received the

B.S.E.E, M.S.E.E, and Ph.D. degrees in electrical
engineering (radar remote sensing, radar systems,
and microwaves) from the University of Kansas,
Lawrence, KS, USA,
He was with the Radar Systems and Remote
Sensing Laboratory (RSL) from 1981 until 1987.
Currently, he is the Schlumberger Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at
Missouri University of Science and Technology
(Missouri S&T), formerly University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR), Rolla, MO. Prior to joining Missouri S&T in January
2001 and since 1987 he was with the Electrical and Computer Engineering
Department at Colorado State University (CSU), Fort Collins, CO, USA, where
he was a Professor and established the Applied Microwave Nondestructive
Testing Laboratory (amntl) (http://amntl.mst.edu/). He held the position of
Business Challenge Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 1995 to 1997 while at CSU. He served as the Editor-in-Chief
of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT,
from 2007 through 2011, two terms as an at-large AdCom member of the
IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement (I&M) Society, currently serves as
the societys President and an I&M Society Distinguished Lecturer. He is
the author of the textbook Microwave Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation
Principles (Kluwer Academic: Dordrecht, the Netherlands, 2000), and the
co-author of a chapter on Microwave Techniques in the book Nondestructive
Evaluation: Theory, Techniques, and Applications (Marcel Dekker: New York,
NY, USA, 2002).
Dr. Zoughi has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards both at CSU
and Missouri S&T. He is the recipient of the 2007 IEEE Instrumentation and
Measurement Society Distinguished Service Award, the 2009 American Society
for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) Research Award for Sustained Excellence
and the 2011 IEEE Joseph F. Keithley Award in Instrumentation and Measurement. He served as the General Co-Chair of the 2013 IEEE Instrumentation and
Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC). He is the co-author of over 541
journal papers, conference proceedings and presentations and technical reports.
He has thirteen patents to his credit all in the field of microwave nondestructive
testing and evaluation. He is also a Fellow of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing.