Four-port beam reconfigurable antenna array for pattern diversity system

This study investigates a practical design for a switched beam planar antenna that can be implemented as a compact, low-cost switchable and/or reconfigurable beam antenna array. The antenna consists of a four-port antenna array, which is based on L-shaped quarter-wavelength slot antenna elements. This type of antenna array is a planar structure and its maximum directional radiation beam pattern presents in an azimuth plane covering 3600. The antenna array operates based on the `ON´ or `OFF´ states of PIN diodes in each individual slot antenna element and the combined signals from the four-port output. Therefore by properly controlling the state of the PIN diodes, the antenna exposes its characteristics of switchable/ reconfigurable beam patterns in the Φ-plane. To validate the proposed design, a small smart, switched-beam antenna operating at 2.7 GHz in multiple input-multiple output applications is simulated and fabricated.