A reconfigurable leaky mode/patch antenna controlled by PIN diode switches

Modern military and commercial platforms such as aircraft, ship and land vehicles are congested with large number of antennas. Typically, these are operated at different frequencies with different polarization and radiation characteristics. It is therefore highly desirable to develop an antenna architecture, which cover multiple functions over different frequency bandwidths. This will greatly reduce the weight, size and cost of antenna platforms. We previously proposed and demonstrated a novel concept of reconfigurable leaky mode/patch antenna structure. One major advantage of this concept is that different types of antennas are available without increasing the total area of the antenna structure. The proposed structure is a combination of leaky mode based microstrip line and several patch antennas operated at different frequencies. The properties of this reconfigurable antenna can be controlled either by microelectromechanical (MEMS) switches or conventional switches. This paper represents, for the first time, a fully electronically controlled reconfigurable aperture using PIN diode switches, to realize the switching between the leaky mode/patch antenna operation.