A reconfigurable chassis-mode MIMO antenna

Reconfigurable MIMO antennas have the potential to improve the performance of a MIMO antenna system operating in a changing environment. This paper presents a novel reconfigurable MIMO antenna that utilizes pattern diversity to provide increased adaptability via reconfiguring the radiation pattern. It is designed using the characteristic modes of the structure which are manipulated using two tunable parasitic elements. Simulation studies of this two-port antenna confirm that the radiation patterns are orthogonal to each other in each of the two states of the antenna, as well as between the two states, thus indicating its use as a potential reconfigurable MIMO antenna. Measured two-port S-parameters of a prototype employing switched PIN diode loading correspond well with simulations.