Editorial - Emerging integrated reconfigurable antenna technologies

Reconfigurable antennas have emerged as a key component for advanced wireless communication systems. Future systems will employ reconfigurable and adaptive radio technologies that provide agility in dynamic channel environments, increased capacity and spectrum efficiency as well as cost-effective solutions. For example, cognitive radio is a new revolutionary concept in control and management of the electromagnetic spectrum for future communication systems, which places immense challenges on the antenna design and technology. Another example is the need for millimetre-wave antennas with beam steering capabilities for the succesful deployment of short range GBps wireless networks as well as future 5G mobile communication systems. The antenna elements will be required to electronically reconfigure their characteristics in terms of, for example, radiation patterns, polarisation and wideband frequency tuning. Such requirements become even more challenging at millimeter wave frequencies due to the limitations in available technologies. Moreover, the underutilised millimetre-wave spectrum offers huge opportunities for numerous applications such as multi-GBps communications, satellite links, automotive radar, security imaging, non-destructive testing and medical imaging.