A novel multiband frequency reconfigurable PIFA antenna

In this paper, we design and implement a novel six-band frequency reconfigurable Planar Inverted-F Antenna (PIFA) for GSM1800, WCDMA, m-WiMAX and WLAN applications. The antenna consists of three radiator patches whose optimal parameters are iteratively selected on different configurations using Genetic Algorithm (GA). PIN-diodes are used in appropriate locations to accurately control the operating frequency bands. Simulation results show that depending on ON/OFF states of the PIN-diodes, the antenna can operate in six applicable frequency bands i.e., 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.4 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 3.7 GHz and 5.8 GHz with corresponding peak gains of 3.34 dBi, 2.8 dBi, 5.16 dBi, 3.95 dBi, 5.05 dBi and 6.98 dBi, respectively. The efficiency of the six frequency bands is spread from 64% to 96%. The overall size of the radiated parts is 42.5×20 mm
²
which makes it easy and possible to be integrated into small wireless handsets. Measurements have also been carried out on a fabricated prototype in order to validate the correctness our design.