Optically controlled reconfigurable antenna array based on a slotted circular waveguide

This paper describes the development of an optically controlled reconfigurable antenna array based on a slotted circular waveguide for distributed antenna system applications. The novel antenna is composed by four slots, each one optically controlled by a photoconductive switch, with the purpose of making its radiation pattern reconfigurable. Experimental results have been shown in excellent agreement with numerical simulations realized using ANSYS HFSS. The proposed antenna provides a bandwidth of approximately 10% from 5.8 to 6.4GHz and five different radiation pattern configurations depending on photoconductive switches' states. The antenna gain at 5.8 GHz varies from 4.91 to 7.97 dBi.