Frequency-Reconfigurable Pixel Slot Antenna

A new frequency-reconfigurable antenna structure which we denote as a pixel slot antenna is proposed and studied in this communication. The antenna makes use of a canonical switched slot element that is concatenated together to form various radiating structures. The resonant path of the pixel slot antenna can be a conventional slot or a slot plus a loop, so higher degrees of freedom in generating various resonant frequencies is achieved. The maximum-to-minimum achievable resonance values of a demonstrated 4-switch single-pixel slot antenna are 3.30 GHz to 1.56 GHz in which the feed mechanism remains unchanged. Other frequency tuning ranges are also achievable by changing the switch allocation along the slot structure. We also provide a model for the RF MEMS switches which can improve the simulation accuracy of the reconfigurable antenna simulation results.