A Continuously Tunable Miniaturized Patch Antenna

A tunable miniaturized patch antenna is introduced. Miniaturization is achieved by placing a layer of complementary split-ring resonators horizontally between the radiating patch and the ground plane. Tuning is implemented by detouring the current flow on the additional layer through a lumped capacitor or varactor, thereby shifting the resonant frequency. The result is a miniaturized antenna that is compact, easily fabricated, and tunable across a useful band. A measured prototype demonstrates a tuning range of 2-2.45 GHz while maintaining an area no larger than 1/9 of a traditional patch antenna.