MEMS-Switched, Frequency-Tunable Hybrid Slot/PIFA Antenna

A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-switched, frequency-tunable hybrid slot/planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) is demonstrated. The antenna occupies a small printed circuit board (PCB) space and is capable of operating between 2 and 5 GHz with three digital tuning steps. The measured mismatch-corrected efficiency is better than 60% between 2 and 5 GHz. The specific absorption rate (SAR) for an input power of 100 mW is less than 0.45 W/kg averaged over 1 g of tissue and 0.31 over 10 g of tissue assuming a system duty cycle of 0.5.