The effect of diodes integrated on radiating patch or ground plane of frequency reconfigurable antenna on antenna performance - a Comparison study

In this paper, a comparison study is carried to clarify the effects of electronic switches on antenna performance if these diodes are fixed on the ground plane or the radiating patch. In each case, each switch is modelled in three different ways, namely: ideal switch, beam-lead, and PIN diode to verify the concept. Two semi-identical frequency reconfigurable antennas are designed and simulated for this comparison. The first antenna depends on rectangular-slot etched in the ground plane to change operating frequency while the other uses rectangular-slot in the patch. The results show that PIN diodes which integrated into the ground plane give the minimum loading effect on antenna performances. Furthermore, the study can provide a good starting point for any researcher who attends to design reconfigurable antenna.