IETE Journal of Research

ISSN: 0377-2063 (Print) 0974-780X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tijr20

Reconfigurable Corner Truncated Square

Microstrip Patch Antennas for Wireless
Communication Applications

Anantha Bharathi, Lakshminarayana Merugu & P. V. D. Somasekhar Rao

To cite this article: Anantha Bharathi, Lakshminarayana Merugu & P. V. D. Somasekhar

Rao (2018): Reconfigurable Corner Truncated Square Microstrip Patch Antennas for Wireless
Communication Applications, IETE Journal of Research, DOI: 10.1080/03772063.2018.1478326

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03772063.2018.1478326

Published online: 20 Jun 2018.

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IETE JOURNAL OF RESEARCH
https://doi.org/10.1080/03772063.2018.1478326

Reconfigurable Corner Truncated Square Microstrip Patch Antennas for Wireless

Communication Applications
Anantha Bharathi1 , Lakshminarayana Merugu2 and P. V. D. Somasekhar Rao3
1 ECE Dept., UCE, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India; 2 DLRL, DRDO, Hyderabad, India; 3 ECE Dept., JNTUH and Dean Academics, G.
Narayanamma Institute of Technology and Science, Hyderabad, India

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
Reconfigurability of the radiation characteristic is one of the recent significant developments asso- Circular polarization;
ciated with the characterization of microstrip patch antennas for wireless communication systems. CPW-to-Slotline feed; PIN
This paper presents, in an exhaustive and comprehensive form, the recent results for various novel diode switch; Polarization
reconfigurable microstrip antenna topologies involving corner truncations and ring slot loading, reconfigurable;
Reconfigurable antenna
coupled with PIN diode switching mechanism. These designs exhibit the functions of polariza-
tion reconfiguration, polarization, and frequency reconfiguration with an attractive single layer
patch and easily realizable practical structure. Emphasis is placed on design, simulation, and exper-
imental results of each of the proposed geometries illustrating the antenna versatility in several
applications.

1. INTRODUCTION between VP, RHCP, and LHCP is designed, developed,

Communication technology has been growing rapidly
and current wireless communication systems have the
ability to achieve multifunctional capabilities and a sin-
gle system supports several applications with differ-
ent operating conditions. This has driven innovation
in antenna towards multifunction capabilities. A con-
ventional antenna can be converted to reconfigurable
antenna by reconfiguring its fundamental characteristics
like operating frequency, polarization, radiation pattern,
or a combination of these characteristics resulting in fre-
quency reconfigurable antenna, pattern reconfigurable
antenna, polarization reconfigurable antenna, and com-
pound reconfigurable antenna, respectively. Based on
the reconfiguration mechanism [1–5], they are classified
as electrically reconfigurable, optically reconfigurable,
physically reconfigurable, or material reconfigurable.
Recently, polarization reconfigurable microstrip anten-
nas (MSAs) have been receiving significant attention.
Polarization reconfiguration can take place between any
of the combination of vertical polarization (VP), horizon-
tal polarization (HP), slant linear polarization (LP), right
hand circular polarization (RHCP), or left hand circular
polarization (LHCP) [6–16].
This article presents recent developments of polariza-
tion reconfigurable corner truncated square MSA. In
the original study [17], the polarization reconfiguration
characteristics of the antenna having an ability to switch
and demonstrated experimentally at L-band using an FR4
Epoxy substrate. However, though the biasing aspects
were addressed, they were not completely demonstrated.
Special attention is given to realize the bias circuit needed
for PIN diode switching operation and to investigate the
applicability of design for C-band WLAN applications
using an RT Duroid substrate. Furthermore, it is used
as a building block in the development of three novel
polarization and frequency reconfigurable antennas.
Section 2 presents a polarization reconfigurable corner
truncated square MSA. The antenna design is further
enhanced to design a frequency and polarization recon-
figurable antenna by using ring slot loading and is dis-
cussed in section 3. Specific design relations for the super-
position of ring slot geometry have been developed to
configure the ring slot embedded MSA. The corner trun-
cated square patch design concept is further extended
to achieve four polarizations VP, HP, RHCP, or LHCP
at two different frequencies and is presented in section
4. The axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of the corner trun-
cated patch antenna is very narrow. Section 5 presents
a compact CPW-to-Slotline transition fed perturbed
ring slot antenna to improve the circular polarization
(CP) performance using corner perturbation technique,
retaining the polarization and frequency reconfigurabilty
feature. Section 6 presents the comparison and discus-
sions on the developments of novel corner truncated

© 2018 IETE
2 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY

square microstrip patch antenna configurations. Con-

cluding remarks are discussed in section 7. The simula-
tions are performed in Computer Simulation Technology
(CST) Microwave Studio [18].

2. CORNER TRUNCATED SQUARE MICROSTRIP

PATCH ANTENNA WITH POLARIZATION
RECONFIGURABILITY (DESIGN 1)
A conventional MSA is usually designed for single mode
operation to generate linearly polarized waves. A single
feed microstrip patch can radiate CP if two orthogo-
nal patch modes TM10 and TM01 are simultaneously
excited with equal amplitude and ±90° out of phase
with the sign determining the sense of rotation. This can
(a)
be accomplished by perturbing the patch at appropri-
ate locations with respect to the feed. In the proposed
design, corner truncated perturbation is used to gener-
ate CP because there is only one parameter to deal with:
the depth of truncation. It is proposed to study, design,
and develop microstrip line fed square microstrip patch
antenna with polarization reconfigurability at 5.8 GHz
bringing out clearly all the bias circuit details and related
requirements.

2.1. Antenna Design

Figure 1 demonstrates the basic structure of polarization
reconfigurable corner truncated square microstrip patch
antenna (SMSPA) designed on RT/Duroid 5880 sub-
strate of size Lg × Wg = 40 mm × 40 mm and thickness
1.6 mm. A 50  microstrip line of dimensions Lf × Wf
feeds the antenna through a quarter wave transformer
of dimensions Lq × Wq for providing good impedance
match. The top view of the antenna in Figure 1(a) shows
the corner truncated square radiating patch with four
parasitic triangular conductors connected to it via PIN
diodes [19] D1 to D4. Four bias pads labelled as V1 to V4
act as DC terminals, to supply DC voltage to PIN diodes.
The voltage is applied to the PIN diodes by means of
four parasitic triangular conductors which are coupled to
the terminals V1 to V4 through surface mount inductors
of 47nH. The DC ground is realized by shorting corner
truncated SMSPA to ground through a λ/4 bias line at
terminal V5 . To avoid interference with antenna perfor-
mance, the DC connecting wires are positioned on the
bottom side of the radiating patch. Figure 1(b) displays
the bottom view of the proposed antenna. It consists of
four circular ring slots isolating DC bias pads from RF
ground. PTH provides electrical continuity between four
DC bias pads and terminals V1 to V4 on top layer. PTH
is also used to connect the terminal V5 to ground.
(b)
Figure 1: Geometry of polarization reconfigurable corner trun-
cated SMSPA: (a) Top view (b) Bottom view Lp = 15.99, Lq = 8.42,
and Wq = 0.8
2.2. Working Principle
With diodes D1 to D4 “ON”, the antenna behaves as a
conventional square MSA and radiates vertically polar-
ized waves. For conventional square MSA, the operating
resonant frequency is determined by patch size Lp , veloc-
ity of light c, and effective permittivity of the substrate
εeff . It is expressed as
c
f1 = √ . (1)
2Lp εeff
With diodes D1 to D4 “OFF”, the antenna realizes a
radiative structure with four corners truncated and still
radiates vertically polarized waves due to its geometrical
symmetry. However, it radiates at a higher frequency due
to reduced dimensions.
 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY 3

With diodes D1, D3 “ON” and D2, D4 “OFF”, the
antenna structure has truncations at −45° and −225°
with respect to the antenna feed and radiates waves with
RHCP. With diodes D1, D3 “OFF” and D2, D4 “ON”,
the antenna structure has its corners truncated at 45° and
225° with respect to the feed radiating waves with LHCP.
With perturbations on one diagonal, the fundamental
mode of conventional square MSA is divided into two
orthogonal modes TM10 and TM01 with slightly different
frequencies fa and fb expressed as [20]
 
S
fa = f1 1 − 2 , (2)
S
three polarizations VP, RHCP, and LHCP. The simu-
lated results show a resonant frequency of 5.8 GHz and
−10 dB impedance bandwidth of 2.7% (5.69–5.85 GHz),
4.74% (5.74–6.01 GHz), and 4.74% (5.74–6.01 GHz) for
VP, RHCP, and LHCP, respectively. The measured results
show a resonant frequency of 5.77 GHz and −10 dB
impedance bandwidth of 4.5% (5.58–5.85 GHz), 5%
(5.58–5.88 GHz), and 5% (5.58–5.88 GHz) for VP, RHCP,
and LHCP respectively. The shift in resonant frequency
in measured results can be attributed to the active and
passive elements placed on the antenna aperture. Figure 4

fb = f1 , (3)
where S and S represent the area of patch and total
area of perturbations, respectively. For patch to radiate
CP, perturbed dimensions should be just right enough to
generate the modes with equal amplitude and ±90° phase
difference between them.

The condition to be satisfied is

Figure 3: Simulated and measured |S11| characteristics in differ-
S 1 ent operating states of antenna
= , (4)
S 2Qo
where Q0 is unloaded quality factor of the patch.

2.3. Simulated and Measured Results

An antenna prototype is fabricated to verify the antenna
operation and is characterized using Vector Network
Analyzer (8720 ET, Agilent Technologies). Figure 2
shows the photograph of fabricated antenna. Figure 3
shows the simulated and experimental results of reflec-
tion coefficient (|S11|) characteristics of the antenna. Figure 4: Simulated AR characteristics of polarization reconfig-
The antenna offers good impedance match for all the urable corner truncated SMSPA in CP states

(a) (b)

Figure 2: Photograph of polarization reconfigurable corner truncated SMSPA: (a) top view; (b) bottom view
4 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY

3.1. Antenna Design

(a) (b)
Figure 5: Simulated and measured normalized radiation pattern
for VP. Lf = 9, Wf = 3.9, and tp = 2.75 (all dimensions in mm)
shows the simulated AR characteristics of polarization
reconfigurable corner truncated SMSPA in CP states.
AR is observed to be < 3 dB and the characteristics are
observed to be same in RHCP and LHCP states with AR
bandwidth of 31 MHz (5.78 GHz−5.81 GHz).
Figure 6 shows the geometry of single feed polarization
and frequency reconfigurable square MSA with detailed
dimensions. It consists of a square patch of dimen-
sions Lp × Wp , (Lp = Wp ) on an RT/Duroid substrate of
εr = 2.2 and height h = 0.8 mm. It is similar to Figure 1,
except for the addition of the square ring slot, PIN diodes
D5 to D8 to bridge the gap between centre patch and
outer ring patch formed by it, additional DC terminal V 6
connected through an inductor of 47nH placed in series
with narrow conductive strip in order to supply DC volt-
age to diodes D5 to D8, and a surface mount capacitor
of C1 = 33pF placed between two conductive strips to
maintain RF continuity. Figure 5(b) shows the back view

Figure 5 shows the simulated and measured radiation

pattern characteristics of VP in principal planes. Radia-
tion pattern of the proposed antenna is measured in ane-
choic chamber and the gain of the antenna is measured
using gain comparison method. Experimental results
present stable radiation patterns with symmetric co-
polarization characteristics in all the polarization states
with cross-polarization levels below −20 dB.

The measured boresight gain in VP, RHCP, and LHCP

are 6.28 dBi, 6.63 dBic, and 6.63 dBic, respectively. The
measured results show a reduction in boresight gain com- (a)
pared to simulation results. This can be attributed to the
power dissipated in forward bias resistance of PIN diodes.
Maximum difference in gain of 1.18 dBi occurs in VP,
as all the diodes are ON in this state. In CP, as only two
diodes are ON, the difference in gain is observed to be
0.61 dBi which is half of that achieved for VP. The sim-
ulated efficiency in VP, RHCP, and LHCP are 82.13%,
83.4%, and 84.54%, respectively.

3. POLARIZATION RECONFIGURABLE CORNER

TRUNCATED SQUARE MICROSTRIP ANTENNA
WITH FREQUENCY RECONFIGURATION
(DESIGN 2)
The polarization reconfigurable square patch antenna
discussed in section 2 can be made to achieve frequency (b)

reconfigurability also. One simple approach is to suitably

impose a ring slot configuration into it. This structure has
been analysed and electrical performance characteristics
have been evaluated for achieving polarization reconfig-
uration at two WLAN frequencies 5.2 and 5.8 GHz.
Figure 6: Geometry of corner truncated frequency and polar-
ization reconfigurable antenna: (a) front view (b) back view.
Lp = 16 mm, Wr1 = 6.36 mm, Lr1 = 6.31 mm, Lq = 9 mm,
Wq = 0.9 mm, Lf = 8 mm, Wf = 3.3 mm, tp = 2.43 mm, and
g = 0.45 mm (all dimensions in mm)
 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY
of the proposed antenna. It has five circular ring slots to
isolate DC bias pads from RF ground and the DC bias
pads are connected to corresponding terminals on top
layer using PTH.
3.2. Working Principle
A square ring slot etched in a quarter wave fed square
patch realizes frequency reconfigurability with the aid of
PIN diodes D5 to D8. With D5 to D8 ON, the structure
operates as SMSPA and resonates at frequency 5.8 GHz.
The resonant frequency is governed by Equation (1).
With D1 to D4 OFF, it operates as square ring microstrip
patch antenna (SRMSPA) and resonates at a lower
Figure 7: Surface current distribution of SRMSPA in VP state
(a)
Figure 8: Photograph of fabricated polarization and frequency reconfigurable corner truncated SMSPA: (a) top view; (b) bottom view
5
frequency of 5.2 GHz. This is because the current flows
around the ring slot and the electrical length of the cur-
rent increases by Wr1 . Figure 7 shows the surface current
distribution in SRMSPA configuration at 5.2 GHz in VP
state. The operating frequency of square ring patch is
expressed as [21]:
c
f2 = √ . (5)
2(Lp + Wr1 ) εreff
Furthermore, polarization reconfigurability in SMSPA or
SRMSPA is realized with diodes D1 to D4 in a similar way
as discussed in section 2.2.
3.3. Simulated and Measured Results
Parametric studies have been carried out on the antenna
structure and significant parameters that affect antenna
characteristics are patch length, ring slot dimensions,
and depth of corner truncation. The following observa-
tions have been made: (1) the outer ring slot dimensions
have considerable effect on |S11| and AR characteris-
tics of SRMSPA than on SMSPA, (2) the frequency ratio
depends on dimensions and location of ring slot, and
(3) enhanced perturbations are needed in SRMSPA to
achieve good polarization purity.
A prototype of single fed corner truncated polariza-
tion reconfigurable antenna has been fabricated and
tested experimentally. Figure 8 shows the photograph
of the fabricated antenna. Figure 9 shows the simu-
lated and measured |S11| and AR characteristics for
SMSPA and SRMSPA configurations resonating at 5.8
and 5.2 GHz, respectively. Figure 9(a) shows the mea-
sured impedance bandwidth of 1.06% for VP, 0.17% for
RHCP, and 0.17% for LHCP in SMSPA configuration, and
(b)
6 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY
(a)
(b)
Figure 9: Simulated and measured results of polarization and fre-
quency reconfigurable antenna where VP1, RHCP1, and LHCP1
represents polarization states in SMSPA configuration, and VP2,
RHCP2, and LHCP2 represents polarization states in SRMSPA: (a)
|S11|; (b) AR
0.78% for VP, RHCP, and LHCP in SRMSPA configura-
tion. The AR characteristics are observed to be < 3 dB
in both the antenna configurations. Figure 10 depicts
the simulated and measured normalized radiation pat-
terns in VP state of SMSPA configurations in principal
planes. Symmetrical co-polarization characteristics with
cross-polarization levels < −17 dB are observed in all the
operating states.
The measured peak boresight gain of SMSPA and
SRMSPA for polarization states VP, RHCP, and LHCP are
7 dBi, 7.3 dBic, 7.3 dBic, and 7.15 dBi, 7.4 dBic, 7.4 dBic,
Figure 10: Simulated and measured radiation patterns of VP
state of SMSPA
respectively. The measured gain in SMSPA is observed
to be less than the gain in SRMSPA. This is due to the
additional losses occurring in the ON state resistance of
four PIN diodes located in the ring slot. The simulated
efficiency of SMSPA and SRMSPA for polarization states
VP, RHCP, and LHCP are 71.2%, 65.2%, 65.2%, and 75%,
73.85%, 73.21%, respectively.
Furthermore, the antenna shows good |S11| and AR
bandwidth characteristics in SMSPA configuration com-
pared to SRMSPA configuration operating at low fre-
quency, as the antenna is optimized to have same per-
turbation for SMSPA and SRMSPA configuration. The
frequency ratio achieved by the antenna is 1.11. The sig-
nificant feature of the antenna is achievement of area
reduction of 12% at 5.2 GHz and 30% at 5.8 GHz when
compared to the standard conventional patch. Approxi-
mate formulas are developed using parametric studies in
order to evaluate the resonant frequencies. They can be
used in the design of similar antennas and can be scaled
easily for other frequencies.
4. SQUARE MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA WITH
POLARIZATION AND FREQUENCY
RECONFIGURABILITY (DESIGN 3)
A dual feed polarization and frequency reconfigurable
square patch antenna superimposed with a ring slot con-
figuration employing six PIN diodes instead of eight PIN
diodes in the earlier structure is proposed to generate
HP, VP, RHCP, and LHCP at dual frequencies of 5.2 and
5.8 GHz.
4.1. Antenna Design
Figure 11 shows the structure of quad polarization
and frequency reconfigurable antenna with square patch
dimensions Lp × Wp (Lp = Wp ) printed on RT/Duroid
substrate with ε r = 2.2 and height h = 3.2 mm. The
structure is similar to Figure 6, except for two RF ports,
two severed sections with two parasitic triangular con-
ductors, six PIN diodes, retaining only four bias termi-
nals, V2 , V4 , V5 , and V6 . Figure 11(b) shows the bottom
view of the proposed antenna. It consists of three circu-
lar ring slots which isolate DC bias pads from RF ground.
DC bias pads are attached to the terminals V2 , V4 , and V6
on the top layer using PTH. Terminal V5 is connected to
the ground, and terminal V6 sets the operating frequency.
4.2. Working Principle
With PIN diodes D5 to D8 ON, the structure oper-
ates as SMSPA resonating at frequency 5.8 GHz. With
 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY 7

to either forward bias or reverse bias the PIN diodes. The

design equations are reported in [22].

4.3. Simulated and Measured Results

In order to verify the operation of proposed design, a
prototype is fabricated as shown in Figure 12. Figure 13
shows the simulated and measured |S11| characteristics
for SMSPA operating at 5.8 GHz. Figure 13(a) shows the
VP and HP characteristics and Figure 13(b) shows RHCP
and LHCP characteristics. The measured results show an
impedance bandwidth of 210, 600, 700, and 660 MHz for
VP, HP, RHCP, and LHCP, respectively.

(a) Figure 14 shows the simulated and measured |S11| char-

acteristics for SRMSPA operating at lower design fre-
quency of 5.2 GHz. Figure 14(a) shows the VP and HP
characteristics and Figure 14(b) shows RHCP and LHCP
characteristics. The measured impedance bandwidth is
observed to be 210, 230, 510, and 550 MHz for VP, HP,
RHCP, and LHCP, respectively. Figure 15 shows the sim-
ulated and measured AR variations against frequency for
CP states for SMSPA and SRMSPA. The results exhibit
good CP performance of the antenna at dual frequencies.
The measured AR bandwidth in RHCP and LHCP is 120
and 50 MHz, respectively, for SMSPA, and it is 90 and
40 MHz, respectively, for SRMSPA.

The impedance and AR characteristics of SMSPA and

(b)
Figure 11: Geometry of the antenna: (a) top view; (b) bottom
view. Lp = 14.73, Wq = 0.3, Wf = 2.21, Wr1 = Lr1 = 7.2,
Lq = 12.63, Lf = 5, g = 0.45, tp = 6.1, and Lg = 40 (all dimen-
sions in mm)
the PIN diodes D5 to D8 OFF, it operates as SRMSPA
and resonates at a frequency of 5.2 GHz. In SMSPA and
SRMSPA, polarization reconfiguration is realized with
the aid of two PIN diodes D2 and D4, and excitation at
port1 and port2. Table 1 illustrates the antenna structure
with resonant frequency, polarization states, excitations,
and voltages at the DC terminals V2 , V4 to V6 required
SRMSPA are summarized in Table 2. Good AR character-
istics are observed in SMSPA and SRMSPA. However, a
compromise in depth of truncation to achieve frequency
reconfiguration feature in addition to polarization recon-
figuration has limited the AR bandwidth of SRMSPA.
The measured results are observed to agree well with the
simulated results except for a slight shift in resonant fre-
quency. The measured isolation between port1 and port2
within the operating band of SMSPA and SRMSPA is
observed to be greater than 20 dB.
Figure 16 shows the measured normalized radiation
pattern characteristics of RHCP state for SMSPA and

Table 1: Working configuration of PIN diodes

Antenna Excitation D1–D4 D5, D6 V1 V2 V3 V4 Polarization
SMSPA (5.8 GHz) Port 1 ON ON −0.8 V −0.8 V 0.8 V 0V VP
Port 1 ON OFF +0.8 V +0.8 V 0.8 V 0V RHCP
Port 2 ON ON −0.8 V −0.8 V 0.8 V 0V HP
Port 2 ON OFF +0.8 V +0.8 V 0.8 V 0V LHCP
SRMSPA (5.2 GHz) Port 1 OFF ON −0.8 V −0.8 V −0.8 V 0V VP
Port 1 OFF OFF +0.8 V +0.8 V −0.8 V 0V RHCP
Port 2 OFF ON −0.8 V −0.8 V −0.8 V 0V HP
Port 2 OFF OFF +0.8 V +0.8 V −0.8 V 0V LHCP
8 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY

(a) (b)

Figure 12: Photograph of antenna prototype of dual feed quad polarization and frequency reconfigurable antenna: (a) top view; (b)
bottom view

(a)
(a)

(b)

Figure 13: Simulated and measured |S11| characteristics of dual

feed quad polarization and frequency reconfigurable antenna in (b)
SMSPA configuration: (a) LP; (b) CP
Figure 14: Simulated and measured |S11| results of dual feed
quad polarization and frequency reconfigurable antenna for
SRMSPA configuration: (a) LP; (b) CP
SRMSPA. Due to the symmetry in antenna struc-
ture, similar characteristics are also observed for LHCP.
Symmetric co-polarization characteristics with cross-
polarization levels < −16 dB are observed in principal
planes in all the polarization states.

The measured peak boresight gain of SMSPA for polar-

ization states VP, HP, RHCP, and LHCP are 6.26 dBi,
5.81 dBi, 6.18 dBic, 5.90 dBic, respectively. The measured
peak boresight gain of SRMSPA is 6.3 dBi, 5.72 dBi,
6.21 dBic, and 5.89 dBic, respectively. The measured gain
in dual feed SMSPA is lower than the measured gain in
Figure 15: Measured AR variations against frequency of
dual feed SRMSPA. This is due to the ON state of PIN dual feed quad polarization and frequency reconfigurable
diodes D1 to D4. The simulated efficiency of SMSPA and antenna. First and second row – SMSPA; third and fourth row –
SRMSPA for polarization states VP, HP, RHCP, and LHCP SRMSPA
 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY 9

4.87–5.42

5.18–5.22
4.92–5.55
SRMSPA

(10.7%)
(12%)

(0.04)
LHCP

5.79–5.88
5.56–5.78

5.54–6.2
(11.2%)
(3.79%)
SMSPA

(0.09)
(a) (b)

4.87–5.38 Figure 16: Radiation patterns of RHCP of dual feed quad polar-
5.17–5.22
5.1–5.55
SRMSPA

ization and frequency reconfigurable antenna for (a) SMSPA and

(8.65%)

(10%)

(0.05)
(b) SRMSPA
RHCP

are 73.24%, 74%, 73.24%, 78.25%, and 73.4%, 74.65%,

75.24%, 78.45%, respectively.
5.76–5.88
5.56–6.2

5.5–6.2
SMSPA

(12%)
(11%)

(0.12)

To the best of authors’ knowledge, for the first time, quad

polarization at two frequencies is designed using corner
truncated square patch with a simple structure using six
PIN diodes, and at both frequencies, good performance
is achieved in terms of impedance bandwidth, AR band-
4.89–5.12
SRMSPA

(4.46%)
(5.82%)
4.9–5.2

width, polarization purity, and gain. Furthermore, good

-

radiation characteristics in terms of co-polarization and

cross-polarization are observed.
HP

5. POLARIZATION AND FREQUENCY

5.31–5.75
(8.14%)
5.2–5.8
SMSPA

(11%)
Table 2: Summary of simulated and measured impedance and AR characteristics

RECONFIGURABLE SQUARE RING SLOT

-

ANTENNA WITH ENHANCED BANDWIDTH

(DESIGN 4)
A novel CPW-to-Slotline fed perturbed square ring
slot antenna is proposed to provide wide CP band-
5.89–5.1
4.9–5.15
SRMSPA

(4.95%)

(4.2%)

width using corner perturbation technique retaining

-

the reconfigurable feature and taking care of feed-

ing and biasing. An excellent performance with RHCP
VP

and LHCP at 2.4 GHz and VP and HP at 1.9 GHz is

obtained.
(11.11%)
4.89–5.1
(3.96%)
5.2–5.8
SMSPA

5.1. Antenna Design

Figure 17 shows the polarization and frequency recon-
figurable antenna, designed using uniplanar FR4 Epoxy
Mea.
Sim.

substrate with ε r = 4.4 and a thickness of 1.6 mm. It

consists of a rectangular ground plane of dimensions
Lg × Wg with a square ring slot etched at the centre. Inner
Sim. /Mea. AR < 3 dB (GHz)

square patch formed by the square ring slot is perturbed

S11 < −10dB (GHz)

such that five conductors are formed. Four parasitic tri-

angular conductors are connected to the centre rhombic
State quantity

conductor using four PIN diodes D1 to D4. A 50  CPW-

to-Slotline transition is used to feed the square ring slot
antenna. It feeds the antenna either in CPW mode or slot
10 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY
Figure 17: Geometry of polarization and frequency reconfig-
urable square ring slot antenna; Lg = 120 mm, Wg = 42.5 mm,
Lr1 = 32 mm, g = 3 mm, Lf = 16 mm, Lr2 = 38 mm, and
tp = 11.6 mm
line mode, using the diodes D5 and D6. The DC bias
circuit required for the switching of PIN diodes D1 to
D4 is placed in the gap between centre rhombic conduc-
tor and parasitic triangular conductors. The bias circuit
consists of a PIN diode in series with a capacitor of 33
pF to provide RF continuity. A conducting pad is located
between PIN diode and capacitor to which an inductor
of 47 nH is connected to isolate DC from RF. The other
end of inductor is connected to the DC terminal. Four
independent bias voltages are applied to the respective
DC terminals V1 to V4 for biasing the PIN diodes D1 to
D4. The DC ground required for PIN diodes D1 to D5
is achieved by grounding the centre rhombic conductor
through an RF choke of 47 nH. The DC ground for D6 is
achieved by directly grounding its cathode. The bias volt-
age for diodes D5 and D6 is provided along with RF signal
using a bias tee. A bias tee is a three port device with two
input ports and one output port. The RF and DC volt-
age (V5 ) are applied to two input ports and (RF + DC) is
generated at output port.
Table 3: Working configuration of PIN diodes in polarization and frequency reconfigurable square ring slot antenna
Feed excitation D1, D3 D2, D4 D5
CPW mode ON ON ON
ON OFF ON
OFF ON ON
Slotline mode OFF OFF OFF
5.2. Working Principle
The working configuration of PIN diodes and the
required bias voltage at the DC terminals V1 to V5 are
shown in Table 3. The PIN diodes D1 to D5 require
−0.8 V or +0.8 V supply at the terminals V1 to V5 to
either forward bias or reverse bias, respectively, and D6
requires +0.8 V or −0.8 V supply at the terminal V5 to
either forward bias or reverse bias, respectively.
With D5 ON and D6 OFF, CPW-to-Slotline feed oper-
ates in CPW mode and the internal square patch with
five conductors is excited. The radiative structure of the
antenna is then similar to the corner truncated SMSPA.
Furthermore, by controlling the switching states of the
PIN diodes D1 to D4, it radiates VP, RHCP, and LHCP
waves. With D5 OFF and D6 ON, CPW-to-Slotline feed
operates in slotline mode and the internal square patch
is disconnected. The perturbed ring slot is fed through
right slotline of the CPW-to-Slotline feed structure. The
shorted left slotline branch appears as open circuit at
feed point. Thus, feed line length Lf plays a significant
role in mode conversion and also provides the necessary
impedance match in CPW and slotline modes without
employing additional matching circuit.
5.3. Simulated and Measured Results
The vital parameters of the antenna that affect both the
impedance and AR performance of the polarization and
frequency reconfigurable square ring slot antenna are Lg ,
Wg , Lr1 , tp , and g have exhibited distinctive changes in
the antenna performance. Good AR results are observed
for lower Wg and larger Lg . So, in the proposed antenna
Wg is condensed and Lg is enlarged.
Feed length Lf is considered as an important parameter
as it decides the impedance match in all the polariza-
tions. An optimum value of g is chosen as a compro-
mise between |S11| and AR characteristics. In order to
verify the operation of proposed design, a prototype is
fabricated as shown in Figure 18.
Figure 19 shows the simulated and measured |S11|
and AR results of the polarization and frequency
D6 V 1 , V3 V2 , V4 V5 Polarization
OFF −0.8 V −0.8 V −0.8 V VP
OFF −0.8 V +0.8 V +0.8 V RHCP
OFF +0.8 V −0.8 V −0.8 V LHCP
ON +0.8 V +0.8 V +0.8 V HP
 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY
(a) (b)
Figure 18: Photograph of polarization and frequency reconfig-
urable square ring slot antenna prototype: (a) Top view; (b) Bot-
tom view
reconfigurable square ring slot antenna. The measured
results are observed to be in good agreement with simula-
tion results. Measured impedance bandwidth of 50 MHz
(2.5%) and 30 MHz (2%) is achieved for HP and VP,
respectively.
Measured impedance and AR bandwidths are observed
to be 670 MHz (28.8%) and 350 MHz (14.8%), respec-
tively, for RHCP state. Due to geometrical symmetry,
similar characteristics were observed for LHCP state.
Measured effective overlapped |S11| and AR bandwidth
for CP operation is 14.8% (2.20–2.55 GHz).
This improvement in impedance and AR bandwidth
characteristics is owing to the low quality factor of ring
slot antenna which in turn needs enhanced perturbations
to attain the best CP characteristics.
In the frequency band of 2–3 GHz, bias tee has inser-
tion loss of 0.5 dB and isolation of 20 dB. Figure 20 shows
the normalized simulated and measured radiation pat-
tern characteristics in VP state of the antenna. The radi-
ation pattern characteristics are observed to be omni-
directional. The patterns show good cross-polarization
characteristics and are observed to be below −10 dB. The
11
(a)
(b)
Figure 19: Simulated and measured results of polarization and
frequency reconfigurable square ring slot antenna: (a) |S11|;
(b) AR
(a) (b)
Figure 20: Simulated and measured radiation pattern character-
istics of polarization and frequency reconfigurable square ring slot
antenna for VP at 1.9 GHz: (a) E-plane; (b) H-plane
measured boresight gain for VP, HP, RHCP, and LHCP
are 3.19 dBi, 3.21 dBi, 4.01 dBic, and 4 dBic, respectively.
Maximum difference in gain between simulated and
measured results is observed to be 0.34 dBi for LHCP. The
simulated efficiency for polarization states VP, HP, RHCP,
and LHCP are 85.1%, 82.21%, 78.54%, and 78.72%,
respectively.
6. COMPARISON ON DEVELOPMENTS OF NOVEL
CORNER TRUNCATED SQUARE MICROSTRIP
ANTENNAS
The comparison among different antenna configurations
discussed in this paper are summarized in Table 4. It
helps to understand the potential and limitations of each
configuration. Design 1 achieves three polarization states
with a single antenna structure at a single resonant fre-
quency. Design 2 is simple, compact, and achieves three
12 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY

polarizations at dual frequency and is very much suitable

Maximum measured
for cognitive radio systems and the applications requir-

gain (dBi)
ing small frequency ratio. Moreover, it exhibits good gain

6.63

4.01
7.4

6.3
characteristics. However, it experiences narrow AR band-
width and the design requires eight PIN diodes. Design
3 has a simple and very compact structure and by using
minimum number of PIN diodes, it obtains four polar-
izations at two frequencies. It also displays improved AR
No. of PIN

characteristics. Design 4 uses a slot antenna with compact

diodes
4

6
6
CPW-to-Slot transition feeding technique to achieve a
very good AR bandwidth with minimum number of PIN
diodes. However, it is not aimed at achieving all the four
polarizations at each distinct frequency. The radiation
Single microstrip line feed

Single microstrip line feed

Dual microstrip line feed

pattern is bidirectional and the gain is around 4 dBi.

technique

CPW-Slotline feed
Feeding

7. CONCLUSION
This article summarizes the author’s investigations on
characterization, design, simulation, and development of
novel reconfigurable MSAs in a unified form. Four dif-
ferent types of reconfigurable MSA have been demon-
AR bandwidth

strated. The antenna structures are very attractive and

(MHz)
30

120

350

simple with single feed structures involving single layer

substrates. To achieve polarization reconfigurability and
reconfigurability in terms of both polarization and fre-
quency, FR4 Epoxy substrate with ε r = 4.4 and RT
Impedance bandwidth (MHz)

Duroid/5880 substrate with ε r = 2.2 have been chosen

RHCP-700
RHCP-290

RHCP-100

RHCP-660
RHCP-510

RHCP-670
RHCP-100

LHCP-550

LHCP-670
LHCP-290

LHCP-290

LHCP-40

and reconfigurability is established through the switch-

CP

ing of SMP1320-011F PIN diodes. The feeding geome-

tries of the MSAs configured include the most popular
microstrip line feed and CPW-to-Slot line feed.
HP-600

HP-230
VP-210
VP-260

VP-260

VP-210
VP-600

HP-50
VP-30
LP

–
Table 4: Comparison of corner truncated square MSA configurations

Based on the specifications and relevant design relations,

conventional square patch geometries of the MSPAs have
been configured, whereas specific design relations for
VP, HP, RHCP, and LHCP

VP, HP, RHCP, and LHCP

the superposition of ring slot geometry have been devel-

Polarization

oped to configure the ring slot embedded microstrip

VP, RHCP, LHCP

VP, RHCP, LHCP

VP, RHCP, LHCP

Reconfiguration states

patch antenna to achieve frequency and polarization

RHCP, LHCP

reconfigurable antenna. To demonstrate the versatility

VP, HP

of ring slot loaded corner truncated square microstrip

patch antenna, two different implementations with dif-
ferent functionalities have been discussed. A novel polar-
freq. (GHz)

ization and frequency reconfigurable square ring slot

5.8

5.2

2.4

1.9
5.8

5.8

5.2

antenna geometry has been proposed with specific CPW-

to-Slotline transition feed to realize enhanced AR band-
width of CP operation. For all the reconfigurable anten-
14.73 × 14.73
15.99 × 15.99
Radiator size

nas, the measured results are in reasonably good agree-

32 × 32
16 × 16

ment with simulated results which justified the validity

of the proposed antenna structures, their formulation,
simulation, and characterization.
Design 4
Design 2

Design 3
Design 1
Antenna

The frequency and polarization reconfigurable antenna

using ring slot loading technique presented in this article
 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY
meets the key requirements of low frequency ratio, CP,
and dual frequency features of high performance antenna
identified for future mars rovers. Furthermore, high gain
requirement can be met by using it as an array element in
the array configuration. The antenna designs also have a
great potential for WLAN communication systems.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to thank Dr. D.R. Jahagirdar, Sc-G, DRFS,
RCI, DRDO, Hyderabad, for providing the Antenna Test Facil-
ity for measuring the characteristics of proposed antenna.
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14 A. BHARATHI ET AL.: ACCURATE FORMULA TO DETERMINE RESONANT FREQUENCY
Authors
Anantha Bharathi was born in Telangana,
India, in 1978. She completed B. Tech
degree with distinction in Electronics &
Communication Engineering (ECE) from
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological Univer-
sity Hyderabad (JNTUH) in 2001 and
M.E. in Microwave and Radar Engineer-
ing from University College of Engineer-
ing, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, in 2004.
She is pursuing Ph.D. in the Dept. of ECE, JNTUH, Hyder-
abad. She is presently working as an Assistant Professor in ECE
Dept., University College of Engineering, Osmania University,
Hyderabad, India. She has 13 years of teaching experience.
Her research interests include Antenna Theory, Reconfigurable
Antennas, Radar Systems, Microwave and RF circuits, and
Ultra wideband (UWB) antennas. She is a Member of IEEE and
IETE.
Corresponding author. Email: bharathig8@gmail.com
Dr. Merugu Lakshminarayana did B.
Tech in Electronics and Communication
Engineering (ECE) from JNTU, Hyder-
abad, in 1978, and M. Tech in Microwave
and Radar Engineering from IIT Kharag-
pur in 1980. While in service in DRDO,
he did Ph.D. from Queen’s University of
Belfast, United Kingdom, on Common-
wealth Fellowship during 1988–1991. He joined Defence Elec-
tronics Research Laboratory, DLRL, DRDO, as Scientist “B”
in Jan 1981 and retired as Scientist “H” in Apr 2015. Over 34
years in DRDO, he was responsible for design and development
of antennas and subsystems and systems for electronic war-
fare. Dr. Merugu is a Senior Member of IEEE, Fellow of IETE
(India), Fellow of Institute of Engineers (IE), Member of AOC,
and a Member of ACM. His research interest includes anten-
nas, microwave components, and advanced electronic warfare
systems.
Email: lnmerugu@ gmail.com
Dr. P. V. D. Somasekhar Rao obtained his
B.E. Degree in Electronics & Communi-
cation Engg., from Sri Venkateswara Uni-
versity College of Engg., Tirupati (1977),
and M.Tech. Degree in Microwave and
Radar Engg., from I.I.T., Kharagpur, India
(1979). He earned his Ph.D. Degree in
Electronics and Communication Engg.,
from I.I.T. Kharagpur. Dr. Rao worked at Radar Centre, I.I.T.
Kharagpur, and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR/
RAC Group), Ooty. Later, he joined as the Faculty of ECE Dept.
of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Colleges of Engi-
neering, at Anantapur and Hyderabad. He has recently retired
as Professor from Dept. of ECE, JNTUH College of Engg.,
Hyderabad. Presently, he is with G Narayanamma Institute of
Technology & Science, Hyderabad, as Professor of ECE and
Dean of Academics. He is a Sr. Member of IEEE, Life Mem-
ber of ISTE (India), and Fellow of IETE (India).
Email: sekhar_pvds@ hotmail.com